28mm western

[martin goddard]

Commercially we need to consider 28mm skirmish players and how to get them to play 28mm western battles.
i might just tell them "they must".
28mm skirmish is probably the biggest area of wargaming at the moment, so they deserve some attention.

At present Western in 28mm uses 8" squares and single figures instead of pairs. Using 8" squares gives 80"(or 72" if end squares reduced) by 48"table size.
Trouble is that a rifle range of 4 squares (32 inches) might seem aesthetically too short. 
The rule mechanisms cannot be changed for 28mm (so there). But I am concerned about the perceived aesthetic.

A 10" square would be good but that needs a 100"( 8 feet  4 inches)  by 60" table ( 5 foot). Or fewer squares?
Opinions?

[Colonel Kilgore]

Sounds like a very big (and probably generally unfeasible?) table with 10" squares!

Before going that far, is it worth reconsidering whether 32" really is too short (we could argue not maximum range, but effective, etc....)?

[SimonC]

32" is fine for 28mm ranges from  an aesthetic view

I play 28mm games where  the range for firearms is 12" to 24"

[martin goddard]

How would you feel about pistols only shooting 1 square (8") ?

[Colonel Kilgore]

Personally, I'd feel fine about it.

I've heard tales of people repeatedly missing their target from point-blank pistol range in the heat of a firefight, so 8" could well be considered maximum effective range!

[SimonC]

its fine with me. Based on my Western preconceptions from TV movies - everything was close up and personal

[martin goddard]

I will put together a set up of 25mm. Some pictures too in the new year. Mike says i can borrow some of his western scenery. I can use the pictures in the rules to give some  ideas of how Western will work/look to the big figure players.

[martin goddard]

I tried to get hold of the 25mm Revell cowboys, out of production. The 1815 ones £7.50 for 12 mounted!  Airfix not found!  I am probably going tp use Warrior plains wars range. John(owner) is a good chap.  8" squares but  on long edge make corner "squares" 4"  by 8".

[Colonel Kilgore]

Warrior plains wars range. John(owner) is a good chap.

And at a very good price too - half that of Dixon's!

[Leslie BT]

So whats the thoughts for the units?
Each base in the 15mm group exchanged for a single figure?
Why not start with 6" squares and see how it goes?
A single figure on a 30mm square is quite generous for foot. Single foot on a 20mm square base, with mounted on 30mm x 40mm.

[Duncan]

I had thought about using some 1/32nd scale figures (like the Zulu thing) but with western figures which they produce a lot of. I was just going to exchange a base for 1 figure and not change the rules at all. I really don't think the ranges would matter that much, I mean you already play about with distances as in although a man is a man, a building on a template isn't and represents a small group and all the usual stuff. I think if people are being asked to suspend belief about horizontal distance for that then it is not beyond people's capacity to do so for shooting especially if only for 25mm.

[Leslie BT]

1/32, the one true scale for wargaming.

It will be difficult to keep it as a wargame and avoid it becoming a skirmish.

I think for the bands that we have in HYITJ you will struggle to get all the figures into a square, particularly if you are  using raw groups and scenery.

[martin goddard]

I agree Les. It would be huge. Assuming 10" squares. 100" by 60".  Is 8feet by 5 feet approx. The trickly bit would be the size of scenery needed.  Would go down well at a show I think.

[Duncan]

When we did Zulus at 1/32nd we had up to 15 figures in a normal sized square. That was a little crowded admittedly and they are a horde as opposed to Western which largely is not. But you do even in a raw unit have a lot less than 15 men, isn't 10 the maximum base no now? Most units seem to be around 5 to 8 in size so I don't think it is an issue.
Also when you look into not there is a lot of scenery available and it is quite easy to knock up some smaller buildings if you want to do so.
Any way, maybe we should try it out at some point in 25/28/54mm etc if anyone has figures, just to see how it plays out?

[martin goddard]

Good thoughts Duncan. 54mm etc is indeed an excellent size for gaming. 
The Weymouth club did  a big project of 54mm ACW many years ago. we all built some figures and scenery.
We got as far as 150 figures a side with artillery and cavalry. For scenery we used a fair few Britains oak trees and buildings.
The game we put on at the show was "Crampton's Gap".
Les is  a master at putting on 54mm games. He even brought a superb WW2 jungle game to club a few years ago. It was a great experience but Les will tell how much volume that particular set up needed ( Les?).
However, i  suspect most  would not have storage room for that size of scenery with that few playing repetitions? That is what cancels out 54mm for me. For most 15mm games I can get my army and scenery into a couple of modest boxes (unless bringing a lot of stuff for others too).