ROLL CALL: 10 Mar 2023. My current and reserve Collections and some reminders of past ones.

These are the Miniature Wargame collections or periods that I am going to be playing with and occasionally  adding to for the foreseeable future.  It might be once a year, it might be once in 3 years, if it becomes 5 years I may start looking for a new home for the collection.  

The time ahead seems to be less and less each year, so there have been more cuts of collections/periods/campaign that I have been fond of because I still have more painting and playing to do than I have time and energy for. My experience over the last few years suggests that doing so is indeed allowing me to get more things done and improve the games I am playing so I have made some tough choices and cut even more periods and collections that I have enjoyed and loved and am still interested in. So far each cut has improved things over all and while I retain good memories, I am not really missing any of the partly built collections that I've cut. 

17 June note: My attempts to focus a bit more have been suffucuently successful to take it a step farther and once again divide my remaining collections into Active, Primary Reserve and Sedentary Reserve collections.  The Active collections with get the bulk of my time and resources and be used more often. The Primary Reserve collections will come out and even be added to when the urge comes over me. The Sedentary are there until I either find a new home for them or get an urge to reconsider.

Primary Collections

1. In the Days of King Arthur.  40mm  Elastolin Post Roman Britain inspired by Rosemary Sutcliffe's books, Prince Valiant, and the Elastolin 4cm figures for the period. Semi-skirmish rules with small units and characters (still in development but almost there). 2-6 games a year, figures to be refurbished or added in a more regular fashion until all of the planned forces, individuals and "props" are done. There is a ...rumour...about occasional elements of fantasy..... and you know, once that stuff sneaks in........

Last played: 30 Oct 22

Barbarians At The Gate.

5 Oct 21 Ellie's First Action.

Now with a touch of Fantasy: 

 

See "If you go down to the woods today" for a report on this....incident.

 

2. Wars of The French Revolution: From Flanders to Brittany, The West Indies and Syria
 40mm, using rules currently called "A Whiff of Dice", essentially a new version of my older  "Morschauser Meets MacDuff" rules which became "Hearts of Tin". 

Last played: 7 Mar 23 

A solo test of a game planned for Huzzah 2023 in Portlane Maine.

5 June 2022 1st Action of Syrian Campaign

Battle of Ville St. Etienne: 26/27 Dec 21

First Charge of the York Hussars.

A shot from a Virtual Huzzah, remote multiplayer game, May 2021.

3.  ACW . 1/72, mostly Airfix,  ACW.  2-4 games a year. Still more recruits waiting  in the cupboard but more terrain is the big thing now. This is my "battle" collection.
Last Played: 22 Oct 22

 

1 Mar 22: ACW Scenario and brief report. 

 April 2021.

4. ATLANTICA: The Origawn Rebellion. 54mm glossy toy soldier fictional wargames. The original idea was to create the sort of game that might have been possible in the early or mid 20thC by assembling armies from the boxed sets sold by Britain's and other companies. (Which is how I assembled my first armies oddly enough.) 
I didn't expect to ever find this lot here but it has about run its course. I imagine that some parts of this collection will hang around indefinitely but for now it will be spending more time on the shelf and recruiting has been suspended indefinitely.

Rules: The Square Brigadier (On Grid) or the Model Major General (Off Grid)

Last Played: 28 Dec 22  

Last game of 2022

Played indoors....or out!

Battle of Plum Run Hill (Sep 2022)

or on the road!

The 1/76  Battle in a Box Version

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Secondary Collections

1. Land of the 4 Winds. OS-25mm metal & 1/72nd  Medieval Fantasy using figures added over 50 years of wargaming. A semi-active collection kept largely for nostalgia so 1 or 2 games most years. I think I'm going to start getting serious about dealing with the horde of figures in the cupboard that need work. Making the armies bigger won't increase my pleasure but emptying the cupboards and reducing the "to do" list probably will and may get what's left out on the table more. See my Gathering of Hosts blog.

Last played: 9 Jan 22.

2. The Wars of Henry VIII. 40mm 16thC including a large proportion of original homecast figures, as well as many by  Elastolin, Doug Miller, and a few others. The rules are Rough Wooing, a Morschauser inspired set of rules developed by Rob Dean and myself for a game which won "Best in Show" at Cold Wars in 2005.   Each stand is a unit or 'company' with units being grouped into "Battles". A game or three most years.

Last played: 18 Nov 22

Anglo-Scots Battle. 18 Nov 22

Rough Wooing Anglo-Scots game Oct 2020

3.  WITH MACDUFF TO THE FRONTIER: The Anglo-French Struggle for America & Not Quite The Seven Years War (when I don't have enough room to play Charge!). 40mm, mostly home cast,  mostly Prince August, including conversions, using With MacDuff to the Frontier rules, largely as published in the Courier. Eventually I should rewrite them more clearly and include suggestions for a slightly streamed Big Game version 

14 Nov 21 MacDuff scenario and rules from Courier Magazine.

Last played: 14 Nov 21

4. Atlantica 1840/50's: The 1st Kapelle War (Fictional Setting)

Last Played 11 Mar 23  using A Whiff of Dice. (or Hearts of Tin...pending a decision)

7. ATLANTICA: The 2nd Oerberg War.  Small Colonial games set in the early 20thC using 40mm glossy toy soldiers and some early armoured vehicles and modern artillery and machine guns.  A couple of games once in a while using a version of the Square Brigadier.

A game from June 2021

Last Played: 15 Apr 22

Reserve Collections

Over the last 20 years I have let go of more figures than I have kept but I haven't forgotten them and the good memories of games and friends. Here is just a tiny glimpse of some of the more recent retirees.

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The Defended Border: The War of 1812. 40mm Scruby + various homecast figures.  There is a strong possibility that the War of 1812 will be revived as an appendix to my Seven Years War in America and French Revolution collections,  using the slightly larger size of homecast 40mm figures used by those collections so that I can mix and match appropriate figures, all in the same style, organization and basing.  

Battle of Pettyblue River Feb 2021

6. 54mm Zulu War

Refurbished Britains' figures against (largely) A Call to Arms Zulus. A game every couple of years. These don't take up much room and the Brits do double duty. Rules: The Square Brigadier. or The Portable Wargame. 

Last game of 2020

Last Played: 31 Dec 20

 The 1950's.  Fictional mid 20thC Wargames including some toys that I've played with for 60 years!!

June 2021

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Battle for New France and Acadia. 30mm 18thC miniatures battling for control of Acadia and Quebec.  The basis of this was a collection of 30mm figures, my first metal wargame figures, that I bought in 1973. The figures were originally commissioned for a diorama of the 1759 battle on the Plains of Abrahams for a museum in Quebec which I once had the opportunity to view. Mine were part of the surplus which a dealer was selling off and have probably fought less than a dozen battles in 35 years despite being near and dear to my heart. I finally found just what they have been needing, a new home  where there are some of their kin and where they will see the light of day and get to fight again. 

15mm French Revloution. Figures from 7 or more manufacturers for 1st Coalition, French Republic, The Vendee, Anglo Holland in 1799, West Indies, and various over campaigns in the works. All gone now.

18thC Turks. 

A nascent 25mm Portable Wargame army using original homecast figures as well as various conversions. Not likely to happen now but still in the cupboard. Their only opponent would be a friend's 25mm SYW Austrians, unless I cast up or bought some old school 25mm opponents.  Don't hold your breath!

  

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