To speed up the process we used precut MDF bases from Warchest Creations. They have a nice leader point notch which is helpful in Kings of War. They also have the option to include magnets which are easy to use as all you have to do is push the magnets into the holes. I didn’t add an glue to the magnets as the tops of the magnets would get glue when I added the wood to the top of the base. I also made sure all the magnets polarity were oriented in the same direction to make stacking them a little easier.
For adding the wooden texture I used a LOT of 1/16” x 1/2” x 36” strips of balsa wood. Prior to mounting the boards on the base I used an hobby knife and a wire brush to “carve” a wood grain pattern into the surface. I found adding the texture to the full 36” length of each prior to cutting them down was more efficient. The texture really gave the boards a worn out look and made them much easier to dry brush when it was time for paint. I ran the boards horizontally so that all the bases would blend in with flooring, shelves and tabletop. I glued the first board centered on the base so that all the bases would be symmetrical. This would also make it easier to sink the basing into the display board and match it up with surrounding wood surface if we chose to integrate the basing into the display board. We chose not to do it given it would have made the display board a lot less flexible in terms of where units could have been placed. I staggered the boards in a haphazard pattern to give the impression of a wood floor. I used wood glue to adhere the boards and held them in place for drying with some dollar store cloths pins. One trick I learned over time was that it was easier to have the boards overhang the base slightly and once the glue was dry I cut them to final length with a hobby knife to the underside using the base as a cutting guide. It gave a clean look to the bases.
There were a couple of bases that were a bit different than the rest. First was the Succubi base which had a book lecturn built into the top of the base. The other was the Mind Sreech base. The vertical scroll was mounted to a piece of sintra (plastic board) that tabbed into the base. I added extra wooden detail and a few extra rolled up scrolls to add weight to support the heavy weight of the model.
Given the scale of this project I bought and used all the available 1/2” wide balsa strips from our local hobby shop. I unsuccessfully tried to use 1/2” bass wood but it was very difficult to carve in as it’s much harder than balsa. So I ended up using 1/16” x 1” strips. To make them work I started by adding a line down the middle to make it look as if it was two separate 1/2” boards. I then textured the boards with wire brushes as I did previously.
For painting I sprayed all the bases with Earth Brown camouflage paint. I then touched up any spots missed with Raw Umber acrylic paint before dry brushing them very lightly with Raw Sienna. Less is more when it came to painting the bases. One other note is that we did include a full set of blank bases to use in our game that were fully textured and painted. It was a small detail that really helped to sell our theme.
