Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: ketoeloeh on March 21, 2007, 10:26:47 AM
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I noticed a lot of historical gamers base their individual models on washers. Is there a special reason for this - be it game technical, aesthetical, or otherwise?
You see, I'm used to gluing figs in/on plastic bases. I love the round slotted bases (Dark Age, Warmachine) but I think they're a 'bit' too big for many of the historical figures I possess... I'd like to base my figures individually as I prefer skirmish games to mass battle systems.
Anyone like to give some advice on this? Maybe with a specific game system in mind?
k.
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Aesthetical reasons.
I base my figs on plastic bases and my canons, chariots and other big models on plywood bases instead of plasticard. My reason is I want to move the figures without touching them directly. Therefor I accept they're not looking that good (washer-bases fitting better in the scenery etc.).
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I think the reason is that they don't add as much to height of figures as normal bases would...
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I think it's because sci-fi and fantasy minis from the big companies come with slottabases, and historicals usually don't!
Hardcore historical guys base on small squares of cardboard, so they can arrange them in ranks.
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It depends.
For almost all my projects post 6/2006, I´ve chosen to use the washers, since finally, they have become cheaper than GW slottas.
For higher-paint-quality projects, such as restricted-number Skirmish games, I still use the plastics for the same reason the General mentioned, easier to move the figures without damage.
AS well as that, older, but unfinished projects will be continued in a style that fits the existing minis, although I might rebase some.
For example, my SCW and WW2 28s are all based on steel washers, whereas all my Cyberpunk stuff is on plastic or resin slotta-sized bases.
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Aesthetical, looks just better in the scenery
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I am washer man, myself. Pretty hardcore even. I rebase pretty much everything I paint on 25mm washers for all the reasons already mentioned plus the fact that it gives them a lower point of gravity and their magnetic properties can be used to an advantage.
There are s few problems of course.
Many minis need to be prepped either by cutting the piece that normally goes into slot to fit the center hole of the washer. If that is not possible drilling with 1mm bits and using brass wire supports is needed. Quite fiddly if the mini is just standing on one scrawny leg but doable with practice and the right tools
There is less 'give' in a metallic base so plastic miniatures (like GW LotR horses) should propably be glues into plastic bases. (i.e. plastic to plastic, metal to metal or the bond will be stringer than the material an the leg rather than the bond will break). I still prefer the extra gravitas of a washer so thats what I am
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I started using washers recently, but haven't thought much about it. When the miniature comes with a small integral base as opposed to a slottabase tab, putting in on a washer just feels like the more natural choice. The integral base already adds a bit of height so the extra height of a plastic base would be overkill (and I haven't bothered to track down some of those recessed plastic bases).
I should add that I'm totally indifferent to having miniatures with differing base shapes on the gaming table. Some have slottabases, some have washers and some have big enough integral bases not to need anything more.
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I use metal bases to assist with storage and transport.
I use adhesive magnetic sheet in plastic bins to store and transport my forces. The magnetic sheet holds the washer-based figures in place and, as long as the bin is not shaken too violently, allows the figures to arrive at the game area without having their paint chipped or weapons broken.
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Quick question for those that use washers, for larger mins e.g. horses what's the approach, a larger washer? or is an oval created and if so - how?
Not a fan of slottabases and looking to make the leap to the other side..
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I hate slotta bases, they're too tall and make a figure top-heavy. I base on coins, a British 2 pence piece is 25mm across and costs less than a washer (they're also magnetic but I don't use this property)
If figures need to be ranked up or conform to a floor grid so that they require rectangular or square bases I cut them from 60thou plasticard or, for bigger bases, I buy circular plywood bases from litko Aerosystems.
I used to use the flat,plastic 60mm circle that GW produce but they've changed the packaging from a bag of 15 for £4.00 to a single one for £0.75 so I've moved on.
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I've been baseing my pulp character figs on Privateer bases and my military type NPC figs on round 40k style bases. After finishing about 40 figs that way I have to say I hate it and I wish I had gone with washers and U.S. pennies instead. The Privateer bases in particular are just too freakin big. They look really nice when the mini is on the shelf or being photographed but on the table they are very intrusive. They also cause problems with regular terrain features. Since a lot of pulp games are more like streamlined RPGs a lot of the action will take place inside buildings or underground complexes and not in wide open fields. That's where the big bases really become a problem.
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I hate slotta bases, they're too tall and make a figure top-heavy. I base on coins, a British 2 pence piece is 25mm across and costs less than a washer (they're also magnetic but I don't use this property)
If figures need to be ranked up or conform to a floor grid so that they require rectangular or square bases I cut them from 60thou plasticard or, for bigger bases, I buy circular plywood bases from litko Aerosystems.
I used to use the flat,plastic 60mm circle that GW produce but they've changed the packaging from a bag of 15 for £4.00 to a single one for £0.75 so I've moved on.
