Prelude to Little Wars II

Infantrymen from the Grand Duchy of Little Siskington and the Bishopric of Gormanstein

In answer to Jerry's question, the troops we'll be using for Little Wars are painted though in a somewhat minimalist style. They take a bit of a beating from NERF pellets and being moved around, so a high speed low drag paintjob is best. These have seen quite a bit of miniature combat as can be seen by the chipping around the bases and the raised areas. 

The Majestic Double Headed Eagle of Little Siskington

Now, these figures have been sitting in bags for quite some time and I figured it was about time that I sorted out some proper storage solutions for these.  Now previously, I had used shoe boxes to move figures around during battle. The idea is that players can deploy whatever troops they like into boxes and then move those boxes at cavalry rate until they are struck by a NERF bullet.  

The Dastardly Fleur de Lis of the Bishopric of Gormanstein

The players can stuff as many figures as they can manage into the boxes and only have to deploy them when they wish to shoot or when the figures have been revealed by an enemy scout. Now as it happened the shoe boxes I had were looking pretty tatty, but I know a woman who is a dab hand at a spot of make and do. Tootsie Royale generally doesn't cater to the wargaming market, but she made an exception in my case and I'm very glad she did. These are light card boxes, covered in fabric, trimmed in ribbon and with a stencil to identify each side. 

A completed box

These boxes will be functional on the battlefield and look rather nice on a shelf, so it kills two birds with one stone. Because they're covered in fabric rather than paper, they'll be rather more hard wearing and I look forward to making sure they get a lot of play over the next few years.

I really enjoy Little Wars or at least my version of Little Wars as I think it's probably one of the purest wargames out there. I've seen all manner of blunders, heroic last stands and tough command decisions taken by players who would never consider themselves wargamers in the first place.  I don't think it will ever be my main wargame, it's a bit too much game, but for sheer fun, it's hard to beat.

Roll on Little Wars.