Toy Soldier Battles II

 Toy Soldier Battles II, Antonio E. Belmonte Cerezo, ISBN 9798272688880, 95 pages, illustrations designed and text translated by Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant  (one paragraph has been missed and is still in Spanish!). 

This is a strange one, I saw it advertised on facebook and thought I'd give it a punt as I fancied trying some simple, fast play WW2 style rules, which is what these are, but not in the way I'd imagined.   

The coloured illustrations throughout are quite charming and drawn in the form of Army Men toy soldiers like the ones shown on the cover.  And that's a good introduction to what the book is about, go online, buy a couple of those big bags of green and tan Army Men, the ones that come with tanks, jeeps, planes, helicopters and bunkers, grab a couple of dice then settle down on the floor with the kids and have yourself a wargame.

There's a bit more to it than that, units are given a profile based on their armament, mobility and resilience/armour, casualty modifiers affect range and cover, dice for random event activation and there are Victory points at the end. Officers play specialised roles with eight different strengths they can bring to a unit like; Medic, Communications, Mechanic etc.  There are chapters for Army Lists, running a campaign and four trial scenarios.  It's all stuff we recognise in a set of wargame rules but it's all kept fairly simplistic so it's easy for a newcomer to pick up.

So it's more than a stand 'em up and shoot them down toy soldier game but I'm not sure it's one that will appeal to regular gamers.

Romans and Gauls by Allan Tidmarsh

 Searching for a participation game that can be played on a small table in a couple of hours with simple rules and 54mm toy soldiers, Anthony dug through his extensive wargaming library and just before Christmas he found this:

An article in an old wargaming magazine furnished this scenario along with "Very Simple Rules for Romans V Gauls", the rules cover just a single sheet of A4, played in an area 7' x 3'.  Written by Allan Tidmarsh (Tidders) a well known wargame blogger, and his full rules can be found here on his By Toutatis blog (link also in the list on the right).  

 Overview of the table, top left sees a Roman supply column making it's way to relieve the watchtower across the river on the right.  Ahead of them, skulking in woods on the hill a small warband of Gauls have spotted the Roman column and prepare an ambush.  Across the river the main body of the Gauls are camped by a ford while another small warband patrols the outlaying land.

Many of the Gauls in my collection were made by Alan and feature in the photos on his By Toutatis blog, they include figures by HaT, Italieri, Cafe Storme and Expeditionary Force.  My Roman troops are all Toyway/Timpo figures similar to the ones which he also used in his games. 

The Roman supply column comprising four units, lead by Legionaries with Centurion, followed by the supply detail and flanked by Auxiliary archers while another unit of Auxiliaries brings up the rear.

The game mechanics are easy to pick up, ideal for a participation game and leave plenty of room for players to customise to their particular scenario.  Players dice for initiative each turn, winner goes first, the standard move for infantry is 6" modified by a further dice throw for each unit to increase or decrease the distance by 2", so that a column like this might bunch up or get strung out on the march.

The player who lost initiative then moves his units in the same manner, after which any firing and melee take place if needed, followed by a morale test for any unit that is reduced to 50%.  And that's the end of the turn. 

The larger warband comprise the figures I painted up, mostly made by HaT and Italieri, they will need a bit more work to bring them up to the standard of Allan's figures

As the supply column proceeds, the movement modifiers have caused the Auxiliary archers to advance beyond the main body of  troops, seeing this the Gauls spring their ambush and erupt from the treeline to attack.  

In the firing phase the archers loose arrows and cause casualties but not enough to blunt the impact of the Gallic charge (no melee or morale test occurred at the end of this turn).  

Seeing the threat ahead the Centurion leads his Legionaries to support the archers while sending the supply unit to safety and ordering the Auxiliary infantry to extend the line.  The warband crashes into the lightly armed archers, cutting them up roughly and prompting a morale test which causes them to fall back on the Legionaries to hold ground.

The melee continues with the Warband breaking the archers but being contained and held by the better armed and disciplined Legionaries. 

Hearing the commotion of battle the main body of Gauls break camp and cross the ford to join the attack while the Auxiliary infantry form up on the flank of the Legionaries.

The second small Warband remained across the river to prevent any attempt by the watchtower garrison to brake out and come to the aid of the column.

The troublesome archers have been eliminated but the original attack has lost it's momentum and been thrown back, during the melee the Legion line has become disordered and both sides end the turn facing each other, winded, but holding their ground.

