"Basing your TSATF armies" Topic

Probably quite a few cram their 28mm figures onto 25mm square or round bases because that seems to be the done thing. Anyone have any experience with 30mm bases and does anyone use terrain trays for the Imperial or native forces?

I feel 30mm might be a little bit nicer for 28-32mm figures. Has anyone done this or found it to be a problem on the table?

I have never found basing mattered much in any rule system provided both sides are based the same.

I use penny bases.

I do use terrain trays to move the native hordes about, but take them off once they become engaged in melee or tight quarters.

Our armies are almost exclusively "true 25mm".
So 20mm or 3/4" square bases work fine.
I have made my own movement trays out of Masonite with balsa wood rims.
They are made to hold 10 based figures wide (The math is left as an exercise for the student.) and deep enough to permit two ranks in open order.

I use metal 3/4 inch washers bought at Wally World.

Movement trays are either basswood cut for a five figure frontage or beer mats or CD's (for those people who wear not the trousers).

No issues with the larger 25/28/30mm figures… They make larger 1 inch washes, if that's your decision.

YMMV.

Eric

Ditto to VCarter. Hundreds of figs on pennies. I then put 3/4 inch magnets under pennies to allow use of metal movement trays. Rectangle for regular troops, circles for natives. Metal can tops work well. Ditto to Oppiedog on removing troops for melee combat.

Keep in mind that the larger the base, the more space you need for games, and storage.

Pennies are very cheap. In 1990's went to Canada, when the exchange rate was about $1 USDus = $.75 USDC and stocked up all the bases I would ever need. Still have some. US pennies are still about the cheapest thing to use.

Yeah but I'm getting these painted for me so Im not trying to save money on bases. Would prefer size and material based on a what if someone else was doing the work for you sort of fantasy.

Definitely pennies. I was able to base Empress 3rd Afghan War figures on pennies with no problem.

styrene plastic.

I've played in many of Oppiedog's colonial games – his system works very well. You cannot beat TSATF for colonial rules.

We used to play a colonials game with individually based figures. Mine were on smaller bases, so we had to make sure that didn't result in two of my figures ganging up on one of Bart's or his line didn't lap around my flanks during a melee. Other than that, it worked out fine.

Grelber

In response to the original query, I mounted my 25s on US nickels for years. As the newer 28s have bases too big for the diameter of a nickel (about 21mm), I have gone to 25mm round bases. There is no "cram" involved, and personally feel there is no need to use a 30mm base.

Rick

I use 20mm square bases mostly.

I use pennies. They're cheap. Usually I can get them for 1 cent apiece.

In addition to using pennies, I have brass wood movement stands. Each unit has three stands holding 4-6-10 figures each. They look like a triangle. When moving figures I measure from the front stand and move the rear stand into the new position. This method also make it very easy to see when a unit drops below 10 figures.

I base my 28mm on round washers. 7/8 inches. They cost around 3 to 5 cents on Amazon'sor at sears. Cavalry is usually on 1.25". I used washers to for machine guns. I like the steel washers. It makes the minis stand straight with the weight.

My miniatures are based on 19mm dia. steel washers. As others have said, washers give good stability. The smaller size base gives the impression of a larger table, and the reality of more room to maneuver. I do need to snip corners off the occasional base to make them fit. As always, to each his own.

I am using 6mm figs in groups of 10 mounted to plastic sheeting or recycled expended gift cards cut to size. Seems to work out very well.

I use magnetized bases from my buddy at "Good Ground". He's got all sorts of sizes and will make custom ones like he did for my elephant Limbers, 1.5"x4". His customer service is top shelf!
Vendor link:
crackerlineminis.com

I used to base all my imperial infantry and foot troops on 1"X1" but have since went with a smaller width to represent the colonial shoulder to shoulder close order formation better on the game table.

Now for my 25/28mm imperial I use 3/4"X1" for infantry and 1"x2" for cavalry and baggage animals.

For my native troops I use the same 1"x2" for cavalry but use 1x3" for some of my camel mounted. I use round washers for native infantry, 1" or 3/4" diameter.

I use magnet sheets or steel sheets in the bottoms of my troop boxes to help keep them secure in transport