"Drums Along the Rawnsley ~ a Rebels & Patriots game." Topic

Quite good!.

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Amicalement
Armand

Beautiful terrain.

Those uniforms look F&I to me.

I agree with Virginia Tory. Is the figure in the brown uniform coat to the right of the house in the second picture supposed to be playing stick & hoop?

Very beautiful!

Some comments, and it's totally about [personal impressions on] aesthetics, and making judgments about ease of moving units (on group stands) as opposed to as single-mounted figure movement – (again, just for my preference, and then when playing a low figure-count game like above – I'd prefer seeing players push individually mounted figures).

Some thoughts – single based figures often meld into tabletop terrain better than group stands usually do (round ones especially).

For smaller skirmish scenarios, where moving lots of troops isn't an issue (and therefore no need for mass-troop moving), there's usefulness to be gained by being able to conform figures to the game terrain – like into columns created for crossing bridges, with unit lines able to bend to linear objects like fences, or along curved woods edges, etc.. Sometimes the terrain, by its limiting dimensions automatically forces a player to assume a [correct] formation type in order to traverse it – for crossing that bridge, or traversing a road or trail between the narrow opening in a fence line.

Also, casualty removal if part of the rules system is easy, and doesn't require extra markers on the board to note with single-figure basing (no need for token clutter, and less visual distraction, so prettier picture taking too).

Using single-mounted figs also creates a bit of a "work load" to move, and I think this makes players feel as if they're commanding more "mass" than is evident.

Something of a money saver, and maybe even a time saver – don't buy or make "horde/mass" stands if not needed (when a collection's focus is for small game action).

Something that is perhaps counter-intuitive, but been my experience over many years of gaming – single mounted figures seem less prone to damage (they'll often tip/slide/lightly "bounce") is mishandled. It's those big anvils – the heavy, multi-figure trays that seem to cause the most figure damage when bumped into, or dropped.

A buddy has a nice 28mm figure collection for the AWI, all first mounted singularly, and then he stacks them into these unit trays he makes. Being diplomatic, I've never said his figs and games would look so much cleaner without them – good gosh, hope he's not reading this here! :P

Rebels and Patriots is the title of the rules from Osprey of course. The game is a F&IW tester for the rules. I generally play larger games than this using Black Powder 2nd Edition.

Hapy you like it boys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I echo your sentiments, FlyXwire; aside from detracting from the aesthetics of the tabletop, using movement trays for such low figure numbers just seems unnecessarily lazy.

Up to about 100 individually-based 28mm figures is quite manageable for a single player, especially when using the 'Lion Rampant' stable of rules, with its fast-play, unit-based mechanics.

I think it looks quite nice! If they want to use mass bases that's their call. It's their game and figs. I'm not the basing police.

Ymmv.

Thanks.

John

PVT641,

That figure is in fact playing stick and hoop. It's a boy from a Foundry 18th century civilian pack.

Nice looking game!

Yes, I'm not hoping to elevate oneself to that of basing police here.

Just offering thoughts on what I think makes better looking visuals, and suggestions on how single-mounted figures might interact closer with high-fidelity game terrain (like the beautiful board and nicely painted miniatures seen above).

One on-going "project" has been an attempt to enhance the form and function of basing methods used, and trying to think outside the "box"y stands that we have come to accept [or have been rules dictated] as the conventional mounting convention.

There's been the allure of the 28mm figure size being ascendant on tabletops this past decade+, but their chunky size and resulting footprint brings on issues with the appearance of their grouped formations, and exaggerated ground scale issues when recognizing or wanting the ability to place units into varied formations.

Some basing conventions in fact are rigidly unable to distinguish between line, column, square, or figures in skirmish order on the tabletop.

So the visual fidelity of bigger figures can often cause the loss of game fidelity (the loss of formation flexibility, and the whole regime of tactical formation changing).

To this extent, and for a distinction of use, single-basing of 28mm Black Powder era figures readily facilitates recognizable formation changing, and allows a number of additional game and visual benefits.

As larger battlefield numbers are desired, then compromises can be in order, but for low-figure count gaming, single-mounted miniatures often do more with less.

Happy you like it boys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Some really great photos!