Just thought I’d do a quick post to document the completion of a few 2mm ECW units. These boys are the first off the production line, but there’s a whole lot more waiting in the queue behind them.
I tried 2mm about 3yrs ago and made a right pigs ear of it. With no ready access to the internet (where we lived in France was zone blanc) I was unable to copy the work of others who had gone before me. Well that was my excuse anyway. Now that Lee has kindly made me a gift of his unwanted 2mm stuff I’ve got my hands on an example of how it should be done and have been able to copy his technique. Cheers Lee!
With my Wofun troops off on extended leave in the Midlands these will be my only way to fight ECW battles for now. Having already documented my “can’t be arsed” attitude to setting up a big 6x4 table the adoption of this scale might well overcome that issue.
I’ve gone with Twilight of The Divine Right for army level rules and despite a few awkwardly phrased sentences (that led to some head scratching ) they will definitely suffice. My only tweaks will be to have 1 base per unit rather than the suggested 2 since it seems unnecessary, and to adjust the movement distances by a gnats cock to accommodate the 3cm base width.
The scenario book that I purchased with the rules has a seemingly simplified orbat for the major battles it covers but who am I to argue with an alumni of the Wyre Forest games group and member of the Pike and Shot Society. If it’s good enough for them I shall consider myself covered against the comments of trolls like Wulfgar414.
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| Normal gaming distance |
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| Yes I did put gabions around the artillery.They look a bit like mini sausage rolls. Mmmm. |
Even at my glacial pace I should have two reasonably sized armies done in a matter of weeks so my thoughts have already turned to what to do with them. I could do another different ECW campaign, or I could just attempt to refight historic battles. In any event the battle fields will only occasionally exceed 2ft square and with the lovely Vauban and castle sets from Brigade anything seems possible.
TTFN
Teeny, tiny, for sure, but they look great as presented.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan, I think they’ll look good when seen as an entire army. I have a large baggage train and a number of ancillary units to include alongside the main combat arm of each army.
DeleteIf the hexes were still a thing you would like to do with this scale, I notice Battlescale do some nice resin hexes, some with terrain relief on them, the point being that they are 80mm wide rather than the Kallistra 100mm wide, which you may think becomes a good way to maximise equivalent play space. It wouldn’t be that cheap to do a big table, but a small area looks do-able and may be a better fit for the 2mm, even the buildings. If I can think of any other ways to spend your money, I shall not hesitate to advise :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm, your encouragement of my butterfly has already been documented on this blog. Lol. However even with my fairly intensive trawling of the internet I’d not come across those battle scale hexes before - so useful info to have. I’d actually decided to go entirely hex free on this occasion, partly because I’m tired of adapting rules and partly because I’m a natural dare devil. I ordered a rubberised battle mat - some of which i intend to cut up and use as contoured hill sections (it’s 3mm thick). The battle scale hexes and buildings look pretty good so they may yet make an appearance in another project. I’m always grateful for the odd heads up.
DeleteLovely stuff! How did you do those gabions?
ReplyDeleteI tried the sister rules to Twilight if the Divine Right, Twilight of the Soldier Kings, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Very solo gamer compatible, and I think the rules in this series share some similar mechanics. Reviewed them on my blog earlier this year.
PS You just can’t stay away from the ECW can you?
Hi nundanket, the “gabions” are actually sections of a cocktail stick. Something that’s been inexplicably hanging around in the kitchen drawer for years. Inexplicable because to the best of my knowledge there’s not been a single cocktail made in our household at any point over the last 38 years! I did see your rules review at the time but never thought I’d be playing army level games back then. They do share a lot of the same mechanics. As to staying away from the ECW, you’re right, but there are two things at work here, firstly I’ve a serious interest in all aspects of that period from religion and politics through to military matters - and secondly I’ve watched my blog followers drop away on by one as I’ve pursued my VSF project. Sometimes you have to give the people what they want… N’ est-ce pas?
DeleteI wouldn’t know about giving people what they want. I’m a Remainer from Grimsby.
DeleteBest line of the week.
DeleteI know I'm late to the party here, but been meaning to chip in: I do like 'Pike & Shot', so great to see your 2mm project, but it would also be a shame to stop the VSF, great fun even though not my period at all! I'd always hope to just blog about what I'm enjoying doing, and not really worry about numbers of views etc. If you are really enjoying yourself, it will show in the writing and people should come back - and your writing is always entertaining. The victorian 'Protect and Survive' was lovely! Maybe I'm just an idealist.. :)
DeleteHey David cheers for adding a comment. I’m glad you like the VSF stuff and you can be assured that the second mission in that campaign will be my next post. I inherited most of my blog followers from my first attempt at blogging (which was very conventional ECW wargamey stuff) and doing something slightly unconventional now like VSF was probably not what some folks felt they had signed up for. It is a little niche after all. In any event I’ll probably just keep on keeping on and we’ll see how things develop.
