Lumme, I shrunk the figs!

Does anybody say "lumme" these days? I think it was a word used in the 1960s and 1970s British sitcoms, and was a staple of kids' comics when I was a youngster. It was the best I could come up with for a play on "Honey I Shrunk the Kids". Enough waffling, the subject of this post is teeny tiny soldiers.

Here's a handy chart to deftly explain the different scales most miniatures conform to. The left hand of the scale is the one most of us are familiar with, Warhammer figures (and most of the well known miniatures games) are nominally 28mm but probably nearer to 30mm. The Lord of the Rings figures are 25mm. Flames of War figures are 15mm scale. At the far right of the scale is 6mm scale, as far as I know this is exclusively the domain of some historical figures, think mass regiments to recreate the battle of Waterloo, that type of thing.

So what about 10mm? Which games can you play at this scale? Why would you want to? It's probably easier to answer the question with another picture. This is a John Blanche diagram from a Tolkien book, showing the Battle of Five Armies from The Hobbit (coming this winter to a cinema near you). There are thousands of figures involved. Imagine trying to recreate this in 25mm scale, you could spend a lifetime painting the figures and need a 20ft board to fit it on!

At 10mm scale battles like this are much more achievable. A standard 6x4 table will be ample space, and armies of thousands can be represented by groups of stands that each occupy a footprint of about 40x20mm. GW's warmaster is a fantasy 10mm game, while historical players have a few rulesets to choose from. Sci-fi players have less choice, there's Epic 40,000 and the newcomer to the block, Dropzone Commander. 

In terms of minis available, there are quite a few manufacturers selling 10mm historical figures, though frustratingly their websites can be a bit coy about providing images. Presumably this suggests that the quality is not that good, why else would you not advertise your wares on your own website? GW still sell some Warmaster figures, though they tend to be much cheaper on ebay. 

It's surprising to me that 10mm is not more prominent in gaming. There are plenty of rulesets that specifically support the scale, while any ruleset can theoretically be adpated with a little work from the gamer.There are many manufacturers, even if you do have to hunt around for some of their images. Despite these obstacles, this is a scale I intend to explore in the near future, with a starter set winging it's way through the postal system in the next few days. 

Scratch built Saxon house

There are some good, reasonably priced dark ages building available on the web, those from Gripping Beast in particular seem excellent value for money. But if you have a little time and some craft materials to hand, it's pretty easy to build your own. Here's one I made earlier.

The first thing I did was browse the web for some ideas. This Saxon grubenhaus seemed nice and simple, it's basically an A-frame with a thatched roof and a door.

I cut out two triangles from foamboard, though thick card would probably be strong enough. Using a viking figure as a size guide, I cut out a door opening. The timber frame door surround is made from a wooden coffee stirrer, easy to cut/trim with a craft knife.

The roof is just a piece of cardboard from a cereal pack, folded in half. The two triangle ends I glued to the roof, using pva glue. There's also a third foamboard triangle glued in the middle to help make the building more rigid.

With the basic structure complete I added some texture. For the daub covering the walls, I mixed some sand and static grass with pva and smeared it onto the walls. For the thatching I was originally going to use bristles from a coco hair brush which I had bought for about a £1 from a local supermarket for just such terrain purposes. However, a quick google showed that other terrain builders used teddy bear fur. I was lucky enough to have an old fake fur cushion cover, so this would be perfect. I cut it up and glued it with pva to the card roof.

The final stage was to make a door. I chopped up some of the coffee stirrer, carved off a few bits to make it look a bit more rough hewn, then glued these planks to a bit of cereal card. I should have left a little bit of card to act as a hinge to secure the door to the frame. Note to self for next time. The very last thing was to paint some dilute pva glue on to the fur thatch and ruffle it up a little. When dry, the stiffened fur is easier to paint.

That's all there is to it. Not bad for an hour's work using a few bits from around the house. I might glue it to a plasticard base and add a few bits, like twigs from the garden, to act as log piles, maybe a spare axe. I would like to build (or buy) a couple more buildings, maybe a field or three, to make a reasonably convincing settlement for my vikings to raid and pillage.

Let the Saga begin

At one time I dabbled in historicals. I had joined a wargame club to play Warhammer, but found that many of the members preferred historical gaming. I borrowed armies for a few games and finally decided to take the plunge with a small viking force. For reasons I forget (it was about 12 or 15 years ago), I never got very far. I painted up a small handful, including these three figures, then moved on to other things. The unpainted horde remained stashed away for many years, until finally I sold most of it.

In the past year or so I  have heard many good reports of Saga, a dark ages skirmish wargame. I mentioned this to my gaming buddy to see if he would be interested. He seemed reticent, so I pushed it to the back of my mind. But then suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, he told me he had bought the rulebook and was busy painting up some vikings and saxons. Game on!

Last night I had my first taste of Saga. After a quick practise game with a very small force, we set up a larger game (a four point game, which is the starter level I think). We got stuck in, rushed towards each other in a really stupid fashion and had both warlords hacked to bits. No matter, the battle continued until finally the last viking fell dead. Obviously we had been foolish and not played the game to it's fullest potential. But even from this brief glimpse we both realised that the game has fast, easy to learn rules, with plenty of scope for tactical thinking, with a bit of dice luck thrown in too. It's played on a 3x4 table, takes about an hour or so, the starter forces are compact (around 24-36 models), with a little leeway you can use one set of figures to represent a few of the factions, and there's even some plastics available to keep the cost down. If that doesn't get the gamer juices flowing, then nothing will!

The first step for me is to assemble a force of my own. I have dug out the old viking figures, some will be suitable I think. I probably have enough figures to put together a 4 point warband, but ideally I would like to build a 6 point force. These figures can be used as either (duh) vikings, jomsvikings or Anglo-Danish. In the longer term I would like to try the Normans/Bretons, but that's getting ahead of myself. The first thing I have to do is strip these old figures and crack on with painting. Let the Saga begin!

Monthly Mini Porn Issue 5

This month's issue is dedicated to just one manufacturer. These figures have been wowing me for the past few weeks, since they were unveiled at the Salute show in London. They are from a new company called Hawk Wargames, designed for an upcoming 10mm sc-fi game called Dropzone Commander. 


There are four factions, these are sample vehicles from the United Colonies of Mankind. I am getting a real Thunderbirds vibe from these figures!

The next race is the Post-Human Republic, presumably an offshoot/progression from the humans. The angular lines are gone and replaced by smooth curves. Now I am thinking Captain Scarlett!

The Scourge are an alien race, presumably with a name like that they are the bad guys. There's a real nice organic/sea creature feel to these models. Is the designer a Gerry Anderson fan I wonder, this being a nod to Stingray?

Finally there's the mysterious Shaltari Tribes. An insectoid race of aliens? 

Remember, these are 10mm scale. The level of detail is astonishing. And they have been designed to actually fit together if you want them to, like this picture shows. Quite incredible!

If you want to see all the pictures released to date then visit the Hawk Wargames facebook page. I am eagerly awaiting more details on the game, prices and the like. This is one set of mini porn that I reckon will be impossible for me to resist. My main difficulty is choosing a faction, they all have different appeals. 

Avatars of War plastic Dwarfs!

Would you believe it? After the post yesterday about Sedition Wars, comes more stunning news about possible upcoming miniatures. Avatars of War are making a plastic dwarf army! Go visit the indiegogo page  for all the details, including a list of all the units, characters and war machines they want to produce, given the funding comes through. Even if you are not that interested in dwarfs, just go take a look at the concept sketches (and then weep at your own pathetic army).


There's a comprehensive list of all the units that they already have planned, and those they will be able to extend to if the funding is raised. Already planned are warriors with shields, warriors with pistols, elite armoured warriors with shields and elite armoured warriors with great weapons. So far, so Warhammer. But also planned are a living ancestor stone statue, a master builder and a mortar with crew. All these will be released whatever happens with the funding.

Now the extras that will be possible if funds allow, in order of targets reached:-

• champion multi part model
• crossbow regiment
• veterans regiment
• treasure hunters
• bear warriors (dwarfs in bear disguises!)
• dwarf king on bear
• dwarf bear lord
• dwarf pathfinders
• dwarf cavalry (bear riders)
• war bears
• valkyries (female dwarf warriors)
• cannon
• light cannon
• geologist
• sniper

That's far too much excitement for me for one weekend. I need a lie down and a cool beer to recover from all this anticipation (not to mention wallet strain). 

Sedition Wars

Sedition Wars, by Studio McVey, is available for pre-orders on the kickstarter site. Go check it out, if you haven't already! For those who have never heard of kickstarter, it's a communal pledge website to help small companies raise money to fund projects. Customers pledge an amount (in US dollars) and if the target amount is reached by the cutoff date, the product is financed. Then the company gets to work to produce the product and ships out in a few months' time.

It's a beautiful little system. No marketing, no middle men, no big company price gouging. Just a fine product being developed for discerning customers, if the target amount is reached. Of course, there was never any doubt about this product given the McVey connection! The target amount was reached within 6 hours, so now there are further targets set to improve the package (more variety in the miniatures, etc).

Even if you are not that interested in the boardgame, the minis are well worth looking at. I would enjoy painting these minis without a doubt, even if I never played the game. There's little detail on the actual gameplay, so by pledging you are taking a leap in the dark, but with the figures this good I reckon it's a good deal. For US gamers it's especially good, they get the game for just $80. Anyone outside the US has to fork out an extra $25 for shipping. Still, at current exchange rates that's £67, which compares favourably with big box miniature games.

So, so tempting for me. There is another big release coming up soon which is also making my wallet twitch. I need to raise some hobby cash to pay for all this goodness. I wonder if anybody would buy my dreadfleet from me?