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I've never been one for basing, but the tournament im entered in gives soft scores on modeling and basing so I'm going to have a go at it

http://imgur.com/oQq45Wy

This is my first attempt at grass and sand. I have no idea what I'm doing so i was just winging it here. any help, tips or tricks would be most appreciated.

I would add some colour: 2 shades of sand instead of one, applied seperately. Either that, or add some larger pieces (medium turf with fine turf, or the like) to break up the uniform colour. Also (and this may be just me) I think the black base with black basing is kind of monotone. I would paint the base itself grey, with black sand. Some water effects would be really cool, but that might be more than what you want to go for.
Tip: the easiest base to do is snow: paint the top of the base white, mix snow flock with white glue and a little bit of white paint, then scoup it on (the thicker it is, the less it runs). After that, sprinkle a bit more snow over top and vola: instant snow drifts. The best part is you can do it after gluing the model to the base, so they are wading through it all.

Well i was going for a "dead desert" look so dead grass and black sand. Someone suggested i should drybrush the sand with a dark grey to give some contrast.I'm using supplies I bought from a model train store behind my house because the supplies are inexpensive and come in bulk quantities.

The tufts of aligned tall grass is a great start to a nice base. Add a few little rocks too. I'm assuming you're going for the ash-waste kinda basing. Adding some grey and having the grass "still growing behind rocks/debris" adds a lot of character to the base, with only just a spot of glue.

First tip: Post images directly in threads. Generates a lot more responses (and faster) than links. May require hosting them in the Dakka gallery, though, as some sites don't take kindly to hot-linking from forums.

As for the base, it's very clean, which is good. Sometimes, extending the basing over the lip can be a characterful effect, but globs of sand and splotches of paint all over the rim usually just scream "lazy," destroying any efforts put into the top.

It is, however, a bit flat and bland. Your layer of sand is so even that it looks unnatural - with the black coloration, it could very easily be mistaken for an attempt (and a reasonably good one) at coarse asphalt, in which case grass poking out of the otherwise pristine surface makes little sense. Small height variations (just smush the stuff around a little, while the glue is still wet - may take two layers, with very fine grit, to have enough depth to introduce variation) will give a far more natural effect. For sand, a consistent texture makes sense, so surface undulations are needed to give it character.

For soil, varying the grit a little works just as well. Small additions of larger grains - coarser sand, fine gravel, cork chips, kitty litter, etc. - to your grit mix will do wonders, in terms of naturalism. It's pretty rare to find perfectly flat, level ground without at least a few small rocks or dirt clods breaking up the surface. Even if it's not impossible, it is a bit boring, visually.

You can really go nuts with your basing, putting as much effort into it as the model it supports, but that's neither common nor necessarily advisable. From where you are, now, a touch more variation is all that's really needed to get you into a comfortable position. Luckily, it won't take much more effort per base (depending on how you go about it, of course) to get it. That said, it's always worth considering the terrain you want to represent, first. For the sake of fluff, sometimes very flat and simple basing is the obvious choice. It won't have the same impact (or score as many points with the judges, most likely), but any basing is better than none and it's your army to treat as you will.

[edit:] Multiple ninjas, basing theme unveiled. I would focus, then, on slight surface variation and color. A simple pass or two of drybrushing will, as that person suggested, up the contrast and let the texture really stand out. For surface variation, think about the terrain a bit more - what exactly do you want? Ash fallen over normal ground? Black sand desert (amidst dunes? mesas?)? That will tell you whether to add rocks, ripples, etc.

Sorry about using another link but the only camera i have is on my phone. I tried the drybrushing technique on another test base.

http://imgur.com/O2nWf2S

The texture is definitely coming through more clearly and the slight mottling adds a nice touch of color variation. Since these are tests, try making another pass on a section of the base, this time with a lighter grey and a very dry brush - you want to just barely catch the highest, sharpest edges. It's an exaggerated effect, but really makes the texture pop.

You may even want to try it on some pure black sand, without the heavier coverage of the dark grey midtone - it should give a sense of darker, more reflective material (coarse, black sand) instead of shifting everything from black to grey (dark gravel or volcanic clinkers). The coverage of your drybrushing pass(es) has as much to do with the perceived effect as the shade used. A black wash at the end can also help dial the colors back down if you ever think you've gone too far. Just something you may want to play around with.