Feadair
11-04-2006, 05:22 AM
The objective of my post is to share some insights and tips with those who are considering or using A&A minis to play other historical miniatures games. I also wish to report some problems, and hopefully get solutions from the community. My starting point is that if one has invested heavily in the hardware (ie the miniatures), one should not run only one piece of software (ie a set of rules), but see what other compatible software is out there.
RULES
Flames of War (FoW) is currently the most popular set of rules. To play, you will need the main rule book (2nd edn, $50) and one sourcebook (40$) containing the army lists for the selected theatre and period. You should probably also buy some bases ($10) and an artillery template ($10). The main problem with using A&A minis with FoW is that the army lists are fairly rigid. As the A&A miniatures line still lacks a number of key units (more on this below), it may be difficult to build a balanced force for the standard 1500 point game. Further, if you wish to build an infantry army, you will need a lot of figures. However, if all you ever wanted to field is a tank company, building a force is more feasible. Further, you might wish to play the 600 point ‘lunch hour’ format introduced in the 2nd edn rulebook, which makes army building relatively easy, and is quite a lot of fun as the table does not get as crowded as with 1500 points.
BlitzkriegCommander (BKC) is another rule set I am familiar with, and is my current favourite. To use it, all you need is the rulebook ($40), which also contains all the army lists. It is actually better suited for A&A minis than FoW, as the army lists are more flexible. The rules accept that under war conditions a force can be a collection of disparate units thrown together, rather than a balanced army that tables of organisation describe. Accordingly, it is easier to design a battlegroup for BKC using only A&A minis. Further, artillery is usually off-table in BKC, so the lack of artillery minis is not a problem.
BASING
You will need to base your force, essentially sticking a number of minis on a single stand to represent a team (FoW) or a platoon (BKC). You can play BKC with a force based for FoW. Proper basing is a fairly involved procedure, and is described well eg on the FoW website. Properly based units look great, but you cannot then use them for A&A. Therefore, I have used a more flexible method. I have bought some adhesive-backed steel paper and cut it to suitable sizes with scissors, attaching the pieces to FoW bases. I have then sprayed them black. I have also purchased some 10mm wide adhesive-backed magnetic tape, which I have cut to small pieces and stuck under my A&A minis. Now all my minis stick to my FoW bases, but can be easily pulled off, if I wish to play A&A. Further, I can store my minis by sticking them on the fridge door!
PROBLEMS
The main problem with using A&A minis for other historical miniatures games is the lack of key units, such as US and SU MGs, UK mortars, trucks, Stug III long, M10 Wolverine, SdKfz 251 variants and field artillery. For infantry, the problem is not very serious, as you can use 15mm minis from other manufacturers. For vehicles, this is a real issue, as the A&AM vehicle scale is 1/120 but other 15mm manufacturers use 1/100 scale. While using 1/100 and 1/120 figures together is not a major problem rules-wise, they just do not look right. (The word on the street is that Quality Castings 15mm vehicles are smaller than 1/100, but I have not managed to source any of them in the UK and cannot confirm this rumour.) I have thought about making some conversions, such as taking a SdKfz 251 and gluing a mortar on it to make a SdKfz 251/2, but have not yet done so. Hopefully the problem will in any event be alleviated by the two sets coming out in 2007.
Thoughts, comments?
RULES
Flames of War (FoW) is currently the most popular set of rules. To play, you will need the main rule book (2nd edn, $50) and one sourcebook (40$) containing the army lists for the selected theatre and period. You should probably also buy some bases ($10) and an artillery template ($10). The main problem with using A&A minis with FoW is that the army lists are fairly rigid. As the A&A miniatures line still lacks a number of key units (more on this below), it may be difficult to build a balanced force for the standard 1500 point game. Further, if you wish to build an infantry army, you will need a lot of figures. However, if all you ever wanted to field is a tank company, building a force is more feasible. Further, you might wish to play the 600 point ‘lunch hour’ format introduced in the 2nd edn rulebook, which makes army building relatively easy, and is quite a lot of fun as the table does not get as crowded as with 1500 points.
BlitzkriegCommander (BKC) is another rule set I am familiar with, and is my current favourite. To use it, all you need is the rulebook ($40), which also contains all the army lists. It is actually better suited for A&A minis than FoW, as the army lists are more flexible. The rules accept that under war conditions a force can be a collection of disparate units thrown together, rather than a balanced army that tables of organisation describe. Accordingly, it is easier to design a battlegroup for BKC using only A&A minis. Further, artillery is usually off-table in BKC, so the lack of artillery minis is not a problem.
BASING
You will need to base your force, essentially sticking a number of minis on a single stand to represent a team (FoW) or a platoon (BKC). You can play BKC with a force based for FoW. Proper basing is a fairly involved procedure, and is described well eg on the FoW website. Properly based units look great, but you cannot then use them for A&A. Therefore, I have used a more flexible method. I have bought some adhesive-backed steel paper and cut it to suitable sizes with scissors, attaching the pieces to FoW bases. I have then sprayed them black. I have also purchased some 10mm wide adhesive-backed magnetic tape, which I have cut to small pieces and stuck under my A&A minis. Now all my minis stick to my FoW bases, but can be easily pulled off, if I wish to play A&A. Further, I can store my minis by sticking them on the fridge door!
PROBLEMS
The main problem with using A&A minis for other historical miniatures games is the lack of key units, such as US and SU MGs, UK mortars, trucks, Stug III long, M10 Wolverine, SdKfz 251 variants and field artillery. For infantry, the problem is not very serious, as you can use 15mm minis from other manufacturers. For vehicles, this is a real issue, as the A&AM vehicle scale is 1/120 but other 15mm manufacturers use 1/100 scale. While using 1/100 and 1/120 figures together is not a major problem rules-wise, they just do not look right. (The word on the street is that Quality Castings 15mm vehicles are smaller than 1/100, but I have not managed to source any of them in the UK and cannot confirm this rumour.) I have thought about making some conversions, such as taking a SdKfz 251 and gluing a mortar on it to make a SdKfz 251/2, but have not yet done so. Hopefully the problem will in any event be alleviated by the two sets coming out in 2007.
Thoughts, comments?