I'm starting to think what my next project will be. I no longer aspire to building large armies with large units. I'm too slow a painter, I'm not exactly in the flush of youth and there are other things I should also be doing in my life. My SYW, 32 figure Pendraken units will never be repeated. Instead, my mind is turning to 'minimalist' units; units of 9 or 12 figures strong - unit sizes I would have rejected up to 30 or so years ago. Probably arranged 3 figures to a base.

I've browsed Pendraken's Napoleonics, AWI and League of Augsburg. I would like to do them all. Each 9 or 12 figure strong unit should have a command stand of probably 3 figures (officer, ensign & musician). I don't want too large an army (say 12 - 16 units strong) because I've found that too many of my painted units sit in the box, unpicked for most games, plus I want to draw a line and move on to other armies and periods that I'm interested in.

So, I looked at Pendraken's Austrian Naps. Say I wanted 10 foot units of 12 figures each (120 figures). I need to buy 3 packets of NPA1 (German Fusilier) and then a Command Pack (NPA3). Perfect (120 figures). Except, it would be nice to have some Grenadiers and some Hungarian units. So, say I go for one NPA11 (German Grenadier) - great - that's a half pack & includes command - and one NPA5 (Hungarian Fusiliers). However, I now need to buy a pack of Hungarian Command figures. But I don't need 30 figures. I only need 9.  And I've still to buy artillery and cavalry and it might be nice to have some Jagers, Grenzers, Landwehr and perhaps even some Hungarian Grenadiers. Phew! This idea is not as easy as I thought. Pity about the Command packs comprising 30 figures; in my case, packs of 15 might have been more helpful. I think I'll look at the League of Augsburg range, instead. Hopefully with this being more generic, this will be easier .... or will it?

A comment was recently made on Little Wars TV that "old school" wargame rules tend(ed) to be very miniatures intensive. I would agree but as stated above, I no longer aspire to building large armies and large units. I'm also attracted to wargaming on smaller tables. It's a comfortable way to game, doesn't require a fantastic amount of figures and can produce very entertaining games that can be played to a conclusion in 2 or 3 hours.

I'm not saying large, epic games will not continue to be played - of course, they will - but I sense that there is a growing momentum towards smaller games with smaller units and smaller armies. Does anyone else feel this way? If so, I wonder how that might impact on gamers buying patterns and how manufacturers should package their products in future. What are your views on the shape of future collecting and gaming?

P.S. The following views may also be of interest:-

Norm's Battlefield & Warriors blog - Pocket Armies.
http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2020/01/pocket-armies-and-4-x-3-project-going.html

Brent Oman's (author of Field of Battle rules) idea of "wargaming happiness."
http://wargamesandstuff.blogspot.com/2013/06/

I'm definitely heading down this route and in fact was talking about it with Dave tonight. My Battalion consists of 12 figures, 3 to a base, with 4 bases making up the Battalion. This was I can use them for a variety of rulesets, which is a big bonus. These units will be organised in a Division of 2 Brigades, with each Brigade having 3-4 Battalions, with a Jager Battalion, a Battery of Artillery (1 base) and a Regiment of Cavalry (2 units). There will then be say another Regiment of Cavalry and some guns at Divisional level. Not quite 12 units a side, but pretty close and not all will be on the table at the same time.

Remember that Leon & co are happy to do part packs at a small premium, more details here
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,15349.0.html

Smaller games and smaller numbers of figures definitely seems to be a growing trend

Am opposite, the current trend for 1 hour wargames with 9 figures representing a regiment or 10 tanks 12" apart representing a battle is anathema to me. The 28mm mafia has a lot to answer for, with it's single D6 based combat resolutions. 

Having downsized from 15mm for my Napoleonics and upsizing from 6mm for my 20th Century stuff, I'm using more figures, not less, to a unit. For my Napoleonics I'm using 1:10 ratio. An Austrian battalion might be 80 figures, but I can paint them more easily and in the same time as 40x 15mm that I previously used.

