"Perry ACW - infantry base sizes?" Topic

Dear all,

I have just bought the new Perry ACW figurea and need to kow if there is a universal size for ACW rules. I was thinking of 20mm squares or better 25mm squares for infantry and 50 x 25 for cavalry.

Are there common "standard" base sizes for rule ets in this period?
Thanks
Mick

I have been wondering this myself, and asked a similar question in the Products forum.

Here's what I have gathered so far:

Guns at Gettysburg
For 25mm figures, allow 15mm per figure, mounted 4 to a base in two ranks. This would make for a base 30mm wide. The depth is not given, but is supposed to be just enough to hold the figures.

Hour of Glory (free rules)
For 28mm figures, base is 60mm wide, with 6 figures mounted on a base in two ranks. This allows for 20mm per figure. Base depth is 50mm.

Rebel Yell
For 30mm figures, base is 25mm wide per figure, and 40mm deep.

Between these three, it would appear that the norm is to allow either 15mm, 20mm or 25mm width per figure, with a depth ranging from "whatever it takes, to 20 or 25mm per rank.

I do not have the Perry plastics, but wonder if it is even possible for them to fit in as little as 15mm width (of course, those dimensions were given for 25mm figures, not 28mm). So my guess is that allowing 20mm per figure would probably work.

I know that soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder, and that in whatever set of rules you use, it is always better to take up less width for a regiment. So if you can get them to fit in a 20mm width, do that rather than use 25mm.

Did the plastics come with any basing recommendations?

For Johnny Reb III and Fire & Fury, those games were aimed at 15mm figures, and I have not yet discovered if they have actual basing suggestions for using larger figures (I do not own those rule sets).

Steve

Deār steve,
There are no base sizes speified in the Perry rules but the diagram shows square bases, so 20 or 25 mm squares are implied.
Mick

For what it is worth, I'm basing my Perry plastic ACW on 3/4" (19mm) squares.

Not sure how I'll be using mine, but the size just felt right, not too big and not too small – should give me plenty of flexibility to use them in multiple ways (single based or multiple on a magnetic base).

All of my 28mm ACW is on 7/8" washers. I can then base them however I want on plasticard covered in magnetic sheeting.

Keep in mind that if you are playing a big battle with a lot of troops involved, it's going to be a ROYAL PAIN to move those individually mounted figures around. I played in a game like this once and vowed to never do it again.

I've gotten a look at the Perry ACW figures. Very nice, but they won't fit with the scales I already have, so I have to pass on them. I hope that people will post pictures of a battle with them, I'd like to see them on a table top.

I agree coopman.

I've never done the "magnetic basing" thing before, but if I go with 28mm for ACW, I'm quite tempted to base them individually on 20mm square magnetic bases, and then use metal trays to group them by 4s or 6s (depending on the rules) for larger battles, and use them individually for skirmishes.

And can anyone point me in the right direction regarding magnetic bases? Is it the individual base that is the magnet, and the tray is just a sheet of metal? Or is it the other way around?

"And can anyone point me in the right direction regarding magnetic bases? Is it the individual base that is the magnet, and the tray is just a sheet of metal? Or is it the other way around?"

ALWAYS use metal bases with magnetic movement trays… ALWAYS! The reason is common sense… if the magnetic properties of the magnets wear out what are you going to do with magnetic bases? Snap the base off the figure and glue another one? No. Metal is going to live forever and if the movement tray loses its magnetic properties you just get another one and the miniatures are fine and ready for a new base.

This is turning into a good night for me. More useful info, and I probably wouldn't have thought that through (minis get metal bases, trays get magnetic pproperties) until a portion of my force was based the other way.

Thanks Avid!

I'm using 30mm x 30mm bases with 4 figs in two ranks for infantry for Guns at Gettysburg. Each base representing 1 or 2 companies. I only put 2 figs per base for skirmisher.

Steve,

Many vendors sell the metal bases but if there is a machine shop near by you are in luck. Look in the Yellow pages for one. I had a guy make 5000 of them for less than $.03 USD per piece. I gave him an example to go by. Next day… BOOM!… done. You just need a guy to stamp thin sheet steel and you are in business. You can even sell the extras if you want and make money.

For ancients games I also use small fender washers that I buy from Sears. They sell small boxes with 100 in them. Not expensive as well. You can get them in many sizes but… because they are round and don't have the same surface area they don't hold as well. The square ones are a bit better but more work to acquire.