How particular are you about base sizes?

[Evil Eye]

As the title says, do you care much about models being on the "correct" base sizes, or are you fairly loose about it?

 

Myself, assuming it's not blatant modelling for advantage (putting Zoanthropes on 60mms for maxxing out synapse range for instance) I'm not particularly bothered about models being on the "right" bases, as long as things are consistently based. For example, if your standard bolter Marines are on 25mms they should all be on them, rather than a mix of 25mms and 32mms, but I'm not going to throw a tantrum if they're not using the officially-decreed base sizes (which IIRC are more intended as guidelines anyway). I often ignore official base sizes myself; my Tyranid Warriors are on 40mms and Carnifexes on 60mms, as they were what they've always been on since I started playing and honestly I don't like how they look on the 50mms/ovals. Admittedly, older editions (my main interest) were less dependent on base size as the rules had less "aura abilities" making such things pretty irrelevant, but anyway.

[Zoatibix]

I’ve never run into anyone taking the mickey but I’d certainly question it. 
 

I personally am not one of the folks that feels the need to rebase old models when newer versions with bigger bases come out. 

[Indy Techwisp]

Personally I try my hardest to ensure all my Characters are on the correct base size, but that's primarily so I'm not at risk of losing out on a potential Max-Range Doombolt cast to having a Sorc on a 32" base rather than the 40" base they're listed as being on. (Or accidentally being in range of a Max-Distance cast when I shouldn't due to an oversized base.)

 

For opponents, however, unless it's a base that is ridiculously wrong (say, a 50" base on a guard-equivalent mini or a 25" base for a Marine Character unit) I generally cannot tell if a base is too large or not unless I own one of those units myself or someone else in my family does without needing to actually look up what base size the unit should be, so I usually rely on the opponent having the right base sizes (or informing me that a base is wrong at all if any are).

 

[Dr. Clock]

One size up or down tends not to make a big difference, but when you've got Possessed on 25mm for instance, that does get a bit wonky. If it's a base that the model was sold with, it's fair game.

 

The scale creep is real though - 25mm bases look so wee and tiny these days on the rare occasion I'm using them. So much stuff comes on 28mm now that that really does feel like the new standard for infantry.

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

[RazorDaemon]

This is a good question, it is annoying when I buy a new box to make a squad from 5 to 10, and the new ones are a bigger base. It isn't major, just one size up, but it is noticeable. Is there an official ruling on this? I don't play any official games/tournaments, but it bugs me if they're "wrong"...I don't know why TBH.

[gideon stargreave]

Whenever I’ve played the game, people’s loose measurements in the movement phase has always vastly outweighed any base size issues anyway.

personally I base my minis on bases large enough for the mini to breathe. My blood angel tacticals are converted from cataphractii so they can have primaris sized mk3 so they are massive, and need terminator bases. My sisters are on the bases supplied. 
I don’t have a gaming group since emigrating so it’s not really an issue.

im also more of a fan of mordheim where base size is loose anyway 

[Nephaston]

Mine? Super. Will rebase almost always.

 

Others? Irrelevant to me. can be as large or as small as they want, but if they try to pull too many shenanigans they go on the "no play" list and a smear campaign behind their backs.

[Special Officer Doofy]

I'm not particular about the base size at all. I've never come across someone using a different base for gamey reasons though, almost always for conversions. I've seen people make cool Defilers using dune crawler legs and bases. Yeah it makes their footprint smaller and they can maneuver better, but some people don't like the defiler model and would never use it. Conversions let them enjoy the hobby more, I'm not going to stop them or make a fuss.

 

Me personally, I have two older daemon princes that I don't feel the desire to rebase (I think that newer one is larger and on a larger base). My Malignant Plaguecaster is on the same base as all the other Death Guard power armor characters (40mm) instead of the same size as the Plague Marine (32mm). Didn't care for the tiny model that came in dark Imperium and converted one. No one has ever said anything about it to me. My friend group and scene play competitively but would never make a big deal over a conversion or two being bigger or smaller. I don't go to hard-core tournaments that are strict about it though. If someone refused to play with me or accused me of cheating because one character was on a base a few mm bigger, chances are I wouldn't enjoy playing with said person anyways.

