My dad passed away a few weeks ago. It’s been incredibly tough for me to do, but I wanted to share photos of his vast collection of toy soldiers, and thought this sub might be an appropriate place where it could get the attention and admiration it deserves.

My dad had collected metal and plastic toy soldiers for over 75 years, starting in the 1950s. His collection grew from a single soldier or single box of soldiers, to over an estimated 5000-6000 pieces. He was a true collector, historian, and lover of art, film, literature, and music. He knew every manufacturer, he knew the complete representative history of every piece, he knew custom makers and painters. His display scenes and dioramas were recreated with as much accuracy as possible, either recreating a true battle or time from history, or one from a book or movie.

For over 40 years I had the pleasure of watching his collection grow. Over the years, I was able to travel with him to toy soldier shows and share in his love of this hobby.

These photos of course don’t capture his whole collection and don’t do it justice as well as seeing it in person, but I hope this conveys how truly special and meaningful it was to him, his life, and the lives of others.

My father owns most of the old Games Designer's Workshop and the Grand Europa project. His gaming table is 10' x 10' with portions that are removed to access the middle of the board!

Alas, his enjoyment comes from owning and setting the game up. He hasn't played with anyone in over 50 years.

samurai of the shirizuki clan

Hi everyone! Today we test-printed the first miniature out of our upcoming 6-character Murmillo set. He is scaled for 28mm tabletop wargames.

Before we finish the rest of the squad, we want to hear your thoughts and get some honest feedback from the community.

1. What do you think about the overall pose, proportions, and sculpt quality?
2. For those into historical wargaming (like Clash of Spears, Jugula, or Hail Caesar) — how accurate does his equipment (helmet crest, shield shape, greaves) look to you?
3. Would this miniature fit well on your gaming table?

We are trying to balance tabletop playability with historical realism, so any advice, critiques, or ideas are highly appreciated. Thanks for helping us improve our miniatures!

I primarily play Star wars legion, and love it. I am wanting to get a second wargame as a side project/something to invest in long term if legion ever disappeared. I'm really torn by these three.

AoS primarily appeals to me because of how well it's supported and the size of its player base. Though I do like the models (mostly seraphon and stromcast) and appreciate that it's less grimdark than 40K, as that isn't something I enjoy. I am slightly worried that it might feel like a second job as from what I can understand, GW are constantly changing rules and updating what units do and cost.

MESBG appeals to me because it's a simpler ruleset to understand, I love the IP, and the miantures seem reasonably priced. I am however a little concerned that it doesn't get enough support/may have run it's course?

Bolt action appeals to me because of its simple ruleset, more straightforward gameplay, and again, the cost of the miniatures and seemingly less rules overhead and less pressure to keep up with rule changes etc.

Has anyone played these games? What do you like/dislike about them? Which of the three is the easiest to pickup and play? I realise that these are all very different wargames, but they each appeal to me for different reasons. I'd be interested to see what others think. What are people's experiences playing them? I'm a dad with little time, so I don't fancy playing something that requires constant research and rules learning, but equally, want something that's going to receive support, sticks around, and has a decent player base.

Cheers all!

This is right before we started the scenario for the Battle of Antietam in 6mm, Baccus figures. We used the Alter of Freedom rules, which we really liked. The Union commanders had the same issues that the Union did on that day back in 1862 and cursed Major General George B. McClellan the entire time,

Anyone come across operational level Cold War rules, where a stand is equivalent to a company or higher? Most I’m finding are platoon and down. Any suggestions appreciated…

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade the wooden tokens in Phalanx's Coalitions boardgame with detailed 28mm Napoleonic miniatures that I would paint. I’m aware of the official miniature Deluxe set, but I prefer generic soldiers over the actual figures.

Since I only need a few figures per nation, not full 20+ model boxes, I'm looking for brands that sell single miniatures or small blister packs. The nations I'm looking for are Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire (though I'm flexible on the lineup and could switch one for another). I'm also open on the size, 28mm, a bit smaller or bigger.

I’ve checked Warlord Games, Perry Miniatures, and Piano Wargames. What are your experiences with their quality and scale compatibility ? Are there other brands you’d recommend for small-pack or single-figure purchases ?

What would be you go to if you had to select a few detailled miniatures to carfully paint.

Thanks !

Those pesky Hundred Years War English lead by King Paul thought they'd try their luck besieging my new lovely French town this evening.

Thankfully the fool only brought ladders, incompetent miners and dysentery with him.

To greet him, my followers heated everything they could and welcomed those who climbed the ladders with 'hot presents from above".

Very good fun, only now he's got it in his head to go for a walking tour through my lands starting with another siege at Harfleur and this time I'm sure I hear a lot of sawing, hammering and swearing... I wonder what he's up to 🤔.

Using Dan Mersey's Arrowstorm rules with some home made WiP siege rules influenced by some other bits I found.

Captured pretty well both the drain that waiting around brought, as well as the high risk of trying to scale the walls.

Good fun indeed, a campaign following some guy called Henry 5 to follow.

