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Ranking and bases
Topic Started: 23rd January 2006 - 04:26 PM (1,205 Views)
thecoldwarrior
Warlord
well, i am finally getting around to working on my skaven army again.

I am considering using the long (20mm x 100mm) bases for clanrat units, including the command. Of course i will still have some loose minis to redress the unit. Would this be advised or should i stick with individual bases? It seems to me this would be very nice to use during a game instead of so many loose minis. Even on a movement tray , they still pop out and fall over.

I do plan to make movement trays and this brings up my second question. What would be the best size for a movement tray? My first idea is to make it large enough to hold 4 x 5 minis. This way if i wanted a 5 long front, just turn it sidways or for a 4 long front the other way. I have made a couple of movement trays so far, but i left the back open , like the gw ones. I want to chang this so that the tray has a solid rim all around. While im here , I'd like to know what other sizes would be worth while to make ie for giant rats and packmasters (if it is normal to have a large number of these in a unit, then i would just make more of the 4 x 5 trays and use it for them as well).

Any ideas, comments, experience will be appreciated.
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Don__Vito
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Making you an offer you can't refuse...
Are you buying the GW movement trays or making your own? As if you are using the pre made ones you have very little choice over what unit size you have to field?

Personally, I make custom trays for every unit I use. Gives me a lot wider scope of how I deploy them, as everyone knows 20 Clanrats just isn't enough! :D

Even my Rat Ogre Packs have their own custom movement trays for them and their packmasters.

As for base size, I haven't used any of the 100x20's purely because I don't have any! If I did, I probably would, as getting 30 plastics already glued together (Off e-Bay!!!) to rank up was a pain in the backside!!!

I have various pics if you need any more inspiration/help/whatever?

Hope that helps!!!
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thecoldwarrior
Warlord
Yes , this is exactly what i want to know about, as i have not played the game yet. I want to get stuff closer to right before i play. Yes i do make my own movement trays out of styrene, so i have complete control over the size and shape.

The 20mm x 100mm bases are avalible in bags of 15 i think. I saw a orc unit in the newest white dwarf that used the larger ones, but they have em for the smaller models. It looked great and im just sure it would be a lot easier to use.

I did the same thing , ebay auction of half assembled part primed...it was a mess, but i got it worked out. I just wish they had used super glue to join the models, it so much easier to break the parts off than the plastic glue.

I actually have made a magnet board for all my skaven and i was going to show it on here, but i broke my camera when i went to take the pic. Ive got a new one now and if you want to know about the power magnets just let me know (like the one they showed in black gobo for the sm). Thing is i dont plan to use it now, cuz i did not know how many rats i would need when i got the magnets.

So what size do you think for the movement tray? I have enought rats to make two units of 30 or 3 of 20. I do plan to get more though. What size clanrat units do you use?

I may still get some of the long bases when i get my next box of clanrats, and try it out.


three rats walk into a bar........oh you've heard this one
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Ratlocke the Crisp
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I would say that the 20x100 bases are a good idea, say for the command groups as standards are a pain to place if on a single base.

The fact that clan rats (and slaves) will never have there numbers down past 5 because they are likely to break first.

However one problem with this is when using a character (like a warlock engineer or chieftain), however if you have some commands on single and a few on 20x100 then the varity is there for when you need them.

I would say 6 of one half dozen of the other. (for commands and maybe a second row as well?)
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thecoldwarrior
Warlord
ok sorry but i have to fix this.

Small regiment bases (15) 99229999039 are 20mm x 80mm , so only 4 skaven will fit on each row.

Large regiment bases (15) 99229999038 are 25mm x 100mm , but are for larger models such as orcs

thoes lot numbers are for the bags not the bits (singles) but why would yo want to buy singles anyway??!?!?

So you will have to put a row of 4 and 1 extra one to make a front of 5. That is why i want to know what you all normally use as a front row number.

Another way to go is to make bases from thick styrene (the same size as the stuff i use for trays, but it wont have the nice height to them. Just an idea.

Sorry about the confusion and thanx
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thecoldwarrior
Warlord
I got the 20mm x 80mm bases now. Atm I just have them in place wi=th blue tack, but it seams very promising! Right now I have 12 sets of 4 rats to a base (including 2 bases with command). Then another 8 loose on regular bases for loses in the ranks. I think 2 or 3 would be sufficent though.
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Jackety
FEAR THE LEMMING!
I think I see what you're saying...but I know that what I do is have only the center ranks on the 20x80 things. So, the front, back, and a single side are all individual bases, where as the middle models (This is in a unit ranked in fives) are on the 20x80 thing.
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Acrux
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Stormvermin
i just got a couple packs of the 80x20 bases and they're great, especially if you don't have magnetic movement trays. I'm leaving the front rank on singles though, it would be easier that way if you ever want to put a charecter in that unit.

as far as the movement trays go, i think 4x5 will be too small. Most people i think field their clanrats in units of 25-30 or more, depending on how much shooting you will be facing.

what size magnets did you use for your board? i wanted to get some to make magnetized trays. the black gobbo article says the size they used were very sticky. i wanted something thats not so sticky that you'll destroy your models trying to peel em off but stong enough that they'll actually hold.

