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Sunday 23 June 2013

Recreating Morschauser's original gridded wargame in 54mm-scale

Until recently I have been working to recreate Joseph Morschauser's gridded FRONTIER wargame using 15mm-scale figures ... but as I now have a growing collection 54mm-scale figures, the possibility of running a game that will look like one of Morschauser's original wargames is growing.

I have been trawling eBay for possible additional figures for my collection, and I have several bids in place which will, if they are successful, increase the size of my FLW army to approximately twice it's  present strength.

Morschauser mounted three 54mm-scale foot figures, two mounted figures, and two gunner figures and a cannon on a 3-inch square base. This would mean that I would need less than 50 figures per side to fight a battle on a 12 x 12 grid ... and this quite achievable.

I decided to see what 54mm-scale figures would look like on 3-inch square bases ... so I put my latest Funny Little Wars recruits onto some pre-cut 3-inch bases that I had to hand!



I must admit that I am quite impressed with the 'look' of the whole thing ... although the 'gunner' at the back does need a companion to properly complete the set-up!

With the current upsurge in interest in Old School Wargaming, I might just have 'found' a possible session for COW2014.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting look.I await more developments with interest...

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  2. Tradgardmastare,

    This is going to be a 'slow boil' project, if only because it is going to take me some time to get together the figures I need etc., BUT the more I think about it, the more attractive the project becomes ... so 'watch this space'!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. My first 54mm battles were fought using 4 54mm figures to a base 60mm for my War of 1812, 3" for ACW using Volley & Bayonet. There is a lot to be said for the method but when I later found out Morschauser was using 4x54 mm figures to a base it seemed very natural.

    I note that the illustrations in his book vary from 2 to 7 figures per base but whether using a roster or basic units it doesn't really matter. For the late 19thC the single line of 3 looks better to me than the original block of 4 in 2 ranks.

    I'm going to be looking for a new home for some charging Britain's Highlanders if you're interested and can cast up & paint additional Guardsmen or ACW figures if you're interested.

    -Ross

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  4. Ross Mac,

    Thanks for the offer! Any contributions (painted or unpainted) to my growing collection of 54mm-scale figures would be very welcome. It is my intention to use them for both full-size and half-size FLW battles as well as for battles using Joseph Morschauser's rules.

    I think that I would like to use 3-inch/75mm square bases with 3 infantry figures or 2 cavalry figures or 2 gunner figures and a cannon as per the original Morschauser FRONTIER rules. I think that they are the right number of figures for that size of base. You have much more experience of wargaming with these larger-sized figures than I have, and I take you comments as excellent advice.

    All the best,

    Bob

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