CHAPTER 1. SCALES, BASE SIZES & DICE. All resources will be used to make the army ready for war. Napoleon

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 1. SCALES, BASE SIZES & DICE All resources will be used to make the army ready for war. Napoleon

2 SCALES, BASE SIZES & DICE General de Brigade rules are designed for use with both 15mm and 25mm/28mm figures. All command radius, movement rates, etc., are shown first in centimetres for 15mm figures followed by a 25mm figure equivalent in inches within square brackets, e.g. 15cms [9 ]. The rules can also be used for 10mm & 6mm figures with a little modification to ranges and movement distances. (A suggested method is to convert the 25mm inches scale to centimetres.) 1.1 SCALES Figure scale 1 figure = 20 men. 1 model gun = 2 artillery pieces. Ground scale = very approximately 1mm = 1 yard/meter. I will not suggest a time scale as wargaming time tends to be very elastic. Though do bear in mind that the turn is divided into eight game phases each following the other, thus charges take place perhaps a minute or two before normal movement, etc. 1.2 BASE SIZES Base sizes are not vital to the game, thus there is no need to rebase any figures. As long as players use the same or similar basing or if there are differences make allowances where necessary for this difference, there should be no problem. The following is a suggestion only, adopted as it adds significantly to the visual appeal of games and eases troop movement. Divisional General 40mm x 40mm (a minimum of two figures, three or four looks best). Brigade General 30mm wide by 35mm deep (represented by one or two figures). BASE SIZES FOR 15mm FIGURES UNIT FRONTAGES Infantry 8mm to 12mm per figure mounted in two ranks, on company or double company size bases. British infantry should be mounted 12mm per figure to help reflect the two rank structure. 9

3 Cavalry - 10mm to 12mm per figure. Can be mounted in pairs or threes. Cossacks 12 to 15mm per figure, mounted in pairs or threes. Artillery 30mm to 45mm per model gun. Each gun crewed by four figures. Skirmishers from 12mm to 15mm per figure with two or three figures per base. This is only an average frontage as skirmishers tended not to keep hard and fast frontages. Skirmishers should always be mounted in a single rank. BASE SIZES FOR 25mm & 28mm FIGURES Divisional general 70mm to 100mm x 70mm to 100mm (a minimum of two figures, three or four looks best). Brigade General 45mm wide by 50mm deep (represented by one or two figures). UNIT FRONTAGES Infantry 15mm 20mm per figure mounted in two ranks, with either one company to a base or two companies to a base. British infantry should be mounted nearer 20mm per figure to help reflect the two rank structure. Cavalry - 20mm 25mm per figure. Can be mounted in pairs or threes. Cossacks 25 to 30mm per figure, mounted in pairs or threes. Artillery 50mm to 60mm per model gun. Each gun crewed by four figures. Skirmishers from 20mm to 30mm per figure, with two or three figures per base. This is only an average frontage as skirmishers tended not to keep hard and fast frontages. Skirmishers should always be mounted in a single rank. N.B. Larger frontages of up to 1mm or 2mm extra per figure are okay if the figures are a tight squeeze on the base. UNIT DEPTHS These should be kept to a minimum or just deep enough to allow the figures room to sit on the base adequately. (Depths on wargames figures are way out of scale compared to the frontages anyway. So I wouldn t worry too much.) 10

