"Most anachronistic figure proxies you have fielded" Topic

First of all, science fiction and fantasy figures are out. None of this "Well, I used elves from the First Age in a third Age game, and that is a 12,000 year gap!"
Ditto 40K nonsense.

I mean, what figures designed for one time frame dod you use in a game they were not designed for.
Have I used SYW British in the AWI? In a Jacogite game? Sure, a red coat with tricorn is a red coat with tricorne. within reason, of course.
Marlburians in a Napoleonic game? That is really skating on thin ice.

Some might get snippy about you using 1st Crusade knights in an Agincourt game. However, look at how Medieval and Byzantine painters depicted Troy or Samson. However, they were ot anal-accurate wargamers. Pity that, I would love to play in a Troy game with Hector and Achilles in plate armor (not bronze ) looking like the Black Prince vs Bertrand du Guscelin.

Anyway… ignore mp parameters. You will anyway. This! Is! TMP!

I painted up some 25mm Essex Thracian cavalry as medieval Irish. Why not? The Essex cav were barefoot, and wore tunics and a cloak. Adding a putty hood to some was a piece of cake.
So, I used figures designed for 350BC in a 1350AD army, a 1700 year bump.
I also used Essex Lombards and Carolingians as Irish HC, but that is a much shorter gap.

Simple question. What is the longest time span you have used in an army between what the figures were designed for, and what you used them for?

Should Skythians and Huns used in a Tartar or Mongol army count? Only if you did it deliberately, and not as a "Well, I had them hanging around and thought they would fill the back ranks for a quickie army" thing.

I tested AWI rules using ACW figures. Then I went and bought AWI figures.

OK John I'll bite…let's see…

Very early on in my metals career, in the mid-70's, used Maurikian/Heraclian Byzantine cataphracts as proxies for lance, bow Islamic types in about 1600…so, 600-1600 AD – only 1000 years!

Just recently, used Achaemenid Persian archers painted as early Medes/Persians (say between 700-500 BC) as Afghan mercenaries for an Islamic Persian army (1400-1500 AD)…hey, a sorta turban, tunic and trousers – a low, low 1900-2100 year gap <grin>

But I guess the longest was also back in the mid-70's – old Garrison Assyrian lancers with spear, bow, shield making them a transitional type from maybe 750 BC in a 1650-ish game, again as Islamic cavalry…so MERELY 2400 years.

Of course, I'd never, ever think of doing such a thing again <NUDGE, NUDGE, WINK, WINK…>

I used toy trucks as a wagon train! When I was younger.

I use a robby the robot statue as an arnored trill.
but since youve forbidden sci-fi/fantasy…

I use Afghans and colonial arabs interchangably.

So using WWII minis for 40k Imperial Guardsmen is out?

I have converted a lot of figures into something out of another time period, or for fantasy/SF. The last ones were a gladiator and a conquistador into some Chronopia Firstborn.

So using WWII minis for 40k Imperial Guardsmen is out?

Only if you care for my rules. Most people don't let a petty thing like the OP's rules bother them.

First wargame I was ever involved with I was "given" Airfix WW1 Doughboys in a Napoleonics game. They looked like Boy Scouts and died heroically.

So thats 100 years out.

I use Spartans as WW2 Germans.

I've used Aztecs as Tlaxcallans. And i've painted an entire Italian WWII army's worth of vehicles the wrong shade of grey-green.

Back when there was only one Tusken Raider put out by Grenadier, I supplemented my forces with Ral Partha Pathans. That's half sci-fi, half historical, so I guess I'm only half in violation of your rules.

Grenadier Tusken:

Ral Partha Pathan:

Never done that. I proxy within periods but have never done so across them…

My 15mm MINIFIG Tuaregs and Arabs once rode to destruction alongside my friend's MINIFIG Dervish Army in our replay of Omdurman in 1988 back in Leavenworth, Kansas.

If we'd only had another 300 figures we could have broken those British lines!

I have hundreds of Baccus 6mm ancients(mainly Celts/\Germanic types)that I use for WotR Irish & Welsh, so at least a 1000year gap there

Back when I first got into Sword and the Flame I used Airfix miniatures. WW I Germans for British and Ancient Britons for Zulus.

