"FOG-N: Does it look like a Corps Level Action?" Topic

I am never sure how grand tactical games are going to look, so I laid out the Placenoit scenario from the FoG-N rulebook according to the 28 mm figure basing recommendations. It is on a 8x5 table and essentially there are 32,000 Prussians on the table attacking 14,000 French.

Is that how it looks?

John

fuentesdeonoro.blogspot.com

No, absolutely not.

But then IMHO 28mm is not the right scale for Napoleonics unless you have access to Gilder/WHC type table space and are playing at 1:30.

What you have all looks great, nice figures, good painting, first class scenery, just does not give the right impression.

Looks a little bit like all the other 28mm Napoleonics battles. Some may think that's a good thing …

This is why I like smaller figures. That looks like a right nice skirmish for control of the old Villeneuve Farm, not a battle between 50,000 men.

Still, even in 6mm you'd only have a relative handful of figures. Whatever pleases your eye is good. That which offends it looks silly.

John I agree that the look is important for the game. I think what doesn't look right, if a block of figures is a division, is the size of the terrain. It needs to be much smaller. Is is a challenge with some of the bigger scales.

I think the 6mm and 3mm guys have it right for corps level games when they base one regiment per base. Much easier to visualize as a large scale battle.

If you want flexibility in playing with your 28mm units you might have to sacrifice some of the "realism" in a larger scale battle.

Just my thoughts. But think you have a beautiful looking setup.

Cheers

Ironlegs
10mmnapoleonics.blogspot.com

Looks very nice but "32,000 Prussians on the table attacking 14,000 French" – not a chance!

Have to agree with those who pointed at 28mm but would add to the RobH comment on table size. That's the ultimate killer, anything less than 12ft with 28mm just exaggerates the space taken by unit footprints and the lack of clear table between them.

Personally, as much as I like how the figures look, I agree with the above comments that 8 by 5 is a bit small for 28mm figures. It needs to be based around ground scale, so for example my units are on 2mm to one metre, so that my "standard" French infantry battalion in column is 135mm wide, or just under 70 metres – which is a bit oversize but not by too much.

On this basis, the 800 yard gap between la haye Saint and Hougomont is roughly 1500-1600 mm's (depends on how precise I want to be around metres/yards) – so I can fit that gap in on a 6 foot wide table, but that is JUST the gap. A 12 foot long table by 6 foot deep is, to my mind, the starting point, and it means some areas get left of when scaling the maps down.

So I would start with the ground scale you base you figures to, then adjust the available "real world" area you can fit onto your table.

This way lies madness…
But it is really the best way to go if you're seriously trying to do recreations. Don't be surprised if rulesets start to behave weirdly as you do this though. I'm working on a 2:1 ACW project with 3mm figs and I can already tell that I'm going to need to do some heavy re-writes to get any rules to work with them. And a VERY wide table.

I have only played FoG N in 15mm and I thought it looked quite good.

Looks fine to me,..

Could I suggest that a better question is "did it feel like a Corps level action?"

You are right Max, and I suppose you have to play the game to figure that out.

I thought it looked OK, after all the units are really playing pieces, rather then actual unit. Thanks for the compliments re the table, I suppose most of you are correct re using smaller figures for big actions on regularly sized tables (8-12'x4-6'). Smaller figures are not really what I am willing to pursue.

So I suppose the question should have been: Could you make a corps size action with 28mm figures better looking then FoG-N on a acceptable sized table? Bit convoluted, but that is the real point I suppose.

John

Hi John,
my point is playing "Napoleons Battles" I'd be a corps commander maneuvering brigades and divisions. But those brigades were only 24 or 16 figure size. So if i posted a picture they'd look like battalions. But it felt like a multi corps game to me. So the question should be does it feel like a corps game to you.
BTW how many figures in a typical French infantry division?

Hi Max,

For my basing, for the 4000 man French division I end up with 3 small units for FoG-N, or 18 bases (6 each).

Since I put 6x28 mm figures on a base, I end up with a little over 100 figures to the division.

John

Ah thanks that helps me better put it into perspective.