In your "Counsels of War" (October/November 1971) Christopher Scott figures out his scale factors, which prompts me to set down mine. I fight Napoleonic and Ancient warfare only, as I feel that distances are too great (and supporting weapons too destructive) to fight anything larger than a couple of squads on a 6ft x 8ft table-top. Therefore, all one can get from a modern war is a series of unrelated engagements, unless one uses boardgame counters. I prefer as much spatial realism as possible, since I feel the charm of the wargame table lies in its panoramas. Even so I am forced to cheat slightly in order to cover more space. My basic figure is 1 inch = 2 metres. Using a 20mm scale figure, this means each man is about 5'3" tall. A 25mm scale produces a 6' man, which I feel is close enough. (30mm figures I do not use but I am considering making a unit of 6'10" giants for my Ancient wars. I have not seen any 54mm cavemen, but they would be ideal for trolls in a Tolkien-esque setting). Anyway, a 1 inch = 2 metre scale on a 6' x 8' table means an actual ground area of 160 x 220 yards. (There is a round-up of 1.6 and 8.8 yards here). This is not adequate for more than company vs company battles as I reckon infantry companies from 118 to 157 men depending on my armies. Therefore, I make my first major "judge", and arbitrarily double the scale. This means a field of 320 x 440 yards which can handle a 3 or 4 company battalion fighting a similar unit. I still use man for man representation, but this allows me to halve ranges and moves. Also, it reduces the size of built-up areas. The next step is to double the value of each figure. Since I am marking in two dimensions this means each figure means 4 men on the table. For simplicity I arrange them in a square, so the figure represents the centre of mass. Therefore two figures represent an eight-man squad, 8 figures and an officer figure a 36-man platoon and 39 for a company., This allows me to move the next step up the chain of command, and fight Brigade vs Brigade. My table now represents 640 x 880 yards. In the interest of allowing myself some manoeuvre room, I mostly use parts of Brigades, only two or three battalions on a side. As an artilleryman, I see to it that each side has a gun, representing a four-gun battery. The highest I go in the Musket War period is to triple the scale. In this scale the figure represents a square 3 men on a side or nine men. This is very close to the 10 man per figure ratio mentioned in your magazine earlier and I feel would allow a smooth transition to those rules. This allows a playing area representing 960 x 1320 yards. Again I introduce a "judge" factor and round up to 1000 x 1500 yards. This, in practice, allows me to field two full Brigades of four Battalions each. My artillery is represented by one gun equalling 6 on the table, as a 9 gun battery is unwieldly. Incidentally, I usually demand full representation of artillery. I feel that the one gun three man system does not indicate the true expense of the arm. In the old days, losing a gun was a real tragedy, comparable in cost, I suppose, to losing a jet fighter. This form of representation has its disadvantages, of course. The 1800's British system of a double, as opposed to a triple, rank is impossible. I the rules a bit to represent it. It is not too crippling in my case as I fight a mythical country with a pre-percussion cap 19th century technology. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 122 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1972 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com