Friday 30 August 2013

Tackling a Plastic Mountain (Carefully)....Part 2

I have previously mentioned that due to work my evenings during the week are rather limited in respect of any gaming related activities I can undertake. Anything too complex or demanding is now left to the weekend  for the most part. Last night however, I managed to sort the tan half of the 800 plastic infantry I have into poses in order to give me an idea of what I had that would be readily usable for my planned 1935 to 1945 set up. The results were far better than I could have hoped for!


Six of the ten poses that make up the set

Of the figures in the picture above the tan collection has given me the following numbers figures in each pose:

  • Standing firing a rifle - 60 (top left)
  • Standing with a pistol and an M16 - 30 (top centre)
  • Officer waving with binoculars - 30 (top right)
  • Grenade thrower - 30 (bottom left)
  • Running with rifle - 30 (bottom centre)
  • Advancing with SMG - 60 (bottom right)
Of the four poses not shown I have 30 kneeling bazooka men, 60 Rambo-style machine gunners, 50 NCOs with a Sten (the Airfix paratrooper figure) and another figure similar to the 'pistol and M16 ' type above. The numbers quoted are give or take the odd figure either way.

Taking all of this into consideration it means that the proportion of immediately usable figures is pretty high - only the M16 figures and possibly the NCO and machine gunners being surplus or conversion material.

Assuming the green set pans out in a similar fashion the number of readily usable figures for the set up I am planning is pretty impressive and fortunately contains sufficient rifles to make setting up three armies for the period perfectly viable. I am still considering the machine gunner - he looks suitably dramatic and is very heroically posed but I really want to use deployed HMGs. The Skirmish Plastic Soldier show at Sidcup Grammer School is looming in the next couple of weeks so I will have a good rummage there and see what I can find that may be useful.

4 comments:

Zzzzzz said...

Just picked up your blog. Looking at your 'wargaming hiatus' post from 20th, we seem to share a little of the "enormous vision, multiple project" syndrome.

I have come to terms with this by choosing to see it as an advantage; no matter my mood or frame of mind, there will be something in the garage that catches my fancy. I caught a post from the Beard Bunker where someone (Charlie ?) describes how he only allows himself one project of a type (terrain, vehicle, infantry and so on) at a time, which I thought was great (but facing up to it, is never going to happen.

So I will look forward to seeing what happens with all of those Chinese toy soldiers.

And C18th Russia ? Wow.

David Crook said...

Hi Zzzzzz,

I happen to believe that I am the world's leading on authority on starting multiple projects and never finishing any of them! Ideas come and go with depressing frequency but occasionally something sticks. I have high hopes with the Chinese figures and my foray into 18th century Russia is merely to find about the Turkish angle.

Too many projects, too little time....;-)

All the best,

DC

Sean said...

Good numbers of troops and it looks like you can use them for a wide range of "modern" conflicts. Only one m16 pose is good.

David Crook said...

Hi Sean,

Sadly there are two such poses but luckily the numbers were not too unkind! Everything else though is fair game for the 1935 to 1945 era - and the three armies I have in mind!

All the best,

DC