I was short of figures to represent leaders with pistols and thought this could be the solution, but found that the figures were not a comparable size with the AB Figures miniatures that make up the bulk of my units.
I put those aside, but did wonder if I might be able to make up some casualty figures, something I had been unable to find. I've found casualty figures a tricky thing. Not from a painting point of view, but more as a matter of how to do it reasonably tastefully without skirting around the fact that what is represented on the table top is violent injury and death. The main reason for wanting to include casualties is for the photographs for my AARs. If the loss of a senior leader has dire consequences for his force it seems a bit lacklustre to record his departure with a photograph of the empty space his figure formerly occupied. It's all about the narrative I keep telling myself.
In the first scenario of our current campaign 29, Let's Go! a team of American scouts were caught in the open as they pushed forward towards a German jump-off-point. They were wiped out and the casualty figures helped to tell that story dramatically. I wanted something that could fill that role for the Far East platoon.
The good thing about plastic figures is that they are very easy to convert and so I tried to see what could be done with some of the prone 8th army figures.
I found the lower half of the figures would work well using them either face down or face up, however the upper bodies didn't quite work despite a few attempts.
In the end I used the upper bodies from a figure throwing a grenade and one of a leader waving his men forward.
The resulting figures covered a greater area than the normal 20mm round bases I use for individual figures. They also have a slight awkwardness to their poses but overall I think they work well enough.
In the end I decided to base one on a 20x40mm rectangle that I use for my senior leaders, given that of any casualty, the loss of a senior leader is one that I'd consider most important to represent. Painting was kept simple and, as I've done with all my casualty figures, I avoided any gore. I think they tell the story as they are and puddles of blood won't make it any more effective.
Sorry But I have to laugh a little bit at your quest for figures in this day and age where one could probably find an Aztec warrior in a British 1814 red coat! At least that is the way it seems to me who started in the hobby at a time when you could not even get drummers or men with flags and had to make them from infantrymen (Napoleonic wars). We had to modify French or British Infantry to get any other nation! So I think that THIS is the golden age of wargaming.
ReplyDeleteStay safe, Stay healty!
Indeed. I remember seeing Roy Dilley’s work in Airfix Magazine, he did amazing conversions from all sorts of figures turning firemen or racing car it crew figures into everything from 8th army to French Voltigeurs. I’ve done it myself recently on a large scale with my Chinese platoon for WWII. You’re right, we can get more now than we ever could, but not quite everything it seems.
DeleteI think casualty markers are fine as long as there’s no blood. I prefer the sanitized version of wargaming and leave the horror of combat to the movies. 😀
ReplyDeleteI played in an AWI game of Bunker Hill at a convention and whenever a soldier died the GM provided a casualty figure (just guys lying down in various poses, no gore) and I thought it was kinda cool to see where fighting had been the direst.
Unfortunately I’ve seen some awful casualtiy figures with lots of blood and dismemberment. The sort of thing you might do when very young. The thing is, for all that, they don’t look even vaguely ‘realistic’, just rather tasteless. Looking at figures in any number of scales, including life size sculptures and it seems modelling death is very hard to do. I’m happy to keep it simple and focus on it being a narrative device that tracks the flow of action on the table.
DeleteI think that looks terrific. The poses work, and as you say, it's good to see where significant casualties have happened.
ReplyDeleteThanks Doug, I think for quick conversions they’ve worked well.
DeleteLooks good Mark, they are the icing on the cake to finishing off your wonderful collections.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat, glad you like them.
DeleteGood looking and tasteful casualty figures, I agree on the restraint approach, but they are still useful!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
I think they certainly fill a role with the AAR photos and help complete the narrative. It always felt a bit odd photographing a vacated piece of terrain where a figure had been, it told a story but not very effectively.
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