Travel Battle from Perry Miniatures: I'm in.

An exciting announcement. But what's in the box?

Yesterday, Perry Miniatures released details for their new game Travel Battle and opened pre-orders. I almost immediately let my dealer, er I mean, friendly local retailer, Kings Hobbies and Games know I wanted a copy. I've followed this project with interest since the Perrys began releasing information about it. While I'm not anything like a Napoleonics fanatic, it does hold a passing interest for me. I am certainly a fan of small-scale figures. Additionally, I like the models the Perry brothers produce. So, two out of three ain't bad.

The early news that it was small-scale gave me hope for God's Own Scale, 6mm. In their announcement, they state they went with 8mm because "We toyed with 6mm but found them too small and 10mm were too big to fit with the terrain and scenery and so plumped for something in the middle." However, looking at the pictures they posted of impressions made form the molds, they might be close enough to 10mm to suit, as seen below.

These look like they're 8mm to the eye. Insert commentary on the need for standardized scales in wargaming figures.

The models are described as "generic Napoleonic forces," and I'm fine with that.

I don't have any 10mm figures in my collection, but I did find a comparison pic of various ranges. I'm thinking it might be worth mixing figures from similarly sized ranges. Not the same units, of course, but again, maybe it'll work. It certainly would help to have specialists and uniquely uniformed troops, such as rocket troops and Highlanders to fill out what the Perry plastics don't have.

Reiterate the need for scale standards in our fine hobby. Exhibit A: This photo of "10mm" figures.

As for the number of figures, they state the contents as:

• 160 x Infantry
• 24 x Cavalry
• 4 x Guns and 12 crew
• 6 x Brigadiers
• 2 x 10" 3D Terrain boards
• 6 x Buildings
• 4 x Dice
• 1 x Set of rules

Looking at the picture of the full layout, it looks to me like:

• 16 x bases of infantry
• 4 x bases of heavy cavalry
• 4 x bases of light cavalry
• 4 x bases of artillery with crew
• 6 x leader types

Currently, £50 GBP is about $62.50 USD. So, not a great deal. But not a terrible one, either. Most online retailers offer discounts in the 15% to 30% range. That will make it a better deal.

It is possible the largest single expenditure in the box is the terrain boards. As fun or great as the Travel Battle rules might be, I'll probably stick with Commands & Colors: Napoleonics. I already own and enjoy the game. No sense in reinventing the wheel. So, the terrain boards don't really excite me. The little houses might be handy, though. Then again, they say the game can be played "almost anywhere." Perhaps an energetic player could magnetize the bases and board to play while traveling.

I like the color-matching dice. Two pairs of dice leads me to believe most things are handled with a roll of two dice and move on. Could be fun. Besides, who doesn't need more dice?

Despite the forces being "generic" and for an era I'm not particularly enthusiastic for,  the scale being neither the widely accepted 6mm or 10mm, and the inclusion of rules I'll probably never use, this product has me excited. "And why," you might ask? Because this product represents two very promising things to me. 

First, someone is making small-scale historical figures in plastic, regardless of the era and belligerents modeled. While they're not from any of my preferred eras, I'll put the Napoleonic era in the "close enough" column to pique my interest.

Second, the hangup over the figures being "just right" to fit the terrain boards tells me they led the project with the terrain boards. Why would that be? I'm just speculating, but perhaps, they needed the boards to fit in a particular size of box and with little or no wasted space in the box. Why would this be? Perhaps to ease shipping in large quantities to wholesalers and retailers both? Perhaps also to fit on store shelves? Perhaps in stores such as Barnes & Noble, Target and Toys R Us in the US, and WH Smith and Waterstones in the UK and EU? Add in that they include a painting guide in the box for the figures and terrain board. It's not just a boardgame with figures. It's an entree to the miniatures gaming hobby.

So, yes. I'm buying it because I want the Perrys to continue with it. I want them to release "expansion packs" of just the figure and base frames for cheaper. I want them to release more models from the era in plastic and metal both. I want them to expand into other eras such as the American Civil War, Seven Years War, Ancients, Medieval, and many more. Most of all, I want new gamers to discover the joy of the hobby also resides outside of Games Workshop, Privateer Press and Fantasy Flight. This will only happen if we support efforts such as this.