Calling all LEGO Army Builders... (BATTLE TRAYS)

[nine09nueve]

Having regularly wondered on how to shift lego armies around a battlefield, may I offer a possible solution to the LEGO tabletop battle playing community. I seriously doubt that it is the final word on the matter, but perhaps it can help start a conversation?

Kind comments and helpful suggests would be gratefully appreciated!

Much Love

D

*edit: There was a technical error in the first video - apologies*

Edited November 25, 2014 by nine09nueve

[Slegengr]

Great, nine09nueve!

These are nice simple trays for moving armies about in a battlefield. Interesting video to present them as well.

Are the individual footmen standing on 2x3 plates to lock them in the 2x3 space?

Also, do these have an advantage over standing minifigures on separate plates that are similarly sized? Can the trays be removed from the figures easily?

[nine09nueve]

Are the individual footmen standing on 2x3 plates to lock them in the 2x3 space?

Yup - absolutely... And having the minifigures indivdually based also helps support them indivdually (see below) especially if they've got serious weapons/shields that make them hard to balance them when standing them up on their own little minifig legs!

Also, do these have an advantage over standing minifigures on separate plates that are similarly sized?

Yes - although I'd concede that if you were only fighting with only a few minifigs then the 10 sized Battle tray (10BT) would probably be too cumbersome tactics wise... perhaps having 3x5BT or perhaps 4x4BT would be better for small squads;

Can the trays be removed from the figures easily?

Yup (3 for 3 now... this is good!) If you were using a 10BT and say only 2-3 minifigures needed to be removed (depending on your ruleset) then you remove them and push 7-8 minfigs around in the tray. If you lost 7-8 from the 10BT then you remove the 2-3 surviving minifigs from the tray and leave them on the battlefield. Next, picking up the battle tray itself the remaining minifigs drop into the space (arms keep them from falling through) and you can just tip them into your used/injured/resting/sleeping minifig box. Then the 10BT can be stacked for storage or recycled or whatever...

What I particularly like is its versatility...

the link should show the same tray being used for infantry, wargs and horses. And it is this that really sets it apart IMHO. If you have a 200-250 mini army - with different sized squads that included cavalry of any kind then I can't see the BT's from being anything other than a winner.

Just imagine moving 200 individual minifigs on 2x3 bases EACH TURN!

Edited November 25, 2014 by nine09nueve

[MAB]

When we play war games, we often use CMF plates joined together with 2x1 plates on the two outermost studs of the CMF stand, with the minifig on the central two studs. It's quick and easy to remove a dead warrior. It's fairly easy to move lines of 6-8 of them.

[nine09nueve]

Yeah I can see that... plus you could have 2

Rows of 5 (or more) if you're connecting the outermost cmf plates vertically (rather than horizontally). This is great - exactly the kind of conversation I wanted to start here! Thank you MAB.

I did look at the CMF bases to start with, the thought being I could use them instead of the 2x3 plates but in the end it just made the whole battle tray a bit too big and made it harder to keep the versatility with regards to (re)moving the central section and using it for cavalry...

I do use the CMF bases for heroes/special characters - there are bigger so IMHO great for any minifig that has a larger sphere of influence/reach/melee range (insert attribute here as necessary)

Much love

D

Edited December 6, 2014 by nine09nueve