Movement Trays (or Miniatures on the Move!)

By Anthony Karl Erdelji

Most think of movement tray as just something to move their units around the battlefield, but they can be so much more. Movement trays are part of your army, just like the models themselves, so they should be modeled to match your army.

We cannot talk about movement trays without mentioning Games Workshop. Their little green movement tray have been around for more years than I can remember and I think we all have a pile of them lying around the house. While effective at getting your unit from point A to B, their use is limited since they only come in two different sizes; a foot trooper tray that carries twenty 20mm base size miniatures and a cavalry tray that carries four mounted models. If we want a tray to carry more or less models we'll have to build one.

There are two good materials to make into movement trays. I say "good" because really there are dozens of materials to make into tray. A piece of paper or cardboard will work, but we want to decent looking trays, so we'll skip them. The first is Evergreen styrene. Evergreen comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and for about $6 you can get enough material to make several trays. We need a large sheet for the tray itself and some solid square rod for the edges. The thickness of the styrene used depends on the weight of the unit being transported. A large group of metal models will need a stronger and thicker tray than a few plastic models. Once you have your materials measure the size of tray you need, cut the bottom of the tray from the styrene, then cut and glue the rod around the edges with some superglue and you’re done. As long as your measurements are correct this is fairly easy way to make movement tray. It’s also cost effective.

Another good material to make into movement trays are Games Workshop movement trays. Yes, we are going to make movement trays out of movement trays! Games Workshop trays are cheap (especially if you already have a bunch), stronger than styrene, and are easier to enlarge into a bigger tray than making one from scratch.

Let's say we want to make a Games Workshop twenty man movement tray into a twenty-five-man tray. Start by cutting a 20mm strip off the right side of the main tray. Use a razor saw or several passes with a hobby knife to make the cut, using a metal ruler, or a second tray, to keep the cut straight.  Next take a second "donor" tray and cut a 40mm strip off its right side. You may want to make the second strip a few millimeters wider than you actually need. Its better to have a tray that's slightly too large than to have one that won't fit your unit!

Now all that needs to be done is to join both halves together, but we'll need more than just superglue. The joint connecting both trays together would be too weak if they were just glued together. They will need some extra support. On the bottom of the tray I glued on two pieces of Wargames Accessories sheet metal base. I had some of their larger bases left over from a previous project and they would make the perfect shelf to support the joint in the tray. Some superglue to used to attach a metal base to the bottom of one of tray sides, then the tray is flipped over and the second tray piece is glued into place. A bit of Elmer’s Wood Filler is used to fill in the joint from the cut.

Now that we have our homemade, or enlarged Games Workshop, trays its time to spice them up a bit. Movement trays can get the same treatment as the bases of your figures. The sides of the tray are first roughened up with some course sandpaper. Paint will adhere better to a rough surface than a smooth one. The tray is first primed with Krylon Sandable White Primer. Next we take some Coat d'arms Basetex and apply it around the edges of the movement tray. Following that paint the tray the same color as the bases of the figures that will be on the tray. Static grass or any other type of interesting base material can also be added, just remember the tray will be handled quite a lot, so don't add anything that may break off with excessive handling. Once painted the tray gets several coats of Testors Dullcote lacquer.

Regimental Bases

One of the most tedious parts of playing Warhammer Fantasy setting up your miniatures. You spend a half hour trying to fit the models into their movement tray and then one accidental bump they all fall over and you have to start from scratch. What a pain! This entire process can be speeded up through the use of regimental bases.

A regimental base is just a base that holds two, three, or more miniatures. Games Workshop makes some four-man plastic bases, which work for plastic miniatures, but they are not slotted to accept metal miniatures. Once again we turn to Wargames Accessories to make our own regimental bases. Wargames Accessories make a huge line of sheet metal bases in all sorts of sizes, including nearly any size you'll need for mounting Warhammer units. $15 American was enough money to mount my entire army on regimental bases.

Its up to you what size regimental bases you want to make. You could make a unit out of all two-man bases, or large ranks of bases five men across. There are just two things to consider. First, remember that you will loose models from the unit as they die on the battlefield, so base them appropriately. If you want to use five-man wide regimental bases, then you'll need at least four men on single bases to pull off as casualties if you lose anywhere from one to four models. Second, be sure to base your unit so you may change the number of models in the unit in the future. If you mount all the figures so they are five-men wide and then later deiced to play the unit four-men wide your stuck.

The larger the regimental base the more stable they will be and the less likely for them to tip over if accidentally bumped, however you don't want bases so large its difficult to change the size of the unit or make it difficult to remove casualties. Also the entire front rank should be all mounted on single sized bases in case you want to add a character to that unit for future battles.

Once you've pick out your regimental bases just glue your miniatures on top of them with some superglue. It’s that easy! I also added small numbers on the backs of the bases so I know how many models are on each stand without having to pick it up. 

Through use of regimental bases it takes a lot less time to set up the unit. Another benefit to using metal regimental movement trays is that they are incredibly stable once placed onto a magnetic movement tray. The larger "footprint" of the models combined with the magnetic movement tray will keep the models very secure.

Transportation

Now that all our units are safe and sounds in their nice and secure movement trays all that's left to be done is to get them from home to the battle. Of course we can use the standard foam case to transport miniatures, but since they are fairly secure in their new trays why not transport them as-is? All that is needed is a simple cardboard box lined with some sheet magnet. The second step is to glue some sheet metal to the bottom of the trays. If you followed my recommendations when making a tray out of Games Workshop movement trays then sheet metal is already glued onto the bottom of the tray. Drop your miniatures and their tray into their travel box and your ready to go!

I should mention that carrying an army around this way is not 100% safe. They would not survive a tumble down the stairs, but they will take a few light bumps without popping out of their trays. Put them on an empty seat on the floor of your car and as long as you don't drive like a maniac they should get to your local battle bunker safe and sound.