"My Theory of Basing" Topic

In my opinion, basing for wargaming is completely different than basing for display.

For display pieces, I completely get it that they want a decorated base, lots of vegetation, rocks, maybe a small tree, skullz and a dead body.

But for wargaming, I think it looks silly. "Here comes Sir Fred and the rock he drags everywhere with him."

For wargaming, I prefer basing treatments that are simple and effectively blend into the tabletop. I don't want to "see" the bases on the wargaming table. I want to see figures, I want to see armies.

Your mileage may vary.

!

Yes, I agree with that. The amount of time I put into painting the figures should be on display. The basing should be nice but not overdone in such a way as to draw the attention to that before the figure. Others may have a different view and that's ok too.

For me the size of the base and figures determine what I do with a base – at 15mm and smaller I tend to do a basic stand with some static grass – for 20mm and larger I tend to like to add to the base

Just my 2 cents

I think contemporary basing styles are just about right … rocks and tufts and the like where appropriate. I've been through several evolutions on basing … none … plain … flock … and variations of where we are today. I like where we are today.

But it does also matter to scale … the bigger the figures the less you need to worry about basing. 54mm figures work fine with no real landscaping at all (and are OK individually based) … but each scale down, the basing becomes more essential to the usage, and the landscaping becomes more part of the presentation. 10mm really is much better with 'realistic' terrain, and 6mm needs it.

'Tufts' have really improved the whole look of the wargame table in my opinion – and, as an experience, wargaming is all the better for it.

Phil

I'm with Bill on this distinction. Because I don't do anything for display, everything gets fairly minimal bases.

I'm now using clear plastic (like from blister packs) to give models stability, and painting the original bases in grays and tans so that they'll blend in and be ignored on any of my game tables.

That's my real work as a camofleur: getting the bases to disappear.

Agree

Bill, I absolutely agree. I will also generally use the smallest base I can get away with. I've been using nickels lately. Just a simple sand, glue and paint mix. I will sometimes use a s8ngle stone or two To mark special figures.

Nah.

Generalising (US:generalizing) like mad (US: crazy): In the US you have enormous houses with plenty of spare space – double garages, basements, attics, etc, etc.

You can have huge tables and many, many miniatures to play with.

Good for you. Green with envy.

This side of the pond we live in miniscule houses – try two cramped rooms on the ground with two further storeys.

A small dining table might have to suffice.

This is the land of 75mm square bases (US: 3inches). If you don't have many then you make it beautiful – like a diorama.

Agree it is size dependent (i.e. my 6mm Napoleonics don't get much more than a whiff of flock) but for 28 mm I mostly do what Yesthatphil suggest – tufts, rocks, the odd bit of flowers; but for my command stands I do tend to the mini-diorama thing, especially for my medieval/SYW "big hats" – a few hangers-on, some extra colour and for a few, a pet dog or two

I use a table painted a flat grass green. I base my figures on thin 1mm thick bases which are also painted flat green. No flocking just green paint. When the figures are on the table the bases merge into the background so all you really see is the figures marching. I like the look.

Here is an example. This is a close up of my 20mm figures. At normal table viewing range the bases are not very distinct.

20mm Horse Archers

For display pieces, I completely get it that they want a decorated base, lots of vegetation, rocks, maybe a small tree, skullz and a dead body.
[…]
For wargaming, I prefer basing treatments that are simple and effectively blend into the tabletop. I don't want to "see" the bases on the wargaming table. I want to see figures, I want to see armies.

For me, these are the same thing.

I also want my bases to blend into the table, which means using grass, dirt, bushes, rocks, etc. to hide the lumps of individual soldier's bases and geometrical base edges – or for naval gaming, a pattern of colors that blends into the sea surface and breaks up the geometrical pattern of the ship's base.

Fire & Fury long ago spoiled me for printed information as well – now I prefer written information to be out of sight on the underside of the base, and markers to be aesthetically appropriate miniatures in their own right. I don't like to see colorful knick-knacks, words, labels, chits, stickers, etc. (My land gaming has lots of crafty bits for markers, but my naval gaming still depends on an oversized collection of Litko items which I consider "temporary", though in a dozen years I have still never quite gotten around to replacing them with nicer crafted items…)

- Ix

I've gone through different iterations on basing techniques over the past 25 hears: simple, flat green; all black; clear plastic, frosted, not shiny; to my current version of green sand mixtures with some gravel/rocks mixed in; on 50mm and bigger, I use random patterns of brownish red sand with greens, to make it look like mottled grass and earth.

I found that the green sands with gravel bits really improved the looks, overall. My tabletop is Tee-Time outdoor carpet: really nice, tightly woven, soft 'grass'. I really love it: no patterns, low mat, quite nice looking, really. Not planning to change base styles ever again… YMMV.

Planning to glue same carpet to open cell foam pieces cut on my Proxxon, covering the sloping sides with carpet strips. That way the hills will match the table top.

I have never been a fan of diorama-like basing. My gaming style is all about compromises. Basing is one of many compromises in my hobbies. Cheers!

My wargame armies are (for some at least) on display when not on the table.

