Basing dilemma - advice please

[Nathan]

I've just finished painting 16 Late Roman cataphracts in 15mm, intending to follow the preferred rules standard of 4 to a base. The problem is that they are rather wide and the only way I can fit them on is by staggering them so they can overlap and are touching which looks OKish from the front but silly from above.




On the other hand 3 to a base looks too open from the front and is just the same as my normal loose order heavy cavalry. On the plus size, for painting 2 more figures, I could then have a 6 base unit.




Have others had this issue and what would you advise?

[nikgaukroger]

4 to a base has a certain "heft" which can be nice, but if you're going to think they look a bit silly every time you look at them will you be happy?

Figures are clearly catafracts so there should be no confusion if you base them 3 to a base and as you say you end up with more bases for your money    Personally I do mine 3 to a base retty much for that reason.

Lovely paint job BTW - which figure manufacturer?

[PUNCH]

nice paintwork!

like Nick said: "no basing problem, they are cataphracts! no confusion

mine are also 3 per base.



PUNCH

[Nathan]

Thanks very much for the replies.

I do like the massed effect of 4 to a base but with these figures it just looks too crowded. I was leaning towards 3 to a base and it is good to hear that others are doing that without any problems.

The figures are a mix. The riders are the old Asgard / Table Top Games / Alternative Armies figures. I bought most of them back in the very early 80s from Bob at TTG and they languished at the back of a cupboard since then. Unfortunately the Asgard horses have ludicrously short legs so I mostly used Minifigs with a couple from Gladiator. I've replaced the lances with brass rod and foil and (to get more variety) filed some of the cloaks to different shapes; removed the helmet plumes off a couple of riders; bent some horse necks to the side and re-shaped or replaced some tails.

My only problem now is that one of those two spare figures has gone AWOL! I suspect the cat.

[nikgaukroger]

The cat has your cat 

[SteveO]

FWIW Nathan I prefer your four to a base option. Your figures look great either way but four to a base gives a real sense of mass and I don't think they look silly from above at all. After all they are horses not robots.

[Lanceflint]

I totally agree with SteveO.
But they are yours and you need to be happy with them!
Lance.

[Rino]

Very nice mini and wonderfully painted.
I would opt for 3 mini per base as their is no doubt they are cat.
You can base then unevenly so they could look more « packed ».

[LorenzoMele]

Hi
Choose what you like more. Personally I prefer cataphracts go 4 on each base, but is a matter of tastes as long this will not create game problems, and I think this is not the case.
Rgds
Lorenzo

[Nathan]

Thanks very much for all the feedback.

In the end I've gone with 4 to a base with the figures staggered a bit more front to back so they don't seem quite so crowded. I'll post up some pictures of the finished article once I've finished painting the bases.

[Nathan]

I've finished the basing for these now and written them up with some more pictures on my blog.





Thanks again for the helpful advice.

https://smallitalianwars.blogspot.com/2021/01/late-roman-cataphracts.html

[PUNCH]

Awesome!

congratulations!

PUNCH

[SteveO]

They look great!

[Dru]

Wow these look great.

I like the 4/base.

Really there is 3 ways you could do it:

i) 4/base (my preference but I get they dont always fit).
ii) 3/base - If doing this, while they are clearly equipped as Cats, I would advocate having a Close marker and plonk that down with the unit so your opponent always knows and its transparent throughout the game, since they ideally should be 4/base as Close.
iii) mix - mostly 3/base but do the front as 4/base. That makes it clear it is Close but saves on figures/cramming for the rest of the bases. Wouldnt need a marker then.