Warhammer 40K: Correct Basing is a Disaster in 10th Edition
Goatboy here with something that really bothers me right now – correct basing for your minis is a mess in 40K.
The whole lack of a true “basing” chart from GW is the main culprit. I say this as we just had a huge update to the Aeldari line and with that update all those pesky Aspect Warriors are on new, slightly larger bases. This might not seem like a big deal to some but with so many games defined by what you can see, what terrain blocks, and how many models can punch you – playing with the correct base size is very important.
Aeldari Are Gonna Be a (Basing) Problem
I saw the Aeldari Aspect base size change, and I feel that a lot of these armies you see on the tabletop will probably be older models. Each of the Aspect warriors got a glow up on the base size to the new annoyingly hard to get 28.5 MM size. The old 25 MM is now only for really small infantry while the bigger size is for those elite warriors on the tabletop that don’t feel as big as a Marine. I really wish that instead of the 28.5 we just went with elite infantry are 32 and baby infantry are 25. This is an annoying time as the codex came out, lots of Aeldari players are coming out of the woodwork, and we could argue those old too-small-based models ain’t right on the tabletop.
I think this all stems from me not liking Aeldari as an army for my entire existence as a 40k player but man it’s gonna be a pain to see old Fire Dragons rocking those tiny bases. Or the amount of times I have seen some “Wave Serpents” without their little extra bits on their hulls. Every time I see anyone try to utilize something smaller it just feels like someone trying to get something over on you with a very annoying technicality. You don’t want to seem like the a$$hole saying they can’t play with their old painted mono pose Aeldari model. Or that tiny based Daemon Prince we used to see from time to time.
Correct 40K Basing Does Matter – And It’s Easy
It’s why I want to bring this up as a method of – hey we notice you and called you out on “fixing” models to be correct. I don’t need you to buy the new models. I just want you to at least utilize the rules that we all agree on how things should be presented on the board. Plenty of places sell those base rings you can add to the older models to bring them up to size. This game is based on actual movement we mess up every day and having another level of “play” that isn’t too fair is annoying. Heck I really just want GW to really push on the whole base side of things and give us what size everything should be on for a competitive fight.
GW Needs 40K Base Standardization
Do you know Vulcan comes with a 25mm base that he should be on? Is that right for a true champion of the Imperium? Should we get a default set of base size that forgo models and just say things like – Heroes unless otherwise provided should be on X base size? Look at the new CSM Chaos Lord versus the old Chaos Lord? One is a 40mm and the other is a 32mm. Should we just always say Heroes = X? What if we based it on the army itself with the 4 Infantry sized bases and go from there? I think GW needs to step in with an official 40K basing PDF to define all this stuff.
This is always a hard game as we strive to get models available for the tabletop, hope they don’t get nerfed soon enough, and make sure are armies truly Battle Ready. I think we should just do a better job of making sure we have our armies models and sizes truly with the intent of making things fair, even, and right when we try to win our battles on the neoprene.
What do you think? Should we lock in base sizes? Should we have events push people to have everything properly based? Am I just being a big whiney base baby?