There's something to Bill's idea – no matter what style you do your bases it's unlikely they will be a close match for the table-top.

For a while I did flat back and undecorated bases, and when asked mentioned the above. It also made bright colours on 15mm figs pop.

After a while I relented and decorated them with the usual treatments.

David F Brown

This side of the pond we live in miniscule houses – try two cramped rooms on the ground with two further storeys.

Lap of luxury, that is. In San Francisco, someone starting up a hedge fund or a softward company would love to have one of those rooms for a live-work space, instead of having to share it, and neither of them can afford parking spaces for their BMWs, and they have to use the other storeys for the servers for their businesses.

I'll urge them to move to Europe and get some space to live in, but they'll never believe me. Also, as Californians they probably won't be able to stand the overcast and rain.

Size and number dictate the style of basing for me. Rpg and skirmish figures get a more developed base. Larger armies get sand & flock and an occasional tuft to break it up.

+1 for me

I was just considering this today. I've got a couple of original copies of Space Hulk and I'm finally painting the Terminators and Genestealers. I plan on using some screen material glued to the base and dry brushed to make it look like metal grates.

As for my FOW miniatures, I'm still figuring the basing out.

My 25mm-28mm miniatures I go pretty simple, but I still can't decide if I should flock the sides of the bases or not.

Simple flock on the base & maybe a tuft.

I use just flock. I have a couple different shades / styles. I stay uniform to the game, but they may very game to game. But lately if there is an edge to the base I don;t flock that. I paint it brown or green…

Actually, I can see the point of extensive terraining of bases in the smallest scales. 24 5mm castings on a 1x2 base leaves room enough, and skirmisher bases--maybe six castings on that same 1x2--almost seem to call for it: otherwise, they look like clearings in the woods the skirmisher occupy.

It's the same lame joke over and over which keeps me from following through. There's always someone in the group who not only thinks "they're carrying the tree with them" is funny in the first place, but goes on thinking so, even when it's used multiple times in a game and multiple games. Better to have a less satisfactory base than to put up with it.

It's a personal gripe of mine. I just can't stand wargame figure bases with rocks, bushes and other stuff that doesn't move on the base. Just looks silly.

I build up the wooden bases to the level of the metal bases, then add small amounts of flock and large amounts of sand. (Most of mine belong to dry, Mediterranean countries. For Ancient Brits there is more flock and much less sand.)

Rocks and tufts are generally limited to light infantry bases (there is no room on close order bases) but in any case I limit them to less than four per unit, so most bases do not have any. Rocks are small and tend to be inconspicuous, not too easy for the troops to trip over !

I agree with Bill. I don't like it when stuff is model into the base by the sculptor.

Alas, MajorB, almost all my bases have grass, which doesn't move either.

For my individually based stuff I've started using circles punched from ultrapro top loader card sleeves. Here is a picture from Pulp Alley that shows the idea:

I tried clear bases. I found the clear acrylic was too shiny. So I used a matte clear coat, and that was OK.

Then I tried cutting the mini's feet off of their molded bases, such as what Rick1906 shows: too much time, and labor for my armies of mini's (800+ mini's)… I also found that the feet glued to the clear acrylic had a weak bond to the bases, and it was too easy to snap them off of the bases (1mm thick acrylic, unlike Rick1906's). I then tried leaving the mini's attached to their molded bases, which I simply painted black.

In the end, I switched to textured bases. No matter what style/approach you take, there will be trade-off's, and compromises. Pick your options, and live with their shortcomings and failures. Cheers!

@Rick1905:

What glue works best for the bases you use with metal miniatures? Thanks.

I've found that my metals stick to the thin card protector plastic better than my friends' stuff that is on acrylic.

I use a good quality super glue (basically not dollar store super glue or gorilla glue's brand of super glue-- both of those fog a lot) and dab off excess on cardboard before sticking. I learned how to do it from Pulp Alley's youtube videos:

Attaching to bases:
YouTube link

Making thin clear bases:
YouTube link

I use the same punches and use the ultra pro premium top loader card protectors. They're not perfectly clear but have an ever so slight grey tint to them. They reflect less than acrylic.

I just backed a kickstater specifically for 3d printed stl files for bases. They have a number of different styles (28 mm focused) including steampunk, Asian, rocky, etc. They look awesome.

I paint my figures to my likes and dislikes and I do the same with bases.

I don't think anyone has offered this explanation yet, within this discussion, so I will add it, for your consideration…

I believe those of us who decorate our bases, making mini-dioramas with them, basically feel that it improves the appearance, overall, of the figures. I found that by dressing up the bases, the mini's looked much more attractive.

As I said before, I went through a series of different basing styles, including clear bases. Out of all of the schemes I have tried, I prefer the decorated bases, the most. My fellow players, within my gaming group, also appreciated the decorated bases.

As has been stated by several posters, we need to follow the path/scheme that makes us, individually, happy. Your games, your mini's, your table, your preferences are all that matters. Cheers!

Sarge, I agree with you. I enjoy the flocking but I also enjoy patches of soil indiscriminately displayed on the bases. The different colors show off the colors of the miniatures excellently. The display is what I want and I don't spending too much time on the bases to get that effect.