"2mm figures. How to base?" Topic

So I got a pack of 2mm "horse and musket" and terrain bits from Irregular.

Very nice figures but now I am struck by not knowing what to do with them.

Base the infantry strips individually or in pairs for a "mini game" ?

Use bigger bases and create little dioramas with several strips to each base?

Tell me what you've done :)

My friend bases them in groups and does Picket's charge at 1:1. He cuts off the flags of the strips as needed.

I've done one stand on a base to make companies of a battalion for Land Ironclads and ACW; also multiple stands on a base for fantasy and ECW.

Depends on the game really, how big the base is and what it represents. There's a fair bit of flexibility too, at least for H&M, because of those long stands they have (34-ish mm) vs. the short (14-20mm) stands.

If you haven't visited his site, Tony of Tiny Tin Troops has good overviews of how he does things for ancients and renaissance. I expect he may be along here too.
His 2mm resources are here: link

The 2mm Yahoo group also has lots of photos.

Thanks for the pointer boy W. The 2mm Yahoo group is an excellent resource for ideas on basing – both layout of the blocks and how to 'dress' the base without overwhelming the figure blocks.

I have examples in my collection from single strips on bases to bases with 10 strips. Some ideas ….

If using multiple strips per base then you can assist ID by having all the same type of troops based in the same arrangement.

Using rules that have strength points (or similar mechanisms) use that no of blocks – you can use small blocks for larger strengths so that you only need use a single base size for all.

Formations for H&M can be shown on the base with blocks in line, column, supported line, skirmishers out in front etc. etc. You can do all that on a single, reasonably sized base – more difficult to do convincingly at larger scales.

If using single strips then make the base thick enough to grab easily – 2mm are too small to pick up by the figure block. I magnetically base all mine but mount board is a good solution and readily available.

2mm terrain doesn't always need a base but it can be enhanced by combining separate bits together on a base and blending them into a single coherent 'landscape'. For that I'd say 2mm MDF is minimum for basing – and make sure you seal it both sides to reduce any warping. There are some very good examples of that on the IM website as well as in the Yahoo group.

Tony of TTT

As noted above, the 2mm resources page is very useful.

I generally do my Horse & Musket stuff on 30x15 bases with two strips on each. Side by side for infantry, in double lines for cavalry.

The bases sizes mean I can do formations easily with just two bases per unit (whatever a 'unit' is) – two side by side is line, one behind the other is assault column, back-back is square and end on is column of route. Jumbled up is running away:)

Fantastic advice guys.

I like the idea of doing 2 strips per base, though the only small bases I have are 25x25 and they look kinda dorky put behind each other.

Though a thought I had was putting three such 25 mm bases next to each other for Neil Thomas 1HW, then remove one every time they've taken 5 hits. T
That way I only have to keep 1 die behind the unit, instead of 3.