Art De La Guerre

[76mm]

I don't see anything in the rules specifically about basing LMI, so I guess they should be on the same size base as MI? But what about number of figures? Given the "loose" part, it seems like there should be fewer figures than normal MI. Are there any conventions that people use?

I'll be using 10mm, so am thinking about basing 16 figures for MI and 14 for LMI; for LMI basically use 3 figures instead of four every other row. Or am I overthinking this?

[Mark G Fry]

LMI are usually based on the same size bases as MF - so that would be 40mm x 40mm for 10mm scale figures - and 10-16 figures (as per the table on page 7).

Ultimately, however, it's up to you how many figures you want on your bases of course. And it not necessarily safe to assume that LMI are more irregular in their fighting formation - take Middle Imperial Roman Lanciarii for example - which can be Javelinmen elite and would have been highly drilled troops. So having them in more regular ranks, for example, might be the right way to depict them. Parthian or Sassanian Hill Tribesmen however, also Javelinmen, might be better depicted in a more 'ragged' formation.

But it's important to stress that there is no firm rules or even conventions here. For example, I depict my Lanciarii in a wedge formation, as it looks impressive and helps me differentiate them from the other 40mm x 40mm based troops in the army (my MF swd impact Auxillia). My Auxillia MF are based in ranks, as are my Auxillia bowmen, but my German Symmacharii - MF swd impetuous (in my Early Imperial Roman army) are based in a more random formation - to reflect (in my eyes) their more irregular fighting style.

I've also seen some people put fewer figures on a base to represent 'Mediocre' units - others put fewer figures on to represent 'Elite' units (& vice versa) - that's a personal choice. Neither are right or wrong - it's just what helps you play the game

Hope that is helpful.
Cheers
Mark

[76mm]

Thanks Mark! Helpful, but I'm still a bit mystified LMI...

First, while I understand that LMI can be in regular formations, in principle shouldn't they be in "looser" regular formations than Medium Infantry (hence the name LMI?). Otherwise, how are they intended to be different from plain-old Medium Infantry?

Second, I'm still trying to understand what opponents expect to see on the table...do players get annoyed when they can't easily tell LMI from MI based on basing, etc, or should I expect them to look at the (tiny 10mm) figures and the army list to figure out who is who (of course I will also explain orally, but...)?

[KevinD]

Which troops are you talking about?

Archers and crossbowmen are generally based the same as any MI as their weapon and lack of shields makes them easy to tell apart.

Javelinmen are harder to distinguish from MI at a quick glance so many people base them with fewer figs per base than MI to easily distinguish them.

[76mm]

[kevinj]

[ethan]

Really the key here is

A) Do something that looks nice
B) Do something that makes it clear what your troops actually are

In general for LMI/MI I do a variety of things 6-8 figures per base (even occasionally 5)

- My 28mm javelinmen for Hellenistics are 5 to a base
- My Assyrian supported MSw are 4 swordsmen and 2 archers
- My Aechemenid Persian Immortals are 8 to a base, the sparabara types are 6 (so I can differentiate elite from ordinary)
- Most Bowmen/Crossbowmen are 6 to a base now.

[76mm]

Thanks to everyone for your responses; very helpful and hopefully sooner or later I'll figure this stuff out!

[Dolphinless]

[Mark G Fry]

[Ramses II]

As others say, this is as much about identification as anything else. The table on p7 covers basing, and the definitions on p13 define LMI as Loose Medium Infantry - or a different type of MI. 

Levy use the same base as HI, but have different numbers of figures. MI may have 6 or 8figures on a 40mm sq base (to distinguish it from HI), personally I put 5-6 figures on a base in an irregular formation to identify a LMI unit.