[Doobles57]

1 hour ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

I'm not particular about the base size at all. I've never come across someone using a different base for gamey reasons though, almost always for conversions. I've seen people make cool Defilers using dune crawler legs and bases. Yeah it makes their footprint smaller and they can maneuver better, but some people don't like the defiler model and would never use it. Conversions let them enjoy the hobby more, I'm not going to stop them or make a fuss.

 

Me personally, I have two older daemon princes that I don't feel the desire to rebase (I think that newer one is larger and on a larger base). My Malignant Plaguecaster is on the same base as all the other Death Guard power armor characters (40mm) instead of the same size as the Plague Marine (32mm). Didn't care for the tiny model that came in dark Imperium and converted one. No one has ever said anything about it to me. My friend group and scene play competitively but would never make a big deal over a conversion or two being bigger or smaller. I don't go to hard-core tournaments that are strict about it though. If someone refused to play with me or accused me of cheating because one character was on a base a few mm bigger, chances are I wouldn't enjoy playing with said person anyways.

This very much mirrors my approach. By and large I'll stick to the official base size, but sometimes a conversion will sit better on a larger base. So I'll use a larger base. Literally just built a Solar Auxilia Marshall and put him on a larger base. 25mm for a Warlord level character seems tiny. Add in the cyber hound I've given him and he's ended up on a 40mm base which feels big but I think works. If anyone complains I'll knock 7.5mm off any measurements from his base for all the difference it'll make.

 

Heresy seems like it's slightly freer in that sense anyway, given the Age of Darkness Praetors came on 40s Vs the usual 32s. 

 

That said I don't do tournaments so I'd like to think it'd never come up as an issue anyway. Unless someone was doing something obviously gamey and "that guy" with base sizes I wouldn't care what my opponent was doing.

[Halandaar]

For me, bases are there to serve the models and I don't really care what size they're supposed to be on. If minis  push up against (or overhang) their official base sizes, I tend to put them on one size bigger so they look better; all my Eldar infantry are on 32mm for example. 

 

I also dislike having different base sizes for similar looking models within the same unit. I've just built the Darkoath Savagers for Warcry for example, and that's supposed to be a mix of 28mm and 32mm bases, but there's hardly any visual distinction between the different model types so I put them all on 32mms.

 

I also also dislike inconsistency across different similar units, like Terminator Captains being on 50mm but Terminator Chaplains and Librarians being on 40mm. Unfortunately for those I assembled them before I really thought about it and haven't bothered to rebase them. My Autarchs and Farseers are on 40mms though, to match the Phoenix Lords

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

My heavy weapon teams for my infantry squads are on two separate bases completely lol. That’s how particular I am.

[CL_Mission]

2 hours ago, Halandaar said:

I also also dislike inconsistency across different similar units, like Terminator Captains being on 50mm but Terminator Chaplains and Librarians being on 40mm. Unfortunately for those I assembled them before I really thought about it and haven't bothered to rebase them. My Autarchs and Farseers are on 40mms though, to match the Phoenix Lords

This is something that been bothering me with the Necron army I'm building at the moment, specifically with Crypteks. The Technomancer comes on 50mm base, the Chronomancer and Psychomancer on 40mm bases and the Plasmacer on 32mm. So far I've built them as they should be but I don't like it, I'm seriously considering moving them all to 40mm, I can't see any of the people I play with minding too much or even noticing.

When I get round to building the Terminator Captain from Leviathan he'll be going 40mm base for sure.

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Not at all. I don´t think people should have to rebase old models at all. You paid for them, put hours in painting and modelling them.. No, you should not have to rebase.. Not even if GW gave you the bases for free - or even paid you for the work.  No effing way.

 

Don´t care that much about right bases sizes otherwise either. If someone uses it ina  gamey way.. I just don´t play them anymore..

[MegaVolt87]

Never had an issue with any of my power armoured characters being on 40mm bases IRL, but on the internet I feel like I have been crusading longer than a Black Templar for doing that instead of using the standard (25mm OG) or now 32mm one instead that come with such character models. 

[Irongert]

I don't much care about base sizes. Some of my armies have evolved throughout the years. I really don't feel like rebasing models every time GW increases model size and there for more base size is needed. Models are on the bases they came with when I bought them. Old models have 25mm bases, new models have 32mm or 40mm or whichever is appropriate  at the time the model gets built and painted. That said, I don't play tournaments or a flgs so it's not going to be an issue. We always play at my house and everybody invited is pretty laid back about these things. All of us have to big of a painting backlog to go back to revisit models that are already done, just because of a new base size 

 

Ofcourse it means my armies tend not to be very uniform in that regard but I kind of like the fact that it's clearly visibly an army that has been collected over many years. 

