Base Currency

 

There have been quite a few requests for information on how I create my Ruckus Tokens so here I have reproduced the article I wrote for Wargames Illustrated in May

Base Currency

 There are many different ways to base your figures and a whole world of different bases to choose from however, if you want my penny’s worth, you cannot beat the humble penny! A preformed magnetic weighty durable base that you can obtain almost anywhere and may already have at home in a jar or drawer or even in your pocket!

When it comes to figure basing everybody seems to use something different, and everyone has their favourite. Top of the range has to be scenic resin bases that depict a piece of the world-planking, cobbles, a leaf strewn forest floor, the volcanic lava pools of planet Z. These weigh in at a pretty penny however, maybe a fiver a throw and are impractical for most gaming but are fantastic for display or small vignettes. 

There are plastic or MDF bases, many companies offer these and you can get them in just about any size, however, they cost well…a pretty penny. And you will need to buy ferrous paper or a magnetic sheet if you want to magnetise them

If you are a penny pincher like me, then you can use waste card, beer mats, scrap plastic packaging- recycling is ethically sound and need not cost a penny! It’s far easier to cut and shape than MDF and there is always a plentiful supply! Beer mats and card are not durable though and may require re-basing through accrued damage whereas most disposable plastics are too thin to be fit for purpose, particularly for heavy metal figures. My armies were always based on beermats back in the day however, since then the penny has dropped…

Any Old Penny?

Not really, in fact older pennies are not so good for our purposes, these ‘Copper’ coins were traditionally made from a bronze alloy of copper, tin and zinc. However, since September 1992, they have been made from copper-plated steel. Both types are the same colour, weight, diameter, and design and circulate together, but it is the new copper-plated steel coins that are attracted to magnets. The iron content in the steel core is what makes them magnetic. I have a large bag of pennies that I got from the local bank, ten pounds worth, most of which, but not all, were minted after 1992. To pick the “good” pennies I use a small magnet on a stick and dip into the bag with it, however, it seems that a “bad” (non-steel) penny always turns up!! Another advantage is that as penny-based figures fix to magnetic sheets or rare earth magnets, they are easier to store and transport.

“See a penny, pick it up... all day long you will have another free magnetic, heavy, indestructible, protective base” I may have to get this this printed on a tee 

Inflation For those figures with a wide stance, or even mounted figures, you can use a 2p, with its 25.9 mm diameter, and again its true that it is those from 1992 and later that are the best as they are made from magnetic steel. When deciding what size base to use...remember…2p or not 2p that is the question!

It’s not only the price that counts, Pennies have many advantages over other bases. They are weighty, giving your figure a low, small centre of gravity, which gives them stability and allows them to stand upright on any surface.

When the penny drops… or rather the penny-based figure, they always land base first and as they are made from solid metal this helps to prevent damage to your precious figures as the heavy base takes all the impact. This is particularly true of plastics and 3d prints. In the world of bases there is nothing tougher

Small area a nifty 20.3 mm diameter means they are an excellent size to fit into table top terrain such as balconies or howdahs or vehicles

  Units of Currency Many companies now produce penny sized saboted movement trays with 3mm holes drilled to accept the necessary magnets so you can base your units this way too. Basing units this way means that you can use individual figures from your units for skirmish games or to create an ad hoc skirmish unit, this works particularly well for games like Billhooks and Ruckus as you can use the same figures for both. 

Another great advantage of sabot-based units is the figure can be swivelled on the base to allow figures with long weapons in ranks to fit without their weapons fouling the rank in front.

  So now we have established that pennies make ideal wargames bases how do we mount our figures on them?

For figures with a puddle base … 

…I use a strong contact adhesive…

…and fill around the puddle base with green stuff

Figures with “Slotta” bases require a different approach. Clip off the tag…

…and score the underside of the figure’s feet, this will increase the contact area and create a stronger bond…

…use a pallet knife, sculpting tool or similar to smear a small blob of green stuff to the soles of the feet…

…and while it is still tacky, apply a small drop of cyanoacrylate glue…

…press the feet of the figure firmly on to the penny and use the blade of the sculpting tool to smooth the green stuff down ensuring a good seal 

The glue is often absorbed into the putty causing it to turn white as shown on this figure

Finally smear a thin coat of the putty across the base to obscure the details of the coin and provide a good surface to paint or add scenics too.

Another great attribute of the magnetic ability of the penny base is that you can create a magnetic token to stick to them to indicate any in game status, something that is particularly useful in Ruckus and many other games that use such tokens, Silver Bayonet, Frostgrave and What a Cowboy to mention a few.

  I use cheap plastic tokens 24 mm diameter which means that the penny fits snugly inside, these are widely available, I got mine for £7 for a box of 200 on line

link to tokens

You will need a box of tokens, a pin drill with a 3mm bit, some 3mm magnets and some super glue

Mark the centre of the token

Drill a pilot hole this makes drilling the bigger hole easier and reduces the chance of slipping

drill the hole using a 3mm bit. I like this pin drill from Army Painter, it is well engineered, with four different sized chucks and the bits are sharp!

The Hole!

Insert a 3mm magnet, I find it is best to keep them in a stack, insert one and break it from the stack by moving sharply to the side…

I used 1mm thick magnets for these tokens, I have since made a second batch using 2mm thick which I found wwre much easier to use and are far stronger 

…leaving a magnet behind in the token

Finally press the magnet flat if it isn’t already and secure with a blob of superglue

Tokens in play! In Ruckus, a white token indicates a Mishap, for whatever reason, the Crossbowman cannot shoot this turn. A red token indicates a wound, this Captain had better take care. The Squire on the right has been having a bad day too, a yellow token indicates a Calamity and the Pink shows that he has had his armour broken.

