54MM: The One True Scale

[chas]

Those of us who collect and wargame with 54mm toy soldiers aka 1/32 size (I've popularized the phrase 'The One True Scale') trace this part of the hobby back to Our Founder H.G. Wells. His book Little Wars has photos of him out in his back yard playing with metal Britain's minatures in his straw boater before the First World War. The international discussion site for painting, collecting, and gaming etc. is at www.littlewars@yahoogroups.com

In my former print column, Those Fightin' Fifty-Fours, I talked for years about collecting and gaming with 54mm plastics in the old MWAN magazine, which is available at magweb.com (Wargaming Magazines on the Web). Today I own about 20,000 painted figures, organized in armies from Medieval Times to the Korean War. Of course I have terrain and vehicles to go with them, and usually use my own rules, which have been developing since the 1960s.

Every month here in NYC (home of the Forbes Museum, which houses one of the greatest collections of toy soldiers on the planet) I and my regular players time hop from period to period, depending on what I've recently painted up and what we haven't done yet. We do historicial games from many centuries, but we've also done Fantasy and Victorian Adventures On Mars!

There are three annual Conventions held in Pennsylvania. To find out about them and the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, check out www.hmgs.org

Feel free to PM me or ask questions here if you are interested...


(Edit) Update:

Sadly, magweb is out of business, and the Forbes Museum closed. However, 54mm gaming is alive and well on many sites!

[chas]

Kaiser vsersus Czar: I've just played my first 54mm toy soldier game in quite some time. It was a rare moment in the Napoleonic Era when the Prussians, temporary allies of the French, helped them invade Russia in 1812. Plastic Napoleonic 54mms have just been released over the last few years for the first time ever (except for the French and British), and this will be my last "new" historical period. The game saw hundreds of new production figures newly painted and on the table for the very first time for these two major Coalition powers.!

Next up, Saving Gordon in Khartoum, 1885. Historically, Gordon died when the relief force was only miles away (a two day march). Now we can try to set that right with my brand new 54mm Victorian Camel Corps by Armies In Plastic. Good show!

[KingZombie]

Very cool!!! Have much in the way of painted samurai figures?

[chas]

Unfortunately, there are no plastic figures of Samurai in this scale (yet). So I have to get my samurai fun by playing board games such as Shogun, Shogun ("Dice Tower"), Sekigehara, and Senji. In June Richard Borg's Samurai Battles will be published!

The only samurai I have, and they are wonderful, are about 20 put together plastic painted guys from Japan. I also have used cheap Ninja figures for our Hansando game (the Japanese Invasion of Korea). a pal made up some Korean rocket wagons, and we used some hulls as the famous Turtle Ships, since it was a naval battle.

As a 54mm update, Gordon missed getting saved by a slim margin. We've also played a WWII Battle of the Bulge game, with that movie playing in the background, as well as sections of Patton. We're also looking at a Chinese Gordon (the same guy) in China (Taiping Rebellion) game.

[chas]

Its been a while since I've posted here. I mentioned what I've been up to lately in the Other Boardgames thread today. Mostly I've been expanding into more obscure historical conflicts, such as the Russo-Japanese War, and am planning to do some battles from the Crimean War this year. I'm still painting hundreds of large figures every year, and keeping up with the main new product in 54mm.

My latest (and probably last) large period recently has been the Napoleonic Wars, as large scale affordable plastic figures have finally been made for the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian armies.

Also, I've just made my first individual figure bases (out of floor tiles) for those many Technolog (made in Russia) figures, some historical, some fantasy. I'm more into creating rules and scenarios than doing crafty work, but I had a pal help me out here by buying the materials I'd need.

Last Fall I attended the annual East Coaster Toy Soldier Show, near my native NYC in Hackensack, NJ at Farleigh-Dickenson University, which is one of the largest in the country, for the first time in several years (last years was cancelled by Hurricane Sandy, the first time I can ever remember it being closed)--thanks to a lift from Taeblewalker. So I've got plenty of new stuff added to my unpainted pile!

I've been taking a break however, to assemble hundreds of tiny plastic samurai for Richard Borg's board game Samurai Battles: First Expansion Ninja Attack! Now that that's finally finished, the painting table will fill up with 54mm again for The Crimean War, which will feature all kinds of troops, including Napoleonic, which can pass for the period as well. The new Technolog sets I got for this conflict include Dismounted Cossacks, Caucasian Rangers and Turks. Its been great fun researching this period, especially the more obscure battles in Eastern areas where the Russians fought the Turks without French or British participation! This lead me to examine Turkish war of the Nineteenth Century from Napoleonic to 1877.

