Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Intro Thoughts on a Spanish-American War Project

Photo from War Times Journal website
For years, fourteen in fact, I have been the owner and moderator of The Spanish-American War Yahoo group.  And for these same fourteen years I have wanted to game both the land and naval actions of the war.  While most of the land combat is seemingly one-sided, I was going to go with a Cuzco Wells scenario in which the Spanish actually outnumbered the American and Cuban forces, running the game as a quasi-skirmish affair using Tiger Miniatures.  A lack of space kept me from moving forward with that little endeavor, so I decided to "go small" using the old Freikorps 15 range, but those figures are showing their age with a lack of multiple poses and fairly plain look.  The Fantassin figures (which became Warmodelling, then Capitan, and now apparently Stonewall), while a bit more animated and offering a wider variety of poses, lacked U.S. Marines and some other necessary items, and they are simply far too large to use in-conjunction with the Freikorps.  So, to that end I have purchased and sold off in 25mm, and purchased and sold off in 15mm, figures for gaming the land actions, a project still stagnated to this day.

From a naval aspect, again the two major actions are fairly one-sided, but I believe Manila Bay, if the Spanish have the option to use their fortress guns, could be a more balanced game.  So, I do have the fleets for Manila Bay from War Times Journal, but they sit in their bags, waiting for basing and painting.  Really no excuse for not getting this project worked on as the ships are tiny (1/3000 scale) and I have a large sea mat ready to use, and even rules selected (the simple Quickfire rules, also a WTJ product).  So, what is the hold-up?

I think part of it stems from the shiny toy syndrome, in which a grab onto another idea or project and allow other ideas to wane.  However, I am determined to change that this year, by at least getting the naval project completed in 2018.

So, stay tuned as I plow my way forward into Manila Bay!
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