Post
by Rob Herrick » Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:31 pm
Do you play other rule sets, or will RtE be your only set?
The cardinal rule of basing is cross-rule applicability. Some rule sets, like RtE are rather forgiving about various basings. Others (Napoleon's Battles comes to mind) are pretty ironclad.
I generally build my battalions to the biggest they've ever been, so 48 figures (6 companies, 8 figs per company) can always be sized down to 36, or 24, or whatever. I also put 4 to a base, at least for the Austrians. Since they don't have company distinctions, it will look right, no matter what.
For odd sizes (5 per company, 7 per company, etc) you've got LOTS of options. Instead of 4 to a stand, you could do three (say two privates and an officer doing something officery for the whole depth). Conversely, you could do five to a stand instead of six, with similar vignette options.
Basically I'd advise you to paint up the figs, then play around with arranging them on a 40x40 until you find something you like. Then glue 'em down.