YogiBearMinis  | 27 May 2014 5:10 p.m. PST |
What is the origin of WFB's basing system? Is it purely an historical accident based upon using the smallest bases possible for the miniatures involved? Or is there some other, more systemic reason? |
| kallman | 27 May 2014 5:27 p.m. PST |
Ah a good question you have there. I am not sure there is a real thought out reason or that is just how it came about. The whole slotta base thing early on had not only the 20 mm and 25 mm squares but hexagonal as well as the round bases for 40K. I think originally it was what would fit the figure. |
| BrotherSevej | 27 May 2014 5:34 p.m. PST |
Well, I think it's for rank & file purpose. If the base is too small, miniatures bump each other. And if the base is too large, the formation will look sparse. |
| Pictors Studio | 27 May 2014 5:35 p.m. PST |
It doesn't just use those. As Kim pointed out there are other sizes. Chaos Warriors and Orcs, for example, are on 25mm square bases, as are daemons. Elves, of various sorts, non-Chaos men and undead are on the 20mm square ones. Goblins are on 20mm ones while orcs are on 25mm. Skinks are on 20mm while Saurus warriors are on 25mm. I suppose it, at least at this point, involves what size base the model will fit. |
| Sir Walter Rlyeh | 27 May 2014 6:16 p.m. PST |
Because I am really old, I can tell you that when the first slotta base GW figures came to the US they were in two figure packs and came with only hex bases. We had to special order the square bases to play Warhammer. (in the snow, barefoot) |
| Rottcodd | 27 May 2014 6:18 p.m. PST |
And with the game dynamics, you want to bring as many miniatures into contact as possible, so the smallest base that will fit the mini is desirable. |
| TMPWargamerabbit | 27 May 2014 8:54 p.m. PST |
20mm basing has been around since true sized 25mm miniatures of yesteryear and before the size creep upwards of 28mm+ current miniature ranges. |
| Garand | 27 May 2014 9:44 p.m. PST |
ISTR getting slotta-based GW dwarfs in the mid-to late '80s that had square bases. If the hex based figures being referred to were in the IIRC blue packaging, this was a special rebox designed to appeal to the RPG market IIRC. It's been a long time however, but I did get a couple of figures from their Norman range this way… Damon. |
| streetline | 27 May 2014 11:57 p.m. PST |
I think at their peak there were oval slotta bases and stepped plstic display slottas. |
| ordinarybass | 29 May 2014 5:11 a.m. PST |
I'm not sure there's any really deep reason, but the GW base sizes are all round numbers of mm's in multiples of 5, fit the miniatures pretty well and are mostly squares and rectangles that rank easily. My guess is that it's just a matter of those factors, possibly combined with their use by other games and their utility in WHFB. As for other shapes, I've not seen oval slottas (not to say they might not exist), but I did have a couple of the really tall plinth plastic slottas that GW shipped with their "Blanford's Warriors" series. 25mm Hex Slottas are still available from EM4 and others and come in some games. I love them for squads of 10mm troops. |
begins a baboon-man warband.
