Looking for basing ideas for Genestealer Cult

[puyzen 2467xp 2]

hey beasts, looking for some ideas and advice.

I recently got showered with hobby GW gifts; Deathwatch Overkill, Lost Patrol and an old version of Space Hulk (with unpainted minis). These are all great board games in their own right and I look forward to playing them.

And then I realised that this means that I now have quite a sizeable Genestealer Cult Army for use in 40K!

So here is the thing; I was originally going to base them up to match the board game they came with but now I am thinking of basing them in a way that they can fit both their board games and together in 40K.

So how to do that?

Green and grass would work for the jungles of Lost Patrol. Space station floors and pipes would work for Deathwatch and Space Hulk but not Lost Patrol. The traditional sand and dry brush would work for 40K but not really for the board games.

I thought about simply just painting them black. Or go the opposite and do clear bases.

What do you guys think

[georgesealy 2670xp 3]

Clear bases could be a really good choice. I’ve been intrigued with the idea of them for a while and to use them on the tabletop and for board games it makes a lot of sense. Here’s a good article that may convince you 🙂

http://www.wwpd.net/2017/09/bolt-action-clear-choice-for-basing.html

[subedaiParticipant 2719xp 2]

Personally I don’t like black bases other than for display miniatures because I feel they don’t fit in with any terrain (other than Star Wars Imperial spaceship interiors).

Out of similar considerations I started using clear bases for my Conan miniatures and my Infinity collection and am happy with the result. Once I get around to painting Space Marines and Tyranids for Advanced Space Crusade, they will get the same treatment.

If going down the painting route, I think something lightly textured in a dark brown might work best, e.g. Stirland Mud.

[davehawes 7768xp 1]

I have to say in this case, and to be honest, in a lot of cases, I think clear bases really are the solution. It’s a great pity, as I love the art you see in creative basing, but clear bases really do tend to make a miniature sit into whatever environment they are in.

[maledrakhParticipant 11996xp 2]

I use black flock for this kind of conundrum. It lets me not have to worry about filling any gaps or unevenness in the base, and I don’t have to faff about cutting integral bases off the models, or be overly careful gluing the minis to the base  as I would have to do with clear bases. The flock does look dark brown in the pics but IRL it’s mostly black.

 

space hulk

dreadball

 

the others 7 sins

[teddymademedoitParticipant 5159xp 1]

@mandrakh they do look great

 

I do think clear bases are the way to go, in a similar conundrum at the moment having picked up Legion. Forest moon of endor bases for rebel bases that don’t fit the desert maps or vice versa so going for clear bases there so everything matches up

[horati0nosebl0wer 19649xp 1]

Look at the many resin base manufacturers that offer tech plating for the Underhive or ship internal style of gameplay. If you want to check that out and go with something more akin to the infested look of a xeno takeover there are those styles of bases too. If you’re doing the whole lot in a go and can’t fork out for all the resin then Greenstuffworld has styled rolling pins that can be used over putty covered bases.

[puyzen 2467xp 0]

Thanks a lot for the ideas and suggestions everyone! Loving it 🙂 I decided to try out the clear bases and ordered a bunch from Greenstuff World (took ages to arrive since I cheaped-out on the shipping). This is a first for me since I normally love going all-out on the bases.

@georgesealy thanks for the link. really cool suggestions…

@maledrakh those are some sweet looking bases (and some really cool models). I was really tempted by that idea since it would offset nicely against the brightly coloured genestealers. Definitely one to try out on a project some time!

@teddymademedoit I only just realised I have the same conundrum with Legion after having glued the models to the bases…

[puyzen 2467xp 0]

So I thought about what to do with the shiny edges as mentioned in the article that George Sealy posted.

The one to the right is the untouched base.

The one is the middle got (a bit too thick) a coat of matt varnish on the sides.

The one to the left simply just has a black edge.

What do you guys think? I am tempted to go with the one in the middle – maybe try out one with a thinner coat of varnish this time…

[georgesealy 2670xp 0]

Both the black and matte varnish look good, at least from this angle. For me, I prefer the black edge, as it seems to stand out less than the “white” edge on the matte varnish version. It makes me wonder what a matte varnish version with a drop or two of black in it would look like…

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