DW Infantry Tokens

[Ruckdog]

So, here is my first pass at painting my new infantry tokens for DW. I'm fairly happy with the results, but I was curious to see if any of you had any suggestions:



Given that they were somewhat plain looking tokens, I didn't want to just do them in metallics like they show in the book. I wanted to give them a bit more color and detail than that!

[MadDrB]

I like the silver-metal wrench crossed with the sort of corroded pipe wrench.

[Landlubber]

I think they look great.

But I think it would also be cool to paint them in their branch colors.  In the Army, all branches have their own color; you usually only see these colors in badges worn on dress uniforms, however.  For example, the Field Artillery branch color is red; infantry is some shade of blue; etc.  I'm sure there is some sort of historical significance for the colors, but I don't know what it is.

[MadDrB]

But I think it would also be cool to paint them in their branch colors.  In the Army, all branches have their own color; you usually only see these colors in badges worn on dress uniforms, however.  For example, the Field Artillery branch color is red; infantry is some shade of blue; etc.  I'm sure there is some sort of historical significance for the colors, but I don't know what it is.

I would put money on the French inventing this sort of uniform color scheme back during the Napoleonic era.  French uniform styles were popular at the start of the ACW....  But, I must admit, I always liked the yellow trim of cavalry uniforms, with blue or gray.

On a related topic, I recently read something about Union corps during the ACW--each division featured the corps badge on uniforms and caps, but in a different color, according to the number of the division within the respective corps.

[Ruckdog]

I like the silver-metal wrench crossed with the sort of corroded pipe wrench.

Heh, I wasn't going for a corroded look...I was trying to emulate the traditional red color of most pipe wrenches I've seen:

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=553420

I think they look great.

But I think it would also be cool to paint them in their branch colors.  In the Army, all branches have their own color; you usually only see these colors in badges worn on dress uniforms, however.  For example, the Field Artillery branch color is red; infantry is some shade of blue; etc.  I'm sure there is some sort of historical significance for the colors, but I don't know what it is.

Hmmm...interesting thought. I didn't even realize this was a thing. I'll have to investigate more and see if there is a way to integrate those colors into the tokens.

[Landlubber]

What are the unit sizes represented by each token?

[Ruckdog]

Each token represents a Regiment, with the small white D6 showing the strength of the regiment in terms of the number of companies. So, I figure that means that each full-strength token represents the "traditional" regiment size of 1,000 men.

[MajorMcNicol]

That's cool - thanks for posting!  Are you doing anything specific to link it to your army, or keeping them general to use with various armies?

[Ruckdog]

At this point, I was trying to keep them generic, as I have two land forces already and I'm planning for a third (for my French). That is partly why, after giving it some thought, I'm leaning towards not including the US Army branch colors on my tokens. Down the road, if I get another set, that would be a cool thing to do for my FSA tokens, though .

[Pendrake]

Each token represents a Regiment, with the small white D6 showing the strength of the regiment in terms of the number of companies. So, I figure that means that each full-strength token represents the "traditional" regiment size of 1,000 men.

Why is it that I remember regiments as being 400 to 600 guys? Is 1000/regiment from the Napoleonic Wars?

If the strength in companies is also the AP value that puts 1 AP as being on the order of 100 guys... ...not sure what I think of that.

[Landlubber]

Not sure if this matters, but in the modern US Army, a standard infantry line company (light infantry, not mechanized) is about 100-120 soldiers.  A regular battalion is 3-4 companies, but one of those is a HQ element, so it will probably be a little smaller.  So figure a battalion would be between 375-450 soldiers; 3 battalions in a brigade, plus a company-sized brigade HQ element, so around 1,000-1,100 soldiers, give or take.  Regiments are typically brigade-sized elements, but in the modern Army that term is usually only used in cavalry units, or for ceremonial purposes.

[Ruckdog]

Each token represents a Regiment, with the small white D6 showing the strength of the regiment in terms of the number of companies. So, I figure that means that each full-strength token represents the "traditional" regiment size of 1,000 men.

Why is it that I remember regiments as being 400 to 600 guys? Is 1000/regiment from the Napoleonic Wars?

If the strength in companies is also the AP value that puts 1 AP as being on the order of 100 guys... ...not sure what I think of that.

Yeah, I was going by the Napoleonic era, via the Wikipedia article on Regiments:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment

However, the article does say that regiments vary greatly in size, so any number is possible. Your point about the relationship between troop numbers and AP is an interesting one; it does seem like 100-150 men per AP seems largely reasonable, given the scale of the game. Probably the one place where it breaks down a bit is the small tank tokens; it is a bit of a stretch to think of 100-200 assault troops being cramed inside a small tank!

[Pendrake]

Probably the one place where it breaks down a bit is the small tank tokens; it is a bit of a stretch to think of 100-200 assault troops being cramed inside a small tank!

That is exactly what I was thinking. Also frigates. 100 foot long ship? with two AP?? two hundred guys are marines / boarders???

[Ruckdog]

Very good point! It is perhaps a little more believable in the case of frigates, if we posit that they do not have a lot in the way of fuel or stores! One other possibility is that AP based on ships and land vehicles is on a different "scale," due to better equipment. So, for example, thanks to jet packs, body armor, heavier guns, etc, one AP on a naval model might be said to represent fewer troops.

[MadDrB]

I've considered the AP with tiny tank tokens to actually be ground troops moving beside and behind the tanks but not actually riding on them.  Of course, it's tough to imagine foot soldiers keeping up with those tanks moving at top speed, but maybe cavalry troops could be riding between tanks, etc.

I have a lot of infantry and cavalry models in 3mm scale which I'm working on basing to use as infantry tokens....