"Battletech: Infantry, Armor, Plastech" Topic

Howdie.

I painted up a combined arms force of infantry, tanks, and plastech mechs here….

link

I also pondered out loud about infantry in general in Battletech, prompted by trying to decide how to base the infantry miniatures. Overall, I think the painting turned out well, as far as my ideas on using infantry in the game, I will just have to see.

I think this will be the last Battletech post for a bit, as other obligations are starting to crowd back in, but I have had fun on this latest Battletech kick :)

Chalfant

Nice work on those figs.
Interesting thoughts about infantry too, though trying to make reality and BT mesh can be an exercise in insanity. One minor thing, I really think the troops would have looked better on hex bases and EM4 makes them really cheap in both 30 and 25mm sizes.

Yes, making BT respond to reality can be frustrating, ha ha. I think the multi-base platoons of infantry, with the slight rules abstraction, will be worth it for the visual alone.

I had considered using hex bases, they would be more consistent, I used hex bases for my Elementals… the figures seemed to fit better on these rectangles. (shrug) I have some other infantry laying around here somewhere, I may revisit hexes for them if/when I paint those.

Chalfant

I'll toss out a thought or two:

Platoons- I think you get better bang for your buck using single stands to represent a standard platoon. Battletech infantry can get expensive these days and the rules call for them to be fielded as platoons. So 6-7 guys stand in nicely for a full 28 man platoon. I go with small numbers to spread my wealth (3-4 figures) with the lead man carrying the weapon the platoon is armed with. This fire team sized unit has a more realistic deployment (sorry guy, your nine man bases look like phalanxes) and spreads your troops farther so you get several platoons out of a single set. YMMV.

Armies: The US has a population of 300+ million people but only fields an Army of >500,000. In fact, most actions we fight these days see only a couple of companies or platoons on the field. Armies are terribly expensive using current technology. One can only wonder what battlemechs must cost to field!

I assume that is the standard you see in Battletech. Huge nation with gigantic economies fielding tiny, but highly advanced and professional, armies. Even in the 21st Century nation-states (like China and Russia) are moving away from mass conscript armies towards small, but well-equipped and advanced, professional armies.

The BT fiction supports that approach…. wherein troops are trained to be experts in every area, like Death Commandos… expert mech pilots, expert SFers, expert hand to hand specialists. Leading to relatively small numbers.

I referenced Paint it Pink, that method does not look like a phalanx, but it occupies a much larger area of table space. I think that works better gaming without hexes (because, it does not matter if they spread out). Yes, visually, the phalanx look is a detractor…. but the choice I made to get the 1:1 representation.

I can still use the single base = single platoon approach when needed… in which case my company becomes a battalion "poof" by magic.

Chalfant

Also in my opinion hex basing would've been more appropriate for the infantry too. I'm fine with phalanx approach on basing although I'd attach my figures so that they do not stand in relatively straight lines and rows.

For years I've planned on using 6m 40K Epic plastic Imperial Guard figures for BT. These have missile infantry, motorized infantry (bikes), jump infantry and the regular infantry.

I also see that you've had similar problems as I with basing tanks in BT; the larger ones don't fit the hex base. And tanks also look somewhat odd in bases, perhaps the thick base looks odd on so low a figure whereas a 'mech looks OK as they are taller?

Started thinking whether tanks would look better if based on thinner hexes made out of, say, 2mm cardboard. Slightly larger hexes used for larger tanks.

Oh, tank bases, yes, always a problem. Like those Alacorn, terribly long, for virtually any base. A number of my Epic vehicles are mounted on heavy card, like you suggest. Really thought about it for BT too, but ended up with a mish mash of based and unbased so far. One nice thing about the tall bases is that at a later point you can affix identification to them. Being lazy, I have yet to do this, but continue to plan on it :)

Chalfant