The fresh Warband throws itself against the Auxiliary line, spears and pilums are thrown by both sides but casualties are light.   The line holds as the charge hits home but gaps open during the melee allowing the Gauls to slip through and around the flank, their greater numbers begin to tell and before long the Auxiliaries are overwhelmed.

While the Gauls are taking trophies the supply unit quietly slips away into the wooded hills, but with another Warband patrolling the opposite riverbank it's unlikely they will get through to the watchtower.

_ _ _ _ _

I felt the melee rules worked well, only figures touching base to base are included in the combat up to a maximum of 3 against 1.  If it's 1 attacking1 then both throw 1D6, if 2 against 1then throw is 1.5 D6 (rounded up) v 1D6 or 3 against 1 it's 2D6 v 1D6 all scores subject to modifiers, highest score wins.  The short rules don't specify that the scores are cumulative so we decided that they were not, i.e. when 3 attack 1, both throw 1D6, if the attacker loses he throws a second dice if this is higher than the defenders original score then the attacker wins.  

When firing, bows have a range up to 18" and can be a serious threat, spears/pilums reach only a short distance of 4", we allowed all troops a resupply of missiles to avoid unnecessary record keeping.  Hits are decided by dice score, modified by range and cover, casualties from firing and melee are all subject to saving throws.

So there we have it, the intention was to test the rules and scenario as written with a view to future use with participants.  I thought they would fit the bill being easy to understand and quick to play, with no record keeping.  They would also easily adapt to other periods, personally I would prefer to use a larger area (6' x 8') and double the movement/firing distances, but we were specifically looking for game to run on a smaller table.       

And finally may I wish you dear reader good health and happiness throughout 2026. 

Battle of Saguntum 1811 - 54mm Battle Cry game.

 For our latest game we decided to try a Napoleonic version of Battle Cry and Anthony suggested the Peninsular War Battle of Saguntum 1811.

The scenario sees a Spanish force under General Blake attempting to relieve Sagunto Castle which is under siege by the French under Marshal Suchet.  The Marshal leaves a blocking force at the Castle and heads off to face Blake with his remaining French, Italian and Polish troops.

The Spanish are supported by gunboats offshore protecting their right flank.

The Spanish outnumber the French but both sides are short of artillery and the French are better quality troops.

Blake placed a holding force facing the French left wing while he concentrated most of the Spanish Army on his left flank to lead them in a mass attack against the French right wing.

The French opened with a vigorous attack on the lightly held Spanish right and centre.

Both sides fought themselves to a standstill on the French left as the course of the battle crept across the field to the centre and was finally drawn out on the French right.

The high ground in the centre held by a body of Foot Dragoons was hotly contested, changing hands several times.

On the French right Polish Voltiguers and Italian Hussars under general Chlopicki lined the crest of the Sancti Espiritus hills to await the massed attack of the Spanish.

A spirited counterattack by the Foot Dragoons drives off the Spanish Voluntarios and forces the supporting Horse Artillery to retire

The valiant Poles and Italians hold their ground in face of the Spanish advance.

On the gunboats the gun crews watch the action drift further inland away from the coast and out of range from their broadsides.

The French are finally overwhelmed on their right leaving the Spanish to their victory and the road open to the Castle.

The outcome of the game couldn't have differed more from the course of the actual Battle, in which the Polish troops advanced against the Spanish left and threw them into disarray, fighting in the centre and on the Spanish right was fierce and indecisive but the collapse of the left wing demoralised the Spanish and led to a general withdrawal with heavy losses.  The gunboats along the coast provided a threat but actually saw little action.  With no hope of relief  the garrison surrendered the Castle the next day.

The figures used were sourced from several manufacturers, the Spanish cavalry and most of the infantry were from DSG of Argentina, with a stiffening of grenadiers from the BMC Yorktown set and REAMSA of Spain, the Voluntarios in their distinctive green jackets were made from Helmet kit parts, the gunboat is the remains of a Playmobil pirate ship and the crew are various conversions, General Blake is converted from a Cafe Storme coffee premium.

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On the French side the infantry are mostly Britains Deetail apart from the Polish Volitguers which were made from Helmet Kit parts with an officer from Replicants and the foot Dragoons which are conversions using heads from ATS (Alexanders toy Soldiers), the cavalry are provided by Britains Deetail Cuirassiers, DSG Hussars and Polish Lancers made by PZG (the Polish Association of the Deaf), Marshal Suchet is a Del Prado figure and General Chlopicki is another conversion.

