Painting Tiny Soldiers & Big Battles: My First Foray into Perry’s Travel Battle

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Over the last couple of shows I’ve attended, I kept spotting the Perry Miniatures Travel Battle boxset proudly displayed on various vendors’ stands. It always caught my eye - a complete wargame in a neat, compact little package - but I never quite made the leap.

Why?

Two reasons:

  • Price
  • Napoleonic miniatures aren’t usually my thing

But then Wayland Games threw a curveball: a 20% discount and free shipping. Suddenly, the price landed squarely in the “treat yourself” zone. So… I took the gamble.

What's in the Box?

Travel Battle is, at its core, a portable, ready‑to‑play miniatures wargame. Everything you need is packed into one tidy box - terrain, armies, rules, the lot.
Inside you get:
  • 8mm plastic miniatures, in red and blue, representing two evenly matched Napoleonic armies
  • 160 infantry
  • 24 cavalry
  • 4 guns + 12 crew
  • 6 brigadiers
  • 6 buildings
  • 4 dice
  • Ruleset & simple painting guide
  • Two 10-inch 3D terrain boards, complete with woods and buildings
  • A 1-inch grid system, meaning no rulers needed and boards that combine into 16 battlefield layouts
The game is absolutely designed to be playable straight out of the box—but of course, many players go a step further and paint the figures and boards.

Painting the Boards (and Surviving the Experience)

I decided to step out of my comfort zone and actually paint the set. That decision came with a couple of false starts, but eventually I managed to get the terrain boards looking the way I wanted. And honestly? Seeing them come together was really satisfying.

Then came the miniatures.

Those 8mm figures are tiny.
Tiny enough to test:
  • My patience
  • My eyesight
  • …and possibly my sanity
After seeing what some hobbyists have achieved with these little soldiers, I quickly accepted that I wasn’t going to win any painting awards. My eyes simply weren’t built for microscopic detail - but I got through it. (Mostly intact.)

The First Battle: French vs. British

With everything painted, it was time for the inaugural game. I took command of the French (blue) while my friend John led the British (red).



A quick rules overview and we were off.

Switching from our usual 28mm skirmish mindset to commanding three brigades a side took a moment, but once we settled into it, something became immediately clear:
  • The quality of my painting didn’t matter at all.
  • As long as we could tell infantry from cavalry and artillery - and red from blue - we were golden.
Like any first game, we paused occasionally to check the (very simple) rules. The whole thing played out in around 90 minutes and was far more fun than either of us expected.

Some standout moments:
  • My heavy cavalry punched through a gap in John’s line and obliterated a British cannon unit. Much gloating ensued.
  • My seemingly invincible left flank got whittled down by John’s unnervingly consistent dice rolls.
  • My French clinched a narrow victory, finishing off the last British unit hiding in the woods with some satisfying cannon fire.

Final Thoughts & What’s Next

TravelBattle is:
  • Simple
  • Fast
  • Fun
  • Surprisingly tense
  • A great pick-up-and-play system
We’re already planning our next match using the fan-made “Porterloo” variant, and we’re talking about adding a few house rules around morale to spice things up.

And because my brain can’t leave well enough alone… I’m already wondering how easy it would be to adapt the system to the American Civil War.

Overall?
Great game. Great experience. Definitely playing again.

Location: Southampton, UK

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