Slitherine

Is it feasible to play FOG with smaller size armies? I'm thinking somewhere around 30-35 stands rather than 60-70 stands. This means half as many Battle Groups (six is what I have in mind), some with perhaps 2 fewer stands than usual. Here's a Gallic list, for instance:

1 FC
1 TC
3x Warrior BGs (6 stands each)
1x Horsemen (4 stands)
2x Skirmishers (4 stands each)

Would this make for a bad game? I'm hoping it keeps initial cost low (I'm just starting out, so have no previous army I could just rebase). I'm also hoping it makes games quicker (3 hours is an incredibly long time to sit around a table, in my opinion) and more decisive.

Galadrin wrote:Is it feasible to play FOG with smaller size armies? I'm thinking somewhere around 30-35 stands rather than 60-70 stands. This means half as many Battle Groups (six is what I have in mind), some with perhaps 2 fewer stands than usual. Here's a Gallic list, for instance:

1 FC
1 TC
3x Warrior BGs (6 stands each)
1x Horsemen (4 stands)
2x Skirmishers (4 stands each)

Would this make for a bad game?

Nothing to stop you doing this at all, looks about just under 400 points. It'll certainly give a quicker game!

I'm hoping it keeps initial cost low (I'm just starting out, so have no previous army I could just rebase).

When thinking about what army to paint, especially when you have nothing to start with, it's always worth looking at
what you can change (morph) your army into. If your thinking of Gauls, then an obvious next step could be Galatians
in the "The Ancient Greeks at War" army book. Or once you've got the figures you describe above painted, it's the core
of the Carthaginian army. You just need some African spearmen, a few more BGs of cavalry and LH, an elephant
or two, and you're there. Another Roman bashing army

3 hours is an incredibly long time to sit around a table, in my opinion

You'll be surprised how quickly the time goes in a bigger game!

Rgds,
Peter

Galadrin wrote:Is it feasible to play FOG with smaller size armies? I'm thinking somewhere around 30-35 stands rather than 60-70 stands. This means half as many Battle Groups (six is what I have in mind), some with perhaps 2 fewer stands than usual.

You might want to reduce BG sizes as you suggest but try and and run with 7-9 BGs in an army. So cav/ lh / kn units are 2's; inf are 4's (4-6s for warband?). Elephants possibly singles? You may need to amend the auto break for superior/elite cav/kn to allow them to fight with 1 base rather than auto-break. Also restrict generals to 3 max.

I think the main effect is that you have fewer reserves and that luck becomes a bit more noticeable.

Possible use a smaller table - 4ftx3ft? Keep terrain to minimum size (6in x 4in)?