Basing

In an attempt to keep moving forward on things I've been making bases as fast as my paws and paint drying time will allow.  Working on the basis that "little and often" is the way to approach this sort of dull job, I've been trying to do ten-fifteen minutes work every day on them. 

These are steel bases that I get quite cheaply from Jim over at Products for Wargamers. He makes them up specially in batches of fifty. They're sturdy, light and I've had no problems with them so far. 

I then give them a quick blast of black spray. I've found black is best as a neutral colour and it shows up stickers and other markers well. After the black is dry, two coats of spray varnish and we're done.  

Once the varnish is done, two pieces of magnetic sheet are stuck to each piece and all that remains is to add a unit label and assign them to a box.

I sprayed my last base this morning and hopefully I'll have enough in that to finish basing the entire collection. At least until I start collecting Austrians in earnest. 

Bases from Products for Wargamers

A Woodland Scenics Tree Armature on a Products for Wargamers 40mm base

I used up the last of my Games Workshop 60mm bases a few days ago and I realised that I would need some more trees.

A count of my current crop reveals that I have 15 properly based specimens in various states of completion, which leaves me rather short of the 22 I will require for my upcoming game. I'm very taken with the Woodland Scenics tree armatures, so I think I might extent my forestry by investing in some more. I have plenty of lichen and clump foliage lying about so that should fill the gap nicely, though I'm torn between buying a bottle of Hobby-E-Tac, which is some sort of special glue for the purpose, and continuing to use PVA. The PVA hasn't been an unreserved success, but we shall see. I think the main determinant will be whether the model shop has it in stock when I go in for the armatures.

Products for Wargamers 3mm laser cut bases in 40mm and 60mm for the princely sum of £2. Take that Games Workshop!

But on the bases.

I called to Games Workshop to pick up a bag of 60mm bases, when I was told by the greasy oik behind the counter that they no longer stocked them. I was of course welcome to buy a bag of "mixed round bases". This cost about a tenner and had two 60mm bases in it along with a variety of stuff that I didn't need. I cast about for a replacement and again Jim at Products for Wargamers provided. He supplied my wants with all speed, including bags of 40mm and 60mm bases laser cut from 3mm MDF. He even managed to extract sense from emails sent by a customer whose brain was addled from working nights.

Jim made me a selection of bespoke MDF bases for another related project in indecent speed. More on that later.

The service was swift, the product excellent and the price more than fair. A loud hurrah for Jim Moore of Products for Wargamers and the last one to build a forest is a rotten egg.

Falcata Spanish Infantry & Products for Wargamers Steel Bases

I recently came into some Falcata Spanish Infantry courtesy of my pal John C. They come in a very snazzy box with a cartoon cover. I should post a picture of it as it has a certain je ne sais qoui. In the mean time, you shall have to settle for some pictures.

And as Foy is so fond of saying, they really are nice figures.

There are 32 figures in the box, each with his own individual plastic blister and they include -

- an officer

- a sergeant

- a drummer

- a casualty

- a chap falling wounded

- an ensign

- a mounted Colonel

- a variety of squaddies in firing, loading, marching and advancing poses.

I've been able to put together a single Command & Colours: Napoleonics unit with these fellows, using the marching and the advancing poses in two ranks of eight. The officer, drummer and sergeant fill up the third rank and the casualty figure to mark the unit when it flees the field.

Frustratingly, the sergeant and one of the advancing chaps have decided to take French leave and are somewhere loose abroad the moors. I would blame the cat, but she's generally pretty good about not knocking figures about. Damn and blast.

Another recent arrival were some bases from Products for Wargamers, as recommended by Steve the Wargamer. Perhaps he is the Wargamer of the title, who can say?

These were bespoke steel bases made five by two inches. I had been very happy with the bases from Precision Wargame supplies. However, when Products for Wargamers were able to produce a similar product for little over half the price, I had to have a look for myself.

