Hi Glenn,

Just checked out the Total Battles Miniatures website, they are beautiful models and at 6mm scale, wow!!! The building 'footprints' are a different size to Leven, I assume that's dependant on what basing/scale method one uses. Both them and Leven look great buildings, I honestly have no idea on game scales and basing scales, I'll figure that out when I get the rules.

On a side note, my son looked at me sternly tonight and said 'Dad, I'm getting the Imperial Guard and Lancers, you are going down!'. The power of Napoleon, lol. I guess he has chosen his Army, booster packs are next on the list? Once we get the starter battle pack delivered and on muster.

One question, does this forum have a Work In Progress thread, I figure if I can get my lad posting pictures of his growing army (we haven't even had ours delivered yet) it would be a good way to help him stay focussed, positive targets kinda thing.

As always, thank you guys for taking time out to help guide and advise.

Best wishes.

Keeno.

Hi Keeno,

Good luck with the hobby, and yes it does get addictive! *smile*

I would like to agree with Glenn that the big battalions ranges from Total Battle Miniatures  are really good. I use both their 100 Days and Spanish buildings and am now looking at getting some of their Black Powder Europe buildings.

And if you are going to do Waterloo, perhaps you should have a look at the My Little Ogre set, these are really beautiful!

BR

Keith

Keeno,

There's a gallery forum where you can post pics that are WIPs as well as completed units, so I'd encourage you / your son to post there.

You could also consider doing a blog (they're easy) and link here and other places too. Finally, there's also a Painting Questions forum here, so if you / your son want feedback or have any questions, post there too.

Hello Keeno!

"building footprints", are one of the hidden evils in wargaming. So before your caught behind the eight ball let me share my experience with you.

First off just like the figures different firms make their buildings in slightly different sizes or footprints. I use them all and rarely does anybody comment on them other then when they see some that are outstanding, TBM always gets a 10 plus. The actual problem is our figures represent more then one man so a building is the same. So if your concerned about scaling your battles and most of us are, but some could care less. Then you have to keep a close eye on the actual footprint of every building. TMB knows this and they have made an effort to keep their buildings as small as possible. They also have a number of buildings that are 60mm x 30mm which is the same footprint as the units that you will be building from Baccus. I mount all my buildings on three base sizes 60mm x 30mm, 60mm x 60mm and some custom bases. In a game only one unit can be in 60x30 or 60x60 base (the 60x60 just takes up more space). Players are advised in advance how many units can be in a custom base.

Since a scale building represents more then one actual building, I only use one building or base to represent a villiage, but I try to make it look like a farm by adding a field etc. next to the base. This way it looks natural on the table and does not take up too much ground space. In some cases your game might have a single historical building that was fought over. If so you really can't avoid that and simply consider that the added space includes some of the out buildings etc. The important thing to realize is that only one unit is getting any benefit which is generally in line with the historical situation. Some of the historical chateaus are difficult to handle because an accurate model will take up way too much table space. I generally compromise buy cutting down the actual model or using a smaller example on top of a base that is closer to the proper footprint.

Large cities are generally much easier as now you can use more bases, maybe some walls etc. but still always keep in mind it's actual footprint. If you ignore the proper footprint of a built up area you automatically force the units outside of it to manuver in unrealistic ways.

It took me a long time to figure out the best way to handle buildings and I'm very happy to have finally figured it out to my satisfaction, as our games now have a much better sense of balance to them. Hopefully I've helped you in some way as well.

Best regards,

Glenn

I use a fairly large base (I think 120mm square) to denote an urban area (a larger area like a city would use several such bases) with buildings on them to denote towns. You can see one in this pic pretty well:

I stick a farm on its own small base somewhere around the table too mostly just for show, or to use as an objective. The urban bases like in the photo above are pretty good though - if you have a unit in the town, you can move the buildings so you can see which direction the unit is facing, etc. Anything within the base is in urban terrain so there's no arguing about that either. The bases I use are mdf covered with some cobblestone paper I bought years ago (don;t remember where, but I could do with some more).

Thanks again guys for taking the time to respond.

Keith, just checked out your links, nice! I'm a long way off anything like you have, (awaiting the armies to arrive lol)  'My little Ogre'? Is that the Napoleon figure set? If yes, once we get the starter set battle ready, it will find its way here on the killing fields of the living room carpet.

Hi Nick, thank you for the WIP advice and the guidance on buildings, nice photo by the way, just whets my appetite even more. I'm a long way off urban warfare, lol.

Hi Glenn, cheers for the guidance again sir, I think I understand what you are saying and that does help mate...building footprint = what the building structure/structures can accommodate troop wise? What the building structure/structures look like should be aesetically pleasing on the eye (if it looks right, chances are it is right). I won't get too hung up on it until I get the Armies delivered, painted and a few battles under our belts. I need to walk before I run.

As always, I appreciated by you chaps taking time out to guide and advise. Now just need the little blighters to get here, lol.

Take care all and best wishes.

Keeno.

Hi Keeno!

Yes, 'My little Ogre' is the Napoleon figure set:

NFR37 - My Little Ogre - The Imperial HQ

Keith

Hello Keeno!

Exactly, Nick for example has stated that his urban bases are 120mm square. If his units are 60mm x 30mm that means he can fit eight unit bases on that urban base. Depending on his scale that could possibly be some 5,000 men or his entire front line of bases. That would equate to a major urban area. You can also see in his photo that it does represent a major obstacle on the table.

Best regards,

Glenn

Glenn, when we use those city bases, we allow only a couple of units max to inhabit that area - it's still mostly taken up by buildings, after all. And yes, 60x30mm for bases, 2 bases to a unit (Maurice rules).

Hello Nick!

Thanks for that, I thought you might be doing that. We try to avoid that in Polemos as a base 60x30 already includes a sizeable area that is not occupied (but controlled or influenced) by the troops. So when a Polemos base occupies an urban base of 60x30 the area of the buildings has already been accounted for. We don't extend the control beyond the base in any circumstances (other then firing), open field, woods, rough terrain, farms, towns, cities, etc., are all treated the same.

In some situations if we feel a terrain area might be bigger, but lodgically a commander would only assign one unit to hold it we use the 60x60 urban base. Some historical buildings are more problomatic as the actual 6mm model covers more ground/table space then it should. For those we try to chop them down, use subs and or assign an actual unit base limit. The latter is the least desireable as were still using up too much ground/table space.

Best regards,

Glenn