Why play a whole big battle at all?

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

That ballroom game must have been great.

The biggest game I ever played was a 1:1 ratio (figure and ground scale) skirmish game between platoons played out of doors in a forest. Combat resolution was by sensors and lasers. Most of the figures were multi-posable, and each weighed a couple of hundred pounds and about 2m in height, all with the very realistic and accurate kit depicted, so much too big for any table and each was capable of limited self-movement when out of command (but rarely did so.) We had real friction even getting some of the figures to receive their orders when out of direct sight of the player who was platoon leader, noise and fog of war being what it was in the game.

[ChrisBBB]

A 'big battle' is not the same thing as a 'big game'. If you do Pickett's Charge with 1000s of figures on a huge table, that is a big game, but all three days of Gettysburg - in four hours, with 6mm armies on a 6'x4' - is a big battle.

The biggest game I ever played was a 1:1 ratio (figure and ground scale) skirmish game between platoons played out of doors in a forest. Combat resolution was by sensors and lasers. Most of the figures were multi-posable, and each weighed a couple of hundred pounds and about 2m in height, all with the very realistic and accurate kit depicted, so much too big for any table and each was capable of limited self-movement when out of command (but rarely did so.) We had real friction even getting some of the figures to receive their orders when out of direct sight of the player who was platoon leader, noise and fog of war being what it was in the game.

I've played those 1:1 scale games too. The trouble is, the manufacturers can't seem to maintain a constant scale - the figures are all different shapes and sizes, some of them obviously out of proportion. And the games themselves seem to go on for years, with poorly designed scenarios and no clear victory conditions. Most unsatisfactory.

[vtsaogames]

I've played those 1:1 scale games too. The trouble is, the manufacturers can't seem to maintain a constant scale - the figures are all different shapes and sizes, some of them obviously out of proportion. And the games themselves seem to go on for years, with poorly designed scenarios and no clear victory conditions. Most unsatisfactory.

 

[Battle Brush Sigur]

A 'big battle' is not the same thing as a 'big game'. If you do Pickett's Charge with 1000s of figures on a huge table, that is a big game, but all three days of Gettysburg - in four hours, with 6mm armies on a 6'x4' - is a big battle.
...

Good point. Two weeks ago we had planned a trip to the Austerlitz battlefield, had to cancel due to bad weather and instead played Austerlitz with Epic Commands&Colors. It felt like a battle indeed. And I love the feel of a battle. Multiple attacks at one flank, the ebb and flow, etc.

A battle just has a different feel. Even with my 10mm Thirty Years War battles I'm not sure I get the 'big battle' feel, now that I think of it. I guess I should have another one soon and just view it from that perspective.