Firstof all, for me a game should be played on a game night of say 2.5 hours.
Using 15mm figuresth new,to me, is a 4 figures in 2 ranks so a base is 20mm wide by 25mm deep.
In a popular ancients/medieval game figures are mounted on a 40mm wide base in a single rank of of 2, 3, or 4 figures.
My gaming in the old days figures were mounted on whatever size base you wanted as long as it complied with the base per figure in the rules.
One rule book says base size doesn't matter as long as your opponent uses more or less the same size.
A well supported rule set I think is Fire and fury both Brigade and Regiment.
They both have the same basing requirements
, for infantry, 25mm wide and 20mm deep, figures 3 per base with 15/18mm.
Using 10mm figures the base size could be cut to a 20mm depth and cutting the space taken by regiments or brigades in line by 20%, however would it be better to take a look at how we play? For instance, by putting 5 figures on a 25mm base we could increase the look of a regiment the only problem with this can be the formations used in the ACW. As I understand it there are 3 formations, ie. road column, field column and line.
On the wargame table road column will only be used when crossing a bridge or defile but remember that the depth (20mm) of a base with a ground scale of 1 mm = 1 yard the road column is probably about 10 times greater than is needed.
Is a 20mm x 20mm base too small to handle with 10mm figures. Would a 40mm be better ad have a marker in red to represent zone base of 20mm is a casualty. Any opinions on bases???

A 25mm by 20mm base with 4x 10mm figures on would be fine.

I use 25mm by 25mm bases for AWI with 4 figures on and they are a good size to handle. I've also got WSS on 20x20mm bases.

Road width is always wrong in wargames (unless it's a skirmish game! I go with as narrow as looks sensible, just avoid putting hedges or walls on both sides as this can behave oddly in higher scales rules.

Hi

You may want to look at this blog: https://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2020/02/01/playing-brigade-fire-fury-2nd-edition-in-10mm-i-did-it-my-way/

Mark uses Fire and Fury rules with Pendraken 10mm figures with a reduced base size and scale.

That said, I'm dubious about playing any decent sized games in 2.5 hours 

Hope this helps.

Cheers Paul

QuoteThat said, I'm dubious about playing any decent sized games in 2.5 hours 

How do you define 'decent sized'? We routinely fight entire ACW, Napoleonic, and other 19th-century battles with a dozen-plus units a side in that time on a Monday evening at the club. Are these 'indecent'? 

Hi Chris

Purely a personal opinion of course but I am not a great fan of rules that have a division as a basic sized unit on the wargames table, in my experience they tend to lack a lot of the 'flavour' that makes a specific war/period interesting. So for me, and again this is a personal preference, if I am trying to re-fight a real battle (or any wargame for that matter) then I do not go above a unit on the table representing a brigade. I sometimes think that some rules these days (and I have been playing wargames for some time now) over emphasize and over simplify things that in real warfare are not simple in the need to play a game in a short amount of time and again lose out on what makes a game fun and interesting. If I want to use 'divisional' sized units and play in 2.5 hours then I would probably stick to a boardgame.

Horses for courses of course!

Cheers Paul     

Hi Paul,

All fair comment - the right flavour is important and is obviously a matter of taste, so there's no "right" or "wrong" way to play toy soldiers. I hope you're getting plenty of what you like!

Chris

I have friends that play Age of Eagles (AoE) a brigade level game and they find that it gives a more than satisfactory game reflecting how generals ordered their subordinates. Meaning that  the Brigadier isn't present as a figure with the brigade so the chain of command runs from CinC, Corps, Division.
The brigade is the smallest unit. Scirmishers aren't present on the table but their effect is during the fire phase and as a screen. But this does detract from the Napoleonic flavour if you have never studied the actual battles.
But you do see what happens when you don't have the better quality corps and division generals. However you can play Waterloo on a 12'x6' table but you won't see the end in 2.5 hours.
A move represents 30minutes in time. 1 mile is just short of 14" on the table. 1 base = 360 men (4 figures).
You can fight Ligny and Quatre Bras.at the same time on 2 different tables. I also like my old rules that I've used since the earl 1970's where 1 figure = 20 men
For now I'm going to play Regimental Fire & Fury when I've painted my figures. I was going to buy the epic figures I want more than all the same figure and Pendraken gives me that.
I will need half a dozen houses to make a town, a ranch and a farm and I've no idea what a town or farm/plantation looked like.
If anyon knows where to buy things necessary I would be greatfull.