Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Sorting the Twin Campaigns: 1812 and the Red Queen

Today I made time to sit down and review the current state of my War of 1812 plans and figure out where I want to go and what my vague urge for "more" meant. I was soon reminded that many elements of the 1812 British army cheerfully serve the Red Queen in Atlantica and that it would really help if the two used the same organization and rules.

After much reviewing of past blog battlereports, my current preferences, and a good look at organization, basing and rules trials over the last five years, I think I have it figured out. 
War of 1812 Square Brigadier Game New Year's Eve 2016.

To start with, "more" mostly meant units with more staying power than at the present but also a game where units were close to the old 20 figure Featherstonian regiments or Charge! companies. It also means  the flexibility to break line infantry battalions into at least two detachments.

A Square Brigadier game from July 2016 where each battalion was represented by 2 separate units. 

Last year I had been contemplating going back off the grid for these armies but a review of games over the last three years has convinced me that I would prefer to stay on the grid but it will have to be the 5" one or bigger so that I can field sixteen figure units. (Not that the rules care how many figures your unit has.)

Another shot of that end of 2016 Square Brigadier game.

Last year I decided to experiment with different basing and organization for these two collections for reasons that escape me now but probably had to do with  making them  "different" as an excuse to paint more figures. The evidence suggestions that I don't actually NEED a reason to paint more so I'll quietly drop that part and put everyone back on 60mm bases with 2 to a unit.

What this looks like in Atlantica at present but with improvised terrain.
(see battle report )

I also spent time brushing up the existing 1812 Variant of the Square Brigadier rules but they aren't ready to go yet. Hopefully I'll get that finished by the weekend and get a game on.


5 comments:

  1. good review and the 5" grid seems to just hit the mark nicely in many respects, not least in holding terrain and figures together in the same cell more comfortably.

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  2. Co-ordination the two game sets makes sense, as long as you are basing the minis 'individually' then if one games uses 16 and the other two groups of 10 then putting together 20 man units makes lots of sense.

    I've settled upon 12-man units generally, though my Austrians could easily field much larger units as the uniforms are really close with only a shoulder strap or collar and cuff as different. Likewise for Russians where tiny differences that most players do not even notice are how I organize my units.

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  3. Very nice to visit this blog again after too long away. I quite loved the pictures and the sight of the big units. I had a similar experience the other day playing Sharp Practice - the basic building block is an 8 figure group but you can make multiple groups into one big (24+ fig) unit with its own pros (lots of firepower) and cons (morale takes a beating and most of your army might run away). Cheers, Mike

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  4. All these images are very inspiring, thanks for sharing Ross!
    I await anxiously the next version of 1812 Square Brigadier and the related posts.

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  5. Nice looking game. It seems that there were several frontline and a quite complex battle. I enjoy it. Thank you for showing us this!
    Peter

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