Magnetizing and Transporting your Guild Ball miniatures!

You've probably met someone, or at least heard of someone, who magnetizes all their models and puts them in tins for safe transport. (If you haven't, well now you have: me!).

I had a friend who magnetized an entire army, some 100+ models, spread out among 5 or more different sized tins. That example is quite dangerous though. It was quite difficult carrying all those tins, and if he ever lost balance, his whole army had the potential to be ruined.

That example is a bit atypical, and probably impractical. But for a game like Guild Ball, where you only need 6 models for a game, and maybe 8 for a tournament, or even only 11 for a full team, magnetizing may be a bit more practical.

So, you may be wondering: why magnetize? Why not just use trusty foam and carrying cases? Simple: if you transport your models and actually take them out of the case to play, scratching your sweet paint job is an eventuality.

Putting your models on the table top can lead to damage. An errant dice roll, a model falling on a rough tabletop surface, or a measuring tape snapping prematurely can all lead to paint chipping from your models.


However, at least those are situations we can understand. If you use your models, there is chance for wear and tear. That is what we expect with most things in life.

But your models being scratched while sitting in a carrying case is just disappointing. It's not even something that you can control. Foam just happens to be rough enough that friction can rub the paint off your models. This is especially so with points and edges, usually on weapons.

However, if you magnetize your models, you eliminate the chance for wear and tear of your models during transport entirely! There is no foam to rub the paint off your models. Also, sometimes models can come into contact with each other in a case. Friction between those models can cause chipping. That wont happen here either! The illustration to the left shows how strong a hold these magnets have. The tin can even be held upside down and shaken, and they still hold!

The best part is, all you need are strong magnets (rare earth) that are probably available at your hobby store, or various other random places (like Princess Auto), and hot glue to attach them to the bottom of your base. Then, the metal storage container can be acquired from anywhere. Danish Butter Cookie tins, metal lunchboxes, or even tins from the dollar store! You can add little flair by spray painting the tin, and adding in a stenciled Guild Ball logo on the lid. Kind of like what we did when putting the logo on our home-made mats from my previous article HERE.

But remember the story I mentioned about the guy with 5 or more different tins who precariously carried them to the hobby store? We can add some safety by putting the tins in a bag to carry. I bought a small lunch bag from the hardware store, sprayed it black, and added a Guild Ball logo to personalize it.




The official Guild Ball bag from BattleFoam is $74 USD. It's a great, high-quality product, but it only holds 2 trays of foam. This arrangement allows as many tins as you want (depending on the size of the bag you buy), and smaller models can even be magnetized upside down on the lid for even more storage space! This whole combination only cost me $15 Canadian, taxes included!

Now, there are some downsides to magnetizing. In theory, if you threw your Battlefoam bag, filled with miniatures, your models have some chance of not being too broken. With this layout, extreme force will likely cause the models to detach from their spots in the tins. This isn't so much of an issue for me, as I have been carrying models in cases for the last 20 years or so, and not once have I ever accidentally thrown a carrying case. I've dropped them from my hand, resulting in a 1-foot drop, maybe. But that shouldn't affect the magnetic hold of these models. Also, this process also adds extra cost and time to each model. If not done correctly, you may also have your models still move around when the case moves around. Make sure you do it correctly, or else it defeats the whole purpose of this method! Also, if you happen to use metal rings to mark AOE's (I'm looking at you, Alchemists), be warned: your models may move from their current positions on a table if the rings are placed too close to your models base. If you are OK with these concessions, then magnetizing your models may be right for you. It sure works out for me!

Enjoy the rest of your day! :)

P.S. Due to some input, I will write an article on how-to, and points to consider when magnetizing your models!

-the aY