"Equating model scale to a notional altitude" Topic

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think this way, so I'm posting to see if anyone else knows ready answers, or at least knows the right terminology to research it.

As one gains height over objects, the objects appear smaller, and at any given height an object below will appear to be the same size as a particular scale model of the object held in the hand. Put another way: If I'm looking at a table layout in 1/1200 scale, what altitude could I roughly judge "the observer" to be?

I feel somewhat dumb for not doing the math, but I believe I can rest on the excuse that I"m honoring other people's hard work by utilizing the fruits of their labors. I paint miniatures carved and cast by other people, don't I?

I'm looking for a convenient table of scales:altitudes, or at least a single statement of apparent altitude for a single scale to get me started. The Internet search results I've found are almost entirely irrelevant, so I must be missing the right search terms.

Any help appreciated.

- Ix

I could invent all kinds of hedges, but unless I'm missing something, the short answer is that if your eyes are about 3' above your table, you're seeing more or less what you'd see 400 yards up from a real battlefield.

Hmm. Anyone know how high the cupola on Seminary Ridge was over the Chancellorsville Road?

Depends on your ground scale.

If you're talking about a 1/1200 groundscale (6"=100 yards), then looking down from 3 feet above the table is equal to being 3600 feet above your table.

Said another way, a 1/1200 scale model at 3 feet is the same visual size as the real thing at ~900 yards.

Lion's right, I think. My error.

But I failed to point out that starting with--I think--the 17th Century, the commander usually has a telescope or binoculars, and few of us use these looking at the table.

Of course, figure and building scale is rarely ground scale, which can compensate. But it's still worthwhile to check the optics of one's chosen period.

And of course, then I had to check. For land warfare, very early 17th Century for telescopes is right, and binoculars date almost to the beginning of the century--but they're much harder to get right, so they're not common until about mid-19th.
Magnification starts at about 3X and rises gradually. I'm remembering 6X as being about as good as a Napoleonic general could count on, but I can't remember my sources at this range. You could do a little better in the world wars--say 7X to an absolute max of 12X, but the really high end stuff was tricky--and rare. The Bushnell 7X I use for battlefield walks is probably as good as most commanders had before IR and drones changed the picture.

All, of course, completely irrelevant to your ancient and medieval armies. But you might want to keep it in mind for Renaissance forward.

Lion has the right idea on his analysis but I think he made a mistake in the math or he just made a typo. A 1/1200 scale means one inch on the game table equals 1200 inches in the real world. Or stated another way 1"=100'. So 6"=600' or 200 yards, not 100 yards. 3' up is indeed 3600' altitude.

Oh, oops, that's what I did. Gave the true 3mm groundscale on accident. Gotta stop posting when I've been awake all night.