Random basing thoughts

[Anonymous]

back when I was a 25/28mm Wargamer I based single infantry figures on 30/25/20mm circular bases (long story) for irregulars and 3/4″ squares for trained and drilled regulars.  Depth was about 3mm.

 

While I still use 20mm circles and 3/4″ basing for legacy armies I now play more and more with smaller size figures.

Trying to be rational or at least consistent I now use 20mm circles in either 3mm or 1.5mm +/- for my 15/18mm figures; 20mm circles 1.5mm deep for my larger 6mm figures; and 15mm circles .8mm deep for my smaller fantasy 6mm and 3mm figures (except aircraft.)

Do you use a consistent basing for your figures of a certain height or are you more random?

 

[Rhoderic]

Skirmish/adventure gaming being fairly preeminent in my wargaming pursuits, I prefer to not have bases any larger than they have to be (within reason) so as to minimise difficulties fitting figures into “problem spaces” like narrow alleys, small rooms or the spaces between trees in a forest. To that end, I find consistent base sizes an ill-fitting solution for me. Most of my 28mm scale figures are based on 25mm round bases but that won’t stop me using 20mm round bases for those figures that will fit comfortably onto them. If a figure (typically a smaller-than-human one in 28mm scale) will fit on something even smaller such as an M8 washer (16mm) then I’ll gladly use that.

If it needs pointing out, a consequence of my dislike for “dead space” on bases is that I avoid Warmahordes-style lipped bases entirely, so that’s one aspect of standardisation, I suppose.

I’m not hugely concerned over base heights, but I generally aim for “slottabase height” with my 28mm figures, and lower than that with the smaller scales.

As for shapes, some years back I mixed round, square, rectangular and even hexagonal bases quite indifferently, but now I try to use only round bases and “straight-sided ovals”, whatever they’re properly called (you know, those cavalry bases with the straight sides but rounded ends that have become fairly commonplace in recent years).

EDIT: For figures based many to a base in the smaller scales I’ll still use rectangular bases of standardised dimensions if it’s favourable for the ruleset.

[MartinR]

I try to use consistent basing for everything regardless of scale, as it is much easier to store them. Most of my stuff is based on artists mount board as elements though, but individual figures tend go on pennies (15/20mm). Some small indivdual fgures (6mm, 2mm) go on 10mm x 10mm, but that is generally only a few specific leader figures and I also try and put those on pennies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Mike]

Anonymous wrote:

Do you use a consistent basing for your figures of a certain height or are you more random?

I try to.
All my 6mm vehicles (except very small ones) go on a 25mm x 40mm base, the small ones on a 25mm x 20mm.
Infantry all go on the same sized circular bases as each other.

For my upcoming 15mm, I will base the humanoids on the same sized circular base as each other.
Beasties I will put on a rectangular base, size to be determined , but I am thinking 20mm x 40mm.

All of these are 2mm plastic except the very small 6mm vehicle base, that is 1mm steel for some reason…

[PatG]

I use 1/4″ ID, 3/4″ OD washers for single based 28, 25, 20 and 15mm foot figures. Support weapons and teams go on whatever will fit, usually the 1 1/2″ OD fender washers* I use for my cavalry. My reasons are fairly simple, the washer sizes are those recommended for the VSF/Colonials rules which I use with my largest figure collection. When placed edge to edge, they give the right unit frontage for the figure ratio for colonial close order formations. For Chain of Command, the 3/4″ are equivalent to about the height of a man which is about right for minimal spacing for modern combat. While my 28s (and 20s) figures are over size for the ground scale, they still have a reasonably accurate foot print on the table. Since the ground scale for CoC is 1/100, they are also spot on for 15mm.

My 6mm Saga figures are all on tiny washers sized proportionally to the suggested base sizes for 28s in the rules/forums. Which brings us to two more considerations: washers are cheap, especially since we got rid of the penny, and they are ferrous. I have lined my figure cabinets with magnetic tape and I use rare earth magnets on my movement stands. Everything stays in place fairly well during transport.

I have other miniatures mounted on MDF to fit the requirements of specific rules sets.

*fender washers have a smaller central hole for the same outside diameter so are easier fill or cover with the figure base.

[willz]

I use a mixture, WW2 20mm started off with pennies moved on to artist grey board apx 30 x 50mm.  Then 28mm 18th century generally MDF pre-cut  bases 40 x 40mm or 50 x 50mm or 50 x 60 / 80mm for artillery some command on 2 pence pieces.  Over the years I have used card and wood but nowadays I am a great fan of pre-cut MDF bases all shapes and size but 2mm thick.

[Norm S]

I try to be fairly consistent, my only thing is that I prefer multi figure stands and do not have anything except leaders based on singles. I also prefer my bases to have two ranks on them.

for 10 / 12mm I think a 40mm frontage works well (but then I do use hexes)

for 28mm infantry look good on a 50 x 40 base – 6 figures in two ranks of three.

I posed some basing information re smaller scales on my webpage a couple of weeks ago, which discusses a bit of experimentation. Link provided for anyone interested.

http://commanders.simdif.com/basing.html

 

[Phil Dutré]

I try to be consistent within a single period. E.g. for fantasy I still use the basing system that was the norm for WFB 3rd., and I guess for most of the editions after that.

But size matters less than a coherent visual look for the bases.

And since I prefer hex-gridded (house) rules, actual basing sizes are not that important to me.

 

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