Edited June 3, 2024 by Irongert

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

I like that charm, the veteran army..

 

And playing at home is nice, close to the coffee brewer, beer cooler or whatever.. Was spoiled with that but can´t currently.. Don´t like going to a store (even though i have a good one with loads of rooms "locally").. Much more chill at home!

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

For me it depends on the context and just how different the base size is to what is official. A Bloodthrister on a 25mm base would be a no-no for example. However an infantry model on a 40mm base instead of 32mm is of no problem to me - if it's done for modelling reasons and not to gain an advantage rules wise.

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Well, the Blood Thirster have never been ona  25mm base so that would just be weird?

 

However, when i started out,a  buddy bought Tyranid Attack (for the bug models - but that game was fun!). And he also bought a Hive Tyrant.. For Epic, by mistake.. We were totally new.. That dude was used for a bit on his 25mm base, the size of a termagant iirc.. lol.

We just laughed at it and he did replace it when he could afford it.. All good though! He had trouble seeing over alot of our terrain..

[Dark Legionnare]

Glad to see a lot of relaxed mindsets in here.  Definitely agree with Duregar's "You shouldn't be expected to redo older armies cart blanche."  They get grandfathered in because they already have so much love and effort.  I've done a bit of rebasing over the years. Old Space Wolves and the like. Models that looked crowded on their old 28's or such, but that's it. Probably less than 30 models in the last decade or so.

The biggest "potential" I have is GW's obsession with boyz being on 32mm's since Nuhammer rulesets rolled out in 8th.

No way in hell will I be rebasing 150+ orks to 32's (50+ of them with extensive custom wirework, killed foes, gubbins, etc... on their bases), haha.

Edited June 4, 2024 by Dark Legionnare

[DemonGSides]

8 minutes ago, Dark Legionnare said:

Glad to see a lot of relaxed mindsets in here.  Definitely agree with Duregar's "You shouldn't be expected to redo older armies cart blanche."  They get grandfathered in because they already have so much love and effort.  I've done a bit of rebasing over the years. Old Space Wolves and the like. Models that looked crowded on their old 28's or such, but that's it. Probably less than 30 models in the last decade or so.

The biggest "potential" I have is GW's obsession with boyz being on 32mm's since Nuhammer rulesets rolled out in 8th.

No way in hell will I be rebasing 150+ orks to 32's (50+ of them with extensive custom wirework, killed foes, gubbins, etc... on their bases), haha.

 

Just put the base on another base. Problem solved. They also sell adapters if you REALLY wanna make em perfect.

 

I kit bashed up a bunch of Death Guard characrers for 10th Ed and any of them that were on the wrong side base just got another base put under that of the correct size. Barely increases the vertical profile while keeping the important bit (melee army base sizes are super important for engagement range and stuff like that) true to the intention. 

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

Well, that costs money. On prinsicple, why pay even more for something you have already paid for and it was fine then?

[DemonGSides]

Because if you want to interact with the game you should probably be doing so with as good intentions as possible, and base sizes do matter in the rules, especially so with melee.  Go back to 2nd Ed if you think the game is the same thing now as it was then.

 

If you're just hobbying obviously do what you want. And if your Cadian Command Squad is on 25's instead of 28's that's probably not that big of a deal, considering their base sizes aren't going to interact with rules that much. 

 

But if you're rocking terminators on 25's just cuz that was the truth 30 years ago... Time to update your ways; you're going to be able to stick in almost twice as many terminators as someone playing correctly with 40mm bases. That's an extremely unfair advantage.

 

So if you want to keep your old cool bases (as the poster I was replying to mentioned), the easiest fix is "put old base on top of new base, fill in the difference to your liking" and you get the best of all worlds (and also probably increase the vertical size of your mini to closer to modern mini sizes at the same time, which is also showing a good intention to trying to play the game fairly).

 

Win/win, really: get to keep your cool, fancy thematic base, while also being a good opponent and not trying to angle shoot for victory. 

Edited June 4, 2024 by DemonGSides

[Dark Legionnare]

47 minutes ago, DemonGSides said:

Because if you want to interact with the game you should probably be doing so with as good intentions as possible, and base sizes do matter in the rules, especially so with melee.  Go back to 2nd Ed if you think the game is the same thing now as it was then.

