Bases aren't the most "sexy" aspect of our hobby, but an integral part of it. Ultimately, good bases can make or break the look of your figures, so I thought I would post this little review. Basing is also important as part of your storage regime, experience has taught me this the hard way. When I built my Late Roman army from Foundry I used Games Workshop slotta bases, with magnetic tape underneath. Sadly the magnetic tape was never a great fit and several years later, when I open the box file containing them I found a mangled mess of chipped figures missing their spears and shields. Another refurbishment project awaits!
My opinion on basing has shifted somewhat with time, as a WAB player I tended towards single figure bases, but transport and storage ease has convinced me that actually, element basing is the way forward. This doesn't mean that your figures have to conform to Field of Glory or DBx standards, but putting a rank of three Romans on one base makes it easier to unpack, pack and store your troops, I just find they fall over less.
In the past I bought my wooden bases from Litko for 28mm and Essex plastic bases for my 15mm stuff. The Litko bases are top quality, and the fact that you could buy the corresponding magnetic bases with them made life very easy, but it did involve ordering from the States, which meant a duty to be paid on arrival, and skewed the value somewhat. The Essex miniatures bases were okay, very light weight, not too expensive, but I am keen on wood for bases. I find the little extra weight makes them a little more stable, definitely a consideration when basing 28mm figures who can sometimes be a little top heavy.
In the midst of my blog trawling I came upon the name Warbases on the Napoleonics in Miniature blog and was keen to try them out, so last Saturday (the 19th) I ordered a few packs of 60mm frontage premium bases. They arrived on Wednesday (the 24th), which I rate as an excellent turn around time, given that Triples was the previous weekend. They arrived neatly packaged and I was thrilled with the bases, beautiful finish and cleanly cut edges, which sadly the Essex plastic bases sometimes lack. Also, the pricing is reasonable, I bought the premium bases which are laser cut, and I suspect I will be buying more to come. I immediately thought of using these for my Fire & Fury ACW so I fired off an e-mail to the proprietors asking about Imperial bases and custom sizes, about an hour later, on a Wednesday night, I got a response: yes, just give us the sizes and quantities, and we will price them up for you. Customer service, tick. The fact that they are a UK based company helps in terms of delivery and also just talking to them if I need to. So I am giving them the "Zen Seal of Approval", and I really think you should try them out.
Pictures are pretty pointless, but here is a comparison with an Essex Miniatures base for those who care, notice the Warbases base on the left is a thinner, cleaner cut than its plastic counterpart:
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