Acrux
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DrackoSkaven
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Grey Seer
damn. someone just had to ask a question like this a few days after i cleared my server of "useless" pics (basically, how to make a magnetic movement tray)

i have used GW trays once... i had forgotten mine at home :rolleyes:

anyway, make your own trays is all i can say. i use adhes-a-mag. it comes in a bright yellow box. you should also buy the thick round magnets (i think the think magnets are about a cm thick, the thin ones are a bit too thick 0.6 cm or something like that) and cut them in half the halves fit quite nicely under clanrat bases.

i hope that helped.
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thecoldwarrior
Warlord
ok, I need to ask this again. Can any of you skaven veterns tell me some of the things yo have learned about what works and what does not as far as moving, ranking, playing with skaven models? Mostly im concerned with trys (that ill make) how big? Also im trying to decide how to make my units of clanrats work well. I have some 20mm x 80mm bases (fits 4 models, well is suposed to fit 4 models) seems nice but im not sold on the idea. Just to try them out i put the rats on with blue tack. I'm not sure that putting blue tack on a movement try wont suffice to hold on the single bases. I also got like 200 of the mini magnets that were suggested by gb in black gobo, but that really was more of a transportation thing. One last bit. I was thinking about adding some height to some of the bases so that when i rank em up ill have some of the rats a little higher so it will look like a horde over uneven ground, but also offset them enough so the shields and tails have a little more room.

thanx in advance -D
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scrivener
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*toot*

as jackety mentioned before, better to use the regiment bases for the middle ranks, with command on singles. If you play with 5 wide you can pop a single base at the side. Then for the front and back use single bases so your characters can join in. so for a unit of 20 you're looking at maybe 2 regiment bases, the rest singles to allow flexibility to field the unit 4x5 or 5x4 (considering the unit turning to face the side), at 25-30 it's 3 regiment bases for 5x5 or 5x6. Having a few more singles than regiments allows some flexibility and changes to the unit.

Magnetising, you can use magnetic sheets like those for fridge magnets, cut to size and pasted on the tray, and stick metal washers under the bases. Its a tad simpler/cheaper than all those mini magnets for each base. magnetic sheets can be gotten from any hardware store and are easy to cut. Then you can raise bases by just sticking an extra washer underneath.

For tray sizes the common ones are 4x5/5x4 for slaves, 5x5 and 5x6/6x5 for clannies/monks/svermin. So that's three sizes of bases. For ogres/ratpacks that really depends on how many you usually field and in what shape, as ratpacks especially can vary quite a bit.
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thecoldwarrior
Warlord
Thanx sooo much!!!

Well I dont know if I really need the long bases now :( I had forgoten totaly about turning them. I have never played a game yet so I have no idea wtf is going on. This sounds like a nightmare, I mean even worse than I thought. Why did they make the bases so dang small again??? I mean would it have changed the game that much to have added 5mm to all the sizes???

If you rank them up like I have read here with tails docked, shields placed precicely, and even numbering the bases to keep them in order, how could you posibaly turn them so that they still line up? Even if you could do that so they face left, then what about right?

As for the magnents, I really wanted to get some anyway. I have had a ton of fun with them!!! I dont think ill leave them on the unit they are on. You might recall that the night I was going to take pics of my magnetic base I broke my camera. I have a new one now, so if anyone is interested I can take some now.

Thats it for now, gonna go tinker with this problem. I do realise that a lot of people have been playing this game for a long time and are not bothered by this, but I have no immidiate plans for a game and id like to figure it out.

thanx again all :)


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Mormeguil
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baby nurgle
OOO the nightmare of skaven ranks. Personally I would suggest using some rare earth magnets instead of washer. It allow you to transport your army ranked, it save so much time. Especially when you never play at your house like me.
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thecoldwarrior
Warlord
Thats what I have, the rare earth magnets. They are ok, but scince their is so little room bettween the bases, the magnets tend to pull and repel just when you dont need them to. I made a board from thin plywood, then i used contact cement to adhear a thin sheet of steel. Next I Have a thin layer of sand glued to that and then undercoat, and paint. Then I have the magnets glued to the under side of the bases. They are even strong enough to go all the way through a sheet of styrene, which I use for the movement tray! Scince the metal covers the whole 1ft x 2ft area, I can place the minis anywhere on the board and transport them without fear of them falling off or sliding around. It also make a nice display for the army too!

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hakoMike
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Most of my clanrats have rare earth magnets on them now. As long as you glue to roughly the middle of the base it minimizes the push/pull of one rat to the next.

I keep them on an old cookie sheet. Works great! :lol:
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