Hey Andy You have turned this building into a treat mate!
Looks to be well detailed.
The gaping hole is just begging for a crashed AFV in it though!
About the layouts, if these are you final choices then I'd run with the second layout, albeit with some minor changes? Have the squad leader a little further left against the wall of the building, creating more space between himself and the squad. Change the order of figures alongside the truck. Have the last figure first, so as he can peer around the back of the truck and maybe have the kneeling bloke immediately behind him? Also, I'd avoid the spacing symmetry you have between the 3 standing figures. This can be effected by moving only one of them a little closer.
Keep us posted!
Brad

Excelent points... What you see so far is the VERY rough layout, so there is going to be lots of minor changes im sure! Basicly, the elements are there...I wanted the building, and just figures. I didnt want to do another "large" item like a armored vehicle, but wanted to push my composition a bit and acheive balance yet have the drama of the smallness of the figures juxaposed against the large building. The burned truck is going to become a "background" item, as it will be blended into the overall rubble and debris.

Those are not my "final" choices..but just what I came up with arranging the elements on the base.

yeah, im edging toward the 2nd choice too...it was a "what the heck" try, but is a bit more different than the classical arrangement everybody else does (building in back, figures in street, etc. Along those lines, im intentinaly NOT doing a AFV in the hole, as how many of those have we seen in the years? I just want to do something a bit different.

Ill try rearanging the figures and see what happens...thanks for your pointers!
Andy