How many figures in a collection? Is there a 'right' number? Avoiding too many?

[FifteensAway]

Was thinking further on this and recalled a discussion from many years ago at a certain unnamed 'other' forum where it was stated with sound reasoning that the practical upper limit for one player was fifty 'units' in a game - whether the unit be a single figure or a stand of figures.  That jibes reasonably well with the 8-12 units mentioned above as long as the aggregate total is in that 'fifty' range (8 units at 6 stands per unit = 48 being an example, add a couple generals and = 50 , or could be 12 units at 4 stands per unit).

So, I guess, for me, building an army with an upper limit of 300 'units' per side is a good target, maybe a few extra options for varied scenarios.  That is for a maximum of six players with four players being the more common likely number.  So, skirmish collection max 600, 3 figures per base collections (my norm for multi-based) max is 1800 figures, plus those 'few extra options'.  That is, of course, for two sided collections (collection = specific period of history).  Most games would be smaller, often times a good deal smaller - especially skirmish games.

As suggested, there is never going to be a 'hard and fast' rule but I think this is a good guideline to keep in mind when determining how many figures to acquire in building a collection.  Had I adhered to that rule from the beginning I'd probably have at least 1/3 fewer figures than I do.  But making serious efforts to 'down design' all of my excessive collections - and even most of my smaller ones as well.

And truly hope this helps some people avoid their own excess - time and resources that can be put towards other elements of life that are also enjoyed.

[fusilierdan]

I would agree with that reasoning.

In the spirit of splitting hairs how do you count the non player characters in a game? Townsfolk in a western or gangster game for example. Are they figures or scenery? I would go for figures.

[FifteensAway]

Good question, fusilierdan, and one I've been wrestling with.  If the figures have a role in the game, however peripheral, figures.  Otherwise, scenery.  And the very same sculpt can be a NPC 'figure' in one game and just scenery in a different setup.  I am of the mind that there can be 'active' NPC figures that aren't run by the players, either by some sort of mechanism or at the whim of the game master to spice up various scenarios - life doesn't occur in a 'shoot out' vacuum as a general rule. 

And this is one period, Old West, I will very much have excess - even after greatly sorting down to a much smaller total number of figures to keep and paint.  I do have a plan to paint in small batches of six figures at a time, sometimes multiple batches, until I reach the point where I am satisfied I don't need more.  I am thoroughly enamored with the incredible variety of game set-up options the Old West provides.  You can get a sense of how excessive here: https://whiskeyhills.blogspot.com. But until I reach that 'satisfied I don't need more' point, that is what I am keeping at the ready.  Yeah, I know, that is still a crazy lot of figures that remain but dwell upon the different sorts of games I can run with that lot.  And it is A LOT less than previously.

You can also go here to check out postings here on LAF for my Old West: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=147545.0  Oh, and I am breaking apart into Old West - individually based figures - and Pony Wars - multi-figure bases.  The latter is multi-based to be able to run Little Big Horn and even more so the battle of Rosebud eight days earlier.