"How Many Units Can You Handle?" Topic

On the wargaming table, how many wargaming units can you handle without becoming overloaded?

About a dozen.

Probably 6-8 maneuver units.

i managed 12 TSATF Zulu bands…

6-12 depending on the complexity of the game.

Though sometimes playing solo I'll play more units than that and play both sides, but playing solo nobody gets annoyed at how long turns take.

4-10. On a good day.

6-12 is about right.

6-10 in multiplayer games.

Depends how complex the rules are but I reckon 10-15 is a good figure.

This sort of matches with the '2 levels down' dictum where a general is supposed to track units 2 levels below his command. So a divisional commander needs to command his 3-4 brigades and know what each of the battalions are up to, but shouldn't spend too much time worrying about individual companies.

Somewhere between 0 and 1 million. As I've only played one game. And it's unclear if I'm just a bad cavalry commander or can't even handle 2 units of cavalry.

The rules I prefer, about 3-6 units which translates to 9-24 stands.

I think it depends. Art of War (Rocky and Doug) 6 – 12 units is good, Mustangs & Messerschmitts 1 maybe a second if it is doing something simple. A detailed naval game, 4 or 5.

About 6 or so.

Depends entirely on the rule system.

LOTS!

6-8 seems to be ideal for me.

We play a lot of platoon level gaming, so that's 3 squads, a command element, a support weapon, maybe the mandatory tank that gamers are so in love with :-)

If you mean command units – a group of figures that are given a single maneuver/attack/posture order – as opposed to just figures or bases, seven is the magic number.

12-18 for my armies that have units on single big bases, i.e. 3.5 inch by 1.5 inch bases for a single ACW brigade.

8-10 units for more traditional basing.

6.5

Thirty two bases.

But that is the maximum allowable under my rules. The units though are enormous. 36 infantry on a 4" by 8" stand and sixteen cavalry on a 5" by 6" stand. All 28mm. My Renaissance Swiss and Landsknechts are on the same stands with up to 72 figures on each.

Napoleonics (28mm): Typically two infantry and a cavalry division. Since we use a 100:1 ratio for the miniatures, the typical unit is 5-10 miniatures. So 12 battalion division of infantry plus a battery or two gives 14 units each times two equals 28 units. Add in a cavalry division of 3-6 regiments, and another horse battery, totals out at about 36 units…. after including a small HQ base group.

Ancients (28mm): About 10 units (all types) overall seems to be the average under my hand's command (COE rules).

ACW (15mm): Six brigades, plus standard artillery batteries, using the classic F&F rules.

Should add the player group tends to player team side games…. so there may be 2-4 players on each side. For these larger scenarios, the unit ratio per player may be cut in half, but a small common reserve available for the side's use.

M aka WR

In Empire, I regularly play with a corps of 36ish battalions, a couple of cav divisions and artillery, so 50 units.

In games like JRIII or CDIII with order chits I find far fewer, half that.

If skirmish level I'm content with two or three units.

About 6.

Depends on the game, but my usual is 4-12 – the latter being for Beneath the Lily Banners.

..six to still have fun.

28mm Napoleonics about 24 or so.
Ancients 12 to 18.
WW2 20 or so.

@ 12, an ACW or Napoleonic Corps with Brigade/Regiment units

Depends on the system, scenario and the number of opponents. I have handled over 100 in Napoleonic games, and a 2 Corps in JR III.

A lot…

Naturally, the answer does entirely depend on the system and tactical level involved. In what I call a "Grand Tactical Level" game like Warmaster, I can easily handle the decision making for well over a dozen units. Similarly, in my space combat game, GOBS, the player is assumed to be able to handle dozens of individual space craft.
But in a more detailed system, the number of units I (or anyone) can handle can dwindle quickly. For example, Star Wars X-Wing, while hardly a complex game, nevertheless probably tops out well below ten units for any single player to handle effectively, and probably less than five. For myself, I can reluctantly handle four, but would much prefer just two or one (in fact, I assert that it's best if a player operates one vessel, and one vessel only).

And of course, in an RPG or detailed RPG-style skirmish game, I've always found that things get muddled and clumsy whenever anyone attempts to control more than his or her own singular character (or at least character + pet/familiar/sidekick combo).

