Federation Commander

[Monty]

I think I read either here or the other board about new stands for the 2500's. What are some of the changes and will it be applicable to the 2400's? Will they be hexoganal? Taller, shorter? Fit on existing or new map panels?

I've struggled crafting a playable stand that I'm happy with. Not that impressed by the existing aftermarket offerings.

[Steve Cole]

I have no idea.... yet.

(Anybody with a source for stands, please email Leanna a link.)

We certainly have no problem getting all of the 2500 stands we want, and they are cheap and easy to get. The problem is that you guys aren't going to like it when half of your 2500 fleet is lower than the other half. Hence, we assume that simply providing 2400 stands for future 2500s is not going to be a workable plan.

Matthew started with the ball and socket stands (some liked them, some did not) but suddenly could not get them for anything close to a reasonable price again.

He got some other stands but those have a massive minimum order requiring us to write a $3000 check to get some mongo quantity of them. That may be what we do.

Leanna found a source for really good 2500-compatible stands but they're very expensive in small quantiies. She's trying to negotiate a lower price for higher quantities or get to their source.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[Bill Stec]

Well for the record, I strongly prefer the ball and socket type. I won't attach bases to my ships, for this greatly complicates storage and transfer.

I converted my civilian ships over to Corsec bases, and I like them despite the high cost per ship, but they have one problem: If one uses my firing arc stickers, or some other method of indicating the front centerline of the ship, you pretty much have to dedicate a particular base to that one ship. It's because the threads don't match up if you just grab a random base with stem; when you tighten up the ship on the stem, you may be up to 45 degrees or more off of the centerline. If you tighten the ship up too much, the stress cracks the acrylic base. I broke several before giving up on trying to use them un-matched.

I don't even use the non-ball and socket type bases right now, preferring to use my hoarded remaining ball and socket mounts. Those are slowly drying up though, and the day will come when I have to consider some other method, like magnets or something.

I may experiment with attaching asteroids to the new style mounts in lieu of my current method, just to use them up (and the new bases would probably look better anyways).

I've done some random Net searches for suitable bases, but haven't found that much yet. Steve, what are you considering a reasonable price per base? No sense in sending you links if they are too expensive to consider.

But you do what you have to do, and the rest of us will either use the new bases or adapt.

[Dal Downing]

Bill get some little bity orings to use as a spacer to help with alignment issues.
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-Dal

"Which one of you is the Biggest, Baddest, Bootlicker of the bunch?"
"I am."
"ARCHERS!!! THAT ONE!!!!"

[Bill Stec]

[djdood]

The Ninja Magic stand adapters solve the "alignment" issue, quite nicely (they use rare earth magnets inside a sleeve joint for attachment, but have "teeth" on both parts, forcing alignment).

Unfortunately Todd Boyce put Ninja Magic on hiatus, while he moved. Hopefully he is up and running again soon, as I'm intending to buy his.
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[Steve Cole]

I think the best ones are those anti-grav stands that float the ship over the base without a physical connection.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[IainMcG]

Yeah, those are good but they burn through batteries pretty fast and the power field makes the cat's hair stand on end. Never wear nylon in close proximity.


I switched over to Litko bases with a removable peg topper which allows you to remove the model. Theoretically anyway, tight fit Probably unsuitable to fit as standard (different shape too), but another option for the OP if he hasn't already looked there.

[ingkent]

What I like about using Corsec is that you can switch the bottom base from circular (playing ACTA) to hex for playing SFB/Fed Com. A little misalignment, just don't tighten it as much, I don't mind.

[Scoutdad]

Dog-piling on the topic here.

I love the ninja magic stands, and if I could get them - I might use them... except for cost.
I'd need 67 2500-style bases (for Kh'rtis Rock) and another 30 or so for Fed Comm/SFB. But then I'd need another 500 or so of the ship pegs... aargh!.

I've been collecting the mongoose ball-n-socket stands from every source I can. I use them for ACTASF and I've finally figured out a way to adapt them to Fed Comm hex bases... so swapping out minis isn't a problem. Now its just acquiring enough of the balls and sockets...
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Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

[djdood]

I like the Mongoose "ball 'n socket" stands, except for the material. Clear styrene plastic is brittle stuff - just the nature of the beast.
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[Scoutdad]

[Monty]

While I like the ball and socket, isn't the base of the stand too large? I dunno, just a personal preference. I like to be able to put the mini in a hex next to other minis.

[Scoutdad]

[Monty]

I've looked at the leading brands of stands, I've messed around with trying to craft something out of fender washers and tried to make the standard Starline plastic and heavy stands work for my needs and haven't been very satisfied with the results.

The best overall miniature stand I've come across so far is the B-10 heavy stand. In my humble opinion, it's the perfect height, weight and thickness for 2400's and it keeps the center of gravity very low to the table plus it looks really good under a mini.

I would love to see a 2500 version with an inch and a half base but I'm sure that's not in the cards.