How do I position spear men so they will fit together?

[ErikB]

I'm building a big set of Footsore late Romans that include many spearmen.

I am finding it difficult to position them so that they are all facing or marching forward and such that the spears don't interfere with them standing in formation.

Mostly, it is the back end of the spears that get in the way, often against the shield.

Bases are 25mm square.  Spears are pretty long, I did not clip them shorter than 40mm because I really like the look.  That may have been a bad idea.

Does anyone have a system for positioning a big square of advancing spearmen?

Thanks!

Oh, as a side-note: I read somewhere that the words Alaman and German both stem from old words for spear-man (Ala and Ger meaning spear, apparently).  And the word "uptight" or "uppity" in German, spiessig, stems from Spiess, or spear.  Can any native-German speakers confirm any of this? 

Ich danke euch!

[pocoloco]

I remember reading somewhere that Deutsche and Tuatha (Irish) mean basically the same: people and share the same root.

Interesting to hear about the Alaman + German words.

[MartinR]

I base spearmen, hoplites etc at an angle so the spear ends and rear ranks tesselate together. Deeper bases is another solution, or offset each rank.

Cheers
Martin

[Hu Rhu]

It depends on how you want the ranks to look.  If you are looking for a very regimented look with every man in his exact place then a slightly deeper base might get you the separation you need.  Alternatively if you could accept a rough formation with varying gaps between figures then offsetting each figure might work. 

In either case mocking up the layout using the bases and a spot of blue tack on each figure will allow you to adjust the formation slightly before glueing.

[tin shed gamer]

For me it depends on how many ranks you intend on doing.
But a simple method is to have figures off centre(slightly)with all spears at 90° to the lead edge of the base.
If the figures of the 1st rank,are to the right of centre,the 2nd rank is to the left,and the 3rd  rank to the right,and so on.
This means the spear of each rank is in the dead zone of the base of the rank infront and behind. As your spears extend more than 12mm front and back.You can either raise or lower the spear tip of each figure,so the base of each spear goes over or under the spear head of the rank behind.(Depending on which you prefer.