Although I have travelled a fair bit over Europe and Canada I have never been to Spain, no real interest in the beaches etc, so it was never on my list and now I find myself in my mid 60's it is never going to happen, Spain and me will never meet! So why do I find myself wargaming in Spain so much?
I have a Peninsular project with Brits, French and Portuguese who will be fighting in Spain, I have a First Carlist War project with the Carlists just about done and the Isabelinos on the go and now I find myself going into the Spanish Civil War!!
Now I don't do modern wargaming the nearest I get to is the Quar and it's sort of fantasy WW1 setting, so how did I go down the SCW route? Ebay had an interesting starter set on sale, the guy had painted up two 20 a side units plus some buildings, very nicely done to, very impressed with the standard of painting and modeling, he did a really good job, I looked at it a couple of times and then put it on my watch list, the guy contacted me and offered me the set with 10% off, so I bought it!
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The obligatory Ospreys were purchased and then it was off perusing the Empress Miniatures catalogue and off course a Republican army pack was purchased and a Nationalist army pack was purchased! The packs come with 60 odd figures a side a couple of tanks and machine guns and crews, so I now have a very decent size project, another on the go, when will the madness end!!
I don't really need to add any more to this project although maybe a couple of the strange little armoured cars that featured during the conflict might be the final purchase just to finish it off. The only thing now is to find a decent rule set that will do, not being a modern gamer a fair bit of reading of reviews and other blogs will hopefully point me in the right direction.
Anyway my fascination with Spain continues, on the wargames table at least, I have enough to get a game in as I build up the rest of the forces so it is a nice place to be in with this project.
Hopefully this will be the last time I go to Spain but who knows as the whole El Cid thing interests me a fair bit as well!
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Great stuff Donnie! Like you, I never made it to Spain and probably won't now, although never say never, my daughter has been twice, so it is possible from this distance...perhaps a Mediterranean cruise??
ReplyDeleteGreat looking new project....the Empress stuff really is very nice...was expensive compared with others when it first came out but their prices don't seem to have moved much since then, and others have caught up, it seems to me.
I don't know why Spain was never on my radar Keith one of those things that have passed me by! The army packs were a very decent deal and you get a fair bit for your money and they are lovely miniatures so pretty happy all in all.
DeleteNice looking starter force. It's funny what gets us into a period. I had a dabble with the Mark's Little Soldiers figures. I still have not found rules that are as fun as the figures. I'll enjoy seeing what you discover.
ReplyDeleteI had thought about Marks Little Soldiers as I have seen others do them and they seem good fun but rules! Who knows!
DeleteInstant collection! I like it. The SCW is an interesting period to game. I have not gamed it at skirmish level, though.
ReplyDeleteIt was a boost to get a starter force that allows for a game while I build up the respective armies.
DeleteThe painted figures will provide a good start to your project with the reinforcements to paint. Have you decided upon the rules to use yet?
ReplyDeleteThey certainly have given me a great start Peter that's for sure. As for rules I really don't know yet, doing a bit of digging on others blogs etc.
DeleteSounds like a bargain Donnie. It's a period that's always perked my interest too. Are you going Skirmish or bigger battles?
ReplyDeleteI have read a fair bit about it over the years Ray but never really thought about wargaming it, until now! I have about 80 figures a side at the moment plus a couple of tanks, so bigger battles but not too big, not a skirmish gamer so that was not on my agenda!
DeleteSCW is definitely on my radar, I've got the Bueno uniform book as well as the Osprey and funnily enough I'm re reading Homage to Catalonia at the moment, I'm not a beaches type either but there's tons of history, I've been lucky to work in Seville, Girona in Extramundia and the Basque country, there's a great book by a Nottingham communist International brigader Walter Gregory called The shallow grave worth a look!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
It was always probably going to be the only "modern" conflict I was ever going to do to be honest. Homage... is a good read, I'm a bit of an Orwell fan anyway, thanks for the heads up on "The Shallow Grave" I will get my hands on a copy and give it a go as I've not read that one before.
ReplyDeleteDonnie,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to wargame the SCW ever since Robin Hunt did a series in Military Modelling (I have scans if you are interested). I bought the first Osprey which tempted me further.
At a wargames show in Cornwall, I bought what were a new range from Peter Pig - SCW starter sets. I built up early war forces and have lots of unpainted as well as an extensive library. If you want book recommendations or pointers towards resources, let me know.
As to rules, still searching. I used to use Command Decision and then a version of Spearhead.
Neil
Cheer Neil, the scans would be really handy, that would be great. I had looked at the PP figures a year or so ago when I was going to start but never pulled the trigger, haven't done 15mm in a good while so I think that's what put me off, but the range is pretty extensive and very good looking. Rules research is still ongoing!
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