"Help me create "Old School" Armies" Topic

All,
So happily I've been able to sell off all of my Historical minis, and am now working from a "Tabula Rasa". I want to do something roughly late 19th century to game using probably Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame rules. I plan on using Scrubys. Have not decided yet on 25mm or 30mm. I know that 25mm has Crimean War bearskined Guardmen as well as Highlanders for the Little Wars look.
What would you all do if starting this sortof project from sratch?

I just bought a bunch of 30mm Spencer Smith 18th century figures. That's pretty "Old School"

From scratch? I'd go 54mm Either Napoleonics with lots of plumed shakos or 19th century dress uniforms with chrome helmets.

Spencer Smith's FPW range and the Shiny Toy Soldiers are beautiful, but shipping to the States is a killer.

Unfortunately, I don't have the room for 54mm or it would be a no brainer.

My Old School project is using the Eureka Toy Soldiers – very nice but not very cheap

coolminiornot.com/352081

Yep Frederick, I am seriously tempted by those.

Spencer Smith shipping is on the high side, but the figs are cheap, so, with shipping, a figure will cost you about $1.12 USD, which is half as much as a Eureka Toy Towne soldier.

Spencer Smith is the way to go!

link

Order away and damn the postage.

The SS Classic line costs about $2.00 USD per figure. The Little Britons are about $3.25 USD per foot and $6.00 USD for mounted. I would go with the Classic range for the cost but the Little Britons for the look.

Again though, adding 35% postage to that really pumps the cost up. I can get the Toy Town figures from Eureka US, and pay $7.50 USD shipping, plus a discount on a big order.

Irregular miniatures do a very nice range of 42mm toy soldier types Franco-Prussian, Austro-Prussian, Balkan wars and colonials which would give you a lot of choice for the traditional toy soldier look.

link

If you are looking for "Old School" wargames, what about the old Minifigs "S" Range figures for the Crimean War and Franco-Prussian War? Available from Jon Cunningham in the UK. I recently purchased a large number of Minifigs "S" Range FPW on Ebay – enough for both sides. Love the figures. Good luck – you are off on a fascinating quest! Let us know what you decide! Kindest regards – Hal

Nick. The figure I gave was with shipping. The Classic figs are.95 + shipping. With an exchange rate of $1.50 USD per pound it's about $2.00 USD a figure. I have a few of the Little Britons and have been paying about the price quoted. it's a good idea to keep an eye on the exchange rate. Sometimes I'll do an order just to see what the cost will be.

If you need some eye candy check this thread out
link

I just started my own project, using 42mm Irregular miniatures.

link

I use 30-33mm Surens and Staddens.

"Old School" however isn't the figures or the rules, it's style of play.

For fans of Old School Wargaming who are visiting Salute this Saturday, my club, the Whitehall Warlords is recreating the first game we put on at Salute in 1976, a Seven Years War battle using mostly Minifigs figures and in-house rules. Drop by for a chat at table GM10.

Phil, your project looks splendid. Curiously enough, I've followed much the same path that you have: first being deeply inspired by that wonderful WI article years ago (I've spent a lot of time poring over the same photo and the advertisement that follows the article), then trying it myself (though I've ended out with 54's instead of 42's), painting in block colours, etc. And Tintin is one of the primary "sources" for my own Imaginations campaigns; King Ottokar's Sceptre was the first book I owned and is still probably my favourite. Strange. Best of luck with your project! Be sure to post updates as you move along.

Nick, these are probably not the look you are going for, but don't forget Irregular's Deutsche Homage range; they are REALLY old school in design, are great fun (I've painted dozens of them) and have a charm of their own:

irregularminiatures.co.uk (look under 42mm--they're at the bottom of the ranges list)

Good luck with your project!

Phil, great looking project. Keep us updated please.

Curiously enough, I've followed much the same path that you have: first being deeply inspired by that wonderful WI article years ago (I've spent a lot of time poring over the same photo and the advertisement that follows the article), then trying it myself (though I've ended out with 54's instead of 42's), painting in block colours, etc. And Tintin is one of the primary "sources" for my own Imaginations campaigns; King Ottokar's Sceptre was the first book I owned and is still probably my favourite. Strange.

Great minds think alike!

Here are some units (Irregular, 42 mm) I finsihed recently (more pictures at link ).

And here are some cavalry figures I finished yesterday (more at link )