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It's a design thing, and that line about them pretending they were always that way is complete bs.

Col. Dash wrote:
GW has repeatedly said over the years, base the models on the base they come with so option 2 is obviously not it, no matter how little we think of GWs marketing morals.

This 'rule' has been one of those Chinese-whisper effects where people keep parroting their own interpretation of something until everyone else thinks it's true. GW have never given any concrete rules on bases sizes, all they've ever done is provide guidance:

From 5E:
"As mounting your models on different-sized bases might affect the way they interact with the rules, make sure before the game that your opponent does not mind this"

From 6E and 7E:
"The rules in this book assume that models are mounted on the base they are supplied with....
...you should always feel free to mount the model on a base of appropriate size if you wish, using models of a similar type as guidance."

GW have deliberately avoided forcing any restrictions because they know well enough that some frothing grognard will come along and abuse them, rules-lawyering opponents into not being able to use parts of their collection for a game. Over the years there have been so many GW miniatures in so many different shapes that expecting any solid rules over base sizes is at best wildly impractical, if not impossible. That's why it's better to have common sense guidance and a civil discussion with your opponent rather than a bunch of cumbersome rules that really only serve to placate or restrict WAAC-type players.

Rule of cool #1, folks.

Who even cares. Its just a base. Use whatever you like. GW ain't making you rebase YOUR models. That is a choice you make.

Marines, necrons and orks are who 32mm bases work well with. Anyone else not so much

SGTPozy wrote:
To make it more like fantasy where bigger guys go on bigger bases.

Black Ark Corsairs do not fit well on 20mm squares.

I don't know why GW did it, but I do know that it annoys me that my "old" Blood Angels are on 25mm bases, while "new" Blood Angels will be on 32mm. It will be a lot like when the Terminators went from the 25mm bases to the 40mm base. I left all my Dark Angels Deathwing on the 25mm bases, until I got DQ'd from a tournament for "Not using models on the appropriate sized base.". In other words, I was accused of modeling for advantage despite the fact that the Terminators where obviously the old metal ones. I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing that in general in 40K?

Hobby-wise, yeah, it gives me more space to do stuff with the base. The vast bulk of armies I've seen just have some sand and rocks on the base and call it based. The true hobbyist has been changing out the base size for years to make an awesome display. The people that just want to play won't care.

Play-wise- yeah, there is a difference between the base sizes. The models take up a bigger foot print in space, so movement changes a bit, spacing changes a bit, melee combat changes a bit, etc. etc. Minor effects? /shrug 7mm is just a little over a quarter inch. Is this significant? Will it affect game play? Well, it's hard to dismiss it out of hand, because in a game of inches, a 1/4 inch should and does matter.

Money-wise- it's very convenient that GW sells a pack of ten 32mm bases for $5, and it'll be a while before the other companies out there start making 32mm bases, so for right now, GW seems to have the corner on that market. Combine that fact with the idea that some people will, indeed, rip the 25mm bases off all their models and switch to 32mm and you can see GW making a bit of a profit off them.

My future armies of course will be on 32mm bases. Just annoys me a bit that all my old armies will be on 25mm bases.

In the grand scheme of things, meh, whatever. Just a game of little toy soldiers.