"What happens when all your troops are the same?" Topic

Are you someone who bases units with all the identical
figure to make identification easier?

No.
I make all my units with different identifiers (flags, leaders etc) or paint jobs and scribble on my army list which is which. Aesthetically more pleasing.

You game ACW?…….

It depends, if I am painting Napoleonic Minifigs, I like them all the same pose and glossy with a toy soldier look to them. If I am painting my ACW Sash & Saber troops I like each stand to look like a vignette.

No, I mix castings freely, to make them look more varied.
It looks too fake, to me, to group the same castings together, to form whole Units of the same casting. Also, there typically isn't enough of a single casting to make up the Unit sizes I desire.

I play fantasy, and Army Men. The Army Men are Green and Tan, but largely the same 6-8 castings. All are based on the same 2"-square of MDF, all bases are covered in random patterns of different colors of sand. I intermix the castings, but some are different troop types. There can be multiple Machine Gunners in a single grouping, and I need to know which troops are a part of that player's team -- we play with up to four players per side, so we need at least four different troop group markers, so players know which figures are their's to move and command.

Link to photo example of Army Men figures.

Link to invading forces from a game, played last year, showing the different Player's groups of troops.
Purple, Gray, and White players. Once they moved onto the battlefield, the colored beads were the only way to know which figures belonged to whom!

I use the same system for my fantasy games, as well, only in these games, the markers denote Units, not players. I glue small dowels onto the same right-rear corner of their bases, putting a Lettered bead, with a hole in them, on the small dowel, to demark Unit affiliation. It works rather well: Goblin Units A, B, C, and D, for example. I tried colored plastic beads, but it was too difficult to denote the colors, as there were many shades of similar colors… Had to switch to Lettered beads.

Once they begin moving, I cannot tell who belongs to which Unit, as there are multiple units of each race. The tagging system is handy! With multiple Units of Goblins, for example, that lettered marker is a crisis-ender: as Units move around, or even engage the same enemy Unit, it becomes a scrum, and we lost track of whose unit was which figures! That doesn't happen anymore. Cheers!

I do sometimes mark bases just so I don't have to look up or remember what regiment something is, but my rule is that you can ALWAYS tell side and troop type by looking at the figures. Actual regiment only matters with the more elaborate command and control systems or with games requiring rosters and/or unit histories, and I try to avoid those anyway.

Depends on the period – a lot of my ACW and Napoleonics are based that way largely 'cause I have a lot of units

Have not done that consciously for my 28mm SYW but it worked out that way for a lot due to lack of variable poses!

It's classified … but could be an attempt at a Diversion ?

I use visual markers other than identical figures. (In fact, I usually shoot for maximum figure variety.) Colour is a good one. Units in different poses with the same colour scheme tend to look like they belong together. Two of the same figure in different colours tend to look different.

No, I prefer some figure diversity, not all men walk the same, hold their musket the same, some have partial or torn uniforms, some have lost their hats, some walking wounded.

Vive la difference!!!

Depends on the era. For SYW, since they beat you with a spontoon or rod if you looked different, yes they are the same. ACW no, Napoleonic yes in most cases, the same meshes better when connecting bases for a unit.

For SYW, since they beat you with a spontoon or rod if you looked different, yes they are the same.

I've always liked how Napoleonic units showed up for battle in pristine white pants.

But seriously, when I was on active duty, nearly everyone had an "inspection" uniform that was put on and taken off minutes before and after inspection. Then they had regular uniforms. And most people's work uniforms weren't dogged and nasty (unless you were specifically en route to a nasty dirty job, so you had yet another "special" set) – the Navy NCO corps kept that from happening.

I can't imagine we invented that.

Yes, we too had "special" fatigues/BDUs that we would not wear in the field or even daily. Keep it for "special" occasions/situations. I still have my one of my old OD field jackets. Like that, with a the insignia, unit patches, etc., sown on. Looks brand new. Maybe I'll be buried in it ?