One of the hidden secrets they don’t tell you about miniature wargaming is that SOMEHOW you need to transport all your miniatures to the gaming club or a friend’s house, or back to the storage closet ready for the next battle. All that time spent painting and collecting demands that both your transport and storage system work together to make life easy.
So just how are you storing and transporting your miniatures?
Many gaming companies and systems sell their own storage and foam cases like Games Workshop, but do these really work best?
Here are some points to take into consideration as your collection grows, and what I am currently using for the majority of my gaming armies ranging from Warhammer 40,000, to X-Wing Miniatures, and good old classic Battletech.
You need a system that not only organizes your models so they can be set up and put away quickly, but also a system that prevents them from a catastrophic accident. A regular cardboard box with some cut foam will organize and store just fine, but what happens when you drop that box while getting out of your car- or it gets knocked over by accident at the gaming club. Falls off a table- it will happen sooner or later, and your storage system needs to prepare for this- the same reason you have a case on your smart-phone for when you accidentally drop it on the floor.
One also needs to look beyond the miniatures, and by that have a place inside the storage case to carry any tokens, counters, dice, tape, templates, and all the other bits and bobs that wargamers use- might as well have everything in one place ready to go.
And the final consideration?
Something that can easily be expanded without additional effort or custom foam- you may not think your miniature collection will grow beyond what you have or a self-imposed point, but it will, trust me, so having the right type of expandable storage is KEY.
So if your current storage needs meet these points then you are all set- but if they don’t?
I would recommend one of the Plano type tackle boxes which you can order on Amazon or through a sporting store for around $50.
Many of the boxes have removable plastic shelves with custom dividers, and large top opening shelves- all you have to do is add a thin layer of foam to help cushion the models and you are all set. The pull out trays are grey for small models, while the larger top trays easily fit tanks, monstrous creatures, and even some gaming terrain, not to mention space for your measuring tape, dice, and templates.
I store my entire X-Wing miniatures collection in one of these boxes- with the large and epic sized ships held in the top shelves, all of the dice, counters, and range rulers in one pull out shelf, and then with my Rebel alliance ships in another shelf, and finally all of my Imperial Navy ships in another- all divided up and ready to go.