Number of ranks for standard units

[wargame_insomniac]

Hi

Having read the HC rulebook last week I am trying to get my head around a couple of things.

Let's assume that we are talking standard units all 8 wide.

What determines the number of ranks? I am happy that both Phalanx and Warband are 4 ranks deep. But for other units, when is is 2 & when is it 3? What would you suggest for:
1) Greek Hoplites- 24?
2) EIR Legionaries- 24?
3) EIR Auxilairies- 16?

I am looking at basing my figures 4 to a 40mm square plastic base. Not sure what to do with 3rd rank- based either individually or in pairs.

Cheers

James

[Eumerin]

Hi

Having read the HC rulebook last week I am trying to get my head around a couple of things.

Let's assume that we are talking standard units all 8 wide.

What determines the number of ranks? I am happy that both Phalanx and Warband are 4 ranks deep. But for other units, when is is 2 & when is it 3? What would you suggest for:
1) Greek Hoplites- 24?
2) EIR Legionaries- 24?
3) EIR Auxilairies- 16?

I am looking at basing my figures 4 to a 40mm square plastic base. Not sure what to do with 3rd rank- based either individually or in pairs.

Cheers

James

Only Pike Phalanxes are required to be four ranks deep. iirc, there's nothing in the rules that requires long spear phalanxes (such as pre-Alexander Greek Hoplite phalanxes) to be that deep.

As to the number of ranks to use... that's up to you. Ideally, you should see if you can dig up a little bit of information on the historical formations and how many men were typically used in those formations. But if the information isn't easily available (which is frequently the case), then it's really just up to you to decide - with the caveat that Battle Lines need to be at least two ranks deep, and Warbands and Pike Phalanxes need to be at least four ranks deep.

From a pure gameplay perspective, there really isn't any reason to have your Battle Lines more than two ranks deep.

[Big Al]

Yes, at the end of the day it is what you think looks and feels right. My Romans are based in units of 24 just because that is what I have always done. In the old days the rules I played used a man to figure ratio of 20:1. Using that 24 figures is a cohort of 480 men. Based on 40x40mm bases and 4 figures to a base, my units consist of 6 bases. My veterans, I made into a large unit and used 60x40mm bases containing 36 figures. I would do something similar for hoplites, too.

[Alan Charlesworth]

Unless I've missed something, depth or number of model ranks is purely a cosmetic issue in all the BP series of games.

The only thing that really matters for the mechanics is the frontage of units. As an extreme example you could have one figure on one base, as long as the frontage of that base was a sensible ratio of movement and shooting distances. Yes it would look like crap. But it would play normally.

That is one of beauties of these rules. You can go with pretty much any basing system that you like.

As an example my 100 AD Romans are in three ranks of eight because they were based for WRG 6th Edition nearly thirty years ago. They work fine for HC. When I replace them with new figures in the near future I will be going with two ranks. In fact for my new new collections they will all be in in either two or four ranks and I don't intend having any three rank units at all. My decision is based on the fact that basing in three ranks is awkward, assuming you don't want three single rank bases.

[pbeccas]

I have done all my standard units in units of 16 men. 8 at the front, 2 deep. Keeps the figure painting down and I can field more standard units.

[A Lot of Gaul]

I field my standard-sized Roman legionary units in 2 ranks and my Gallic warbands in 4 ranks depth, simply because I like the look of them. As others have mentioned, in HC the number of ranks per unit is largely cosmetic. The only area where it has any real effect on game play is in line interpenetration, as deeper units require more more movement distance to clear.

Cheers,
Scott

[Dave Blue Team]

My standard EIR are in units of 16, 8 wide and 2 deep (save for the first cohort that has 3 ranks - which is purely cosmetic).

For my Dacians, I wanted to acheive a similar frontage of 8. They are warband and it's suggesed in HC that warbands are 4 ranks deep. That's a lot in cost. Not the cash cost, but the cost of the room in a carry case...

One EIR unit takes up 2 'columns' in my carry cases. A Dacian unit of 8x4 would take up 4 'columns'. Twice the cost.
To mitigate this I field my Dacians in units of 24; 8 wide and 4 deep. (lol @mathfail...).
The front rank has 8 figures
The second rank has 8 figures
The third rank has 6 figures
The fourth rank has 2 figures
With the third and fourth ranks, they are places centrally, giving the unit a more 'warbandy' feel than well regimented into perfect rectangles.
This enables the standard frontage to be 8, have a pleasing aesthetic of depth, have a footprint of 4 ranks deep and fit more units into carry cases.

[wargame_insomniac]

I said before hand that i was happy with standard basing 8 wide and also that Warband & Phalanx were 4 deep.
My query was how best to do Hoplites/Legionairies/Auxiliaries- the only question was simply 2 ranks or 3.

From the answers above, I will start with Legionaries as unit of 16, 2 deep, at least initially so I can get painted units on the table as quickly as possible. I might go back later and add a 3rd rank later when I have a bit more time..

Thanks

James