Is 20mm the unloved ginger child of WW2 Wargaming?

This is for Mark really, but I think it may be interesting to see what others think.

I started wargaming in 20mm. I think that is true for most of us who grew up in the 70s and early 80s in the UK. It is almost impossible to explain just how limited your options were as a wargamer in those days. Initially it was just one word. Airfix

I know there were other manufacturers out there making metal models, but if you were like me a young lad the chance of ever discovering them was slim, and even if you were aware you still needed to write and send a self addressed envelope (and possibly a postal order) to get a typed and un-illustrated catalogue. Luckily we had Airfix, and it was available in just about every newsagent and toy shop in the country.

Airfix were the main supporter of my wargaming from the start. That meant for most "periods" their soft plastic 20mm (1:76) figures or polystyrene kits, supported by their rule books initially loaned from the library and illicitly photocopied.

WW2 was the big interest for me. After all the war ended only 30 years before and we all had family members who had taken part. It was possible to play other periods of course, and the idea of fighting Agincourt using just the figures available in the two "Robin Hood" boxes must have occurred,  but the main arena was WW2. Choice was, well, limited. Airfix had a vast breadth of range, but it did lack depth. Germans could happily fill their order of battle with Panzer IVs, Panthers and Tigers, and the ubiquitous German Recce set provided a Kubel and 222, but that was about it. Similarly the Brits could get their hands on a Churchill, Sherman, Crusader and Matilda. This made for exciting times if you were so inclined, trying to convert a passable Cromwell out of plasticard and the wheels from a Crusader etc. Later, Matchbox joined the fray, adding such much needed kits as a Panzer II and III, and a Sherman Firefly. All of this was in what we now call 20mm, and as a WW2 wargamer there was nothing to compete.

But today 20mm is rapidly shrinking into the shadows. Initially 15mm, then more recently 28mm have dominated WW2 gaming. 20mm still survives, but it is no longer the first choice for me and many others, so why is that?

Firstly I should say in many ways it IS the logical scale of choice for some games. Availability of cheap plastic kits in an amazing variety, some, such as those by Dragon are available painted to a standard most of us could only dream of. Figures have also come a long way, and figures by companies such as AB are frankly streets ahead of most of their 28mm rivals in terms of detail and animation. Range is also very comprehensive. In 28mm I only know of one manufacturer makes Belgian infantry, not so in 20mm. Try finding a Sdkfz 132 Marder II in 28mm, no problem in 20mm. Price is also VERY alluring - 20mm kits being equivalently priced to 15mm ones, and usually a fraction of a 28mm one.

The problem is the tyranny of the masses. 15mm has blossomed with popular rules like Flames of War rapidly dominating the market at the "Company" level of gaming. 28mm has followed suit at "Platoon" level even if Bolt Action has a very suspect concept of what a Platoon actually was. What that means is that if you want to play a WW2 game, those scales are where you will have the best chance of finding an opponent. And that, sadly, is a fairly huge factor. OK if your club or group want to either stick with 20mm or start afresh, but once you are in, you are committing to a very fixed group, and if, as often happens, you fall out or move on, then you may end up trying to play solo.

I would also add I like 28mm as a scale to paint. As I grow older I can no longer conceive of painting some of the smaller scales to a standard I would be happy with. That may not include 20mm yet, but it is getting there. And then there is the spectacle. a Tiger in 28mm is quite a lump of eye candy in a way 20mm cant quite manage.

And of course, once you commit to 28mm, it makes little sense to play other scales for similar projects. I'm excited at the soon to be released Chain of Command Fall of France expansion. If I were starting from scratch I may conciser 20mm, (edit - I originally typed 28mm instead of 20mm) but I'm not. I already have quite a bit of 28mm kit that will port over, and a group who prefer to play in 28mm (and another local group who would look puzzled at the thought of playing in 20mm).

So that is why, with some sadness, I wont be starting 20mm again. Sorry Mark, it just does not make sense to me, but I understand why you make the suggestion.

Comments please - let's try and discuss

As Richard Sharpe would say - "Aim low, fire more often"

The internet is a wonderful thing. It allows us to see and share our projects, the materials and techniques we use, and in doing so can be a great source of inspiration. Have a look here and you can see what I mean Canister & Grape blog  Superb work.

Musing a while however, I am also aware that there is also a danger of making comparisons with others projects, and finding yours wanting, becoming disillusioned with the result of another shelved project. This has happened to me countless times in the past.

Looking back at those Boxer Rebellion buildings I mentioned in the last blog post, it is fair to say they are OK, but not great. Of course I would like to be great, and I probably possess some of the skills (not all) to improve them. The question is, because they are not great, should I spend time and money making them better or plough on accepting "not Great" is "good enough"?  I could source some plastic tiled roof sections and incorporate them? Get some resin accessories? Buy in some mdf windows and doors etc?

