Playmobil – Man of TIN blog two

Big Garden Wars and Little Carpet Wars

February 28, 2024March 1, 2024 26soldiersoftin2 Comments

One of the enjoyable aspects of sharing your hobby journal or blog online with the world is the comments from my blog readers.

One of the less enjoyable sides of blog reading is finding that I can’t leave comments on some people’s blogs, increasingly due to a computer setting or other.

Anyway here is an interesting email / comment from Alessandro in Italy, whose website I thought worth sharing if you have not come across it:

“Hi Mark!

Let me introduce myself, I am Alessandro and I am writing from Italy.

Congratulations on your site, I thought I’d write to you after reading your posts on Garden Wargaming, indeed an excessively niche topic but one that has a great nostalgic effect on me when about twenty years ago I discovered that the battles I recreated in my garden (complete with cannons and firecrackers) were also fought by other people.

My reference site was https://www.gardenwargaming.com/ which dealt exclusively with outdoor Playmobil battles.

Alessandro goes on to say: “A few years ago I decided to set up a site where I could post some shots, I hope you will take a look at it

http://www.littlecarpetwars.com/

*******

I remember Alessandro’s original Garden Wargaming website using Playmobil,

I have had an enjoyable time reading or looking back through Alessandro’s latest well-posed and atmospheric diorama photographs of the Redcoat Tricornes era and of knights, along with short Youtube film clips of Playmobil ships at sea or exploding cannons.

Toy soldiers outdoors in the garden, where they belong!

There is also a whole section on paper soldiers including Peter Dennis’ work, along with projects with Lego knights.

******

I remember Alessandro’s original Garden Wargaming website using Playmobil,

something I came across while working on my garden sandpit duelling games based on Gerard De Gre’s rules featured in Donald Featherstone’s Solo Wargaming book. Here’s one of my Playmobil pairs in action:

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/duelling-in-the-sandpit-lunge-cut-and-stop-thrust/

Playmobil might not be your thing and I only have a small collection of their figures, but if you like toy soldiers, especially outside in the garden, then it’s well worth looking at the photography on Alessandro’s site.

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN, 1 March 2024

Garden Gaming, Playmobil Trains and Creaky Knees

November 14, 2023November 14, 2023 26soldiersoftin2 Comments

RIP King of the Toy Soldier Garden – John Ruddle’s passing led me to look again at my past garden gaming posts:

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2023/10/08/by-the-sward-divided-garden-wargaming-future-past-and-present-and-john-ruddle-rip/

and explore a little why this approach has its drawbacks in British weather, lack of or tiny gardens or ageing back and knees.

I suggested the raised beds approach as used with older or disabled gardeners, though I have not got around to building any of these to try it out. Just as I spend my time avoiding building a Model Railway.

I noticed this last week on Facebook groups – a wheelchair friendly or seated chair friendly potting station –

a raised flowerbed to some,

to the garden gamer an outpost, an island, a gaming table, a railway loop …

A little like John Ruddle’s lawn seas and rockery mountains and buildings (with added railways)?

The retirement village community railroad in America formed another interesting approach to ageing gamers and modellers – crossposted from my Sidetracked occasional gaming / railway overlap blog (a blog mostly about avoiding building a Model Railway.)

https://sidetracked2017blog.wordpress.com/2023/10/13/community-modular-railways-us-railroad-modelling-and-retirement-homes/

Sadly it looks like Garden Railways magazine USA is no longer available in print version but the digital version is still producing lively articles …

including ones in Gardens involving youngsters and readily available figures and train systems in the garden such as Playmobil in “1:24-ish Playmobil scale.”

https://www.trains.com/grw/how-to/large-scale-layouts/playmobil-in-the-garden-railroad/

https://www.trains.com/grw/how-to/projects/kid-friendly-garden-railroading/