via FB

We are happy to announce Battle in a Box!
We have been keeping this under our hats for some time but we are getting close to the release now. As you can see this is a full box! It's a big box too! Everything in the box is plastic, figures and terrain (from Renedra Ltd).
Included in the box there is a new ACW multi-part General sprue (x2) made by Michael.
There's also a revised set of 'Firepower' rules by our good mate Alessio Cavatore included along with flags, bases, painting guide, 4 ft of fencing and the American farmhouse.
That talented artist Peter Dennis painted the box cover.
The whole box works out at about a third off our normal prices.
We'll keep you updated!

pretty good deal really eh ?

Man, if GW ever actually leveraged their position of power in the industry, producing box sets of this value and content at sensible prices, there would be no room for the little guys.

Lucky for us they seem hellbent on selfdestruction through ever increasing prices, opening the field for so much diversity and options to come to market.

Its fun watching the ex GW crowd utilise their knowledge and contacts to create this stuff.

I'm not a historical guy, so this is of limited appeal, but as an example of making use of the strengths of plastic mass produced miniatures at a solid price, its pretty impressive.

This is pretty cool, Ill have to keep my eye on this.

Awesome. Just when I was thinking about getting the Confederate side of my Battlecry set done!

I wonder what the Firepower rules will be like - something like FoW? And I wonder if it'll have points or scenarios.

Is this going to be direct only or will be general release like their smaller sets?

Awesome!

I guess that Firepower is a "historical Kings of War"
(the KoW-RC member mentioned something about Cavatore working on historical rules based on KoW)

Sounds interesting!

 kodos wrote:
I guess that Firepower is a "historical Kings of War"
(the KoW-RC member mentioned something about Cavatore working on historical rules based on KoW)

I wonder if FIrepower had to add unit heights like KoW did.

really interested in how modular (or not) these are going to be,

price seems pretty good for the contents

very cool look forward to this

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
price seems pretty good for the contents

Stateside, that's about a dollar a miniatures, not including the cavalry, artillery/gunners, and the worth of the terrain, bases, flags, painting guide, and rules. Not to mention that these are Perry plastics, which are incredible. At that price, it's a steal for anyone who might have an interest in ACW.

I wonder if they'll do the same for their other plastic lines - Napoleonics, AWI, WotR and other contemporary wars, and some other rules by Alessio for WWII for their Africa stuff.

If they do another box set like this, they should do a British 8th army set with Rubicon's new Crusader for the tanks.

This is great, a buddy and I were just talking a few months back about starting ACW and this looks like a great deal to get into it.

I wonder if they'll do this for their other ranges. I guess I could only hope for a War of the Roses/Hundred year war deal...

From comments made on their FB page, seems other box sets may well follow, kinda dependent upon how this one does.

I would love to see something like this for The War of the Roses.

The Auld Grump - for folks playing Kingdoms of Men in Kings of War... it would be like getting two games.

This is the kind of set I could finally talk my dad in to scaling down to 28mm.

Guy has collected 1/32 soldiers since he was a little kid himself. Will keep an eye out for this.

JonWebb wrote:
Man, if GW ever actually leveraged their position of power in the industry, producing box sets of this value

But I wouldn't buy a 40k box like this because I don't have an interest in 40k anymore... versus this box set I am going to buy because I love historicals, Perry sculpts, and Alessio Cavatore rulesets.

I'm buying one. If that goes well, I will buy a second and just have bigger armies!

Gettysburg, Ho!

 reds8n wrote:
From comments made on their FB page, seems other box sets may well follow, kinda dependent upon how this one does.

Looking forward to one using their Afrika Korps and Desert Rat minis.

This one is unpassupable.

My wife's a history teacher, so we need this for edumacational porpoises, right?

 reds8n wrote:
From comments made on their FB page, seems other box sets may well follow, kinda dependent upon how this one does.

Meaning that we should all go out and buy this then !

This looks fangbloodytastic. I think a pretty big barrier to historical gaming is the sometimes overwhelming number of choices of minis, rulesets, scales to use. It can appear a big mountain to climb and I think a lot of people don't bother because of it.

But, think this should go some way to circumventing that - all the minis and terrain you need, plus a concise set of rules that aren't going to drown you.

Big thumbs-up the Perries

(Just want to know now how they had time to develop this alongside those mental WW1 and Agincourt dioramas!)

 Pacific wrote:
Big thumbs-up the Perries

(Just want to know now how they had time to develop this alongside those mental WW1 and Agincourt dioramas!)

