When planning on how best to base certain miniatures (especially the unconventional kind) I found myself wanting a guide to help me eyeball things. Given that I can’t help myself but embark on another project to fill my day, I created a miniature base size guide for round and oblong bases.
Pictured above are examples of it in use. On the left is a 54mm undead warrior from Tehnolog and on the right are four 20mm Afghans from Newline Designs.
It was particularly useful when trying to figure out how to base my various trees, before I had a stockpile of MDF bases in various sizes from Warbases to try them out with. Pictured above is the resulting fruits of my labours. Two trees from Games Workshop on the left on 60mm and 40mm, and a random model railway bottle-cleaner style tree on a 35mm base. When it comes to trees, I think it looks best when the base isn’t quite as wide as tree but wide enough to stop it from toppling easily. (Yes I know they would look even better if I finished basing them… they’re in the queue).
Click the image to view the PDF. You can then Download it for your use.
Anyhoo… pictured above is the guide that I created with Affinity Designer (which, if you’re in to such things, is an inexpensive vector art program comparable to Adobe Illustrator). You’re welcome to use the guide for your own personal purposes.
NB YOU WILL NEED TO PRINT IT ‘ACTUAL SIZE’, NOT ‘SHRINK TO FIT’ OR ELSE IT WON’T BE THE CORRECT SCALE!
For ease of future reference, I’ve also added it to the Downloads page. Have a look… there might be something else that you find handy.
Crossfire recommends base sizes for figures of 15-20mm (or 25mm). They are 1 1/4″ square (that is ~32mm) or 1 1/4″ x 5/8″ (or ~32mm x ~16mm).
Personally I find the recommendations a bit on the small side for 1/72 scale (20mm) miniatures, especially those figures that are already individually based and need mounting on a group stand. So over the years I’ve toyed around with various options and I’ve settled on the following:
Rifle / SMG Squad: 40x40mm round-cornered base with 3 figures
HMG / On-table Mortar: 40x40mm square base with 2 figures + weapon
PC: 1p base in a single figure tray
CC: 40mm circular base with 2 figures
BC: 40mm circular base with 3 figures
FO / AT: 2p base with 1 figure
Sniper: 2p or 20x40mm round-cornered or pill base as appropriate
Here are my thoughts on the above-mentioned units and base types…
Rifle / SMG Squads and HMG / On-table Mortars
I used to use squares for my rifle squads but now prefer the rounded-edged bases for those troops as they don’t need to be regimented like Napoleonic forces. However I still use straight-edged bases for HMGs and on-table Mortars as the base is useful for eyeballing their 90° arc of fire.
Commanders
Platoon Commanders
I really didn’t like the recommended size for Platoon Commanders. I know it was useful to have one dimension equal to the standard squad base-width, however there was a lot of excess base and I didn’t find it very aesthetically pleasing. It also seemed to be a rather unique base size for a leader, which would be a bit jarring when used with other game systems.
Left to my own devices, I probably would’ve based my PCs on 2p bases, however I inherited some figures based on 1p bases. To help distinguish them from the rank and file, my solution was to mount the leaders on a single figure tray. This also allowed me to colour code the single figure trays to highlight the platoon commander’s assistance modifier (gold = +2, silver = +1, copper / bronze = 0) and hot-swop them between games whenever necessary. Given that it’s possible to have lots of PCs on the table with different modifiers, this is pretty handy!
I could be wrong but I don’t think there are any PCs that have a modifier of 0, but there are French, Italian, Russian and US organisations that have varying PC modifiers depending on the context (see table below). So the copper / bronze tray would signify that.
Organisations
Rallying
Close Combat
French leg & motorized infantry and dismounted dragoons
+1
0
Italian leg & motorized infantry
+1
0
Russians
0
+1
United States leg & armoured infantry
+1
0
Company and Battalion Commanders
As CC and BC stands don’t fire, I thought it’s not that important to have squarish bases as facing isn’t an issue. Round bases are the classic shape for commanders on the tabletop so why break with tradition? However as they can both engage in close combat I thought it best to use a similar base size to the Rifle / SMG Squads.
