Cue photo...
As a wargamer it is a my duty - like every other wargamer - to grumble about everything in the hobby, and indeed this blog serves a very cathartic purpose for just such grumbling. But unlike a certain type of wargamer (you know who you are), I don't the expect the objects of my grumbling to do see the error of their ways. I am perfectly happy for people to enjoy their hobby in anyway that they see fit.
So having got the disclaimer out of the way... I am free to grumble.
Did you ever notice.... that people who play GW games have a tendancy to be a bit.... well.... institutionalised?
I pose the question because on a forum today - and yes I am aware of my views of forums, and one day I may explain my volte face - but on this forum there was someone wondering about 25mm WWI figures for a game they were planning. Now I don't know why they didn't just type "25mm WW1 figures" into the search engine of their choice, rather than search their enquiry with the group, but they didn't.
As this is a period for which I am currently collecting, and having spent far too long surfing around window shopping, I decided to share the fruits of my labours, by leaving a list of manufacturers they might like to look at and a forum they might like to visit.
Having done my boy scout good deed for the day, I went in search of Ogre rumours.
A while later I checked back and found someone else had replied.
The suggestion was, had this person considered using Death Korps of Krieg figures from Forgeworld. With the proviso that while they are 28mm not 25mm, not WW1, and the weapons aren't right, they did have long overcoats, Coalscuttle helmets and gas masks.
Which is where I come to the institutionalised point.
In this month's WSS Rick Priestley has a column (don't worry if you have never heard of the magazine) in which he discuss's's's's's (es) scale creep - or how 28mm is the new 25mm, therefore the 28mm point is largely superflous. I did find myself rather gobsmacked at the suggestion. Not least because the Death Korps of Krieg figures are £35 for 10, whereas if you opted to buy from Renegade you could get 48 figures for the same price. including delivery.
Now don't get me wrong.... I am as bored with the numpties that go on about GW prices as the next man.... but I found myself wondering how insulated from from the wider wargaming world do you have to be in order to think such a suggestion is useful?
Not that there is anything wrong with being souly and singularly engaged with the GW hobby. I realise this is an accusation often levelled by the reformed smokers who have gone over to PP and Battlefront - ironically without irony - .... liking the culture of GW doesn't make you a fan boy... indeed I liken it to criticism often levelled at Americans, that they are insular, parochial, and never travel - which I always think is a bit daft because if you live in America why would you need to travel, you have everything there.
It's just a bit... well... sad really that someone should suggest a set of models, clearly designed on historical architypes, in place of the real thing.
Funnily enough, one of the uses for my Bolsheviks - should I not find anyone to play my fiendishly brilliant game - is using them as Imperial Guard.
WARNING, do not use these figures for Death Korps of Krieg.
peace:)
It does make you scratch your head somewhat. My main hobbying revolves around the GW games, they are the settings and ranges that appeal to me most.
ReplyDeleteBut i would have thought it obvious that a range of miniatures based on an exaggerated version of WWI style uniforms equipped with obviously sci-fi weaponry was not the best way of getting troops for a historical wargame.