"Request for Great War Miniatures." Topic

This is a request for Great War Miniatures. I am seriously enjoying painting your figures and I know that you must be busy sculpting new releases etc. However, as I am thinking about a Passchendaele game and having read the Sheldon book on the German army at Passchendaele I can't help but think that it would be extremely useful if you would make the following at some stage:
- half figures or prone figures for placing in water filled shell holes (late war, both Brit and German)
- figures standing firing to place up against the side of trenches, in particular lmg teams (again, late war Brit and German).

So what do people think? Is this a good idea or bad idea? Would people use these figures in a game and want to buy them? More importantly, if GW minis are listening, what do they think?

How useful these figs are partly depends how you model your terrain and partly what level of games you play.

Being a meglomaniac I rarely field less than a division for late WW1 games and have been know to field anything up to fourteen divisions. At this level the figures are really just 3D counters, so whether they can physically stand in the trenches etc doesn't really matter. The trenches are just representational anyway with a large ground sxcale – typicall one 'trench' standing in for a full blown three trench system with firing line, support and reserve trenches.

If doing trench raiding etc on 3D terrain, I can see they might be useful though.

I can see maybe releasing 1 pack with a mixture of such poses. But they are not really necessary for me. I will adjust my terrain to accomodate the figures available. And I already have enough Old Glory late war. So I am using Great Miniatures for early war period myself.

>Being a meglomaniac I rarely field less than a division for late WW1 games and have been know to field anything up to fourteen divisions.

ummmmm… in 28mm scale???

what figure ratio do you use?

w.

It would be nice to have the time but at the moment we're busy making more 'useful' figures (the core range for the French and Americans) We will probably do some firing LMG's at some time and when we get round to making some trench sections we'll do some firing MG's to fit them.

Dave, any news on when the marching British in full kit will be released?

And the French? Will they be late or early?

The Marching Brits should be available next week, I'll try and get some pictures over the next couple of days. There's also another pack of 1914 French (the same basic figures but with extra equiptment) Aly is working on St Etienne and Hotchkiss MG groups and I've just finished the US officers and M1917 Browning MG,and will make the US Hotchkiss next.

Given the 28mm skirmish rules I play (an amended version of NUTs) which can focus on the individual actions of each figure then I thought such figures would be useful. However, it ain't my business!

Nonetheless, thanks for the reply Dave A. Firing lmg's would go some way to representing a late war defensive line. Maybe store the 'half/prone figures defending shell hole' in the 'maybe one day' drawer? Thinking about it – prone figures would also be useful for early war. Plenty of sources mention BEF throwing up a scrape(?) and firing prone?

The OP put forward some good ideas to my mind, however I must admit that what I would really like at the moment is a pack of nothing other than prone dead/wounded as despite the fact the other miniatures in the pack are very nice I'm one of these people that likes to replace each cas with the appropriate figure……and I would prefer that maybe the packs could be seperate packs walking wounded and dead/prone wounded.

A pack that modeled a line of gas casualties with bandaged eyes and hands on shoulders would be an almost essential Great War casualty pack.

I use a great many casualty figures anyway, and for Western Front gaming I think the pity of war needs to be modeled.

"Trench sections"! Great to hear that you will you still be looking at making these. Is this linked to Grand Manner by any chance?

"ummmmm… in 28mm scale???"

I didn't see any mention of scale in the original post. The more general question was about half size figures or leaning MG teams etc.

My late war stuff is all 20mm.

For multiple Corps sized actions I'd usually go with 1 base to a battalion or brigade/regimental weapons company – so 1 fig to 400 men (roughly).

For division/corps sized stuff then I use company sized bases a la Great War Spearhead/Square Bashing etc. So 1 fig to 100 men (roughly).

All very grand when the khaki waves roll over the gaps in the wire – or not, as the case may be.