"Need for Castles?" Topic

I am an out-of-work architect, thinking of new ways to support my family. I have done a lot of study work over the years on castles.

So I'm wondering how much of Medieval wargaming needs castles, and in what scales?

Many thanks,

Bill

Vatican Enterprises has been making the Hudson Allen castles for many moons now. The Miniature Building Authority stuff is great too:

link

I think the modular approach is the way to go. That way you can wall a city or make a castle depending on your need. Both vendors have breached walls as well that you can add for effect.

If you are into the period…a castle is pretty much the crown piece of your collection. You can use them up through WW2 generally as well. 28s and 15s should probably be your focus initially. Maybe do some Eastern Renn. stuff? There are lots of unique techniques in their architecture (losing buttresses and making the building bases thicker).

Have you considered Modern and Scifi? How progressive are your designs? Both of these genres are really hot right now….15s and 20s being a fair core of it.

The problem with castles is that they differed so greatly over time according to styles, building materials and terrain.

Even within a radius of 100 km of where I used to live in France there were many very distinctly different styles.

I recommend looking at 25mm to15mm Sci-Fi. As an architect you can actually use that training to make buildings that look different, yet functional.

There aren't any good, late medieval/early renaissance castles in 15mm scale, for a reasonable price.

Think Hudson and Allen designs, in a smaller scale.

Someone else does them in an Italian design, but you need to take out a second mortgage on the home just to fund a purchase. Can't recall the name, but they do look superb, just a bit outrageously priced.

Someone is selling pieces on eBay too, but again, they are about $50 USD for a small wall section, or turret, so not within the affordability index of most wargamers, unless they want to do just a small diorama, with one section as a backdrop.

That would probably be Vatican.

Thanks for the advice so far. Very illuminating.

I'm hearing that 15mm and 25mm are the scales to be. No surprise there, though I had wondered about all the 54mm toys on the market with great figures and horses, but no castles.

But working in 15mm and 25mm (do you really mean 28mm?) seems consistant with other wargame periods.

Fifty dollars for a wall section or corner tower seems very high. I know I could do better.

The thing about castles, as architecture, is that every one is unique, except for those built on flat level ground without a river adjacent. In that sense, I would think that a castle would be a commission piece--one of a kind.

But as for building wall sections or typical wall towers as sectional pieces, I should think that I could do a lot better than $50.00. I will look over the sites listed above and get back to you all.

Many thanks for your input.

Bill

OK

I've looked over the Vatican and Hudsen and Allen sites. They provide some answers, but also raise some questions. I note all there stuff is resin cast. My gut tells me this is a mistake, but I digress.

As a student of Medieval military history, combined with being a wargamer, professional architect, and one that has studied European and crusader castles in some depth, I will try to explore some of the issues involved.

There is a certain abstraction on the typical wargame battlefield which cannot be reproduced easily in a single structure like a castle. This abstraction is the figure ratio.

A typical 15mm or 28mm wargame involves "units" of figures, who generally represent anywhere from one to forty real men. But when one involves a castle in the scenario, how can one use anything but a 1 – 1 figure ration, like the ultimate skirmish game? After all, how do you build a castle doorway to accomodate a figure who represents 20 real men? Does a figure carrying a scaling ladder represent one fighter with a single ladder, or does that figure represent 10 men with ladders? Architecturally speaking, it makes a big difference.

So I would postulate that a wargame scenario involving a castle might be abstracted with the same "units" of figures from a typical wargamer's collection, OR it might be a more specifically siege-oriented affair with a 1-1 figure ratio. That's probably two different kinds of castle models.

Can I get some feedback on this issue?

Many thanks,

Bill

Oh, I forgot to ask – what the heck is a Sci-Fi castle? I've never heard of such a thing. Where do I go to find a picture of such a thing?

Thanks

No, not Sci-Fi castles, just Sci-Fi buildings in general.

There is a place for Sci-Fi forts. Generally to hold off bugs. But I was thinking more archtectural.

I would potentially buy generic futuristic barracks in 28mm. Modern Nansens basically. And labs, guard houses, spotter towers etc.

Bill,

You might still want to look at the 54mm side of things. Toy collectors look for back drops for their dioramas. Just a thought.

"So I would postulate that a wargame scenario involving a castle might be abstracted with the same "units" of figures from a typical wargamer's collection, OR it might be a more specifically siege-oriented affair with a 1-1 figure ratio. That's probably two different kinds of castle models."

Yes. There are two ways of handling buildings in general and castles in particular in wargames:

1. Where figure representation is greater than 1:1, then any building model is purely representational of a Built Up Area (BUA). As such, it is the ground scale that is important, not the model scale. Many wargamers use the "one scale down" rule-of-thumb (e.g. using 15mm buildings with 25mm troops). Where figures are based in groups on stands then it is a good idea for the model buildings to have some way of accommodating the appropriate number of stands, or alternatively simply remove the model leaving a flat template in its place.

2. Where the figure representation is 1:1 (i.e. skirmish) then the model scale can be the same as the figure scale. Be warned that that real castles are HUGE in comparison to most wargame models of same, which tend to use "selective compression" in order to convey the feel of the building as opposed to an actual scale model.

I suspect the architect in you will run screaming at this point!!

You might want to skim through a copy of Warhammer Siege and Conquest.

Good pictures of castles and the use of them for fighting battles / skirmishes

I frequently read the name of Hudson and Allen as a point of reference in 25/30 mm but I would like to stress : the castle, although being beautifull, is way to small for today's figures. No good alternative is available at the present.

I'd like to buy into a cheap modular castle for my 28mm miniatures. There probably has to be some trade off between accuracy and usefullness for wargaming.

I always thought the dense-ish expanded polystyrene use in the old GW mighty fortress was a great idea. Light, strong and versatile. And I'm guessing a lot cheaper than resin.

For me it would need to be modular and reasonably priced.

I'm a fantasy or sci-fi gamer.