Travel Battle - A Napoleonic wargame with 54mm toy soldiers

 Travel Battle is a boardgame designed by Michael Perry and produced by Perry Miniatures, the well known wargame figure manufacturers, it's based on battles in the Napoleonic period so Anthony and I thought we'd see how well the system translated to a tabletop wargame with 54mm toy soldiers.  Here's how it went:

As usual we started with a very simple game, without may terrain features, to test out the mechanisms of the system.  The boardgame has preformed terrain and uses a square grid for movement, we opted to use a hex grid (because that's all I've got and I prefer it!) 

Each side comprises 3 Brigades, each commanded by a mounted Brigadier and made up from any combination of the units available, which are; 2 x Heavy Cav. 2 x Light Cav. 2 x Artillery. 2 x Guard Inf and 6 x Line inf.  Either or both of the Artillery units may be attached to a Cavalry Brigade and designated as Horse Artillery, which has greater movement distance but less firing range and effect than the Foot Artillery.

The rules are simple, minimal and there is no record keeping, just how we like them but may be a bit too simplistic for some.  Players dice to see who goes first and can activate all their units, the sequence of play is: Move, Fire Artillery, Melee, Retreat any defeated units.  Then the second player repeats the sequence with their units.

Foot units (Guards, Line inf. and Foot Artillery) move 1 hex while mounted (Brigadier, Horse Artillery, Heavy and Light Cav.) move 2 hex in each turn.  All units can move in any direction and terrain modifiers apply. 

Firing is restricted to the Artillery who can move or fire but not both.  Effect is determined by D6 score: 1,2,3 no effect, 4 target falls back 1 hex, 5 target retreats back to table edge or 6 target destroyed.

Combat occurs when opposing units move into touch, in such case Artillery cannot fire but fight as an infantry unit.  Combat is decided by dice throw, with Heavy Cav. and Guard Inf getting a bonus.  Both players dice, highest score wins and outcome is determined by score differential: 1 losing unit falls back 1 hex, 2 unit retreats back to table edge or 3 unit destroyed. 

Command and Control is an interesting feature of the system, every unit in a Brigade (including the Brigadier) must be touching at least one other unit from the same Brigade, any that are not in touch with the Brigadier through the line of units cannot move but can fight if attacked (and Artillery can still fire).  So if a unit in the centre of a line is destroyed the line is broken and units beyond the break are no longer under command.  There are modifiers for the effects of moving into square to protect infantry against cavalry but make them devastatingly vulnerable to artillery fire.

The figures we used were mostly Britains Deetail with a few DSG toys soldiers from Argentina.  The Brigadiers on both sides are Del Prado Napoleonic personalities, beautifully modelled and their larger size giving a commanding presence on the table top. 

Overall I found it very easy to pick up and the action moves fluidly, the system would work very well for large battles and we could easily have controlled twice the number of units or Brigades, it would be ideal for multi player games.  With little modification it would also translate well to cover European battles of the Seven Years War. 

I particularly liked the Brigade structure and control system but not so much the Combat where the outcomes are either fall back, rout or be destroyed, there are no casualties depleting unit as you get in say Lionheart or One Hour Wargames, so it's good but it ain't no game of toy soldiers!

Lionheart - a medieval wargame with 54mm toy soldiers

 Lionheart is a medieval boardgame published by Parker Brothers in 1997, played on a square grid with 25mm pieces the aim is to capture the enemy King or destroy all of his army, it plays a bit like a game of chess.  We thought we'd try out the basic game to see if it would translate to a wargame with 54mm toy soldiers, here's how it went:

The English left wing shown above and the right wing pictured below, the basic game has 4 unit types: The King, mounted knights (2 units), infantry (5 units) and archers (2 units).  For visual impact we doubled the number of figures in each unit, so the King got a standard bearer, each mounted unit was 4 figures and foot were 8.

There is an advanced version of the game that includes 3 more unit types: heavy foot knights, peasants and mercenaries but we left these out this time as we were just looking to test the game mechanics.  One major change we did make was to play on a hex grid rather than a square one but this doesn't make any significant change to the dynamics of the game.

The French left wing shown above and the right wing pictured below.  Players dice to see who goes first and then play on I go U go basis, as we'd doubled the number of figures in play we also doubled the number of actions allowed each move from 2 to 4.  The actions allowed are: Move, Turn, Attack and the limit of 4 actions applies across the whole army not unit by unit, actions can be taken in any order i.e. 4 units could make 1 move or alternatively 1 unit could move, a second could turn while a third moved and attacked.

All units move in a straight line, mounted (King and knights) can move any number of hex for 1 action but foot units (infantry and archers) only move 1 hex for 1 action.  No interpenetration through other units is allowed.

Archers can fire over friendly units and their range is anywhere in the arc of the 9 hex in front of them (2 hex, then 3, then 4).  All other units attack when they move into direct contact with an enemy unit and have an action remaining to enable the attack i.e. for an infantry unit to move 2 hex and make an attack costs 3 actions.

The game uses 6 sided dice with symbols: 3 x Axe, 2 x Arrow and 1 x Panic.  We used ordinary D6 with 1,2,3 = Axe, 4,5 = Arrow and 6 = Panic.  A D6 is thrown for each foot figure in a unit and 2 x D6 for each mounted, so a maximum of 8 x D6 for each unit.  Archers register a hit for every Arrow thrown, all other units make a hit when an Axe is rolled, casualties are removed: foot for 1 hit and mounted for 2 hits (rounded down).  Combat is completed one unit at a time and hits are not cumulative.

If 4 x Panic dice are thrown the the unit attacked must turn and retreat one move i.e. a unit of 8 infantry attacks an enemy infantry unit, it throws 8 dice and scores: 3 x Axe, 1 x Arrow and 4 x Panic, the unit attacked suffers 3 casualties then must turn and retreat.

We found the rules very quick and easy to assimilate, the game flows fast and smoothly.  Foot units advance rather ponderously and need to be supportive, a unit that becomes detached is liable to be picked off and overrun by enemy cavalry.  On both sides archers made up 20% of the total units, so a decent representation but not enough to dominate the field and turn the game into just another shooting match.  The mounted units are very much the arme blanche of the game, sudden sweeping charges packing a devastating punch, just as it should be.

We didn't include any terrain features but there is provision for this.  Going forward I think we will take scenarios from One Hour Wargames, or perhaps based on historical events and introduce the additional 3 unit types (heavy foot, peasants and mercenaries).  The simplicity of the rule system and lack of any record keeping also means that we could easily double the number of units and actions per turn to make it a much bigger game.  It would be interesting to try an Agincourt scenario, with the flower of French chivalry facing a wall of English archers!

 Apart from the Timpo crusaders, which have been based to give them more stability on the table.

all the rest of the figures are conversions, mostly from the talented hand of modeller and heraldic expert Vince Mattocks,

Malcolm III and William Rufus 1093 - Battle Ravens

Since discovering that the boardgame Battle Ravens translates so well to the tabletop for a wargame with 54mm toy soldiers we thought we'd give it another outing.

  Our first trial of the game was a standard shieldwall encounter between Vikings and Saxons, but the game also offers sets of cards to portray the national characteristics of Scots, Welsh and Normans so we decided to try something different. 

  For a scenario I chose the border raid in 1093 by the Scots of Malcolm III, in support of Saxon refugees, against a frontier outpost held by the Normans of William Rufus. 

A Frisian trader has beached his ship alongside the Norman keep and is unloading his trade goods in exchange for Saxon slaves, when the alarm is sounded!  A Scottish warband has been spotted approaching the stronghold.

The Frisian crew join the Norman garrison and form shieldwall outside the stockade to protect the ship from the Scots and their Saxon allies.

Lessons learned from our previous encounter meant that the action flowed much faster and furiously this time around, more risks were taken and the subtle nuances in the rule system became more apparent. 

The game is played from two static shieldwalls and despite the lack of manoeuvre there is still a great deal of movement as warriors are pushed back and forth to reinforce holes in the line.  

The Playmobil viking ship with sail down serves as the Frisian merchant vessel, it only acts as set dressing but adds depth to the scenario.

The Scots command group, King Malcolm with his retainers and priest.  The standard bearers here and below are conversions by Eric Kemp acquired at the Plastic Warrior Show in May.

There is a temptation to press heavily on one sector of the enemy line and attempt a breakthrough but this can have repercussions later on, in the long run it's often better to give ground and degrade your opponent's forces.  

The game plays comfortably in a couple of hours but you could easily expand it by allowing reinforcements to be fed in at set points.  It would make a great demonstration game at a convention, easy to transport, limited number of figures involved, several participants could take different sections of the shieldwall and the larger figures add a bit of spectacle for the spectators.

It was a close run thing and looked as though honours were even but on closer inspection and a recount the Normans carried the day by one point.

Those with sharp eyes will recognise figures by Timpo, Johilco, DSG, TSSD, Emhar, Cherilea, Del Prado, Jean Hoefler, Elastolin, Jecsan, Reamsa, Oliver, Conte, Fontanini, Replicants, Marx, Armies in Plastic, Starlux, and Cafe Storme.

Battle Ravens - Dan Mersey

It's been a while since we last had a game but this weekend I finally managed to clear enough space for one.  Battle Ravens is a board game designed by Dan Mersey with graphics provided by Peter Dennis, both well known names in the gaming world, the former for rules systems and the latter for his excellent ranges of paper soldiers.  The game is about combat in a Viking/Saxon shieldwall and comes with opposing 35mm armies of Peter's card mounted paper soldiers.  Anthony thought it would be good to play using 54mm toy soldiers so I dusted off the Dark Ages collection and this is how it went:

The two armies square up to form shieldwalls, each has armoured Hirdmen (Hearthguards) in the front line, unarmoured Bondi in the second line and a group of Thrals (skirmishers) behind them.  The command units overseeing each shieldwall have no role in the game but I included them to represent the players, and because they look good.

Each shieldwall is split into 6 areas, delineated here by the use of movement trays, at the start of the game players dice to see who goes first and then take it in turns to allocate tokens (Ravens) to each area of their shieldwall, Ravens are used to pay for activity in each area, either attack, defend (saving throws) or to move between areas.  

Player A selects one area in their shieldwall and pays with its' Ravens to either attack or move, but not both. To attack, Ravens are payed to buy dice throws, a score of 6 is two hits and 4 or 5 gives one hit. combat takes place against troops in the immediately opposite area, two hits will kill a Hirdman and one hit kills a Bondi.  If there are casualties Player B can now pay some of the Ravens from the area being attacked to buy saving dice throws: 6 saves two hits and 4 or 5 saves one hit.

Player B then selects an area of his wall to activate and either attack or move.

To move, one Raven is paid for each figure to be moved to an adjacent area and no more than 9 figures can be placed in any one area.

When the Ravens in all the areas on both sides have been spent it is the end of the turn and a new turn begins with both players alternating, as before, to allocate Ravens to areas in their shieldwall.

The Playmobil pirate ship above is perfect for 54mm toy soldiers, it was a cheap car boot find and plays no role in the game but looks great so I had to include it for a bit of set dressing.

The three bowmen behind the shieldwall are Thralls and they allow failed attacking dice throws to be rerolled, for each reroll one Thrall is removed from the board, at the start of the next turn any Thralls that were removed are returned to the game.

Each player also gets 5 bonus cards which reflect the national characteristics of of the armies and allow additional actions, just one card can be played each turn.   The basic game offers expansion kits of these cards to allow for armies of  Scots, Welsh and Normans.

The simple game system is very easy to learn and quick to play, despite this we made some inevitable errors in our interpretation of the rules and soon learned that the apparent simplicity masks some subtle nuances which emerge as the game progresses.

As wargames with 54mm toy solders go, Battle Ravens can be played in a very small area, across a dining table would be ideal, and with very few figures required.  We used 18 Hirdmen, 18 Bondi and 3 Thralls per side so only 78 figures needed in total.  

The sail billows in the wind, sending the longship scudding across the waves towards the estuary where the surf crashes against the treacherous rocks.

I really enjoyed building these Dark Ages armies and was it was great to get them on the table, using 54mm toy soldiers makes a massive difference to the visual impact of the game.  There's a great variety in the painting and poses of the figures which include Timpo, DSG, TSSD, Emhar, Cherilea, Del Prado, Co-Ma, Jean Hoefler, Jecsan, Conte, Fontanini, Replicants, Marx, Armies in Plastic, Technolog, NeTechnologist and Cafe Storme.

We both felt it was a great system for portraying the desperation of the shieldwall, the frustration of battering away trying to force a breach while urgently rushing to shore up the holes in your own wall before it collapses, now I know what it feels like being Uhtred in one of Bernard Cornwall's Last Kingdom novels.