The infantry, cavalry, and artillery have been around for a while... as well as the terrain. Looks like only the multipart plastic officer/general sprue is brand new (along with the revised ruleset)

 Pacific wrote:

 reds8n wrote:
From comments made on their FB page, seems other box sets may well follow, kinda dependent upon how this one does.

Meaning that we should all go out and buy this then !

This looks fangbloodytastic. I think a pretty big barrier to historical gaming is the sometimes overwhelming number of choices of minis, rulesets, scales to use. It can appear a big mountain to climb and I think a lot of people don't bother because of it.

But, think this should go some way to circumventing that - all the minis and terrain you need, plus a concise set of rules that aren't going to drown you.

Big thumbs-up the Perries

(Just want to know now how they had time to develop this alongside those mental WW1 and Agincourt dioramas!)

I think the only issue with it is that it's maybe too much stuff. Now, if they were to release a HYW set like this and I had a spare hundred quid, I'd probably go straight for it as there's just so much value and so much potential, anything from a historical semi-skirmish like Lion Rampant up to a massive Kingdoms of Men army for KoW, maybe even some spare conversion fodder for other projects...

But at the same time, I'd be wary of buying in the region of 150 minis at once; unless you have a whole lotta time and patience, or were splitting the box with a friend or gaming group, I can imagine a good deal of them never getting assembled let alone painted. Yes, one box and you're pretty much set for a whole year or more of hobbying, but how many gamers/modellers can keep the attention span to spend that long just doing one type of thing?

I'm not trying to talk this down, as I think it's a great deal and I'd love to see more (ACW is not something I'm hugely into as far as gaming goes), but I do think there's a danger of buying one only to be buried under piles of plastic, thinking 'what have I done' and waving goodbye to any free time for the next 18 months as you work through it!

 Paradigm wrote:
I think the only issue with it is that it's maybe too much stuff.

Noway. I love assembling/painting large armies. My record is my 200-model strong Goblin army for KoW which I painted in ten hours. And Perry historicals tend to be three parts per infantry model (body, arms&gun, head), so a couple hours tops to assemble the whole set. And ACW infantry is easy peasy to paint, mono-color spray, three colors, dip, flock, anti-shine spray. I think I could get a set done in two weeks... maybe I'll do a Dakka blog like my Perry DAK army!

 judgedoug wrote:

JonWebb wrote:
Man, if GW ever actually leveraged their position of power in the industry, producing box sets of this value

But I wouldn't buy a 40k box like this because I don't have an interest in 40k anymore... versus this box set I am going to buy because I love historicals, Perry sculpts, and Alessio Cavatore rulesets.

Which I totally understand.

It's just crazy that two ex GW sculptors (ok, they have a lot of history behind them, but still) can put something if this value/quality out vs the largest fish in our tiny pond. An international behemoth vs two guys...

Ok, GW have costs and overheads above and beyond anyone else, but by sheer market force and production ability alone, no one should be able to touch them.

Not to turn this into a pricing thread, but it just further highlights how bad GW has become. Sadly they still set the benchmark for pricing in the fantasy/sci fi world :(

I have absolutely no interest in the ACW, but for that price I'm suddenly very interested in see how an ACW game works. No doubt since it's an Alessio Cavatore ruleset it'll be easy to work out, especially if it's based on KoW.

Looks like the Perrys are on to a winner with this idea, I'll also echo the desire for a HYW/WOTR set.

That's a pretty awesome set. I have expended any/all interest in ACW stuff in my youth, but man, a set like that in nearly any other period would be too tempting to pass up!

Is that box all plastic?

I believe.

decker_cky wrote:
Is that box all plastic?

Hem, hem..

Everything in the box is plastic, figures and terrain (from Renedra Ltd).

This does seem to be a pretty good deal, even before you consider the terrain and rules.

decker_cky wrote:
Is that box all plastic?

I think the box itself may be cardboard, though.

I also suspect that the rules are paper, not plastic.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

decker_cky wrote:
Is that box all plastic?

I think the box itself may be cardboard, though.

 TheWaspinator wrote:
I also suspect that the rules are paper, not plastic.

The value is dropping by the second!

And *gasp* there is probably air in the box! Not all of the space is filled with plastic!

it's like backing a really sussesful kickstarter with lots of figures. except you don't have to wait several years to get it once you pay for it.

Gamingdog wrote:
it's like backing a really sussesful kickstarter with lots of figures. except you don't have to wait several years to get it once you pay for it.

Yes, I can see where you're comng from there.

Speaking of which, is there a release date?

This is an awesome deal, particularly for two mates wanting to start ACW from scratch.

Buy two sets and swap some figures around -- the Federals ought to have more infantry and artillery. Or you could add a couple of the standard Perry boxes to bolster up cavalry or whatever.

