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Post by panthros on Dec 26, 2017 4:29:50 GMT
I have not played in years and I am finally getting back into the game with 3.0. I am ordering a couple of 15mm armies from Essex and had a question on basing. My armies will likely be Late Crusaders, Vikings and an enemy of one of them so I can teach others to play as well. I cut my teeth with 2.x with Vikings so I have a soft spot for them. As I look at Vikings 3-40a and 3-40b as an example, this got me thinking about how I should base them. 3Bd would be on 40x20mm base and the 4Bd could be on 40x15-20mm bases. I read the rule "Players should keep as closely as possible to the minimum depths recommended..." So from this I should use 40x15mm base for 4Bd. This leads me to believe there has to be reason I get the choice. Do other army lists in other games use 40x20mm so perhaps I should use 20mm in case I ever go to something else? Is it so few other rules I should not care. I am also thinking down the road that from tournament perspective or just playing with other people perhaps I should be as legally exact as possible. This leads me to believe what the benefit of 40x15mm is. I have to believe shorter base allows for better maneuverability. I am sure I am over thinking this but due to the costs of shipping from Essex to the US, I want to order everything right the first time.
Thanks in advance.
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Post by timurilank on Dec 26, 2017 6:47:48 GMT
I have not played in years and I am finally getting back into the game with 3.0. I am ordering a couple of 15mm armies from Essex and had a question on basing. My armies will likely be Late Crusaders, Vikings and an enemy of one of them so I can teach others to play as well. I cut my teeth with 2.x with Vikings so I have a soft spot for them. As I look at Vikings 3-40a and 3-40b as an example, this got me thinking about how I should base them. 3Bd would be on 40x20mm base and the 4Bd could be on 40x15-20mm bases. I read the rule "Players should keep as closely as possible to the minimum depths recommended..." So from this I should use 40x15mm base for 4Bd. This leads me to believe there has to be reason I get the choice. Do other army lists in other games use 40x20mm so perhaps I should use 20mm in case I ever go to something else? Is it so few other rules I should not care. I am also thinking down the road that from tournament perspective or just playing with other people perhaps I should be as legally exact as possible. This leads me to believe what the benefit of 40x15mm is. I have to believe shorter base allows for better maneuverability. I am sure I am over thinking this but due to the costs of shipping from Essex to the US, I want to order everything right the first time. Thanks in advance. Panthros,
Welcome to the Forum.
The inclusion of 15mm as a base depth would allow players with older collections to play the newer version. This topic has been discussed some time back and the general consensus agreed with the advantages of using the deeper base (20mm) for blade, spear, warband and pike.
My early Germans look much better on deeper bases, especially the Blue Moon figures with their larger shields.
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Post by Baldie on Dec 26, 2017 9:17:31 GMT
Hi There
Welcome aboard
Me and my chums decided to base our figures for DBA before we actually got fully hooked
We decided on it with other games in mind from the start
Personally i have become hooked on DBA for all sorts of reasons but also love Hail Caesar and Lart de la Guerra.
Hail Ceasar basing is focused on unit frontages so 40mm wide is fine, we use 4 bases in 2x4 as s reg unit, 2x3 as a large, 2 bases as small and 1 base as tiny.
For lart we use single base for cavalry and chariots per unit and 2 bases of infantry one behind the other as infantry units and add in one or two more for pike blocks
We have found many other games also work with DBA basing so it is great to start with it then if you fancy bigger games in one period scale up your force
Obs depends on how big a game you want and type of force you use but generally lart will be 3 or four times as many bases as DBA and HC can be bigger still
Probably biggest descision is if your regular oppondnts also base the same
Basically enjoy DBA cos its great and get the benefit of being anle to scale up, looking forward to seeing your force grow.
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Post by primuspilus on Dec 27, 2017 1:56:44 GMT
Welcome to the DBA ddiction, panthros! You will find you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave!
But seriously, you will find few (if any) objections to using 20mm deep bases. Personally I used to use 20mm, but went to 15mm more recently as I find the troops just a bit easier to spot by base size in the heat of battle. That said, if you your Spears on 15s, and your opponent has his on 20s, (depth, of course everything is 40mm width), you should have no issues playing.