What I am doing is cutting down on the number of armies I have, and building those I do have to more exact OOB.

Mark

I'm tending to smaller scale figures and bigger bases and many more figures per base.

My 10mm WW2 infantry are 6 to a 40mm x 20mm base.

My 3mm WW2 infantry are 30 figures on a 40mm square.

I like a healthy mix.

I have everything from 1 figure on a base Medievals to up to 9 figure on a base for Napoleonics; unit sizes 30  in some periods 70 in others; army sizes - 50 for skirmish games (e.g. WWII Pacific, Spanish-American) through 400-500 figures (ACW, medieval) up to 1000 (Naps). WWII tends to be a platoon or company of infantry (in 1:1), plus a troop/squadron of tanks, plus a troop/battery of artillery, AT, AA etc. The only constant is that it's all done in Pendraken (apart from the 1:600 aircraft, the 1:600 ships and the 1:3000 ships ... and the 1:2400 ships.)

The only period I've "doubled up" is Medieval, where I have a number of Baron's War forces (about 400 figures) plus I've based the TB line as individuals for skirmish games.

What I'm groping for is that I think there may well be a trend towards smaller, quicker games; but big games will always be spectacular and have their adherents. What I would prefer to do meself is to have a smaller number of large units rather than a large number of small units. 12 figures in a bttn is IMHO, visually unappealing. I prefer a brigade game with chunkier units to a corps with lots of flags and few bayonets.

BUT - the beauty of our hobby is that is can accommodate everyone. This is also it's pain - especially for people like Leon, who have to try and sell figures is appropriate pack sizes. This is an impossible task - unless he sells individual figures.

I'm in on both fronts!

I start getting more and more skirmish games, so i can then do 2-3 'big' projects.

For example, i have a truckload of 28mm nappies to paint. This is probably the biggest project i have running since i started wargaming!

Now i know i will be painting years on end for those, so i try and keep the other projects smaller. Skirmish /low figure count games are a good way of branching out into other periods, but keeping your main period/interest an 'ongoing' project.

Agreed, and Leon will do custom orders of figures too.

Quote from: sultanbev on 22 January 2020, 10:14:01 PM
Am opposite, the current trend for 1 hour wargames with 9 figures representing a regiment or 10 tanks 12" apart representing a battle is anathema to me. The 28mm mafia has a lot to answer for, with its single D6 based combat resolutions. 

Agreed. Battles are being widely neglected in favour of skirmishes which have more in common with paintball than with meaningful enggements, and 28mm has a lot of apologising to do before it gets into Valhalla.

engagements

I think time available time for a game and space to play said game are also a big factor. I simply have little of both, so a mid-week game of 3 hours is the maximum I can accomodate and on a 4' x 4' board. To be honest I enjoy these games and no longer hanker for a big multi-player all day club game. I do visit a friend who does put on big 'old school' games at his house with a few gamers, but it is a tight squeeze. We enjoy ourselves but I couldn't do this in our house due to lack of space.

Why all the hate towards 28mm?

It's all fun and games, no matter wich scale you know 

So's tiddleywinks, but we'd be annoyed at the competition from them.

Quote from: Westmarcher on 22 January 2020, 08:26:42 PM
. . . Pity about the Command packs comprising 30 figures; in my case, packs of 15 might have been more helpful. . . .

Agreed. I'd always thought that was the only 'odd' thing about the way Pendraken do things (I think they do packs of 18 in the European Late Medieval range?). To me, packs of 12 figures would be perfect for the command packs, although I do get it may not be that way from Pendraken's point of view!

A minor quibble, in light of Pendraken's general excellence at all things.

I'm pretty sure it is to do with the number of figures in a mold, one spin gets you about 30 figures...

Pendraken are of course happy to provide any number of figures you require (and probably still at less per figure than many other manufacturers)