I have had some very satisfactory results moving to large bases as suggested by Impetus Rules when using 1/72 figures. So 80mm x 60mm basing has been almost exclusively the preferred basing method.
With my latest enchantment – Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU) I have moved onto something different. I intend using PIQUET rules amongst others. In their ruleset 1700-1900 Field of Battle, Brent Oman suggests that units composed of a few bases not only work for his rules but look good.
I think he is right. So I am going with a standard unit of 4 bases, each measuring 40mm x 40mm.
This will allow 1×4 columns, 2×2 blocks and 4×1 lines. As you have probably gathered, scale is not my priority on the battlefield. I like a combination of “look”, proportion, abstraction and playability.
And being a solo wargamer “look” is simply my preference.
So these pictures show my first Piedmontese Line Infantry unit.
one up front does not look right.
The only other consideration is figure arrangement. Going with PIQUET, I have settled on 3 figures per base. So you can either have one figure at the front or two to the front, assuming your not having 3 in a row.
I am going with 2 to the front.
two up front looks better to my eye. And actually the 12 man units look ok.
elements of impetus having received their red brown base colour
My anglo saxon army is growing with the addition of many more bases. I am settled on 80mm wide impetus style basing where the idea is to inject a little variety into figure presentation. This is quite easy with strelets who produce a reasonable pose mix with each set they make. In the case of the anglo saxons it gets even better when you buy they big battle sets as I did. The stamford bridge set is the only one currently available though.
Bases have the red brown base coating applied in foreground and plain budgie grit in background
I decorate the base with budgie grit on pva glue (games workshop idea) and use a three colour painting technique. Dark red earth base colour with heavy dry brush of yellow ochre over it followed by a light yellow/white top dry brush. I am looking for sandy and dare I say summer like conditions, no green green grass of home for my troops.
peco grass to the fore and little big man shield transfers
I used some little big man shield transfers for 28mm anglo saxon bucklers on a few of the figures. They blend in ok I think.
I finish with some foliage. In this case I am using Peco Railway scenics which are autumnal or greenish brown grasses.
This unit is actually going to be also the start of my ottonian/lotharingian or very late Carolingians. More about the red/green colours in a later postalthough I have not based the figures for shield wall as described in various historical records my anglo saxons still look good en masse.
So thats it for now, next up on show are my first “el cid” Hat 1/72 figures posing as Italo-Normans.
So I will complete my Carolingian cavalry with my Mediterranean style basing
I use gloss partly because it gives protection as these figures are to be handled and partly because at 3 feet away on a game table it lifts the colours
The budgie grit bases will get a 3 stage paint job and some tufted plants!So that’s it for these chaps, next up are some strelets normans
Despite a bad plastic soldier review which I follow avidly Charlie and his guard have a decent look about them I am quite pleased with my light cavalry unit
I have started my Normans in the South project by painting up some Strelets figures. These are a bit chunky but on the whole a likeable set of figures. I used the figures from the big Stamford Bridge set and the mini sets for Normans
i have opted for an arid south mediterranean look rather than a dark earthy northern europe onein slightly different light the ground does not look quite like a desert!so a few archers and now a few spearmen – i have opted for a more open look with the shieldwall not formedI quite like some of the before battle poses strelets have done although figures do vary in size. I am not looking for the regimented look anyway.I am quite happy with the look including the vegetation. the bases are all 80mm x 60mm and I shall use them for either AMW, DBA or Impetus games amongst others.
Do bases matter that much when it comes to miniatures used in wargaming? By current standards they clearly do with plenty of trade offerings available and a wealth of DIY advice online.
Also the preference for elements without individual figure removal permits more imagination to be applied around a base. Perhaps the exception is skirmish gaming but even here you have the option of sabot bases providing the individual figure movement while retaining the convenience of the larger element base which can still be given varying levels of decoration.
My basing journey has been pretty basic. Back in the dim and distant past I painted desert or green paint onto cardboard bases. I still have them and they work after a fashion. The figures are 25mm. They look a bit tired though.
I think this figure is a citadel adventurer from the 1970’s when my painting hand was patient and my eyes still worked! note the ageing gloss varnish.
Then I started a 15mm phase and actually paid for painting including basing. The quality was good but somehow they did not grow on me. They look accurate but……
15mm Essex Byzantines professionally painted with matt finish and understated basing!
I did some of my own and I was even less happy!
And then I caught the plastic fantastic bug and returned to simple painted bases for some 1/72 scale figures.
Zvezda Russian Cavalry cruise past some positively ancient 20mm minifig french napoleonics and giant 25mm tradition russians
In the middle of this phase I moved into 28mm figures and thought they needed something extra. As it happened despite all the wealth of offerings and advice in all the various magazines and books I had collected, I stumbled across the humble warhammer guide in one of their rulebooks – maybe shieldwall – where they recommended simply gritting the bases, basecoating and drybrushing once. Somewhere I found a suggestion to use budgie grit. I tried it and painted it up, except no dry brush, but added some static grass and…… I was still underwhelmed. There is no pleasing some people.
Perrys 28mm Continental Burgundian Pike on DBA bases
I then had another surge of plain painted bases when I reworked more of my old 25mm metals.
You can see them next to the Zvezda Russians above – Minifigs French circa 1972? and Tradition Russians from the mid 1970’s. The bases they replaced were very dark green painted airfix box card – the figures have been transformed in my view, although unbelievably garish – they cheer me up!
And then I decided to do some mediterranean normans. Coincidentally I had watched both British cycling, Le Tour and La Vuelta races and the penny dropped. All my scenic basing had generally used dark green/dark brown earth (or grey brown for 15mm) colours – and I had not recognised why I liked the bright green bases beyond their simplicity. British cyclists rode through dark earth countryside with bright greens but La Vuelta cyclists went through fantastically bright coloured soils of many hues and even with brighter green shrubs and trees on top. (well except in the picos mountains in the north).
So I got my paints out and started experimenting – and so I have now found what I want for my Normans. Well until the butterfly lands on the next flower…..
Back to basics or is that basings? Most wargames today have taken from boardgames the token or counter principle and many miniature figures now find themselves stuck to a base with some others of their kind.
Yes there is another strong theme of individually mounted figures although, because of gaming time, this will usually reduce the figure count on the wargames table. So if you want to show lots of figures and still finish a game then multiple figures on one base is the way to go.
First up are some posts on my current struggles with basing style.
The Wargaming Erratic 