Unless you have the luxury of dedicated table space and you can leave your gaming table set up continuously, you will eventually want to store your miniatures in a convenient place. Chances are that sometime you will need to transport your army, and you will need to take special precautions to ensure that they arrive safe and sound.

The two most important attributes of your miniatures storage are 1) density and 2) protection. By density, we mean that in storage the largest number of figures should occupy the smallest possible space. If the reason for this isn't obvious to you, then you have not had the chance to accumulate as many pounds of painted and unpainted lead as have those who have been in the hobby a few years. We could toss all of our miniatures willy-nilly into the nearest cardboard box and worry about sorting them later, but this wouldn't provide the other important requirement of a good storage system which is protection. We want to know that while our army sits idle in the closet, basement, or attic, it is not being crushed by the dumbbells set. In some ways, miniatures are their own worst enemies. If not properly separated and anchored they will go at it like their real-world counterparts, and the result will be chipped paint or broken figures, reversing hours of hard work.

A very useful container for storage are those clear plastic boxes with hinged lids sold for storing fishing tackle or craft supplies. Most of them come with some internal compartments either partly or fully molded into the box. Often part of the internal compartment is molded separately, giving the user a chance to customize the storage box by placing one or more of the walls of each compartment in the optimal location. These storage boxes come in different sizes and depths. The most convenient for 15mm are approximately 18 long by 10 inches or so wide, and from 2 to 4 inches deep. Shallower boxes are fine for foot soldiers, but mounted troops or vehicles may require greater depth.

If you used metal bases for your figures, you are one step ahead. The advantage of metal is that it is magnetic (well, ferrous metals anyway). You can use this to your advantage as follows. At your local craft store, buy several rolls of the flexible magnetic strip that comes in rolls of five or six foot for a few dollars. Cut several strips of it, each long enough to run the length or width of the storage box. Peel off the protective backing and place the tape where you want it on the bottom of the inside of the storage box. You can now gently lower your miniatures into the storage box and they will be held in place by the magnetic strips. You will still need to be somewhat gentle in handling your miniatures, even with the help of the magnetic strips, because with enough jostling it is possible to shake on or more of the stands free from the strip. Once one of them goes, they tend to ripple down the line like dominoes, similarly freeing their compatriots from bondage.

If you are careful, you can transport your miniatures in these plastic boxes and the magnetic strips will be enough to keep them in place. If you are relying on someone else to transport them, like a moving company, airport baggage handler,one of your children, or a 1000-lb gorilla, you will want to do more to ensure the safety of your miniature army.

The easiest approach is to simply fill the void around your miniatures with a soft, clean material. Packing peanuts may work, but may be too large to adequately fill in the smaller gaps between stands. Also, they may tend to bend some of the more delicate parts (bayonets, spears) and will stick annoyingly to many of these also, requiring a fair amount of time to extract for all of your stands. One of the best materials is unsweetened puffed rice cereal. Buy the largest bag of the cheapest brand ("generic" or store brand). Pour it into the storage box until it fills all gaps between the stands, and piles up just a little above the top of the side of the box. Gently close the lid of the box and snap it shut. Give the box a slight shake. You shouldn't be able to hear or feel significant movement inside the box. If you do, open the lid, add more rice, and try again.

When you and your miniatures arrive safely at your destination, remove the top layers of rice until you can get to the miniatures, and remove them stand by stand. Save the rice for the return trip. You could try blowing the rice out of the storage box with compressed air (use your airbrush compressor) but you may want to do this outside so the birds can benefit from your spent rice. Or, use a regular household vacuum to carefully suck out the puffed rice.

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