4 BASING DISTINCTIONS FOR EXCELLENT; AVERAGE & POOR GENERALS Though, of course, players are free to use any method they prefer to highlight a particular general s ability, the following basing suggestions can be employed if players wish to do so. Base Shape Method: Alternatively or in combination with the below method, players can use differing base shapes to distinguish their general s abilities. So excellent generals can be mounted on oval or round bases while all others are mounted on the usual rectangular bases. Alternatively, poor generals are mounted on round or oval bases and so on. NUMBER OF FIGURES ON A BASE METHOD: General Excellent Average Poor Divisional Four officer figures, combination Three officer figures combination One officer figure (either of mounted (at least two) and of mounted (at least two) and mounted or on foot) and two foot officers one foot officer. ADCs or NCOs on foot, (preferably looking confused or bored!). Brigade Three officer figures; two mounted Two officer figures; (at least One mounted officer figure or and one foot officer or enthusiastic one mounted) or a single mounted one foot officer plus one or two figure. officer. wounded or routing figures. BASING CLOSE ORDER INFANTRY FIGURES IN TWO RANKS A six-figure base or an eight-figure base can be used for most infantry battalions. Six figure bases represent either; two companies of around 60 men, one company in front of the other, or single companies of 100 to 120 men. Eight-figure bases represent either; two companies of around 80 men, (again one company in front of the other or side by side) or single larger companies of 140 men or 160 men. Four figure bases can be used to represent any odd company, (such as British grenadier companies, if the light company has been deployed). Six figure base Eight figure base Two x 3 figure companies on six-figure base When basing the smaller 100 man or 140 man companies use the same sized six or eight-figure base as used for full strength 120 or 160 man companies. Simply place five or seven figures on the base instead of six or eight. Any gaps can easily be filled with scenic material or casualties. So a French six company battalion need only have five figures on each base. This can represent an under-strength battalion of 30 figures or a full strength battalion of 36 figures by simply assuming each base represents the full six figures. There is actually nothing to stop you placing the odd casualty figure or piece of scenery to most bases. Each base can still represent the full number of figures but saves on actual figures and painting time! 11

5 Prussian jager battalions of 24 figures: (4 x 6 figure British battalions of 30 figures: (5 x 6 figure Portuguese battalions of 30 figures: (5 x 6 figure USE SIX FIGURE BASES FOR: French line and light battalions of either 30 or 36 figures: (6 x 6 figure bases or 6 x 5 figure French Young or Middle Guard battalions of either 24 or 36 figures: (4 x 6 figure bases or 6 x 6 figure French model Allied or Confederation battalions of either 30 or 36 figures: (6 x 6 figure bases or 6 x 5 figure Austrian battalions of either 24 or 36 figures: (4 x 6 figure bases or 6 x 6 figure USE EIGHT FIGURE BASES FOR: French Old, Middle or Young Guard battalions of 32 figures: (4 x 8 figure Austrian battalions of either 32 or 48 figures: (4 x 8 figure bases or 6 x 8 figure British battalions of 40 figures: (5 x 8 figure Prussian battalions of 32 figures: (4 x 8 figure Russian battalions of either 24 or 32 figures: (3 x 8 figure bases or 4 x 8 figure Spanish battalions of 32 figures: (4 x 8 figure 12

6 BASING BATTALION SKIRMISH COMPANIES a) Light Companies in Close Order. Always base the skirmish company on a separate base. I.E. If your skirmish company consists of four figures and the battalion is mounted on eight figure bases (e.g. British or Austrian) then dispense with one eight figure base and use 2 x four figure bases instead. This allows the skirmishers to be detached. b) You can also mount a duplicate light company on correct skirmish bases. Thus once the skirmishers are deployed the close order light company is removed and replaced with a duplicate company mounted on skirmish bases. This is not essential, but if you are using light companies on close order bases as the brigade skirmish screen always ensure that there is at least 5cms between each base when the skirmishers are deployed. 1.3 EQUIPMENT a) A minimum of two six-sided dice per side. Any reference to 2D6 refers to a roll of two six sided dice with their scores added together. Any reference to 1D6 refers to a single six sided die roll. b) Order markers depicting Assault, Engage, Support, Hold, Move & Retire. See Appendix D for printed order markers. c) Plus roster sheets (see Appendix D) or casualty markers if you have them. (See Casualty Removal.) d) Finally one very useful aid are those commercially available arc of fire guides that have 30º and 45º arcs of fire printed on clear plastic. 13