Uesugi Kenshin  | 08 Oct 2025 4:17 p.m. PST |
Have you ever purposely bought a tabletop board wargame (hex & counter, etc…) to help you create better historical scenarios for miniatures? This could be because you:
-Had no information whatsoever on the battle
-You needed the boxed games map
-You needed the boxed games order of battle
-You needed the Historical information included in the boxed games rule book And so on. For me, "yes" ive done it dozens of times. I primarily play Historical battles vs 1-off games. So I'm always looking at boardgames as a starting point to creating a scenario. Obviously not everyone can afford to buy an expensive boardgame every time they start a new mini project. Anyway. Hope the question is clear. Have you purchased a boardgame to help you create a Historical miniature scenario? Thanks. |
 John the OFM | 08 Oct 2025 4:42 p.m. PST |
None of the above.
I haven't bought a boxed boardgame since the previous century. |
 Dal Gavan | 08 Oct 2025 5:27 p.m. PST |
No. The board wargames I have owned (I did a big cull 20-odd years ago, but kept some) sometimes had useful historical summaries (eg the BAR system from Clash of Arms), but they were bought to play, not to help with mini's scenarios. I find board wargames handle large battles, or operations/campaigns like Market-Garden, better than the mini's rules I've tried. |
| robert piepenbrink | 08 Oct 2025 5:52 p.m. PST |
Not a whole game, no. But I've bought boards--especially geomorphic ones--for use with 6mm and 2mm castings to create portable miniatures games. |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 08 Oct 2025 8:12 p.m. PST |
No. My experience is like Dal Gavan's (except, being a notorious pack-rat, I have never done a cull). |
| John the OFM | 08 Oct 2025 8:39 p.m. PST |
This is begging the question that wargaming boardgames are inherently accurate and realistic.
Shall we simply say "Not proven"?
They're as accurate as movies, or miniature wargaming rules scenario books. Which is to say that biases and prejudice are built in.
It's like using reenactor uniforms as a painting guide. 🙄 |
 Old Contemptible | 08 Oct 2025 8:50 p.m. PST |
Yes I have. I just recently purchased Compass Games "Revolution Road" to help me with Lexington & Concord and Bunker Hill. |
| Martin Rapier | 08 Oct 2025 11:57 p.m. PST |
I sometimes use boardgames as a source for maps, OBs etc, but I wouldn't go out buy one just for that. Like John, I have plenty of boardgames I purchased in the last century… I do keep Victory Games "Hells Highway" to constantly as the maps are based on WW2 US Army maps of the area of operations. |
 20thmaine | 09 Oct 2025 4:47 a.m. PST |
Yes – but it didn't work out. I was going to game the battles that SixteenThirtysomething threw up. But I just played the game instead |
 etotheipi  | 09 Oct 2025 4:55 a.m. PST |
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| huron725 | 09 Oct 2025 5:29 a.m. PST |
No. I get far better/more information from the internet. I do own tons of board wargames, all tactical, single man (like Up Front, Ambush & Combat) or squad level (Lock N Load series of games, etc.). On a side note, I just realized most all of my board wargames are WW2. Which is odd because my favorite era is AWI. |
| PzGeneral | 09 Oct 2025 6:42 a.m. PST |
Bought a copy of Risk to paint the minis for rank and file gaming…. |
| Grattan54 | 09 Oct 2025 10:10 a.m. PST |
I have bought some where I replace the counters that came with the game with miniatures. |
 miniMo | 09 Oct 2025 11:02 a.m. PST |
Yes, I tracked down and bought a couple of boardgames to help fill the dearth of information in English on the Battle of Tolentino. They also give useful takes on scenario design. And both play well as solitaire games too. Technically, only one of them was boxed: Hundred Days 20
link
Jack Gill, the author does his homework. He's done enough research on this that he could write an Osprey Campaign book for it, still wish he would!
The other was a magazine game, written by an Italian but seems to be at odds with known OOBs; the map is quite handy (English translation of the rules was included in the magazine): Tolentino 1815
link |
| Micman | 09 Oct 2025 11:27 a.m. PST |
Yes I have, bought a copy of a moon based combat board game. Looking for ideas for using my Moongrunt figures. Unfortunately it did not provide anything useful. |
| miniMo | 09 Oct 2025 12:35 p.m. PST |
Ah, the eternal quest for a suitable game to go with those lovely Moongrunt figures. |
| Col Durnford | 09 Oct 2025 7:44 p.m. PST |
I have a copy of the 1964 AH Gettysburg that I used the order of battle and entry times as a basis for a miniature refight. A also have a small collection of Zulu war board games that feed my interest, however, they have never been played or even had the counters punched. Lots of other board games have come and gone. I was one of the lifetime subscribers to S&T…. Well, at least I'm still alive. |
 piper909 | 09 Oct 2025 10:42 p.m. PST |
Sure! Especially for pre-gunpowder themes. E.g., Avalon Hill's "Caesar's Legions" or West End Games' "Druid". Maneuver with cardboard, fight the battles with toy soldiers in the appropriate terrain! I also remember a brief time when SPI tried to sell miniatures to use in place of counters for some of their Napoleonic battles games. I'm wondering now if my copy of Decision Games' "The '45: The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745" could be used to set up tabletop battles for my Jacobite armies? |
