Wednesday 7 November 2018

What's my Grid

 What size of grid to use?. At the heart of this question are two other considerations. The size of the figures and the formations you wish to create or have already created.

Let's take a 24 figure formation in 28mm. They would be on 4 bases each of 6 figures. Each base would be 60mm wide by 40mm deep. To accomodate this fomation in Line means your grid square would have to be 240mm (9 and a half inches) wide. Six of these formations will just about fit onto a table 144cm long (57 inches).


If you put each group of four bases into a 2x2 formation you can get 4 formations into one gridsquare. This also allows room within each gridsquare for formation changes,Generals, artillery and small pieces of scenery.

The board would also need depth to allow for longer Cavalry moves. Using a square of 240mm the board would need to be 5 squares deep. 120 cm (4 feet). In total you can comfortably fit 24 formations on one long side of a 144cm(57inches) board.

Using the same formations in 15mm,you can comfortably fit 6 infantry two lines of three figures on a 40mm Frontage by 30mm deep base. Using six formations in line, each square would need to be 16cm (6 and a half inches).The board would need to be 96cm (approximately 38 inches long). 5 squares deep would be 80cm (approximately 32 inches deep.

Bases for 6mm, 10mm and 12mm, would also be 40mm width by 30mm depth, ( possibly shallower), so the same size board would be used as for the 15mm figures. If you use bases with a 30mm width, four of these in line would need a square 12cm (approximately 5 and a half inches). The board would be 72cm (approximately 29 inches long) by 60cm deep ( 24inches)

The point of all this waffle is;  How much space do you have available for a war game?.
My own board is 3feet x 2feet ( approximately 92cm x 61cm) which sits on a fold-up T.v table in one corner of a room and can be packed away when not in use. The board is marked out in two inch (50mm) squares.

My 15mm metal and plastic figures are on "stands" of thick cardboard 40mm x 40mm square. Each base is a unit in its own right.

Organisation;

15mm figures;  my 18th century Line Infantry are 8 figures in two lines of 4. My light  Infantry are four to a Stand. The Cavalry are 4 to a Stand ( I have to zig-zag em' a bit!). The light cavalry are three to a Stand. The guns are singly mounted with two or three gunners.

I still wanted to keep the 40mm Stands for the 20mm plastic I  started collecting. So, it was three Infantry or two Cavalry. I've  made them up into Units of four Stands but I still use them as individual Stands on the table. My Generals are on individual Stands.

I have recently changed my command Stands to 40mm mdf round Stands to make them stand out more. I'll  talk more about the actual mechanics I  use next time.





Wednesday 24 October 2018

The Grid in the Wargame



I went back to using a grid when my Wife said that she would like to try a game. A wise man once told me that if your partner is onside with your hobby then you are truly blessed.

The rules that I  wrote were pretty basic so that myself and my Wife did not have to many mechanics to remember. Our first game went really well.

After that first game, I  convinced a few non-wargamers to try out a game. This also went very well. Another time a couple of Fantasy gamers well used to tape measures and encyclopedic rule books. They enjoyed the game and commented that it was a nice chance to play something easy.

I realised that using a Grid is a basic Game mechanic that everyone mentally equates to. Using a Grid greatly reduces the number of rules required for movement, Firing and Combat. This in turn means that a game ceases to be a mental strain on people, not only in trying to explain the mechanics,but also not confusing the hell out of them!!


At the time I  myself didn't know that other Wargamers had also used squares  prior to the rules that I  eventually published.

In America in the1960,s Joe Morshauser came up with a set that never saw the light of day until a few years ago. Charles Sweet is another American Gamer who has recently been more widely known about.

There is also a Gent in Austria  who has been using squares  in his war gaming activities for many years. Prior to my scribblings there was only one commercial company that I was aware of that did ,( and still does) use a Grid in their rule sets.

After I  published, more rule sets have appeared which uses a square as the basic mechanic. Despite this the majority of Wargamers in the hobby do not like the Grid. For those who expend a great deal of time and effort on creating well painted  historically correct figures vehicles and scenery, they say it ruins the aesthetics. For the "win at all cost"Brigade they hate it because it makes it harder to bend the rules.

Myself, I  think maybe the hobby missed a trick here. By introducing the square, the hobby might become more generally acceptable to the public. It would put the emphasis on war GAMING, not WAR gaming.

In my next blog I'll  be writing about the size of Grid I  use.