At the urging of my gaming companions, I am undertaking what will hopefully be at least a semi- regular series of articles. I am always on the lookout for cheap stuff that can be used for wargames, whether terrain bits, bases or even 1-toures, there are bargains to be had, if you know where to look. What I hope to do, is to focus on one or two areas each installment, and cover ways to cut your costs by at least half within expensive alternatives.
I have a lot of fun doing this, and I hope that you all find at least some of the ideas useful, best of all, I hope that they save you money. The ideas are by and large, aimed at saving money, but also, you will find some that are simply clever ways to make use of quite ordinary objects found around the house, and designed for very different purpose.
One of my gaming companions often says that someday I am going to frustrate the daylights out of some poor archaeologist! Some of these ideas are not original to me, they are simply ones that I've picked up over the years. others actually are original (at least I think so), in any case, here goes:
Figure Bases - This obviously depends to a degree on the rules system you are using, but it seems more and more today, that specific sizes don't niatter. as long as the armies you are using match up. Let me start by saving, that I am one ofthose people who can lavish incredible detail on a figure, but I have a hard time Cutting a straight line on dots! Therefore. I am always looking for things that can be used without cutting for figure bases.
That being said. I have found a Couple of neat Sources of cheap bases. First of all. most of the Dollar Stores. sell packages of wooden or plastic dominos, generally 28 to a box for $1. These I have found in two different sizes. The first and I think better of the two is approximately 30mm wide by about 12mm deep. I have found it ideal for 10mm and 15mm figures, the great advantage of these bases. is that they give the gamer something to grab onto when moving the figures, besides the figures themselves. Another important thing to consider when using the smaller scales. The other nice thing about these bases. is that they are rounded at the corners. giving a nice, finished look to the armies. The single base works for infantry however for cavalry and guns, you will have to glue two together. I have recently discovered that Toys R Us. also carries the plastic dominos, which is good as Dollar Stores tend to he somewhat undependable as to stock. What you want to look for, are the packs identified as "mini" dominos. You will pay $2.00 per pack here. but still, you know that they will always have them. Besides, it is always fun to watch the faces of the checkout folks when you Put 12 Or so boxes ofdominos down on the Counter!
The second style of domino is wooden. and about 40mm wide by 15mm or so deep. These are a bit thicker than the plastic ones, and the boxes I have purchased. have actually had some pieces cut on a slight angle. These bases work well with 20mm and 25mm figures. in fact, I used them to mount up my 25mm WWII figures in pairs for "Crossfire" games. As with the plastic bases, you will have to combine two together to mount cavalry or guns. It seems that the Dollar store have replaced the plastic ones with these, so its off to Toys R US.
Another good source of bases, is in certain games made for children. I happened to be playing a game of Hangman with my youngest one night, when I started to look at the pieces with some interest. I should explain, that these "High Tech" kids can't be bothered drawing, no, this is a boxed game from Milton Bradley, that features plastic letter tiles and a board for each player. The tiles, are 1.25 x 1 inch, are thin but sturdy, and again, have nice rounded corners. I 'borrowed" a few of the letters, only those that are used infrequently. and went down to the basement. As I suspected, the tiles made perfect stands for individual 25mm figures. They also as I found out later, make great bases for 10mm figures mounted in double ranks. Anyway, a bit of research turned up the phone number of the company. and a call found that they were in ore than willing to sell extra sets of the tiles (little did they know what for). The cost, $4.00. shipping included for a full set of tiles, which numbered around 150. The cost for these bases. less than $.03 each. Both of the above are at least half the price of metal stands, and are pre-cut and ready to use.
Another idea that I'll remind you of is one that appeared in these pages a few issues ago. That, is the use of Pogs for bases. They are these days, very inexpensive, less than $.10 each in most cases, but are becoming a bit harder to find as the fad has lost steam. They are great for any type of mounting where precise, straight lines are not essential, e.g. colonial period native armies, individual figures, and others. I like to use them as bases for army command elements. it makes them stand out from the rest. The best place to find Pogs these days, is probably Yard / Garage sales, and Flea Markets, though some Card and Comic type shops may still carry them. I have also used Poker chips, sold in boxes of 100 chips for $2.00 or less per box, and readily available. These make good bases for single 54mm figures, and being plastic are quite sturdy.
For those of you who are more adept at cutting things up than I am, basing material can be found quite cheaply. The best source of basing material, is the backing cards of good quality note pads and steno pads, found in most offices. These are all generally 8x11 or smaller, and can be cut up into a number of bases of whatever size Suits Your requirements. As I said, the better quality ones have board that is really as sturdy as any Matte Board, and can be used for 25mm figures. The thinner type however, may only work for 15mm add smaller, or plastic figures.
The idea here, is to save time as well as money, both of which to me are equally valuable.
Frugal Wargamer #2: Paints and Paintbrushes
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© Copyright 1997 Hal Thinglum
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