"Help ! - 6mm virgin with basing questions !" Topic

Please excuse my ignorance, but I could do with your advice

After some indecision, I've finaly taken the plunge and bought some Adler 6mm Naps

I'm really impressed with the quality and detail of the sculpts, and after poring over a load of websites and blogs, I'm even more impressed with the standards of other gamers painting !

However I can't figure out which base sizes to use

I know the Polemos system uses a single 60 x 30 per battalion, but I can't fit 40 Adler Brits on there !
Do I not use all the figures ? Do I increase the single base to maybe 80 x 30 so they do fit ? Another option might be multiple bases, maybe four per battalion ? I would like to include skirmishers, but do I base them seperately ?

I didnt't think basing could be so confusing !

All your suggestions would be gratefully received

The standard Polemos base has 24 figures on it. You can add an extra rank or two if you put them tight against each other and get 36 or 48. I use Baccus and they are 4 to a strip and each strip is 20mm across so they fit great.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Bill

Depends on the rule system you're using. I find bases that are twice and wide as they are deep tend to work for most element-based systems. So 40x20mm (small!) or 80x40mm (nice) or 120x60mm (sweet and scenic).

Are you using Polemos? Or do you have another system in mind? I do often end up snipping strips into smaller sections when I want to do something specific.

Bob in Edmonton

Although I usually prefer 40mm by 20mm from the point of view of fitting my playing area, I did my Napoleonic armies on 60mm by 30mm bases. There were several reasons for this, of which the most important was that I wanted to include a colour party with line infantry units; in my opinion, 60mm by 30mm looked better with a colour party included than would have been the case with 40mm by 20mm bases.

You can usually adapt whatever rules you intend to use for various sized bases. Bear in mind, though, that playing area may be an issue. Bigger bases tend to need more space for games.

Like WLBartlett I used Baccus figures.

[I play DBN but have to use the distances for 25mm figures rather than those for 15mm figures.]

Not British but this is how I based my Adler French:

ssendam.org/blog/?page_id=11

try the 6mm forum for that and many other ideas.

link

This post turned out to be far less of a problem than its title implied.

The Polemos bases are very big. Fine if all you want to play is Polemos, not so fine if you want to try other rule systems out.

My 6mm infantry are on 30mm x 20mm bases, which can be put together in whatever combinations I like. They also have magnetic sheet on the bottom so I can use steel paper and movement trays.

I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't have put them on square bases, but they have been rebased once in the last 30 years already, and I'm not doing it again.

You could always go for 30x15 with 12 (maybe 8? Adlers are pretty big) figs on each, put four of those togther for your Polemos bases or go with 30x20 or 30x30 and just put two together. The deeper bases let you put a few skirmishers out front.

I use 40 x 20 mm for Infantry and Cavalry. I put 24 Infantry figures on a base – 8 wide by three deep – and two bases to a battalion.

Cavalry are 6 figures per base in a single rank – one base per squadron.

I like the 'mass' look……..

I have considered going to 6mm since at that scale you can get some very big battalions. Like 72 figures for a standard 720 man battalion or 1:10 ratio.

Or you can go with the General de Brigade scale of 1:20 or 36 figures per battalion.

Either way I would base the Lights out in front of the main battalion.

This is a query very similar to one I raised about a year ago and that is still unresolved. I have quote a large Adler collection but it was based as per the maker's guideline to replicate In The Grand Manner in 6mm. So it has 36 figure battalions, of 6 x 6 figure coy bases etc at 1:20. 4 of 8 for Russians and some other types of unit. The cavalry regiments are up to 32 or more in size.
I've wanted to base them, possibly in a magnetised fashion on larger bases, where the separately based skirmishers and be included. There are a lot of great pictures of bases where this has been done, but they normally involve fewer figures. I can't subdivide the battalions as each company has it's own pompom colour and with the French and allies, that amounts to about 900 coy stands. With the Russians, one of the bases is usually plumed for granadiers etc.
I'd love to find a system/set of rules that would allow me to base them up differently with larger base sizes.

Just to throw our another option, I'm cramming my Alder French onto 15x10mm bases, in 2 ranks of 3. Yes, it's very tight, but a battalion of 6 bases looks great, and with the narrower bases formations actually look as they are supposed to.

Here's a picture of Adler French based similarly to what CATenWolde is doing, only on 15x15mm bases (based for General de Brigade).

link

There are many products on the internet which claim to be able to increse your 6mm to a larger scale.

Hopefully this will also solve the virgin problem…

I went for 40x20mm for Lasalle AND 60x60mm for Grande Armee. Details here…

link

Cheers

Andy