Can anyone help?
I need to know how many attack marching figures, shoulder to shoulder can I fit on a 20mm. Wide base and if I use 2 ranks deep what depth base will I need?
The figures will be SYW Austrian, Prussian and French
For Napoleonic wars it will also be Austrian, Prussian and French
The idea is to get them in close order so that a battalion looks right and give hopefully 8 figures in 2 ranks on 1 20mm wide base
Best regards
Mike Leese (North Wales)
Hi Mike,
I use 4 figures in 2 ranks on a 20x20mm base for infantry in 7YW, 5 bases to a battalion (100mm frontage)
For cavalry I use 3 figures for heavy/line cavalry and 2 for light/irregular cavalry (easy to see on the table) on a 25x25mm base, 4 bases per regiment, again the same frontage.
Check out my blog,
https://warrenswargamerantings.blogspot.com/
For Napoleonic, which I have not started yet in 10mm I am planning on 30x30mm bases 8 figures on each, 3 bases to a battalion. Cavalry will be 3 and 2 figures as above but also on 30x30mm bases
But tha'ts my thoughts
Agreed,
4 infantry on a 20mm x 20mm base works very well - you might be able to squeeze 6 on [in 2 ranks] but I think you'll end up with problems lining bases up.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5504/9385091027_2947310bda.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/fik3Ag)36 French Foot - Languedoc (American Service) (https://flic.kr/p/fik3Ag) by Zippee Jerred (https://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/), on Flickr
Personally I only use 2 heavy cavalry per 20mm x 20mm
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7402/9385073027_662c845f31.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/fijXeV)20 French Horse - Wurttemberg Chevaux-Leger (https://flic.kr/p/fijXeV) by Zippee Jerred (https://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/), on Flickr
For Light cavalry I use 3 on a 40mm x 20mm base
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5510/9387857662_5f5abc6304.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/fize1S)28 French Bercheny Hussars (1) (https://flic.kr/p/fize1S) by Zippee Jerred (https://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/), on Flickr
hope that helps
My Pendraken SYW March Attack pose figures are based on 1 inch square bases. Each base accommodates 8 figures 'shoulder to shoulder' - 4 in the front rank and four in the rear. One inch = 25.4mm, therefore 1 figure takes up 6.35mm - 20mm divided by three = 6.66mm, therefore a 20mm base should easily accommodate 6 figures in two ranks. Please see the following links for photographs of my Pendraken SYW bases.
http://honoursofwar.com/thread/336/st-ulrich-10mm (http://honoursofwar.com/thread/336/st-ulrich-10mm)
http://honoursofwar.com/thread/362/close-run-thing-spittelwitz (http://honoursofwar.com/thread/362/close-run-thing-spittelwitz)
P.S. I have tried six Austrian March Attack pose figures on a 20mm base 'shoulder to shoulder' ('base to base') and they fit. The Prussian SYW equivalents are slightly wider because they have bulkier knapsacks and whilst these are tight, these also fit (if there is any slight overlap, it's no bother at all to shave a mm off the base on the odd figure).
P.P.S. My cavalry are based 3 to a base on 1 inch square bases and my mounted command figures (1 figure) on 20mm diameter round bases so I reckon a 20mm square base could accommodate 2 cavalry figures.
Depends on whether or not your chosen ruleset speciofies such things, some do, some don't.
40mm frontage for me. Infantry are 20mm deep for one rank, 30mm deep for two. Cavalry are 40x30 and artillery 40x40. Numbers per base depends on how many I really want to paint before I find it taking too long and get fed up with the whole thing ~X(
But then that's only my outlook on it.
We (sunjester and I) use 20 x20 for four infantry in two ranks, or two cavalry for WSS.
Last Hussar manages to fit 2 ranks of 3 onto a 20mm base, but I believe this is a bit of a faff cutting bases etc.
Its tricky enough sanding and dry brushing the bases with 4 figures let alone 6. I believe LH just paints and flocks the base.
as with many of the others I can quite happily get 4 figures (2x2) on a 20mm square. But if you can get 6 on (3x2) then it does give that shoulder to shoulder look that really gives a good mass feel even to a small base.
Getting 6 on probably requires a bit more planning, and trimming off the round edges off some of the bases.
