Creating my own block wargame. First mock ups.

The Marshmallow armies receive their first units. The coloured spots on the top denotes which force they are from. I should have enough blocks to create a small allied force with a different coloured spots as well as mercenary units with yet another colour.

Not the prettiest playing pieces you are ever going to see, but as this is not a commercial project and just for my own enjoyment, the aesthetics are not too important.
Here we have the red force with an elephant, heavy cavalry, medium cavalry, heavy infantry, medium infantry and heavy chariot.

The blue force also has an elephant, heavy cavalry, light cavalry with missiles (javelins, bows etc.), heavy and medium infantry and finally a light chariot.

I still need to make up light infantry with missile, as well as one or two other pieces to represent battlefield artillery, scorpions through to cannon.
The pieces would conform to an army list for the period being played, so the light cavalry block with missile could be any of, Mongol archers, Persian mounted archers or Arab mounted archers to name just three.

Work will continue...

Creating my own block war game, more thoughts.

Following on from my last post of yesterday, I managed to pick up some coloured adhesive spots and stars today, along with some self adhesive labels to place on the blocks.

As I want the game to be playable from the Greek City State wars right through to the Wars of the Roses, I have decided to make the units very generic. As you see below I have gone with a basic idea. Standard symbols for infantry and cavalry, a circle for chariots and a large capital letter E for, yes you guessed it, elephants.

There are a total of 148 blocks in the case, which equates to 74 per side, or even less if I add allies and mercenary units. The idea of downloading and printing out images of hoplites, legionaries etc. was just not going to work with the small number of blocks I have if I wish to represent all eras.
My current thinking is, each block will have either a red or blue spot on top, to denote which side it is. Then if an infantry symbol is applied, a red dot placed on the symbol will signify that it is heavy infantry, anything from a Phalanx to dismounted knights. A blue dot will be medium infantry, yellow dot will be light infantry. Missile troops be they mounted or infantry, will also have an orange spot, that will signify javelins, slings or bows etc. The same principal will work for heavy, medium and light cavalry. Elite units could also possibly have a star.

Leaders/generals blocks will stand in portrait fashion, again with either a red or blue dot on top, with two stars for the army commander and one star for a sub commander. All the other blocks will stand in landscape fashion.

I should get two symbols from each sticker.

The whole army will stay in the original box it came in, so no other blocks could really be added, even if I had any.




The pink and white colour of the blocks reminds me so much of those soft marshmallow sweets I used to love as a child, so the Marshmallow Army is born.

The next job is to draw the military symbols onto the labels, cut them out and apply them to the blocks. Add the coloured dots and I should be good to go. I am looking down the route of DBA style or L'Art de la Guerre, played on a small board, or possibly even C&C style on a hex board. We shall have to see how it goes.

A new venture?

I am getting a little frustrated at not having the room or storage space, to fight large battles. I only have access to a very small table, with very little chance of that improving.
It is big enough to fight reasonable sized battles with my 6 mm ACW troops, but that is about all. Even One Hour Wargames, and rules such as Lion Rampant, call for a bigger area than I have access to. Anything other than a very small skirmish in 28 mm is out of the question.

I am not abandoning my miniature armies, far from it, they will see the tabletop at home, for lots of battles in the future, I just need something more compact and easy to store, for my present location.

I have been looking at block wargames for some time, and settled on a few that interested me, so did some research.

This one looks really interesting, and has a very unique system of movement and battle. It also has wooden blocks, which I find acceptable. I am certainly not a picker up of cardboard counters with tweezers! The main problem is that it is just one battle, lots of different possible outcomes of course, but still just a single battle.

This series of three games, really does interest me greatly, and I have no doubt that I shall pick up one or more eventually.

A more abstract type of wargame, with control of areas being the key, and small cubes used to represent armies. Not a problem, it looks good and works. The use of a deck of cards is also very interesting for game play. Lots of replay potential.

The three would allow the play through of the birth of America. Very tempting.

Finally on my list, is the Commands and Colors system. I do already own a copy of Battle Cry, the ACW game with miniatures, a game I really like. It is quick to set up, enjoyable to play, and easy to store. The two big sellers in this system are the Ancients and Napoleonic versions, both have a number of expansions.

This time, instead of plastic miniatures, we have wooden blocks with stickers, representing the different troop types. Scenario books to set up particular battles, and all the terrain tiles needed for a reasonably accurate depiction of a real battlefield, or part of one.

As you can see above, the board does not take up a huge area of tabletop, ideal for what I need. In a small area I would be able fight lots of battles with the feel of a huge Napoleonic encounter. Solving the very thing that is currently frustrating me.

So I have taken the plunge and ordered the C&C Napoleonic base game and expansions. If I am going to do something, then it might as well be the whole hog. This game has been on my watch list since it was first released, so it has taken me a long time to actually pull the trigger.

Once it arrives, I will of course report back with photos.