In general, when playing skirmish games I prefer round bases to square. Also, I do not like to mix rounds with square (or rectangular) bases in the same warband.
In Saga, for both aesthetic and game play reason, I prefer to mount cavalry models on pill shaped bases rather than large rounds or oval bases. As for the latter, the one exception I've made is mounting my
Age of Magic forest goblin spider riders on 40mm rounds. For the spider riders, the rounds best fit the shape of the spider models' overall footprint.
In the past I've used 50 mm and 60 mm rounds to make Baggage (vignette) models. Rounds are ill suited for models that have a long, roughly rectangular footprint like a wagon and draft animals. Years ago, when I assembled the wagon from
Gripping Beasts' Baggage kit, I mounted it on a homemade pill shaped base that I constructed by attaching a
Renedra rectangular base to two pieces of
Renedra rounds.
The DIY
Renedra pill base turned out okay, but a couple of years later when it was time to base a
Victrix Gaul chariot, I needed another pill shaped base. This time, instead of piecing together bits of
Renedra bases, I made my own pill shaped base by cutting it out of a large, wooden circular base made by
Litko.
My Muslim warband's Baggage models will be a bit more traditional than the story-themed Baggage/vignette models I made for my Briton and Pagan Rus warbands. Since I dearly love camels each will include at least one camel accompanied by some men on foot. In my mind, the layout of each camel procession should fit nicely on pill shaped base, so it's time to crank out a few more wooden pill shaped bases.
According to the
Book of Battles, a Baggage model's base must be no smaller than 40 mm x 40 mm, and no larger than a 100 mm x 50 mm rectangle. The pill shaped bases I have in mind measure 3 inches x 2 inches (roughly 75 mm x 50 mm), so it meets the requirements.
I begin with a
Litko 3 inch (1.5 mm thick) wooden base. Using a pencil and ruler I drew a center line. Next I added two parallel lines, each 1 inch from the center line. .
Then I sketched 4 curves to give each end a nice rounded shape. Then used a hobby saw to cut along the two parallel lines in order to remove the semicircle pieces of each side.
Finally, I used a hobby knife and sand paper to round the corners that were created by cutting away the semicircles.
Below is a mock-up of my first Baggage model for my Muslim warbands. In keeping with the Almoravid drum theme, this first Baggage model will be my drum section. The camel is made by
Perry Miniatures. The foot models are
Gripping Beast. The plastic drums and arms come from the
Perry Miniatures' Afghan Tribesmen kit.
The base is a bit crowded, so I'll likely evict the horn blower and use the extra space on the base to add some interesting terrain features.