This article is aimed at those of you considering 2mm games or who would like to fight major actions at low cost within a reasonable time scale, using popular and widely available rules. It originates from the criteria I set myself when trying to achieve these objectives and I hope will be of use to those looking for similar results from their games. For me, it started as a search to find a practical alternative to 15mm mega games which took ages to arrange, a long time to play and not inconsiderable amounts of negotiation with the various "her in doors" of myself and my partners in crime. The Figures From the outset there was only going to be one figure scale and that was 2mm. The space and time considerations not to mention the cost left no alternative. I had a brief flirtation with cardboard counters but visual considerations ruled them out and 6mm in the amount I wanted was still to expensive. I should state at this point that for the purpose of clarification I will be referring to Irregular Miniatures 2mm figures and scenic items throughout his article as they were my personal choice and this should not be seen as a comment on conflict Miniatures or any other manufacturer of whom I have no knowledge. Having made this decision it was a question of what to buy and how much. As stated I chose Irregular, having already purchased 2mm blocks from them as an impulse buy sometime ago and having a good relationship with them on other items. Also I wanted to use the differing size of infantry blocks they offer to indicate national identity. I must confess that I find their battalion blocks a little strange in terms of the nationality Irregular say they represent (should Russian battalions really be bigger than French?) but over all they provide a useful visual indicator. This is particularly important in this scale, if you have all units on the same frontage whenever there are French and Prussian units on the table together it's always Napoleon's right flank on the afternoon of Waterloo! In terms of cost like any wargaming it's really how much you want/cannot resist paying. However in terms of a Russian Army for Borodino, in line with the chosen rules (of which more later) everything including Generals, artillery limbers etc. comes to a little over œ33.00. Lets see you do that one in 25mm or anything else for that matter. The Rules After a lot of thought, rule examination and the abortive purchasing of a set computerised rules which although I liked did not quite do the job I wanted (no, not yours Mr. Watkins, No PC - No comment) I opted for Avalon Hill' s Napoleon's Battles for the following reasons: (1) They give a quick and reasonably accurate feel to the process. (2) They are not based on figure removal or bookkeeping for casualties (which was why computer rules had interested me) and units (Brigades) are already designed to be in blocks of figures. (3) The straight substitution of centimetres for inches in the text, in order to accommodate the scale, looked right in play testing. The scenario's in the rules are based on 9ft x 5ft tables which shrink to the equivalent of 3.5ft x 2ft when played in 2mms, hence the title of this article. (4) They have a simple but effective command and control restriction system, national characteristics and a format designed for major actions in economic realtime and space. (5) I already owned at set (liked, but seldom used - hereabouts is Empire 5th Edition territory pardner!) so research into the practicalities was easy. Organisation Within the rules each Brigade is made up of a number of bases 4 - 7 infantry, 3 -5 cavalry. In 15mm they mount a group of four figures in two ranks one behind the other, when four hits are received a base is removed from play. I substitute a 2mm playing piece for each group of four 15mm figures. In order to make movement quicker and less fiddly I arrange them on suitably painted card; Ticket card available from good Artist Suppliers is ideal, being thick enough to provide stability yet easy to cut. I find that a combination of a matt painted surface and the weight of blocks, small though they are, means that fixing is not required and this in turn means a block is easily removed when the required hits are achieved. These movement cards should be cut 1 - 2mm larger on all sides than the combined area of the formation required in order to provide extra security and to enable finger contact to be made without wrecking the formation. A suitable number of cards should be made to allow for all units present to be in column with an additional ones made for line formation to be substituted where required. Less line are needed as it is extremely unlikely that all units will be in line at one time of course. In reality unless you are in combat all along your front you will find that line cards are not used as much as you might think. The rules allow for a march column which requires all blocks in a unit to be placed one behind the other. These can be formed by the simple expedient of rearranging blocks on the column base and squares can also be formed in this way when required. While it is not strictly necessary artillery and generals can also be attached to card for easier handling although this time permanent fixing is in order as they don't need the same flexibility. On the subject of generals, it is worth explaining that they have a peculiar place in the rules. General figures and the distance they are from units and each other is a crucial part of the command and control system. As such their identification is very important to the game. I have opted for the Irregular three figure casting for Divisional Generals (Brigadiers are not represented) the larger base showing a mixed group of mounted and dismounted figures for corps level and the Army HQ group from the Scenic range for the `Bossperson'. For artillery it is a practical