I first saw Commission Figurines at the WMMS show a good few years back, around the time I was really getting into 10mm wargaming. The display put on by Walt, the owner, was very impressive, even though he was sharing a stand with another company at that point. I was really taken with the mdf figures and sorely tempted to buy some, but for once managed to resist. Then a few years later I was looking to get into Napoleonics IIRC, using a free Warmaster variant, and so ordered some sample figures. These were based up and painted and then as is normal with me, they lay untouched for many years.
Quite by chance on evening during gaming with my chum Dave, we got chatting about these and it transpired that Dave and Walt were good friends and had started out at BT as apprentices many years ago. It's certainly a small World! As Dave had a large collection of 6mm armies, I decided to buy some for use with Bloody Big Battles and broadly around the War of 1812 whilst at Colours a year or so ago. Looking at what I purchased I think I planned two forces, but can't be sure! Anyway, I had a good chat with Walt and left the show happy with my bags of figures.
Fast forward to a month ago and a post by David Crook about moving away from figure gaming to wooden blocks and WoFun figures led me to re-assess my gaming needs. As with other gamers I have a lead mountain that only seems to grow, despite my best efforts. Given this state of affairs I re-visited my mdf figures and resolved to use them to make two simple but usable armies for use with Bloody Big Battles, Black Powder II etc, thus giving me time, hopefully, to tackle me lead mountain at leisure.
An order was placed with Pendraken for some mdf bases and when these arrived, I set about how best to base these with the aim of keeping it simple and quick to finish. The results can be seen below. In total I think both armies cost me around £25 - £30, which I reckon is pretty damned good value.
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| Both armies on parade and are identical in terms of units. |
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| The Infantry, with the supplied drums glued on and dress making pins cut to length and glued into holes in the bases for the flags. |
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| The Artillery were the hardest to assemble, as I cut the wheels in half with a scalpel (very easy to do) and then had to support the carriage whilst the glue set on the wheels. |
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| The Cavalry. I'm unsure whether to add flags to these or not... |
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| The Skirmishers in their 'Egyptian' pose. |
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| The Commanders. |
Now I know there will be some gamers out there writing to their MP's about the lack of two ranks, the wrong frontages etc, but they work for me and I love the simple look, which is the most important thing! In fact I may end up using them for most of my games and off load a part of my lead mountain, but that remains to be seen.
I think the toy soldier look would be a good way to get kids into gaming as they are exceptionally good value and easy to paint. You could even go 'Old School' basing with just green paint. Personally I'm going with my normal basing regime so they fit in with the rest of my terrain etc. My aim is to get these finished before Xmas if at all possible, so watch this space!
My regular followers will now my penchant for my painted mdf blocks in my games. Once again David Crook's post made me thing about these once again and following an exchange of e-mails, I finally made some NATO symbols for them which had been on my 'to-do' list for far too long. the results can be seen below.
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| Samples of the red and blue blocks. |
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| From clockwise at the top we have cavalry, pike and shot, infantry and artillery. |
I was very happy how these turned out and already have plans for some games and even a campaign with them, whilst the mdf figures get painted. Unfortunately a variety of things have prevented me from starting gaming with these, but hopefully I will be able to get them onto the table soon. So until next time...
I have seen the MDF figures at a show and they look a very innovative way of getting a figure look to the table. The seller had painted his armies and had put them in quite big blocks, sort of Volley and Bayonet style and they were most impressive.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few years ago, I made myself a set of the Irregular Miniatures Kriegspiel lead blocks, which are a bit small to handle, but look superb on maps.
They look superb en masse Norm as seen on Walt's stand at the shows. I prefer a much more basic look, which works for me but is not for everyone. These days the game is more important to me, but I will continue to paint my other figures at a more leisurely, once these are on the table.
DeleteI've not seen the Irregular blocks, other than their 2mm range. I like gaming with my blocks and games are so quick to set up.
As you say Steve they do look good en masse. I am toying with the new Baccus pony wars stuff when the shop is open as it will give that sense of scale that can be missed in games. A great purchase....
DeleteCheers
Stu
I think a great purchase too! The smaller scales do give that impression of a big battle and if I were to start again, I think I would go down the 6mm route, except for WWII.
DeleteNow, this is quite a novel approach to rebalancing the number of figures in The Lead Pile! Starting a new project to build up two armies so that you can tackle The Lead Pile at your leisure is creative, for sure. I always enjoy seeing your wooden red and blue blocks in action. The addition of NATO symbols is helpful.
ReplyDeleteWell I've had them a few years so in a sense I am reducing the pile! Glad you like the NATO symbols and find them helpful.
DeleteHello there Steve J,
ReplyDeleteLove the blocks - that is a neat idea for the pike block and the round blocks - are they for command? Those MDF figures are really nice.
It is good to know that I am not the only block enthusiast!
All the best,
DC
The round blocks are for command, with the larger one being the CO. They were originally made for P&S games, hence the pike block. Like oyu, I love my blocks but seem to be failing to find the time to get them onto the table.
DeleteThe mdf figures are lovely and I hope I can do them justice.
The mdf units look great! What a brilliant idea. Like paper soldiers the instant army and mass effect are in evidence, but the added depth of these is an enhancement, for mine.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Thanks James. They are a great idea and the new WoFun figures are an evolution of this and of course the paper soldier armies. The 2mm depth does make them feel sculpted rather than just flat and I've seen them ixed in with mormal 6mm figures and you don't spot they are 2D figures!
DeleteThe MDF units look surprisingly effective and it will be interesting to see them painted.
ReplyDeleteThey do look good to me Peter and I hope my painting will do them justice!
DeleteThis is an interesting post - I can definitely see the attraction of these simple 2D figures. I love 28mm and the better the sculpt, the better I like them, but for simplicity and cost, these certainly have some appeal. If my main interest was games like TtS or Command and Colours, using grid squares etc, then I would certainly consider looking at these types of figures - an entire army for £30 - what's not to like??
ReplyDeleteI still love seeing beautifully painted 28mm figures etc, but my love for that sort of thing has gone for now. Maybe it's due to 33 years of modelmaking as a job and I want something different? Certainly at present the game is the thing for me, hence the mdf blocks and figures. Value wise, you can't beat it really.
DeleteNow that is a great way to get armies set up quickly and cheaply.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly!
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