Der Resin Kavalier

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Recruiting an Army, Part 1

Recruiting a 54mm Army

or, Build an Army, and They Will Come! (Part 1)


Among the comments to my last post was a question about building an army for a small battle such as the one depicted. Specifically, I was asked what figures I would use for either the SYW or the Napoleonic Era. Now arguably, this should be a simple answer but upon reflection, there are other considerations. What tactical level do we want to play? What rules do we want to use? How historical do we want to make this? Is this a low key game with a couple of friends, or is it something you want to show at a local convention or club night?

I recently picked up a book by Neil Thomas called ONE-HOUR WARGAMES and published by Pen & Sword. It is available from a particular online seller in both digital and print editions.  I mention this because the author answers many of these questions in the course of the book (it is a easy read and you can read as many or as few parts as you wish). One of the most useful is how he describes the armies: SIX UNIT armies, FOUR UNIT armies, etc. This provides a plan, if you will, on just what you're going to need, and it's generic enough to do it "your way". It also includes rules for a number of periods. They are basic but would get the job done.

One particular set of rules that I like for 54's, and they were even written for 54's is All the King's Men written by Ken Cliffe. As of yesterday, his website http://allthekingsmentoysoldiers.com is still up and these rules, plus a skirmish set (All the Queen's Men) can be downloaded for free. I find them easy enough to learn quickly but challenging enough to give a good game. I won't mention that I've modified a few parts to "improve" them (at least from my perspective).

Units are relatively small: 12 figures + 2 supernumeraries (an officer and flag bearer) for line, grenadiers, and militia; 6 figures + 2 for light infantry, rifles and cavalry; 4/5 figures + 2 for artillery. The rules also have supplemental organizations for particular situations.

Using Neil Thomas' x-unit armies, I would suggest for the following for a generic SIX UNIT army (the smallest I think feasible): 3 Line Units, 1 Light Unit, 1 Cavalry Unit, 1 Artillery Unit, plus one or two mounted commanders. That's about 66 figures, which is doable over a relatively short period of time (of course, I'm retired so it's easy for me to say that).

Now where to get the figures? I'll go over that in my next post.

8 comments:

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  2. Great start to the article. I have both sets of rules you mention, and they are both good starting points for a small battle. I look forward to your suggestions on which figures (and figure companies, perhaps suggestions in plastic and metal) to start with in 54mm. Perhaps with some discussion (part 3?) on buildings and terrain, both DIY and where to buy certain items. I look forward to the series. Thank you for taking the question on as a multi part primer for the beginning 54mm wargamer.

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  3. I am happy to do so. Who knows? This could start a revolution! The more people get interested in these figures, the more response from the manufacturers. I've noticed that Armies in Plastic (AIP) has begun offering new sets and combinations on their line.

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  5. Although it is a pool of 10 potential units, there is no reason that one could not start with 6 (or 4) units and build up to the complete 10 unit pool.

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  6. I've found the OHW rules work very well for 54mm games, so far we've tried Medieval, ECW, Napoleonic and WW2 on table sizes 4'x4' and 6'x10', they all work well but my preference is for the larger size table. You can also increase the number of units and unit types to give a bigger more challenging game, in our latest WW2 game we had 20 units with eight different unit types (4 from the WW2 section and 4 from earlier periods) so there is a lot of flexibility.

    The rules have come in for a lot of criticism as being too simple, while the 30 scenarios included are well received, this isn't entirely unfair if you are used to more sophisticated rule systems but I feel there is a lot of subtlety in the rule changes between periods which is easily overlooked.

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    1. I will try the rules out on one of my next games. It has been my experience that every set of rules has some idea or concept worth considering. I fully support simpler rules. We are playing a game, something far too many gamers seem to forget.

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    2. Sometimes people criticize rules without even playing them (based on what they think they will be like).

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