Why do we choose the armies/sides we do?

[mikeland]

Yesterday I was erm... arranging my Celtic and Roman forces (I am one of those who builds both armies). As I did so my two boys weremwatchi and the youngest was armament that the Celts were the 'goodies' because they are our ancestors, were as the eldest felt the Romans were the good guys because the Celts were barbarians...

Anyway, getting to the point it got me thinking and wondering why we choose the armies we do, is it because we feel affinity with a certain cause, love the look of a particular era, or just like the minis.

My first warlord set was ECW parliament infantry, I love the look of the ECW era, and have always had a fascination with the complexity of the conflict, and as for choosing Parliament... Would we still want to be ruled by a minority government with no mandate just doing whatever seems to be their whim? ( )

So please post your reasons for choosing the armies/eras you collect.

[Darkwing Duck]

mmmm interesting question. When I started my AWI French I thought being all white they would be easy to paint....wrong. When I painted Napoleonic Brunswickers all in black, easy......wrong. ECW Scots in grey much easier and so far so good.

Of course the bonus with AWI French and Napoleonic (1815) Brunswickers you can do the whole army without resorting to renting a warehouse for storage.

[Paul @ Warlord Games]

Good thread!

Bolt Action British Airborne. I started collecting these before we started Warlord Games. I was looking for a small, elite force for WWII games and Bolt Action were always my favourite 28mm WWII range. I was all for starting a Fallschirmjager army but then Paul Hicks started this range. They were head and shoulders above anything else and a real epiphany in the way Paul sculpted in my opinion. Getting the Denison camo smock to not look as bright and shiny and new as most people paint it was a pain - plenty of sample paint jobs before I alighted on the faded/worn style on my army.

The British at Guilford Courthouse, AWI. I had wanted to start a British army from a war/period I knew relatively little about. Partly as a complete break from my usual interests but also because I thoroughly enjoy learning about new wars/armies. I'd narrowed the shortlist down to Peninsular British, AWI British or Crimean Wars British. I decided against Peninsular British as I knew if I got sucked into Napoleonics there would be no going back! Crimean Wars British were top of my list but the only decent sized range was the aged Wargames Foundry one and I didn't fancy the old sculpts (or prices...). As Perry Miniatures did a lovely range of AWI and the more I learnt about the Battle Guilford Courthouse with redcoats ploughed through several lines of rebels in what was to be a pyrrhic victory I was hooked. This army currently occupies most of my painting time.

Ancient British. I started this army after getting into WAB. As it happened I was really challenging myself as it's a horde army with loads of plaid and woad markings. Yay. As it turned out I found myself with a couple of weeks at a loose end after tearing my hamstring playing footy. That left me with little to do but paint and sleep. A large 40 man units, a handful of chariots and a few slingers comprise this army. I'm finding it hard to summon the motivation to do more to it although our Boadicea Triumphant model is currently flirting with my paintstation...

Bolt Action German Heer. This is my latest army. It's no secret at Warlord HQ that I'm a big fan of the German forces in WWII in terms of looks and kit. What will probably be a surprise is that I've not chosen Waffen-SS. The fact is I'm saving myself for that army - it will happen! I did have one made of the very old Bolt Action models but with the shiny new plastics and plenty of new additions to the range I've been spending the last few days converting a couple of squads ahead of the Bolt Action game. I love creating a unique army, preferably tied to a particular force or battle. The back story is as important as the models to me.

The question always on my mind is 'which army is next?'. So many to choose from and although I do have a shortlist in mind I think I'll finish off the AWI army before plunging into a new army...

[carvel2]

Romans for me....why? Hmmmm.
I blame Timpo romans, holidays as a child on the adriatic

, peter conolly

and most importantly an internet search that brought up a painted set of warlord legionaries. Took two years to commit to buying (suppose thats lurking!) and then encouragement from Clive the Celt. Its been a down hill slide ever since!
This forum has generally contributed to the gentlemanly insanity......

[canadasteve]

For me I collect Romans because I have the age old "used to play with Airfix ones when I was a boy".

I collect US WWII because I love the style and feel of the uniforms etc. This probably harks back to watching the WWII films on TV when I was little.

I will also be collecting medieval War of the Roses soon as I have always loved the heraldry etc. And my other big love that I have yet to start is AWI, again on the American side (suppose I dont want to paint too much red )

[Invisible officer]

A very good question.
Like you Mikeland I do both armies for a game but in some cases I have a favourite.

