Monday 11 May 2015

My basing problems...

Who would have thought that choosing a base size for a 15mm project would be so hard?!

My original thought was to go with 10mm, but when I tried this it definitely seemed on the small side, strange given that DBx uses a 40mm frontage for 4 figures! With the next convenient amount of mm being 15, I cut up a few of those. Now the problem was they seemed too big!

Here's a picture for comparison:




And here is another reason why I went off 10mm squares... my standard bearer just wouldn't stand up!:




Then I saw this post on TMP asking a similar question. The first reply caught my interest. 'Nazrat' said he used a 1/2" square as the basis for his WAB basing. It had never occurred to me to use inches... 1/2" is 13.7mm, not something I would want to measure out a hundred times using metric measurements! But the convenience of a half inch can not be denied. So I went ahead and cut out a base to see what it looked like (middle):



Seeing the results I am pretty much converted to the idea. Not too small and not overpowering, it seems a good fit to the figure size. So the next question is, what do I use for cavalry and larger monsters?!

Off the top of my head I can see the convenience of 3/4" and 1" frontages for them, but I'll wait and see when I get some cavalry for my first army.

10 comments:

  1. Half an inch is perfect mate,it's what I was planing on using but as multi-basing and front ranking of 2.5"

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    1. Thanks. And yes, I'm definitely going to multi-base, but with some singles for casualty removal. So the plan was to figure out what looks okay for the singles and work up from there!

      Thanks for your comment. Makes me feel more confident in my choice! :)

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  2. I agree, 1/2 " looks good, I ended up multi basing them all on my first unit, I decided singles would be to fiddly, although you have the advantage of using them for skirmish as well.

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    1. Hi Dan. Thanks for your comment. I think I'll definitely multi base with a few singles as I don't plan on using them for skirmish. That would open up a whole other headache as I base figures on pennies for skirmish games! Tried that for WAB and it just looked wrong.

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  3. As I came from HOTT (and thought I might return to it at the time) I tried to maintain a base size that matched the same frontage. Basically 40mm. Assuming 3 figures to a base this meant 13.3mm front by 15mm deep for a single miniature. 13.3mm is pretty much 1/2". The couple of mm different in depth is visibly unnoticeable. However 15x15 would have the accumulative effect of producing a 45mm frontage.

    I'm happy to say I've become far more less ****y retentive with time and care less about such things. My focus is primarily on skirmish level games and I base the miniature on a circular base that 'suits' the miniature - some small some large.

    Should I wish to play 'regimental' size games (such as WHF) my backup is; ensure bases have steel content or apply steel sheet to the base. Cut magnetic sheets to desired 'regiment/unit' size. Lightly paint with colours to match base colours. (optional; stick thick cardboard layer beneath magnetic base to give 2-3mm table clearance for easier manipulation on the table). Add miniatures to suit. Flexible. And good for re-purposing skirmish based figures or for allowing the removal of casualties if the rules require.

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    1. Hi. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Like you, I mostly use HOTT for 15mm fantasy and under most circumstances id be happy using any other rules with that basing.

      This is an exception as I really just want to embrace every part of trying to replicate Warhammer in 15mm, which includes the basing. For me it is less about being anal about base sizes as it is about just jumping into the project with both feet and fully committing to it. Little puzzles like this basing 'problem' just add to the fun!

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    2. Hi Chris!
      My choice was: 14mm for 25mm bases (human, elf, dwarf) and 16mm for 30mm bases (orc, chaos warrior). My reasons:

      1. It looks good
      2. As I have some textured (with squares) plasticard sheets, it´s the easiest way for me to make the bases... :-)

      Have a look here: http://shop.greenstuffworld.com/ABS-Plasticard/ABS-Plasticard-Large-Squares-Textured-Sheet-A4

      If not, I would probably go with 15mm, as it´s quite easy to found mdf base of that size...

      Cheers!

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    3. Hi

      Thanks for your comment. I think it was your orcs I was admiring on TMP recently. Great work.

      Things have moved forward a little and I am definitely going ahead with the half inch bases for human sized models. 15mm just gave too much space around the models when they were ranked up.

      Chris

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  4. 1/2" may be an inconvenient 13.7mm in metric, but on the other hand, it is exactly half an inch in imperial. I think you are absolutely right about 10mm being too small and 15mm too large. I imagine 10mm works in DBA because you are multi basing and you can shuffle them up a bit. Also it's only 4 to a base for close order infantry and they are supposed to present quite a solid close packed wall.

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    1. Thanks. Now I have completed my first units, I can say I'm entirely happy with my choice. If I play DBA or HoTT with them I'll just have to mount fewer figures on the larger base and put up with it. It isn't as though the number of figures really matters in DBA anyway!

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