War Game Theory: Variations on Uniforms for Your Army?

Over the past year I've probably painted about 200-400 Germans in 28mm; and I can say I am sick of Feldgrau and Feldgrün. It's a bit of a problem when you can't stand painting the uniform colour of your army any more and you still have another fifty to paint. So why not mix it up a bit?

I'm a huge fan of having individuals in an army. I have a model of a German Unteroffizier petting a cat, and I have a bunch of unique, kitbashed soldiers mixed into my units. This idea has only been recently been implemented in my assembly, but now I try to have one out of every ten guys to be doing something different, or in a unique/interesting pose. This is to help me not get burnt out on assembling the same pose over and over.

On to painting; Like I said, I am sick of painting Field Grey. So I borrowed a book from a friend,(German Uniforms of the Third Reich 1933-1945) that displayed the various uniforms worn by the Third Reich. This book didn't just contain Wehrmacht uniforms, but various labor divisions, railroad workers, etc. It provided massive inspiration for variations on the usual Soldat. I've also created variations for my Wehrmacht forces. Some have more grey uniforms, some have more green uniforms, just to mix up the uniforms and create a more intriguing force on the table.

Are all my variations historically accurate? No. But they don't have to be. In my mind, the hobby is about being creative. So be creative. I prefer to have some what historically painted uniforms, but are my armies accurate? Hell no! But they are in typical "military colours". Just don't paint your uniforms in some silly bright colour, or do. Just make sure you're having fun!

We have a Facebook page now!

As the title says, I have created a Facebook Page now! As much as I dislike social media (I only really use it for organizing events/games), I figured we could use a page. The main use for the page will be for sharing Work in Progress Pictures, Hobby Showcase, Interesting Articles, and anything that doesn't constitute a whole blog post; also as a way to build a community. The page is kind of bare right now, but rest assured, things will be posted when we have content to post!

Give us a like! https://www.facebook.com/trenchmonkeys/

War Game Theory: Wargaming in Westeros?

Game of Thrones is big, millions of people watch the show and the books are best sellers. Now, clearly the lands of Westeros are based upon Europe and Britain. In my crusade to expose more people the hobby, I came up with the idea to wargame in Westeros, to get people's interest.

The downside to that is where to find models to represent the armies of the Seven Kingdoms.. Yeah, Darksword Miniatures makes beautiful models based upon the books, but that isn't really economical for a war game, though I plan to use the models for commanders. With that in mind I've done some research to figure out which real world nations I could base my miniature armies on. I found an article on Huffington post that laid out which real world nations would be parallels to the Seven Kingdoms, link Now, I like some of the suggestions they lay out but some of them just don't make sense.

For the Starks/The North, I've decided upon Feudal Scots/English, mixed with some 100 Years War models (mostly for knights and men-at-arms).
Greyjoys/Iron Islands, will be a mix of 100 Years War and Dark Age Viking models, since they are clearly based on Scandinavian Peoples.
The Lannisters, will be modeled with War of the Roses miniatures, though without the firearms, due to their armies being funded by the "Gold of Casterly Rock"
The Tyrell Forces will be a mix of War of the Roses, and Feudal French models.
House Arryn and Tully will be made up of Feudal German miniatures.
Baratheon Armies will be Feudal English and 100 Years War Models, and the Armies of Dorne will be Feudal Spanish and Moorish Models.
Now of course the major distinction would be the banners, but thats easy to figure out! :P

I'd love to get feedback and opinions on my decisions for model types to use for Westeros Wargaming.