Where it all started

When I was 12, I saw a national news program item (on Nationwide) about a wargames convention in London. It was the first time I'd ever heard of it, I was intrigued and discussed it with a friend on the way home from school. He was interested as well.

That weekend I went to the library and asked if they had any books on wargaming. The only thing that they had was "Little Wars" by H G Wells and armed with this, I bought some 1/32nd scale Airfix Napoleonics, some cannon and set out on a journey into wargaming that has now lasted 35 years.

After Little Wars I discovered Practical Wargaming by Charles Wesencraft and the concept of dice and smaller figures and this lead to Bruce Quarrie and Napoleonics and so on.

Nowadays, 35 years later, I run my own wargaming company Black Hat Miniatures and play a wide variety of games. But somehow, I have always looked back on those early Little Wars games with affection.

Then, I came across a copy of Little Wars and bought it and then I saw the newly published rules "Funny Little Wars" which updated Wells' rules in allow for more complex games but which still retain the fun and enjoyment of crawling around on your hands and knees firing cannons.

This final set of rules gave me the momentum I needed and I spent a few weeks scouring ebay until I had managed to buy a number of Britain's matchstick firing cannons. I was still undecided about the figures though - the Armies in Plastic were nice enough but I didn't like the multiple poses.

A month or so ago, it suddenly struck me that I am running a Toy Soldier business and therefore why don't I make my own Little Wars figures?

The figures I want are parade style, marching and with that Toy Soldier look that matches the Britain's used in "Little Wars".

This blog is going to document my progress as I build up Army Red and Army Blue, get the figures commissioned and cast, and hopefully play my first few games in the garden.

The Little Wars Revisited range of figures I develop will eventually be available for sale for anyone who is interested and likes the style I have chosen, but it is going to very much be a range for my own pleasure without any real thought about commercial pressures to change styles or the figures produced to match other people's desires.

These are going to be my toys...