If Heracles (or Hercules if you prefer) was a wargamer, then instead of slaughtering Hydra or clearing out stables, he'd be rebasing figures. For that is a task that can be really Herculean. It seems that I have spent my life cutting, gluing and smearing, only to tear it all off again. All on the whim of scale or rule-writer. When I returned to Napoleonics, a couple of years ago, I vowed to resist such shenanigans, and I would like to share my solution. Firstly, I settled on six-mil. Easy to paint, cheap, space-saving etc, the advantages are many. More importantly, not even the most ardent masochist could be expected to remove casualties, with all those fiddle singles and doubles. Secondly, I wanted a games system that kept score, so since the battalion looked kind of right, I'd be okay. After all, a commander tells the state of the troops by its actions and responses, not a quick head count. Inevitably, after trying many written rules, I use a computer to do the book-keeping. With a computer, as long as they are consistent, base sizes are irrelevant, right? Thirdly, the basing must be as robust as ever, adaptable, easy to store, and above all good looking. So there is nothing new there. Rules My First set of rules recommended 24 Figure battalions, based on four stands. Each base has forty-five degree cuts on the rear, enabling the battalion to form square. Cavalry are sixteen figure regiments, across four bases (My apologies to whoever wrote these rules, the set is discarded, and I cannot remember the title!). These are mounted on thin card, based and flocked in the usual manner. I find these look effective, though perhaps a little "thin" for some peoples' tastes. I suppose you could mount two ranks, or even figure blocks from Irregular or Eagle Six. As megalomania set in, I soon realised that fighting a Corps, with HQs, ADCs and supporting Cavalry and artillery would involve shuffling some 200 or more bases around. No problem, I thought, I've encountered this before, I'll use movement trays. But I was using Heroics and Ross mounted on thin card, they just were not heavy enough to stay put. The edges I had built up, in an effort to retain them, made it look like they were assaulting over the Great Wall of China! After experimenting with double-sided tape and Blu-tac and other substances, I discovered magnetic display material, which heralded a solution to my problems. At first, the wargames' fraternity has seemed to use magnetic basing only for storage, in the ubiquitous Tool-box. When the figures transfer to the table, they then carry on as normal. However, I feel, six-mil really gain from the extra solidity and stability of magnetic mounting. It can be applied from sheet, or more usefully, self adhesive tape. Remember to unroll it onto a flat warm steel surface, such as a radiator to flatten it before use. Steel paper was then mounted onto card, to form a selection of formation trays. They were then painted, and a narrow border of basing material applied to match the existing bases. The self adhesive variety is ideal, and can be easily cut using scissors. Note that the tray sizes allow for a variety of formations, and the basic bases sizes are modular. I know I needn't show different formations, the computer does it for me (See the article in FE3), but I just think it looks better to have separate formations. Not being a Rockefeller, having figures mounted in several formations is just not on, so this allows me to use the bases in a variety of ways. This then cuts the number of stands for a Corps to fifty or Sixty. But what about the really big formations, such as L'Order Mixte or the Divisional columns used by D'Erlon at Waterloo? The bases are not sufficiently magnetic to "grasp" a second layer of material underneath. So using veneer, I have mounted magnetic strips, and filled and flocked the area between them. This then acts as fixing points, allowing the steel paper trays to be mounted on them. A variation on this is to make bases like this for your 15mm or 25mm armies. Each individual casting is then mounted on a steel washer, allowing endless variations. For storage there is no system better. Thick card is lined with the steel paper and then slot into the tool-box. The bottom layer of miniatures goes directly on the metal base, I even have some upside-down on the lid! Some companies even have purpose built cases with steel lined shelves, The Rolls Royce of tool-boxes. Drawbacks So, you may ask yourself, what are the drawbacks? Costs, certainly. If you are painting your own castings, some units may cost more to magnetise than the castings themselves. Typically a 10 metre roll of material is around ten pounds, but would mount some hundred or so battalions, or fifty skirmishing units. Even so, my six-mil army still costs a fraction of 25mm, so it must compensate. One mistake I did make was on some of my large "Grand Battery" artillery bases. I covered the whole area, rather than just the edges of the base. It then stuck so determinedly to a metal surface that I decapitated two, and removed a third gunner casting at the knee, trying to remove it. The other drawback is if you practice computer moderated wargames. NEVER allow figures to come into contact with your machine or disks. ALWAYS store floppy disks or other magnetic media well away from your collection. Failure to do so could result in loss of data. You have been warned! So there you have it, a practical, flexible system. I should never need to rebase again, just a quick scissors and (steel) paper job, and throw on more or less stands to choice. Several people supply what you need, however I cannot recommend the services of Magnetic Displays highly enough, always very prompt and courteous, with a large product range. You will excuse me, I must end there, I have just acquired a 4,000 figure Grand Armee, in need of conversion to the Armee du Nord. But they will need rebasing to my new "future-proofed" system...... Ah well, the more the world changes, the more it stays the same. Ed: Magnetic Displays can be contacted on 0743 718632 or Magnetic Displays, Hilltop, Great Ryton, Dorrington, Shrewsbury SY5 71W. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #12 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com