The bases are thinner than their compatriots and are galvanised rather than black enamelled, so they are not as handsome as the others. If you look at the picture above, you can see one in it's natural state. The base on the left is the same type of base given a quick spray of black enamel and a coat of varnish. I'm very happy with these and because they were cheaper, I was able to afford sufficient bases to base my entire collection.

That is assuming the collection doesn't get any bigger.

Steel Bases from Precision Wargames Supplies - A Review

A battalion of French provisional grenadiers,

HAT figures who have some service - individually mounted. Transferring them to temporary bases is a job which oppresses my gentle spirit

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I've been in a bit of pickle with basing of late. My figures are based individually which means that I can and have used them for a wide variety of games by slapping them on different sabot bases.

Aside: Sabot is a word meaning wooden shoe in the original dastardly French. It is pronounced SA-bo or Say-BOT if you want to annoy French speakers in the neighbourhood. Speaking with greater volume and slowly adds to the effect. Try this at home.

However, this has proven unsatisfactory for Command&Colours: Napoleonics has the current crop of bases are too big and are bodged together from card and steel paper. Their particular sin is that the troops have to be transfered to them before making it onto the battlefield. This is a dreary task and one that has actually dissuaded me from setting up games.

What I needed was a base that would allow me to move each unit as one piece. I could happily move lads about if I needed to form square as it is not that common an occurrence and the square isn't likely to be going anywhere. The base would need to be steel so that the figures will stick to it and capable of being stuck in a steel paper lined box, so that units can be stored on their sabot bases and brought out in quick time.

Enter Ian of Precision Wargaming Supplies, who makes steel bases for the discerning wargamer. I wrote to him asking if he could produce affordable bespoke steel bases in the appropriate size (5 inch by 2 inch). Not only did he get back to me within six hours, but he offered to send some samples to "try before you buy."

If you like your customer service prompt, friendly and seasoned with increasingly bizarre steel based puns, you'll like Precision Wargaming Supplies.

But what of the product?

Samples from Precision Wargaming Supplies - two 1 1/2 square bases and a circle

The above samples arrived the other day and I managed to mess about with them this evening. Neatly cut steel, covered in black enamel - they are neat, regular and hold figures well. They are not so thick (a touch less than 1/16 inch) as to add too much to the height of the figures placed on them, but still thick enough to be picked up by sausage fingers oafs soused with gin.

You can see above some Newline Neapolitans (actually French) lounging about on one of the 1 1/2 squares. However, the magnetic material I use, which is designed for adding signs to the sides of vans is not so powerful as to hold the figures in place in the box. Another layer of magnetic material will have to be added to insure that the sabot bases don't move around while in transit.

Layer of magnetic material added to the bottom of the base

Adding this layer this just about doubles the thickness of the base, which is not unattractive and makes it easier to pick up. The attraction of the magnet is strong, so that despite some experiment shaking, the figures didn't move around at all. One slight problem I noticed was that the attraction of the magnets was so strong that I had a bit of difficulty removing the base from the box at first. This isn't a major issue as removing them from the box is something I will have to do only once per game and it does mean that the figures are quite secure in their box. I suppose I could add a tab of ribbon to the back of each base to give me something to break the seal with, but that is something I shall have to think about once I have the finished product in front of me.

The figures provided by Ian for forty bespoke bases were as follows.

Spec Qty Price Cost

5 inch x 2 inch 40 £ 1.25 £ 50.00

40

Sub £ 50.00

P&P £ 15.00

PayPal -£ 3.25

Total £ 61.75

On the face of it, this seems quite expensive. The cost is equal to that of raising one regiment of foot from scratch. On the other hand, forty units is sufficient for the largest game of Napoleonics I am likely to play and will allow me to base up most of the units that I am likely to use on a regular basis. The bases will allow me to actually play with the figures I have spent so much time collecting without taking an age, but retaining the cast of thousands look so to dear to my heart.

I'm convinced.