How to base light troops?

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14th Brooklyn
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How to base light troops?

Post by 14th Brooklyn » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:33 am

I base my infantry 4 minis to a 4cm x 4cm base.
I base my skirmishers 1 to a 1,5cm hexagonal base.

So I paint up Regiments and paint up the additional skirmishers. No big deal.

Now the light troops are giving me some headaches. With the option to deploy the whole unit as skirmishers that would be an aweful lot of paintwork (=time) and minis (=money).

So I have started thinking about basing my light troops 4men to two 4cm x 2cm bases (essentially half bases).

So what do you think... would this be OK or rather confusing to have two different base types for skirmishers?

THX,

Burkhard
Anonymous

Post by Anonymous » Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:07 pm

Hi Burkhard,

We had this discussion several times now :?

Besides, Its All Clarence's Fault :twisted:

I face the same problems you do! Question is should I paint up a formed Light Infantry AND a skirmishing Infantry or should I base them one way or the other alone :?: I have no clue so far.
Sure, for now, I have only 4 batallions to worry about, but in June or July I will have to paint and base them and by then I should have made up my mind on it :shock:

My thoughts led me to the conclusion to base them in skirmish only on Hex bases because I dont think they would ever have to fight in a tight formation.

If You look at the Borodino pics of the Last Weekender you will see only 1 unit in skirmish order(Russians). Master of Art, General B. Hilton, didnt point in any direction so far :wink:

So lets see and hear his point of view.

Best wishes

Günter
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Post by 14th Brooklyn » Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:27 pm

It might be that I am too pedantic about this, too. If I look at the photos from the various weekenders, I see skirmishers based in a dozen different ways, which is fine, since the minis come from different collections. But with our club, I will be the only person painting Nappy´s so I have the "luxury" of going for a uniform collection.

Right now I am simultaniously painting forces for Möckern (Völkerschlacht of Leipzig) and Waterloo. The Prussians are not giving me that much of a headache since they only had two small Btln.´s of Jäger, but the French with all their Legere, or the Brits with their Rifles and KGL Light Btln.´s are. And it is not like those guys were wearing the most boring and undetailed uniforms either! :?

Lets see what people say! Which way are you leaning Günter?

Cheers,

Burkhard
Last edited by 14th Brooklyn on Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by obriendavid » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:31 pm

If you look at my right hand Russian jager unit you will see that they are based up in two's in close order sized bases except for the rear command stand which is based four figures on a close order base. When I want to skirmish with the unit I just spread the two figure bases around. This works fine for me and no need to paint up extra figures. I have only done this for the 1st Jagers as most Russian units even jagers were very poor at skirmishing compared to their French opponents and being an aggressive player I much prefer getting stuck in with the bayonet, if I want to shoot something then that's what 12pdrs are for.

http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/gallery/images/1557.jpg
Hope this helps?
Dave
Anonymous

Post by Anonymous » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:58 pm

Hi Burkhard,

I m leaning towards a 36 Figure unit with 2 or 3 formed "Commandbases"
of 4 to 6 figures each and the remaining figures grouped in pairs on 4 or 5 cm diameter Hex bases.
My reason: most of these "Schützen" will fight with the Line Infantry to provide some cover and so they are to be split up in units of 6 to 12 figures each.
The Hexbase would give the troops a more fluid formation.

Dave,

Thanks for the insight. I will keep that in mind for my future Russians :wink:

Best wishes,

Günter
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