IHMN: Some thoughts for the Beginner in Designing an Adventuring Company, Part 1

During our "Time of Isolation" I am taking Craig Cartmell's suggestion (one of the authors of In Her Majesty's Name) to jot down my thoughts for many who have recently joined the IHMN Facebook Page and also for those who are experienced with the year 1895. One of the common threads I see are variations of what Adventuring Company should I do or where do I get the figures? Well, here are some questions to ask yourself and my humble, gentlemanly opinion of what to do when deciding or designing an Adventuring Company.

1. Why do you want to play this game? 
    My guess is that you want some adventure in a bygone era! Some chivalrous action! A stiff upper lip . . . or you want to be the fiendish (BWAH HAH HAH!) mastermind that will take over the world. Or maybe you are just a free booting pirate? You also don't want to paint 1,347 figures to start the game. Most 250 point Adventuring companies on average (I know you statisticians will cringe at my definition of average) have anywhere from 5 to 12 figures.

My U.S. Marshals Company.

2. What do you like? 
     I grew up reading the Martian tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs plus his iconic Tarzan of the Apes. I read the King Solomon's Mines, She, Allen Quartermain and others by Sir H. Rider Haggard. Kipling? I could not get enough. I was not big on fantasy but I loved the Lord of the Rings and the Oz books. I was a big Sci Fi guy with Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein . . . okay, now let's fast forward about 40 years. I'm a retired Infantry Colonel and a credentialed Military Historian. I naturally gravitated toward Companies affiliated with the books I loved and primarily the British Empire Companies that carried guns. Lots of guns.

Scotland Yard with a certain consulting detective.

The Queen's Own African Rifles.

 The 14th Sikh Special Action Company.

 Tars Tarkas and his tribe of Tharks.

3. Where do I get figures?

     That's the easiest part. Use the figures you already have to start playing (Note: Don't buy the rules if you don't have them, borrow them. Craig has announced the 2d Edition will be coming out!). We played our first game with African Adventurers from Wargames Foundry, some old 1889 figures, Reaper Miniatures and the bad guys were figures from Games Workshops The Lord of the Rings. Here are pictures from our very first game:

Not a new figure or terrain piece in sight - in fact the cave is a mine from Playmobile.

Next: How I make and also design new companies.