All Wargames and Wargaming
The problem: too many armies, too few toy soldiers. What do you do when you're playing an army that isn't made in miniature? You could design your own - very expensive! You could covert other figures - very time-consuming. Or you could substitute one set of figures for the troops you need. Actually, people have been doing it for a long time. If you are unused to swapping out armies, here's a brief guide:
| Available Troops | Excellent swap for | Acceptable swap for | Passable swap for | Quick convert |
| US Civil War Infantry | French troops, 1871
(Blue uniforms) |
German Colonial troops
(tan or gray uniform) |
French Infantry, 1914 | Add neck cloth for Foreign Legion
Add spiked helmet for 1871 Prussians |
| US WW2 Infantry | Post 1945 S. Korea, Denmark, Norway, France, West Germany, Israel, Jordan, Greece, Turkey, S. Vietnam, Argentina (Falklands) | |||
| US Spanish-American War | US Cavalry, 1916 Mexico Campaign, Boxer Rebellion, Phillipine Insurrection | |||
| Frontiersmen | US Irregular and Militia - 1765 to 1850 | |||
| German WW2 Infantry | Finnish troops - 1942 to 1955 | Spanish Troops - 1940 - 1970 | Chinese Nationalist Forces - 1945 - 1950 (captured German goods were issued to Chinese forces) | |
| British Infantry | Australia, New Zealand, Canada (up to 1960), | All former UK colonies in Africa, Asia, Middle East | ||
| British 8th Army | British & Anzac forces in Jungle Uniform, WW2 | Egyptian & Syrian troops, 1946 - 1955 | ||
| Russian Troops 1940 - 45 | Eastern Bloc armies, 1945 - 1965 | North Koreans, 1950 - 55 | Red Chinese, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi forces, 1955 - 1975 | |
| Alamo Mexicans | Napoleonic Era troops | US War of 1812 troops | ||
| Pirates | Naval crews & boarding parties, 1680 to 1840 | Barbary pirates. | Ottoman Turkish irregulars | Turks |
| American Revolution US Militia | Frontiersmen | |||
| Revolutionary War US Regulars | French, Prussians, most European armies circa 1760 - 1795 | French, Prussians, most European armies of the 7 Years War | ||
| Revolutionary War Grenadiers | Hessians and Prussians, 1760 - 1790 | |||
| Vikings | Ancient Germans, Saxons, Franks | Gauls | ||
| Gauls | Thracians, Roman auxiliaries (mercenary Gauls) | Germans, Vikings | Saxons, Franks, | Remove helmet horns and change shields to make medieval peasants |
| Robin Hood & Merry Men | Medieval peasant infantry | Anglo-Saxons, Bretons, Irish, and others raided and eventually civilized by the Vikings. | Roman auxiliaries | |
| Confederates (wide-brim hats) | Cuban guerrillas, 1890s | German colonial troops | Boers | |
| Japanese | Red Chinese, 1945 - 1955 | North Vietnamese, Viet Cong | ||
| French WW1 - WW2 | Polish 1940, Greek 1940 - 1941 | |||
| Canadian Mounties | US - 1898 to 1918 | |||
| US WW1 and UK WW1 (helmet) | US Marines on Wake Island & Phillipines, 1941 | |||
| German WW2 troops in forage cap (Mountain troops, Afrika Korps) | Norwegian troops, 1940 (Hunter green uniforms), | Central European Armies 1930 - 1950 (Hungary, Rumania, Croatia, Czechoslovakian) | ||
| Ninja Men | Japanese Samurai types, since there's a dearth of plastic samurai Figures | Chinese and other ancient Asian forces | ||
| Arabs (Foreign Legion) | Barbary Pirates, Turk Irregulars | Moors, Hadendowas, Fuzzy Wuzzies | Ancient Hebrews | Easily converted to unarmored Samurai |
| Normans | Crusaders, Saxon Huscarls, Viking chiefs | Russians (Alexander Nevsky), | Sherriff of Nottingham's forces | Change shields to make Crusaders, add robe to make Saracens |
| Early Crusader Type Knights | Russian and Polish knights, circa 1300 - 1500 | Add turban, change shield to make Saracen knights and Turks | ||
| Armored Turks (Britains) | Russians, Poles, Winged Hussars (1500) | Add a robe to convert to Tartars - convert easily to archers, arquebusiers, siege weapon crews. Britains style knights can also be converted to gun crews | ||
| Foreign Legion (post 1925, i.e. Timpo) | Arab Legion | |||
| British Colonials, late 1800s, Cork Helmet | Belgian Colonials | German troops (add spike to helmet) | ||