Measure twice, buy once: scales and sizes in wargames

 As if the Miniature Wargaming hobby wasn't complicated enough with all those periods and rule sets, there's also the discussion about scale. Or is it the size? In any case, there's a lot of discussion going on.

Your gaming table usually determines the size of your figures. The more figures you want on the table, the smaller they generally have to be.

Model (railway) builders have scales. The most common model railway scales are 1:76 (OO), 1:148 (N) and 1:87 (HO). Model builders mainly go for 1:72 and 1:35. How easy life would be if wargamers had chosen the same route. But no. They didn't.

10mm, 10mm, Warlord Epic scale, 1/72 and 28mm

Keep an eye on the size!

Initially, the hobby was usually played with pewter or lead figures of a certain size. Human figures usually had a height of 54 or 15 mm. So no scale, but a measurement.

Warriors have put all sorts of things on their heads throughout the ages, varying from flat skullcaps to helmet ornaments of a few feet high high. The same human figures can therefore have all sorts of heights. Since measuring the entire figure was not conclusive, the measurements were taken from the ground on which they stood to the level of its eyes. Of course, that makes a 15mm figure longer than 15mm and does not fit in a model building scale. You already guessed it: this is British.

The confusion was increased further by the (indeed) British model kit manufacturer Airfix. In the sixties, they started marketing military figures in the modelling scale OO. This of course did not fit in with the wargaming hobby (which was nevertheless the intention). Moreover, the scale was quite small and therefore limited in detail.

So Airfix soon started releasing figures in modelling scale 1/72. These were slightly larger, easier to handle and had more detail. Following the custom of wargamers to measure their figures from the ground to the eyes, these were 20mm figures. A new scale was born. It wouldn't be the last.

80ies Games Workshop 28mm, N-scale, Games Workshop 28mm, 54mm Paulus Miniatires, 1/32 Italeri

Whatever you pay attention to will grow!

The possibility of adding more detail to larger figures certainly did not escape the attention of miniature manufacturers. They started making figures in the 70s with a size/eye height of about 25mm which quickly became popular. They were cheaper than the old 54mm figures and you could fit more of them on a gaming table.

The budding popularity of Lord of the Rings and the Fantasy genre led to an expansion of periods with fantasy and SciFi. The figures were used for both wargames and the emerging Fantasy Roleplaying games and a growing number of historical and fictional periods were added. Both the 15mm scale and the 25mm scale were incredibly popular. Then Games Workshop came along and mass production of 25mm figures was a fact.

The temptation to make larger figures for more detail continued to grow. Around the turn of the century the so-called Scale Creep Effect became undeniable: the steady enlargement of the same figures to ensure that you can put more and better details on them.

Pendraken 10mm, Italeri 1/32

This led to the 28mm, the heroic 28mm (a thinly veiled excuse for 30mm) and the 32mm scale. For that reason, a modern Space Marine towers over his Battlebrother from the 80s by a good head's length.

On the other side of the spectrum, everything was also moving. For those who really wanted to have a lot of figures on the table, figures shrank to a length of 10 mm, 6 mm and even 2 mm. This way you could literally put thousands of figures on the table. Who didn't dream of playing with a complete Roman Legion or a complete Panzer Division? With these figures, you could.

Size matters

The confusion was further increased by manufacturers who did not consistently measure up to the eyes. And manufacturers who thought that if you release figures in a unique scale, everyone had to buy figures from you! Because nothing else is compatible.... And voila! The Epic scale of Warlord (12mm) was born. By the way, not to be confused with the Epic scale of GW (6mm). Do you still get it?

The endless measuring and comparing of figures of different brands has become a fact of life for wargamers. Recklessly acquiring figures in the "same" scale from multiple brands will be done at your peril! 

And don't get me started about the multitude of sizes that weapons are sculpted in, even in the same size. Do we really need a bigger gun? Or a smaller one? 

Confusion is off the scale....

Bog-A-Ten Revisited: the 2024 Christmas Battle

For our club's annual Christmas Battle we revisted Bog A Ten, a venerable demo game by the good people of the HLBSC. Some brilliantly self-built boats there !

Tercios in Warlords' Pike & Shotte

 

I have played Warlord's Pike & Shotte rules lots of times. But the way the interaction of the pike and shotte units is handled by the rules always seemed somewhat generic to me. 

This is of course partly caused by the fact these units interacted with each other in numerous different ways, depending on -for example- the exact period of time and nationality of the armies. 

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the later years of the Dutch Revolt or, as we Dutch prefer to call it: the Eighty Years War. Because in this period the classical Spanish tercios clashed with the (then) modern Dutch Battallions which led to an especially spectacular result in the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600. 

We have played Nieuwpoort a number of times and the way the differences between the tercios and the Dutch battalions was portrayed never sat well with me.

Our Nieuwpoort table in 10mm. 

The P&S rules state (p29) that a Tercio has a large number of pike in the center and large and deep sleeves of shot on the flanks. Battallions are formed from smaller units of pike in the center and shallow and wider sleeves of shot on the flanks. But the rules offer no more more than this formation suggestion. How tercios and battalions behave is up to the players.   