Hear Hear Ma\takishi One more reason to keep the great British Pound :mrgreen: :wink:
(http://www.antiquetrader.com/mark/content/binary/John%20Bull.jpg)
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Hear Hear Ma\takishi One more reason to keep the great British Pound :mrgreen: :wink:
I hadn't considered that one. I was all keen to move to the Euro, making cross Europe mini shopping easier for everyone.
But at the cost of my mini base supply?
I'll have to rethink my whole political outlook. :lol:
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I use GW 25mm round bases for skirmish games and GW' like 20mm square bases for historicals big games (as WAB).
I used it because i can put a little magnet downside.
I begin to use washer for my WWII minis.
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I use washers now for all my basing.I prefer the look for the same reasons as above.
I used to base figures battles on either 20mm square plasticard or for groups of figures like artillery pieces on larger sized pieces. I have never liked slottabases and never will. :)
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I originally went with washers because I wanted bases for storage on magnetic sheets.
Lately I have been building terrain with sloped parts such as roofs made out of manetic sheet. This keeps a lot of area in play that otherwise was avoided because the figs would fall off.
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I'm with the washers! I used to use 19mm repair washers, but most of my figures in the last couple of years have been based on 25mm repair washers. I just like that extra bit of space for creating slightly more interesting mini-terrain on each figure's base... Unless it's a particularly slim figure, like a Copplestone babe, in which case I occasionally revert to 19mm, so that the figure doesn't look lost on the base...
Why washers? Because they are cheap(ish), perfectly round and nicely smooth. Above all, they have just the right weight to give the figure some stability and a bit of oomph when you pick them up. And they provide a nicely finished 'soft' edge.
I rarely find the hole in the centre of the washer to be a problem - even where I deliberately offset the figure on the base. Most figures come with cast-on bases which are big enough to cope with the hole one way or another...
Interestingly, for cavalry, I use 30mm x 60mm 2mm MDF bases which I buy off a chap on eBay. They are dead cheap, precision cut, and just the right size to invest a mounted figure with extra gravitas (as Hammers so poetically puts it!) Cavalry figures tend to be heavy enough anyway - they don't need the added weight of a metal base.
Besides, the amount of basing material you can load onto a 30mm x 60mm base creates quite a lot of gravitas of its own! :wink:
Cavalry on great big circular bases just don't do it for me - seems to be a terrible waste of all that base sticking out on either side of the horse...
But slotta bases - eeeeyuch! Not only are they a visible manifestation of the GW's ubiquitous tyranny, they are nasty, lightweight, plasticy plinths. And even though they now cost more than a decent metal washer (how absurd is that?!) they still feel and look definitively cheap. Horrible.
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Aesthetical reasons.
I base my figs on plastic bases and my canons, chariots and other big models on plywood bases instead of plasticard. My reason is I want to move the figures without touching them directly. Therefor I accept they're not looking that good (washer-bases fitting better in the scenery etc.).
Gamers in my area tried thick basswood bases for one of our periods partly for this reason. My observation has been that the players don't really grab the stand by the base, but almost always grab the figures. I find myself handling the stands by the figures even if I thought that I wanted to try handling by the base. So I just give the figure a heavy gloss coat and spray dull coat over that. The thick bases are still useful for labelling the units.
Most gamers in my area use fender washers (small hole) for skirmish gaming. But people are not too picky about the occasional figure on a slota-base. We also have a good local supply of heavy precut steel bases in many rectangular sizes. Some of our gamers use these in colonial games for the European troops, since these troops are supposed to form up in ranks. I have a few of these with 3/4 x 1 inch bases.
I also like more weight on the base (a British pound coin would be really good!) and prefer to line the storage boxes in magnetic sheets or strips because the box is too heavy when it's lined with ferrous metal. I haven't tried the idea of using magnetic material under terrain, but I'm thinking about trying it on sloped decks or on "crow's nests" on pirate ships.
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I am one of those on the fence guys, my pulp figs are all mounted on fender washers, 25mm, I believe. My old fantasy figs are mounted on various sizes of evil empire style bases, slotta minis or not.
I did some experimenting with the last batch of hills I made and put some small magnetic strips into the sloping areas of the hills. They seem like they hold a washer well enough, that and the texture I use, anyway.
I find that when I go to the hardware store, I normally just tack on an extra dollar or round up to the nearest dollar in washers, and that seems to do me just fine, since I am there already. I could save money by getting just a box of the washers, but then I would have to buy more figs to use them...
UncleRhino
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Due to GW's recent repackaging of bases I have been forced to go elsewhere for 60mm round bases. Either Gale Force 9 or Litko Aerosystems can provide them made of thin plywood.
www.litkoaero.com has 100 x 60mm rounds in 3mm plywood for $ 15 and they also sell add-on magnetic rounds for a similar cost to make them magnetic.
I still prefer steel washers or the fairly cheap GF9 magnetic 1" rounds (even have a slotta version) which at 25 for $ 10 arent too expensive.
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I use litkos 0.8mm plywood bases, you can hardly tell they're based with those, and they're quite sturdy aswell.
At least i havent broken any yet :wink: