Gaming In Miniature

Indian Troops box art by Strelets Indian Troops sprue, credit  Strelets This review is intended to complement the Plastic Soldiers Review  of the same set.  This review will cover some additional information on the models, how the set relates to the historic rifle platoon and conversion ideas to increase model diversity. Credit  Plastic Soldiers Review   The style is probably best described as 'heroic' with slightly exaggerated heads and chunky weapons, which means they aren't quite true to scale or proportionate but makes distinguishing the small arms on the table top easier.   The uniform is the British Tropical uniform, suitable for both the Mediterranean and Burma theatres - however I believe it was good practice for men to wear long trousers rather than shorts, especially in Burma where cuts were prone to being quickly infected.   There are three different types of Indian troops represented across the kit: Sikh , 'Rajputana' (with t...

A Platoon Attack   © IWM (H 4929)   - Major General Alexander, the Battalion Commander, explaining the Platoon attack during a training exercises in the Nottingham Command.  18.10.1940 Platoons are used as anything between the starting point (Chain of Command) or as the smallest sized combat viable unit (Flames of War) of a variety of t able top games so understanding their composition and building one is a great way of starting a collection. The first platoon composition we'll look at is the British Rifle Platoon. During WWII the British operated with the assumption that about 3 was a good number of things to have under the command of one person.  As such there were 2 sections (a 3 man Been section & a 6 man Rifle Section) in a squad, 3 squads in a platoon, 3 platoons in a company, 4 companies in a battalion, 3 battalions in a brigade and 3 brigades in division.   However it didn't quite work out like that in practice (or even on paper) as there...

Credit: Fine Scale Modeler From reading various forums the scale of miniatures can be a contentious issue with various inconsistencies between manufactures and hobbyists alike as to what 20 mm tall actually means (e.g. over at The Miniatures Page here ). It is also contentious as different people collect different scales, which can lead to odd looking battles when wargaming.  As such there is no correct scale to pick when building a collection but different scales lend themselves to differently sized battles and rulesets. For example, Bolt Action is typically played with 28 mm miniatures but 1/56 vehicles which are technically a slightly smaller scale, please read this excellent Wargame Explorer article on the subject. For example, a tank battle in North Africa or Kursk would be easier to show using a smaller scale (say 1/100) as it would take up less room (and cost less).  Conversely, a skirmish between two squads in a ruined house could be modelled using a larger scale (s...

Having been bed-bound due to a combination of sequential and parallel illnesses (joy…) I've been able to do a lot of reading and research on the history of WWII and how to collect a miniature army ready for gaming.   This blog will detail my thoughts and findings on this subject to aid others to get into the hobby and will certainly deviate into other projects as we go along. I found WWII to be a fascinating, complex period of warfare which truly encompassed the whole world.  Over the past couple of months I have found myself drawn in by the audacity of the leaders, the rapid technological progression and the courage of individuals.  But I've also been horrified at the scale of the death and destruction caused and moreover the scale of the war crimes committed by all sides on all fronts. By building WWII armies for gaming I hope to understand how the forces functioned from the ground up and to see if I can perform better on the battlefield than the historic commande...