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My (Very) Long Term 1/72 Project

Quiet day here in Berlin, so thought I would write about my long term collecting project. I call it "Ragnarok," and it basically consists of all 1/72 scale sets that are meant for Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern sets up to (but not including) the Napoleonic Wars, so roughly 2600 BC-1783 AD as it currently stands. The base idea is to create a world where all of the sets for these eras can have the option to interact with each other, even if they are missing components and/or do not have very viable historically accurate enemies to fight.

As of now, the Ragnarok realm consists of ten separate but connected regions I call "valleys." The connections between these vary to some extent, but are usually mildly or severely difficult to travel between depending on realistic geography, technologies available at the time, etc. The ten valleys are:

1. Valley of kengir- For the HaT Sumerians.

2. Valley of ma'at- New Kingdom Egyptians and their Late Bronze Age contemporaries. Caesar sets are the most impressive here, although Atlantic's old Egyptian set still holds up really well.

3. Valley of mātu- For the HaT Assyrians.

4 & 5. The Valley of Iron & rei publicae et imperatorum Romanorum (usually shortened to Roma)- The
Classical era sets. The Roman Empire has its own valley, while pretty much everyone else lives in the Valley of Iron adjacent to it, and unlike everywhere else there is not a big natural border separating these two. The empire claims the entire region as one big realm. Strelets sets provide the core.

6. Valley of Midgard- 622-1400 AD Medievals. Dominated by Crusades and Anglo-Norse-Norman sets right now, with a few Orthodox Rus thrown in. This consists almost exclusively of Strelets sets.

7. Valley of tlalticpac- The three Aztec and Mayan sets. I TOTALLY want more of these from somebody in the future. Something with Aztec priests would be amazing!

8. Valley of tianxia- China and Korea. Standard bearers and musicians are a huge problem here.

9. Valley of Oyashima no Kuni ("Country of the Eight Great Islands")- Japan, so Late Sengoku sets from RedBox and Zvezda. In my opinion they need some cavalry sets badly, especially ones with standard bearers.

10. The Gunpowder Lands (could not think of something more clever :joy: )- Most Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, & Muslim sets from c.1400 up to 1783 AD. Warfare here tends to be dominated by sieges of elaborate fortifications. Cavalry command is a big problem, and more types of artillery and associated equipment would be great too. The latest WoSS sets would look good in here... :smile:

The final three use gunpowder weapons and have been made extremely difficult to access from the rest by the gods (most notably Thor and Loki), with the Han Dynasty civilians in Linear-A's Silk Road caravan set being the main ones who even have heard rumors about the existence of these lands. Nobody in The Gunpowder Lands knows anything about the rest of the outside world at this time, although that may change in the future.

There are other facets to the project, but that is the main part of the idea for now. Naturally these sets can also be employed in far more historically accurate ventures when desired as well, so this gives everyone essentially two chances to shine. Strelets sets have often provided the foundation for some of the most powerful factions in many of these, so well done on the production and looking forward to the future! :sunglasses:

Re: My (Very) Long Term 1/72 Project

Your endeavours are to be applauded.

Such fantasy projects are nearly as old as the hobby.

Tony Bath's Hyboria is one of the early ones:

http://snv-ttm.blogspot.com/p/tony-baths-hyboria.html

I have several friends who do 'Imaginations' using made-up SYW-era armies & kingdoms. Indeed, I wonder if Imaginations aren't more prevalent than the strictly historical stuff?

At any rate, I look forward to updates.

donald

Re: My (Very) Long Term 1/72 Project

Paintdog
Your endeavours are to be applauded.

Such fantasy projects are nearly as old as the hobby.

Tony Bath's Hyboria is one of the early ones:

http://snv-ttm.blogspot.com/p/tony-baths-hyboria.html

I have several friends who do 'Imaginations' using made-up SYW-era armies & kingdoms. Indeed, I wonder if Imaginations aren't more prevalent than the strictly historical stuff?

At any rate, I look forward to updates.

donald
Donald's observations about creating 'fantasy' (or purely imaginary) worlds of warring states and the origins of 'early wargaming' are spot on. This remains one of the cornerstones of the hobby, and is after all the main facet of any fantasy gaming.

But the imaginary worlds need not be 'fantastic', merely an adaptation of actual historical realities. The most influential book I ever read on wargaming, 'The Wargame' by the late Charles Grant, used 30mm plastic figures (Spencer Smith) in battles between two imaginary states which are thinly-disguised versions of Prussian and France during the mid C18th/Seven Years War period. Confusingly for me as a youngster reading the book many times over, the armies Grant created for the two warring parties were partly made up of actual French and Prussian units...but with numbers made up of other units as well. So for instance, for some reason the 'Lowenstein-Oels Grenadiers' and the 'Siberski Infantry' ended up amongst the ranks of the (disguised) Prussian side in the re-fight of the battle of Mollwitz, which features as a key chapter in the book. Neither of these units featured in any army list for the army of Frederick the Great that I was able to find at the time!! Only later did I realise that they were not Prussian at all.

Good luck with your venture TheBabylonian109: perhaps we will see some pictures here some time?

Re: My (Very) Long Term 1/72 Project

Thank you both!! Afraid my current abode is not suited for painting at the moment, so potential pictures will have to wait. Always fun to see the artwork on here though, regardless of era! :sunglasses: