One of the more daunting aspects of Flames of War is the basing. Lets take a look at how to make basing a breeze!
When you get your first company box you open it up to find an hundred or more figures and these flat grey bases you’re going to end up adding life to. Well never fear brave Generals! Battlefront has a product that is straight out of the realm of greatness.
That’s right, I’m talking about Battlefront’s “PlasticBases—Rubble.” These are quite possibly the nicest scenic bases on the market, and I don’t make this comment lightly. First there are 12 small bases and 16 medium bases and all of them are unique, which is the best thing about these bases. Next they come with an assortment of plugs that fit into unused base slots for even greater variety. Finally assembly is a breeze.
Here they are are some ready for Primer others just glued in.
Assembly on these is pretty basic, but I will warn you that older platoons require a small amount of trimming of the metal base on the figure. When these were released Battlefront wrote an assembly article for them. They suggested three different methods of gap filling but missed the obvious way to fill the gaps and that is by using Vallejo Coarse Pumice, which is my basing material of choice. Coarse Pumice is probably the easiest way to fill the gaps because you get the benefit of the texture with its ability to blend with the surrounding detail.
These bases are easy to paint. A few layers of dry brushed paint, pick out the bricks and rafters, and voila great looking figures. The other nice thing is if you stick with the colors you used on other figures in your army then these models will seamlessly integrate into the forces you already have. My forces are painted for Market Garden and I went with red bricks that are seen in Nuenen in episode 4 of “Band of Brothers.”
The front two from the previous picture all finished.
I am aware that this product is competing with the platoon price point however the time savings and the great looking bases are well worth it. For large base count armies these would make great bases for pioneer platoons or mixing them in to highlight certain special stands within larger platoons. For Fearless Veteran forces these are perfect for the entire army. I plan on using them for my Fallschirmjägers.
On the left the new plastic bases on the right a plain base using just Vallejo Coarse Pumice.
Overall I say these are a great buy. They are one of the better value added product offerings from Battlefront. I really like the character they add to a force, their simplicity of use, and how good they look when painted up. For any army they can really add that extra visual punch you might be looking for.
Have any of you used these bases? Tell us about how you have or will use them.
