"WHACKY UNITS" Topic

Two questions.

1. How many of you male "whacky" units?

2. How does your gaming group feel about them?

For myself I do only Imagi-Nations in the 18th century so I may have an advantage on many but I make plenty of these.

1. A three rank firing line unit of 36 miniatures with little flags at the end of the mustkets that say "BANG."

2. All the flags have puns and mottos on them.

3. My present projects are…

A. The Personal Guard of the Princess, (all female figures dressed "en hussar" with the regimental musician being a "one-man band" with a huge Zylophone, drum, cymbals, and keybord.

B. A Bateau Train. This is a Pontoon train on steroids with rather large canal boats on the carriages. These each have a small cabin on them that can sleep 8, swivel mount guns, and stowed rigging. The perfect sort of thing for the ruler to sail down a river and see all the happy peasants waving in front of the Potemkin Villiage.

C. A militia regiment showing the militia on their "Militia Sunday" meeting on the town square. Some are having their picture painted, some are playing bowles, some are feasting at the tables, some in a sing-song around a spinet, some being propositioned by ladies of the evening, some at an amateur theatrical in front of stage sets. I can't wait to see the reactions when I show up at a con with this.

D. My horse artillery which consists of a small wagon with a boxy structure on it, and on a reinforced post are two small naval carronades.

E. I am also completing the officer figure for my "Alt Knickerbocker Hussars." This is for all intents and purposes a Prussian black hussar regiment. Only he standard has a drawing of the Headless horseman (with jack-o-lantern on a black field. The officer figure is of a man on a horse, with a jack-o-lantern in his arm (with the hussar Mirliton on it), but he's riding a horse stuck on a little four wheeled cart (and towed by another hussar) and the horse has no head. On the officer tag on the base it says "I'm the Headless Horseman) and on the other side the tag reads "And we're the Headless Horse!

In a similar vein, the regiment known as Lord Donefore's Horse has an officer figure which is simply a stand with a slight mound on it and a white cross, with flowers on the mound. Lord Donefore is long done for, but his spirit lives on with the regiment.

Some nice ideas, but no, I don't have any such "whacky" units.

No Whacky units, mostly 15mm ACW, however….

I have a Band unit (musical instruments) that can effect the morale, good and bad, of units within earshot.
A 2 x3 inch stand of about 8-9 cows that seem to like hanging around roads and impede unit movement.
Some officers at a map table that I use as a "mulligan" counter (re-roll).

Definitely on the low end of whacky, but ya gots ta have somefin

I've been thinking of adding Alternative Armies von Rotte dwarves to my games along with some Brigade Games British Gnome Marines

Two of my teddy bear tricorne units are polar bears--and since it was pointed out to me that the Bowdoin College mascot is a polar bear, I have a mock-SYW standard--black Maltese cross on white field and the center (obverse) the Bowdoin seal, and the center (reverse) the Bowdoin polar bear itself.

My male unit is VERY wacky. Just ask the Ladies. I have endorsements from around the world.

Seriously though……
From a past clearance sale at Brookhurst of Foundry, I have far too many Prussian musicians.
I also have the Eureka Saxon oboists and bassoon meisters. Plus the string quartet and KPE Bach at harpsichord. These dudes became the baggage guard at a recent Bennington game.

They will also show up in my sedan chair racing game.

Aside from a unit of Warmaster Dwarf Handgunners in Tennessee Titans colors (with teeny-tiny Titans logos on their helmets and hats), no.

Not yet, but I may have to now!

Brazilian Colonial Dinosaur Herders and Tiny Tricorne Punkrabbitt… as Imagi-Nation projects are strictly for my own pleasure, I have no opponents to be concerned about :-)

Are "whacky" units the ones made up of wiseguys?

Those are clever, Otto, and sound like great fun. I generally game with Colonials, but in an Imaginations sort of way. The flags or command of nearly every unit have at least a little silliness: my British have a flag with a rather portly profile of the late good queen; my Sikhs have flags with various wild-eyed guru types; some of my commanders have "cartoon noses"; all European troops have rosy cheeks; I have Laurel and Hardy in highland dress with my Scots; a Prussian officer has moustaches out to his shoulders (looking very much like the one illustrated in the original Little Wars, if you're familiar with those drawings); and my Abyssinians have an array of flags representing stone, Easter Island-like idols (don't ask). All are in 54mm, painted in high gloss. I love them!

Punkrabbit, your last sentiment is spot on.

No Wacky units, although I had one planned for Clan War (The Legend of the Five Rings miniature game, i.e. pseudo-Japanese fantasy). A friend found me tiny Pokemon figures about the size of lesser oni (think minor demons or devils) as well as a Pikachu to command them. So I have the parts but as interest in Clan War died years ago, there's no point in basing them. Mind, if there's another game where pokemon figures could substitute they may eventually be based and "see the elephant."

Do scythed chariots count as whacky? If so, chain me to the wall!

A few – the Teddy Bear SYW units plus a couple of units of Eureka Toy Soldiers done up as French Legere, artillery and Guard and a unit of Dwarves done up as Roman legionaries

coolminiornot.com/352082

coolminiornot.com/352081

coolminiornot.com/385212

I am about to start a medieval unit in bright orange – I was finishing off a couple of other medieval infantry units in more conventional colours when the Little Prince suggested I do one up in orange (his favourite colour)

In Raleigh, NC, long ago, I witnessed the terror and brutality of the dreaded Napoleonic 15mm Quarter-Pounder, a tiny cheeseburger mounted on a gun carriage.

I have a Dark Age Irish unit where the Guinness harp is painted on the shields.

A friend did a Gaulish command stand featuring the fierce,grimacing warriors waving severed heads,and a proud banner displaying a big yellow smiley face.

