Thick or thin?

[Calimero]

Having some time on my own, I found myself fiddling among the lead mountain assembling and painting some lose ends . I don’t know for others but for me it seem that the definition of a wargamer include an inability to stay focus on one project . Right now on my desk I have figures for the War of Spanish Succession, ACW, WWI, WWII, a few Pirates and a dozen of SWAT members and Police Officers…. Oh! and a mounted Napoleonic Officer almost finish but waiting for the base to be done !

Most of the up-cited figures are singly based and all are 28mm. Some are based on Litko 1.5mm, 20mm round plywood base, some are based on Canadian 5 cent and other on GW style round bases… Having a look thru this little piece of chaos I was wondering what kind of bases do others gamers prefer? Thick or thin? It seem now that the vibe is on skirmish style games like .45, LotHS, LotW and so on. Personally I prefer the thinner bases but I know that some people prefer GW style bases or event thicker ones ( no pun intended… ) So, I decide to make a post of this rumbling and asked you how do you prefer your figures to be based on? And why is that so?

[Rhoderic]

I use variable base thickness as a way of regulating the height of my miniatures as needed. It makes mixing miniatures of different sizes somewhat easier (while I'd like all my figures to be 28mm, there's no helping the fact that some are 25mm and others 30mm).

The variation in base thickness doesn't bother me a bit. It used to, then I got over it.

[Bookman1960]

I have based everything I've been colelcting on washers of various diameters.  I purchase them from local hardware store for a very cheap price.

I like the way the figures look on washers, as they sir much closer to the terrain.

Now if I could just resign myself to a basing effect that I was happy with...

KB

[Captain Blood]

Washers 

Here's last week's debate on the same topic... 

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=7368.msg81932#msg81932

[Calimero]

Washers 

Here's last week's debate on the same topic... 

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=7368.msg81932#msg81932

I have read this post but I’m talking specifically about the height of the bases peoples use. What would you consider being too high? I think that thinner base blend in the figure more effectively on the table but I know some others like to have higher base to be able to grab them without touching the figures…

[Captain Blood]

I think the thickness of the base is pretty undiscernable between a washer, a coin or a bit of mdf.

Clearly, the different approach is the slotta, and it seems to me that people either love or hate slottas, depending on whether they've entered the hobby via GW or not via GW. People who started out on space marines or goblins often carry on with slottas when they branch out into non-GW genres. People who start out in Napoleonics, ancients, or other 'historical' wargaming genres almost certainly wouldn't start using slottas when moving into single figures for more lead adventure style gaming...

A base which gives the figure a bit of weight, sits flat on the table, and blends in with the surrounding scenery, seems to me to be immeasurably better in asthetic terms, than a shiny, lightweight plastic plinth which raises the figure up and out of its setting.

But plenty of people who grew up with slottas are addicted, and therefore blind to these obvious defects.   

[Gluteus Maximus]

Washers 

Here's last week's debate on the same topic... 

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=7368.msg81932#msg81932

I have read this post but I’m talking specifically about the height of the bases peoples use. What would you consider being too high? I think that thinner base blend in the figure more effectively on the table but I know some others like to have higher base to be able to grab them without touching the figures…

I prefer bases that are slightly thicker than steel sheet, but not as thick as slottas. Pennies, precut MDF bases and beer mats are about right. Just enough so you can easily use them to pick the figure up, but not thick enough to look like a statue's plinth. I never, repeat never, paint the edge of the base a different colour to the base itself [as per GW standing orders], as this cuts the figure off from the underlying terrain and looks too artificial. In my opinion, of course. Others love this style of basing, so fair enough. 

[Argonor]

A base which gives the figure a bit of weight, sits flat on the table, and blends in with the surrounding scenery, seems to me to be immeasurably better in asthetic terms, than a shiny, lightweight plastic plinth which raises the figure up and out of its setting.

But plenty of people who grew up with slottas are addicted, and therefore blind to these obvious defects.   

 

As I wrote in the aforementioned thread I'm going for the mixed base option - having received a pack of 10 perfect British 25mm washers from the Cap'n - I'm still going to use slottas for minis made for those (I do not care for removing pins and glueing minis to bases, only touching with their footsoles)...

I think flatter looks better, though!

[Malamute]

Steel washers, pennies, thin MDF, plasticard, thin over thick any day.

[keeper]

I'll happily use either, but I like to keep a whole "force", army, gang, whatever in the same style, or it just looks a bit too weird for me.

[oxiana]

Coins and washers for me - nice and consistent, nice low profile on the table.

[Pil]

Slotted bases for me. Of course I use these for my warhammer armies, but I carried it on through my other games as well (though all those figures originally came with slotted bases as well. I hate mixing different bases so I don't think I'll ever change. Also, the bases make the figures I use look a bit taller and fit better with 1:43 vehicles.

[cwchmc]

I use slottas or washers depending on how the fig is made. Sometimes I use a US penny if I want something smaller than my standard 1" washer. I happily mix the two just as I mix different manufacturers. Its never bothered me.

Chuck

[Plynkes]

I used to be a big slotta fan, being brought up on Rogue Trader, and I carried on using them when I switched to historicals. But then came a time when I was having difficulty fitting figures into boats and such, so I started using 1p pieces.

I like the look of both, and circumstances mean that I have the two mixed up in some of my units, but I don't mind that. If you look carefully at the Masai I posted pics of this week, you will see four of them are on slottas. They are older figures and were the last four slotta-based figures I did (other than ones that come with a slotta, I really can't be bothered with cutting off the tab to glue a figure to a penny when it already comes with its own base).

The thing I don't like doing is mixing my WAB/LOTR-style figures with their black rims with figures on pennies. I paint the slottas to blend in with everything else, and you don't even really notice that they are on slottas when you do that.

[dodge]

Slottas, washers don't really care if its not got a slotta it gets put on a washer if it has then I leave it alone. 

Dodge