I'm going to say "no" to all that at the moment, because above all else I've come to the conclusion that although they will never be up to a demonstration standard, what I really need now is to plough on and make the most \ best of what I\we have now so we have enough to make the game work. I can always come back and rejuvenate them at a later date, but for now what I want is volume, not accuracy. They're "good enough" for now

So how to progress? This afternoon, assuming the snow allows, I will spray another three buildings with the hope of getting them finished tonight. That's a bit ambitious I think, but time will tell.

Planning slightly further ahead I'm going to investigate using the same basic buildings as the more imposing Legation buildings. It may seem strange but the offset between the size and scale of the  buildings and the table area means any attempt at a realistic model is doomed to failure. That being said all we need is something representative, and having accepted that, maybe there is some use to be had recycling the old carcasses . I'll stare meaningfully at them tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

No corner left uncut - Boxer Rebellion Buildings

Sometimes I have some stupid ideas. As I mentioned a little while ago our club (Hartlepool Wargames Society) is looking for a social game - something a bit Beer & Pretzels that a lot of us can get around a table and enjoy. We were looking at Boxer Rebellion using "The Men Who Would Be Kings" (TMWWBK) from Osprey.

Last night we gave them a trial run, just using some odds and sods of terrain we have lying around. If we do decide to commit we will have a couple of building sessions - probably resulting in a "my Legation is bigger than Yours" contest :-)  At the moment however we have an embarrassing lack of suitably Oriental buildings - so much so that I borrowed a few from the nice and friendly proprietor of Asgard Wargames in Middlesbrough (Ste didn't need them as he will be shut today and I will return them tomorrow). Even then it became obvious that we will need more, but as we were just messing about on a scratch table we dug out some old mdf buildings that were lying around. These had been rushed off some time ago for a Bolt Action tournament ran by one of our members. Frankly they are as rough as a badgers arse, and painted primer grey, but beggars can't be choosers and we have dozens of the things unloved and unused.

The game went well as a first test, and we are going again tonight with up-scaled forces and more players, but as I was packing up last night I found myself staring at our unloved Bolt Action buildings - could they be converted to use for China in 1900?

The reason I thought it may be possible was the windows - which were more grill like than usual. The roofs are a bit too high and regular but that's a bridge that can be crossed later.

I was lucky enough in my first years at secondary school (back in the 1970s) to be taught woodwork by a Gent called Lawrence Marshall, who coincidentally happened to be my uncle - well sort of anyway, it was complicated. Mr Marshall, as all the 12 year old boys called him, was a man with a terrifying reputation but who turned out to be a superb teacher who taught us how to use our tools with care and attention, take our time,  measure twice, cut once. Sadly this was going to be the exact opposite as I only had a couple of hours between work tasks. At lunch time I grabbed a building I had brought home on the off chance, a pot of PVA, some coffee stirrers and a pair of side clippers and decided to have a go - the aim being to convert one before this evening's rerun. No frills, no measuring, working as fast as I could with minimum tools or prep and just a Mk 1 eyeball and TLAR (That Looks About Right). Mr Marshall would not approve.

An hour later and I was looking for some roofing material - and discovered some corrugated card in the loft. In a total frenzy and a short time later not one, but two buildings were "done".

Inspired or possessed I grabbed a couple of cans of spray and "went for it". Primer white walls, Army painter Fur roof, some really crap US imported suede to base (that stuff is awful).

4:30 and the US spray is still wet, but bugger it I am committed so some very quick drybrushing and detailing.

5.00pm done

And incidentally I also did some more "normal" work AND made a rather fine Toad in the Hole for our tea (Dinner if you are Southern), watched "Pointless" on BBC 1 and was out the door at 6:00pm to taxi my ageing mother to her devotions at the local Bingo before heading down to the club for the game.

Here are the two finished buildings with some Legation defenders

Then at 7pm our game began. Sadly due to my misreading of the rules it ended very badly for the Legation troops who were trying to silence a Boxer battery - they got cut off and cut up amid the ruins of buildings burned in the earlier riots - here is the high water mark as Austro-Hungarian and Italian sailors vie for the glory of reaching the guns first. All the figures are from the Boxer Rebellion range available from Andy C at Old Glory.

I'm rather pleased with the buildings. I still think the pitch of the roof is wrong, but they now look slightly more Oriental, and with a little more care I think they will do just fine - now all I need is the Tartar City Wall and a couple of Legations building and..............

and Stop Press! As I was spreading PVA and cutting coffee stirrers I talked on Skype to the multi talented Dave Gray about the possibility of doing a laser cut roof to convert out BA buildings, and quick as a flash he came up with this - it is a new roof and detailing set. Rather nice I think - Well Done  Dave!