Surprisingly, there are little articles on the Web regarding miniature transport. It's hard to understand since this question arise nearly as soon as a player wants to meet another fellow for his first battle. Getting miniatures from point A to point B seems a problem as old as painted miniatures themselves, but thankfully in the 21st century, technology can come to our help!

Through my experience of wargaming, I think I've seen almost everything. It ranged from the custom-designed wood cabinet handling a complete army, where each gaming piece was inserted in beveled laths to handle firmly its stand, to (let's say) less formal players cramming all their miniatures in a trash bag along with their dice and even their books. Really!
And of course between those extremes there was a wide population of gamers struggling with cardboard boxes, foam squares taken from blisters, self-adhesive tape and segments of kitchen rolls.

A one-size-fits-all solution is hard to believe, with so many constraints: weight, resilience of the container, cost, compatibility with complex miniatures (tanks, mounted dragons drowning under wings and banners), and ease of packing for the whole. Yet, among the crowd of wargamers, two schools seemed to emerge regarding miniature transportation.

The Foam School

Some people abide by foam cases. Different models came to existence over the course of years, but always based on the same logic: handling a miniature in a frame of foam, ensuring a gentle immobility through transportation. Earlier versions were just pressing two layers of foam together when the case was closed along with the models laid in between, but it proved impractical for larger miniatures and potentially damaging for their frail features (banners, spikes, etc.)

Later models involved foam trays with a dedicated emplacement for each miniature, like those proposed by Sabol Designs, Figures in Comfort or Charon Productions. Of course, Games Workshop itself tried to enter this juicy market, but their carrying cases can't compare to what other companies already offer. More than a foam tray with an array of hollowed boxes, it became possible to get customizable foam trays, where each player could carve holes as needed, creating emplacements for any miniature regardless of its size and shape.

Top-of-the-range product.

Once carefully laid in their foam coffin, miniatures are safe from nearly any damage. If the emplacement is appropriately sized, a model won't be able to move at all. Hard cases offer unmatched storage protection, perfect if you can't control your luggage during the whole trip, like when taking a plane and leaving your army in the baggage compartment.

So, is the Foam School the best one? Many believe so, but they overlook the drawbacks of this approach. This means of transport is quite expensive, as one can expect from a niche marked dedicated to wargame players. Each foam tray has to be carefully cut and prepared to accomodate the miniatures it is supposed to carry, allowing only a limited flexibility. If you change your army list often or play many different games, this can quickly become problematic unless you store dozen of alternate foam layouts for all possibilities. Putting miniatures in their proper location takes time too, as they have to be placed accordingly to their shape and sometimes in the right order (when foam trays are placed on top of each other.) Remembering the adequate distribution of a large army can be hellish - try with the hundreds of miniatures from any single Warhammer Fantasy army!

Some work ahead!

Finally, even if foam is a soft matter, its contact can still damage miniatures on the long run, especially on frail features. Banner poles, antennaes and long pikes don't mix well with foam trays.

For the reasons above, I was never convinced by the foam tray approach. I've seen it numerous times and admit it has merits, but I don't like the idea of having to place miniatures individually in a carrying case once and for all. Many people leave their armies in the carrying case for days between games. Yet, I find my miniatures beautiful and I want to display them in showcases when I don't play, which means that I don't plan to store them for longer than a single trip. I found the foam tray solution costly and bulky, and even unnessary since I am not moving over large distances. That's why I tried the other school.

The Magnetic School

I belong to the magnetic school, as you may have already guessed from other articles on this website. The name sounds a lot better!

- Have you seen something, Warren? - Nothing, Frank. We are alone, for sure.

The Magnetic School implies more preparation work than foam trays, but it's not the kind of challenge that should frighten a do-it-yourself enthusiast, is it? I consists of putting magnets or magnetic plastic under each model's base, and after than to place them on a metallic surface. Nothing more!

Since miniatures stand on their base vertically, the paint job isn't in contact with anything. Banners and accessories aren't broken or twisted by any foam structure around. The versatiliy of the magnet means you can arrange your miniatures the way you want - you can even align them in units like they are deployed on the battlefield. Getting them out of the box or putting them back is done in seconds.

What are the drawbacks? Some people are afraid that miniatures stored through magnetic power are not hold as firmly as those laying in a foam tray, fearing the "miniature bowling" where models have fallen and, being able to move freely, collide with every other miniature in the container. If it can happen, it's because the magnets used are not powerful enough; we'll see how easily this issue can be avoided. And once this part of the job is well done, a stored miniature won't move at all - even less than those lying in a foam tray case. As long as you don't plan to play football with your packed miniatures it will be okay.

Apart from that, there's no real problem with the magnetic school. It implies some work (every miniature must receive its own magnet) but so does the foam tray approach, where appropriate emplacements must sometimes be carved individually. One should look for an appropriate container, too: I've bought the cheapest metallic toolbox available. It's not as nice-looking as a dedicated Sabol Designs carrying case, but so much cheaper!

When a gamer starts involving himself in magnets, there's no limit to what can be done. I know for example someone using layers of magnetic and metallic sheets to have each miniature holding in a magnetized movement tray, itself being able to handle firmly in a transport case! This way, nothing moves and all the regiment can be stored or deployed in seconds.

Getting proper material and using it

Getting the right material is half the job. The picture below shows several alternatives for miniature bases: pre-cut magnetic plastic, magnetic plastic, or Rare Earth magnets. Each one as its own use but you won't need everything.

Various material for adding magnetic power to miniature bases.

The simpliest method is certainly to purchase a sheet of magnetic plastic (available in craft stores too) and to cut the shapes from there before gluing them under your bases. If you are playing Warhammer or any rank-and-file wargame, cutting squares and rectanbles will be simple; but for games using round bases like Warhammer 40'000, you will need a Compass Cutter Tool, a compass-mounted blade (available in craft stores too.) This approach has the merit of flexibility: no matter the size and surface of the stand you plan to glue your magnetic plastic under, you will be able to cut the proper shape. I used this technique for years and still do when shapes are appropriate, like Epic stands. Yet, when I started playing Warhammer 40'000, cutting dozens of circles for mundane troops has been quite annoying.

For plastic miniatures with standard base sizes (mostly round ones but in fact in any shape) I have found better since then: supplies from Liktoaero. This company based on laser-cut technology sells a wide array of wooden pieces along with flexible steel and flexible magnet sheets. Only the latter is of interest for us - although you may purchase flexible steel if you want to carry your magnetized miniatures in a plastic container so they have something to be attracted to. Magnetic plastic is sold pre-cut and with a peel-off adhesive face. Adding magnetic power to bases has never been so easy. Since Litkoaero covers the gaming needs of so many customers, here are several references for base sizes. Quantities vary in increments (10, 25, 50 or 100) with rebate on bulk. They provide two different qualities, normal and "heavy duty", but I never bought the latter (you'll understand why a bit further in this article.) See their online store for details. (Please note that stephane.info is not affiliated in any way to Litkoaero company; it's just that I found that their products are a must have for miniature transport!)

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