The consensus seems to be that the deeper base gives more room for active figure poses, and are far less prone to tipping over on hills. Personally, I like the look of the narrower base for formed, disciplined foot, but the rules is not hard and fast.
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Post by paulhannah on Dec 27, 2017 19:12:10 GMT
Welcome, Panthros. Yep, it's entirely your choice. I clung to the skinny, 15mm bases for some time after the release of DBA-3, but I find I now much prefer the look of 20mm deep bases. I've also adopted Eric Donaldson's basing "heresies" of mounting five (or sometimes more!) figures on Solid Foot bases. To me, there's just something aesthetically very pleasing with five-per-base. Maybe it's the odd number of figures, or being able to center a flag-bearer? The added space of 20mm bases certainly keeps this heretical (but perfectly legal) basing from looking too crowded.
The tactical advantages and disadvantages of the 15mm vs. 20mm deep bases I think are minuscule, so I just go with what I think looks best. "Primuspilus" says this as well: Go with what looks best. He likes the narrower bases, and that's fine. Decide what's most appealing to you.
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Post by medievalthomas on Dec 28, 2017 19:27:18 GMT
It seems the people have just adopted whatever looks and works best for basing. Sometimes when the people lead, the leaders will follow. We did our best to get Phil to accept more flexiable basing and as usual on a very hit or miss basis he allowed some flexiabilitly while ignoring other equally meritorous requests.
Locally we just use 25/8mm and base 3 per base for "medium" foot (Bow, Warband, Aux etc.) and four per base for "heavy" foot (Spear, Blade etc.) All Fast Foot go on 30mmm deep bases while allow non-Fast go on 20mm bases. Looks better and makes game much easier to explain to newbies.
One "at home" suggestion - allow Foot to Recoil either its Base Depth or up to 1/2BW (like the Mounted option). Helps to equalize treatment of armies where some have used the old "15mm" depth while others have opted for "20mm" depth (for 15mm figures).
TomT
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Post by twrnz on Jan 1, 2018 21:25:56 GMT
Welcome to DBA.
If starting from scratch I would use 20mm deep bases and new armies I do follow this. It allows greater figure protection as increasingly animated figures otherwise overhang the base. It further allows the basing visuals to be slightly improved in my mind as there is more base to work with. Where I have existing armies I generally leaving the solid foot on 15mm deep bases.
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Post by nangwaya on May 22, 2018 17:39:57 GMT
Glad I found this thread! When my 15mm Serbian Empire army arrived, all the foot elements except the one spear element, were all on 20mm deep bases. I wanted consistency, so I rebased the spear element onto a 20mm deep base. Then last Saturday when I was purchasing some bases at CanGames from a vendor who coincidentally was going to be in the DBA tournament the following Sunday night, told me that I should have left the spear element on the 15mm deep base, as it would screw up the game play. I ended up rebasing to 15mm deep that night, and after the tournament rebased again back to 20mm deep, as I would be playing solo for quite some time. Now after reading the posts in this thread, I will be keeping those spears on the 20mm deep base  |
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Post by primuspilus on May 23, 2018 21:52:21 GMT
I don't know personally what that vendor was talking about regarding 15mm basing being required. Sounds like an argument of convenience (or just plain baloney) to me.
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Post by nangwaya on May 23, 2018 23:04:26 GMT
I wonder if it was because the guy was more used to playing older versions of DBA?
I don't know about the rules from earlier versions, as I have only played 3.0.
On a somewhat related note, did mounted have the option of recoiling 1BW or its BD in older versions?
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Post by martin on May 24, 2018 7:45:59 GMT
On a somewhat related note, did mounted have the option of recoiling 1BW or its BD in older versions? In previous versions mounted recoiled its base depth (30mm in 15mm scale), unless it was a 6Kn, when it recoiled a base width (40mm in 15mm scale). Martin |
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Post by nangwaya on May 24, 2018 11:31:11 GMT
Thanks.
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