All you need else is some trees to make a representative battlefield. Most wargamers probably have some trees already.

As someone said above, ACW figures paint up really easily.

If I didn't already have a lot of 15mm ACW I would be very tempted.

This thread is awesome.

On topic I'm really excited about this, I have a buddy who has always been interested in historical miniatures and has been wanting to try painting and playing, this is probably the best thing to get him to finally take the plunge.

If only they'd started with the WotR box!

 TheWaspinator wrote:
And *gasp* there is probably air in the box! Not all of the space is filled with plastic!

I was under the impression it was a solid block of plastic.

 judgedoug wrote:

 TheWaspinator wrote:
And *gasp* there is probably air in the box! Not all of the space is filled with plastic!

I was under the impression it was a solid block of plastic.

me too I feel utterly robbed now, regarless if this kit is multipart plastic I can make a lot of spawn with this

Dear Santa....

 judgedoug wrote:

 TheWaspinator wrote:
And *gasp* there is probably air in the box! Not all of the space is filled with plastic!

I was under the impression it was a solid block of plastic.

And a modeling knife glued to the outside, so you can carve out your own minis.

It is guaranteed that each army will be unique (Except for all those lazy sots that field the plastic block as is, not even bothering to prime it first.)

The Auld Grump

Real men use their teeth to carve miniatures of a solid block of plastic.

Less than $1 US per 28mm miniature. Why do I do anything other than historicals again?

Blimey. (Hope they don't mind me waiting to see if they do a HYW box like this. Get those frenchies released!)

 Nick Ellingworth wrote:
No doubt since it's an Alessio Cavatore ruleset it'll be easy to work out, especially if it's based on KoW.

The special generals in the box won't actually do much commanding. They'll just run around like the Hulk, hitting things with their swords.

I'm not interested in Civil War Tabletop, but this is a great deal.

If they do a War of the Roses Army in a Box, it will become the unofficial KoW Kingdoms of Men Starter Box

That period doesn't interest me, but that's a crazy good value and I hope they keep on making stuff at such a great price point.

Yeah if they do a war of the roses one i would be so on that for my targaryen army

If this goes well they almost certainly will do HYW and WoTR sets.

It's a pity I already have a WoTR army in lead.

I've already got more than enough WotR but if they did a box like that I'd probably get one. (Because you know I just might need some of it. Maybe. When I'm about 157.) If they do a HYW I'll certainly be in for at least one. (As I've held off on the plastics so far, jut waiting for more of the range to come out).

 Kilkrazy wrote:
If this goes well they almost certainly will do HYW and WoTR sets.

It's a pity I already have a WoTR army in lead.

There's nothing wrong with having more soldiers to field.

WotR or HYW please! Especially HYW. And yes, it'll become the unofficial KoM starter for KoW.

Unless they do Viking versus Saxons. Then THAT would be another unofficial KoM starter.

 heartserenade wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
If this goes well they almost certainly will do HYW and WoTR sets.

It's a pity I already have a WoTR army in lead.

There's nothing wrong with having more soldiers to field.

WotR or HYW please! Especially HYW. And yes, it'll become the unofficial KoM starter for KoW.

Unless they do Viking versus Saxons. Then THAT would be another unofficial KoM starter.

Perry doesn't have plastic Vikings and Saxons. So WotR or Napoleonics would make the most logical sense for an all plastic set next. If they do Napoleonics, I'm screwed.

This looks brilliant. I've got no interest in ACW (or Napoleonics) so I'm safe for now. When the HYW and WotR one(s) come out, I'm screwed.

I've always loved the idea of doing Napoleonics, one day perhaps, although I think it might suit 15mm better.

HYW or WoTR would definitely make sense as they already have the range there - perhaps after they have released the forthcoming French army set?

I think Dark Ages would be that much less likely, simply because Perry haven't done anything in that era yet (in metal, which has traditionally preceded the plastic sets) and they would be competing directly with some really great Gripping Beast plastic sets.

I used to have a bunch of their British Colonial period figs. Such great stuff. A set like this might actually convince me to finally step into ACW gaming, which is one aspect of historicals I've never felt drawn to. Napoleonic gaming bored me, but at least I tried it.

Via Wargames Illustrated on Facebook

BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER!
We spent time with the Perry's yesterday trying out the new Firepower rules for the American Civil War. This was part of our upcoming feature on the first 'Battle In A Box' game that is due for release very soon. Great rules and excellent value for money, plus exclusive command figures!

