"28mm square bashing" Topic

Hi, I have been looking at the square bashing rules and wondered if they would be suitable for 28mm miniatures and if anyone else plays these rules in that scale?

Thanks

Chris

Chris

The rules themselves give conversion for 25/28mm – basically the squares go up from six to eight inches and given everything is done by squares there are no complicated conversions/adjustments required. The game should fit on the standard 4 by 6 foot table so are eminently suitable for 25/28mm.
I'm often tempted by the great 25/28mm figures available at the moment but as I have a number of 15mm armies I can't justify the expense – maybe just a few…there lies madness.
Bede

Great, I've got a good collection of 28mm early war but can't settle on suitable rules. I've briefly looked at some reviews for square bashing and they seem pretty good. I'm looking for a game that can be played in 2 to 3 hours as time is limited due to work commitments and family. Be nice to get some more info on this system from anyone that has some experience with it.

Thanks

Chris

What sort of game are you looking for? SB is roughly divisional level (1 stand = 1 company) and designed for 15mm and smaller figures. Not sure how it would look visually in larger scales. It's also very abstract in style, too much for my taste – you may as well be playing chess with counters and dice.

For 28mm games I settled on ' Mud & Blood' from TFL, for platoon level games, and it's quite easily up scaled to company level games at 1:5 scale.

I would be cautious about the interpretation that SB is akin to 'playing chess with counters and dice'. This is a personal opinion, which is perfectly valid. 'Through the Mud & Blood' has a whole different set of abstractions. If you stretch the analogy used above then it could be argued that TTMB is like playing with a single counter only. SB illustrates broader tactical issues in a particular game style. TTMB abstracts away many of these broader tactical issues. The player focuses on the unit that lies immediately ahead, without the 'interference' of what happened on the flanks or deeper in the defensive system (apart from abstractions relating to artillery fire principally). Many players enjoy this, which is great. Others do not or like to play both styles of tactical WW1 game. There are other choices in both categories as well. Many players enjoy a variety of rules in each category, with the different flavours representing different challenges or providing different perspectives on WW1.

Robert

I agree with Monk2002uk on the difference of abstraction in SB and TTMB, I see SB as the grander strategic overview of the typical First World War operation, whereas TTMB is the nuts and bolts of the tactical fighting. And both rules achieve their particular outlooks considerably well. Watch your flanks in SB, concentrate on fire and movement in TTMB.

As for the OP's original question; for 28mm I would go for TTMB, with all the figures based individually. SB lends itself more to 15mm both in terms of playability and aesthetics, imo.

For more information from my blog, here is an AAR on TTMB:

link

And one of several on SB (for more, just search the labels for 'Square Bashing'):

link

I'm waiting for the Square Bashing rules to arrive -I'm going to be using 20mm Early War figs on 40mm bases.