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?

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: