New to 10mm AWI

[Thomas Lobster]

Hi everyone,
I am just about to start a AWI project in 10mm. I have never painted in this scale before. I have just ordered a sample pack of British infantry just to have a look before i put the big order in. Still eagerley waitng for these  however i understand this can take up to three weeks. In the meantime i have some questions which  i hope someone can help me with.

1, Is three weeks normal waiting time for orders.
2. What are the best rules to use.
3. What base sizes bring the best out in these figures. I have seen photos of 20mm x 20mm for infantry they look pretty good. But what size suits cavalry.
4. Does the army painter or dip system suit these figures.

Look forward to hearing from some of you,

Thomas Lobster

[goat major]

Hi Thomas. I'll have a go at some of your questions!

2. There are a wide range of AWI rulesets and no obvious leader. When discussed previously a few sets seem to always come up

- British Grenadier. Probably the most complete/period flavour. Not particularly quick play though. Have a flexible figure scale so adapt well for fighting small battles or larger set pieces. Even if you dont go for these rules the 3 additional scenarion books are excellent.

- Black Powder. Pretty easy to get into and give a good game - but some feel they lack the period flavour of BG

- Washingtons Army (from Peter Pig) - i havent played these but they get good reviews and apparently give a fast game. There was a discussion in this thread http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4292.0.html

- RealTime wargamers AWI ruleset - designed for 10mm and does come with a full campaign system. I'm not sure of the basing needs though


3. For BG and BP then 20x20 works well for both systems. Cavalry i'm doing on 25x25 (2 figures to a base). I don't think either ruleset minds too much about base sizes so long as you are consistent. The base sizes for Washingtons Army are in the link above

4. Dipping - there's a thread here that discusses Army Painter style dipping. http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,2749.0.html. I've never tried it myself though - i'm more a fan of the AndyMac technique http://www.pendraken.co.uk/FileBin/AndyMacPaintingGuide.pdf (even though it means i will be 83 year old before i finish painting my figs)


Hope that helps

Simon

[Leon]

Hi Thomas, welcome to the Forum first off!   

1, Is three weeks normal waiting time for orders.

21 days is the maximum it can take.  We usually work somewhere around 10-14 days, although at the moment we've dropped behind slightly with a trade order and the start of the show season.  We'll make sure to get it done as quickly as possible for you though.

If you're looking to get into AWI, a good place to start is Dazza's epic AWI thread here: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,560.0.html

[Thomas Lobster]

Many thanks to you both
Regards

Thomas Lobster

[cameronian]

I 'Army Painter' all of mine; no shading at all in the paint phase, just clean colour blocks, then paint AP on rather than dipping (dipping is SO wasteful, you end up with 90% run off onto the table) and let dry. The only exception to this is that I've started putting a splash of slightly darker (pinker) flesh on the front of the faces and the backs of hands, nice effect. The crispness of the castings catches the AP nicely, highlighting kit and pooling in elbows, clothing folds etc. I like the slight gloss finish AP lends and I don't matt varnish; also the un-matted finish makes the colours a bit more vibrant. For figures in white (French AWI or in my case 1866 Austrian Cuirassiers) I do the crossbelts in an off white/cream and then AP, the results are excellent. Given the size of these figures I can't understand the really meticulous approach some of our number have to the paint job; 10mm like 6mm achieve the effect en masse, a few thousand figures nicely painted and dipped on a well built terrain board really is the business.

[Martyyoung]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry i hadnt seen that other thread. I have Black Powder but havent used them and, have just ordered washington's wars. Now fancy those Old Glory backgound books! Will need to sell the wife and kids though

[Hertsblue]

Given the size of these figures I can't understand the really meticulous approach some of our number have to the paint job; 10mm like 6mm achieve the effect en masse, a few thousand figures nicely painted and dipped on a well built terrain board really is the business.

Well said! Hear, hear! 

[Jerrylee]

BLACK POWDER, good place to start, I am also new to AWI and use BP rules, easy to get going with, hope you enjoy the figures as much as I have, this forum was a fantastic to help to this and a couple of other projects I have been working on.

[Rubicon]

There are now the Maurice rules from Sam Mustafa. I was impressed enough by the free-to-download Lite version and bought the full version. It arrived yesterday and I can hardly wait to give them a go..
I sold off all of my 28mm AWI stuff a while back, and am now thinking of re-doing it in 10mm......

[Dave Fielder]

2. Maurice has just hit the streets and I hear that it is an excellent set of rules. My first game yet to be played ... 

[TinyTerrain]

For what it's worth I would  recommend Maurice over BP. Used to own BP and played it 6 or 8 times. I have ditched it in favour of Maurice.

Regards

Craig

[nikharwood]

For what it's worth I would  recommend Maurice over BP. Used to own BP and played it 6 or 8 times. I have ditched it in favour of Maurice.

Regards

Craig

I'd echo Craig - BP never 'did' it for me; Maurice 'feels' much closer to the period.

[Dave Fielder]

First game of Maurice completed last week and we spent the time working out rule mechanics. We found it easy to play, the cards and capabilities of the armies and notables (characters) gave a huge amount of flavour and we will be coming back to this many times. Armies are quite easy to generate with 100 points being a standard force structure (about 10-16 units). There are some very interesting quirks and it forces the player to think in the 18th Century Manner. We had some chaps who knew Napoleonic tactics pulling their hair out when a complex combined arms assualts just couldn't get off the ground.

Keep it simple, march up to the enemy, give fire then charge in a gentlemanly manner. At all times make sure your officers are suitably attired and your troops have their wigs powdered. Keep artillery together and well sighted from the start (don't move them like horse arty), cavalry on the wings and have at least two lines of infantry.

I have also used BP for AWI and found it also works very well but the flavour needs to be added to these basic rules - "Last Argument of Kings" is highly recommended as a supplement. For both rule sets you can use the same basing formats i.e. four bases per unit for inf and cav and one for the arty, so no need to worry about rebasing if you don't actually like one set of rules.

[Steve J]

Glad you enjoyed your first game Dave. I've been reading the book as and when I get the chance and the advanced rules, notables etc look great fun. Just need to get another game in soon.