So, yes, "It depends."

Depends on the rules, but generally six or so.

Very rule dependent but our last game of Blucher I ran two French corps – about sixteen units in all and I think I did OK (we did win – when when my reserve corps punched through the exhausted Austrian centre)

Mostly I am commanding 12 or less but I can certainly handle a few more

6

I have always thought that 12 units a side for a 2 player game gives a good mix of troop types and a game that can be finished in an evening.

Mike

Time to play and organisation are the important factors, IMHO.

This was a two player game (SYW Zorndorf) played over a weekend. I think there were just over 50 units on the Russian side. I've played it at home a couple of times – it takes about seven hours (actual full on gaming time) to play out.

The game was played out without rosters, with everything indicated on the table with markers, so everything (unit quality, first fire, disorder, casulaties) is easy to take in at a glance. If everything is marked on the table, unit numbers can be increased five fold – it's the rosters that do your head in, (IMHO).

6-12 "things" to command be they individuals, squads, battalions, etc., but I prefer the lower end. I like the old real life rule of thumb of 3-4 maneuver units under your command + support assets, and you are aware of the troop positions 2 echelons below you.

Number of stands in a unit does not matter as much, but does impact speed of play enormously, hence, my move towards big single base units.

I often play in games where you have 6-12 units, but many ancient games have 20-36 units. I'm not counting DBx where each base is a unit and have had almost 70 units in those games.

Recently I played in a large 2 day 28mm Napoleonic Game where I had around 45 units (which except for artillery) conisisted of at least 36 figures in each unit. The table was 42x14 feet and I only had the right flank. I do not have any problems in these games though at times it seems a bit overwhelming for my opponents, so maybe only 30 units a person would work better.

I mostly play skirmish games and often play with 2-6 squads plus some tanks or artillery.

This weekend I've been solo playing a Warmaster scenario. One side has 24 distinct maneuver units, while the other has 38. (Total of 54 and 100 individual stands, respectively.) I've played the game with half-again these numbers, too.
For the record, the above represents roughly 2,000 points per side, which is about standard for Warmaster, though 3,000 point armies are certainly not uncommon.

So yes, it entirely depends.

Whatever you have. I like big games but don't always get enough players, so I will play one side. That happen to me not so long ago with a Guilford Courthouse scenario. I played the Americans by myself. I was exhausted at the end. I have run up to full divisions in regimental ACW games.

We have an absolute limit at 50 bases for any normal game. The physical time to move them is already at a point where it is an issue. 30 is better. Beginners much less maybe 15 to 20 ish. Units not so much. Command and control time depends on the number of decisions you have to make about the rules. Of if you have long winded Chants to go through that purport to be moral rules; you cant'r tell I hate such rhings can you?

As noted above, depends on game system and how familiar players are with the game system (although I swear our diminishing brain RAMs come up with more questions the more we play a system).

Also, I'd think it depends on time constraints. A all-day weekend day game is different from a four-hour Friday night game, which is different than a two- or three-hour weekday night game.

Newbies: 25 bases, or about four to six typical units.
Average: 30-35 bases
Veteran: 40-45 bases
Grognard: 50+ bases

In addition, the more players, the fewer units per player, otherwise the table groans under the lead weight and it's nothing but shove units forward -- my mantra is that maneuver is the key to a good wargame.

Hmm. In last Friday night's Shako II game, I had six bttns of infantry, 1 artillery battery, and two cavalry regts. The other players, and we've all played the rules set before, some more than others, had the same. It was a three hours game that had about 3/4 of the troops still in the fight when called. Troops stretched from table edge to table edge.

In the all-day 6mm Epic sci-fi game that I umpired, the players, all veterans, had 40 to 50 bases. Only about 1/3 of the units remained more or less intact, the rest broken if not eliminated over the six-hour game. The scrum in the middle drew in more and more troops, and troops from both sides managed to reach the opposite table edges (table was 7x12 foot).

In the last WWII Skirmish Action game I observed, about six or so units (from one tank to a half-dozen infantry figures each) per player. Over in about two to two and a half hours.

If there's a rule of thumb, maybe it's something like this: Newer players means fewer units, greater familiarity with a system means more troops, and more gaming time means more troops.