Every historical wargamer knows the heart-stopping moment when you realize your carefully painted Napoleonic infantry regiment or Roman legionaries have been damaged in transit. The chipped paint on a cavalry officer’s helmet, the broken standard bearer’s flagpole, or worst of all, the completely detached limb of a miniature can be devastating. After spending countless hours researching, assembling, and painting your historical armies to perfection, the last thing you want is to arrive at a wargaming convention or a friend’s house with damaged troops.
The transportation of miniatures is an often overlooked but critical aspect of historical wargaming. Whether you’re heading to a local tournament with your Seven Years War Prussians or traveling across the country with your complete Waterloo diorama, protecting your miniatures should be as much a part of your hobby as painting them. Let’s explore the various methods and tools available to ensure your meticulously detailed historical armies arrive at their destination in the same condition they left your painting table.
Understanding the Vulnerability of Historical Miniatures
Historical miniatures present unique challenges when it comes to transportation. Unlike some fantasy or sci-fi miniatures, historical figures often have delicate components that are particularly susceptible to damage:
Bayonets and swords: Thin metal protrusions on Napoleonic, American Civil War, or Victorian-era soldiers are notorious for bending or breaking.
Standard bearers: Flags and standards are often the most eye-catching elements of historical units but are extremely fragile during transport.
Horse limbs: Cavalry is a staple of historical wargaming, but horse legs are particularly vulnerable to snapping during movement.
Formation integrity: Many historical games rely on unit cohesion and formation aesthetics, which can be ruined if miniatures are jostled during transport.
Historically accurate basing: Elaborate bases with terrain features can be damaged if not properly protected.
The key to successful transportation is anticipating these vulnerabilities and taking appropriate preventative measures to address them.
Essential Supplies for Safe Transport
Before diving into specific methods, let’s review the materials that form the foundation of any good miniature transportation system:
Foam and Padding Materials
The workhorse of miniature transport is undoubtedly foam. Different types serve different purposes:
Pluck foam: Customizable foam with pre-cut cubes that can be removed to create spaces for specific miniatures. Ideal for mixed units of infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
Channel foam: Features rows of slots where models can be inserted. Perfect for ranks of similar infantry models like line battalions or phalanxes.
Pick and pluck foam: Similar to pluck foam but with smaller segments for more precise customization. Excellent for officers and special characters.
Flat foam sheets: Used as dividers between layers or to provide additional padding. Can be cut to fit any container.
Foam inserts for specific historical miniature scales: Many manufacturers now produce foam specifically designed for 28mm Napoleonics, 15mm ACW, or 20mm WWII miniatures.
Containers and Cases
The outer shell that protects your foam-packed miniatures is equally important:
Purpose-built miniature cases: Companies like Feldherr, KR Multicase, and Battle Foam produce cases specifically designed for wargaming miniatures with appropriate foam inserts.
Tool cases and storage boxes: Hardware store tool cases can be retrofitted with custom foam to create excellent miniature transport.
Magnetic storage solutions: Metal boxes or cases lined with magnetic sheets can hold miniatures with magnetic bases securely.
Plastic storage bins: Budget-friendly option that can be customized with DIY foam inserts.
Specialized transport cases for dioramas and terrain: Larger cases with adjustable compartments for bigger historical setups.
Protective Materials
Additional items that prove invaluable for miniature transport include:
Bubble wrap: Excellent for wrapping individual large models like field guns or command stands.
Parchment paper: Prevents paint transfer between touching surfaces.
Rubber bands: Secure foam layers but use with caution as they can damage paint if in direct contact with miniatures.
Silica gel packets: Absorb moisture during transport to prevent humidity damage.
Microfiber cloths: Provide additional padding and protection for particularly valuable pieces.
Transport Methods for Different Historical Miniature Types
Now let’s examine specific approaches for different types of historical miniatures that present unique transportation challenges.
Infantry Blocks and Formations
The backbone of most historical armies is infantry in formation. Transporting these effectively requires:
Movement trays: If your game utilizes movement trays, consider transporting the entire unit on its tray. Create a foam enclosure that fits the exact dimensions of the tray.
Rank-by-rank storage: For units that don’t use movement trays, consider storing them by ranks in channel foam with appropriate width channels.
Uniform spacing: Ensure that models with bayonets or other protruding weapons have sufficient space around them to prevent contact with other miniatures.
Dedicated foam for specialist troops: Grenadiers with tall hats or light infantry with rifles often need taller foam compartments than line infantry.
For Napoleonic or similar era infantry, consider oriented storage where all models face the same direction, allowing their bayonets to extend into empty space rather than toward other models.
Cavalry Considerations
Historical cavalry presents particular transportation challenges:
Individual compartments: Each mounted model should ideally have its own foam compartment.
Horizontally oriented slots: Store cavalry models on their sides with appropriate support for protruding limbs and weapons.
Removable riders: For some scales and systems, consider transporting riders separately from their mounts if they’re removable.
