Typically, any army I build will see an initial completion rate sufficient to game with, in a fairly short time.
Then, over even years, I'll add a unit or two, re-base a unit or two, add or subtract figures, thus requiring a re-basing. Etc.
My methods for basing are of 3-4 quite distinctive types - using different materials, flocks, tufts etc. They don't look the same. I, of course, like all the bases of an individual unit to have the same basing & this I do. But given the above, often a single army will have units with differing basing styles.
I tend to do this on purpose. It's a way of differentiating units; particularly those who have very similar/identical uniforms.
I'm curious, do you chaps strive to keep your bases identical across your entire army?
donald
Base ID
- Count Belisarius
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Re: Base ID
Mine are same for all armies in all scales... Apart from the one desert based one...
- goat major
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Re: Base ID
That's why you never need to rebase Andy
For me,
Across an army - yes
Across my collection - some years ago I settled on a western European style and a generic desert scrub style. Most of my forces are on one of these
For me,
Across an army - yes
Across my collection - some years ago I settled on a western European style and a generic desert scrub style. Most of my forces are on one of these
Re: Base ID
Mine vary from period to period. When I do actually base them. 
Re: Base ID
Same basing on them, trying to match my old terrain boards.
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If "The System" is the answer, who asked such a bloody stupid question?
Re: Base ID
I find identifying units (& their often individual stats) one of the challenges of wargaming.
Armies were you get a lot of units that look identical - French Napoleonic line infantry or Zulu impis etc - make it a challenge to have differences between units. It's often easier to make them all 'vanilla'.
So there are subtle differences in appearance eg shield patterns with Zulus or different flags with SYW infantry regiments, but *anything* you can do to make units different, is useful for me. Different base styles is one.
donald
BTW it also helps when you're sorting figures from storage into their coherent units.
Armies were you get a lot of units that look identical - French Napoleonic line infantry or Zulu impis etc - make it a challenge to have differences between units. It's often easier to make them all 'vanilla'.
So there are subtle differences in appearance eg shield patterns with Zulus or different flags with SYW infantry regiments, but *anything* you can do to make units different, is useful for me. Different base styles is one.
donald
BTW it also helps when you're sorting figures from storage into their coherent units.
Re: Base ID
Good points, Donald. The unit uniforms/clothing are enough to distinguish one unit from another in most of the forces, apart from my ACW stuff. With them I paint the bottom of the bases in the brigade's colour and write in the info'. Not as convenient, but it seems to work.
If "The System" is the answer, who asked such a bloody stupid question?
- BaronVonWreckedoften
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Re: Base ID
And when you're collecting up the remnants of your routed forces at the end of a game.....

Kein Plan überlebt den ersten Kontakt mit den Würfeln. (No plan survives the first contact with the dice.)
Baron Mannshed von Wreckedoften, First Sea Lord of the Bavarian Admiralty.
Baron Mannshed von Wreckedoften, First Sea Lord of the Bavarian Admiralty.
Re: Base ID
I didn't know you'd been watching my last game! You should have said something- as long as it wasn't "You don't want to roll a....".BaronVonWreckedoften wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2025 8:54 am
And when you're collecting up the remnants of your routed forces at the end of a game.....![]()
If "The System" is the answer, who asked such a bloody stupid question?
- BaronVonWreckedoften
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Re: Base ID
Having rolled more "....". than I care to remember, myself, I'd know better than to do that!
Kein Plan überlebt den ersten Kontakt mit den Würfeln. (No plan survives the first contact with the dice.)
Baron Mannshed von Wreckedoften, First Sea Lord of the Bavarian Admiralty.
Baron Mannshed von Wreckedoften, First Sea Lord of the Bavarian Admiralty.