"Do you base your 6mm vehicles?" Topic

As the topic title asks: Do you put your 6mm (1:300 or 1:285 scale) WW2 tanks, trucks etc. on bases or not? If you do, what material do you use for the bases? What info, if any, do you print/paint onto the base?

I've had a large selection of mostly GHQ 1:285 late WW2 NWE models for years, but only played a game with them once, many years ago, with my son. Then a few years ago I started acquiring more, mostly from eBay, but then got diverted to 20mm again and haven't used them since. I've been thinking about trying to use some for one of our online games, since they'd allow for larger forces. But they are rather small and not easy to identify or keep track of who is who. I had, at 1 time, planned to base them on very light card stock, painted in different natural colors to easily distinguish Germans from US from UK, with enough info on the bases to identify vehicle type and its place in the unit. But I'm not sure I want to do that for the online games.

I base mine. I don't put any info on the bases, I merely put the vehicle on a metal base and terrain the bases just like the infantry.

This makes it much easier to transport them.

I don't base them, other than a few jeeps from the very start of my project. I use a few tricks for ID, including a sticker on the bottom/inside with the vehicle type, and then either decals or turret angles to identify any key vehicle (e.g. a leader).

I do 1 model = 1 vehicle gaming through, if they represented platoons/squadrons, I'd do them with bases (I do that scale of gaming in 3mm tho).

I base them on Vinyl floor tiles or pennies (pennies are the older ones). I then put a label on the buttom letting me know what vehicle it is. (most I know but not all my players do AND there are some I don't know on site…)

Yes, on sheet metal bases, with no visible info (although putting a sticker on the bottom is a good idea).

Doug

I put mine on bases so my friends do not manipulate the models and bend the barrels. Plus you can make it like a mini diorama which looks great on good terrain. Ditto on what Pictor's has said.

Personally, I generally play 6mm sci-fi but I do tend to base mine on wooden bases with magnetic tape on the bottom so they can be easily put on the table using a metal tray and using lined video boxes or metal tins for storage

I also find it easier to base for command groups as I tend to play Dirtside or FWC

Brigade games Chinese

Brigade games Eurofeds

Nope.
Here is a shot of the red horde swamping West Germans.

link

Depends on the rules.

My 6mm WW2 armies are based for Megablitz. My 6mm SF armies are not based. My 6mm Cold War armies are based for NATO Brigade Commander.

what material do you use for the bases?

Mount board

What info, if any, do you print/paint onto the base?

None, but the Megablitz bases have one or two magnetic squares for Srength Point and Logistics.

As boy wundyr x…1:1 representation.

No basing.
Barrels subject to abuse are replaced with brass rod.
Storage/transport aided by magnet attached inside model.

I base my 6mm vehicles on magnetic sheets. I have a lot of them, so the magnetic basing helps a great deal for storage and organization, and helps to protect gun barrels and other fragile bits.

I do mostly "one model equals one specific vehicle" scale gaming, so for some rulesets I need some sort of ID code on each vehicle. For most of my vehicles I have the type printed on one side and a unique ID code printed on the other side.

Tanks and things of that size, no. Jeeps, mcs and mccs, and things like that, yes!

I base all mine. Use artists mounting board with flock or sand depending. I mark the underside of the bases sometimes, I have also tried rear edge base marking with some success. The best system is magnetic sheet on the rear base edge which I stick various markers on that I made out of steel paper.

Unit ids don't need to be complex, I find a pair of dot or line sequences going from 1 to 4 is more than enough for most units. E.g. 2 platoon, 3 company would be .. …

I do (did?) 6mm science fiction, and pennies are my base of choice for anything and everything that fits on them. If they get too big, then I switch to washers. Some things, like mobile factory cities, are just too big for any reasonable base.

No.

Based.

Helps protect the miniature from knocking into other miniatures, is easier to pick-up for your gamer mates who might be less dexterous and you can magnabase the underside ofthe base.

Only downside is they look less than stellar on a different surface such as a road but it's a small price.

I always base my 6mm vehicles. I use either metal bases or make my own cut from 0.03" thick sheet styrene and flock the bases with various model RR scenic materials and very fine sand for gravel. As noted by several others, the bases help protect the vehicles during storage and transport, allow for easier grasping by players, and the base underside allows for markings to organize/distinguish units.

No.

pjm

For Blitzkreig Commander/Cold War Commander, I base 2 or 3 as a platoon/troop on a 65mm by 55mm base

I only base figures, guns, and small vehicles (jeeps, kubels, etc).

Didn't used to. Now I put them on 1" squares.

Yes.

No

No …

Nope.

", I base 2 or 3 as a platoon/troop "

That is what I do with my 2mm stuff. I started doing it with 6mm but realised I was too much of a cheapskate:)

Some 2mm stuff here.

link

No.

bases yes, protects them during handling, and I like the character you can add.. 'sets the scene' so to speak..

Yes.

No

No.

Yes, as i find it protects the model and helps tie in with the rest of the army.

No, but I have temporarily tacked them to pre made bases for Spearhead games. I'm mainly a Command Decision player.

Depends on the game. For my 6mm skirmish games no I do not. For my brigade and higher games yes.

No. But I base trailers and limbered guns and use magnets to pair them with the towing vehicle on the same base.

All vehicles get magnets for transport.

Using the same magnets I can put my vehicles on bases temporarily if really needed.

Used to don't like em now

I'm just getting back into WWII micro-armor. Back in the 1970s my philosophy was not to base vehicles, and to use very thin bases for infantry and guns, so that they didn't look too tall WRT to said vehicles. The infantry bases were thin plastic card painted in the color of the underlying (desert) terrain.

This time around I'm using GHQ vehicles and guns, but the H&R infantry and crews still can't be beat for scale.

To illustrate the relationship, here was my "system" for mounting guns, using a removable base and unbased towing vehicles. All models 1970s-era H&R:

MH

Yes on a grass base for Spearhead rules..