The worst case of this I ever saw was using a generic looking "towel head" infantry figure as Roman auxila with javelin. The "towel heads" were actually, with malice aforethought, based and equipped with javelins and painted to go with the legion. I was so put out that my dice rolls went to pot and I lost to them as well. My own anachronistic use of longest reach would have to be using Han Chinese javelin foot as Ayyubid javelin foot….

Mongol light cavalry – unpainted, mounted on white card – as Mexican cavalry at Camerone. Gunfighters as Foreign Legion. Fort assembled but unpainted.

The public was not allowed in. These were playtest games. By the time the game was presented at a convention, actual painted figures of the right era were provided.

Airfix French Foreign Legion as Civil War Zouaves (I think lots of folks were guilty of this).

When I didn't have enough Napoleonic commanders, I substituted my SYW commanders instead.

I still feel guilt…

Ashurman is the only one who followed my directive precisely, so I declare him the winner.
Go and see Yvonne backstage for your prize.

Back in the 'bad old days' when living far from hobby stores and there was no internet, my brothers and I used whatever was at hand.

We would have mixed battles between Airfix Romans, Robin Hoods lot, withe the Sheriffs's men chipping in.

To bulk the armies up there were plastic cowboys and indians that came in in bags at the drugstore – the mounted members of each had pegs that fit into holes in the sides of the horse. Cowboys with rifles were crossbowmen, pistoleers had edged weapons. Indians of course were were archers or hand held weapons as per figure.

Additional forces were the Giant toy company sets – there were Romans (half or so actually were in Greek equipage) and a 'Chinese/Mongol' set that actually consisted of black and silver colored plastic figures in plate armor…

With these we had a few dozen actual 20/25mm miniatures from the various periods.

For fantasy we had a few minis – old minifigs and some McEwan Acheron Legion. We fleshed those out with among other things some little green aliens that came with a toy disc shooter – these were 'goblins.'

Currently I have a couple of packs of Essex 'Fuzzy Wuzzy' camel jockeys that I picked up as part of a lot on ebay that are probably going to end up going back in time about 2000 years to the Arabian peninsula as I am not currently doing 'Colonials.'

Well I use Saracen horse archers, Persian cavalry, Turkish Spahis, Parthian cataphracts in my "Worthless Eastern Scum" armies from Assyrians to 18th century Turks. Oh yeah, Assyrians in there too.

I use Napoleonic figures without Shakos in the 18th century.

But the best tale I have is when I used Saurian Behemoths (triceratops with howdas and figures mounted in them as War Elephants because I fouldn't get the Elephants all painted for the convention game show.

I've been watching these helpful Youtube tutorials on how to play Saga.

YouTube link

The guy uses Modern US marines as a substitute for Dark Ages archers.

Didn't worry me any: I'm grateful for the tutorial.

ACW and WW1 as ECW including Doughboys as Cavaliers (the hats were close). I wanted to try out some rules and had only a few boxes of Airfix available.

I also used 15mm Persians as halflings in Warhammer which annoyed a few people.

I will routinely fill out hordes of Medieval peasants with Ancient peasants and vice-versa (ditto for generic seamen). Poor people in crappy clothes all around.

I've actually taken a bit to creating sort of a generic 1500BC-1500AD peasant – shirtless male with flowy pants and a crude farm implement- explicitly designed for this purpose.

However, I still enjoy doing some period research on civvies, their clothing, and the various period appropriate accoutrements they carry.

I was at a con once where the GM's terrain arrived but his figures did not. It was a really nice D-Day invasion game. The borrowed USMC landed and stormed the borrowed Japanese held dunes and bunkers. Correct war just the wrong side of the globe. Improvise and overcome!

GM's terrain arrived but his figures did not

Horror! But awesome outcome! Makes me wonder about substituting contemporary forces (stats, not just figures) in well-known battles…

Airfix 54mm paratroopers have stood in for French infantry when recreating the effect of artillery fire on a colonne d'attaque using a Playmobil 12 pounder Napoleon.

Used to have battles with mixed forces, in the same army AWI airfix infantry with mulitude of Napoleonic figures and ACW confederates as militia. All armies had a mix and were painted in to the different uniforms we wanted for our imagi-Nations. So in one army 1777 though 1865 so 88 years.

I have some 10mm with the wrong belt buckles- they are 6 months early for the army.