You can look at this from many aspects, but it struck me earlier when I was comparing my latest standard bearer to one that I made years ago that looks now more like a totem bearer whether from a modelling perspective there should be some uniformity in size approximately?
From a historical perspective they served many purposes, but I suppose it depends how many troops they were designed to inspire. Much as in WHFB it’s generally presumed that the Battle standard is the largest.
But a small icon could serve the purpose of being inspirational just to the unit itself.
Then of course there’s command and control in battle.
From a gaming perspective, it should be as obvious as any other upgrade.
From an aesthetic perspective, it depends on the unit and the story you’re telling with it. Commoners or slaves might have a plain or ragged banner, only used to identify the unit from a distance and to serve as a rallying point for them alone. An elite unit will have something correspondingly grand. Greenskins have crude totems bedecked with grisly trophies (so naturally a more powerful unit will have more trophies…) while the Empire’s banners will probably have iconography in common across units, as befits a professional army.
A banner is as much a part of the unit as anything else, so it should complement the theme. If the unit is your general’s personal bodyguard, intended to hold the battleline against the most powerful foes, it makes sense for it to be an “inspiring” banner, even if there’s no rules for that. If it’s a unit of archers who just sit on the flank, something purely functional might be more appropriate.
It’s a balancing act I imagine (often literally with std bearers, lol), I agree a unit of archers/ slaves it would probably be more appropriate to have something really simple, but what if you really like making banners!?
My skaven slaves have a banner of sorts that’s just a tiny scrap of fabric probably 5mm squared.
On a related note, have you ever had to weigh down any of your standard bearers? Every Orc one I ever made I had to stick bits of metal underneath the base.
I usually add some metal to the base just to make sure they won’t fall over as easily. As far as banners go the bigger the better IMO, but a Battle Standard should clearly be the biggest. My plan is to, somewhere down the line when Im bored with 15mm Sci Fi, make new banners for my army.
Typically each unit brings the banner associated with their own tribe/county/school/whatever. In an army of Orcs and Goblins for example, each tribe brings their own banner to represent themselves. Unit A are goblins from the Bad Moon tribe. Unit B are goblins from the Sneaky Stabba tribe. And so on. Then the BSB should be carrying the General’s personal standard so enemies know who they are facing (it’s a pride thing). In the Empire, you’d see banners representing the different city-states among the various units and then the Emperor’s banner carried by the BSB (assuming they fight for King and country and haven’t fallen to rebel ways).
In the Empire, you'd see banners representing the different city-states among the various units and then the Emperor's banner carried by the BSB (assuming they fight for King and country and haven't fallen to rebel ways).
Grimbold Blackhammer
Actually, in most cases wouldn't the entire army be drawn from a single State, and the BSB would be carrying the standard of the Elector Count/Local Lord that raised the army?
Banners is important for any unit. I use banners even if the unit don’t have one during the game (I just tell my opponnent about it) and even has a banner on my Fireborn unit.
With banners it’s almost “the bigger the better”. I always go with flags for my banners and some kind of banner top / icon / symbol. But a simple Roman Legion style pole with a metal top could fine. But it’s not in my taste really.
