Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Basing with the Bat - Part I

This is an article that was originally published in Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy Issue 64, which explains my approach to basing miniatures, and which I've reprinted here with their kind approval. It is an extended version of a very old post on this blog.

When I started gaming back in the early ‘70s, wargaming was generally conducted with un-based miniatures, and the few bases one came across were rudely cut from a cornflake packet, and painted with lime-green gloss enamel. In these more complicated times, bases are precision cut from a wide range of different materials, often magnetic for storage reasons, and are textured and covered in more foliage than you’d see at the Chelsea Flower Show!

So why do we base, today?  I believe that the principle reason is that, as armies have got larger, bases (and recently bigger Impetus bases) have been required in order to deploy our regiments quickly from storage and onto the table. Other reasons include the usefulness of basing in supporting rules systems, so that strangers can game equally against each other, the need to protect miniatures both in handling and in transport/storage and, finally, the fact that good basing makes great miniatures look twice as nice!

In comparison with most gamers, I’m unusually fussy about my bases. They must all be exactly the right size, standard colour and finish, flocked and highlighted, matt varnished, magnetic and without any hint of warping. Nothing else is acceptable! In this article I’ll describe the tools, materials and techniques that I use with my system.



Some of the tools and materials you’ll need for great basing:-
  • Prepared bases, with magnetic strip underneath
  • A palette knife
  • A small Palette knife or old brush
  • A steel baking tray
  • A good wood glue
  • A tub of pre-mixed dry basing “gunk” (a mix of plaster, sand, grit and possibly pigment)
  • A small tub of Static grass and a puffer bottle
  • Lots of tufts of different sizes and colours, including weeds and flowers
  • A pair of tweezers; these will get glue on them, so best not use the wife’s!
  • A pot of medium earth-shade acrylic paint, such as Games Workshop Steel Legion drab
  • A pot of Buff Titanium acrylic paint
  • A bottle of Testors Dullcote and a tube of Raw Umber oil paint, or alternatively a matt acrylic varnish, such as Windsor and Newton Galeria
  • A peaty-coloured ink, such as Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade or Windsor and Newton Peat
I make my own bases from card and magnetic sheet, in big batches. They are magnetic underneath, and sealed with spray paint on the top and sides, which helps to avoid my deadly foe, warping. I also often use laser cut ply and MDF bases, especially the circular ones, and sometimes the excellent Renedra plastic bases.

It is particularly important to invest in a decent palette knife, with a springy tip that comes to a fairly fine point, than can get right between the feet of the miniature. Do please clean it carefully after use, and don’t leave it in water, or it will rust! Ideally you’ll also have a smaller palette knife or old paintbrush to work the basing gunk into difficult-to-reach corners. A spare, clean brush comes in handy in case you need to wipe away any gunk that gets onto a miniature, rather than onto the base.

I keep a large pre-mixed tub of what I call “BigRedBatGunk”, which is a mix of plaster and sand/small grit/railway ballast, with added pigment, of my own devising. This provides an instant base coat which saves a good deal of time later on, at the painting stage.  


I also own a tub of static grass, a trusty Noch puffer bottle applicator, and a dozen or so different sizes and colours of Silflor-like tufts and also the weeds and flowers which I find add a lot of interest to the bases.


To be continued...

Monday, 21 October 2013

Celtic gridlock


The painting tray is absolutely groaning with British chariots, and that pesky final unit of Numidians.


The chariot ponies are Newline (foreground), Foundry and Black Tree (right, black/dark brown) and Relic (rear right, white). They are all finished and on their bases.


Above are some of the chariot drivers.  These were converted from Wargames Factory plastics by me, and painted by mate Nick, who also painted the riders in the top photo.  It strikes me that these WF driver figures, with the right head-swaps, would make great rowers for a Roman liburnian.  Hmmm...

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Hosses

With Thapsus out of the way, my mind has turned to previous projects...


These are mostly chariot horses for my Ancient British Panzer Division.  But a final half-dozen Numidians have sneaked in at the back...

I recently came across this horse-colour chart on the internet; it is the best one I've seen.   It really helps to introduce variety and realism into one's herd.




Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Fame at last!

I was pleased (and surprised) to make the Miniature Wargames cover for November. The photo was taken at Newbury, and is of my Thapsus game, which has happily turned out to be quite photogenic. 


Those Zama boards are the gift that keeps on giving!  I intend to start work shortly on a new set of boards in order that I can "ring the changes" in 2014.  

Monday, 14 October 2013

SELWG, or Ally Pally to Crystal Pally

I like within sight of Alexandra Palace, and yesterday made the epic journey through the rain, "sarf of the river" to Crystal Palace, where SELWG is held.  Mate Ian Notter very kindly navigated, generally lifted and ported, and helped me set the game up.

Here are shots of the game; I'm afraid I failed to take pictures of anything else, because time was at such a premium...  Happily Ian took some great closeups.  One helpful thing, there, is the light, which is better than most shows and made the photography easy.






Thapsus seemed gratifyingly popular as a participation game; we ran it twice, with novice players both times. It was larger than the colours game, with perhaps 1300 miniatures on the table. There were lots of positive comments about the look of the game. Strangely, the first game took over 3 hours to play and the second less than 90 minutes! I've fired off copies of my "To the Strongest" rules to half a dozen interested gamers. C

All in all, I had a very enjoyable day at SELWG. The event was very well organised and there were some great games on display. We came in in the top 3 participation games. It was great to see some familiar faces, including, amongst others, Big Lee, Guy Bowers, Phil Steele and Richard Lockwood.  Trevor Halsall very kindly delivered the "Best Participation game" trophy I missed at Colours. Many thanks to Nick Speller for bringing an mate and his legions, and helping to pack up at the end, and Jay and mate for playing so enthusiastically, and indeed all who dropped by for a chat.

This was Thapsus' final outing (at least for a year or so); today I need to start work on the Salute 2014 game!

Friday, 11 October 2013

Legio X Equestris


Legio X Equestris were one of Caesar's small group of elite legions. They picked up their nickname when their legionaries provided Caesar with an impromptu mounted bodyguard for a parlay with the German King Ariovistus.

I've just extended this (extremely clickable) elite cohort, from 2 stands to 3, with the help of painter mate Andres. It is built around a dozen figures that I picked up in a swap with Andres (mostly on the left), with my less well painted dozen miniatures (mostly on the right). Andres recently painted another 10 stunning shields for me so that I could finish the unit. The shields are little gems, and I love the small variations between the designs, just like a real unit must have had.

They will be in the thick of the fighting in my Thapsus game at SELWG on Sunday.  If you are comingalong, why not sign up for a couple of hours military service?

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Hail, Caesar!

No not the rules but the man.  Caesar was painted for me by Andres at Einar Olafson, who has done a stunning job!  Please have a click.


Caesar himself is an interesting piece.  His horse is Foundry, his body Aventine, and his head Warlord.  


I painted the standard bearer.  In the heat of the action, he is carrying his shield the wrong way up...  The Aventine vexilla is really useful, I must have used 2 dozen of them, so far..  

So... Caesar will be leading the action on Sunday at SELWG.  If you are coming along and want to play in the very large Thapsus battle I'll be running twice (once each AM and PM), please drop me a line at the email address on the front page of my blog, and I'll book you in!