Decided to check how the various Swiss contingents I had painted matched with each other colour wise and what they would look like all together.
There are rather a lot of Swiss now.....
Some shots of massed pike
In the attack
Flankers
Must get the bases painted and the figures varnished and based properly.
Having obtained my copy of "Not Quite Mechanised" by Chris Kemp:
https://notquitemechanised.blogspot.com/
https://notquitemechanised.blogspot.com/2021/06/follow-not-quite-mechanised-on.html
I have been thinking of Western Desert WW2 as well as how well they will work for Arab-Israeli 1967 (to say nothing of Indo-Pak 1965). This has mostly consisted of digging out boxes of stuff, mulling over orbats and wrestling with how many infantry to put on a base.....
I thought I was going down the Megablitz route which in 20mm has two figures in a 40mm square base. NQM is more agnostic on base size and it seems Chris happily uses all sorts together. As NQM is hex based, it's more about how many SPs are allowed in a hex, each standard battalion having 3sp, with maximum occupancy 7-9 SP.
For Megablitz (starting with AIW) I had moved to the idea of 2 mechanised or 3 foot infantry on a 40mm square base.Now I'm contemplating 50mm wide bases with 4-5 figures, partly due to realising how quick I can paint up 20mm plastics and aesthetics (I think 4-5 infantry look nicer). However, I have to think about what will fir in a hex. Most of my hex cloths use a 100mm / 4" hex which means 50mm width is probably the max - it also has to fit with vehicle bases which are likely to be 40-50mm depending on the vehicle; experiments with card and figures is inconclusive. 50mm starts to look crowded, so I'm now dithering between 3 on a 40mm base or going for something like 60x30mm and 4-5 but that takes up a lot of space.....
Decisions, decisions.....
Great collection of Swiss, they look lovely. I can offer no help to your conundrum as I don't do moderns or hex but interested to see how you do solve it.
ReplyDeleteVery impressive collection of Swiss! They will look great when based up. Your figures remind me of the beautiful dioramas seen of Murten and Grandson.
ReplyDeleteAs for basing for NQM, you do face a decision point. I thought the latest SCW game looked too crowded with all of the hexes stacked to the brim with bases. I would lean toward a less crowded look perhaps with larger hexes.
Thanks Jonathan.
DeleteI thought my hex sheets were all 4" / 100mm but I've discovered a 5" hex CnC Tricorne mat and 6" hex green mat ( possibly bought to match the 6" hex Memoir ' 44 mat).
I'm now thinking with a 6" sand / desert cloth I would be less constrained .
Neil
Thanks Donnie. I will probably just concentrate on getting stuff painted for now.
ReplyDeleteNeil
Your pikemen look impressive all together.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. I was relieved to see that by using a restricted colour palette, they work together irrespective of when they were painted.
DeleteNeil
For 4" hexes, 50mm wide bases are probably too big, but bear in mind the stacking limit in NQM is only two units, although you do have to fit markers etc in too. I can comfortably fit four 30x30 bases in a 4" hex, plus terrain, and for a couple of scenarios I managed to get six bases in a hex. In grand tactical and operational games, the units are shoulder to shoulder, even if the subunits are spread out hiding behind ridges etc. I always tend to go for smaller bases, as I can put two of them together if required to make a bigger element.
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin. A lot of this is a combination of aesthetics with practicality; I'm thinking it's going to be difficult to fit some 1:72 armour on a 40mm width base - Megablitz suggests 40-50mm, hence the thought of matching with Infantry. I'm now thinking of sticking with 40mm square with 3 non-motorised infantry. I can always do double sized units to get 6 figures on 80mm by that method, while also keeping the flexibility. That would also allow the smaller NQM scales to be played.
ReplyDeleteIt would also allow the WW2 to match AIW without any need to increase army sizes with the latter. As it is, I need to add brigade command stands to AIW - something I was already thinking was necessary / desirable. Brigade seems to have been the chosen manouvre unit in 1967, divisions being something of an afterthought.
Neil
I have no practical advice for the basing question. above my paygrade.
ReplyDeleteThe Swiss though are gonna look F-in Fantastic when those bases are done though. 😁
Thanks Stew. I may add a few more before calling them done.....
DeleteNeil
Awesome looking flats again, Neil. Looking forward to seeing how you decide to base them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dean. Current plan is standard WRG "25mm" so 60mm wide. Having played around with mock bases it looks "right" as you have to account for the figures being so narrow; wider bases looks a bit odd. IMHO.
DeleteNeil
Cool selection of flats Neil.
ReplyDeleteWillz.
Thanks Willz.
DeleteNeil
Gloriously colourful. Glorious masses of pikes. Sensational Neil!
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Thanks James. Plodding towards a finish!
DeleteNeil