So, assuming that the units we see in the pictures represent basic units (since these are supposed to be 'fast playing' rules), then that means a unit of Cavalry per side, 2 guns per side, and 4 infantry units per side. Although it seems as though the Union side has 5 units, and the Confederates 3.

I want to get my hands on those rules!

I do not need ACW... I do not need ACW... But it's such a great deal!

A WotR set would be an instant buy and is almost guaranteed to be their next one as the command sprue is about all that is needed. Heck, include another one of the foot knight command sprues and you've already got that sorted as it has the crown head.

This is seriously tempting the feth out of me.

An AWI version would be baller.

Looks like the general/commander sprue is indeed exclusive to the box.

They have said they will do more if the sales of this box are good.

War of the Roses is the obvious next choice as they have these kits already in plastic:
WR1 Plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry (bows and bills)
WR20 Plastic 'Mercenaries', European Infantry 1450-1500
WR40 Mounted Men at Arms 1450-1500
WR50 Foot Knights 1450-1500
WR60 Light Cavalry 1450-1500

And they could easily throw in
RPB 3 Medieval Cottage 1300-1700

 judgedoug wrote:
Looks like the general/commander sprue is indeed exclusive to the box.

They have said they will do more if the sales of this box are good.

War of the Roses is the obvious next choice as they have these kits already in plastic:
WR1 Plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry (bows and bills) WR20 Plastic 'Mercenaries', European Infantry 1450-1500 WR40 Mounted Men at Arms 1450-1500
WR50 Foot Knights 1450-1500
WR60 Light Cavalry 1450-1500

And they could easily throw in
RPB 3 Medieval Cottage 1300-1700

WotR, aka make your own Kingdoms of Men or Game of Thrones models.

I'd like to see them dip their toe in sci-fi at some point.

 agnosto wrote:
I'd like to see them dip their toe in sci-fi at some point.

If they made plastic not-Valhallans that paired well with their old pewter Valhallans, I'd buy a company of them. History's always been their passion though even at GW (as you can tell by their old metal IG), so I'd be surprised if we saw anything but historicals from them anytime soon.

 Brother SRM wrote:

 agnosto wrote:
I'd like to see them dip their toe in sci-fi at some point.

If they made plastic not-Valhallans that paired well with their old pewter Valhallans, I'd buy a company of them. History's always been their passion though even at GW (as you can tell by their old metal IG), so I'd be surprised if we saw anything but historicals from them anytime soon.

I know but I can wish, right?

They make some awesome models at a very reasonable price, I'd love for them to branch out into something I'm interested in buying (even WWII Russians would get my money).

I may have remembered incorrectly but I'm sure I remember them saying that they had no intention of going that way.

If you think they have Mantic and of course GW just down the road (and Warlord as well now actually) sci-fi is becoming a pretty crowded market.

Both of the Perry's are really into their historical re-enactment/Sealed Knot type stuff, definitely think that historicals is where their hearts lie!

 judgedoug wrote:
Looks like the general/commander sprue is indeed exclusive to the box.

They have said they will do more if the sales of this box are good.

War of the Roses is the obvious next choice as they have these kits already in plastic:
WR1 Plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry (bows and bills)
WR20 Plastic 'Mercenaries', European Infantry 1450-1500
WR40 Mounted Men at Arms 1450-1500
WR50 Foot Knights 1450-1500
WR60 Light Cavalry 1450-1500

And they could easily throw in
RPB 3 Medieval Cottage 1300-1700

Agreed, that stuff is already out there so would be a short step.

 Pacific wrote:

If you think they have Mantic and of course GW just down the road (and Warlord as well now actually) sci-fi is becoming a pretty crowded market.

While it may be a crowded market, most other sculptors don't get the GW aesthetic down which is pretty important for me and a lot of other people who want to play 40k with alternate armies. Victoria Lamb comes closest. However, if Osprey branches out into the sci-fi space with a good army-scale ruleset, I'd love to see the Perrys make minis for it.

The Perry bros said they'd never do sci-fi or fantasy as one of their ranges as they have zero interest in it. Historicals are their passion.

That being said, Michael Perry did sculpt the character figs for Terminator - and those are, quite frankly, some of the best human miniatures to ever exist.

 judgedoug wrote:
The Perry bros said they'd never do sci-fi or fantasy as one of their ranges as they have zero interest in it. Historicals are their passion.

That being said, Michael Perry did sculpt the character figs for Terminator - and those are, quite frankly, some of the best human miniatures to ever exist.

Spoiler:

Yes, those are completely awesome. It's a shame they won't branch out; I didn't know they were adamant about their chosen genre.

 agnosto wrote:

Yes, those are completely awesome. It's a shame they won't branch out; I didn't know they were adamant about their chosen genre.

