"How Many is Enough?" Topic

Ticked 100-200 : but that's per side as mostly I game solo these days.

So – generally 200-400 would be on the table, in total for both sides.

100-200 for me as well,
on a table with 4-6 players,
that will be a beautiful sight!

It's "20 or fewer". >sniff<

But I voted for 101-200. That's about 5 battalions of 12-24 figures. I could go to the next level, though, with no problem.

my hand was forced to vote for 21-100.
Ive been agreeing with the OFM far too often lately.

You need to multiply by a factor of 10!

Not sure we need the childish interpretations in the poll … it seems a reasonable enough question to ask.

Personally I don't like individually based figures so it is more 'how many bases/how much space' … and in 40 years of wargaming I have done everything from a 1' square to several rooms. The optimum for me is around 3'x 4' (something you can easily reach over and move around, but which easily seats 2 to 6 players plus an Umpire/interpreter) … with a big battle like Newbury 1644, that can mean in 15mm around 250 figures/side ..

Now that doesn't make me a god of war even though it does look like the upper category … I think it is relatively small (all those categories are small wargames aren't they?) …

All very odd

Phil

Golly, it depends. I've played WWII naval scenarios where six ships to a side is enough. Playing division level Napoleonics where each battalion has forty or more figures, one quickly approaches 1000 figures. On average? 'Bout 200 each side.

I voted 21-100, only because I'm going to try a 36 point Lion Rampant game. Playing it at 24 is fun, I think 36 would create quite a few challenges.

All of the above.

"… it is more 'how many bases/how much space' … "

If you count one base as one figure (which I did) then my answer (20 or less) makes sense.

Edited.

100 to 200 is about right for a division fight. For skirmish gaming, around 30-40 is fine.

The question is difficult to answer as I think that the game size and complexity is more based on the number of units that a player must control.

I have been playing skirmish games at home (Force on Force, Rapid Fire, Lord of the Rings), so mostly they have 30 to 100 figures on the table. In terms of play, each side has three to six units to activate.

However, ancients and medievals tend to be played as units, so it is the number of units rather than the number of figures that is relevant. 12 cavalry or or 24 infantry is only one element in the game. If each side has six elements, that is a small game even though there are 200+ figures on the table.

You can play games with less than 200-400 figures per side?

Nah, I don't believe you

I think everyone must be thinking about 28mm figures. Then I agree but when we break out the mighty 15mm figures the numbers go up to 1000 plus per player.

I agree that this is a bit scale specific – while I often game with 20 or so figs per side (with the Little Prince) when I game with the lads it is usually 200 plus figs per side – last SYW game I had about 300 Prussians in 28mm

When we do Napoleonics in 6mm my Austrian corps have about 500 figs per corps!

When we play large games, twice a year, we usually have 3-4,000 figures on the table. As we are playing CLS it is old school, 33 to 60 figures per battalion.

regularly play Napoleonics with 1200-1500 per player
I have played in games featuring 20,000 + takes all weekend once every 3-4 years in 25mm

What Jim and Skeets said.

Rick

I figured it to mean per player, not per side. If I don't have a couple hundred it doesn't seem worth the time setting up. (Naval and air games not withstanding.)

Took "20 or less" as much of what I do is 1:1 skirmish, but I also do massed battles with hundreds on each side – just with far less frequency.

100 figures doesn't go far in 6mm – barely more than a few bases.

In 10mm my WW1 divisions will be about 200-240 strong and that would only be one player's force.

The old 15mm I have are nearly all DBA armies so a good deal smaller – but we often play 3 armies a side.

More recent 20mm VBCW are tiny with a company at about 60 or so figures plus some extra support from transport, artillery and armour.

For now, multi-squad/section to reinforced platoon skirmish, so 60 to 100, but also RPG skirmish, so 6 to 10. (15mm & 28mm respectively.)

Sometime in the future, battalion/brigade/corps. Probably, 1/72, possibly very small, 2/3/6mm. TBD. Hundreds, maybe?

I don't think the question can be answered accurately unless you stick with one genre and figure scale.