The Bigger Picture

 

Tonight we began the discussion about the 'bigger picture'. That is, laying down the groundwork for larger company, battalion and brigade sized battles. So that by the Autumn, we are playing the full gamut from riots, to ambushes, to a battalion sized battlegroup push on Ambridge.

We agreed on Cold War Commander as our system of choice. Why? First, off we've both played Future War Commander, so the systems are familiar. Next, because it's designed to be scalable. We can group three 20mm figures and call them a section this week, a platoon the next and at a push, a company the week after that. Plus CWC also includes stats for British forces and equipment in the Falklands and throughout Cold War era. Finally but not least, it's easy to play on a weekday night after a bastard day in the office.

 That agreed we moved onto 'Red Felpersham'. Maff had an inspirational idea about running a riot game from the security forces perspective from behind the riot shields - atmospheric, quick, simple and perfect for solo play as well. He'll bash up the chassis of the mechanisms and then I'll do my Tarantino on them. Once we are happy, we'll do one from the rioters perspective.

With that sorted the troublesome issue of rioters in miniature arose. Now I have to confess that I really don't understand why with all the available OO scale model railway urban terrain and 1/76th security forces and police vehicles available, riot figures are produced in 25/28mm?

So we looked at alternatives and I've come up with a couple of solutions - cheap and cheerful but really, how much effort do I want to expend painting up rioters in jeans and a bomber jacket 50 times over? None is the answer. Imperial Guard they are not. I need figures that infer a militant mass but without the need for any real detail.

We didn't get round to having a game. Still, we had a profitable Winter of '79 centred evening.

Cheers
Mark