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Hi all,

I'm thinking of grabbing some of GW's sector mechanicus bases for a genestealer cults army, but to keep with the whole mining theme, I was thinking of slapping some blobs of astrogranite on top, to look like rubble.
(I'll also be adding some valhallan blizzard, because a desolate mining hive wasn't grim enough and needed to be freezing cold too)

Will this look terrible?
Is there a resonably-priced and yet also far better alternative that I'm too dumb to know about?
Once again, I implore you, enlighten me, Dakka!

It'll look great.
Sand and pva is way cheaper than GW's texture paints.
I wouldn't use Valhallan Blizzard though. There are lots of great snow base techniques that are better. I quite like Army Painter's snow flock.

^
Yep, PVA glue and a couple of different gradiants of sand/very small rocks will do you just fine.

My Deathwatch bases are flagstones from Secret Weapon, so, using the above method, I sometimes add a little bit of rubble at the edges to make them a touch more interesting.

The "sand" you're looking for is most easily and reliably gathered by picking up Woodland Scenics "ballast" in 2-3 different sizes. It's more consistent, and you don't want to use actual sand because it's really too small to even show up when painted.

Ballast is maybe $10 for a bag which'll last a whole army and then some.