General Wargaming

Question; how many minis per base?

Posted by Zed1 on 07 Mar 2011, 19:12

Hi there!

I have several figs on spare which I would like to paint and bring them on base in order to sell them to wargamers. I saw several different bases yet - but some of them have four figures on them, some six. Skirmishers, sharpshooters and light infantry is often positioned on single bases.

As I don't want to read dozens of wargaming rule books, please allow me to ask you what's more common - six or four figs per base. :?
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Zed1  Germany
 
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Posted by Maurice on 07 Mar 2011, 20:05

Depends on the game, each has it's own rules.
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Posted by Zed1 on 08 Mar 2011, 06:14

Maurice wrote:Depends on the game, each has it's own rules.


Ouch! That's the answer that I've feared. Is there any... common standard?
I mean - if you go to a gaming meeting and someone tells you 'Hey, let's play with these or those rules' then it could mean that you don't have the right figures aboard. Or not?
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Zed1  Germany
 
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Posted by Maurice on 08 Mar 2011, 08:40

There's no common standard. Some games use single figures on a base, others as much as 4 and some even more then that.
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 08 Mar 2011, 15:51

Zedalist wrote:Ouch! That's the answer that I've feared. Is there any... common standard?
I mean - if you go to a gaming meeting and someone tells you 'Hey, let's play with these or those rules' then it could mean that you don't have the right figures aboard. Or not?



Precisely, however most of the time you should know what you're going to play and build your army to those rules. A lot of rules writers over the last few years have adopted the same conventions with regards to figure size/ground ratio. A 60mm wide frontage is common to a lot of rules (but don't take that as a rule, but like the Brethren Code it's more a guidelines).

Add to that the complication of figure to man scale. My first armies started with a figure scale of 1 figure represents 20 men, then another set of rules uses 1:50 men.

If you're selling them to gamers you may want to NOT base them, and let the wargamer base them - or better still get them to commission you (for a suitable fee) to do the bases how they want.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Zed1 on 08 Mar 2011, 16:46

Mmh... that brings me to an idea:
How about putting each figure onto it's own base? Let's say for example, I put each figure onto a 2*2cm base made out of thin wood or plastic material. This would allow to group them on a wider thin base. In other words: you have sub-bases for four-figure-groups and sub-bases for six-figure groups that can be equipped with the single based soldiers...
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Posted by musketier on 08 Mar 2011, 19:06

I was waiting and debating what to tell you, I have many rule sets and for me what works best with 1/72 scale figures and allows you some flexibility is this general rule of thumb. For Ancients up to the 19th century I put 4 foot figures on a 3.5cmx4.5cm base, that takes care of formed infantry for the skirmishers etc i use same size base but put 2 figures on, for cavalry, same size and 2 horsemen, for chariots,elephants and artillery i put 1 model on a made to order base.For 20th century Ii use my standard base size, described above, but use 2 figures and the artillery is custom fit to a base, what i mean by custom size base is that usually you can standardize the base size for each period you are doing, the figures size determine this as there is variation across the periods, the key thing to remember is to make sure all bases you make for each side are as close as possible to being the same size. Your idea about doing singles and then combing it depending on rules is a little time consuming plus you will need not only the bases to be made but you will need a moving tray to hold them together when doing large units, unless you enjoy moving a lot of individual figures when you play, trust me that gets very tiring and time consuming to do. Now I hope you and the others finally understand why when i post finished figures they are all on card stock bases as that is the easiest and inexpensive material i find to mount the figures. I hope I have answered your question satisfactorily and have given you something to consider. One last note, I use this basing system because it adapts to most not all but most war game rule sets.
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musketier  United States of America
 
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Posted by Wheeling Turn on 08 Mar 2011, 20:41

It is better not to base the models if you want to sell them.
It is quite hard to remove these from their bases, because you won't base them correct.

And to be precise. I do not buy painted and based models. Only painted
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Wheeling Turn  Germany
 
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Posted by musketier on 08 Mar 2011, 22:32

I only use white glue to base my figures for just that reason Wheeling, it allows me flexibility without ruining the figure because it is very easy to remove from my bases.
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musketier  United States of America
 
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Posted by Wheeling Turn on 09 Mar 2011, 21:51

Me too but mixed with birds sand, and that becomes rock hard like concrete.... :king:
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Wheeling Turn  Germany
 
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Posted by musketier on 09 Mar 2011, 23:58

now you no why i don't terra form my bases :-D
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musketier  United States of America
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 10 Mar 2011, 09:49

Getting down to specifics about bases.

I use a basic 60mm frontage by 20mm depth base. 4 figures for close order troops - pikemen, spearmen, Napoleonic infantry, 3 figures for looser order figures - bowmen, warbands etc.
For anything looser like skirmishers - slingers, javelinmen, warhounds, I use a wider base and deeper base 30mm by 30mm.
This 60mm works with most of the rule sets I use - WRG 6th, WRG Napoleonics, WAB (there is no 'fixed' base size for WAB, but it does help when you agree with the your opponents).

For WW2 games I base figures on 22mm diameter discs (aka Tiddly-winks), though for the last year I have been trying to get my brother, who has access to a machine shop to make me a 22mm disc punch so I can stamp my own out of 2mm plastic card.

So you can see from this and the other posts that basing is a nightmare. I really think you'd be better selling them un-based and let the purchaser do the basing.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Maurice on 10 Mar 2011, 12:34

Unless of course you intend to sell them for a specific game like DBA.
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Posted by Ochoin on 11 Mar 2011, 22:38

The base sizes Steve gave (above) are the default sizes for several rulesets.

donald
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Ochoin  Scotland
 
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Posted by luchs on 26 Apr 2011, 20:33

my two cents..
sell the figures wihtout base and ask more little money for basing them to choice of the buyer..
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Posted by Zed1 on 27 Apr 2011, 10:38

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I think it's gonna be best to make base construction a separate offer.
Whatsoever - my wife had a nice idea to use magnetic foil and thin plastic for the base and then put a thin magnetic foil under the figure bases as well - which would give the possibility to combine figures and bases just as you please. Sounds like a brilliant idea, but most presumably complicated to create.

At the time being, I'm looking at my works and I'm not sure if I will ever be able to sell them. *sigh*
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Zed1  Germany
 
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Posted by Peter on 23 Jan 2012, 21:56

After reading this topic and the posts in it, it still isn't clear to me how you have to base figures for playing games.

What I like to see is a topic with all the information in it, how you have to base your figures for a specific game.

For example: DBA:
- size of the base(s)
- how many figures on it for:
- infantry
- cavalry
- artillery
- command stand
- and so on

And could this be done for other gamerules?
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by Winttrix on 23 Jan 2012, 23:34

All my figures are singly based except for rocket, MMG, HMG teams etc.
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Posted by musketier on 24 Jan 2012, 02:14

One of the reasons I use Fire and Fury base system for my wargames there are a lot of articles and supplements out there now so its not just ACW. In that system its not the number of figures on the base that's important ( although some additional rulesets do require an exact amount) but it's the number of bases that counts. The #figures on each base is more for aesthetic reasons. I'm probably repeating myself hehe
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musketier  United States of America
 
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Posted by von Auerbergh on 24 Jan 2012, 08:21

Same with Warmaster and its descendants(?): usually three bases per unit, for the original 10mm-game its 20x40 mm, with our 1/72-men we use 30x60 mm. The 1:2-ratio is essential for the game mechanics (canons stand on square bases)... but unlike DBA etc. the number of figures per base doesn´t matter. Just do as you like :-)

For our skirmish Behind Omaha my single figures are based on coins, teams on 40x40.
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von Auerbergh  Germany
 
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