Basing

Basing in Gå På is not fixed in the regular sense. All measurements are given in paces, and the man to figure ratio is not important, as it is the units themselves that are important. This means that it is up to the players to decide upon a ground scale and a man to figure ration, depending on their preferences.

The rules include basic guidelines for basing variants for 6, 15 and 25mm figures. However, since I have received a number of questions on basing, especially on how I do it myself, I have decided to add a small section on basing.

First of all I would like to state that this is not a definitive description on how units should be based, it is just my own variant that I use for 15mm. How you do should be determined by the miniatures you already have, the size of table that you have to play on etc.

 

Compact Scale - 15mm

Previously I have been using the "Standard Scale" for my 15mm armies, that is 20mm for 25 paces. I find that that gives a rather good width-depth relation as well. Another advantage of that is that armies based for other rule systems (Especially a rather common renaissance system) need no re-basing.

The Disadvantage of that scale is that you need a rather large table, especially if you are to fight large battles. Because of this we in our gaming group has for some time discussed whether we should try and find a different basing system. (particularly since we don't use any other rule sets for this era anymore).

In the end we decided to go for a system that is a bit more tight than the "standard" system, but still uses the same amount of miniatures (well at least anyway). It also looks rather good. (I'll try to add photos soon). 15mm equals 25 paces (50p=30mm) which is a 25% reduction to the standard scale, allowing us to cram a lot more units onto the same table size

So below you'll find what we call the "Compact Basing System" that we use. It is by no way an official system that you need to use if you use 15's, it's just a description on how we base our own armies.

Basics

50 paces = 30 mm

Infantry

For infantry we talk of "bases" of 50 paces and "half bases" of 25 paces frontage. The description below assumes full "bases". For "half bases" some fudging may be required.  (Especially for 3 and 6 rank units). We also use "Step markers" that we place in front of the unit. These are based on 10 or 15mm square bases. Note that the base for SI can be larger than the others, but that we still consider as representing the 50p stated in the army list. This means that SI units will become bigger than stated in the lists, but I do not see that as a problem in itself, since these units do not use tight formations anyway.

  • 3-rank infantry: 1 base = 30mm wide, 15mm deep, 3 figures in a single rank. (Mostly British and Dutch)
  • 4-rank infantry: 1 base = 30 wide, 20 deep, 4 figures in "1 1/2" ranks. (Most "European Infantry"
  • 5-rank infantry: 1 base = 30 wide, 20 deep, 5 figures in "1 1/2" ranks.
  • 6-rank infantry: 1 base = 30 wide, 25 deep, 6 figures in 2 ranks. (E.g. Streltsy)
  • LTI: 1 base = 30 wide, 20 deep, 2 figures.
  • SI: 1 base = 30-40 wide 20 deep, 2 figures.
  • "Hordes": 1 base = 30 wide, 25-30 deep, 4-6 figures in irregular formation.

Cavalry

We base all our cavalry squadron wise. I.e. one base per squadron. "Step Markers" for cavalry vary a bit between us, but I recommend the bases I use (what else), i.e. 15 wide and 20 deep. Squadron basing is as follows:

  • HC/MC "Large" Squadrons: 30mm wide, 30mm deep, 3 horses (Most line cavalry)
  • HC/MC "Small" Squadrons: 30 wide, 30 deep, 2 horses (Mainly Russian Dragoons)
  • HC/MC "Oversize Squadrons: 40-45 wide, 30 deep, 4 horses (E.g. Maison du Roi)
  • "Eastern" Cavalry: 30 wide, 30 deep, 2 horses (Pancerny, Spahi)
  • Heavy Lancers: 30 wide, 30 deep, 2-3 horses (2 would be the most "correct" representation, but 3 lancers look so much more intimidating...)
  • LC: 30-40 wide, 30 deep, 2 horses (see below)
  • SC: 40 wide, 30 deep, 2 horses. (Having the squadrons 40mm wide is stretching the basing guidelines in the  rules a bit, but since these "squadrons" more represent swarms of cavalry than real squadrons we decided to use these base sizes anyway (it also looks rather good which is important)).

Artillery

The rules state square artillery bases. If you use the 30mm=50p scale this is not a realistic approach (Because of the size of the models) Instead we do as follows

Batteries:

  • VLA: 1 battery = 20-30mm wide, 30mm deep, 2 crew
  • LA: 1 battery = 30 wide, 30-40 deep, 3 crew
  • MA: 1 battery = 30 wide, 40-50 deep, 4 crew
  • HA: 1 battery = 30-40 wide, 40-60 deep, 5 crew

Limbers:

  • VLA: 20-30 wide (as gun), 40-80 long, 1-2 horse.
  • LA: 30 wide, 60-90 long, 2 horses
  • MA: 30 wide, 80-120 long, 4 horses
  • HA: 30-40 wide (as gun), 90-150 long, 6 horses.

Generals

The bases for generals are not extremely important. Especially not if you measure distances from the head of the "main character" instead of from the base edge. This is especially important i you have large bases to be able to do small "command dioramas". (In that case you could say that in order to be attached he has to have his head within 25 paces of the unit).

Anyway, we use round bases for commanders, having a diameter of  approximately 25-40mm.

 

  

Typical 4-rank battalion of 12 figures
 (+2 Step Marker figures)
With 2 half bases to allow for Grenadier Company removal. The 2 half bases could well have been a single base instead.