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I feel like the sheer number of base sizes available from GW (just look at this article) is getting out of hand. 25mm, 28mm, 32mm... Surely we can eliminate one of those? 40mm, 50mm, 60mm, 70mm, 80mm, 90mm, 100mm... Come on now, can't a Redemptor Dreadnought (90mm) fit on an 80mm base? Surely it won't look too small on a 100mm?

This may not seem much of a problem to most players since all models come supplied with the appropriate bases, but as someone who's started building an army with fancy bases (the ones you have to buy separately), I'm starting to notice the issue. Not all fancy bases are available in the size you need, and when they do, they're part of a full set that forces you to pay for a bunch of bases of a size you don't need.

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I don't disagree with you at all, it does seem a bit crazy. I'm not even sure why GW have gone down this route, seems to be just because they can.

I guess it doesn't matter too much, unless you're playing in a tournament that is strict about this sort of thing. I try to avoid it where I can. For example my Necromunda Orlock Arms Master officially is supposed to be on a 32mm base, even though all the other Orlocks are on 25mm. I just stuck him on a 25mm base, didn't see the point of deviating from that.

It used to be everything was on 25s, amd a lot of legacy models still are. But scale creep has worked it’s magic over the years. And some of those old guys were crowding their bases before the creep.

I do think a little restraint would be nice. Like pick a handful of sizes and stick with them. But that would require a lot of reboxing at this point, so is unlikely to happen.

I like that they have options. Its not nice for someone wanting themed bases, but are there really that many armies that use _all_ of these base sizes?

 tauist wrote:
I like that they have options. Its not nice for someone wanting themed bases, but are there really that many armies that use _all_ of these base sizes?

Tell me about it, the long base for Skitarii Rangers Arquebus is a pain to find... that fits with the 25, 32, 50, 100, and 170mm bases that I need for my AdMech Knights.

El Torro wrote:
I'm not even sure why GW have gone down this route, seems to be just because they can.

It's partly 'because they can' and partly because GW's focus is on making pretty looking miniatures first, and a game second.

When you're designing for a game, at least one where the size of the base matters, making sure that a model fits onto an appropriate sized base for the unit type it is intended to represent is an important consideration when designing a model.

When you're designing pretty miniatures, the sculptor has more freedom to just make the model look how they want, and then you slap on whatever sized base best fits the end result... assuming you have the ability to make said base.

Until relatively recently GW, like most other manufacturers out there, was constrained by the fact that manufacturing budgets were generally better spent on producing more models rather than expanding their base range, and so they designed their models to fit their range of bases, even though that sometimes meant limiting models to a certain size, or a certain type of pose. But these days, they have the range and apparently the resources to allow them to just whip up a new base when they want it, and their focus on designing for aesthetics rather than game role means they frequently want it.

I think having Old World models on 25mm squares by default and putting 40k models on 28 and 32mm bases lets them look far less cramped on the base, allowing for the bases to be a little more styled on their own.

Some of it is just frustrating though... the release of Legions Imperialis meant any Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis bases need to be replaced, and then immediately they were hard to get hold of.

Seems like a good application for 3d printing

Yeah, I certainly feel like the issue has been overcorrected.

I can see the reasoning behind some of the increases. Space Marine upscale and Necorns wide stance coming off the bases made sense for the upgrade to 32mm to keep them centered and nice.

However, all the smaller models like Kroot and Guardians going from 25mm to 28mm, that extra 3mm just seems so small it's barely noticeable, but you better believe someone is going to call you out on it for using the old bases, so you've got to spend stupid amounts of your hobby time altering or rebasing large sections of your army. :(

To be fair, outside a tournament nobody is much going to care if you are on the wrong base.

And even at small local tournaments they still might not care. I ran old terminators on 25s for decades after they were updated, never got a complaint. And the base size hurt me as often as it helped.

YMMV.

I bought my possessed with 25mm bases, then they got updated to 32 mm and when I finally finished the squad the official size was 40mm.
There were (are?) GW miniatures with different base size depending on their weapon loadout (Lord of Virulence). I care as much about consistent and official base sizes as GW: not at all.

Another reason to keep using and painting my old 40K models. I makes them easier to store in travel cases as well.

Cheers,

CB