I spent part of my youth in Herrenhausen, the home of the house of Hannover. May be that this caused my tendency to the British forces.
With the TYW forces I paint in the moment I have some strange feelings. Living in Lutheranian Brandenburg I should have a clear tendency - Protestants. But I like the more colourfull Catholic Liga troops. (Well, "our" Kurfürst was Calvinist so it's even more compicated. ) But they are all evil marauders and few cared for the religion.

I'm surprised how much "affection" the SS finds. The myth of Elite warriors must do that. I have some in my collection but prefer the ordinary Wehrmacht. And my British forces much much much more. My Para Avatar is no coincidence.

And the Romans? In Republic time I prefer my Hellenistic forces. Imperial? I prefer my Celts. The late Roman army? The mounted units make me tend for the Romans.

[Paul @ Warlord Games]

I'm surprised how much "affection" the SS finds. The myth of Elite warriors must do that. I have some in my collection but prefer the ordinary Wehrmacht.

I wouldn't say affection is the right word. I love the look of them with the camo uniforms mainly. Couple that with their reputation as a well-equipped elite force and they've always fascinated me. Yes, there is the less savoury side to them but I think we can all agree that no side is clean on that score.

[shadegate]

Ancients
My initial choice for ancients was financially motivated. Back in the day I had an Essex Miniatures Palmyran army but sold it when my wargaming interest was in the doldrums.
Then I stumbled upon Warlord and the Roman and Celt ranges were just taking off. I was hooked again. Plastics were the way to go for me. I'd been used to quite high quality plastics from GW but at a cost. I couldn't believe how cheaply plastics could be sold whilst still being of a very high quality.
I bought the big box army deal's being sold for each side and have had fun constructing the troops. I particularly like wire spears rather than the tree trunks wielded by most fantasy minis.

ECW
This was a simple decision for me. Royalist. I've spent the last 25 years as a member of Sir Nicholas Slanning's regiment of foote in the Sealed Knot so the chance to model the regiment was too tempting to pass up. (with unauthentic stripey pikes)
That said, wargaming is no fun with only one side on the field so I've also bought a second army deal to model Parliament.
I want to play out the actions in the South West. There was so much going on down here I'm spoilt for choice with everything from Maritime assaults around Plymouth through various baggage raids and skirmishes right up to the large battles at Lostwithiel, Stratton etc
Both army boxes will need re-enforcements at some point in the future but for now are providing me with more than enough to do.

[Stuart]

I collect both sides also,
- Anglo Zulu / victorian exploration - I love the uniforms of the Brits (and the film Zulu has a lot to do with my influence), but I also love the whole adventure in uncharted countries

-Roman / Brits - I think it has to do with the British isles being the Roman boundries in the west and a bit of a mystical edge thrown in (also the Roman army lined up looks really impressive)

-Jacobite '45 - not really sure, something has caught my eye but don't know if it's the whole romance of the period or the look of the Highlanders charging out of the mist towards ranks of redcoats

-ECW - the struggle between the two sides and the rag tag look of the forces, oh and the new model army red

Actually, looking at these I think I just really like red!?

[Undave]

I suppose I choose my armies because I feel some personal connection with them, either that or they're tied to films I like or they just look cool.

My first foray into historicals started with a Saxon Heptarchy force for WAB largely because I grew up living a couple of hundred yards from this:

Most of the figures came from Gripping Beast and shortly after I started collecting them they released their line of Picts so I got some of them too as they looked really nice minis. Then Warlord plastics came out and I filled my boots with Romans and Brittons because they were dead cheap in comparison. There are several Brigantian hill forts dotted around Sheffield, possibly as part of an effort to stop the Romans coming any farther North, so I did up a version of WL's Boudicca as the Brigantian queen Cartimandua. Apparently she was a bit of a Roman sell out so I had to swap the captured standard for a British looking one as it's not very polite to go pinching your supposed ally's stuff.

Other than that it's Royalists for ECW. The Earl of Northampton's regt. as I'm now living there, Woopert's wegiment because they're cool and Newcastle's whitecoats as he lived over at Bolsover Castle, again near Sheffield.

And then we come to the besterest of all! I have a bit of a pith helmet fetish after collecting a huge army of GW Praetorian Imperial Guard and watching Zulu, Zulu Dawn and the man who would be king too many times so when WL's AZW stuff came out it was a bit of a no brainer really