I recently recovered the hard drive from a laptop long since out of use, among numerous pictures of cats and holidays there were a few of toy soldiers, including these:
Clearly the early moves of a wargame but I don't remember when, who was playing or what the rules were. No matter, it's always nice to see old toys out on the table. I think I originally posted these pics up on one of the old Yahoo Groups so there may be more of the same wafting around in the ether.
A close up of the Allied Command. Most of the mounted figures came from the collection of John Ruddle and have seen action in his legendary garden wargames, a few of the foot conversions are my own humble efforts.
Wishing a peaceful, happy Christmas to one and all, hopefully there will be more toy soldiers in the New Year.
I do like old photos of wargames , all the best wishes to you and yours .
ReplyDeleteSo do I, they give me a rosy glow of nostalgia. And the very best to you too.
DeleteA delightful rescue. Not a Big Wars game by any chance?
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking I should recognize the Zouave Officer but its not coming to me.
Hope you enjoy a Merry Yuletide.
There is a distinct chance that it was Big Wars although I do recall using Hearts of Tin with these figures. The Zouave officer started life as the Deetail FFL officer. And a Cool Yule to you too.
DeleteI like the home made windmill and hay stack.
ReplyDeleteHi James, the haystack is a nativity item made by Oliver of Spain and the windmill is a piece of tourist tat from Greece. Like you I'm always on the lookout for anything I can use in a game!
DeleteLooks very nice, beautiful minis!
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil, glad you liked them.
DeleteHi Brian, Thank you for the Christmas gift of pictures of toy soldiers doing what they were meant to! Brilliant use of the Deetail officer! I hope that you found many new recruits under your tree and thank you for yet another year of wonderful wargame reports and pictures! I really appreciate them! Take care, Brad
ReplyDeleteHi Brad, sorry there weren't more pictures, and better ones at that. There are lots of projects on the go at the moment, hopefully some will get finished one day!
ReplyDeleteJohn Ruddle Wargames garden cavalry - that’s 54mm Wargames royalty (or Ruddle-ty) that is.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the figures I got from John were repaired and repainted, he got a lot of pleasure from that side of the hobby.
DeleteI had the pleasure of visiting John Ruddles house and garden a number of times, the first when I was a student in the 1970's.
ReplyDeleteIt was always my dream to create a similar garden army, indeed I created a number of units, but have never got round to the buildings in the garden. I produced some 54mm home casts along the lines of John,s regiments, then scaled it down and painted up some British, German and French armies in 28mm circa 1900 with a view to an outdoor campaign. I have often wondered if any other collectors created permanent garden displays along the lines of John's.
I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has info on likeminded collectors
You might be interested in the Funny Little Wars Yahoo Group or the Little Wars Revisited forum, you will find like minded wargamers who often play large scale garden games but I don't know of anyone who has created outdoor cities on the scale of John Ruddle's garden. The nearest I've got is to build a stream between two ponds with a "mountain range" rockery between them, also a shingle patio for desert scrublands, no buildings though.
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