Anti-tank infantry markers
Rather than create additional rifle squad bases featuring anti-tank weapons (eg Panzerfaust, Panzershreck, Bazooka), I’ve settled on using an individually based AT figure, which is essentially a token, to place beside the squad in question to designate their upgraded equipment. You just need to remember that the AT figure is just a token, and AT fire is from the centre of the squad base not the AT figure themselves. Usually I’d use a 2p base for AT figures but in the case of prone PIATs or Anti-Tank Rifles I may base them as a regular Rifle squad should the need arise.
Conclusion
I guess it was a blessing and a curse that when I started playing Crossfire there weren’t any local players whose basing style I needed to mirror. Anyhoo, after much play and mulling over, this is what works for me. Maybe it’ll help you figure out what’s good for you? If you’re looking for a base supplier, then why not try Warbases. That’s where I got my MDF mountain.
From L-R: French Infantry, French Command (3 figures), Turco, Zouave, Jäger
I took a wild punt on a job lot of Franco-Prussian figures from Chariot Miniatures the other day. I wasn’t really sure what I’d be getting, but I thought it might be a good way to get started with the FPW, as regardless of what I got, it would be something that I could build from. I mean, I’m going to need lots of everything really. Though I’m not going to rush in to all the Prussian allied states *just* yet!
After a bit of internet sleuthing it seems that Chariot Miniatures are no longer trading and their FPW range may have been acquired by Magister Militum. Certainly some of the sculpts and catalogue numbers are similar. So that’ll be handy if I want to top up any of the units in the same style. Though it does look like some of the packs aren’t available on the MM website. I assume they’ve combined certain packs eg the command and the line infantry. Also the Chariot packs have 12 infantry and 6 cavalry, as opposed to Magister’s 30 infantry and 12 cavalry.
From L-R: French Hussar, French Cuirassier
There is a Chariot Miniatures website still partially accessible courtesy of the Internet Archive, however their Franco-Prussian War page is sadly absent. So for the benefit of anyone who is trying to find out any information about their FPW range here’s as much info as I’ve managed to work out.
SFE1: French infantry
SFE2: French infantry command (4 officers, 4 standard bearers and 4 drummers)
SFE3: French Turcos
SFE5: French Zouaves (with turbans)
SFE10: French Hussars
SFE12: French Cuirassiers
PUG3: Prussian Jägers
Anyhoo, these are the first 10mm figures that I’ve seen close at hand, and I must say I’m amazed at the detail in such small miniatures. They’re quite remarkable! I’m looking forward to picking up some Pendraken 10mm next to see how they compare.
With thoughts of playing a greater variety of wargames but with less investment in figures, time and storage space, I’ve come round to the notion of using paper miniatures. At the very least, they allow you to try out a game relatively quickly after reading it, to help you decide whether or not you want to pursue a project before it even begins.
I was rather delighted to see that an artist called Vyacheslav Batalov has released some magnificent paper miniatures for 19th century Central Asia on Wargame Vault. I have the two sets pictured above and they are beautifully illustrated. Vyacheslav has since released Afghan Tribesmen, Afghan Regulars and two sets of Indian Army figures – the first of which includes Gurkhas (set 1 and set 2).
Alternatively you can get hordes of paper miniatures for free from the Junior General website.
Newline Designs have launched their summer sale with 25% off to celebrate 25 years in the business!
I’m already the proud owner of miniatures from their 20mm American Civil War, Colonial, Napoleonic and their 1/72nd Sikh War ranges. Personally I don’t see all that much of a difference between the 20mm and 1/72nd figures that I’ve seen, and I’m sure I’ll be mixing and matching some more of their masterful handiwork before too long 🙂
Just heard that there’s a new fantastic addition to the Dark Alliance line of fantasy figures… MUMMIES! Just what I needed to fill the ranks of an mythological Egyptian army in Of Gods & Mortals.
If you’d like some paper standees that you could use with Samurai Robots Battle Royale you may be interested to know that Palladium Books have some free ones at DriveThruRPG (link below). But they’re only available until the end of March as they’ll no longer have their Robotech licence from that date.
Turned in to a bit of a turkey shoot this week in Crossfire! 1 US Platoon and two HMGs (in foreground) versus the 1 remaining freedom fighter – a soon to be ex-Platoon Commander. OUCH!
WWII British Artillery Kickstarter in 15mm + 1/72 with option to buy any other kit from The Plastic Soldier Company at 20% off with no delivery charge.
