 |
| Two regiments of 30 Warfare Miniatures Swedes for the Great Northern War |
I received some reinforcements for my GNW Swedish army from Warfare Miniatures the other day, and now I have enough figures to create two 30-figure battalions as shown in these pictures.
Since many of the figures are charging with levelled or extended muskets/bayonets, I chose a deeper base to place them on so that the bayonets do not get broken or bent from use. This also provides enough extra space to create a perception of a third rank by offsetting some of the command figures, such as the drummers, officers, NCOs and standard bearers behind the first two ranks.
For now, I am basing the figures as follows: 2 stands of 6-figures, 2 stands of 5-figures and one command stand with 8-figures. The command stand will include 6 pikemen and 2 standard bearers.
So, what do you think so far?
 |
| Side view of the regiments, showing the formation of a third rank with supernumeraries such as officers, drummers and standard bearers. |
Looks good. It does also reduce the amount of painting required by a third - which is handy.
ReplyDeleteGood looking start to your GNW project. Bases are very deep. How deep are they and why three different base sizes for each battalion. Was this a doctrinal decision?
ReplyDeleteI think that you might be looking at some spare bases laying amid all the flotsam and jetsam. I am using bases that measure 60mm wide by 80mm deep. No other sizes, although I experimented with some other sizes. The depth is needed to protect the leveled bayonets.
DeleteI should have been more clear! I meant differing number of figures per base not base size. Completely understand the desire to protect figures with a the 80mm deep base.
DeleteMy original idea was to have 30 figures on 5 stands, or 6 figures per stand. The pikes were something of a problem in figuring out how many to have and where to place them. Early in the process I decided that flags and pikes should all go on the center "command stand", but 4 pikes and 2 flag bearers didn't look right to me. So then I increased the pikes to 6 in two ranks and that "looked right" to my eye.
DeleteNow, what to do with the two standard bearers. One idea was to add a smaller stand for the two standard bearers and place it behind the pike stand. That could work, but it added an extra stand and I didn't really like that.
As I was experimenting with figure placement, I knew that the two flank stands had to have 6 figures in order to look right. So two stands of 6 = 12 figures + 8 pike/command = 20 figures total. Now I had to figure out what to do with the remaining 10 figures and two stands. It then seemed obvious to place 5 figures on the two inside stands that would flank the center command/pike stand. So that is how I came up with 6-5-8-5-6 = 30 figures. I suppose that I could add an extra figure to the fives and have 32 figures in total. That might still be an option.
On the other hand, 30 figures is enough for a regiment. Looking at how others have based figures in the past, I recalled someone basing SYW figures with a so-called third rank, visually formed by sticking one extra figure in a third row all by itself. Since drummers and officers were deployed behind the battalion, I decided that the third row would be comprised entirely of the supernumeraries.
Excellent! You have thought this through very thoroughly.
DeleteIn my 32mm ECW collection, at one time my command was mounted separately from the pike and shot stands. Tired of having a separate command, I integrated the three command onto the pike block. Now, my pike stand contains 15 figures. Added to the 12 shot and my 27 figure regiment is approaching your GNW battalion of 30. That is a good size.
That's such a good idea I may have to pinch it for my own GNW project. sad person that I am, all the decisions about battalion size and base depth is keeping me awake at nights. I may now have found the solution to a good nights sleep. Thanks Jim.
ReplyDeletePaul, I've been wrestling with this too and was having the same frustration about unit size and basing. I kind of stumbled onto the idea of having different numbers of figures on the stands, rather than having the same number of figures on each stand. That may have been the "think outside the box" moment that I needed.
DeleteImpressively sized units - just like they should be fielded. Are those 60x60mm bases?
ReplyDeleteThey are 60mm x 80mm bases.
DeleteJust got some more Swedes from Ebor which are I feel equally as nice! You have now disrupted my thinking on organising the army. Time to mull things over me thinks
ReplyDelete