"Ideas for Movement Trays for General de Brigade" Topic

I looking for ideas on how to Build some low cost but good DIY movement trays and how you can suggest how you lay out the design? do you make them for them in Line or column ?

I know this sounds like a stupid question but even though I have alot of painted stuff …. I have not played but a few games and that was with other peoples figs and that was on a very small scale with 16 fig btns

I've built some for my GdeB units using some sheet plastic and the runners from the plastic figure sets.
We use a scale of 1 to 20 so I did a separate movement tray for each company of French or Hanoverians and one tray for each double-company of British.

I also did 1:20 scale and based them by company

We used MDF sheet, got a 3 foot by 4 foot sheet and cut that into strips. The guy at the DIY shop could use the board cutter to cut any width, so we opted for 123 mm and 83 mm wide, this allowed us to base infantry on 15 by 20mm bases in the most variations.
123 mm strips were used for French 6 company battalions, (6 x 20mm deep) by 63 wide (4 x 15mm). 3mm extra for shuffle room on the base.
123 mm strips could also be used, 93mm wide for six five figure companies of Austrian 30 fig units.
83 mm strips were used for Russians cut to 93 by 83 mm for four six figure companies.
Four companies of five figures can be accommodated on 83 by 78mm bases.

I base cavalry on 60mm deep bases and propose to make trays for two squadron bases for them, 123 deep by whatever width is needed.
We made up the edges of the trays using 6mm (1/4 inch) quadrant, cut on a mitre block to make edges, stuck on with PVA (white glue) this was tedious but they do look good. Giving about a 3 mm upstand to stop the figs falling off.
Do whatever works for you. If you have access to a band saw or circular saw, you can do the strips yourself, otherwise, cutting strips by hand, is tedious.
If you need big numbers, you could make a base of the size you need and cast it in resin, there are plenty of You-tube type clips that will point you in the right direction for casting.
I do think trays are the way forward, as I still want to take casualties off a unit and do not like the modern trend of basing in two figure deep blocks

Good luck

rabbit

I prefer sheet plastic, all MDF is too thick.

You can always use overhead projector film, cut to size for the unit with 'D' shape protruding at the back, print unit ID on the D and went you need to see it just slip a piece of paper under the edge. Otherwise nicely invisible. Cut for Batts and then another for rgt etc that way you can move an entire division with one hand.
L

Rabbit wrote:

I still want to take casualties off a unit and do not like the modern trend of basing in two figure deep blocks

My views exactly. Good to see there are some of us resisting these odd modern trends.

Rod

It's hardly an odd modern trend – Joe Morschauser's rules had everything based in multiples back in the 60s.

Well I was using WRG in the 70s and Newbury Fastplay Rules in the 90s, both of which had figures based one deep and used casualty removal.

Rod

Napoleonics based one deep? Ive seen games like that……….. you do wonder why some people bother using figures at all……….
L

you do wonder why some people bother using figures at all

I suppose it is all a matter of Scale?

rabbit

Because one deep is a better representation of the real ground scale?

And you can form Lines, and Squares, and Columns, that almost look like lines and squares, and columns, with only 24 figures, that are big enough both to paint and to see.

And the figures can fight shoulder to shoulder and not look like some sort of skirmish-order rabble, with arms and legs going in different directions, with everybody facing the same way.

And don't get me started about Chaps wearing different hats, some in greatcoats, some in shirtsleeve order, your average two striper would have a hissy fit!

Glad this is only a game!

rabbit

Because one deep is a better representation of the real ground scale?
Then there is something seriously wrong with the ground scale.
A unit is supposed to look something akin to the real thing, Napoleonic formations are dense blocks, a single line looks more like a skirmish line ( and even those were not a single line but a series of mutually supporting ones). I always figure that the closer things look to 'reality' the more likely the game is going to play 'realistically' ( those are two terms open to many and varied interpretations). Then again rather depends on the rules, some of them are trying to recreate the period and some are just a basic means to enable a game with Napoleonic uniforms.
All a matter of personal choice, vive la difference!
L

I like the look of 2 fig. deep lines..just a personal preference and I base mine for GdB..but hey I use 20mm metals so I am already crazy, so to each his own

Was going to add a pic to illustrate the point but then TMP sever went loopy……………

Nowt wrong with 20mm's Heavy, never quite understood the move to 25's in that regard, even less the move to 28/32 and 2 deep ranks perfect for Brits.

Wow them are nice

@LeonAdler

They are indeed very nice indeed.

But what does each represent?

For the Russians I count 36+? Bayonets, some may be the tips of the standards, so I assume a 40 figure unit. It has two flags so I assume this is a "battalion".

Is this a four-company battalion in column, a four-company battalion in double line or what?

Can your basing style represent a Russian Battalion in Column (1 coy wide) a Russian Battalion in double line (2 coys wide) and a Russian Battalion in Line (4 coys wide)? Can you detach a company, for other duties, can you tell at a glance whether a unit has sustained 10% casualties?

2 deep ranks perfect for Brits.

But not for anyone else I assume? And not really "perfect" for Brits either, as there would be two ranks deep by about 30 wide in a British Company. So great for 1-1 scaled gaming but once you include a figure to man ratio, it all goes wrong.

Because one deep is a better representation of the real ground scale?
Then there is something seriously wrong with the ground scale.

Yes indeed, but, in my opinion, it is the best compromise. My figure scale is circa 15 mm to the Yard, a 12 pounder will fire 1200 yards, or 18 metres if the figure and ground scales were to agree. That is a big table!

I can see the point when using 2,3 or even 6 millimetre scale figs of having the figures in 2 or three ranks, for visual effect and depending upon how the troops fought. But, even then, unless you are doing a 1-1 representation, there is going to be a discrepancy in the number of figures (men) "wide" by the number "deep".

When you are scaling down a 600-800 figure unit to circa 24 figures, so that each toy-soldier represents for example 33 real men, there are compromises to be made. That one man represents three ranks of men with roughly 11 men standing shoulder to shoulder, the three ranks being separated by about 1 metre.

Assume if you will that we now base that figure, representing 33, men on an appropriately scaled base. That base would be of the order of 20mm wide by at most 4mm deep at a 1 millimetre equals 1 metre ground-scale. This is just impractical. It also means that, at a 1 millimetre equals 1 metre ground-scale, each figure is 28 metres tall.

A British Unit in 2 ranks would be a wider unit than a Russian or French unit of the same number of men in 3 ranks, as far as I am aware, only the Late and Great Bruce Quarrie had a basing scale which took account of this.

The only real way of gaming on a 1 millimetre equals 1 metre ground-scale would be to use 2mm thick card to represent Infantry units, while easier to paint, I don't think they have the same visual impact, so perhaps we should agree to disagree.

Nice figs, nicely based and displayed, but not for me; thank you for sharing though.

Rabbit.

Rabbit,
Ta for that.
The answer to
'Can your basing style represent a Russian Battalion in Column (1 coy wide) a Russian Battalion in double line (2 coys wide) and a Russian Battalion in Line (4 coys wide)? Can you detach a company, for other duties,' is yes, the batt is on 4 company bases, the pic is the unit on its movement tray. The French units have 6 bases with the elites on seperate bases etc.
I'll have to dig out the stats on the ground scale/ base size calculations I did ( a long time ago) before answering in detail.
If you going to Broadside in a couple of weeks come and have a chat much quicker to talk points over than type.
L