I've been going round and round in circles on this for nearly two weeks now. I need to make a decision. So here are the final options swirling around my head.
Option 1: Shallow bases each with 2 ranks.
- 1a: Alala! 2 bases deep. Each row made up of bases 60x15 and 30x15mm
- 1b: Basic Impetus: 1 base deep. 2 bases of 60x15mm.
Option 2: Deep bases each with 3 ranks.
- 2a: Alala! 1 base deep. One base 60x30 and one base 30x30mm
- 2b: Basic Impetus: 1 base deep. Two bases 60x30mm
Oh to clarify....I intend to use Alala! for inter-Greek battles and BI for everything else (Romans-Carthaginians; Romans-Greeks; Carthaginians-Greeks; Persians-Greeks).
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| Option 1a: Phalanx for Alala! Two shallow bases deep, 2 ranks per base. I might drop 1 or 2 files from this as they are too near the edges. |
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| Option 1a: From above. I might open up a bit of a gap between the ranks on each base so they are equally spaced when they are placed two bases deep. |
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| Option 1b: deployed as a 'unit' for Basic Impetus. 1 base deep. 'Spares' in the background will go towards other units. |
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| Option 1a: Alalas phalanx from above showing how the losses can be taken off. This gives me up to 12 elements so lots of flexibility. |
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| Option 2a (right): 3 ranks per base, 1 base deep. Against 1a. Alala phalanxes. As with Option 1, I'll drop a couple of files off to make them easier to handle. |
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| Option 2b: on the right: 3 ranks per base, 1 base deep. Unit for Basic Impetus. |
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| Options 1b and 2b: Basic Impetus shown against a Roman Principes base. If I were to bring the 3-deep Greeks up against the Romans I'd probably have to beef up the Romans a bit from the odds and ends pile. The Hastati and Triarii (not shown) don't look as underpowered by comparison. |
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| Options 1a and 2a together. To make 2b flexible enough I'd have to split the large base into smaller ones. |
What the options mean for Alala!
- Option 1 would give me 7 or 8 units of c.60 for Alala! Roughly 1 figure:20 men.
- Option 2 units would be c.48 strong and I'd be able to make 9 units.
A unit in Alala! is supposed to be around 1000-1200 hoplites. I suppose 3 or 4 units a side would be enough for battles between competing poleis.
What the options mean for Basic Impetus
- Option 1 units would be 40+ figures strong. Roughly 1 figure:30 men. I'd have enough for 10+units. Plenty.
- Option 2 units would be 60+ strong and I'd have 7 or 8. Probably enough.
This excludes all the Peltasts, psiloi and cavalry floating around that I haven't even got around to thinking about yet!
Post Script
I finally made a decision. Three ranks on 30mm deep bases. Two bases 60mm wide for Basic Impetus and one base 60x30 plus one 30x30mm for Alala! I like the look of 3 ranks best. A total of 60 figures for BI and 45 for Alala! I'll tackle the weedy looking Roman units at a later date.
I played around with different ideas on how to take casualties from a phalanx. Having more smaller bases didn't really look right because in order to avoid handling damage I'd need to have small gaps around the side, and this led to gaps in the wall of shields.
I asked myself what other way could I track strength without hordes of casualty figures and the answer was in front of my eyes - use tiny dice in dice holders on the base. I do this anyway for BI. A standard Alala unit is 24 figures, or 6 elements of 4. The 30x30mm base, 1/3 of a unit, would therefore be two elements. So once 8 pips had been built up on the D sixes, the small base could be removed. A total of 16 pips would mean the removal of the large base instead. Sorted!
So an order was duly placed for more bases from Pendraken, plus a few other bits and pieces not necessarily related to the Ancients project.
You have some tough decisions to make. For BI, BMUs are single bases so that may change your approach. While my 6mm ancients are utilized primarily for Commands & Colors, I use the number of ranks to denote troop type between light, auxilia, medium, and heavy infantry.
ReplyDeleteHi Jon. It doesn’t really matter about the number of bases for BI as long as you treat them as though they are one. I’m using 2 bases 60mm wide and that means I have the flexibility to use them for other rules too.
DeleteChris
Looking at the phalanx of pike, I'm going to change my mind and go for three rows but I fear it means you would have to beef up the Romans?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
It probably would mean that Iain. Sadly.
DeleteChris
Option 1a. Deffo.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. Nice and decisive and would mean I don’t need to do owt with the Romans.
DeleteBut if someone else says the opposite I’ll probably agree with them.😄
Chris
Well I prefer the larger bases (depth wise) as they look better and are easier to handle. To throw a spanner in the works from a visual point of view, rather than one wide base and one small one, could you not go with three small ones? That way you could, shock horror!, do base removal but also depict units in column of march. Admittedly the latter might not be needed for most games, but doesn give flexibility for smaller scenarios.
ReplyDeleteYou’re right about them being easier to handle Steve. That’s a negative of Option 1. I agree on the smaller bases.
DeleteChris
I still like the look of the original Romans...maybe that's because I based my 10mm Ancients in a similar way....but to be honest I never worry too much about basing and most of the rule sets I play are base size agnostic eg Mark's rules...originally his units were 6 x 30mm w by 40mm d, then he moved to 3 x 60mm wide...but both end up with a unit frontage of 180mm...and for Andrew's rules, it doesn't really matter if it is 6 or 8 figures on three bases 40mm wide, or 9 figures on three x 60mm, or 8 individually based figures, it works just as well!
ReplyDeleteAs long as the base frontages are right I suppose it doesn’t REALLY matter. I think I came up with a solution last night that satisfies me. If I could just remember what it was.
DeleteChris