Two of my new board games have my latest favorite infantry type: Austrian Grenzers, who were East European (a place I've traveled to now) and used-- as the Russians used Cossacks-- as border irregulars, in this case against the Ottomans. In Hold the Line: Frederick's War they are used as trained in that earlier period as hand to hand fighters, in C&C Napoleonics: The Austrian Army (Expansion), they were used as sharpshooting Light Infantry. Napoleon called them the best troops of Austria, and he took some over when he gained their territories after defeating Austria! So I'll be painting some up with their brown tunics and light blue pants, when San Diego Toy Soldiers expands its Alamo Mexican line (I'm lazy, and they are moulded in the proper light blue).

Although I like historical games, I'm not too fussy about exact details--a shako is a shako. My philosophy is that of old European films: "The entire Spanish Army was played by the entire Russian Navy." Actually, uniforms of past centuries were never as "uniform" as they were supposed to be on parade. An American Confederate soldier once referred to their clothes as "our multiforms," and the Duke of Wellington once complained that bercause new British uniforms were cut in the French style, his men were having a hard time telling friend from foe in the smoke of black powder battles. Actually, despite his trade embargo, it turns out that Napoleon had to buy uniforms from England--maybe that's why.

Historical truth often makes for a strange tale.

[Serenity]

Sounds like lots of fun. You should post a picture or two with your updates on your battles,

[chas]

My latest project in 54mm is The Crimean War, one of my Obscure Wars projects I've been waiting all my life to game out! Now there are figures available that, if not totally correct, are close enough. I'm just now learning digital photography, so maybe some day you (and the rest of the internet audience) can see some photos; there are a few now on the site listed below at the end of this post.

I've gamed out two battles, and am just setting up for a third in what will be a larger series, now that I've finally got a scenario book on the conflict, as well as other reference works:

1. Inkerman: the big infantry battle with the British and French defending against massive Russian attacks.

2. Balaclava: an alternate huge all cavalry action (only the third I've ever done) using my 54m Light Brigade (by Armies In Plastic).

3. Tchernaya River: Yesterday I set up the 498 figures by assembling them on the temporary unit mounting boards I use and putting together the unit stands on cafeteria trays. Today I set up the terrain on the tables, and Monday we'll play. The French and Sardinians (Italians) will defend against the last huge Russian attack of the war!

4. Next up: Eupatoria: a battle between the Turks and the Russians. There is lots of variety in the CRW scenarios available, some of which are in other parts of the world besides Crimea, such as the Balkans and Asia!

I have collected about half a dozen books on the subject. Since it is an obscure subject, here are the two most recent and most valuable:

The Partizan Press Guide to War Gaming The Crimean War by Stuart Asquith with Stephen Allen (Partizan Press, 2012)

The Crimean War by Orlando Figes (Picador, 2010).

This is a pretty new topic for wargaming and is coming into fashion a bit. I don't know anyone else who is doing it in 54mm. For more information on my project, see www.littlewars@yahoogroups.com

[chas]

Another recent Obscure Wars project not yet started is the Maori Wars of New Zealand! Again, detailed background information is just becoming available here in the USA. I recently chose a British regiment I painted up years ago as appropriate (so far they've played the "Martian Fusiliers," in my only steam punk game on Mars) and then got a book with an illustration of a unit uniformed exactly that way (scarlet uniform with havelock) and said "that's confirmation!" They were originally French Foreign Legionnaires.

[chas]

MY OWN RULES

I'm really a scenario guy, and do workmanlike but not museum quality figure painting. My own unpublished rules were taken from the old systems of the 1960s, and I've modified them quite a bit to work for different periods. I started with the American Civil War and World War II back in that time (based on figure availability), and have been working ever since to allow myself to use 54mm in any period as real battle (not skirmish) rules. As more Big Scale figures became available, I moved to those periods.

These rules exist mostly in hard copy and on very old computer files. Here's what I've done so far, in over more than 50 years of miniatures gaming:

RULES SETS BY CHAS

(11/14)


SWORDPLAY AND STRANGERS Medieval/Fantasy, 1 figure:1 man
Medieval war band ‘Companies’ of 25-50 figures basic unit, Company captains, Army Commanders, Heroes. Melee and missile weapons, armor and cavalry types, castles and siege trains. Optional fantasy races, monsters, and magicians. Have at thee!