The combination of penny base and magnet in token means that every time the Captain moves, he takes his token with him. As long as you put them the right way up you can stack several tokens this way.

  So, there you have it, the penny perfect! A small, cheap, strong, durable, magnetic, and excellent way to base your figures whatever game you play! 

Ruckus at Crack Con

 

Crack Con 5 “There and Crack again”

pic: The Throng! Boards and Swords is a great venue to hold a gaming event

Sometimes it takes a global crisis to reset your mojo! Lockdown was a tough time for most people, but in many ways a golden time for hobbyists, stuck at home with little else to do many of us who had not played games or painted figures for years dug out their old lead piles and got reacquainted with our inner selves. I know I did and I have not looked back.

Lockdown was responsible for a lot more than the Barnard Castle incident and Partygate, it was also the origin of Crack Con, a delightful day of wargaming at Boards and Swords Hobbies in Derby as Martin Brook of 7^th Son and Ragged Staff Minis explained

“So, the Plastic Crack Podcast started in 2020 during Lockdown. Initially as just a couple of the guys (Ken and Dom) having a chat, then after a few episodes they invited Ste and Myself on and we never left! The four of us just got on well and the audience seemed to enjoy our chemistry so we stuck at it and it just grew naturally”

“The first Crack Con was in October 21, the whole thing started as a joke on the stream. We were saying that when everything opened up again, we should all meet for a game, this kept coming up, then people in the audience started asking if they could come, then we actually thought... I wonder if we could do this. So, we booked out Boards and Swords for 30 of us and I told Hayley, my wife, she laughed and said "what are you going to call it, crack con?” And I said “we are now!””

Crack Con is a healthy mixture of big participation games with places at the table booked in advance, and small participation games to come and play on the day, that fill the venue and take up both floors at BASH, and at CCV there were six big games and five smaller participation games one of which was Ruckus run by Ben Mallet with me assisting

There were two huge games downstairs. One of these, the Hail Caesar game, the battle of Gergovia, was run by Martin Brook and played by Caesar himself. This was a magnificent looking game played on an eighteen-foot table with two splendidly painted armies.

Caesar looks on…

The magnificent terrain made especially for the day by Robin Ovens  really brought this game to life…

…as did the beautifully painted figures…

  …on both sides. The Romans won this game even though Caesar himself died in the battle! 

 Martin even wrote a professional looking hand book to go with the game which was put together by James Cutts …class!

The other huge game downstairs was a Black Powder Napoleonic affair run by Dominic Cook, another Plastic Cracker

 

   Pic -Dom inspects the troops at set up

This too was a splendid affair, the kind of game that you dream of playing and only see on the pages of Wargames Illustrated or at big shows, its remarkable that with games of this quality this event is staged purely by hobbyists.

   My only regret was that because I was assissting in running a game, I could not partake in any of the others or keep track of how they went…

What’s eighteen-foot long and blue and grey?  Its an ACW Black Powder game run by Nick Dawson

This steamer featured in what looked to be a fascinating game

More beautifully painted figures, the standard of all the games was of the highest order

This Chain of Command game, the Falaise Gap, was run by Mark Richards

I was delighted to see Soldiers of Napoleon, a recent acquisition for me and an excellent game, and meet it’s author Warwick Kinrade, a very affable man, who was quite happy to discuss various aspects of his game and I felt we could probably have talked all day, but Ben is a tough task master and I had to assist at the Ruckus table…ah well, next time maybe

One of the several games I didn’t have enough time with was General d'Armee run by Gary Clarke

Upstairs! Flames of War by Benjamin Christensen on the near table 

A Pickett's Charge game run by Stefan Tanfield and Aled Roberts 

MESBG was a “come’n’play” game presented by Tony Hinton West

 ...as was this beautiful Dead Man’s Hand game run by Martin Stuart on a gorgeous table created by Carl Burks

 Are you man enough to drink at Rogan’s Bar?

   This guy is gonna clean up this town!

Blood Red Skies, hosted by Matt Wright, was another come ‘n’play and a popular choice

And of course there was Ruckus ably run by Ben Mallet…

…occasionally assisted by this old guy, here I am moving the sheep

yes that's Ste from PCP plsaying his first ever game of Ruckus...

Martin Brook “I think the main thing is that we run it as a day for people to join in with games they may not normally play, meet other like-minded people, and also show off the games they love. We love it when people come and demo systems and get stuck into the day This time there were 11 games in total, 72 people, 64 raffle prizes from a mixture of community members and companies and we raised £1300 which is going to Haven House Children's Hospice and SENSE.”

There was also a painting competition and I am delighted to say I got Gold for my unit “The Grail Knights” Ruckus Retinue

Crack Con was an excellent event, a friendly, sociable occasion, the hum of happy gamers filled the air and everybody cheered when Caesar died. The night before we had all met in ye Tudor (Splitters) Bar of the Old Bell, a lovely old-fashioned hostelry with a big log fire and superb beer and that was very cheerful evening indeed.

I had a great time and will definitely attend the next one and I will raise my next glass with the toast “Up the Crack!”

Plastic Crack Podcast is broadcast live on Monday nights on You Tube and features Martin from 7^th Son, Dom from Boots on the Table, Ken from miniature wargaming warriors and Ste from on point hq.