More Marl-Bear-ians

Line Infantry, Grenadiers, Advancing Line Infantry, Cavalry

The line of teddy bear soldiers continues to grow.  I 3D printed a sample of three bears merged together at approx 40mm tall.  This seemed like the right height/mass to play with young kids.  The downside is that they ended up 2.25" across the widest point. My historical ranges are based on 2" grids. Ideally, I'd be able to reuse most of my terrain. Unfortunately, I don't think much of my existing terrain will work for the bears. They're just too wide at 40mm tall. Reusing the game mats is a worthy compromise though.  To fit the existing grid, I decreased the units to two bears. I increased the spacing a little bit so that they don't overlap their neighbors so much, and sit in a 1.75" square.  This should allow me to have a little space around to make scenery.  

Assuming square grid, the scenery will probably be limited to linear scenery on 2 of the sides.  I'll be utilizing some 2.5D ideas I've seen floating around for inspiration.  Limiting the scenery to two sides does allow it to store very compactly (a plus).  There are other options for terrain I'm considering.  

    Purely Linear Terrain:  Purely linear terrain would form the border between two grid cells.  It would inhibit/limit movement between cells vs. assuming that the terrain occupies the entirety of a cell.  

    Two-Part Terrain: Terrain disassembles into two parts; a base and an upper.  When a unit occupies a terrain feature (woods/house) the upper part is removed and the unit sits on top of the base.  For a forest, the base could be a layer of stumps and the trees trunks/leaves form the upper layer.  

Lord Bearington's Cavalry Trooper

In keeping with the toy-like theme, the Mal-Bear-ian cavalry rides into battle on bouncy horses.  I'm still debating whether or not the mounts need eyes, nostrils, manes, legs, or tails. I suspect at least eyes and tails are forthcoming. Keeping the bears' feet on the ground makes 3D printing much easier and results in a more stable model on the table at the expense of the historically obvious height difference between mounted and dismounted troops.  I'm not sure which I prefer yet.

The Command Element: A General and Bugler

Yet to Start Designs:

Artillery

Terrain: Buildings, forest, bridges

Drummer?

Standard Bear-er?

Pirates w/ bandana headgear?

Pirate w/ flowy shirt?

Work In Progress:

Horses: Eyes, nostrils, tails, manes, legs?

Expanding Armory

 

Musket, Blunderbuss, Modern Pistol, Flintlock Pistol

    I set out to make 18th Century Teddy Bear officers more distinct.  There might be a possibility of the Marl-Bear-Ians needing to deal with some "scurvy dogs" (probably still bears).  No self respecting pirate would be caught dead-or-alive without a few pistols.  The first pistol I've designed so far looks much more at home post 1911.  If I'm getting my history correct John-Bear Browning invented.  Maybe adding a lager cylinder could make it look something more like what a Cow-Bear would wield.  

    Also fortunately for myself, the weapons the bears use are the same size and scale that the humans in my other ranges have been using.  I think the bears unlocked quite a bit of variety.

Marl-Bear-O's Wars

 My 4 year old daughter has been asking for her own armies.  I could probably just print her up any of the ranges I've already made and as long as they're pink, she'd be over the moon.  But... she saw the Eureka Bear ranges, and now she  HAS to have them.  They seem near impossible to get a hold of so I've been commissioned by my daughter to make her a bear army.  After looking through Napoleonic, 18th Century, Roman, and Late 19th Century Uniforms, she selected the 18th Century as the "prettiest".  So that's what we're going with.  The current plan is to have very simple unit types of infantry, cavalry, and artillery.  I'm open to any kid-friendly rules that are available, especially if I can cheat to help her win without her realizing.  She's good enough at counting that I can't "misread" dice anymore. 

The Duke of Marl-Bear-O

The Duke's Line Infantry Arrayed for Battle

If the bears stand roughly 25mm, the 3 bear line formation takes up 1.5" (pardon my unit mixing).  I could probably squeeze them and some simple terrain into a 2" grid.  This would keep the game more accessible for youngsters and fit with my preference for grids.  Hopefully at 25mm scale the facings and cuffs could be altered for each unit.  Hopefully, eventually we could make both kids a set and play some Song of Blades and Heroes or the like as they get older.  

Now to start another painting project that I'll never finish...

The Queen's Own Royal Guard Grenadiers