36 bases

[vodkafan]

I was musing about something . Suppose I wanted to do WW2 gaming but so it did not become a black hole for money  I imposed a limit on myself of 36 bases per side.
In 28mm, that would be 36 singly based figures. So what rulesets  could I game?
I reasoned I could play any 1:1 squad level skirmish game  out there, and also could play the platoon level Chain Of Command also at 1:1. With 36 figures I could also stretch to play the company level like Crossfire, at a figure ratio of 1:3 approx.

If I went down to 15mm, with 3 figures on a base, 36 bases would allow me to field a battalion. Still only 108 figures and probably comparable pricewise to the 28mm army. I don't know what rules are out there for Battalion level games but there would be some overlap I am sure, I could still play Crossfire as well, but in a smaller space.

If I went down to 10mm or 6mm, if each base represented a company, with 36 bases I could play brigade level games.
Has anyone ever rationalized their purchases like this?

[flatpack]

“Rationalized your purchases ?” Don’t you mean “oh, oh shiny, I have to have it, until I run out of cash !”

[vodkafan]

“Rationalized your purchases ?” Don’t you mean “oh, oh shiny, I have to have it, until I run out of cash !”

That's basically what I have been doing up to now.....I thought I should maybe inject some science into the process instead

[carlos marighela]

Well it's hardly scientific, rocket or otherwise, simply choosing a arbitrary number of items to buy. Variables will always  in cost between items.

Sitting down and working out an actual budget might as close to scientific as you'll get.

[fred]

I'd suggest a budget rather than a number of bases for a method of controlling things.

While 36 is a handy number for a skirmish game as it is a platoon with a couple of extras. As soon as you move away from that then you will want to start including vehicles and other kit, as just having 36 bases of infantry, if you regard each one as a platoon will not be very useful for recreating the types of engagements they would have been in.

[vodkafan]

Thanks for all the answers.
I have thought about it some more and this is where it's going:
The scale will be 10mm
Each base will represent a company of infantry, squadron of tanks, or a battery of artillery.
All company bases will be the same size 120 x 60mm
Battalion and Brigade HQs will be on 60 x 60mm bases.

These base sizes might seem big, but my idea is that they really look like a whole company. Also it will be cheaper than 28mm. each Tank base will cost about £9 (3 tanks) but that is less than half the cost of a 28mm tank on the same size base.  
I especially want the bases to be very visually interesting.

As an example, a whole British infantry Bn will be represented by 7 bases:
Bn HQ with a small vehicle such as a jeep or staff car and a few figs (60 x 60)
4 x rifle coy bases  with a vehicle as the coy HQ and @20 figures
support coy base with a couple of carriers, mortar and 6pdr AT gun
HQ coy base with  2 softskin trucks, signal truck

A tank squadron would have 3 tanks on a 120 x 60.

Artillery battery  would have 2 deployed guns, limbers and crews and a battery command vehicle

Brigade MG coy base would have maybe 3 Vickers MGs and a couple of 4.2" mortars

36 bases would give me a balanced Brigade size force of 3 infantry bns, (21 bases) a tank bn, artillery regt, (5 bases each) and separate coys of MGs, recce troops etc....

A 1944 German force would be even more interesting, as an ad hoc battlegroup might have independent Tiger coys or STUG batteries attached, FJ and Luftwaffe troop, etc.

What do you folks think? What rules would work with my planned basing?

    
  

[Elk101]

I quite like the abstract nature of the challenge. I tried something similar to save money but it didn't work. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen 54m Inquisitor figures though.

What about I Ain't Been Shot Mum for rules?

[vodkafan]

I quite like the abstract nature of the challenge. I tried something similar to save money but it didn't work. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen 54m Inquisitor figures though.

What about I Ain't Been Shot Mum for rules?

Haha yes probably 54mm not a good money saving choice. How far did you get? Not sure about IABSM, is just for the odd vehicles I think not whole battalions..

[fred]

If you want to go with large bases each representing a company then you might want to have a look at Rommel as a rule set.
It dosent quite build forces the way you describe - it abstracts the support companies.

I’m not aware of other people multi basing 10mm tanks - but they should look impressive

[vodkafan]

If you want to go with large bases each representing a company then you might want to have a look at Rommel as a rule set.
It dosent quite build forces the way you describe - it abstracts the support companies.

I’m not aware of other people multi basing 10mm tanks - but they should look impressive

Thanks Fred, I will check out Rommel. I want to include the logistics support as in brigade level actions it should to my mind start to play a part..fuel and ammo runs out and soldiers get hungry.
I was surprised myself how big the bases I would need got once I started to look at the footprint of 10mm tanks. I had a few 6mm tanks knocking around which I experimented with, and even they needed 90 x 45mm bases to put 3 on. But yes I hope that it will look nice visually.   

[Elk101]

Haha yes probably 54mm not a good money saving choice. How far did you get? Not sure about IABSM, is just for the odd vehicles I think not whole battalions..

I've never actually counted them but maybe about 30. I tried to see how cheaply I could pick them up.

[vodkafan]

Wow Fred is that you over on the Pendraken forum? I think I just saw some of your British forces, a Division's worth   

[vodkafan]

I've never actually counted them but maybe about 30. I tried to see how cheaply I could pick them up.

It is fun to pick up stuff second hand- have managed to collect a lot of Napoleonics that way, none of it painted yet!

[vodkafan]

Would Rapid Fire or Blitzkrieg Commander work with my basing?  I don't know anything about these rules. The Company is going to be my smallest unit, I don't want to break it down to platoons and troops.

[fred]

Wow Fred is that you over on the Pendraken forum? I think I just saw some of your British forces, a Division's worth   

Yes. And Yes (well at 1:platoon scale, and a bit short on the infantry after some rebasing!)

Rules that use companies as bases are quite rare.
Rapid Fire might work, as it is typically played with 20mm figures, and your bases are going to have a similar footprint. The figure scale on Rapid Fire is weird it kind of has some skirmish style elements, but only has a few figures representing a company.

I think you would have to have a bit of a think about distances in BKC as your bases are much bigger than 'normal', which is probably 40-50mm by 20-30mm. BKC bases are also assumed to be platoons.

Rulesets that use company bases that I'm aware of
Rommel
Great Battles of WWII
Panzer Korps

While I know Rommel works with big bases, I'm not sure about the other two.