Basing for 28mm figures

[timt9cole]

The following is my choice for basing my very slowly emerging 28mm armies. It is not suggested that this ‘the’ way to do it, merely my way that you may wish to consider. The NEWSmen find that this works for us. (What do you mean who are the NEWSmen? Why the Newmarket and Ely Wargamers of course – we are internationally famous in Newmarket and Ely!)

Infantry – small unit – Six bases with four figures each 40mm frontage by 50mm depth. This allows the required 120mm frontage for a deployed unit but does require you to either have a longer road column than standard or go for some compromise like 1 base, 2 bases, 1 base and then 2 bases. This may not appeal to all. Reasons for this choice are: (i) For my French it allows one company per base and so makes converging grenadiers and carabiniers straightforward. (ii) this size allows me to use the figures for other rules. (iii) the very nebulous fact that it looks good and right to me (iv) the extra depth is to reduce overhang of firing figures.
- Large unit – as small and add 2 bases 60mm x 50mm with 6 figures each (or one of our club uses 2 bases 40mm x 50mm and 2 bases 20mm x 50mm – there is always one who has to be different)

Cavalry - small unit – 4 bases 48mm x 50mm and 2 bases 24mm x 50mm. Total of 10 figures. As with the infantry this allows 120mm frontage for deployed but requires some compromise for a road column. Reasons for the choice: (i) I found a frontage of 20mm per figure was too cramped whilst 30mm looked too dispersed. 25mm seemed the ideal solution and fits in with other rules. I marginally reduced to 24mm to fit FOGN. (ii) 8 figures seems too few for a unit but 10 seems to look pretty good
- Large unit – as small and add 2 bases 60mm x 50mm with 2 figures each, the figures are based on the rightmost 48mm with the left 12mm left clear of figures. These two bases are placed on the left of a deployed unit. The fact that Perry supply 14 cavalry to a box is entirely coincidental.

Artillery – base is 60mm x 80mm. The extra depth is to allow a reasonable amount of room for a gun and the five gunners supplied by Victrix.

Commanders – 60mm circular bases. I get mine from Warbase. Simply because circular looks good and easily distinguishes them from other general types.

ADCs – I use the Warbase “pill shaped” bases, again to be distinctive

Attached generals – 30mm by 50mm – distinct from others. I do not replace a base in the unit, simply add the base behind the unit.

Skirmishers – 2 bases 60mm x 30mm each with 2 figures - I use them as markers rather than replacing bases

Light infantry in skirmish formation – no special bases, I simply put alternate bases half a base back from the unit front to denote the formation.

Support shooting measuring device (???) – I use a base 120mm by 80mm (which I get from Warbase) marked down the middle of the 120mm width. This clearly shows where the support shooting covers and shows the centre of my infantry units if required.

Suggestions that I am on commission from Warbase are totally without foundation (but if you want to offer!).

Hope this useful to those considering 28mm.
Regards
Tim

[hazelbark]

We found just using the 15mm basing width and distances.
So 4 infantry on a 40x40 works fine.
Mounted depending on manufacturer need 40x50

In hindsight I think you could do a nice 80x30 and look nice too.

[timt9cole]

I can see that going for 15mm scale bases would allow you to use 15mm movement but the trouble for me is that 16 figures just does not look enough, whilst 24 seems ideal. All a matter of opinion, of course.

regards
Tim

[deadtorius]

I went 8 figs per base for line troops as 6 figs didn't look like enough to me. Light infantry units have 6 figs per rear base and 3 per front base. When skirmishing I remove the rear bases with bases of 3 figs. Easy to tell who is light and who is skirmishing.

[hazelbark]

I can see that going for 15mm scale bases would allow you to use 15mm movement but the trouble for me is that 16 figures just does not look enough, whilst 24 seems ideal. All a matter of opinion, of course.

Depends on what you want to do, how many you have, etc.

[deadtorius]

It sounds like an inexpensive way to build an army, and easier to paint up. Austria's large units at 48 figs each take me a fair bit of time to complete.

[Selaurant]

This is an issue that really needs to be addressed by wargame designers - previously assumed base sizes are way too small for the latest generation of 28mm figures. This is NOT about money. I paid to get my army painted and cost for the number of figures was not an issue. The problem is the bases are just too small. The figures do not fit. There are three main problems:

- 28mm cavalry horses are too long to fit on a 40mm deep base. They need to be at least 50mm deep, or you are cutting off tails, and not selecting any galloping horse poses.
- 28mm infantry do not fit on a 15mm wide base in any pose except shoulder arms. 20mm is a minimum width, more for skirmishers.
- 28mm canon, especially 12 pounders, need a base more than 60mm deep. This is just for the gun model. Extra depth for gunners, ammo boxes etc takes it to at least 80mm deep.

