Garden Wargaming with 30mm SAE Figures

With warmer weather coming I found myself thinking about how to get more wargaming in. SomehowI just haven't had the time to get games in. On my day off by the time I run my errants, do the required work around the house and getting the dog out, the day is done  and my wife is home. Now

I always feel guilty because I don't get my dog out as much as she should. Last week as I was sitting out in the yard and Molly was enjoying the fresh air, I started thinking of playing with Airfix figures in the yard when I was a kid. With "little Wars" in mind, I was trying to figure what toy soldiers I could use. Now Airfix was fine as a kid, but even based they are still pretty tipsy. I wanted to use metal figures for their weight. While considering which scale to use, 40mm or 54mm, some SAE 30mm British Guards figures purchased several years ago caught my eye. I grabbed a few of them and brought the outside. The size of the bases seemed to work fine. But I only had 8 of the figures. I went on Ebay and found a good size lot of SAE 30mm Civil War figures at a good price.  The figures has seen many campaigns and most of the rifles are broken and some will need repairs, but for what I want them for they will do.

Today was a beautiful day and Molly was itching to get out. When I got home from work the package of figures were in the mail. I grabbed a handful of the figures, some dice and made a quick measure stick.  Using basic rules, as Molly laid in the sun, I started playing with the figures.  While it was just to see if the figures would work, I found not only did they work, but I was having more fun than I should have for the time invested in the setup.  I fought 2 skirmishes, the Union won the first; Confederates the second.  I even decided to snap a couple of shots of the action.

The Yankees manage to cut 2 Rebels off from the rest; discretion being the better part of valor, the Rebs surrender.

Heroscape Civil War battle with 10mm Old Glory Figures

When I first got back into wargaming and was looking for different ideas, I bought a lot of Old Glory 10mm figures. I must admit that I really like the strips of infantry. And when I bought Avalon Hill's Battle Cry game, it seemed that it might be a good match. And then Heroscape came along and it seemed perfect to use with Battle Cry.  However I've only combined them a couple of times. 

I haven't got a war-game in for a while so I decided to have a go at it. After all, for a solo war gamer Battle Cry is great as the scenarios are given with troop deployment, terrain and victory conditions spelled out for you. I decided to use Memoir of Battle by Bob Condrey for the rules. I couldn't find my rulebook for Battle Cry; however I did have an additional scenario supplement that came with the game. I used the Battle of McDowell, May 8,1862.

Part of the scenario for the Battle of Mc Dowell

The set up for the battle.  I still haven't figured out how to have woods that will work with the miniatures, so I just marked those hexes with chalk.

New Toy Soldier Molds

While on Ebay a couple of weeks ago, somehow I came across these molds, which were on the German Ebay site. I got these  molds; unfortunately I could only afford two of them and missed out on some more. I was hoping these would be the same size as Zinnbrigades, alas, no. However, they are nice figures and sometimes I think of maybe trying to sell toy soldiers at local craft fairs. These would be nice additions if I ever do take the plunge.

 

Prussian Guards from the late 19th century.