I'd figure a historical reenactor who had their arm blown off by a cannon misfire only to go back to sculpting historicals was pretty big on them

Ugh, that touches close to home for me. I used to do ACW reenacting and our unit had a few people messed up just before I joined, and a messy accident during my time. Knowing what exploding rifles could do, I was unwilling to get within 50 yards of cannon... my stomach still turns a little thinking about it.

Damned impressive to get back to sculpting after that, no less!


... come to think of it, most of my "oh man, it was so nasty what happened to that guy" type stories come from reenacting. That's a little surprising to realize considering the hobbies since.

At least with early medieval the worst that usually happens is you break a bone. Nothing explodes!

 endtransmission wrote:
I do not need ACW... I do not need ACW... But it's such a great deal!

This is where I'm at. I'd like to do ACW at some point, and the Perry stuff is amazing, but I'm still painting 120 ECW and my painting table can't handle any more pending projects.

The painting table may not be able to handle it, but the closet/shelf certainly can!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
They just replied to my comment -

Doug Craig - I heard Firepower was based on Kings of War, is that true?
Perry Miniatures - No, it just happens to be the same author.

[Cue sad trombone]

Well, maybe it will still be OK?

 Alpharius wrote:
[Cue sad trombone]

Well, maybe it will still be OK?

Perry's first ACW plastic release, their very first plastic box set, came with a 4-page set of fast-play rules. I believe these are the slightly-expanded slightly-revised fast-play ACW rules.
Free rules are kinda just the sprinkles on the already heavily iced delicious cake tho

Yeah, considering they never gave page count of the "rulebook", I figured it was a few pages of quick play style rules.

But in a pinch, you could use KoW. It might not be 100% historically accurate, but all the unit archetypes I can see there are represented. And it's easy enough to tweak if you don't think certain aspects fit.

There are probably dozens of different historical rulesets that you could use that are fit for purpose, alot of which are either very cheap/free and easily available.

Some recommendations
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=137984
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/516246/best-civil-war-miniatures-rule-set

List of games.
http://www.theminiaturespage.com/rules/acw/land.html


I don't know why you would want to try and shoehorn in a system that was intended for ranks of ancient/medievil-esque fantasy combat into ACW! By the time you have finished changing it into something that even remotely represented ACW combat you may as well have just picked up a different ruleset to begin with

Well, if you already know how to play KoW, and since it already includes rules for muskets and cannons, it's not much an effort to use KoW for ACW.

While reaserching new ACW games, free or not, would take lots of time to find a game that is good and fits your tastes.

Of course this could all be meaningless if the included rules are any good to begin with.

 Pacific wrote:
There are probably dozens of different historical rulesets that you could use that are fit for purpose, alot of which are either very cheap/free and easily available.

I don't know why you would want to try and shoehorn in a system that was intended for ranks of ancient/medievil-esque fantasy combat into ACW! By the time you have finished changing it into something that even remotely represented ACW combat you may as well have just picked up a different ruleset to begin with

Exalt. Kings of War is better than Warhammer and replaced it for a lot of GW army collections, but let's not make KoW the 'new Warhammer' - a flawed game with an obsessive following crowding out many other worthy rulesets - eh?

I understand Adam's concerns about researching rulesets: queries will produce a bald list of titles like that TMP thread (like most of that type of TMP thread), with few indications of the game's scale, complexity or mechanics, and whether they suit the OP's own tastes in wargames. Sometimes the websites for said games aren't much better, fitting hints and teases in among the sales patter. I've been having problems like this myself, recently. But I still think it's worthwhile. Just a little application of curiosity, maybe a little capital, and hopefully a helpful insight, can let you find a potential gem among the confusing masses.

It's gotta be better than the same basic ruleset for everything pre-1900 or involving orcs and dwarfs, right?

My club really like Regimental Fire and Fury for ACW. Basic turn sequence is Movement (Command roll and movement), Shooting (Defensive shooting and shooting) and Melee. Defensive shooting is where the other player gets to shoot you first when you run into range. Most interaction are solved with a single D10 dice roll with various modifiers. It also has scenario books which great if you're into re-fighting specific battles.

I personally enjoy most of it except for the single dice roll as it make a poor throw feel way worse than a poor throw with lots of dice and a few success.

Well, considering the Historicals supplement is coming for Kings of War, we _may_ have black powder era KoW rules, if "Historicals" covers that period (and not just Ancients to Medieval)

But... It should be Ga Pa though, that's the best black powder era ruleset.

