Do your bases match the gaming surface?

[Vanvlak]

One perennial source of irritation I have managed to self inflict is my inconsistency in base colours.
I was 'brought up' in the green-painted slotta base period of GW, but soon changed over to grey bases. I have however moved on to (and backed from) various brown and sand colours, and even black.
I try to maintain consistency in one force (which has meant repainting bases), but regularly fret over terrain.
For example - I have developed an interest in supers, which means I have painted one model - with a sand coloured base. I realised that these models can be used on all sorts of scenery, and thus my work-in-progress Brazil board (based on grey) would work for them. Trouble is that the sand bases would stick out like a sore thumb.

The solutions are:
1) ignore the bases when gaming (and use base colours which contrast with the models)
2) keep the bases as simple as possible (i.e. don't commit to a city street setting when they could be used in a desert or a field; or plants when they could appear on the deck of a spaceship), and use stone colours which could fit in anywhere
3) use bases with combinations of colours allowing for a fit on any scenery
4) stick to one shade of terrain and use minimalist bases as per (2).

The last option is best, but boring, as I do want to have some variety in my scenery. Any suggestions and opinions?

[freewargamesrules]

I some guys at a Wargames show that put their figures on clear acrylic bases so that the base always matched the scenery they placed their figures on. A simple solution!

[Emir of Askaristan]

I use the same shade of basing material and flock on all my bases and the flock matches the scenic mats from Games Workshop which I use too.

I usually sprinkle a little flock round the bases of buildings and roads to help them blend in. The bases them selves are covered in a dry earth colour material which I buy from a railway shop, but extend the life of with a little poly fills and burnt umber paint when it runs low.

Works for me. 

[FramFramson]

I some guys at a Wargames show that put their figures on clear acrylic bases so that the base always matched the scenery they placed their figures on. A simple solution!

I would do this, only I use my bases to sometimes subtly correct for the height of figures here or there, so sometimes I need a built-up base.

I also figured I'd add rocky bits to my basing such that the figure might conceiveably be standing on a patch of broken pavement, but in practice I throw a flat rock or two on and call it finished most of the time.

This has all conspired to leave me with the same sand-and-tufts bases as most folks use.

[Too Bo Coo]

I use a good deal of the G9 Summer Flock and it matches nicely with the Mat-o-War I bought.

[Daeothar]

I used to base everything on the ubiquous slottabases too with me trying to match my bases with the apparent gaming table standard of the time; grassy plain I did, however, always paint the edges of the bases in an earthy brown, as I found that to be a smoother transition than the usual Goblin Green.

Untill Warmachine came out and I became enthralled by the lipped bases, which looked awesome. Those also meant that gaming bases (as opposed to display bases) could now be more elaborate and scenic. SO I started matching the theme of the base with the miniatures on them; the round lip around the base meant that there would always be a stark division between the base and the playing surface.

About that time, I also thought up my own Space Marine chapter, and since my fluff stated that they operated mostly onboard spaceships, I based them on spaceship decking and industrial bases, simply because it suited them.

And I've been doing that ever since, even though I've gradually shifted to basing on washers ever since I've started frequenting LAF. So pulp minis are based on washers with paved street surfaces and Fallschirmjäger on washers with a wild grassland surface.

Whenever I use the grassy theme though, it matches the surface of my regular playing surface. Also, I've had a liter pot of an earthy brown wall paint mixed at a DIY store some years ago. I've used it to paint the surface of my gaming surfaces under the flock and grass, and I use the same paint for my bases. The sides of the bases are painted witht he same colour too, and that blends the bases in with the gaming surfaces as well as they can, short of basing the minis on the table itself...

[Vanvlak]

I some guys at a Wargames show that put their figures on clear acrylic bases so that the base always matched the scenery they placed their figures on. A simple solution!

True - but I am not rebasing all my completed models  , and would prefer to have all models based using the same method. I guess I need a TARDIS....

Thanks for the comments.
Other that the transparent bases, the only solutions seen to be consistency and discipline. Which I am not renowned for in my gaming and modelling activities... 

[syrinx0]

I try for consistency in a given period but otherwise vary my bases for each project.  My RPG and pulp collection have a wide range of different bases as never have found the time to re-base the older models.

[Mitch K]

Sort of. My playing surface is greenish, and all the bases have some green on them

[Too Bo Coo]

Here are some bases I just did with stamps.  They're for my PA games so I went with asphalt, cut up with knife for cracks, added debris and ready for paint.  The board itself is mostly a Zuzzy asphalt mat that I put buildings on top of.  In this way, they will mostly be used in a cityscape.  And how do I explain rural settings? Sprawl...

[dwbullock]

I always paint them based upon the army, not the playing surface.  I want to give a unified look to the bases of a particular army, and not worry too much about the terrain they are placed upon -- although it does sometimes bother me that my rock/scrub-based Warmachine mercs are sometimes fighting in snow, and my Legion of Everblight snow-based Hordes models are fighting in the city ... I simply take solace in the fact that my bases are actually done, and not the plain, boring black.

Each army has its own base.  Terrain be damned.

PS -- I make most of the terrain for our club, so there's always at least a few pieces that match my army, regardless of how they are based

[Connectamabob]

I regard trying to match base terrain to the tabletop as a fools errand, since actual tabletops will be too varied and/or unpredictable for anything to actually look immersive in that way more than 1/3 of the time at most. The attempt at consistency inevitably ends up being both only successful in a minority of circumstances, and ironic in it's failure, as the very fact that the base is trying to blend in makes it all the more glaring in the majority cases where it doesn't.

With character type minis, I treat the mini as an abstract portrait rather than a literal snapshot of the character in that place at that instant on the tabletop. I build the base to compliment the pose, personality, and gear, and do not consider consistency with tabletops or other figures.

With army type minis, I favor bases that are abstract rather than scenic, and which communicate the mini's identity as part of the group/faction. So, for example, for a band of pirates I would use replica doubloons as bases, or pins of the presidential seal for a gaggle of Secret Service agents. I've never done a proper army, but if I did, I'd source one "ideal" symbolic base item, then make a press mold or two so I could stamp out a crap ton of them in epoxy (with a washer or something like that as an imbedded substrate).

Both of these result in better looking bases than tufts 'n sand. I consider the base and mini to be a wholistic unit aesthetically, so I don't understand how people can put so much effort into a figure, then just apathetically crap out on the base like it's a separate thing that doesn't matter.

[OSHIROmodels]

Do your bases match the gaming surface?

Yes, of course. It shouldn't be done any other way 

cheers

James

[gary42]

I'm with " Based on army".  Do her DAK on deserty terrain...Elven army on green flock etc...  I've been doing a lot on a neutral gravel lately too.  Truth be told I'm not bothered much if my gravel based minis fight on green flocking.  Can't get the hang of clear perspex though...Except  for Daleks of course.  Don't ask me why..

[Too Bo Coo]

Admittedly I stepped in poop on my grass mat/grass base match.  I really like the GF9 Summer Flock and the Mat-o-War mat and they happen to match up pretty well.  I also was able through paint, to match up my test Post Apoc bases to the Zussy mat I bought and inked.  So that's about as close to 'matching' as I'm going to get.  When I bring my kit to another's table, it's a crap shoot on matching, and the same goes for people using my kit.  This is however what I'm trying to avoid...



As much as I liked their paintjobs, I decided to strip them and rebase them with the Happy Seppeku stamps I bought to do urban terrain.  So not it's a mix of street, street with grating and sidewalks.  I have some brick walkway in there as well.  They wont match every part of the table, but I think I'll be satisfied with the result.