How important do you consider basing?

[Basementboy]

Just what it says in the title. I often see lavishly painted miniatures sitting on a completely plain base, and speed-painted equivalents on gorgeous diorama bases. Just wanted to know how important basing is to y’all, and how you do your bases if so

[Mr. White]

“Faces and Bases make models look Aces”

As human animals, our eyes are instantly drawn to a model’s face. An incomplete or subpar base can make any model look unfinished.

No matter how good the rest of the model is, if either of these two are looking sketch, it takes down the look of any paint job.

For these reason, I don’t paint eyes (my models would looks worse than they already do!), and I always do some sort of textured base.

[syrinx0]

I almost never have a plain base except for my zombies and those are at least painted.  Some are just textured others have grass, flowers and rocks depending on their use and my whims. I used to paint eyes but I just don't have the vision or control myself now days.

[Count Belisarius]

Faces, bases... and FLAGS! 🙂

As said above I rarely paint eyes now. Once in a while, for characters, I'll make an attempt. Some come out better than others.

Bases. Plain can look good. Depends on the 'style' of the project. I've got shiny old school stuff on plain bases. But they have to be neatly done. All my other stuff is based in the same style and colours so it all fits with my terrain. Use of tufts varies depending on scale. And neat edges. Flock and basing material stuck to the edges looks awful. My C18th 28mm stuff is all black edges. I decided it was the look I wanted 12 years ago and have stuck with it. But that is the only army I use it on.

But as ever, it's all personal taste and opinion.

A

[carlos marighela]

Very.

1) It draws some attention away from my amateurish daubings.

2) It sets a scene.

3) It ties a unit together. Especially important of you are using figures from different manufacturers.

4) It's a visual hobby.

The exception to the above are 'old school', high gloss, toy soldier type figures or flats. These do look best on plain bases.

[Cubs]

Absolutely essential for me. I don't paint mins for gaming, purely for display, so I pick a suitable theme and use it to frame the min as well as possible for the aesthetic.

[Daeothar]

I try for the opposite: my bases are meant to blend in as much as possible with my tabletops. To this end, I use the same basecoat on them that I also use on my tables, and use this straight as the base rim colour for all of my miniatures.

The only differentiation between genres is that I use greenish flock on my fantasy bases and dead/dry grass on my scifi ones.

Of course there is the occasional display miniature that I paint just for fun, with no particular game in mind, or as a specific RPG character, and on those bases, I really go to town. There, I want the base to tell a bit of a story. But admittedly, apart from sketching the direct surroundings, this is still fairly limited...

[zemjw]

My bases are simply sand, but they are always painted. It would feel strange to spend weeks painting a figure, only to leave it on an unpainted base

I've gone through various approaches over the years, including scenic bases for my spaceport workers and some post apocalyptic figures. However, sand and Vallejo Flat Earth is my current standard, and I'm generally happy with it.

I do admire people who spend time flocking and telling stories with their bases, but it's not for me

[Dean]

I also think that a plain base just makes the figure look unfinished, I wouldn't table a figure without "finishing it off", but that said for me it's more like speedpaint on an adequate base than on a lavish diorama .

From when I started my challenge project of six factions for AoM, you can see I've had a common process for my bases so that the whole lot has a consistent look, but some of the 3D prints I'm getting now have a printed base that integrates with the figure and trying to base them the same won't work or they'll end up with a leg in mid-air for no reason, for example, so that's making me deviate in those cases, but I do try to still coordinate the look back to the rest.

[gweirda]

"...what it says in the title."

I'm likely an outlier in that I consider bases to be very important in doing what they should be doing to aid in the playing of the game: Keeping the figs upright and -if the rules require it- indicating facing/spacing/identity and/or movement angles/ranges.  Any aspect of a base (be it size, shape, or decoration) that detracts from -or worse: interferes with or prohibits- the use of the figure in the game is a mark against it.

As a lifelong modeler (lucky enough to have been paid to do it for a dozen years) there would be few, if any, in front of me in a line to look closely at a well-done base/figure and remark on how great it looks, but...when on the table it's a gaming piece and should be made/judged by how well it does (or doesn't) fill that role, and no amount of flocking artistry can make up for a base that mucks up the play of the game.

[boneio]

Very important! Even on WIP images, un-based models look 'wrong' to my eyes. It's absolutely not a finished model until the base is done and when viewing photos I automatically assume the paint job is not finished if the base isn't.

That is distinct from the style of the base as others have noted. A base can be plain and simple and still be sufficient to finish off the model 
(Or even in some cases just a transparent disk, that counts too  )

[traveller]

Another vote for VERY important! And the good news is that is does not take much to make it look reasonably good. I use metal washers for most of my 28mm. Add some wall filler to integrate the miniature base. My standard recipe is wood glue and sand for texture and then 4 layers of dry brushed wall paint (brown+beige+sand+white). An example:

[nozza_uk]

To answer the original question, not very. I'll quite happily field figures with a plain base.

Personally, I find basing to be a chore and tend to leave it for as long as possible until I do it. Then I'll do 40 - 50 figures in one go.

Also, I find it depends on the genre of the figures. I will base my historical and fantasy figures. However, my sci-fi figures will either have a black or grey plain base - after all, not a lot shrubbery in a starship corridor.

[syr8766]

I love a beautiful base. They help unify the force, to be sure, and can help give the figure/unit a mini-diorama effect. Even only 'okay' basing can help elevate a figure that's only painted so-so. I'm 'omnivorous' in terms of what good basing can be and I find it's more about 'committing to the bit', as it were. So Malifaux and Privateer Press style more cartoonish bases can be awesome, 'goblin green' old-school 40k bases can be awesome, steel washers with 'realistic' basing can be awesome, etc.  I'll even paint plain bases for D&D figures as if they're standing on a dungeon floor (so a painted slate/flagstone effect). Having said that, I get folks who find it tedious, and understand the whole 'clear' base thing so that the figure always matches the terrain.

[Elbows]

I'm in the opposite camp from most here it seems.

While I 100% require a painted and finished base (i.e. some form of uniform texture), I despise overly ornate basing.  A base should be simple, look decent, and not upstage the model.  It should also be as a relatively flexible as possible.  I generally dislike GW style diorama bases on almost anything.  There is nothing more I hate than a miniature which is diving off a rock, screaming...

I generally want my bases to be simple enough to blend into the gaming surface.  I don't like clear basing (I have tried it and it always ends up glaring or scratching or yellowing), so I keep them simple, attractive, clean.

I hate black rimmed bases, as to me that just separates a miniature from the table itself - though I know it's very much in vogue with gamers at the moment.

I despise volcano basing or snow basing for models that will spend 95% of their time on basic grass/dirt mats, etc.

I also don't find it a chore to do basing, though I have friends who will - much to my chagrin - paint up miniatures for a game, and all of them are unfinished because the bases are done, but they consider them "painted".  To me a miniature is not painted/complete until it has a base - no matter how simple.