That didn't take long.
I recently decided to do a Napoleonics project using 2mm miniatures. Now that I have the minis in hand, I've lost motivation to clean and paint them. Instead, I find myself considering different types of counters.
Problem is that my current counters are not at a grand scale. I want my games to cover large battles with each counter representing a division or more. My current counters have 3 rows of 8 infantrymen, 7 cavalrymen, or 2 guns. To me, units look more like companies than divisions.
To address this visual issue, I've been playing around with some different counters.
In the first column, I shrank down my current counters by 50%. I'm just concerned it will be too hard to see the colors on the tabletop.
The second column is a more stylized approach. I'm not sold on the cavalry, however.
The third column uses symbols. This would be simplest to make.
I can’t offer any advice Kevin. I would go the miniatures route every day. It is, however, your call - so go with whatever feels/looks right for you.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you need a bigger battlefield/board? If it was, say, twice as big then you could make the squares twice as big - and then, perhaps, you could have 3 or 4 counters (or whatever you decide on) to visually represent each “unit”. That would certainly make units look larger/bigger/more and maybe you could consider removing a counter each time the unit suffered a hit.
Cheers,
Geoff
Good news. I started working on the 2mm, although I am still considering counters. I am trying to stay small. Sometimes I'm playing on a 16" x 22" table and I like to have enough room for game accoutrements.
DeleteThe problem with using one counter to represent a division, IMHO, is that many divisions, such as Prussian 'brigades', comprised troops of all three arms of service, whilst others comprised infantry and cavalry with attached artillery, so one really needs one counter/base of figures per arm of service. With figures, you could go for a very stylised approach whereby one or more figures represented a brigade, battalion or regiment; the number of gunners represented the number of batteries attached to the division, and a mounted officer the division CO and his staff. When a division put out a screen of skirmishers, a number of figures equal to the number of brigades/ battalions deployed could be placed out in front of the main body. When the division suffered losses, a number of figures equivalent to the number of brigades/battalions destroyed/routed or simply exhausted and no longer fit for combat could be removed.
ReplyDeleteI think the trick is to go for a very symbolic representation of the troops in the formation, that conveys useful information to the player (and umpire if there is one) rather than trying to portray its appearance. Colour bearers and musicians could be used to indicate the formation's quality (Elite, Veteran &c.) and their position on the division base could be changed to indicate the division's current morale.
Yes, there is a lot of variations that complicate my proceedings. I will probably just hand wave them away and just strive to have somewhat realistic proportions of the different arms.
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