Any thoughts on the number of figures per base to look right for the Second Boer War?
I will be using Bloody Big Battles which has bases 1" square. I am thinking of 3 or 4 infantry and 2 cavalry/artillery pieces per base.
Some pictures for inspiration would be great.
Alan
It depends on what look you are going for. 4 infantry on a 1" base will look fairly close order. If you want a more skirmish you look I'd try fewer figures. For my WWI I went with 3 figures on a 30mm square.
2 cavalry should be fine. A gun should fit but might be a bit tight
Think I'd second Fred - four for close order, and either two or three for the stands with Skirmish.
We use small FoW sized bases for BBB so they're rectangles @32mm wide, with six figures for close order and three for skirmish - looks nice, but I wish we'd gone with squares as that would make play easier (eg arc of fire!). My other BBB stuff is in 2mm blocks on 20mm, and I wish I'd gone with 30mm squares and made them "mini-dioramas" like Leman did!
Which probably says my advice is fine, but ignore my example :D
Most of the British used open order (a relatively open firing line) when under command early in the war. Skirmishing was the order of the day.
A few formations (such as those under Maj-Gen "No Bobs" Hart) still fought in close order - they were cut to bits by Boer fire (such as at Colenso)
I'd certainly go with a looser basing with fewer figures.
Of course, no need for the Boers as the British never saw them!
Thanks. 3 infantry per base it is!
Is it important you to differentiate in BBB terms between skirmish and non-skirmish stands? Having a look at the two scenarios on the yahoo group they give skirmish (in game terms) to @50% of the Boer stands, and much less for the British - approx one base per unit of 4-5 bases.
Perhaps three for formed, two for skirmish bases?
There would be no difference in the actual formations adopted between units with different skirmish designarions in this period. From postings on the Yahoo Group, the S rating is simply to mark that some units were more adept than others.
I will probably still go for 3 figures per base but position the figures differently: perhaps in a roughly straight line for standard infantry and in a V formation or one of the figures positioned behind a small rock for the "skirmish" infantry.
Yes, that's what I was trying to say with the in game/rules representation element - sounds a good way to do it!