Base shape and size for Zulu War

[londoncalling]

Ok, so I thought I could put my new BTD AZW Brits on 25mm round bases, and hence into movement trays.

However I hadn't appreciated they seem a little big for those, but yet going up to 30mm seems a bit much.

So how have people based theirs ? Round or square ? 1 or more figs to a base ? I'm not really a gamer, but you never know, I wouldn't want to rebase.

I will also have to do some hundreds of zulus I guess.

What do the most popular/fun rulesets call for ?

This is the third time I am trying this conflict!!!!!

First attempt - small armies of 15mm Mike's models are somewhere in the loft nestling against the second attempt, a fairly large collection of 70s/80s 25mm minifigs (oh yeah and have forgotten the 20mm esci plastics and the 54mm CTA )

thanks all

[SteveBurt]

If you want to base the figures together in units, square bases are much better than round.
Also a 20mm square base has as much room on the diagonal as a 25mm round, so makes better use of space.
I'd only use round bases for figures which will never form up - so not for British & Zulus, who both fought in large disciplined units.

[Atheling]

Granted, they are 28's (and not Zulu's!) but there are some great ideas on Mike Snook's Iron Duke Facebook page for his Sudan stuff:







Hope that gives you some ideas?

Darrell.

[londoncalling]

Darrell some lovely eye candy thanks, and yes I am talking 28s.

So yes you have given me some great ideas i can either have lovely rectangular bases or lovely round ones !!!!

SteveBurt also makes a good point, though not sure why I am drawn to round bases, given they would need trays if forming squares !

[MaleGriffin]

The first decision is the type of game you like to play. Are you into skirmishes or full on battles. A good compromise is movement trays so you can do both.
As to shape, I use square/rectangular for troops that fight in close formation and round for massed troops. I like the regular vs irregular look.
There are also a number of manufacturers providing irregularly shaped mdf bases that take round individual figure bases. The best of both worlds. You can move large numbers of troops quickly, but can still remove casualties. (I hate casualty rings! )
Next is the material of the bases. Metal is very good for magnetic movement/storage trays. Plastic is inexpensive and comes with the plastic troops. MDF has the advantage of the afore mentioned irregular movemet trays.
My first 25mm AZW collection was mounted on cardboard like you get on the back of a pad of paper and troops were stored by unit in foam lined plastic pencil boxes about 6" x 10".

Never broke a british soldier, but regularly lost Zulu shields and assegais.
I' m showing my age because now much of my collection is in foam lined carrying cases.
I hope this helped. 

[itchy]

as said it depends on your rules and if mass battkle or skirmish ,the rules I am playtesting at the moment allow for both so I have based my Brits and Zulu's on 1p coins then put them into 1p movement trays from warbases .My figures are amix of mainly warlord and empress but with some BTD ,redouibt and AW ans all fit ok except for some of the double figures . Pictures of all this stuff on my blog if you would like to look .

[Brian Smaller]

I used 25mm bases and sabot trays