Yeah, do we know anything about the periods the KoW Historical book is going to cover? Because "historical" could mean basically anything. Spartans? Medieval? Samurai? American Civil War? World War II?

Going by the Uncharted Empires Beta for Kings of War it seems likely that Pirates are going to be one of the lists. (Long John Silver and Pieces of Eight are mentioned....)

The Auld Grump - Twelve and a half percent!

Black Powder rules should work well for this also.

Box is up for preorder!
Perry Homepage.

Doug Craig - Will this be available from Warlord Games or other distributors of your figures?

Perry Miniatures - It will be available to all of our distributors Doug.

Wife told me to order it, who am I to argue?

Is there a release date? Evidently I'm blind...

The Perry site says in a couple of weeks. Also, if you order through them you get a metal wounded officer figure

Well I've caved in and placed an order. Apparently all I needed to become interested in the ACW was a bugger load of excellent 28mm minis at a silly price.

USA distributor Architects of War http://www.architectsofwar.com/preorderitemamericancivilwarbatteinabox.aspx

I preordered today from Perry. $167 USD. I almost bought 2.

That's weird that they did shipping included in the price, since it prevents you from taking advantage of the free shipping over 200 pounds that you normally get (which is a huge saving).

decker_cky wrote:
That's weird that they did shipping included in the price, since it prevents you from taking advantage of the free shipping over 200 pounds that you normally get (which is a huge saving).

Couldn't you just order the "shipping not included" version if you wanted to?

I put that version in my cart initially, to see what the shipping would actually be. Think it came to about £26 to Michigan, actual costs.

The bewildering British obsession with US history continues, with Warlord now offering a massive American Revolution starter box:

http://www.warlordgames.com/pre-order-liberty-or-death-american-war-of-independence-battle-set/?utm_source=Warlord+Games+Newsletter&utm_campaign=cf0157f272-Warlord_Games_Newsletter_30_October_201510_27_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7e928b4ed-cf0157f272-131891926&mc_cid=cf0157f272&mc_eid=a399e6c101

It's $280, with 285 minis and laser cut wooden terrain.

Wow.... that's kind of crazy. I prefer 15mm for these sorts of wars, but damn, that is a good deal.

 Polonius wrote:
The bewildering British obsession with US history continues, with Warlord now offering a massive American Revolution starter box:

http://www.warlordgames.com/pre-order-liberty-or-death-american-war-of-independence-battle-set/?utm_source=Warlord+Games+Newsletter&utm_campaign=cf0157f272-Warlord_Games_Newsletter_30_October_201510_27_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7e928b4ed-cf0157f272-131891926&mc_cid=cf0157f272&mc_eid=a399e6c101

It's $280, with 285 minis and laser cut wooden terrain.

Yeesh, that's a lot of blue and red paint.

Don't forget about the Continental Army and British starter packs. Each $135 with 165~ miniatures in them.

Well, now the debate - AWI or ACW? I guess it counts against Warlord's pack that you'll need to pick up rules as well, but Black Powder works for both eras.

 Polonius wrote:
The bewildering British obsession with US history continues...

You always want the one that got away!

That is a fantastic deal though!

Holy hell that's a lot of plastic :O

Welp already pre-ordered the Perry ACW set. I guess it's time to get the WLG/WGF AWI set too!

 Polonius wrote:
The bewildering British obsession with US history continues

Well to be fair, AWI is British history too...

 Polonius wrote:
The bewildering British obsession with US history continues, with Warlord now offering a massive American Revolution starter box:

They probably just think it's a good bit of fun when yanks are shooting each other

Both the AWI and the ACW are as much a part of British history as they are American.

Incidentally, the Perrys are running an AWI game that will appear in the next Wargames Illustrated.

 Eiríkr wrote:
Both the AWI and the ACW are as much a part of British history as they are American.

Sure, at least for AWI, they are part of British history, but on a list of the most important conflicts in British History, where would the AWI land? Probably not even in the top ten, right? (In no particular order: WWI, WWII, Napoleonic wars, Seven years war, War of the Roses, ECW, 100 years war, Indian Mutiny... and maybe then the AWI?)

For the US, the AWI is probably the most pivotal event, in that it directly lead to both our independence from Britain, and becoming one nation instead of 13. Admittedly, big time historians would probably rate the Civil War as the most critical event in US history, but the Civil War doesn't happen without the AWI).

So, it's not that people can't appreciate it, or that Britain wasn't involved, but it's interesting to see British companies put out products, so close together, that focus on two of the biggest events in American history.

Imagine if two different US companies produced giant box sets for the Spanish Armada and Battle of Trafalgar.

