It’s not a binary choice to play one game or another, but so many people act like it is. Let’s look at some of the excellent reasons to pick up an historical game, whether or not you play something else already (you do play something else, and it’s 40K, isn’t it?).
Historicals are often treated like the redheaded stepchild of miniature wargaming. This is likely because they are more easily lumped into a single category than other parts of the hobby. After all, GW makes both sci-fi and fantasy games. Star Wars has nothing to do with Grim Darkness, and LOTR shares almost nothing in common with AoS besides their design studios. But everything historical, from the Biblical era to Desert Storm, gets thrown into the same corner. Well I’m here to tell you that a category this broad contains some true gems that deserve your attention.
Let’s start with game systems. Do you like 40K or GW games in general? Do you know the names Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestly? You damn well better, as they are responsible for creating most of the GW content you like. When they left GW they went to Warlord Games and created a game very similar to 40K with a few key differences. Bolt Action eschews the (extremely outdated) IGOUGO system in favor of activation dice. Every unit in your army gets a die that is thrown in a bag with your opponent’s dice. Turn order is determined by pulling dice from the bag one at a time and activating a unit that has not already been activated. It is so damn fun.
What about fantasy analogues? after the demise of Warhammer and it’s replacement with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe… I mean, AOS, there have been precious few options to scratch that Rank and Flank itch. Well, my friends, I give you Never Mind The Billhooks. Originally set in the Wars of the Roses (the historical inspiration for Game of Thrones), a new edition has just dropped covering a plethora of Medieval and Renaissance settings. It plays a bit faster than WFB and gives you all the joy of blocks of troops maneuvering around the tabletop and crashing into one another. Look for a new edition of Proxy Wars in the near future using WFB Empire and Brettonians to play this game. Spoiler alert, it practically writes itself.
Don’t want to invest in a huge mass of models? How about two of the best skirmish games on the market? Muskets & Tomahawks is a French & Indian War game that has expanded to more historical settings in its most recent edition, pitting small forces of European soldiers duking it out alongside Native American allies in the American wilderness. If you prefer swords to muskets check out Saga, a game set in the Dark Ages with a truly unique activation mechanic. Like Bolt Action, units get a die, but at the start of your turn you roll all your dice and use the results to activate normally or combine them to activate special abilities unique to your faction. Saga takes a setting that could feel very basic (my guys with swords vs your guys with swords) and injects some very interesting character into it.
Now let’s talk about models. Are you a fan of GW models? Ever heard of the Perry Twins? These marvelous bastards deserve their own blog post (of which there are many, google them). They were the longest tenured sculptors at GW until 2014 when they left to turn their side gig into their main gig – historical models. John Blanche is getting a ton of (well deserved) credit for his artwork these days, but the Perrys were the ones making the actual models you played with, for decades. In the golden years of metal they designed Cadians, Mordians, Tallarn Desert Raiders, Valhallans, and Ogryns. They made Stone Trolls, Empire soldiers of all kinds, and Brettonians. You know the entire Lord of the Rings range (original trilogy, not that Hobbit crap)? That’s them. Don’t get me wrong, other legends of the hobby were there before, with, and after them, but these two brothers were in the thick of it from the very start.
The Perry Brothers’ contributions to the hobby cannot be overstated. There is a diorama in the Tower of London depicting the Battle of Agincourt using 4,400 of their Hundred Years War miniatures. Peter Jackson (that guy that made the Lord of the Rings movies) has a World War I diorama of 54mm miniatures that the Perry brothers made for him. Their excellently posed and proportioned metal miniatures depict Samurai, The Crusades, The English Civil Wars, and much more. Their plastic kits cover the The Hundred Years War and Wars of the Roses, American War of Independence and Civil War, Anglo-Zulu Wars, The Sudan, and World War II. The quality of these kits is excellent, but where they put even Games Workshop to shame is quantity and price. A space marine tactical squad, ten plastic miniatures, retails for just under $40. A box of plastic Perry Miniatures will contain between 36 to 42 infantry or 12 to 14 cavalry, depending on the kit, and retails for under $34.
So here is what I wish everyone knew about historical games: The models are good. The price is good. The games are good! Give it a shot. You don’t need to become a scholar to play them (but it’s kinda fun!), just like you don’t need to become a scholar to play 40K (but it’s kinda fun!). Still don’t want to buy new models? Play one of these games with models you already have! Play Bolt Action with Legion minis, play Nevermind The Billhooks with AoS minis, play Muskets & Tomahawks with 40K minis (holy crap that sounds awesome!). I don’t care and neither should you. What I want most is for folks to expand their horizons and try something new. You just might enjoy it!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