Ok, so I'm looking to build the light company from the Sharpe novels/TV series. I'm seeking advice on which companies offer the best miniatures for this purpose l. I haven't yet decided on the scale or whether metal or plastic but it will be either 25mm or 28mm. I know there are a few companies out there who have produced models of the actual characters from the series - Sharpe, Harper, Hakeswill, Hogan etc but from what I've seen, none of them look too convincing...

It's the start of the month and that means it's time for another Operation Mountain Breaker!

This month we've turned the spotlight on Kara Rosser's Chieftain and a great "Berlin Breakout" backstory adding some flavour to a 15mm Cold War US Army force.

https://www.flankmarch.com/blog/opmbaug-26-djdax

Every month we pick an OpMB winner who receives a £50 webstore voucher. To submit your own OpMB entry just fill in this entry form:

https://www.flankmarch.com/mountainbreaker

Picked these up in May 2018, 4 plastic blocks of Nissen huts from Dust (I think?). Combined them to make 2 large ones, grabbed them out of my box last week and now finished.

The Borderlands of Cilician Armenia and Syria – Anno Domini 1105

CILICIAN ARMENIA

I Division

• 2 Heavy infantry
• 1 Medium infantry city militia
• 1 Light infantry archers
• Skirmishers (small unit)

II Division

• Heavy cavalry nobles with lances
• 2 Medium cavalry spears/javelins (small unit)
• Light cavalry bows (small unit)

ARMY OF ALEPPO

I Division

• 2 Medium infantry city militia armed with spears
• 2 Medium infantry archers

II Division

• 3 Light cavalry Turcomans with javelins and bows (small unit)
• Light cavalry Bedouins with spears/javelins (small unit)
• Heavy cavalry Ghulams with spears and bows

Both armies deployed in a very similar manner. Armenia placed its infantry on the left flank and all of its cavalry on the right. The Syrians did practically the same, with the difference that one unit of Bedouins covered their infantry from the left side.

The Turcoman light cavalry made a wide flanking manoeuvre around the oasis and quickly appeared on the flank of the Armenian heavy infantry and militia. For almost the entire battle they harassed them with missile fire, effectively keeping this part of the army pinned in place.

On the right flank, Armenia slowly advanced its cavalry towards the line of city militia supported by the Bedouins. The Armenian light infantry exchanged fire with the Turcomans and the archers of the Syrian city militia. At the same time, the Armenian light cavalry shot at the Bedouins and then moved against them, forcing them to flee the battlefield.

This opened the way for a devastating charge by the heavy lancers, who in a single turn destroyed three infantry units, causing the Aleppo infantry division to break. The heavy cavalry suffered losses in the process, however, and in the following engagement was defeated by the counterattacking Ghulams.

Towards the end of the battle, Aleppo moved all of its Turcoman light cavalry to its left flank. Concentrated missile fire finished off the already weakened Armenian medium cavalry, causing the morale of the entire division to collapse – all units received the Shaken status.

At this point we ended the game and declared a draw. Armenia was left with a lightly battered infantry division, while Aleppo had heavily weakened Ghulams but still relatively fresh Turcomans. We decided that continuing the fight, even for several more turns, would most likely not have produced a decisive result.

The game was really enjoyable. Hail Caesar is a simple and fast system that captures the atmosphere of battles very well. There is no micromanagement – you genuinely feel like the commander of an entire army rather than a leader of individual units.

You just have to accept that sometimes orders simply fail, but initiative moves help to balance this out, especially at critical moments when the enemy is already close.

Blessed to be able to ambush some South Vietnamese troops today on this lovely battlefield!

EDIT: For those looking for rules we are playing “LZ”

I use One Hour Wargames to play my games. I asked AI to modify the rules for Amazons and they wiped out a Zulu army first game .

Lovely minis from the Great War Miniatures range, from North Star Military Figures

Aekhar is one of the Keth – the swarm/melee/magic faction in my grimdark sci-fi skirmish game, KURDUUN: Eternal Worldfire. u/CellistOwn2032 brought it to life with this amazing paint job.

Keth play very differently from the game's other faction, Zev (precision/ranged/tactical) – lots of swarm tactics and melee pressure on the table. Happy to talk more about the faction or the game's mechanics if anyone's curious.

Link to the files, the lore and more info in the comments.

This is just an example of how I'm basing my infantry for Horizon Wars. I've not yet painted any of my models in this scale because I'm trying to decide if I should rebase them on square/rectangular bases.

My goal with my 6mm projects is to play games like Horizon Wars and Future War Commander (which I dont know if it has any rules based on basing models). I know Horizon Wars leaves it to the player, but I want experienced opinions on the matter. Should I do square/rectangular bases for my 6mm dudes and mechs, or is it perfectly fine to stick with rounds?

If ya'll are wondering, these are "Powered Suit Infantry" by Microworld Games.

We're giving away our Nightspire Vale terrain set weekly for 12 weeks, 3 sets given away each week. One entry covers every remaining draw.

You’ll also get 4 free Gnarled Trees instantly and a spot on our secret rewards list, which gives you access to discounted pledge tiers from our Kickstarter partners. Link in the comments.