Planning for Samoa

I recently talked to Jim about Gnome Wars events for Fall-in! (event registration opened up July 28th). I have no wild and crazy event ideas, so it looks as if they will be traditional gnome events in the afternoon/evening slots. Don't worry, I'll be certain to throw in some curveballs during whatever game I'm commandeering.

The best parts of a normal schedule are that (a) I'll get to play a non-gnome game, and in a similar vein (b) I can do some serious product research in the dealers hall for my Second Samoan Civil War game for Cold Wars 2014.

Regardless of what battle(s) I choose to run, I'll be building the armies from the ground up. My primary concern is what figures to use for Samoans. The choices are limited, they are the dominant troop choice, and their size will determine what lines I can use to fill out the Western forces.

The Samoans
The Melanesian Warriors from www.pulpfigures.com looks the most promising




The spears are so clunky that they make 40k bolters look like holdout pistols, but it's the Island Provisional Warriors that almost fit the bill perfectly:


When I originally saw pictures of the pro-royalist, they were dressed like this. The dude with the wife beater does throw things off, but I'll work with what I can get.

Not knowing the size of the line (we all have seen big 28mm and little 28mm) is holding me back currently. They're going to represent 80% of the troops and Samoa had not begun exporting professional wrestlers quite yet. Picking up some Old Glory 25mm European types and making them look like pygmies is unacceptable.

The Germans
At least with the research I've done, the Germans do not get involved in the hot war. However, they are hot and heavy in the politics for the island AND they trained a number of the rebels.

For the sake of gameplay, I will have one unit of Germans acting as "active" advisors. The Pulp Figures Seebatallion figs should do the trick.


There are also pics of the professionally trained rebels, dressed dark uniforms. Need to do some more research to see what figs work best for a small unit or two of those.

The Americans
Possibly the toughest of the bunch. All research states that only Marines landed to assist with putting down the rebellion. However the few fuzzy pictures that I've seen show either Americans stripped down to combat the tropical heat, or dressed very similar to US infantry with what looks to be Montana hats.

I would love to have a unit or two of Americans that look like this:



I might be able to get away with it, too. The figure above is one of Pulp's "bulk up" packs. Normally you get five different figs for $15.50. With the bulk ups, you get eight of the same sculpt for $15.50. My biggest stumbling blocks, besides historical accuracy, are the regular packs, which definitely focus post-great war. Two rifles, two shotguns and at least one tommygun per pack.

One quick order to Old Glory would solve most of my issues, but I am concerned about a massive difference in scale.

The British
If I decide to go forward and fight the Siege of Apia, I may need one unit in Wolseley Helmets, and one unit of sailors.