80mm Big Basing

[max_bodycount]

I am having a debate of conscience with myself and other gamers in my area.

I am advocating a switch in basing for 25mm armies to 80mm frontages instaead of the old standby 60mm WRG frontages. With the increasing size of metal miniatures, and the new Wargames Factory plastics being of similar build, 60mm is getting too small for modern figures to make heavy foot bases or kngiht/cavalry bases without them being extremely cramped and/or hanging over the base's edges. This is occurring in Europe with Big Basing DBA and the images look great! Big basing would also permit 25mm gamers to single base their figures on 20mm or 1 inch nbases for Warhammer Ancients, permitting miniatures to be reused for different games, one of ht ereasons why so many games retain WRG basing restrictions.

One alternate solution is to reduce heavy foot to three figures instead of four, since this would not violate required frontages.

My real concern is that going to 80mm frontages or reducing figures per base would rule the army as invalid for sanctioned tournament play.

Is there any "official" ruling on this from Osprey?

[philqw78]

I wouldn't mind less figures per base, as figures have to be described at the start as what they represent. Different width of bases would make the game difficult to play though

[lionheartrjc]

In my Medieval army all my Heavy Foot are 3 to a base as opposed to 4. Nobody has complained. The base depth is correct (and I think that is more important).

I also have the occasional (about 1 in 6) elements of Knights based 2 to a base - because they wouldn't fit 3 to a base. Again nobody has complained.

I don't think moving to 80mm bases is practical. Too many players already use 60mm bases and it also affects how the rules play.

[nikgaukroger]

The rules specifically allow less figures per base so that isn't an issue. Neither to be honest is using 80mm bases with the one important caveat that both sides would have to use the same basing convention - and as a large number of existing armies are based to a 60mm frontage you'd need a lot of players to agree to rebase before this took off more than locally I think.

FWIW I've just started basing my first 28mm army and looked at whether the HF should be 3 or 4 figures to a base. I have gone with 4 on a 60mm frontage as 3 just didn't look like close combat troops as they were too spread apart. I'm using A&A C3rdAd Roman figures and the infantry certainly fit 4 to 60mm frontage quite easily.

[hammy]

As several people have mentioned the issue is that there are a lot of armies based on 60mm frontages and playing with 80mm frontages against 60mm just won't work well if at all.

You would IMO be best to base with less figures on 60mm bases or to use the normal number of figures on deeper bases. Base depth is a lot less significant in FoG than base width.

I am 'lucky' in that all my 25mm figures are either 30 years old so are true 25mm or are 1/72 plastic which works out at 22-23mm and they fit fine on 60mm bases. I am actually thinking for some troops of basing infantry 5 to a base.

[rbodleyscott]

My real concern is that going to 80mm frontages or reducing figures per base would rule the army as invalid for sanctioned tournament play.

Is there any "official" ruling on this from Osprey?

It isn't a question of being sanctioned or not, it simply wouldn't be possible for 80mm based armies to play 60mm based armies in tournament conditions, unless all the 60mm based troops were sabot-based on 80mm bases.

However, if enough people based their troops on 80mm bases then there is no reason why 80mm width tournaments could not be organised.

On the other hand, the vast majority of existing 28mm armies are on 60mm bases, so most 28mm tournaments are likely to be 60mm width.

So if you only want to play with your local chums, by all means base your troops on 80mm bases. However, if you want to enter any tournaments you really need to base them on 60mm bases, or organise your own tournaments. Whether you would get many takers for an 80mm width tournament remains to be seen.

[max_bodycount]

Thank you for the replies, especially the moderator/team replies.

This sums up my basic feelings although, looking forward, my hope is that some brave publisher changes to the 80mm frontages in the future as metal figures are not getting smaller and I have a preference for heavy foot to look like formed infantry, like most do. But even four of my (relatively 25mm) Black Tree Design Imperial Romans seem uncomfortably crowded on a 60mm frontage.

I would hate to try to squeeze four Foundry Romans into that space.

The real benefit of going three close formed infantry in 60mm is that the (hopefully) soon to be released Wargames Factory Caesar's Legions box of forty-eight figures now extends from twelve into SIXTEEN bases, giving you FOUR instead of three BGs, just enough for the Late Republican starter army from "Rise of Rome."

Thanks to all again.