"Why such thick basing for 10mm?" Topic

About ready to start basing some 10mm ACW figures. Everyone seems to use bases that are almost as thick as the figures are tall. I'm use to 20mm figures (only twice the height of a 10mm figure) and most gamers use metal washers are coins.

I'm tempted to go with metal bases but . . .

So, why such thick basing for 10mm? Does anyone use anything less meaty? Why do you like the basing you use?

thanks
Duane

Hi Duane, I use 3mm thick wooden bases from Lithko. I know they are too thick for some tastes, but what I like about them is they are easier to pick up. I don't like to pick the units up by the figures, I'm more likely to break them or rub off paint that way. Plus I find that I am usually looking at the table from a steep angle, so most of the time the thickness is not even apparent. Those are my thoughts.

Regards, James

James hits the nail. With 6mm-10mm figures you really have two choices:

1) the standard 3mm thick base, which allows you to pick up the stand by the base, saving the figures from being busted up.

2) thinner metal, which forces you to pick up the stand by the figures, likely damaging the figures unless you have dainty hands only Tinker Bell could appreciate.

You choose the method with which you are comfortable.

I prefer the .8mm bases with affixed flex steel for my 6 & 10mm figures. The larger ones just don't look right to me. But I understand why others go with the thicker bases.

So does anyone make any compensations for terrain, ie; use 15mm fences? OItherwise the base maybe as tall as a fence?

thanks for feedback
Duane

I use the thin metal. Frankly I've never seen gamers pick up thick bases by the edges. Leastwise not often enough to make a difference. And once the troops are in the middle of the table especially. So I go with the thin bases and live with the occasional broken bayonet….

My observations at convention games mirror those of extra crispy; gamers like to grab figures as opposed to the side of thick bases.

I use 1mm bases since I started Warmaster all those years ago.

ExtraCrispy:

back when our club played 15mm (SYW/Napoleonic/ACW) we used 1" square ceramic floor tiles for bases. We could easily put 6 minis on each tile, and they had several advantages. 1.) They were ceramic, so heavy, and kept the minis upright. 2.) They were inexpensive. You got a gross of them (12X12 sheet) for about $3. USD 3.) You could easily pick the bases up by their sides. 4.) Having a glazed, smooth top surface meant that Superglue mounted the minis to them with a nice fast bond.

For esthetics, we painted the sides black and to be honest, you simply didn't see the edges of the bases after a couple games.

Ceramic floor tiles have many advantages. The larger sizes come in rectangles, squares, and hexes(!!!!!) which make basing neat.

Buckle on over to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or any scrap-booking store and buy a punch in the diameter you want. They have them in a range of sizes and shapes and they are designed to cut through cardstock.

Then head over to your local hobby shot or Model-RR shop and buy some Plastruct in the thickness you want and start punching.

You can also get these punches online at:

link

I'm a thick base guy, they are less fiddly to handle, line up more neatly in storage and frame the figures. At one base per battalion or whatever it is all pretty abstract anyway.

Even with thin basing, they still stand out. So I just make them extremely stand out, with red border and all.

I use the Litko 0.8mm wood, and even with thin magnetic strip on the bottom the bases are not thick enough to interfere with the aesthetics.

I use mount board for all my multi-figure bases. It's only about 1.5mm thick.

My 10mm APW 186 armies are mounted on plasticard 60thou thick which in real world measurements equates to 1.5mm. Plenty thick enough and easy to pick up is you wanted to. I also always flock and texture the edges of my bases so they blend in to the table top which uses the same flock, doing this I could go slightly thicker without it being too apparent.

Never seen black painted edges look good on the table myself, although they look neat enough for display. Same with very thick bases IMHO. But it is each to his own of course.

I use a combination of steel and MDF. link The steel is 1mm thick. The MDF I've used in the past has been 3mm thick, but the latest stuff (laser-cut from MiniBits) is only 2mm thick.

The steel gives the bases weight and stops them sliding around on the table, and my storage boxes are lined with magnetic plastic so the figures don't bounce around in transit. The MDF, however, provides a better surface for the filler I use to top the bases off. I glue the steel and MDF together with UHU.

The resulting 3-4mm bases mean that people are less likely to damage 6mm and 10mm figures which can be quite delicate. I'm less concerned about 15mm figures which seem more robust. If and when I come to do 3mm/4mm figures I will use similar bases even though they will be as high as the figures themselves.

I note, however, that in the US there seems to be a preference for even thicker bases, but I draw the line at 4mm!

Portable hills mean that your troops always get the uphill bonus!

I use steel bases as well. One of the nice things about 10mm figs is that the game really starts to look like a real battle. With thick bases on the table it loses that. I've never had a problem with 10mm figs breaking and I've been playing Warmaster since it came out.

4mm!

When I said 'thick', I meant artists mounting board (1.5mm) plus some magnabase (another 1mm?).

So maybe not thick at all….

Martin

That puts you only 0.5mm less than my new 'slimline' 3mm format!

Richard

Like CATenWolde I like the thin Litko bases that are not so obvious on the table. With 10mm I regard the aesthetics of the table to be of paramount importance.

I use thin bases as well. 3mm bases for 10mm minis is much like 10mm bases on 28mm minis. :)

Thin sheet metal for all my figures no matter what scale. I like them to blend into the terrain as much as possible. I've seen beautiful figures on beautiful terrain and then there are these thick bases that make it look like a game.
Just me!

I don't base my 10mm, and play at 1:1 figure scale….

Nah, actually I put them on vinyl floor tiles – about 1mm thick

You must have huge units Last Hussar! How do you get them to fit around terrain?

Any basing above 1 mm is not for me. That means I use steel. Best you can use since a/ do not deteriorate, b/gives weight c/ are the least visibal. And c/ is for me the most important because it's all about figures, not the other way around. I also noticed that (whatever scale) the thick bases are a US speciality. Never understood it.
.

Forgot to say : FireZouave I'm of exactly your opinion.

I use 3mm mdf bases for my 15mm armies and 2mm mdf bases for my 6mm armies. Seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

I run thin bases. 0.8mm thick plywood from litko, plus "flexsteel" that's ~0.5mm thick (0.025").

You must have huge units Last Hussar! How do you get them to fit around terrain?

Oh ha ha!

link