"Peninsular Bash - 2x2 Napoleonics" Topic

Quite literally a small game to give my 2mm armies based for the rules a spin.

Battle Report

Thank you! I've built 2mm armies in a variety of periods and I've been looking at 2x2 Napoleonics.

Visibility suggestion: keep the 30mm square bases, but put more Irregular blocks on them. My French line are three formed infantry bases one behind the other--a regiment in column of maneuver. Elite units have a general riding to one side. Light infantry have two battalion blocks, with the third deployed as skirmishers in front of them. British and Portuguese brigades are two battalion blocks side by side on the forward edge of the stand, and a third in support near the rear edge. This sort of thing helps with troop ID.

You're right that bigger bases are more easily distinguished, but you will require a bigger table and lose some of the portability advantage.

I am experimenting with 3mm Napoleonics using Volley and Bayonet. I am using full-size bases, so they are 3 inches across. Of course, the bigger the stand, the bigger the table. I put a minimum of 96 figures on a regimental infantry stand.

As you noted in your blog, go with a lighter primer, and go a shade lighter in paint color if you can. For the stands, I would also go with a lighter green; I use Kelly Green for mine. You are losing a lot with dark, on dark, on dark.

Looking forward to seeing more of your project.

I have never seen a 2mm game I liked to look at. The appeal of miniature land battles seems to drop off for me below 6mm scale. Some of my favorite miniatures are 6mm scale (mostly tanks and such by GHQ and C-in-C), but soldiers below 15mm scale become quite disproportionate or merge into lumps like the pictured 2mm blocks. (FWIW, I think 2mm and 3mm are great scales for naval gaming shore terrain – but buildings are much bigger than soldiers.)

That said, 2x2 Napoleonics sounds right up my alley and I would also lean toward sub-micro-scale miniatures to game it. I never did like the DBA approach of using 2-3 figures as a "unit", esp. for broad sweeping horse & musket battles.

Perhaps the formations could look nicer if they were double width? I don't think 4x4 Napoleonics would be too much of a stretch. The extra room should be enough for a Weigle-level terrain project. His Malta game is 3mm miniatures with 2mm terrain bits, and it looks awesome. I don't like 3mm miniatures much either, but their vague lumpiness is sort of lost in Bruce's hurricane of eye candy.

- Ix

Thank you for that link, Yellow Admiral. N.B. Those looked to be the standard 2x2 Napoleonics 30mm square. They'll take two French battalion blocks side by side. (Irregular gives the frontage of each block in millimeters, which is helpful in planning.)

I think I should also mention that the smaller the castings, the more light you want shining on the tabletop, and that two mils almost always look better the closer you get to horizontal. Top down, the flags go away.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing

Here's a look at how I use 1-inch square bases for 2mm wargaming. The formations may not be historically accurate, but varying the strip density and placement allows you to use the same strips to create different unit types.

I use close packed columns for grenadiers, spread them out for line, and the skirmish strips for light infantry.

link

Thread necromancy but I just found 2x2 Naps and bought a bunch of Project Wargaming's 2mm Nap files. Printing up French now. Basing is a big deal that I haven't decided on yet. I want my bases to be a least a Brigade. I also want a solid amount of figs on them. Looking at Absolute Emperor as well. VnB is my old standby as I loved that set. I just wish it actually had CnC rules and I would happily dive back in. Well, back to slicing my Brits and the French Cav to print off.

Thanks

John