Some thoughts/questions on basing...

[traveller]

Over the last 30 years I have spent a fair amount of time basing and re-basing miniatures. I use home cooked rules so I have no limitations due to rule systems. My current standpoint is that I base all 28mm foot miniatures intended for skirmish wargaming as singles on metal circular 20-25mm bases and cavalry on singular rectangular bases. Miniatures intended for bigger battles, where some sort of linear tactics where used are based 4 or 6 miniatures in two ranks on a rectangular base. Cavalry 3 in line on a rectangular base. I have a few 40mm miniatures that are all based as singles.

I am happy with the above but I have recently seen some fantastic examples of miniatures based on bigger circular bases with 3-5 miniatures as a small diorama( 1812 Napoleonic, Colonial etc). If I should try this concept, the question is then what type of conflicts and periods would be suitable? Is it skirmish type of games or even larger battles?

I would be grateful for any thoughts or experiences that you can share. Many thanks!

[levied troop]

Surely the type of conflict and period would be entirely down to your personal choice?  I tend to base all my troops these days on steel washers and use sabot bases to accommodate different rules, but some senior  command stands have had the ‘diorama’ approach taken on big circular or irregular bases. These simply stand next to a unit if they’ve joined it or are in direct conflict with it (although many rules just assume that such senior commanders simply dissipate or die in contact with enemy).

The bigger base is also useful for the sort of vignettes that add a bit of fun to games - I’m working up a medieval casualty station for my Campaldino game just for the look of the thing although it might have a morale effect on nearby units (whether pro or anti might be a matter of choice - the screams of the wounded might not improve morale!). 

Big base Senior leaders/medical stations/supply points/religious or political encouragement would apply to any period and probably to any scale of game with the possible exception of 1:1?

[armchairgeneral]

I am happy with the above but I have recently seen some fantastic examples of miniatures based on bigger circular bases with 3-5 miniatures as a small diorama( 1812 Napoleonic, Colonial etc). If I should try this concept, the question is then what type of conflicts and periods would be suitable? Is it skirmish type of games or even larger battles?

I would be grateful for any thoughts or experiences that you can share. Many thanks!

I noticed from reading Rebels and Patriots (a largish skirmish game for 60 or more figures aside) they were using this sort of basing in some of the photographs. Although the rules are very flexible about basing as long as this is consistent. The 3 - 4 figures to a base were being used together with 1s, 2s and 3s in the same units so you can take correct number of casualties off. Personally I am not keen because I like a unit to be able to form a line say when behind a fence or occupying fortifications.

[Arrigo]

I am all for vignettes for leaders, but I found the vignette approach for troops bordering the ridiculous. I saw some large bases for Impetus with roads crossed by shepps on a side of the unit block, bridges, and the like.  They look nice in pictures...

then you think the bridge is moving with the troops...     and it is not an AVLB...    I tried what Lorenzo Sartori, back in time, called the Crisis Basing (reference to economic crisis and the rising cost of 28mm miniatures) and was not overly impressed. IT is nice when you look at the army, but then you also realize few miniatures take a lot of storage space...

Of course the occasional wounded, killed, or falling figure in a base is okay, but with every base having a 'once in a lifetime' (Martin Goddard from PP definition) scenery piece is silly.

Michael Leck basing system seen in Pikeman Lament and Rebels and Patriots looks nice but left me cold. Especially when both rules have close order...

It is like sweeties, eat too many and you get sick.

I am happy with the above but I have recently seen some fantastic examples of miniatures based on bigger circular bases with 3-5 miniatures as a small diorama( 1812 Napoleonic, Colonial etc). If I should try this concept, the question is then what type of conflicts and periods would be suitable? Is it skirmish type of games or even larger battles?

I think it largely a bad idea outside pictures or leader. Trust me, I have been there, and ended rebasing. Do not try! It could be nice to have your Commanding officer with his aide or friends, but it will be a single base in your whole force.

[Cubs]

Nothing much to add from what others have posted really. I like vignettes a lot and I think they're a great way show figures off with something pleasing to the eye. But I feel there is an assumption that the vignette is removed from the normal soldiers on the battlefield in a way that separates them from the rank and file units - either it's a command group, or casualty markers, or a supply wagon, or whatever.

I suppose you could argue that the genre you use them in thus depends on your vignette subject being separated in this way (for example, one might expect ancient and medieval leaders to be fighting with the rest of the guys in a way that later commanders would not), but it's also down to the size of the force as well, plus of course just plain old whether you want to display them that way or not.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

I am with Arrigo here: walking dioramas look silly on the tabletop. It's like Instagram for wargamers.

I use three types of basing: single figures in 20mm bases, with sabot movement trays for when I want use them in formed units; 40x40mm bases (cavalry 40x50mm, for the extra depth needed to fit the models), with 4 models per base; and 60x60mm (a la League of Ausburg-Beneath the Lily Banners style).

Musket era skirmishers I base them in round bases big enough to accomodate 2 models. It allows me to form them in lines, if needed, and I like the idea of having them based in pairs, which was, after all, how skirmishers commonly operated in the period (two guys, supporting each other), at least until the late 1860s.

[traveller]

Thanks for your comments and advice!
I agree that moving around mini vignettes with terrain features can be a bit silly, but for me projects tend to be large skirmishes with some 100+ miniatures per side(rather than small skirmishes OR big battles. To move around single miniatures is then a bit tedious and, with limited experience, I see sabot bases looking a bit odd since it elevates the miniatures with double bases compared to those without a sabot base(maybe I am wrong?)

Some conflicts/periods, using 100+ miniatures, would definately look wrong using bigger circular bases if these conflicts would use linear tactics, even with this small number of models. I think though that colonial natives, rebellions, 20th century conflicts could benefit from this since linear formations anyway would not be the norm. I like very much the idea of basing such miniatures on 1, 2, 3 and maybe 4-5 miniatures per base as this would allow to remove casualties in a smooth way. I am really impressed by the work of Romark in this thread:

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=117449.45

It looks really AWESOME!!!

[Cubs]

For multi-basing in units I like to put models 4 to a base (I used to do it 4 in a line, but now I favour 2x2) and move these around. If you play a system that requires singles for casualty removal, you can always have a 2 base and two singles to go in each unit. But I do still have them on squares & rectangles, because circle bases don't say 'unit' to me.

I only multi-base for larger actions though, Napoleonics and such, whereas you seem to be gaming an awkward sort of army proportion, between a battle and a skirmish size, so I get your dilemma.

[cahrn]

[...] I have recently seen some fantastic examples of miniatures based on bigger circular bases with 3-5 miniatures as a small diorama( 1812 Napoleonic, Colonial etc). If I should try this concept, the question is then what type of conflicts and periods would be suitable? Is it skirmish type of games or even larger battles?

I mostly game in 28mm, and base my rank and file miniatures individually. Depending on the setting I think some items are good candidates for basing on a larger base as you describe above. Ultimately you will have to see how well you like it on the table. I recently did a low key diorama with an artillery piece on a CD and while it was fun to make, it ended up being a pain to actually game with on the table.

[Shahbahraz]

I base my 'regulars' for Napoleonic and AWI on UK pennies, then use the sabot bases from Warbases.



The rules I use encourage scenic elements as deployment points (Sharp Practice II) and that's when I try to do little vignettes. Especially as I keep buying stuff that doesn't really fit into the game elsewhere, so the vignettes are ideal to use up that aide-de-camp or messenger figure.