This came up last night. Is painting your ship bases a legal option under current tournament rules. The rules allow weighting the bases and states that modifications to the base cannot affect size or shape. Technically, bases painted on the outside have altered the size.

So, is painting the bases a legal option per current tournament rules?

People used painted bases at Worlds without incident. At the least, FFG's TOs seem to feel that its OK.

Unless you are using seriously thick paint, the change in the base size can only be measured in microns. I really doubt anyone would try and challenge it.

21 minutes ago, Parravon said:

Unless you are using seriously thick paint, the change in the base size can only be measured in microns. I really doubt anyone would try and challenge it.

True, but the phrase "rules lawyer" exists for a reason.

If I remember correctly, one of the guys had his squad, bases and all, painted in black and yellow because he was from Pittsburgh.

8 minutes ago, Stoneface said:

True, but the phrase "rules lawyer" exists for a reason.

If I remember correctly, one of the guys had his squad, bases and all, painted in black and yellow because he was from Pittsburgh.

As a TO I would gently slap such a rules lawyer at the back of his head and tell him to stop being an a$$

7 hours ago, Stoneface said:

True, but the phrase "rules lawyer" exists for a reason.

True, but a rules lawyer in this case has not authority so they can raise a stink but they can't actually do anything, and I can't imagine there's a judge out there that would DQ someone over a painted base.

I'm not a physics person, but then wouldn't a base at a match played in a warm environment be slightly bigger than a match played in a very cold environment... like, if we're talking microns here? Or what about sea level or up a high mountain? Really, if they want to rules lawyer over paint, it's more their overall noobishness as a rules lawyer that's showing through from not looking at all the variables...

This discussion on bases, along with range rulers, began when someone discovered that a range ruler from the original core set was printed out of register. The range markings on one side didn't match up with the opposite side. If you needed Range 1 you used one side, Range 2 you used the other side.

Fuel was added when someone only read or remembered the "bases may not be modified" from the Tournament Rules and not the complete sentence. The situation is compounded when new players are taught the game without having read the rules.

3 hours ago, Stoneface said:

This discussion on bases, along with range rulers, began when someone discovered that a range ruler from the original core set was printed out of register. The range markings on one side didn't match up with the opposite side. If you needed Range 1 you used one side, Range 2 you used the other side.

Fuel was added when someone only read or remembered the "bases may not be modified" from the Tournament Rules and not the complete sentence. The situation is compounded when new players are taught the game without having read the rules.

Which, granted, isn't that surprising given how many questions in the Rules subforum often have their answers in the Rules Reference Guide.

Just paint the insides of the bases?

1 hour ago, Sephlar said:

Just paint the insides of the bases?

The insides as in the top and bottom leaving the edges in their natural state.

15 hours ago, StevenO said:

The insides as in the top and bottom leaving the edges in their natural state.

Sorry... I meant the entire underside (bottom).

Production itself will lead to bases of different sizes. That's what is called tolerance.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, small errors occur also with the cardboard pieces. For example, my Ryad's ship token is cut in a way that the firing arc is smaller than usual (it does not hit the edges but it's inside)

When it comes to aligning templates and bases, or knocking ships, the "perfection" of the game is gone.

Compared to these effects, the paint on the base is really nothing,even if painted on the outside (let it be 200 microns, that's 0.5% increase for a small ship... srsly)