I'm finally beginning to flesh out my 1/285 Flames of War armies. Til now artillery was just a gun on a plain base (I acquired most of mine second hand). So now I'm adding crews, flocking, prime movers.
On one hand I want the prime mover left on the table when the gun is deployed. On the other it's much more convenient for the limbered gun to be attached to the PM on a single base.
Alternatively, I could just buy a ton of extra PMs to add to the deployed guns.
What to do, what to do...
A basing dilemma
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Extra Crispy
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A basing dilemma
Mark Severin
Owner, Scale Creep Miniatures
Author DeepFriedHappyMice.com
Owner, Scale Creep Miniatures
Author DeepFriedHappyMice.com
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piersyf
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On the bases you use, is it possible to have the tractor and gun in towing position? What I have done in the past is have a base with the towing vehicle glued on but the gun just sitting in position, and a separate base with just the crew, so when the gun is deployed just lift it off the tractor's base and slip it amongst the crew. This also assumes firing positions. Presently I have tractors with towed guns just sitting on the baase, and when deployed remove those guns and place the deployed gun stand with crew. Not perfect, but avoids having to buy extras.
There is no right or wrong, only decisions and consequences.
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kiasutha
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I've been wrestling with this myself, as I slowly base all my mini's.
Piersyf & others have a good solution here, but at 60 or so years, for me and my bleary eyed or fumble fingered friends I hate leaving the smaller more delicate guns (the most numerous of course) loose like that. I may use it for some of the bigger, more robust guns.
I guess the solution would be to have two guns and two tractors to represent every gun; gun and tug based together, and each separate, at least for the "little" stuff.
But as towed pieces are already effectively double the cost of "S-P's", that gets expensive fast for big armies/collections. And some tractors can only be had as "spare parts"...
Even then, what happens when you need to tow a gun after the "jabos" or whatever smoked its' "standard based tractor"? More pieces...?
For now, I'm mostly basing in 3 parts- tractor, towed piece(mounted with trails elevated a bit), and deployed gun with crew. That allows for some "pool power" too...
It's not as neat, clean, convenient and elegant, but it works.
I don't even want to think about the horse-drawn stuff (& other) pieces with limbers/caisons that should be separated in action...
Piersyf & others have a good solution here, but at 60 or so years, for me and my bleary eyed or fumble fingered friends I hate leaving the smaller more delicate guns (the most numerous of course) loose like that. I may use it for some of the bigger, more robust guns.
I guess the solution would be to have two guns and two tractors to represent every gun; gun and tug based together, and each separate, at least for the "little" stuff.
But as towed pieces are already effectively double the cost of "S-P's", that gets expensive fast for big armies/collections. And some tractors can only be had as "spare parts"...
Even then, what happens when you need to tow a gun after the "jabos" or whatever smoked its' "standard based tractor"? More pieces...?
For now, I'm mostly basing in 3 parts- tractor, towed piece(mounted with trails elevated a bit), and deployed gun with crew. That allows for some "pool power" too...
It's not as neat, clean, convenient and elegant, but it works.
I don't even want to think about the horse-drawn stuff (& other) pieces with limbers/caisons that should be separated in action...
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John Secker
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When I get a typical GHQ 2/2/2 gun pack, I base the two deployed guns, with crew, in firing posture, all stuck to the base. I paint the prime movers but leave them loose (unbased). Then I paint the towed guns and prepare a base looking like a road or track, long enough to take gun and truck. I glue the gun to the base in towing position (I.e. with the trails up in the air at the height of the towhook). Then during a game, when the guns are in transit I put the prime mover on the base, positioned so that it looks as though it is towing. When the guns unlimber I remove the road base, and replace it with the firing base. The prime movers can be placed on the firing bases, or can drive off on their own to a safer spot.
The only problem with this is that out of a pack you only get, in effect, two guns. In some cases the towed and deployed gun models are virtually the same, and then I often base all four guns in firing posture, with the prime movers on separate bases. To show them in transit I just line up the gun base behind the truck base; not ideal, but it give you twice as many guns in effect.
