"Rules for 6mm 10mm One base battalions" Topic

I'm looking for a set of rules for small scale miniatures where a battalion is one base. I like the look of Baccus rules, but I want to play column, line, and square. One base is safer for the miniatures and less fidgety. I suppose you can use a marker for formation, but that's very cluttered and the marker gets separated from the base unless you use refrigerator magnet materal and steel bases.

Any suggestions?

You can pull these formations off with two bases.

Yeah… I'm not sure how you manage 'column, line and square' with one base… Once you're down to that, it becomes a multiple-stand brigade game like Age of Eagles instead of one base equals one battalion.

"Fate of Battle" uses a battalion base that is divided into two halves. For all actions the two halves act together. Their purposes is simple to denote formations.

link

You could try making bases in different formations and swap them out when the formation changes. Might be a bit fiddly but you'd get a nice look and could play any normal rule set.

I've thought over stuff like this for a few years using my 3mm… you'll be better off using multi-base brigades like McLaddie said.

March Attack by Crusader Publishing also uses the two base system per batallion to show basic formations.

Maybe Napoleon's Battles? IIRC one base of 4 15mm figures was 480 men – so a battalion, pretty much and it uses columns, lines and squares and suchlike.

side by side = line
one behind =column
back to back = square

un jointed/aligned= disordered

I'll add my voice to those saying it's not going to work. You are trying to do two things that are mutually exclusive.
If you were looking at GDD they are based on the premise that the venerable 'Napoleonics is is all about line, column and square', doesn't really hold sway once you put games at a higher command level.

Try letting go of the received wisdom and play the game – you will be amazed at how well it plays and how soon you forget about the irrelevant low level stuff.

No need to start a long thread over these heretical views. It's Xmas and there are better things to do!

Go grand tactical. You can always backslide to two stands per unit if you wish.

You could use small pieces of coloured pipe cleaners. You can push them onto the bases, and they will stay when you move the unit. You can use different colours for different formations.

If you are looking for a compromise between Brigade level games that try to show formation (e.g. Napoleon's Battles) and true Battalion level games designed for larger actions (Shako 2, March Attack, etc.), then Snappy Nappy at 1000 men/base may be exactly what you want.

This scale allows one 2-stand formation to represent 2-3 battalions or so (approx. a regiment), so that a division can be represented by eight to twelve bases, 4-6 formations, (with an artillery base), which must cooperate tactically to achieve success.

This is really an extremely good "big battle" game, saddled with an asinine name. I don't know anyone who has played it and not been surprised and impressed.

The core rules can be learned in 20 minutes, and yet it features a combat system where formations really matter and a clever morale system that ties together troop quality differences, mandatory morale tests and the loss of unit combat effectiveness with casualties in one simple design mechanism.

Volley and Bayonet is a stand-based system that would work. The original rules are for stands to be Rgts/Bdes, but there are modifications that take the system to battalion level (example below)

PDF link

Best,
Ed M

For 6mm I use two batallions units with 4 bases, so one batallion have 2 bases.
theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=306529&page=2
In 15mm there are only one base per unit and formations shows together with other units.

Consider Mini-Nap at runtus.org Version 2 will be posted soon.

G'Day Fritz,

I used to take counters from Wellington's Victory:

Line
Column
Square
Skirmisher

Then place them on the base of the figures.

Best Regards
Art

Hello Joe!

I think the Baccus rules do include CLS. You just don't have to show the formation. It's assumed that the unit/base is always in the correct formation for the situation at hand. It simply removes the rock/paper/scissors feeling that haunts so many conventional rule systems.

After playing the rules for awhile players seem to forget all about the lost time spent dwelling over formation changes and the subject of "what formation are you in" rarely even comes up.

The turns flow faster and players are able to concentrate on what really matters, when, where and how to commit their forces.

We have played a lot of Napoleonic rule sets over the years and the Baccus twin set in one is by far the best.

Best regards,

Glenn

Thanks for all the input.

I'm a minimalist when it comes to rules largely because IMHO brigadier generals are orcs. They have their hands full getting their battalions lined up right and once they are lined up command is a light switch. It's go or no go. If you're "off" you stand there until you get orders or the enemy attacks and if you're "on" you advance upon the enemy. Your typical orc knows one way of lining up their battalions and a really clever orc knows two ways. Why write a lot of rules for turning a light switch on? Once the switch is turned on, the machine runs and the switch operator becomes relatively unimportant until it's time to turn the switch off.

If you limit the complexities of leadership to lining up (position and formation) and stand or advance you get a very streamlined game that focuses more on what's happening with units than leaders. Take away deployment as a decision and all you have left is to advance or not to advance which is too minimalist even for me.

I use these "orcs" for boosting morale and restore order too. And if this orc will be killed, lining up his brigade will be harder. Division commander must spend his own orders to this.

Take a look at the grand daddy of all wargames – Kriegsspiel. The Too Fat Lardies arrangement of the Bill Leeson translation makes this nearly two centuries old game accessible to modern day gamers. Besides, its hard to argue with rules written by guys who actually fought in the Napoleonic Wars. With a few small tweaks to adjust the ground and unit scale, I can see using Kriegsspiel with 6mm Nappys.

Check em out at:
link