I have a soft spot for old toy soldiers. I have collected quite a few over the years - mostly flats, but also some other types. I still haven't played a game with them, but at some point, we will do that.
Old toy soldiers also require vintage scenery, and one of the candidates for setting up a (fortified) city is the wooden block construction set pictured below.
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| The wooden box |
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| The contents. This is only the top layer of blocks, there is another layer underneath. |
This particular box has been in family for roughly a 100 years. It once belonged to my grandfather as a child (which places it roughly in the 1910-1920 period), and I also fondly remember playing with this particular set when I was a kid in the 70s. As such, the box and blocks have seen some wear and tear, but miraculously, only 1 piece is missing. And I know exactly what piece, and I know roughly when I went missing, because it was still there when I was in charge of this set as a kid ;-)
The box doesn't mention a manufacturer, and only mentions "Architecture Marocaine" on the boxlid. Some pieces indeed are shaped based on some geometric shapes as seen in Arabic architecture, so I guess there must have been other boxes available with other themes as well.
Anyway, it seems like the right kind of toy to put up some Wellsian game in the future. Below you see an image from "Floor Games", a predecessor to Little Wars (and both books are in my collection). Lots of wooden blocks!
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| Little Wars and Floor games in my gaming room, along with some old toy soldiers. |
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| Photo from Floor Games (Bob Cordery's site) |
What a wonderful treasure that box of blocks is!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that gaming with antique soldiers requires a special type of scenery. I can't wait to see what your set up looks like. I was just at a gaming convention (Hot Lead, in Stratford, Ontario) where someone set up a gorgeous looking table with German lead toy soldiers. The buildings he used looked like they came from a Christmas store: they were almost campy. But they worked really well with the soldiers, and created a wonderful old-timey feel.
Matthew,
DeleteAny pictures of this game?
Yes, those typical Christmas houses do provide a nice backdrop. Sometimes you cna pick them up at cheap prices, esp. after Xmas has passed and shops want to get rid of their excess stock.
DeleteIs this game you are referring to: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pCp_bSKK70s/VvbKrDOWHzI/AAAAAAAATIU/IaCdROPucMIiuwGuzH6sDr_AXPL3AyMHA/s640/20160319_190931.jpg
DeleteWow, what a treasure!
ReplyDeleteSuperb box of blocks. For my toy Soldier games ( 40mm Schneider semi flats) I have used flat terrain items-
ReplyDeletehttp://tradgardland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/old-school-terrain.html
You must have a game with the old figures and the blocks soon.
Thanks! I'm an avid reader of your blog, great source of inspiration!
DeleteOne of the issues I am still pondering about is whether I should use flats from all scales in my games. These old flats are not exactly scale-consistent. Some of my flats are twice as large as others. On the other hand, this could be one of the charming aspects of such a game. A kid 100 years ago probably would have used all his soldiers, whatever the scale, in the same game as well.
ReplyDeleteI like mixing scales a bit as it does give a nice 100 years ago kids toys vibe you refer to.
ReplyDelete