The only problem with this is that out of a pack you only get, in effect, two guns. In some cases the towed and deployed gun models are virtually the same, and then I often base all four guns in firing posture, with the prime movers on separate bases. To show them in transit I just line up the gun base behind the truck base; not ideal, but it give you twice as many guns in effect.
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kiasutha
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John:
I've been trying a variation on this method too.
I use a 1/16" thick base normally, but for this I tried mounting the tractor permanently to its base and then that onto an extended base of thin steel painted "ground" color.
The towed gun goes on a base of 1/16" magnet material that gets put on top to tow.
The downside is the extended base stays around with the tow, unlike yours, but the parts are secure and I get to pick it all up by the tractor if need be...
I've been trying a variation on this method too.
I use a 1/16" thick base normally, but for this I tried mounting the tractor permanently to its base and then that onto an extended base of thin steel painted "ground" color.
The towed gun goes on a base of 1/16" magnet material that gets put on top to tow.
The downside is the extended base stays around with the tow, unlike yours, but the parts are secure and I get to pick it all up by the tractor if need be...
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Extra Crispy
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ZAJACMWZ
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Attaching vehicles and crews to bases
Guys,
I've always preferred to keep my vehicles un-based but some games, like GHQ's WW2 Micro-Armor and -Squad, really rely on bases, plus it does make identifying separate vehicles easier - other than relying on the 6mm scale turret number - which are getting much harder to see as I get older
Here's a workable solution I've come up with. Use a small neodymium magnet glued to the bottom of the vehicle and when you're playing a game requiring bases, have pre-made 1" metal flocked bases with IDs on them. Just stick the vehicle on. I've done this with the "gun crew team" figures too and its simple to add or subtract them from a based and deployed gun. Don't really have a solution for the larger artillery pieces though in terms of a removable crew since GHQ's artillery crew packs are made of individual figures (which is excellent BTW). The larger deployed guns just always show a crew and if the crew is killed or leaves then I mark the base as abandoned. I've used Gaussboys Super Magnets and you can get some really tiny sizes - 4mm x 1mm disc and 1.5mm x 1.5mm square have worked for crews while a 6mm square fits most vehicles.
As for deployed / towed guns, I create a towed version for each deployed gun with the towing pintel or limber at about the height of the towing vehicle's rear bumper and at the edge of the base. To show towing they simple are placed next to each other. My bases for the towed versions are always rectangular and the deployed guns bases square - easy to tell from a distance on the table.
Just another idea.
Matt
I've always preferred to keep my vehicles un-based but some games, like GHQ's WW2 Micro-Armor and -Squad, really rely on bases, plus it does make identifying separate vehicles easier - other than relying on the 6mm scale turret number - which are getting much harder to see as I get older
Here's a workable solution I've come up with. Use a small neodymium magnet glued to the bottom of the vehicle and when you're playing a game requiring bases, have pre-made 1" metal flocked bases with IDs on them. Just stick the vehicle on. I've done this with the "gun crew team" figures too and its simple to add or subtract them from a based and deployed gun. Don't really have a solution for the larger artillery pieces though in terms of a removable crew since GHQ's artillery crew packs are made of individual figures (which is excellent BTW). The larger deployed guns just always show a crew and if the crew is killed or leaves then I mark the base as abandoned. I've used Gaussboys Super Magnets and you can get some really tiny sizes - 4mm x 1mm disc and 1.5mm x 1.5mm square have worked for crews while a 6mm square fits most vehicles.
As for deployed / towed guns, I create a towed version for each deployed gun with the towing pintel or limber at about the height of the towing vehicle's rear bumper and at the edge of the base. To show towing they simple are placed next to each other. My bases for the towed versions are always rectangular and the deployed guns bases square - easy to tell from a distance on the table.
Just another idea.
Matt