Several years ago in Utah I saw an army of Warhammer 40K Orks with armor done up to look like the Chick-fil-A cows, to include looted vehicles painted in the Holstein black and white pattern and various banners painted in the same style as the CfA billboards. Very funny.

I sold a 96 piece lochoi of Greek hoplites with one having the square and compass of the free and accepted Mason's on his shield in the second rank, wonder if he noticed

My Dwarf army uses an old Armorcast slave cart to haul a bottle of Barbecue sauce, when they are fighting beast men.

Absolutely none.

No whacky units. At all. People familiar with my work might be shocked at that statement. I would say that weird things in a weird milieu are actually normal.

The only time I field units that are outside the bounds of the milieu I am playing (which, itself can be quite whacky) is when I need proxies, usually based on lack of numbers.

Does that count as whacky?

In Raleigh, NC, long ago, I witnessed the terror and brutality of the dreaded Napoleonic 15mm Quarter-Pounder, a tiny cheeseburger mounted on a gun carriage.

"You know what they call a quarter-pounder with cheese in Paris?"

I like to do "impractical jokes" on other gamers. That't the reason all the colors and standards of the army have jokes on them Like on my Heavy Cavalry Unit from the 19th Century "Reiters of the Purple Sage" the standard has a small poem on it.

"Here lies Lester Moore.
Took four shots from a 44
No Les
No More."

But I recently completed my regimental guns for the Princess' Army. These are small howitzers, and each regiment has one. I use up my oddball figures that didn't work out in projects on them. I made up the myth in the army that this is one of the means of "competition" in the Army between Colonels. All of them spend lots of money for outlandish costumes, with odd ball and anachronistic themes. For example one regiment has it's men dressed as Manchu soliders, another, Zulus, (the bull-hide shields are stuck in the ground as protection. Another has amazons, another female pirates, Roman Legionaries, and so forth comprise the gun crews. Of course some players are horrified by the huge amount of artillery on that side. It takes them a few turns to realize that the howitzers have NO fire or melee value and then I tell them they only are used to fire off fire-works on the Princess' Birthday and Anniversary. They have no game functiona at all.

They have one other function, on New Years Day they add all the plumes and feathers and their bands compete in the Mummers Day Parade.

God protect me from 'Whacky' wargamers, jesus………

I have plans for a unit of the Loyal Septembrians. Whacky is good. If we don't include fun in our hobby then our hobby is pointless – in my opinion.

Hey, this is my first post on TMP. Huh.

Aaaaaaanyway -- this is a good 60% of the reason I want to get into Imagi-Nations wargaming, and indeed, into wargaming at all: to create ridiculous people, and make them fight over ridiculous things.

Oh, sure, I could put (figurative) blood, sweat, and tears into creating a purely realistic imaginary nation, adhering as much as possible to historical examples and, you know, common sense -- but that doesn't tickle my sense of play in the same way as, say, a nation called Slapsitrania whose major import is cheese logs, because they have a voracious appetite for them but strict cultural and social taboo against pressing nuts into dairy products. And you just know that when their neighbor, The Sovereign Kingdom of The United States of Los Narizones Peludos, decides to raise the tariffs on cheddar balls as a way to punish Slapsitrania for that unpleasantness at the drive-in last Friday, and this close to The Feast of Saint Benatar…?

There's gonna be a dust-up, over on Squeeble Ridge.

So, yeah, that's where I stand. I'm just getting started, but I know where I'm headed.

And it's gooftacular.

My Imagination army is all units filched from other armies; must all be wearing mirlitons. My Imagin-nation is Mirlitonia. I need to make some Whacky conversions for my head of state and staff figures. Maybe even a cuiraissier unit with mirlitons.

Was working on repairing some troops damaged in a war game Saturday. While I was putting away the figures after the game I saw two "officer" or "general figures" I use in the game, mounted on individual stands with their name and generalship value. By the poses they had, mounted on their horses I had inspiration for two conversions. One is sitting square in the saddle of a standing horse, leaning forward a little, hands on the saddle in front of him. I am attaching a "HUGE map" draped over the neck of the horse, the head, the flanks, and trailing on the ground in slowly unfolding folds. If you had it in real life it would be abut 18 ft by 12 ft. Two other figures will be helping support it and hold it down from the wind. Typical war gamer as general, the map is always not detailed enough.

The Other is a general with one arm out to the side, it was cast that way to make it re-positionable. I have put a mandrel through the hand and am sculpting a skunk he is holding by the tail. Repositiong his other arm up to his nose and General Schwerbei will be a comical figure indeed, especially as the skunk is looking up at him.

One of the Turkish officers had his sword break off. I'm modeling a tray with small pastries on it and calling him Mustafa, Lord of the Baklava.

Otto

The more common definition of a "mirliton" is "a toy pipe which produces harsh musical sounds. In the ballet "The Nutcracker" the Dance of the Reed flutes is sometimes called the Dance of the Mirlitons. As a "toy pipe which produces harsh musical sounds" could also be a Kazoo, the opportunities are endless. The Kazoorassiers, The Kazumui Samurai, or wait for it… "The Minions of Kazooloo?" For those old farts around who remember back into the 50's and 60's there was a mens fragrance called "Canooe." and the add jingle was "Can you Canoe"-- one can adapt it to "Canyou Kazooloo"

@Ottoathome; I've heard that before. A friend sells kazoos at re-enacments and uses the older name, mirlitons. So perhaps I need a Staff Band all playing kazoos?

Dear Spotoon

The problem is that with any sort of table top scale the kazoos would be too small to see. It would look like they were light up a pipe or smoking a cigarette…

Now…

If you made a model of a kazoo about the size of one of those 20 foot Alpine horns and had it in a wagon…

Or made one that wound around the rider like a tuba…

Wait a minute, isn't a tuba a big kazoo already?