Hey folks. So, a friend of mine finally got me to come to DBA night at the game shop thats...well closeEST to my apartment. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Trying to find minis, however is new to me. I have never bought 15mm or historicals. Looked on eBay and found a good amount of items, but not what I'm looking for. Specifically, I am looking for 15mm early French Crusaders. Want to emulate the Knights Templar, though it looks like they formed during the first crusade and their famous heraldry (white field with red cross) did not come about until the second. So, need info on minis for a decent price and info on heraldry/orginization during the first crusade (thats not Wiki as its a MESS to read). Thanks!

I'm not into 15mm - I'm not able to paint 28 less 15mm and I realy hate historical games (my colleages play and have tried to seduce me...but that's beyond my hobbies limits)... but I've pass the question to them...as far as I know they have miniatures from a hundred companys for a hundred periods of time... - maybe some day if the fight crusaders vs Napoleonics maybe I will go to see it ;P

I tell you things as soon as I get the information

Thank you, sir! I like DBA for the fact that it does not require many minis at all and is very rules lite. Its all about tactical movement. I'm going to paint them the American way. Bright, flat colors followed by a good dip in brown varnish. (I say American because its quick and lazy...not because we came up with it!)

Probably 80% of my gaming is historicals. Check out http://www.minifigs.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=41_3 and see if they have what your looking for. I first thought of Old Glory, but their 15mm line is pretty much limited to WW2 and newer. The Miniatures Page also lists Mirilton, but I'm not sure if there are any US companies importing or if you need to order direct. They are in Italy. See the article and web link at http://theminiaturespage.com/news/49292. If you can get your friends to accept it, you could also base a group of Baccus 6mm troops on the standard DBM bases, packing more troops for the buck. Baccus has DBM army packs for around $50. Look at the US distributor at http://olderivertowneminis.com/baccus6mm.aspx or the British home page (more photos) at https://www.baccus6mm.com/index.php. Hope this helps. I've got a lot of friends who like the DBx system, but it's still a bit gamey to me. Funny, because the other 20% of my gaming is either sci-fi, VSF or Flintloque/Slaughterloo fantasy Napoleonics, and those are pretty gamey by most people's standards. You can also look at places like the Warstore, Brookhurst Hobbies, The Last Square or Warweb. They are all good stockers of this stuff. Oh, and www.wargamesminis.com has been known for 15mm DBx armies, too.

Hope this helps get you started.

Tom

Much appreciated, Tom! Did not even think to check The Warstore. Will take a look at all of those.

Just out of curiosity, if DBx is too gamey, what do you prefer for your historicals? Local gaming community seems to be GW, DBx or nothing, so probably will not be starting another game, but it never hurts to look.

Hi Kane,

For info on the armies, heraldry, uniform colours etc try the Osprey Men-At-Arms series.

They cover every imaginable period and I'm assuming they are reasonably easy to buy in the US. They also have a rules set in print called Fields Of Glory. It seems to be catching on fast here in the UK although I haven't played it so can't comment in that respect.

My friend ask me if it'll be 1 ir 2 crusader?
Then says a lot of bla, bla that'll try to translate latter but also coment the italian company mirilton and other. Is essex. Will tell u more this morning from my computer will also ask for rules

I'll steal then this tread for a question...thomaso827 you said that you had WW2 28" miniatures that you use for skirimish... we bought a few German/USA/British soldiers to try to make that (If we speak about 28mm and a few miniatures I'm more easy to convince) what rules do you use ? we have been stuck because we haven't found the right rules - we have Grunts... ones from 45. Adventures... not that we dislike them...but I want to ear from you !

Thanks

I've played NUTS from TwoHourWargames and somewhat liked them. I have Battleground WW2, but it has too much detail for most players, so takes too long if you put more than a platoon of troops and a couple of tanks on the table (I like the detail but no point in having a game nobody else will play). I checked out Disposable Heroes/Coffin for Seven Brothers from Iron Ivan Games and was hooked. The right amount of details, a system with lots of support materials for each nation and special stuff for theatres, and plays to conclusion in 3-4 hours with several platoons and tanks. The same guys make a rules set for "modern", with a module for Vietnam; rules for the Spanish Civil War, WW1 and rules for the period of the French and Indian war that covers the American War of Independance well. By skirmish game, I mean that they operate at a level of one figure represents one person. A person can easily run mulitple squads, but it is a great game to have multiple players each run a squad and somebody take a vehicle or two. I've run it at the regional game conventions, and new players catch on quickly. There are a few concepts that take a bit of work to get used to, but the authors have a Yahoo group and are always available to answer questions. The rules are available at their online store, and I understand that there are some European vendors carrying them. The basic rule book has enough unit information to get either an American, British, Russian or German unit together and get started quickly, but the additional modules have lots more options for things like Airborne or other specialist troops. Another module gives you the details for the armies of the early WW2 years, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, France, etc., and another module brings in the Pacific theatre with Japan and the US Marines. I'm afraid they can be adictive once you catch on, and I have the whole set of WW2 modules and the WW1 rules as well.

Another interesting item that is available to use with any of the WW2 rules is the Skirmish Campaign books, from the makers of the Arc of Fire rules. They have several WW2 modules, as well as one for Vietnam, and a couple for Colonial period battles.

While some things like TwoHourWargames and Two Fat Lardies rules are available for pdf download, the Iron Ivan rules and the Skirmish Campaign books are only available in print.

I think there are some folks on the Iron Ivan Yahoo group from Spain. I know there are several from Europe, anyway.

Oh, one of the things about the rules name: Disposable Heroes was a slang for Russian Soldiers, and the Coffin for Seven Brothers was a Russian nickname for the US M-3 Grant tank that was sent as part of the lend-lease program. The tank carried 7 crewmen, and like many US tanks of the war, burned very nicely if hit in the gas tank. No wonder the US crews called the Sherman the Ronson, after the famous cigaret lighter maker.

Tom

Thats an answer... We go for the 5 to 10 minis per person vs the nazis with a bit more bit we're between historical and pulp...somewhere in that place - dificult - will look at the rules

Thanks