When I first began the 15XX Renaissance skirmish wargame project a year ago last March, I originally had plans for a single-based “Character” unit. Officers, clergy, local notables such as burgomeisters or noblewomen caught up in the fray. They’d all grant various bonuses, as you’d imagine.
But as the rules developed, the bonuses granted by these hero characters were distributed out into a variety of new Groups players can assemble their Parties from: we’ve got birds and livestock with tricky tactics as well as static terrain pieces called Strongpoints granting bonuses to figures who are close by.
The trouble is I’d already based and painted two of these “character” bases: an officer and a priest (or is it Catholic cardinal?):
One thing had to be done: paint and base up matching figures to translate what were single base Groups into the newer multi-base alternatives.
Keep in mind these are all 15mm figures.
Officer
I decided to turn the officer figure into more of a command group that I can classify as a “skirmisher” group, that being the working label I’m using for melee troops. While the original base features the officer, his loyal steed, and a drummer – that is no weapons at all – I figured I can get away with that by ensuring the paired base is armed to the teeth and has matching color patterns and a similar basing motif.
Catholic Rabble
This next set veers a smidge towards the fantastic from the historical base I’m designing the rules for (e.g. the Renaissance era in Europe between the Burgundian Wars of the 1470s and the end of the Thirty Years War and English Civil Wars in the mid 1600s).
A red-frocked cardinal, penitents in those tall, pointy hats called capirotes, a beak-nosed plague doctor, and in rags wielding prisoners’ chains as whips. Not supremely realistic… but evocative (I hope).
The rabble group type uses three bases.
All Together
All in all, I think the new bases work pretty well with the originals. They should be cohesive enough to fit together on the table and the designs match close enough to make that clear.
