When miniatures wargamers hear the word scale, many think of the scale of the figures or how much ground* is represented. Miniature figures representing historical troops could be 6mm tall or a ratio of 1:285 (a figure is about 1/285th in size of a typical warrior). Usually, that’s from the eyes to the soles of… Continue reading The difference scales make
Category: Introduction
Beginning Wargamers
People new to wargames can find a blog post category designed to give them an Introduction on many topics. Among them is a blog post pointing to various posts with suggestions and answers to questions that come up on Facebook groups: An Experienced Wargamer’s Priorities. The Combat Rules blog section, “Getting Started,” has several concise… Continue reading Beginning Wargamers
An experienced wargamer’s priorities
After several decades, one develops opinions. Right or wrong, here are my priorities when approaching a new campaign or era. Note: for the featured image, I asked “AI” for an image of Wargamer Priorities and got a giant tank in seconds! Probably works for many of us. *Note that a rescaled a 3×3″ brigade stand… Continue reading An experienced wargamer’s priorities
Counters
I found a nicely-written blogpost about wargame counters (as the half-inch cardboard chits are called) by a guy interested in design. It gives a overall view of they got their start and his view of when they peaked. He mentioned how Charles S. Roberts took the symbols for Tactics II from a post-World War II… Continue reading Counters
Balkenkreuz & Stars for World War II air & AFVs
To have it in one place, I am posting this and will add nationalities to my current miniature war efforts. German Cross The featured image above and the following text came from this Wikipedia page: “All the styles of the Balkenkreuz used by the Third Reich’s Luftwaffe drawn with the official proportions specified by the… Continue reading Balkenkreuz & Stars for World War II air & AFVs
Immersive and Playable Terrain
I listened to an On Patrol Podcast about Terrain, Not Just an Afterthought, by two gaming soldiers, Fightin’ Kentuckian and Wyndehurst Productions (who I call K&W hereafter). At 75 minutes long, one needs to set aside the time. But it’s worth it; they did a good job. The core themes are the importance of terrain… Continue reading Immersive and Playable Terrain
Gaming diorama look: natural or garish?
Wargamers put a fair amount of effort into modeling their troops and terrain. Ideally, it looks like a diorama. But then they undercut the “look and feel” by adding giant-scaled markers with flashy colors. I call it Giant And Garish, or GAG! Even if all you do is spray paint everything, you can level up… Continue reading Gaming diorama look: natural or garish?
Book fewer trips to Lead Mountain
I suggest reading books & researching rulesets to avoid adding to your lead mountain (a giant pile of unpainted troops also known as a pile of shame). This is for wargamers who have more unpainted lead than finished troops. You know who you are. My most successful wargame projects came from where I first knew… Continue reading Book fewer trips to Lead Mountain
Wargame Campaigns
Henry Hyde is publishing a book, Wargame Campaigns, later this month on Kindle and hardback. Since it is nearly the same name as this blog, I thought it might interest those subscribed. I have no connection to the book. I originally started the blog with the idea of linking games in a larger multi-day setting.… Continue reading Wargame Campaigns
Dice
Dice are part of many games. There’s a trade-off to consider in games oriented to realism. Like its Wikipedia page for Tractics says, it’s not a perfect information game like Chess. In a PI game, like most older Avalon Hill games one sees everything and knows the Order of Battle and reinforcement schedule. But in… Continue reading Dice
Wargame Campaign 