as well as aesthetic advantage to have deployed and limbered guns represented. In this scale there is no reason for not buying limbers and indeed the towed gun model is one of the nicest castings on offer. Those of you who are as particular as I am need to ensure that you get the split trail guns where required as Irregular also cater for ACW in this range, although those doing British and other block trail users might want chose them anyway. Where cavalry is concerned there are close order (Heavies), loose order (Lights), lancers and cossacks. You should be aware that the ACW influence is here as well and avoid the carbine armed castings. For those who have never seen them, as with the guns the difference is quite clear and once you have noticed it will drive you nuts if you have the wrong ones by mistake. Napoleon's Battles are a little odd in that they lump Dragoons in with Light cavalry in combat/movement factors. Which irritates me somewhat given the feats performed by some Dragoons (British and French in particular) and I know that some people jack up their factors by local agreement when playing with these rules. The point of raising this here is that I for one cannot relate to Dragoons not represented as a sort of Heavy cavalry which means if you agree you will need to buy the appropriate casting. It also means when playing from the Napoleon's Battles scenario's you will need to spend many a happy hour in additional research, spotting the Dragoon brigades from the otherwise excellent order of battles! Painting There have been several mentions of painting technique in past editions of First Empire so I will confine my comments to more general pointers. Firstly, I always undercoat in black and in this scale it is essential if the finished product is going to be anything more than a coloured blob. Secondly, when adding colour it is more or less all dry brush style. Add colour slowly and don't over paint or the depth provided by the black undercoat will be lost. If you want to add detail I would recommend doing it at unit level. Pay attention to command groups, add hint of gold braid, paint one or more of the Generals casting as an ADC, vary the horse colour in the group etc. In those units where nationality and type allow paint the figure next to the standard as a trumpeter or drummer in the facing or reversed colour of a typical regiment. This cuts down on the boredom of all those green chasseurs and helps identification. Paint some of the light cavalry up as hussars, particularly where you have historical brigades or divisions of them. You will have to decide whether you represent them as wearing their dolmans or not for the colour of the top half for those regiments who had a different pelisse but that's all part of the fun. Unless it would have been obvious from a considerable distance I try not to show any difference between the status of different units. It is much more realistic to hit the Russian Line to your front only to find it's a Grenadier unit, as army commander how would you have known anyway ? If you find this too confusing and for those nations like Austria where the basic cavalry colour for several types was the same you can always resort to different horse colour (cuirassiers all ways black, dragoons brown etc) or paint the bottom half of some units as if they are wearing overalls and leave others in dress uniform. Flags are a pain but worth some acknowledgement with colour of some sort even if its only the main or background colour of a more complex pattern. You can cheat quite a bit. British troops can always carry the Kings colour rather that the Union flag and my French always carry the modern as opposed to the 1804 version regardless of who they are supposed to represent. Don't forget from the distance away you would have to be to make real people appear this size you would not see much detail if any at all. Terrain This is a bit of a problem area really. In that the scale while allowing a big game in a reasonable area means a fairly stark choice between appearance and playability. Terrain pieces from Irregular and elsewhere are a good buy. You can't have too many woods by they way ! After that it gets more difficult. I went to the trouble of producing a trial module rolling hills, valleys, the lot. Be advised it don't work. castings slide all over the place and due to the close proximity of the castings to ground level, line of sight is almost impossible to work out with the naked eye. In short it looks nice but you just can't use it. I have resorted to more traditional layered contour methods, carpet tiles etc. A cheap method, depending on what you use for the base layer, is to cut contours from the thin rolls of polystyrene sold for fixing underneath wall paper. It is not strong enough to be used with out attachment to a stiff base of some kind (artists mounting board will do) but has the value of providing differing levels in keeping with the scale of the castings. If you really don't like the "on the table" approach to terrain the only alternative is to keep the undulations to a minimum and have the slopes fairly shallow. Those choosing commercial units should have this in mind when choosing their modules. Finally just to prove what a flexible bunch we wargamers are I should mention that the computer rules I referred to earlier have not gone to waste. Thanks to the wide range of weapons available, the ability to tailor the type, moral class, experience etc of individual units and the inclusion of non-European troops; these same rules, together with Irregular Miniatures pike blocks from their 2mm Ancient range, are providing the make up of a more than satisfactory ECW game. Maybe not the "Hard Pounding" intended but one that works just the same! Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #11 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com