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Re: Questions for (1) Wargame Enthusiasts and (2) Collectors Both, Please.

as a wargamer it depends on the period. for horse and musket troops i'd be happy to have only a few poses (command plus marching) but for any other era i want as much variety as possible.
a box of SYW figures consisting of 36 men in tricornes marching, 4 grenadiers and 6 command figs is a set i'd buy a lot of.
n

Re: Questions for (1) Wargame Enthusiasts and (2) Collectors Both, Please.

As a wargamer I'm a little outside the box in that I'm not too fond of marching poses. For Napoleonic, etc. I perfer 'advancing' poses with rifle at 45 degrees or leveled and also firing line poses.

At this point I have hardly any Napoleonics or other linear warfare armies so that's a moot point.

For my main areas -Ancients and WW2, I also prefer poses where the troops look like they are in combat.
Repetition is okay, but I like a nice motley look to my Ancients/Dark Ages figures. For WW2 I mostly use metals-FAntassin and AB plus many others

Re: Re: Questions for (1) Wargame Enthusiasts and (2) Collectors Both, Please.

Garrison that is a good set breakdown.
However to compliment that plan for a range of nap to ww2 should consist of buck standard 2 opposing armies

artillery foot horse heavy&pioneer
infantry light/militia line elite
cavalry light/militia heavy remount
command foot horsed
Band foot mounted
multiply by 26 sets for each campaign

Re: Questions for (1) Wargame Enthusiasts and (2) Collectors Both, Please.

Yes, I hear you! I don't mind repetition to a point, but you always seem to get a lot of the poses you least want. My list would look like this:

1760s to 1900s:
Officer
Noncom in action NOT marching!
Standard bearer
Musician (Buglar, Drummer, Fifer, Bagpiper, etc)
Standing firing
Kneeling firing
Loading ramrod
Loading at lock
Defending standing
Defending kneeling
Charging rifle forward
Advancing rifle forward
Charging rifle cross chest
Casualty (Either down or falling)
Lunging with bayonet
Clubbing or stabbing
Marcher
Standing at the ready

1900s & beyond:
Officer
Noncom
Standing firing
Kneeling firing
Prone firing
Grenade thrower
Loading rifle (standing or kneeling)
Light MG gunner
Advancing
Charging #1
Charging #2
Charging #3
Marching
Casualty (Down or falling)
Clubbing or Stabbing
WHERE APPLICABLE:
Radioman
Musician (Buglar, Bagpiper, etc)
Standard Bearer
Bazooka gunner
Bazooka Loader
Flamethrower
Minesweeper
Corpsman

Leave the hvy MGs & Mortars for a heavy weapons set!

Don't forget the comunications and unit structure

From runners and drummers to semaphores to megaphones and radio men, and army has to have its lines of communications at the front line and behind one or both sides of the frontline.

As far as unit structure goes, it thank that a set of 40 to 50 figures should be able to create a typical platoon consisting of:

1) HQ: Junior Officer, Senior NCO or platoon sergeant / warrant, Platoon Radioman/Standard-bearer and some support weapons team like MG, mortar, cannon, catapult or archers. One of a kind poses

2) Section/squad command figures of tow to three poses at one to three or four of a kind. These, would include section level radiomen, buglers, drummers, medics, small flags or standards etc.

3) There would be three to four sections, one section involved in advancing, one in firing and one defending. Possibly, have one extra section on guard or at rest. I’d say one to three poses of four to eight of a kind for each squad.

4) Maybe a few extras like casualties, senior officers, generals or personalities to complete the set also make it a flexible enough unit, for building up larger units like companies or battalions buy buying identical or complementary sets.

I'm simple collector and occasional modeler, I judge most sets by how well they approach my four standards.

Re: Don't forget the comunications and unit structure

Ever since Airfix bestowed the standard 48 piece set on us 50 years ago, I have always wondered why we don't just get a platoon? Most modern armies have about 50 people in a platoon and yet we get set after set where even basic squad weapons and equipment are not in a box of 50 soldiers.

The second box should not be "heavy weapons" it should be the company set with those weapons, radios, officers that are unique to a company. The tripod mounted light machine guns, the 60 or 80mm mortars, the medium range radios.

The third box of figures on a given subject should be the "battalion set" with those items unique to a battalion. The 81 or 120mm mortars, the heavy AA machine guns, and long range radios. And so on up the chain of command for brigade, regiment and division.

Each set higher than the platoon set could have a few extra rifleman poses to make them more desirable so we don't buy 50 platoon sets and one division set, or simply increase the price of each set as they go up the chain of command.

I also wonder why plastic companies don't partner with a metal company to produce figures in the same style that will work together. A plastic platoon set with a metal division commander. Since metal sets can be profitable with fewer sales that seems a natural.