STAND AND DELIVER Seventeenth Century English Civil War, 1 figure:20 men
25 figure Regiments, 10 figure cavalry squadron, artillery. Individual pikemen and musketeers, generals. Dragoons and Forelorn Hopes. Egad!


SMOOTHBORE DAWNS (THE RIFLES TRILOGY VOLUME ONE)
1755-1859, 1 figure: 20 men
Rules for FIW, ARW, 1812.
Regular companies, light and grenedier companies, riflemen, cavalry types, artillery ammunition supply, gun and ammo types. Fire, melee, morale, generals. Basic, optional and Advanced rules for all Rifles Trilogy rules. Volley Fire, lads!


SBD MODULE I: NAPOLEONIC NOONS Napoleonic warfare 1796-1815
Detailed rules for infantry squares, more cavalry types, special nationality rules, etc. Aux arms, et allez!


SBD MODULE II: CRIMEAN WAR The Crimea and elsewhere, 1853-56
Detailed rules for nationalities, mixed weapons types, etc. By jingo!


CIVIL WAR DAYS (THE RIFLES TRILOGY VOLUME TWO)
The American Civil War 1861-1865,1 figure:20 men
50 figure infantry regiments, 10 figure cavalry squadrons, individual artillery guns firing different ammunition types, morale, many detailed rules for special situations and scenarios. Ten sided dice and six sided dice used. Rrestricted recognition, sharpshooters, same state opponents, black troops, special detail functions, looting, naval, etc., etc, and so forth. Skirmishers forward, at the double quick!!

NINETEENTH CENTURY NIGHTS (THE RIFLES TRILOGY VOLUME THREE)
1866-1913 1figure: 20 men Victorian Colonial Wars and Imperial Entanglements
25 figure modern Battalions, modern arms, sometimes against larger indigenous populations fighting with earlier period weapons or other modern forces. River boats, fanaticism, hidden movement, and much, much more. Load, present, fire! Good show, chaps!


DOWN IN FRONT World War I 1914-1918, 1 figure:4 men
50 figure infantry companies, cavalry, early armored vehicles and tanks. Artillery barrage types, evolution of small unit tactics during the war (or not), maching guns, poison gas, mortars, grenades, flame throwers, airplanes, undeground galleries, trenches, etc. “C’mon you apes—you want to live forever?


RECON AND RUSHES OF WORLD WAR II
World War II 1936-1945 1 figure:4 men
50 figure infantry companies, 4 vehicle AFV companies,a nd offboard artillery.. Fast action with extremely varied weapons and terrain for all possible global environments. Specialized elite units, paratroopers, armored and amphibious warfare, combined arms, airplanes, and all options from communications to prisoner interrogation! This is the original game, playtested for over 50 years. Previously published to popular acclaim and use. We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall never surrender!


These rules pretty much overlap, so if I want to fight other struggles, I just pick the
most applicable rules (except for The Ancients Period, The Renaissnance, or more modern wars) and make scenario modifications. My rules are pretty typical, its the scenarios I do that are unusual. I'll list the hundred or so games I've run next.

[chas]

MINIATURES SCENARIOS PLAYED

BY CHAS 1968-2014

Fifty Years of 54mm Wargaming From Medieval To The Korean War


Key: (C) = Convention Game (CL) = Club Game
(H) = Hypothetical Historical I = (Imaginary)

This list represents over 100 games in over 30 different conflicts that I have run with 54mm toy soldiers using my own wargame rules. Most were based on historical battles, those that could have happened but did not (‘Hypothetical’) and a few were imaginary. Thanks to all who have gone before for their inspiration, especially H. G. Wells and Donald Featherstone. Let us hope that the great Age of Wars is now ending. It has been left to the traumatized humans, even those like me who have not served, to act them out.


MEDIEVAL AND FANTASY

Swords Against the Skraelings: The Vikings In North America (C, I)
Storybook Medieval: The Sherrif of Nottingham Assaults Greystoke Castle (I)
With many diverse characters both Good and Evil such as William Tell, Robin Hood, Vikings, And Etc.
Small Skirmish: Two Nobles and a Boundary (H)
Kullikovo: Mongols Against Russians 1380 CE
Fantasy: Tolkienish Forest Encounter (I)
Men, Elves, Dwarves, Amazons vs Orcks, Skeletons, and an Ogre (with Magicians)
Hansando 1592 The Japanese Invade Korea


THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR 1642-1651

Twittington Manor (Early War) (C, H)
Edgehill I: Rupert vs Ramsey On The Royalist Right
Edgehill II: Parliament Counter Attacks
Windsor (H)
Cheriton


THE SEVEN YEARS WAR IN EUROPE

Rossback
Leuthen I: The Kirchberg
Leuthen II: The Churchyard


THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR

Turtle Creek (Braddock’s Defeat) (CL)
Ticonderoga (Fort Carillon)
Landing At Louisborg
Quebec


THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The Battle of Brooklyn
Oriskany
Sartatoga
Yorktown Breakout (H)


THE NAPOLEONIC WARS

Assaye (Wellington In India I)
Argaum (Wellington In India II)
The Peninsula (H)
Vimero
Liepzig I: The First battle of Wachau
Leipzig II: Mockern
The British Navy vs Pirates (I)
Kaiser vs Czar: Norther Russia, 1812
Hougoumont (Waterloo)


THE WAR OF 1812

Murray’s landing (C, H)
Bladesberg (near Washington, D.C.; polayed twice) (CL)
New Orleans: Chalmette


POSTNAPOLEONIC EUROPE

The First Carlist War In Spain Algeria, 1834
The First Carlist War In Spain Oriamendi, 1837


THE TEXAS WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Fannin At the Alamo (H)
San Antonio de Behar (H)


THE MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR

Molino Del Rey


MERCENARY ADVENTURE

Fillibuster Expedition: William Walker In Nicaragua


THE CRIMEAN WAR

Sebastopol: The Light Brigade (H) All cavalry; The British vs The Russians
Inkerman The British and French vs The Russians
Tchernaya River The French and Sardinians vs The Russians
Eupatoria The Turks vs The Russians


THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

The East
The Attack of the Confederate Second Brigade (H, Ninteen Sixty Eight)
Artillery Road (H, played twice)
Benjamin, NC (H)
For Facuppee, Florida (H, with British Intervention in the Florida Keys)
Bull Run: Blackburn’s Ford
Bull Run: Matthew’s Hill
Bull Run: Henry House Hill
Maryland Heights: The Garibaldi Guard
Antietam: The Cornfield and The Sunken Road
Antietam: Crack In The Cornfield
The 14th Brooklyn and The Pennsylvania Bucktails vs The Confederate Texas Brigade
The Streets of Fredericksburg
Brandy Station All cavalry
Gettysburg Lookout Tower, The First Day (H)
Olustee, FL
Secessionville, Charelston SC 1862
Ft. Sumter, 1863

The West
Shiloh
Pea Ridge
Valverde
Glorietta Pass
The Great Galveston Raid


THE VICTORIAN IMPERIAL/COLONIAL ERA

The British
The Indian Mutiny: Treachery At Chinhut
The Northwest Frontier, India (H)
Gunga Din (I)
The Egyptian Campaign: The Camp (H)
The Sudan: The Train (H)
Khartouom: Rescuing Gordon 1885
Zulu War: Fort Durban, Natal (H)
Zulu War: The Kraal (H)

The French
The French Adventure In Mexico: Santa Poco (H)
The French Foreign Legion: North Africa—Hold the Fort (H)
The French Foreign Legion: North Africa—The Advance Column (H)
The French Foreign Legion: Syria—Fort Zindertrois (H)
The French Foreign Legion and the Gunboat Navy In Indochina: Up The River!
Vs the Black Flag Pirates

The Spanish American War
Cuba; Kettle and San Juan Hills
Puerto Rico: Coamo
The Philippines: Second Manilla

The Italians
Abyssinia: Adowa I 1896:The Center Brigades
Abyssinia: Adowa II: Dubormida’s Brigade

The Taiping Rebellion In China
The Ever Victorious Army (H)
“Freddy and The Pirates” (H) Amphibious
“Saving Princess Aya” (H)
Gordon In China: “The Guns of Shanhai (H)

The Boxer Rebellion In China
Hsiku Arsenal

Steampunk Science Fiction
Victoria and Alexander On Mars (I)
The British and Russians Rescue Their Colonists from John Carter of Mars

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
The Defense of Chingchou

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION OF 1916

“Brisco County and Pancho Villa” (I)
(Also with Tom Mix, Ambrose Bierce, Lt. George S. Patton, Jr, and baby Anthony Quinn)


WORLD WAR I 1914-1918

Tannenberg 1914
Fort Marcel: The German Assault At Verdun 1916 (H)
Capture The Command Post 1918 Trench Raiding-US vs Germans; played twice
The Big Push: 1918 (H)


INTERWAR

China: the Warlords, 1924 (H) Multifactionj Nationalists try to get gold to the railroad
Russian Civil War: A Treasure Hunt (H, I)
Multifaction; With Young Indiana Jones, Baba Yaga, and many others
The Spanish Civil War: University City, Madrid 1936


WORLD WAR II 1937-1945

WESTERN EUROPE
Operation Fjord: The British In Norway (H)
Operation Sword of Victory: The Germans Invade Britain (H)
Operation Monte Olympus: The Italians Invade Greece (H)
Operation Drop On Rome: The US Doesn’t Turn Back! (H)
Operation Allies Three: The US, British, and French In France (H)
Clash of Armor: Germans vs Americans (C, H)
Battle of the Bulge: Defense of Charleville (H)
Operation Dutch Canal: the British Attack The Germans (H)
A Canal Too Far: The Allies In Holland (H) Five plays, including (C)
The Weismar Escape 1945: Save The Scientists (H) British, Russians, and Germans try to capture/escape with German scientists

NORTH AFRICA
Operation Desert Pirates: The Germans Attack The British in Libya (H)
Operation Algerian Maginot (Operation Torch) (H) The US vs France.
Thala, Tunesia The British at The Kasserine Pass (H)
Operation Patton’s Punch (H)

THE EASTERN FRONT
Operation Luftwaffe Sector (H) Russian Paradrop on reinforcing German armored column
Operation Karlsgrad Bridge (Stalingrad) (H) Played twice
Operation Prussian Crossroads German attack and Russian counterattack. (H)
Kursk Skirmish July 1943 (H)

THE PACIFIC AND THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER
The Singapore Campaign Game Series (H) The Japanese attack the British in successive defensive positions
Operation River Slim (H) The Japanese attack the British at Singapore
Operation Burma Road (H) Japanese vs British
Operation Dündee (H) The Japanese invade Australia
Operation Island (H) The US attacks Japan
(CHINA)
Commando Mission To Hua Qing Hot Springs (I, CL)
Adventure in the world of Terry and the Pirates, with Saburo Sakai, Japanese Frogmen, Chiang Kai Shek, and many others including The Dragon Lady. Played at The Toy Soldier Company.
The Temple Out of Time (I) played twice; 3 players
Nationalists, Japanese, Communists, archaeologists, temple ogres, and The Dragon!


THE KOREAN WAR
Chosin Resevoir, 1950 The Chinese Communists attack the US Marines

(Edit) This list is updated on the next page!

[chas]

NI HAO!

"May you live in interesting times!"
--Old Chinese Curse

Its finally happened--a mainland Chinese company has started producing 54mm plastic toy soldiers for the very first time just now! The name reminds me of the odd translation of English by Japanese anime; its Overall War Nation (OWN). Their sets can be seen at www.hobbybunker.com

The first four sets are Chinese and Japanese for the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-5) and two sets of German equipped Chinese Nationalists for the Second SJW (aka WWII).

When I was in China in the mid Eighties, I saw this industrial giant awakening to the world market. Now they are entering the ranks of Toy Soldierdom. Its about time, since they've been making them for foreign companies for years now!

(Edit) I have received the four new sets and they look great. Unfortunately, word comes that OWN is already out of business. I'm hoping another start up will take their place in China to make more figures.

[chas]

Other New 54mm Toys For Christmas 2014:

A rare Engineer Basevich set from Russian on The Winter War with Finland.

Expeditionary Force: (The newest American Company):
CSA Militia In Shell Jackets: several sets to form up a British Victorian battalion unit (or CSA) in havelocks (French Foreign Legion style neck protectors) and a smaller one in flat caps for US Mexican American War or Prussian Napoleonic Milita. I've been watching the MAW scene from the old North and South mini series, which shows the uniforms nicely!

Toy Soldiers of San Diego: German WWII late war troop add on set.

These are the first new figures for me in about a year; not that the unpainted figure bags don't hold plenty to work on! So figures cover the painting table yet again, and the weather has been mild enough here in NYC so far to allow the needed ventilation without turning my own apartment into The Winter War!