I´ve found some white metal bases for warmachine at miniaturemarket, and I thought it might be cool to add these to DT minies. Them being plastic, that would give them more weight, and therefore more "presence" on the battleboard.

What do you think?

My post was published twice for some reason...

Sounds cool.

But they have to make that "BOOM!" sound when you place them on the battle map. And a dust cloud should kick up too.

Lotus said:

Mmmm...spraying some talc powders on the base or the mat oughta do the trick! XD

I've never noticed bases adding anything to the miniatures presence unless they were sculpted, which comes as easily with plastic as metal bases, costs less, and doesn't weigh as much.

More weight for a miniature simply makes it more heavy, and not more impressive.

Well, mr Gimp, it depends on how you look at it.

Usually, at least in my experience, DT infantry tend to fall when you move them around all together with haste, due to the lack of mass. Making them stand up when they reach their new square certainly don´t give them lot of presence, IMO.

Metal bases would fix this... by adding weight to the bottom of the figure, the chances of it falling go down drastically. Therefore the expression of "presence" added to them.

Could be argued that troopers in a squad can be moved one by one in order for them not to loose formation, but that´s certainly not the type of gameplay that comes by in the fray of battle.

I recon you don´t like the idea though, and that´s enough if a response, actually.

I have nothing inherently against metal bases, but I guess I've been playing with various kinds of miniatures (both metal and plastic) enough that I only worry about toppling miniatures that are off balance and topheavy, which I haven't found with my Dust figures to be much of a problem. I have also repainted all of my Dust miniatures, so I probably move them with less haste and more care than some players. 30+ years of gaming lets me move them fast, but carefully, for the most part.

I also prefer to add my own extras to a base, rather than pay the premium many companies charge for theirs. I've repainted my models, but haven't decided how I want to decorate their bases, so those are still the standard for now.

I'd worry for walkers with metal bases, because of the joints that aren't glued solid. Mobile figures can add cool flavor to a game, but a large metal base would increase the risk of pulling them apart, or damaging smaller pieces. For infantry, it would be a lot less of an issue.

If I wind up with figures that I don't like the balance on, I'd be more likely to keep the original bases, and add metal washers to the under side to give them stability. I have some 28mm British soldiers from the 1870's that came with horrible bases, and I've mounted all of them on 1" fender washers. You have to try to get them to tip over. They are more weight than needed, but they also give me a 1" base without the expense of commercial miniatures bases.

Your use of presence was rather odd, as it suggests more than you apparently meant, but that's not a big deal.

The idea of talc powder could actually be rather interesting, and could work with plastic bases, as well. Perhaps add several washers to add enough weight to stabilize your model, and put a thin cloth pad between the washers to hold more talc. Just don't lean in too close when you set the model down. Coughing and sneezing would ruin the effect.

Added metal to original plastic bases sounds like a perfect and cheaper way to get the same balancing effect, vey good idea.

Also, I agree on the fact that metal bases would damage Walkers, but I guess they don´t usually come in that big.

I´m sorry on the unclear use of "presence", thing is I´m not native english speaker, with it´s logicall consequences.

Cheers to you!

That's part of the fun of an international forum; working with people who are going to use different terms than I might expect.

Presence as you used it would suggest 'impressive' to most of us confusable yanks.

I checked a 1" fender washer, and it fits just to the edge of the black insert on the base of an infantry model, and doesn't add much height to the figure. It would even give an area to hold talc powder, if you wanted it.

Fender washers should be available at local hardware stores. They're thin, with a smaller hole in the middle than most washers compared to their overall size. A 1" fender washer has only a 1/4" hole in the center. I expect they would be available in equivalent metric sizes.

You could mount several around the inside of the center insert for a walker, giving extra stability without the weight of a full metal base, and without adding too much weight. Mounted inside the center insert would add less height, and you could get away with adding them only to one side if you have a model that tends to tip in one direction.

haha! the "BOOM!" talc powder efect is gaining adepts! XD

Well, the game IS calles "DUST" after all...

Yea it´s great the idea of fenders, I was thinking the same, that the metal weight could be added to that black plastic little thing with "dust" imprinted on it.

Well in my experience more weight to a mini simply makes it more susceptible to damage, either when knocked over or accidentally dropped. Heavy minis tend to break, either where they contact the base or the limbs if they are multi part models, plastics tend to nicely bounce and live on to fight another day!

I have found the existing dust minis to be surprisingly well balanced and with a little basing material added, never had a problem. after I have painted I tend to give them a good hard wearing coat of gloss varnish then a spray over with a finishing coat of matt varnish, this gives them a robust finish that easily stands up to the knocks and bumps of your average miniature lifespan (even more so with plastics), even to the point where I am happy to scoop them up as one and place them on their new spot like some gigantic god-like fairground grabber

In short I would say if it aint broke don't fix it, save your money and buy more troops!

bulldoguk said:

Great TIP!

I like the fact that my 18 tray carrying case is full of Dust miniatures and is still light enough to carry in one hand.

Metropolis Games said:

That´s a real good point, too!