Carlist War Basing/Rules

[Ahistorian]

I got my first 15mm miniatures for the 1st Carlist War yesterday at Barrage, and am now pondering how to base them. My two thoughts are:

- 3 30x15mm bases, 9 figures per battalion. This is the "Shako" style used by Steve @ Balagan and looks quite nice. Artillery on a 30x40mm or 30x50mm base.
- 1 80x20mm base, 8-9 figures per battalion. This is my preferred element size for linear warfare in 15mm, but isn't always practical if different formations are required for individual units. Artillery on a 40x40mm base.

In both cases, brigadiers and generals would be on round bases as standard.

I would be grateful for thoughts from the community about which to use, aesthetically, practically and rules-wise.

[robh]

One of the guys in our club here is very keen on gaming the 1st Carlist War in 15mm and has dragged a couple of us into building forces for it with him.
After several stops & starts with rules he came to the conclusion that Lasalle was his best option (Helped in no small measure by the fact that they are available in Spanish), with Rank & File as second.

So treating all the units as "small" for the rules gives 8 figures per base (40x25mm) with 32 figures per battalion.

[julesav]

I'd suggest trying the rules from Neil Thomas's '19th century wargaming' book. 4 bases per battalion of infantry - figures per base up to you as rules are 'scale agnostic' That is you may use 3mm/6mm/10mm/15mm/25or28mm or even 40mm figures!
The rules also include a Carlist War scenario!

[Rogerc]

I use Blackpowder for my 28mm collection of Carlists.

Work really well, with the cavalry as small units, very flexible rules allowing you to give units first fire or improve the Carlists ability in hand to hand to represent their willingness with the bayonet.

Rules allow for mixed formation which both sides used a lot and make it easy to upgrade or downgrade troops as required.

Love this period hope you enjoy it. Did an after action report for Huesca and Oriamendi a few weeks ago on the blog if you are interested.

http://gapagnw.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/carlist-wars-aar-huesca.html

[Ahistorian]

Thanks for the link, lovely stuff. How did you get that lovely brown-ish whitewash effect on the buildings?

I'm set on smaller units so I can have bigger battles on my 6x4, but you make an excellent point about being able to break down the cavalry into smaller units.

Do any of you use your infantry in column? I know the Carlists liked to charge, but was that more Napoleonic massed columns or Confederate ragged lines? I'm leaning towards the 30mm basing at the moment, but I like to minimise the number of bases in units wherever possible. Maybe an intermediate scheme of infantry on 80mm bases, cavalry on 2x 40mm and artillery on a 40mm square would work; but obviously not if I'll frequently need to portray the troops in column...

[Rogerc]

I prime white, wash it with a very watery dark buff then dry brush the lot with an ivory, gives a nice weathered look.

I use column a lot for attacking troops. We use Blackpowder and to encourage the use of attack columns I allow a free move even if they fail orders if you are in attack column.

Mine are 28's but you can probably see I do 4 figures on a 40x40 with the flank companies on 2 figures bases so I can detatch 1/3 of the unit to use as a skirmish screen for mixed order formation. Tactics are going to be nearer Napoleonic than ACW given its only 20 years after waterloo and 30 before Gettysburg. More use of skirmishers and bayonet from the Carlist side I think than usual for the Napoleonic period.

[Ahistorian]

Thanks for the terrain tip and your input on the games! It sounds like multiple bases per unit is definitely the way forward.