Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
Second World War - 28mm
Big toys for wee boys
I was talked into this fairly recently - within the last year. A few of the guys played Second World skirmish games using 28mm figures. Until then the only game of the period I'd ever played in this larger scale was a Dad's Army one, where the bumbling Home Guard were trying to hold off German paratroopers out to kidnap Churchill or some other VIP. It was all great fun, but afterwards I dismissed the scale for this period, as it wasn't really suitable for anything but a small skirmish encounter. Its not that I have anything particularly against skirmish games - its just that - well - I prefer my units to be battalions or regiments rather than squads. However, recently I've changed my mind, and here are the pictures to prove it.
The games I saw involved a platoon or so a side, and looked quite fun. The fellas used Disposable Heroes, a rules set which didn't impress me when I first read through them, but which grew on me after a few games. Still, it didn't really see something I wanted to do. After all, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool 20mm man when it comes to the Second World War. Then came two scale-changing games. The first was at Carronade 2007, the show run in Falkirk in Central Scotland. Barry Hilton of the League of Augsburg talked me into playing a small participation game, where I commanded a German squad or two. What sold me was Barry's scenery, married to a scenario which was a little different from the usual line-em-up and shoot games. I'd already bought a squad of nicely-painted British paratroopers at another show, and I bulked them out with a few more - mainly from Artizan, who make superb Second World War figures. It took me a while to get round to painting them, but once I did - and a little longer to crack the problem of how to paint the Denison smocks onto the figures. However, I was delighted by the result. I had my first platoon.
Then a month or so later Barry laid on another game with the League of Gentlemen Wargamers - this time an all day affair up in Kirriemuir. This Normandy game involved a 14 foot x 14 foot table, nice scenery and enough model tanks to satisfy the most ardent Panzer nut. I commanded some British armour, and although we didn't achieve much I did deny the Germans a crucial river crossing - by having a Cromwell knocked out on the central arch (see below)! What impressed me about this game was the was the whole thing looked. The 1/50 scale Corgi tanks and 28mm infantry looked fantastic, and the large scale removed any qualms about wimpy little skirmish games. I was hooked!
As soon as I got home I started surfing, and saw just how cheap all this stuff was. A 1/100 scale tank kit suitable for a 15mm game costs around £6 ($12), while a 20mm one goes for around £8 ($16). I found you could buy Shermans and M3 halftracks on-line for as little as £6 a model - an incredible bargain given they were 1/50 scale. First I had to decide what army I wanted to field. Germans were out of the question, as I really try to avoid playing them whenever I can. That effectively left British or Americans. American units always seem to look rather scruffy but cool, so I was seriously tempted. However, I was tipped over the edge when I watched A Bridge too Far for the umpteenth time. Once I found I could get a Dingo Scout Car with a Michael Cain figure I immediately made up my mind. i was going to raise a battlegroup of the Irish Guards.
I bought Corgi Shermans - Sherman V's, suitable for the British, even though the models were more expensive than their American counterparts. The good thing about Corgi diecast models is that essentially you can unwrap them and then put them straight on the table. Of course I repainted mine and added different markings, but if you weren't so fussy you could easily use them "as is". My halftracks came from Corgi too - £6 each. these were M3's,so to turn them into M5's I (sad geek that I am) rounded off the back corners of the hull. Then came the other stuff - Universal Carriers, a Humber armoured car and of course the Dingo - all from Bolt Action Miniatures, a Sherman Firefly - a plastic kit in 1/48 scale - from Tamiya, and of course the British infantry, a mix of Artizan and Black Cat figures.
Disposable Heroes are simple and fast. While there are probably rules out there which are equally good or even better, you sometimes have to go with the flow, because they're the ones your buddies use. While this is the case here, I actually quite like some of the mechanisms, even though the system takes a little getting used to.
The rules don't take prisoners - if your troops get caught in the open they'll die very quickly, and if you don't get a shot in first against an enemy tank, then your own one will be a sitting duck. We've now played games using several people a side, and we haven't had many problems. That in itself should be a recommendation.
They're produced by Iron Ivan Games, who have a good supporting website and Yahoo group. Actually, we like these skirmish-level rules so much that we've been experimenting with the system for other periods - Vietnam, the Spanish Civil War, and the First World War - all of which are supported by supplements.
The popularity of the rules in Edinburgh is reflected in the way people who wouldn't normally do so are buying diecast models or raising units of Fallschirmjagers, Carlist Militia, British Commandos - all sorts of units for a range of different wars.
I predict this period and this scale will run and run...
The Big Normandy Game : A huge game using 1/50 scale tanks and 28mm infantry on a 200 square foot table!
Irish Guards: A profile of my main 28mm unit
You can also download our homemade Disposable Heroes Playsheet
For examples of 28mm games, see Journal 6, Journal 12 , Journal 13, Journal 14 & Journal 15
______________________________________________________
Colonial The Great War Second World War Indochina