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Sunday 19 November 2017

So just how portable is the Portable Wargame?

After the recent Colonial mini-campaign I fought, I received an email asking how portable the PORTABLE WARGAME was.

That isn't a simple question to answer, so I decided to see how much space the terrain, figures, and playing equipment I used to fight the mini-campaign. The results can be seen below:

The figures, dice, playing cards, casualty markers (in reality clear plastic Roman blind rings), and Exhaustion Point countdown recorders (in truth, knitting stitch counters!) can be stored in two REALLY USEFUL BOX trays that fit into a 4 litre box ...


... and the Heroscape hexes fit into a number of WESTON plastic boxes.


When the lot is stacked together, it looks like this:


From experience (I know, because I tried it!) I can carry this up and down two flights of stairs without any problems ... and it will fit into a normal-sized sports bag or holdall.

The 9 x 8 painted hex baseboard measures approximately 13.75" x 15" (35cms x 38cms).


For carrying about, this will easily fit into one of the 'bag-for-life' plastic carrier bags sold in most large supermarkets.

I could easily have made the game even more portable by using paper or cardboard figures, a cheap cardboard chess board, and cardboard terrain tiles, but I wanted to show a setup that I have used.

I did not point out in the above description that there was room enough in the REALLY USEFUL BOX trays to store another small army. The photographs show a small Egyptian army of the General Gordon era in one of the trays ... and there is still enough to store at least another one or possible more two small armies.

12 comments:

  1. I'll have to look further into the REALLY USEFUL BOX thing. I'm having real storage problems these days...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo,

      They are not cheap ... but I bought mine over a number of years so the cost has been spread over time. The advantages are that they are stackable, you can see what is inside without having to take the lid off, they are robust, and they seem to be fairly dust proof.

      The divided trays are great for 15mm foot figures, and I have my Napoleonic collection stored in a dozen or so 4 litre boxes. I used an A4-sized piece of foam-core covered with magnetic sheet in the bottom of each of these boxes, and these hold the figure bases in place.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. MY Portable Russian Civil War as shown here fits into a 20"x9"x9" plastic toolbox with handle. 1/72nd troops in the removable tray, hex mat, terrain and rules in the bottom. Weighs maybe 5 pounds fully loaded.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ross Mac,

      If I was using a hex mat, I'd probably copy your example. It would certainly take up even less storage space than the PW shown in my blog entry.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. The answer to that question is How portable do you want it to be? 40mm squares on a folding board or cloth and 6-15mm fugures won't take up much room. On the other hand 6" grid with 28-54mm figures while not so portable would still work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dan Foley,

      Exactly! I have a travel version that uses cardboard counters and terrain on a magnetic 8 x 8 board. The whole lot, including a copy of the rules and dice, fits into a thin plastic A4-sized file box.

      There is even a computer version of the game ... so the PORTABLE WARGAME is as portable as you want to make it.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. My PW setup fits in a tea tray with dice, cards, 6mm figures and terrain. It's pretty damn portable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Conrad Kinch,

      I've seem the photographs of your very portable setup ... and it is a fine example of just what can be achieved.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. Bob,
    A very compact Collection- very convenient. I note that a good many Gammers do find great use for plastic containers in all different sizes and compartments...ideal storage and transport ideas. Cheers. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson,

      I have all sorts of different plastic and wooden boxes and crates in which my various collections are stored, although I am trying to slowly rationalise them.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. I have a Portable version of the PWG in 2mm - I've used this at the office to play games at lunchtime - for other scales the boards I use are not something I would want to move around; for them it's a Static rather than Portable wargame!
    I remember looking at those knitting counter things many years ago and wondering what I could use them for - EP counters are a brilliant idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      I suspect that there are quite a few people who use the PW rules on non-portable playing surfaces with figures that would require a very fit person to carry with any great ease!

      I wish that I could claim to have seen the stitch counters and thought 'they must have a wargaming use' ... but I can't; it was my wife who said it!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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