Like many gamers of a certain age I've always had a soft spot for the imaginary C18th wars played out by the likes of Charles Grant, but never have taken the plunge mainly due to cost. The new plastic releases from the likes of Victrix and Perry's make a C19th black powder imaginary war possible, but I have been quite taken by HaT's 28mm hard plastic releases. They are more slender compared to the other companies 'wargames standards' but to my mind that gives them a kind of Stadden/old toy soldier look (and they can paint up nice as shown by this photo from their website).
Whilst the Victrix and Perry plastics are very good value for money, the HaT ones are even cheaper. A quick search on eBay has brought boxes of 48 figures up for as little as £7.95, that's just 16p a figure. Consequently I've taken the plunge and bought a couple of boxes to have a look at and see if this is an idea worth pursuing.
For this potential project I am thinking about pinching an old idea from Tony Bath and use Hyboria from Robert E. Howard's Conan books as a ready made imaginary world but we'll see...
Looking forward to watching this project progress. I, like many wargamers of a certain age, have long imagined doing just such a campaign...
ReplyDeleteI've thought about this before and once had a go with the old plastic Spencer Smith 30mm figures.
ReplyDeleteThey were soft plastic and pretty crude so it never got off the ground. The HaT figures look like a much better option!
I'll be watching this with an attentive interest. Imagi-Nations flourish in 18th C. settings, but there is no reason (apart from the mentality / prejudices of 'mainstream' wargamers) they would have 'ceased to exist' by Napoleonic times: like the 18th C. Empire the Confederation of the Rhine, for instance, still offered a mosaic of mini-states and statelets...
ReplyDeleteFor imaginary 18th C. armies on a budget, the 1/72 plastics are a possible option.