DeleteAh - understood. Reel them in with ECW, then get them hooked on VSF.. it's a cunning plan 😄
Delete🤫
DeleteThe units look surprisingly effective, the bright colours used certainly help.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, yes you are right about the colours. Bright colours might be to bright compared to the original fabrics but the small size of the figures needs something to lift them out of the terrain so to speak. There’s little room for subtlety in this scale it seems and even less for detail. It’s amazing how you can trick the eye with just a series of coloured blobs.
DeleteThose look great! Are they the figure blocks with the musket and pike together? How big are they please?
ReplyDeleteHi KK, cheers for dropping by. The ones in the pictures are all in one blocks, and I have the 3 different sizes to represent small medium and large regiments. The ones picture are 20mm x 5mm and 18mm x 5mm. The smaller ones will be 15mm x 5mm.
DeleteVery nice indeed JBM! The basing sets them off a treat. Artillery look great behind what my dog would recognise as marrowbone biscuits. Really looking forward to seeing what you do the terrain, because for me that's one of the main attractions of the scale.
ReplyDeleteHey Lee, thanks for the kind comments and the support I needed to get this project rolling. Marrowbone biscuits yeah definitely, though the current Mrs broom reckons they’re mini fig rolls. Lol. Not sure if they were a great idea. I’m also looking forward to doing the terrain and I’ve lots of ideas on that score but I must be disciplined and at least get two armies done before I get distracted by other aspects.
DeleteThey are very nice but they are so far away…
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you could use these to create a version of Perry Miniatures TravelBattle… PocketWars ?
All the best. Aly
Hi Aly, very far away indeed, even with my super dooper new glasses. The whole set up should be something you could pack away in a briefcase, though that was not my original intention. It certainly would be portable though.
DeleteThe bases look great. En masse- the attraction of 2mm!
ReplyDeleteHi John, thanks for dropping by and following the blog. You’ve now given me tons to catch up with on your blog…
DeleteYeah the en masse of 2mm is going to look good I think, I tried it with 6mm on the old blog, which worked fine but the boys were always susceptible to bendy pike syndrome - which became the bane of my life. Lol.
They look great! Bright colours certainly are de rigeur to make them pop when at gaming distance, plus the gabions are a nice touch:)
ReplyDeleteHi Steve, glad you like the gabions - I’m still a bit in two minds about them. I just keep thinking of them as sausage roll refreshments for the artillery crews!
ReplyDeleteHopefully my comments will appear after google keeps stopping me from posting from iPad ! Anyway very nicely done, the basing and colours etc are all excellent and I guess it’s a pretty close cross over from board game to table top. The scale will allow the larger battles to look really effective but also allows a far better representation of terrain. Enough has been said about sausage rolls and marrow bones but I think it looks good .
ReplyDeleteHey Graham, no worries. Between blogger and Google it’s a wonder we manage to put anything out on the interweb. I note a lot of people have been having their blog photos re arranged at the moment and for me the format of central picture or off to one side is weirdly something that seems to randomly change. To come back to your central point I agree it really is a transitional genre somewhere between board game and miniatures, but probably the only way, given my limited space here, that I’m ever going to fight big ECW battles without having to fight the wife as well. We recently discussed moving house (again) in order that I could have a dedicated games room, but I just don’t have another move in me to be honest (unless it was back to,France) :-)
DeleteHa I never got the move to France I’d hoped for but I did get a games room and games loft so some compensation.
DeleteOur last house move ( 2 years ago) was more than enough certainly couldn’t go through that again!
Tiny and gorgeous, most impressive job at this scale, love the gabbions!
ReplyDeleteSalut Phil! Merci beaucoup!
DeleteAs you know I’m a big fan of 2mm games so I shall be interested in how this turns out. I haven’t had my 2mm ECW troops out for some time and this might just be the incentive I needed.
ReplyDeleteAnd just where did you think I got my inspiration from prey tell? I can blame Lee and his 6mm Baccus boys for getting me into that scale and you for showing me what was possible with 2mm. I’m really looking forward to getting these lads on the table.
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