So I ventured to think of a better way. 

The Spanish Tercio

Tercios as a battle formation were at the time over a century old. They grew out of the need to defend themselves against shock cavalry which requiered big (between 2000 and 3000 men) and dense formations armed with pike to repel- and supporting infantry armed with projectile weapons to counterattack cavalry. Around 1600 Tercios employed pike and shot in about a 3 to 2 ratio, although sources state that at Nieuwpoort it was actually nearly 1 on 1. 

Contemporary ilustration of the Spanish main force at Nieuwpoort. 

Against other infantry the dense pike formation could gain tremendous momentum and push opponents out of its way. 

Of course such maneuvers requiered drill and discipline to move in such a large formatrion in the first place. Maneuvers would never be fast, but at least the formation was strong and could fight in any direction.

On the other hand, they were very vulnerable to another modern weapon: artillery. To withstand that, tercios had to be extremely resilient. So tercios would have to be large, strong, multi-fronted and resilient. But should also pay the price for this by being slow and have to concentrate firepower on a relatively narrow front. Also, shotte units should be requiered not to stray too far from the pike block as to prtect themselves from cavalry. 

The Dutch Battalion

History tells us that the Dutch Battalion as introduced by Maurits in the late 1500s was very different. First they were much smaller than the tercios; between 500 and 750 men. The Dutch army was split up in many battallions, while a Spanish army was usually made up of just a few tercios. 

Battallions were extremely well drilled and could maneuver much faster and more flexible, bringing their firepower to bear where desired. While a battalion's front was narrow, their maneuverability enabled them to cover each other's flanks and widen the front where their firepower could be brought to bear. And just like a tercio they could seek cover in bastion formations with shotte covering beneath or behind the pikes. 

So in a one-on-one fight against a tercio their odds were slim. But being able to concentrate their fire and evade direct contact they could wear down a tercio until cavalry could finish the job.

So, how could this translate into rules?  

Special rules Tercio

• A tercio is a combined formation made up of one Large or Very Large (see below) pike block and 4 Small or Standard shotte units. 
• The Tercio may form hedgehog. 
• All 5 units move within the following restraints:
• The shotte always maintains contact with the pike block unless broken, disordered or shaken. This means staying within at least Support distance.
• When separated the separated unit is obliged to seek contact with the pike block before all else.
• The shotte may move around the pike block. For example to form a hedgehog formation, facilitate close combat for the pikes or relocate firepower.
• Otherwise the 5 units move as one. 
• The units support each other. A breaking unit may thus trigger more break tests. 
• The units may be targeted, take hits and casualties individually and also make break tests individually. 
• The Tercio counts as one target for targeting purposes. As long as a shooting unit has line of sight to a unit that is a part of the Tercio, that unit may be fired upon, disregarding the rules about closest target. 
• Spanish Tercios are Elite 4+. 

Very Large Formation: 10 Hand-to-hand, Stamina 6

A 10mm large Tercio

Special rules Dutch Battallion

• A formation consisting of a Standard pike block and a Standard shotte unit. 
• The shotte unit may join in front or behind the pike block or split up and be positioned as sleeves. In all cases they operate as a Standard shotte unit. 
• The Battallion may form hedgehog. 
• The shotte always maintains contact with the pike block unless broken, disordered or shaken. This means staying within at least Support distance.
• When separated the separated unit is obliged to seek contact with the pike block before all else.
• The shotte may move around the pike block. For example to form a hedgehog formation, facilitate close combat for the pikes or relocate firepower.
• Otherwise the 2 units move as one. 
• The units support each other. A breaking unit may thus trigger more break tests. 
• The units may be targeted, take hits and casualties individually and also make break tests individually. 
• Dutch Battlions are Superbly Drilled. 

Dutch battalia seen from Nieuwpoort

How this played for us: 

We used the rules in (of course) a Nieuwpoort scenario. This played more or less as history tells us it should. 

The Dutch deployed across the beach and into the dunes with their backs to Nieuwpoort in 3 lines of 8 battalions each with their cavalry on the right and artillery up front. 

The Spanish deployed their 4 main tercios in a diamond shape opposite the Dutch, won the Initiative and started to advance, their cavalry on their left and taking their sparse artillery with them. 

The Dutch managed to concentrate their fire on the two lead tercios. While very tough, the casualties mounted in the Spanish ranks, especially when they came into range of the Dutch cannons. 

In the meantime the Spanish cavalry advanced through the dunes and came to grips with their Dutch counterpart. faring a lot better than they did historically they drove back the Dutch horse and threatened the Dutch right flank. 

On the beach however, the tercios suffered. Almost coming to grips with the Dutch, those profited from their Superbly Drilled status and withdrew at the last possible moment, leaving a fresh Dutch battle line to take the brunt. Battallions that broke were replaced from the 3rd line. The Spanish reserve tried to catch up with their cavalr on the left but failed to make enough speed. 

It could not last. 

Alreadly the first Tercio had lost its shot sleeves and failed its morale check and broke. But now the second and third suffered the same fate. Their army broken, the Spanish started to withdraw, leaving the beach to the Dutch.