It's very anecdotal but I was at Gettysburg earlier in August of this year, having flown out from the UK to tour the Civil War sites in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Whilst sitting on a wall in the shade*, I overheard an American couple speaking about the number of foreign visitors around them at that time; "Gee, they know our history better than we do ourselves!". Obviously this isn't indicative of every American, or of the average European, but I wonder if there's some weight in it for those whom are at the very least both historically and tabletop leaning. Either that, or we just enjoy pretending that our scroungy kid never broke away from its loving parents' embrace.

* Lord, the heat! I gained a new appreciation of the average soldier fighting in the States. I cannot imagine scrapping around in woolen garments and the midday sun.

 Eiríkr wrote:
It's very anecdotal but I was at Gettysburg earlier in August of this year, having flown out from the UK to tour the Civil War sites in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Whilst sitting on a wall in the shade*, I overheard an American couple speaking about the number of foreign visitors around them at that time; "Gee, they know our history better than we do ourselves!". Obviously this isn't indicative of every American, or of the average European, but I wonder if there's some weight in it for those whom are at the very least both historically and tabletop leaning. Either that, or we just enjoy pretending that our scroungy kid never broke away from its loving parents' embrace.

* Lord, the heat! I gained a new appreciation of the average soldier fighting in the States. I cannot imagine scrapping around in woolen garments and the midday sun.

As the first really industrial war, and the last war fought generally in line of battle, the ACW is a very rich topic for history buffs. It helps that so many of the soldiers, even privates, were literate, and wrote in language that, while flowery and melodramatic, is easy for the modern ear. Many of the battlefields are very well preserved, and the tactics, while incredibly obsolete at the regimental level, are still relevant at the Corps level today.

I'm not surprised that international history buffs find the war fascinating, any more than I'm surprised that napoleonics are popular Stateside. I guess I'm just surprised at the timing.

 Pacific wrote:
There are probably dozens of different historical rulesets that you could use that are fit for purpose, alot of which are either very cheap/free and easily available.

Why not Black Powder? My understanding is that Warlord plans to release a supplement for ACW like Rebellion was for AWI

 Eiríkr wrote:
"Gee, they know our history better than we do ourselves!".

I've had Britishers say the same to me about British history. The truth is, people who actually like to read about history tend to know more about it than those who don't. In the case of your anecdote, you should keep in mind that the type of foreigner who travels to ACW sites probably does know more about the ACW than a good number of the Americans there who are only visiting the site casually. The same goes for any Americans who flew over to Europe this past year to look at Agincourt or Waterloo. Such an American, it is a good bet, knows more than the average Frenchman or Belgian about HYW or Napoleonic Wars.

 Eiríkr wrote:
Both the AWI and the ACW are as much a part of British history as they are American.

Seems quite a stretch regarding the ACW.

 Brother SRM wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
The bewildering British obsession with US history continues, with Warlord now offering a massive American Revolution starter box:

They probably just think it's a good bit of fun when yanks are shooting each other

Of course, that and there's good money to be made selling plastic crack to rebellious colonists/patriotic Americans (delete as applicable).

In all seriousness, as a result of caving into preordering the Perry ACW set I've actually started studying the war (by studying I mean watching Ken Burn's "The Civil War" on DVD and once they arrive reading Shelby Foote's books on the war) and even though I'm a Brit it's an absolutely fascinating conflict. Not just from a strategic or tactical view but the politics and stories of the individuals involved too. So it's not really a surprise to me that serious history buffs over here (which I would hope most people involved with making historical minis are) find wars like the AWI and ACW interesting.

 Polonius wrote:
I guess I'm just surprised at the timing.

I think what this demonstrates is there is a lot of market appetite for historical games for folks who have heretofore not been historicals gamers. IME the "old way" (say pre-Flames of War) was to assemble armies from a dozen or more garage-based companies and pick up some homespun saddle-stapled rules from a convention. That is going to be a niche market. But companies like Battlefront and Warlord have shown that better production values can really drive business. One piece of that is the "starter box." I have been agitating for PSC to make a 20mm WW2 starter box for a year or so now. Packaged with the Battlegroup mini rulebook, they could make a killing.


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 Nick Ellingworth wrote:
even though I'm a Brit it's an absolutely fascinating conflict

Heck, even though I'm an American, I am pretty much obsessed with HYW, WotR, and ECW! I feel so lucky that our cultures share not only a common heritage but a common language. I feel like there is so much out there, for example about the 30YW, that is just beyond easy reach thanks to language barriers.

Huh according to the Perry Facebook page the ACW Battle in a Box is now out.

I guess that preorders will start shipping soon.

