"Rules for large engagements" Topic

I am looking to get into this period, but can anyone suggest some good rules for large engagements with thousands of troops? I will be using 12 – 15mm miniatures by the way.

Well Big Bloody Battles is play-testing a expansion for WW1. As the rules are they permit you to fight large battles in the 1816-1910 period. With the expansion it will cover 1910-1920 probably.

Minimum tactical unit is the Brigade/ Small division and command level is the army/multi-corps.

Thanks I will look into that. I was also thinking about if there is a base system that will work for all rules? Or are the ww1 rules very sensitive to a specific basing system?

You might consider SQURE BASHING from Peter Pig. It uses a grid system (6")so that play is quite quick(no measuring). It has an accompanying army book which goes from the Boer war to just before the SCW. Troops move and fight as squares. Thus a square fights a square whilst taking into consideration support, terrain etc. The system is expandable if required. Typical army would be 15 foot units, 6 cavalry units, MGs , Guns, tanks etc…
Base size does not matter. Units of foot comprised of 4 bases at the outset.
Includes scenario generator and victory point system too.

,artin

De Bellis Horriblis?
link

ReneTS

Basing in BBB is flexible.

Take a look at back issues of "The Nugget" here:
link

You will find several articles and battle reports on Richard Brooke's OP14 rules for large scale engagements in this period. I think the most recent one is in the March 2014 issue, but there are several others and also the rules are there too in previous issues.

If by 'this period' you mean WW1, other options include 'Great War Spearhead' and 'Crush the Kaiser'. While the provenance of the former is clear from the title, I believe the latter derives some of its core mechanics from Fire and Fury.

Great War Spearhead and Square Bashing are both good for division/corps sized engagements. They both use the same basing scheme (one base = one company/battery/squadron).

For rally gigantic battles (multiple Corps) then OP14 as above.

I use the same stuff for all three.

Seems like there is a lot to choose from. But how many miniatures do you place on your bases if using 3x3cm? And has anyone played the great war variant of flames of war?

In 15mm, 2-3 figures is usually the norm. It's a good balance between not going bankrupt and still getting a massed look.

I'd suggest considering 10mm though, for really big games. The savings can add up and they're very nice.

But how many miniatures do you place on your bases if using 3x3cm?

You'll only have room for about about 3 15mm figures on a 3x3cm base.

Another question is how Kallistra miniatures compares to Van Dycks? Do they match in height and proportions?

When you are using 10-12mm miniatures, are you also using 3x3cm bases then?

You could use the same bases and just squeeze another figure on there.

The Pz8 '2 page' rules, work very well for operational scale conflicts, from early 20th Century and up to WW2.

They are simple and easy to learn, and have some subtle brilliance at the same time. Really good fun !! Capture the period very well.

There is a whole lot of rules variants included in the (free) PDF here -

PDF link

Also, if you have a bit more space, and lots and lots of figures, 1916 from WarTimeJournal gives a bit more of a detailed game for …. the 1916-ish period :

wtj.com/games/1916

To get a better feel for Great War Spearhead, check out Robin's Great Adventure web site here:

link

There are some examples of larger games on the official web site as well:

link

Most battles will represent around 10-20,000 men per side. You can play really large battles with Great War Spearhead but you need large tables ;-) If you haven't already seen it, then check out the First Battle of the Marne here:

link

Robert

I use 30x30 bases for most stuff in 6mm, 15mm and 20mm. I usually try and base the figures so they can used for lower actions too, so LMG and rifle teams etc. 2-3 15mm, or a couple of 20mm.

You can jam four 15mm figures on but I think it looks a bit crowded. For element based games the numb of figures is largely irrelevant, just go with what is cost effective and looks good.

I agree with Martin's comments about the number of figures. With games involving divisions or a corps then it is the massed effect of all elements that is most impressive, rather than the number of figures per stand. This is particularly true for the likes of 6 and 10-12 mm scales.

Robert

My Great War figures are 10mm and I base them on 1.25"x 1.25" bases and usually 3 to 4 figures per base. I also bounce between Great War Spearhead and Piquet's Barrage for my games.

Find the 30x30mm bases work fine for 15mm, but make infantry company formations look too dense in 10mm. Some of the original film footage shos how linear Nd open formations could be. Thinking about using 40x20 bases with 4 10mm figs to a base for Crush the Kaiser early war and they look great.