Lance and sword protection: Create additional space or channels for models with lances, swords, or standards that extend beyond the basic model footprint.
Specialized cavalry foam: Some manufacturers produce foam specifically designed for common cavalry base sizes in historical gaming.
Artillery and Large Pieces
Field guns, supply wagons, and other large elements need special attention:
Component separation: Transport limbers, gun barrels, and crews separately when possible.
Custom-cut foam: Large pieces often require hand-cutting foam to create perfectly fitted recesses.
Double-layer protection: Consider wrapping large pieces in bubble wrap before placing them in foam cavities.
Weight distribution: Place heavier pieces at the bottom of your transport case to prevent crushing lighter elements.
Artillery trains and baggage wagons benefit from cases with deeper foam to accommodate their height.
Command Stands and Special Characters
The generals, officers, and standard bearers that lead your forces deserve extra protection:
Individual compartments: Each command model should have its own custom-fit space.
Flag protection: Standards and flags benefit from vertical storage in deep foam with space for the flag to extend undisturbed.
Taller foam for mounted commanders: Mounted officers often need taller compartments than regular troops.
Removable parts storage: For models with removable command elements, consider a small separate container for these pieces.
Many historical gamers place their most valuable or beautifully painted command models in the center of foam sheets, surrounded by regular troops for additional protection.
Magnetic Solutions for Historical Miniatures
An increasingly popular method for transporting historical miniatures involves magnetic systems:
Magnetic basing: Affixing small rare earth magnets to the underside of bases creates a secure attachment point.
Metal sheets: Steel sheets or metallized paper can be fitted into storage containers to hold magnetic-based miniatures.
Tiered magnetic systems: Multiple layers of metal sheets with spacers between them allow for efficient storage of entire armies.
Formation integrity: Magnetic systems excel at keeping units in formation during transport, particularly useful for games that emphasize unit coherency.
The magnetic approach works particularly well for 6mm, 10mm, and 15mm historical miniatures where large numbers of small models need to be transported efficiently.
Custom DIY Transport Solutions
Many historical wargamers pride themselves on creating custom transport solutions tailored to their specific armies:
Sabol Army Transport Customization
The popular Sabol Army Transport system can be customized specifically for historical miniatures:
Custom pluck patterns for standard formations like line infantry or cavalry squadrons.
Formation-specific foam cutting templates that can be shared among historical gaming communities.
Era-appropriate foam densities. Softer foam for more delicate ancient or medieval figures with thinner metal parts, firmer foam for robust modern era plastic miniatures.
Magnetic Movement Tray Systems
A hybrid approach combines the organizational benefits of movement trays with magnetic security:
Magnetized movement trays that hold units together during play and transport.
Quick-release magnetic systems that allow for easy deployment from transport to tabletop.
Historical formation-specific trays that maintain appropriate unit coherency.
Really Useful Boxes Adaptations
The ubiquitous Really Useful Box storage containers can be transformed into excellent historical miniature transport:
Layered foam inserts cut to fit standard box dimensions.
Magnetized bottoms with steel paper applied to the box base.
DIY divider systems for different unit types within a single army.
These affordable containers can be customized for different scales and historical periods.
Transportation for Different Historical Gaming Scales
The scale of your historical miniatures significantly impacts the best transportation methods:
6mm-10mm Scales
For Baccus, Adler, or similar ultra-small scale historical miniatures:
Multi-base storage where entire units on single bases are transported together.
Shallow foam with many small compartments.
Magnetic sheets work extremely well at this scale due to the light weight of the miniatures.
Custom pill-box style organizers with individual compartments for different unit types.
15mm-18mm Scales
For popular scales like Flames of War or Blue Moon historical miniatures:
Balance between individual protection and efficient storage.
Specialized foam with appropriate depth for these scales.
Unit-based storage solutions where similar types are grouped together.
Combined magnetic and foam systems to maximize space efficiency.
25mm-28mm Scales
For Perry Miniatures, Warlord Games, or similar larger historical figures:
Individual protection becomes more important due to detailed painting and fragile components.
Deeper foam to accommodate taller figures and protruding weapons.
Specialized compartments for different troop types within the same army.
Weight consideration becomes important with larger collections.
Traveling to Historical Wargaming Events
When traveling to tournaments, conventions, or club meetings, additional considerations come into play:
Inventory lists: Create a checklist of all units, special characters, and essential components to ensure nothing is left behind.
Modular transportation: Consider separate cases for different divisions or corps in your army for easier handling.
Transport priority: If space is limited, prioritize transporting the most essential or irreplaceable elements of your force.
Climate considerations: For long-distance travel, be mindful of temperature and humidity changes that can affect paint and glue.
Insurance: For particularly valuable historical collections, consider specialized collectibles insurance when traveling to major events.
With proper planning and appropriate materials, your meticulously researched and painted historical miniatures can safely travel anywhere, ready to refight the battles of history on tabletops across the world. The time invested in creating proper transport solutions will pay dividends in preserved paint jobs, intact bayonets, and unbroken standard bearers for years to come.