 

If you're just hobbying obviously do what you want. And if your Cadian Command Squad is on 25's instead of 28's that's probably not that big of a deal, considering their base sizes aren't going to interact with rules that much. 

 

But if you're rocking terminators on 25's just cuz that was the truth 30 years ago... Time to update your ways; you're going to be able to stick in almost twice as many terminators as someone playing correctly with 40mm bases. That's an extremely unfair advantage.

 

So if you want to keep your old cool bases (as the poster I was replying to mentioned), the easiest fix is "put old base on top of new base, fill in the difference to your liking" and you get the best of all worlds (and also probably increase the vertical size of your mini to closer to modern mini sizes at the same time, which is also showing a good intention to trying to play the game fairly).

 

Win/win, really: get to keep your cool, fancy thematic base, while also being a good opponent and not trying to angle shoot for victory. 

Oh yeah, for sure. I'm cognizant of the basing and do space the boyz out to be nice to folks in the couple games of 9th and 10th I've played with them.

 

The suggestion is a simple one aye, but extra labor nonetheless! Not to disparage the suggestion, it's not "wrong", I'm just not looking to do 150+ more sit down sessions basing so many models to fill in the the new negative space of the 32's under them because GW arbitrarily changed the sizes in 8th. (I think I remember people complaining well into 9th that some boyz boxes came with old and new bases hilariously enough)

 

We play plenty of oldhammer (5th, 7th, 30k) too with the lads, so even more reason to leave then as they were since 3rd while being cognizant in the Nuhammer spaces

 

In that same vein. Can anybody tell me definitely when termies became 40's? My late 3rd ed/early 4tb BA army on my shelf has plastic assault termies in it and they're on 40's. I'd assume whenever those kits came out is when they moved to 40's, aye?

Edited June 4, 2024 by Dark Legionnare

[DemonGSides]

1 hour ago, Dark Legionnare said:

Oh yeah, for sure. I'm cognizant of the basing and do space the boyz out to be nice to folks in the couple games of 9th and 10th I've played with them.

 

The suggestion is a simple one aye, but extra labor nonetheless! Not to disparage the suggestion, it's not "wrong", I'm just not looking to do 150+ more sit down sessions basing so many models to fill in the the new negative space of the 32's under them because GW arbitrarily changed the sizes in 8th. (I think I remember people complaining well into 9th that some boyz boxes came with old and new bases hilariously enough)

 

We play plenty of oldhammer (5th, 7th, 30k) too with the lads, so even more reason to leave then as they were since 3rd while being cognizant in the Nuhammer spaces

 

In that same vein. Can anybody tell me definitely when termies became 40's? My late 3rd ed/early 4tb BA army on my shelf has plastic assault termies in it and they're on 40's. I'd assume whenever those kits came out is when they moved to 40's, aye?

 

It was around 2008/2009 for the terminators.

 

28mm to 32mm is well within the "close enough not to matter really.". Anything bigger and you're modeling for advantage off the rip, hence the comparison to old Terminator base size to current; there's a world of difference between 4 mm and 12mm

 

[Dark Legionnare]

1 hour ago, DemonGSides said:

 

It was around 2008/2009 for the terminators.

 

28mm to 32mm is well within the "close enough not to matter really.". Anything bigger and you're modeling for advantage off the rip, hence the comparison to old Terminator base size to current; there's a world of difference between 4 mm and 12mm

 

Damn, was it really that late?  I feel like I had stopped making additions to the BA well before even rumors of 5th were rising. (Implying I got the 5 melee termies around 2004-05 or so)  Unreliable memory in full swing if that's the case!

And yeah, I get that base comparison.  The boyz shake out where put weapon to weapon in ranks in melee they're close enough to 32mm where it makes paying attention to the "not current" basing easy enough to do to be accommodating. 

Not to say that base size changes don't matter, as I agree they do, just opining here. Wasn't GW's stance at the time of many 8th ed rebasings like orkz, sisters, etc... "If you have the old bases, you're good?"  I feel like I remember that as I was rolling my eyes at the 32mm change back in 2018 or so.  I wonder if they've still maintained that stance officially or now that there's new kits, they've walked that back (if it even existed at all and I'm not just repeating local warhammer groups' hearsay).