There are some things about this hobby that I deeply enjoy; the camaraderie of hanging out with like-minded people, the research into historical events, building terrain or unusual models, the challenge of figuring out an effective strategy given one's troops and the terrain, even running campaigns to link together the battles and place them in context. Then there are things about the hobby that give me no joy; painting minis, the endless task of repairing battle-damage to my miniature forces, and the "herding cats" aspect of getting folks organized for game-day. Finally there are things that I absolutely despise, well actually, there is ONE thing that I actively HATE doing; re-basing miniatures. To me the act of putting that final coat of matte varnish on a completes stand of minis is an almost sacred event. These troops are now ready for action, my labors are over and it is time to start the fun part of the hobby. Pulling minis off of bases just because some rules-writer was too egotistical to respect existing conventions is an utter anathema to me, I have avoided rules that would force me to do so, even stopped playing periods to avoid it. Only once in all my five decades of gaming have I re-based an entire force, that occasion came about when I encountered a truly brilliant set of rules in one of my favorite periods that had long gone unplayed due to horrible old rules (the switch from WRG pike & shot to Tercio a few years back).
In light of that what you see below is a rarity of the highest order, I have just finished rebasing my Dark Ages heavy cavalry. These minis entered my collection in 1978, they are from the ancient Heritage Minis "Lord of the Rings" range Riders of Rohan. For some unfathomable reason I based them individually at that time and have struggled on for decades with the fiddly nature of loose figures. Recently The Housemartin and I have been playing the almost-as-old WRG Ancients 6th edition rules which has called these doughty warriors into service several times and the task of handling the individually mounted minis has been such a bother that I took the drastic step of placing them onto proper bases. I also took the added ordeal of freshening up the paint work (which they badly needed after nearly a half-century of service). Overall I am pleased with the results, am I likely to do this with other older figures? Most likely not.
My standard observation is "Rebasing is the work of the Devil!"
ReplyDeleteIt is still occasionally unavoidable, as much as I try, and I try pretty hard!
I absolutely agree. It seems like the latest flavor-of-the-month set of rules always insists on some new base dimensions. I always try my best to work around rebasing miniatures.
ReplyDelete