A collaborative historical project - A discussion

[kojibear]

The Battle of Fulford
Part of the Viking Invasion of England
Wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fulford

Armies:
Vikings under Harald Hardrada
Vs.
Saxons under the Earls of Northumbria and Mercia

Late to the party gents. Just got back to Japan. As a watcher of the TV series Vikings, I would be quite interested in this proposal, too.

[Lovejoy]

May I be so bold as to knock the War of the Roses (do I still have a veto) and the F&I war on the head and make it a final four? The first because Prim and Lovejoy are already doing it and the second because LJ and I (and anyone other interested parties) are planning to do it in skirmish scale someday (soon?)

Much obliged to you Mr. P! I had hoped the project wouldn't end up being one of those two, but felt it wasn't really fair to veto those if others wanted to do them, given that I'm not that sure when I'll get round to them myself.

1066 Invasion battles - Saxons/Vikings/Normans - seem like a great direction, with some thrifty choices out there in 28mm with Gripping Beast plastics etc. Nice Foundry stuff available too.
The only downside to that period I would imagine, is a slight lack of troop variety.

[Primarch]

The only downside to that period I would imagine, is a slight lack of troop variety.

Yep, Heavy, Medium or Light Infantry for the most part. Saxons do have the option of using some mounted troops in the HC list for them. Normans get a better mix of Cavalry and Infantry.

[Primarch]

Does anyone else have any games/scenarios/battles they want to pitch?
So far we have:
The Battle of Fulford in 28mm
Romes Punic Wars in 6mm
Romes Gallic Wars in 6mm

Any more? Care to be a little more specific on which battles for Punic and Gallic?

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And just to keep up the pressure, enjoy some shots of Gripping Beast's Plastic Viking Sprues.


Or how about a Shieldwall of Saxons based on a 20mm frontage per model.

And here is the same unit with a 16mm frontage for the dense fighting line look.

[The Other Dave]

I didn't have a particular battle in mind for the Punic Wars, no - I'm still more of a broad-strokes historical player.

However! Mike and I did do some PM'ing and decided to try and tackle El Alamein in 6mm (a thread will be forthcoming to see if anyone else is interested, and it's probably a good idea to make clear that it won't impact our participation in this project) so - and I'll let Mike weigh in here, but - I think we can take the 6mm suggestions off the table since probably nobody but me and maybe Mike would really be keen on two different projects at that scale.

So, unless someone else has a cool idea, I'd be prepared to give my vote for Dark Ages, which would have been high on my list anyway - personally, I'd be particularly interested in using sabot bases and trying both a mass battles type game and Saga.

[Primarch]

... personally, I'd be particularly interested in using sabot bases and trying both a mass battles type game and Saga.

It's easy to do, though it does make the unit seem a little sparse as the frontage is about 26mm per man.

However! Mike and I did do some PM'ing and decided to try and tackle El Alamein in 6mm (a thread will be forthcoming to see if anyone else is interested, and it's probably a good idea to make clear that it won't impact our participation in this project) so - and I'll let Mike weigh in here, but - I think we can take the 6mm suggestions off the table since probably nobody but me and maybe Mike would really be keen on two different projects at that scale.

Who was it that said 'let's not do WW2'? If both you and Pikey felt that strongly about it, why bother suggesting Romans in 6mm at all?

[Primarch]

Ok, so there seems to be some support for Dark Age gaming, though I think we're still waiting to hear back from a couple of people. I realise that not everyone is going to want to do the same thing, we all have different interests after all. Of course everyone is entitled to work on whatever projects they want to, ToD and Pikey have already said that they are going to work on an additional side project for example. I think I can say with some degree of confidence that this won't be the only thing we do as a group. Most of us are here for the long haul, so once we get this first group project done, we WILL do something else. So, if you feel that your favorite idea got overlooked this time around, keep it in mind and maybe you'll get your shot next time. With new kits and minis being released on a steady basis there might well be more options by then.

So if you have something to say regarding the current selections or another idea to pitch, please speak up. I'll post up a poll sometime next week with the final set of options and we will take it from there.

[The Other Dave]

Who was it that said 'let's not do WW2'? If both you and Pikey felt that strongly about it, why bother suggesting Romans in 6mm at all?

Well, first off I'll say - and, this being the Internet, I'll state clearly that I'm being completely sincere and not sarcastic or passive-aggressive - that I'm sorry for any miscommunication. I'll clarify: I'm not interested in doing a WW2 project as it was being discussed in the thread, namely either 28mm or a 15mm Eastern Front tank war. I suggested Romans because 6mm Ancients is honestly a project I'm interested in doing, and have been for a while. There's no need to take it off the table, I guess, if anybody besides Mike and I are interested in it, but again the temperature of the thread seemed cool on the idea, while a number of people did speak up about interest in 28mm Dark Ages, and since I'm also interested in that I suggested the focus there in the interest of helping move the discussion along a bit.

So that's where I'm coming from - again, sorry for the miscommunication. I really am open to anything, it's just that 6mm North Africa in particular is something I've been seriously considering starting up on my own for a few years now, and I have a desert-themed board for Epic, so terrain won't be an issue, so seeing that Mike was also open to it makes it easy to decide to spend a few bucks on it.

If there's interest in a wider 6mm North Africa project, I'd absolutely love to pitch it - it's a theater that we don't see all that much play in, El Alamein is a very interesting, not to mention pivotal, battle, that includes lots that's representative of the whole theater, and (and, well, I would think so) the scale and sweep of the battle lends itself very well to 6mm, and I have a couple game systems that would do the scale and theater well.

But, again, it seems to me as well that 28mm Dark Ages has a lot of support, and I would honestly be interested in giving it a go.

[Primarch]

@ToD - Similarly, with this being the internet and the written word lacking in tone and distorting meaning somewhat, let me apologize if you thought I was giving you a hard time over things. I was just a little surprised is all. The purpose of this discussion was to find out what people were really keen on, rather than what they thought others would like.

As far as 6mm WW2 goes, I'm not against giving it a shot by any means and I prefer it to 15mm if it comes down to it. I'm not well versed on the desert war compared to late war Normandy or the Eastern Front, but again, I'm happy to try it. Obviously you and Pikey will get more people interested if you keep things public, that is what this site is here for. Splitting an order of minis may help encourage others (especially those of us with stricter purchasing limits ) and help avoid duplication of forces. Laying out expected costs would also help people plan I think.

So yeah, keep everyone in the loop and see who else wants to join in. Depending on expected time/money/painting commitments, it might be something I'd like to take part in too. Ancients too for that matter.

[YellowStreak]

May be of use: https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/w ... -conquest/