"Bases" Topic

Hello all:

We (son and I) have assembled the components of a 15mm and 28mm army for each of us. Perry's Battle in a Box with the addition of a few other box sets gave us all we need for 28mm (except for horses and limbers and horse arty, my search goes on). Our 15mm's are going to be a long winter project.

We started assembling and painting 28mm figures. We are going to try Black Powder rules first and see how that goes. We may give the rules that came in the Perry box a try; they are simple and should allow for some quick after supper games. I liked what I heard about Gettysburg Soldiers but couldn't figure out if they worked with 28mm.

BP puts 4 figures on a 40mm x 40mm base; to me this seems crowded. I had someone suggest 3 figures for that size base would work also. I want to base so that I can use the figures for other rule sets if we are disappointed by BP.

I am also looking for recommendations for the actual bases. I do not like the Perry bases that came with the kit. I tend to use Corvis Belle 20mm for my individual WWII figures but I am not sure what is the best route to go for the ACW ones? I need to consider matching bases for cavalry and artillery also.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sorry to be so long winded.

Skip

Skip, the BP 4-figure basing is in two ranks, i.e. a 2-figure frontage. Three figures, in a single rank wouldn't fit on a 40mm frontage, and three figures in two ranks would look odd since you would have only one figure in either the front or rear rank. As far as the bases themselves, I've always had great service from Litko, and they offer a wide variety of base sizes, thicknesses and materials. Their delivery times are very good. Also, I'm curious as to why you chose to do ACW in two different scales.

Okie, can't agree with you on the 3 figs per base. I've got a bunch of WOTR 3 to a base and they look nice, at least to me they do. It's what ever pleases your eye that is most important.

The two scales was by chance. I picked up most of the 15mm stuff for free (several hundred Old Glory infantry) and ended up with some cavalry and guns in a 28mm purchase I made. My son is just starting out painting and I thought the 28's would be more fun for him than trying to paint the 15's. Eventually both sets will be finished. I just added them to the "to do" pile. I think I have enough to paint for the next several years.

I have not worked with any MDF products yet; I am assuming the Litco bases are made out of that? Do they need primed before using acrylic paint on them?

I saw several pictures of the 3 figures/base on the Black Powder FB page and they looked very nice. Two in the front row and one in the center in the second row. When the bases were together it gave a good looking line of figures.

Thanks,

Skip

Black Powder doesn't actually care how you base the figures or how many figures you use as long as both sides are basically the same frontage. What you need to be able to do is differentiate between Tiny, Small, Regular and Large units.

For your 15mm figures I would suggest looking at the Fire & Fury basing. This ruleset is widely played, has specific sizes but units based this way could still be used for other rulesets inc Black Powder.

For 28mm I use 2mm MDF bases from Warbases, for my 15mm ACW I use 1.5mm Plywood bases, again either from Warbases or I cut my own for odd one off sizes.
Warbases are one UK based company that supply bases, there are others and numerous others in the US, Litko being one.

Good luck and happy gaming.

Lotto makes bases in many different materials. I recommend plywood to avoid warping.

I hear no end of other wargamers having trouble with their plywood bases warping.

I use MDF.

That's correct; plywood bases do warp. I recently had to rebase a 28mm limber and four-horse team mounted on a 3mm plywood base because it warped. Granted, the base was long and narrow, but it warped about 3/16"

Second the idea of Fire & Fury basing for 15mm, and personally I don't like the basing or think much of the rules. But unless you're deeply opposed, I'd say go with common widely used basing, which it is.

In 28mm, using a common base and distinguishing unit sizes by number of stands will give you more flexibility than using different bases for different size units. You may need today's large unit to be two tiny ones tomorrow.

Never had plywood warp myself, but I use 3mm, and never for anything as big as Extrabio's limber and four horses. I only use 1.5mm for 10 and 6mm castings.

I had a problem with wood bases warping when I first started using them (had always used matte board previously). I contacted the folks at Litko and they advised me not to use white glue. Have been using super glue since and have had no more problems.

I base on steel. No warping no matter what glue you use, magnetic for easy storage and transport, and avoids the while "army on soap boxes" thing.

I'm surprised placing 2x2 on a 40mm base looks crowded. I use Old Glory 25mm (28mm) ACW and I think there is too much empty space on a 40mm square base. I can easily get 5 figures on there. Note that my Old Glory figs are walking/running forward with 1 leg in front of the other so they don't take up a lot of width.

Oh – and 3 figures staggered on a 40mm base look fine too. Look through this battle report: link
…the author uses 4 1.5" square bases of 3 figures each.