Ideas for Miniature Battlefields

Board 2

by Nic Birt

Some campaigns have started to out grow my initial board idea as multi-divisional armies have begun to engage in battle. One thing I have noticed about such large battles is that there is often only intense action in a relatively small part of the battlefield with the remaining troops waiting the outcome of these localised engagement before the commander chooses where and when to commit them.

With this thought in mind I draw up a 'virtual' battlefield as a map and use map moves to see where opposing forces will actually engage. Once contact is made I position two hex tiles on which the local opposing forces are placed. See figure MB2.

These hex tiles are of similar construction to the board in 'Idea 1' but about one-seventh the size and already prepared with terrain scenery. The battle can then commence on the wargaming board. At the end of every set time period I return to the battlefield map and manoeuvre forces to see if any other forces have made contact with each other. If this happens next to the battlefield already laid out, I add more hexes and increase its size.

If this occurs, say on the opposite flank, I leave a small gap on the wargames table and place the new tiles down with their figures and fight that part of the battle separately but simultaneously.

This method allows me to play out huge battles without the waste of space; scenery and figures which would be required with traditional wargames boards. As localised engagements finish tiles are removed and as others begin more are added until the overall battle is complete.

This method I have found suitable for army sized games. I use 6mm figures (see figure MB3) with a ground scale of one hex being 250 metres and one figure representing 50 soldiers.

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