Christian Templin at Cianty's Tabletop Wargame Blog has included a review of some Grand Manner resin buildings. For full details go to this link and this link.
The building masters were sculpted by me some time ago and have featured on this Blog with an earlier post, however I was pleased to read this review and include it here.
I found some of the comments got me thinking. I regularly build terrain pieces for myself (see Blog) and when I do I tend to over-exaggerate the surface detail and make the doors and windows larger or increase the scale. When I sculpt for Grand Manner I have to make allowances for this as I am in effect copying Dave Bodley's Building Style; The Grand Manner House Style. In summary more subtle surface detail and loads of it (I think this building is a fine example of the Grand Manner House Style and what I mean with sculpted surface detail across the whole model).
The question is SIZE! Historical wargame collectors/gamers require (I thinks this is the right term) a slightly smaller building footprint than the equivalent Fantasy gamer and Christian's comment about Grand Manner buildings looking small alongside other manufacturers got me thinking.....
.....Do other gamers think the same? or is this a myth?
I am currently working on a couple of GM commissions and the age old question about scaling and model footprint once again raises its head! While my Flintloque themed buildings are certainly oversized when compared to the GM 28mm resin buildings. I also know that Historical Gamers - where four miniature figures can represent up to 100 actual soldiers might find a 'true scale' model building too large for their games.
I say true scale - knowing that there are still heated discussions across many forums as to what the 'True Scale' actually is!
I suppose that it all comes down to personal choice but I would be interested in seeing/reading comments.
Tony
That's a tough question.
ReplyDeleteI also build my terrain on my own and I think I try not to create too big houses, as I still want to have some room for maneuvering around them. But I don't need interiors usually, which fantasy gamers might need.
So... dunno actually :D
Nice building, thou!
I actually feel the GM buildings are large compared to most 'historical' manufacturers. Perfect size for small scale actions and skirmish games. But if you wanted to to represent a town in a grand scale game you would need a huge board! Saying that everybody seems to like different looks for there games and I for one really like the buildings GM produce although the prices seem quite high these days
ReplyDeleteThat must be a tricky question from a commercial point of view because if you go purely on base size and number of figures they represent then practically all the terrain is the wrong scale, unless you're playing skirmish games. I watched a Napoleonic game recently where the houses matched the bases in terms of scale, frontage etc. but the 28mm soldiers towered over the rooftops. Technically correct but it looked bizarre. I've seen Games Workshop figures referred to as Heroic (+32mm) scale so I'm not surprised their buildings are also produced larger.
ReplyDeleteWith models made for myself I try and match the building to the figures. Starting with a doorway and scale everything up from there. It normally works aesthetically - well it's close enough for me at least.
Regards,
Matt
This is not a question of Fantasy vs Historical, is it? Those are just themes. It's a question of what type of tabletop games you are playing and what you want to use the buildings for. So to you it seems the question is: What is your target group?
ReplyDeleteIt's very good stuff, wargamer or not, is a good content in any diorama
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments.
ReplyDeleteChristian, I think you have 'hit the nail on the head'.
It depends on the style of game you want to play or portray. What is your target group?
Tony