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"Small square bases for individual 6mm miniatures" Topic


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Sannsibal17 Nov 2022 3:12 a.m. PST

Hello, I've got it in my head that I want to build 2 small forces (Empire and Orcs) to play Warhammer Fantasy Warbands in 6mm. For this, the minis need to be individually based on square bases. I am going to use models from Rapier, Perfect Six and Pendraken.
To get an nice, tight battleline, ideally the individual bases would be 7.5mm squares for human infantry. I also want them to be thick enough to easily pick up and handle the models by the base. I guess 7.5mm is a bit of an odd size, and probably 7mm or 8mm squares would work as well. However, I haven't found any suitable material yet. The smallest laser-cut MDF squares I could find are 10mm. Does anyone have any suggestions, please? I am not totally opposed to cutting stuff to size myself, if necessary (the plan is to have something like 60 models at most), but I also want to do this on the cheap, so buying a table saw or similar is not an option. I am in the UK, by the way.
Looking forward to any suggestions, thanks!

Stoppage17 Nov 2022 3:29 a.m. PST

Thickish cardboard + paper punch = circles?

Computer CPU heatsink + hacksaw = squares?

Or different approach? Mount in threes/fives?

GildasFacit Sponsoring Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 3:45 a.m. PST

Contact Leon at Pendraken and see what they would charge for some custom 7.5mm square bases.

It is actually quite difficult to cut thick card for small bases as accurately as you might want so it may be worth the extra expense to have custom bases made.

Personally I would say go with 10mm bases as they will be easier to handle.

BattlerBritain17 Nov 2022 3:45 a.m. PST

40thou plastic card and a pair of scissors?

Swampster17 Nov 2022 4:16 a.m. PST

Thicker plastic card. Score with a knife and snap.

robert piepenbrink Supporting Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 4:48 a.m. PST

Cardstock--think backing of notepads. Sheet styrene. Or go to Litko and buy 1.5mm plywood.

But are you sure moving individual 6 mils is a good way forward? I work on the assumption that minimum base size is 20mm square. Smaller than that the handling difficulties outweigh any other advantages.

Personal logo Whirlwind Supporting Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 7:23 a.m. PST

7.5mm bases are pretty small. I would check that you can actually manipulate them sufficiently for gameplay without moving the figure like a chess piece. If you are going to do that you might has well just have them without a base.

But as someone who plays lots of small games in 6mm, sometimes almost the exact same thing as you are talking about: link, it does get a bit old with any number of fiddly small bases – I very much agree with Robert and some of the other posters above. I would recommend using 15mm-20mm bases as a minimum and if the figure count of the game is so low that it is not possible to play with multi-figure bases, consider a slightly larger scale instead.

Frederick Supporting Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 7:28 a.m. PST

Plastic card with a knife – Evergreen has some nice sheets with tiles that make them easy to cut

Stryderg Supporting Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 9:03 a.m. PST

For something completely different: double sided sticky tape. Something like this: link

You'll need to cut to size, stick some paper/card on both sides (but you can print terrain colors on the paper) and then glue down your minis.

Not very hefty or durable, but relatively cheap and easy.

79thPA Supporting Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 9:11 a.m. PST

Since you asked for suggestions, my suggestion is not to do it. To me, it sounds like an unbelievably frustrating gaming experience.

Have you considered putting 4-6 figures on a base and counting the stand as a figure so you do not worry about individual casualty figure removal -- you just remove the stand.

Stryderg Supporting Member of TMP17 Nov 2022 12:14 p.m. PST

Someone did a "travel 40k" many years ago. Basically Epic40K figures single based to play 40K in a tiny area. Possibly informative:

link

link

Zephyr117 Nov 2022 10:08 p.m. PST

Maybe go with thin sheet steel. Then you can place them on magnetic sheeting for larger unit bases, and also for storage purposes. (Should also be pretty easy to cut with some scissors you don't mind ruining… ;-)

BuckeyeBob19 Nov 2022 12:31 p.m. PST

Perhaps a craft store like Michaels, Hobby Lobby that sells Balsa or Bass wood stock (prefer the latter). You could get 1/4" stock in 24" lengths about 2mm thick and then only have to make a single cut crosswise for each base.

Sannsibal21 Nov 2022 1:29 p.m. PST

Thanks for all the suggestions, these are some good ideas for basing material.
Thinking about the feedback that moving lots of tiny bases gets old very quickly, I decided to base the models on larger round bases, following the 1-2-3- system as used here: link

I already have the Dragon Rampant rules, and they are probably more suitable than WHFB Warbands for mostly solo play anyway. Maybe I can post some pictures when the warbands are finished.

79thPA Supporting Member of TMP22 Nov 2022 8:29 p.m. PST

Great work on those little guys.

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