Hi Mike
I go for 6 infantry in 2 ranks of 3 on 20mm square bases for my Seven Years war figures. I feel it gives more of the realistic shoulder to shoulder (or elbow to elbow) look of the period; very occasionally I need to trim the base a bit to fit them on. For cavalry I go for 3 figures on a 25mm x 20mm base.
Cheers Paul
Napoleonics 5 figures wide and 2 ranks deep on a 40mm x 20mm, in what I feel gives a good look of density. I might move to 25mm deep, just so the base has a bit more room to show facing.
3 and 3 would give the tight packed C18th line look. However my go to base size with 10mm is mostly 25mm square with 4 and 4:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1743/42497803571_0c6160851a_z.jpg)
In general I'm amazed at the space 10mm figures take up.
The rules I use for small actions for Napoleonic battles is :-
A line infantry brigade of 4 battalions 22 figures each and a light battalion of 20 figures and of course a general
A cavalry brigade of 2 light cavalry regiments and a battery of 9 pdr. horse artillery and again a general
The C in C would be the infantry general.
When the club used 25mm figures the base width for infantry 0.5" per figure. For heavy cavalry 0.75" per figure and light cavalry 1.0" per figure.
When 15mm figures arrived (Mini Figs) in strips of five these base widths were halved.
When the club moved over to Age of Eagles rules the base width was 20mm for 2 figures and 25mm for 2 cavalry.
Old glory 10mm figures on a strip base 1" wide mounts 5 figures. Oddly Bacchus 6mm bases are the same size.
AB figures will be fine on a 10mm base but then strip mini figs are not much bigger than a Pendraken figure.
So it looks as though I'll have to re think my basing or rules. I like them to fit in with ground scale an musket effective range.
Quote from: Orcs on 07 January 2019, 11:41:17 AM
We (sunjester and I) use 20 x20 for four infantry in two ranks, or two cavalry for WSS.
Last Hussar manages to fit 2 ranks of 3 onto a 20mm base, but I believe this is a bit of a faff cutting bases etc.
Its tricky enough sanding and dry brushing the bases with 4 figures let alone 6. I believe LH just paints and flocks the base.
I don't recall having to clip the bases, at least not masses of them.
To base I put a tiny bit of green (the kind from the big cheap tubes) into PVA and mix to give green PVA, spread it on the base. A spot of super glue on figure and stick.
I then push the flock around it, or plough it through.
Give it half an hour and then shake of excess.
I try to remember to use a wet brush to water the PVA down, so it is absorbed by the flock.
If I'm feeling particularly proactive I'll put a few drops of cheap super glue, 4 for a quid type, on the dried flock. This gives it a texture like sandpaper, binds it together, and hopefully makes the figure more attached. It also darkens the flock in blotches.
I can't be having with all that FAFF with sand and dry brushing when my figures are so close you can't see the base.
I get 4 pike wide on 30mm, and 6 romans on 40mm
This should show the difference in density
(https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6042/5892501176_b36ed3f133_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/9YGBiS)Hand to Hand (https://flic.kr/p/9YGBiS) by Last Hussar (https://www.flickr.com/photos/lasthussar/), on Flickr
"I like them to fit in with ground scale and musket effective range." How very 70s. I prefer to mount them so they look right for the period: C18th tightly packed. C19th much looser. 20 or 30 figures is never going to look like a 1000 man battalion. The footprint is never going to be right, so basing for look rather than mathematical ratios makes more sense to me. Admittedly most maths makes no sense to me.
Quote from: Dragoon on 14 January 2019, 05:15:05 AM
I'll have to re think my basing or rules. I like them to fit in with ground scale an musket effective range.
Well let us know when you accomplish that because until you get the base depth down to about 2mm, you'll be lucky to field much more than a battalion or two on most tables if the figures have to fit the ground scale.
Hi Mike
Have a look at the figures in my blog post here:
www.michaelscott.name/1809/1809blogpost37-04.htm (http://www.michaelscott.name/1809/1809blogpost37-04.htm)
There are a number of tabs/pages in the post.
Cheers, Michael
Wargaming is all compromises. Bases are really no more than game counters but you can certainly base figures so that frontages match a ground scale, but not depth, which becomes even more problematic with cavalry and artillery. I work on a basis of one figure = ten men and mount my 10mm Pendraken marching 7YW figures on a 20mm wide by 30mm deep base, nine figures in three ranks. It is a compromise, of course, but it looks about right with four to six bases to a battalion - which as pointed out elsewhere is as important as anything.