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My 30mm Spencer Smith Franco-Prussian War figures are one of my favorite collections . I painted them up ten years ago and they have seen quite a bit of 'on table' action and unusually for me I set a total for how many units I was going to paint up - and actually stuck to it !!!
I use a variant of Don Featherstone's 'Horse and Musket' rules which are quick and simple and I can remember them in my head !
Think one of the reasons I like them is that they and the rules take me back to when I started wargaming over 50 years ago and they look like the armies used by Don Featherstone who has been one of the greatest influences on my gaming life . Following a few photos of them in action .
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The Prussian General Staff plan their next move .
The Prussians storm a village !
Artillery in action !
Very nice, the black and white photos look very vintage wargaming.
ReplyDeleteYes messing with photo shop .
DeleteThe tabletop and the figures combine to look like an illustration out of Featherstone. I think you've certainly achieved your aim! What a splendid collection.
ReplyDeleteThank you , Featherstone was a great influence to my early gaming .
DeleteThey do look good but I recall the hassle of moving 100 or 200 individual Airfix ACW figures around as a prepubescent gamer, one false move and you got a practical demonstration of the "domino effect" that was all the rage with Johnson et al at the time, only, it wasn't countries in SE Asia that were falling one after the other! I don't really have much nostalgia for those times, I like how we do it nowadays better! But these still look cool 😊
ReplyDeleteYes Airfix didn't want to stand up independently did they ! . These figure bases are better and not using a cloth on the table helps .
DeleteI did notice the larger bases to be fair! Not using the carpet covered floor of a bedroom would probably help with stability too!
DeleteNo wonder they are one of your favourites, they are lovely!! I must admit when I finally do the Franco Prussian project this is the way I will go, very inspirational.
ReplyDeleteThank you , the Spencer Smith figures are very nice indeed .
DeleteBeautiful figures, terrain, and pictures Tony! Very well done indeed!
ReplyDeleteThanks , I enjoyed painting them and They have been well used .
DeleteSmashing Tony, of all your wargames collections these are my favourites. That picture at the top shows wargaming at it's finest, lovely glossy soldiers on a clean, tidy looking table. I love it!.
ReplyDeleteDid a bit of photo shop on that one to get that 80's feel .
DeleteWell done TONY- I can see why your 30mm Spencer Smith Armies are you favorite- just superb. You've done well with the B&W photos - a very nice touch. Cheers. KEV.
ReplyDeleteThanks , I did the black and white in homage to when the world of wargaming was in monochrome !
DeleteBut were you wearing a shirt and regimental association tie??! 😉
DeleteAlso one of my favorites when I go onto your site. Beautifully done figures on clean attractive terrain. Just wonderful. Thank you for posting these.
ReplyDeletePleased you like them , bit of a wallow in nostalgia on my part ! .
DeleteLovely stuff, Tony, a real toy soldier display! Had the privilege to speak to Spencer-Smith on the phone in the late 1970s. He was then wheelchair bound, he said, but still producing his plastic figures, standard and connoisseur. A very English gentleman.
ReplyDeleteMichael
Interesting , he used to sell them in big bags didn't he ? , they are some classic figures .
DeleteYes, I think they were in bags of thirty. The standard range were in a soft grey plastic, the connoisseur were in a slightly harder buff-coloured plastic. The latter were well detailed, and elegant, ten devoted to the AWI. He even produced French fusiliers for the period, but there must have been a problem with their production as he would sell off 2nd grade bags cheaper, perhaps the musket/bayonet failed to appear?
DeleteGlad to hear my memory is not playing tricks !
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