With the increasing proliferation of 28mm plastics, this needs resolving. Existing base sizes will keep existing players happy. But if we want to attract new players to the hobby, we need to be more flexible.

[deadtorius]

just out of curiosity which figure are you using? Personally I found these rules much easier for basing then the old 20mm deep ancient bases. I have Victrix, Warlord and Perry 28mm plastics and found no problems getting 8 infantry figs on a single base at 60mm frontage. I agree the horses can be a bit difficult with the tails, but as you glue them down line up the bases and you can adjust the heads to miss the tails. For my light cav I only use 2 figs per base, a carry over that I personally like from the other eras of FOG rules so no problems there either. I had to use Old Glory for some of my cav and the sculpts are just ridiculous to start with but those tails will bend down closer to the horses butt easy enough.
Artillery will just fit 60mm deep base if you use Perry, but I will only buy firing crews from now on as the loading ones won't fit on the base out front since there is no front to stand on. Originally I was using my Renaissance arty on 80mm deep bases and it caused more problems for my Austrian infantry since the bases were so deep and my troops ended up way out back. The 60mm is much easier to deal with.

Keep in mind that if you are not doing competition games you can make your bases whatever size you desire, even the rules state as much. Strict base sizes is more important in competition games I suspect then in friendly or club games.

Just my own thoughts for what it is worth.

[Blathergut]

I suspect many may still be using 40mm depth for 28mm figures as opposed to the 45mm mentioned in the Reference Section of the rules.

[MikeHorah]

This is an issue that really needs to be addressed by wargame designers - previously assumed base sizes are way too small for the latest generation of 28mm figures. This is NOT about money. I paid to get my army painted and cost for the number of figures was not an issue. The problem is the bases are just too small. The figures do not fit. There are three main problems:

- 28mm cavalry horses are too long to fit on a 40mm deep base. They need to be at least 50mm deep, or you are cutting off tails, and not selecting any galloping horse poses.
- 28mm infantry do not fit on a 15mm wide base in any pose except shoulder arms. 20mm is a minimum width, more for skirmishers.
- 28mm canon, especially 12 pounders, need a base more than 60mm deep. This is just for the gun model. Extra depth for gunners, ammo boxes etc takes it to at least 80mm deep.

With the increasing proliferation of 28mm plastics, this needs resolving. Existing base sizes will keep existing players happy. But if we want to attract new players to the hobby, we need to be more flexible.

It is a difficult one to get right and I do agree with you in general terms as a chap with over 20,000 25/28mm Napoleonics and a much expanded Ancient and Medieval range also in that size. Even though a FoG(N) author I ended up with rules making many of my bases less suitable .

I have used Grand Manner for many years ( not exactly a historically sound set ) where French and allies are ( for no reason I can discern) on bases 3x2 for infantry but 4x3 for most others including French Guard, but I am not rebasing thousands . GM then insists that a French column is 2 stands of 6 wide by three stands deep so totally wrong as the shape for a column of Divisions was wider than it was deep . Some players even try to insist that a more correct formation 3 stands wide by 2 deep is a line - er a line of figures 4 deep? no such thing in this era! This before the physical size of figures comes in to play.

And big cavalry units of 18 in FOG (N)need cavalry mounted in 3's whereas mine are in 2's and 4's.

So one cannot be accused of having favouring one's own armies I manage as best I can and have mounted my Napoleonic 15mms in FOG style.

There is a fundamental scale problem with wargames figures where cavalry are concerned. Once you get above a figure /man ratio of 1:10 or thereabouts a single figure really needs to be on a base wider than it is deep as cavalry were seldom in deeper formations than they were wide in later periods two deep. This is more of a problem with bigger figures. The greater the ratio the relatively wider it has to be but the look of that is far from ideal. And we make it worse by having cavalry in two ranks of bases very often. You can get round some of that if you are modelling higher level formations and with smaller models by the concept of the unit " footprint" encompassing vertical as well as horizontal intervals .But manufacturers making the models ever deeper do not help. So we end up having to mount figures on deeper bases than rules prescribe or recommend and with cavalry taking up too much depth either way.

It makes rule writing from this perspective harder. We can aim off a bit eg for flank attacks making the front edge bases of units the key bit of geometry so depth does not make them more vulnerable .

The only real way I think resolve these sale issues is to scale down battles to match figure size, so that a 28mm battalion would have, say 72, figures all on stands of single ranks and a cavalry equivalent to match with the intervals actually modelled within a unit footprint But that is a different type of game altogether and maybe not much favoured by gamers