"Figure frontage?" Topic

What do you consider to be a good figure frontage for ACW?

That is, for figures x high, on a base 3x wide, how many figures?

Looks like I will need to rebase my ACW, 10mm, the bases will be 30mm square. At the moment they are 3-4 figures wide, with a 2nd rank of 3, sometimes 4.

Some figures are marching, some firing, some 'charging'/running.

The two opposing thoughts are 1. Can you afford the figures needed? and 2 . What looks nice.

Just a personal note.
We use 3x3 cm bases for infantry.
15mm = 4 figures per base. 10mm = 8 per base.
Your thought sounds good.

the 3 x3 allows figures with bayonets forward, to be within the base and not protruding (for all the problems that causes).
Enjoy the basing.

martin

Cheers Martin.
I'm just canvassing opinion, as they are already based 6-8 on 30mm squares – checking if others thought this was reasonable.

Sounds reasonable to me. I have switched to 30 by 30mm bases with 3 front and 2-3 back for infantry in my 10mm Horse and musket periods. The rules I use calls for 3 bases per unit- NOT figure based. Units go on the table as a unit and come off as a unit as well. Seems 30 by 30 has the potential to be the standard for 10mm. (Like 40mm frontages in WRG rules started that for ancients.)

I'd have said 3-4 10mm figures was maybe a little loose, but workable. Generally the frontage of a formed infantry miniature is about half his height--"order" rather than "close order" if I remember correctly. To get them as tight as 18th or 19th Century drill books sometimes called for, the miniatures would have to be cast in blocks, which is rarely done.

I use 30x20 with eight "6mm" Baccus figures (more like 9mm) in two ranks for infantry. The Bloody Big Battles standard is one inch x one inch, but I prefer oblong bases for nineteenth century games.

Whatever the rules suggest. Unless they are already based, nobody likes to re-base.

I don't think what the rules suggest is as important as having a hem all based consistently, though unless there's a huge difference between what they say and what you have.

And I remembered that my last 10mm armies (ACW) are based 2x2 on a 20mm square stand, so I'm looser than my own recommendation.

If you're getting into the ACW for the first time. I recommend finding a rules set first and then basing your new figures according to those rules. If you change rules, I wouldn't re-base for a new set of rules as long as they are all based the same.

No, I'm just going to renew failing bases, will probably get them from Pendraken, so wondering do I keep the same density.

I think to keep the look right, figures should be based 1:1 horizontal:vertical, hence my original opening x size figures on 3x frontage.

I don't know enough about frontages in the ACW to commment, but 1:1 sounds like a handy way to remember something. I sometimes see Napoleonic figures that look just too far apart to me; I have settled on 4 1/72 figs on a 2-inch frontage, which is probably still far too loose but quite often the figures need the room.