I know we've all seen this before but not in such a high resolution as far as I can recall.

I must ask if anyone knows anything about the simple rules?

 MrDwhitey wrote:
I must ask if anyone knows anything about the simple rules?

Having painted all 150-odd minis to exceptional quality, and with elaborate basing worthy of a diorama, you arrange them on a table with equally impressive terrain, and decide on the battle you're going to recreate. You then Google who won that particular engagement, shout 'Bang' and 'Arrgh' a few times, shake hands with your opponent and go home....

I'll second the comments above about the ACW being a very fascinating period of history whether you're American or not. I've been doing some reading on it this week for uni and the thing that struck me the most was how closely some of the accounts from ACW soldiers on both sides mirrored/foreshadowed that of the First World War; infantry assaulting into waves of fire, hurriedly digging in trenches sometimes just yards from the enemy, committed to attritional warfare in droves by commanders miles behind the front. Swap 'America' for 'France' and '1864' for '1914' and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference in some cases.

The ACW is also interesting as a turning point in warfare as a whole; tactics from the 19th Century with the weaponry heading towards the 20th combine to make it a strange conflict that somehow has all the hallmarks of a 'modern' war without actually being one. I'd definitely suggest diving into the wealth of books/docmentaries ect on the subject if you're at all interested.

Apologies for the slight off-topicness, when I get started on history I'm hard to stop.

If anyone does get this set, please do post up a blog of the process down in P&M or the Historicals forum, it would be an epic undertaking to follow!

I'll try to post something about it once I get my box but I am A) very slow and B) forgetful. So take anything I say with a pinch of salt.

Yup! I got it on order and look forward to making (slow) progress with it over the following weeks. I'll try and remember to make a thread about it. Will likely place around the Maryland Campaign, Antietam.

This looks really great from very prominent designers. I'll also keep an eye on it.

Woo, retrieved my copy from the post office this morning. First impressions, that's a lot of plastic, really that is a lot of plastic. The box is about the same size as a typical GW starter box and it is absolutely packed with plastic sprues. I think the main reason there's no dice or tape measure in this box set which would be all that's needed to make it a traditional starter set is because there's simply no space for them.

Had a quick peruse of the rules. They look interesting and very simple (no surprise given the designer), no army lists but the 6 scenarios in the book have apparently been designed with the contents of the box in mind. There are 4 types of unit in the game infantry, cavalry, generals and artillery and that's it. So there's quite a lot of abstraction going on with no difference between say regular infantry and zouaves or different types of artillery. However for 11 A5 sized pages of rules of which 3 are the scenarios it's got a lot of potential.

Sounds good. I look forward to them doing more

Woot! Mine came 3 days ago. Zouaves a little weird inclusion. Not what I was expecting. Had to educate myself on them. Sounded like a poor idea in the ACW. 97% casualty or something...

Got mine a few days ago too. I was also surprised the Zouaves were in there, as well as the Confedrate-specific sprues for the South. I just assumed all the infantry would be the generic Civil War kit that Perry makes.

Everything looks great though, and the rules are quick and easy. Probably too simplistic for some, but I like simple these days!

My box has been sitting at the Post Office since Tuesday, so it should be in my grubby hands this afternoon. Not sure what happened, but sometime in the last year the historical bug has bitten me hard. I find myself waiting in anticipation for the AWI "Liberty or Death" battle box from Warlord.

I'm waiting for Warlord to stock the Perry box so I can order it. (free shipping wins out)

Warstore has it in stock right now for $158 shipped.

Changed the title to make this a more general Perry Miniatures thread.

(from Facebook)

Imperialist Brits and scruffy foreigner types incoming!

Plastic British Infantry update.
We received the first shots of the command frame from Renedra at the weekend for the British Infantry 1877-85 Afghanistan/Sudan. They will still need a little tweaking but just about there and Renedra have again done us proud! The intention is to release them at Salute (16th April), so fingers crossed. We’ve included a few pictures of them hurriedly stuck together over the weekend.
You’ll notice that there is a Free metal figure that we’re giving away to customers buying 3 boxes of the Brits.
Michael’s also started on some metal Afghan’s to complement them. These will be part of a range we’re calling ‘Victoria’s Little Wars’ (VLW) and include occasional dips into various smaller wars of her reign. Any figures from other ranges that would overlap will be pointed out, for example, some of the shell jacketed infantry we’re producing for the up coming Cape Frontier Wars range can be used with the jezail armed Afghans for the First Afghan War.

the nice thing about those Afghan models is they can also be used wargames set in the 2010s...

And the 2050s at the rate things are going