David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Wednesday 30 March 2022

Medical, Spiritual and Logistical

There are thankfully no little lead widows after our games...
Nor are our morticians overwhelmed by demand...
Our carpenters can rest easy after each tabletop conflict plays out!
There are no dead to be buried...
Nor maimed to need emergency surgery...
Nevertheless there is a role on the tabletop battlefield in representing medical services, even if just as a vignette filler adding to the authentic look of a game...
Some rule sets even have a specific role for Medics to fulfill...
These ACW Union casualty figures here can be used to mark Morale status for example, from Foundry and Dixon Miniatures...
A field ambulance is an addition to the baggage train in several periods, here in 1920's Rhanslistan...
From the depths of the Burmese jungle...
...to the heat and flies of the Sudan, the Medical services can play a vital role in games...
Adding an Ambulance or two to the scenario can sometimes bring an element of chaos and blocked roads...
Or just simply break up the monotony of painting...
At a basic level the Spiritual element might boost morale...
As Brother Bykleigh might be here in a Wars of the Roses game...
Or Cardinal Bicclione here in the Italian Wars...
Nor should the morale effect of a good tune be underestimated...
The Pope though might just be a spiritual asset too far...
An army marches on its stomach it's said, so bakers are a useful addition to a camp scene...
Baggage can not only bring period flavour to our games...
...but make a useful objective too at times.
Not forgetting all the other support services our little lead armies take for granted...
If you look hard enough you can find most items in your chosen period...
And if not it can always be codged up with a bit of imagination...
Some vignettes from my and others' collections which just might provide an idea for adding to your own collections?
 


16 comments:

  1. Lovely David showing the wide expanse of your collections. Lots of good ideas, I do have several similar but really only where the collection is already fairly extensive🤔

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Matt. I'm sure most of of an age are in a similar position.

      Delete
  2. I forget you have all these splendid game pieces/table fillers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A lot of inspiration there, some wonderful pieces.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is very kind George, much appreciated. Mind, 55 views and only 3 comments makes you wonder why I bother!

      Delete
    2. Think of it as 55 happy wargamers.

      Delete
    3. Or 52 who can't be arsed?😉

      Delete
  4. Blimey David you do have such a nice and varied collection of wargaming ephemera! I'm rather jealous to be honest as this sort of stuff is rather harder to do in 10mm. Maybe I should try harder.

    As for the lack of comments, I feel your 'pain'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To be honest, as the fortunate occupier of a permanent wargames room/table, these sort of things can readily be contemplated in any collection. In 28 mm you can generally find even the more obscure items if you're not slavishly tied to one source, in 10mm not so straightforward I'd guess so no call to beat yourself up SteveJ.

      Delete
  5. The devil is in those small details Mr.B.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi David....I really like thus kind of variety and it may well be the driving force behind my recent buying and painting spree of Pulp Era skirmish level figures. In respect if comments, I gave said it a couple of times previously in relation to Norm of Warriors and Battles fame.....comments are what I count, not page views. I will comment on others blogs when the content interests me but if I never get a return comment, after a while, I stop commenting...it's a two way street and if I can go to the trouble of writing a few words of support, I expect some reciprocal feedback in turn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you found something that chimes with your interests rross! As you know I always try to reply to comments, though I'm sure the odd one slips under the radar too.

      Delete
  7. Marvellous toys David…
    As always very inspiring…

    All the best. Aly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's most kind Aly, much appreciated.

      Delete