Basius 2

Recently I received my basing pads from the Basius 2 Kickstarter. Let’s have a look at my first attempts with them!

Basius 2 are double sided basing pads from Wargames Bakery. Each pad has a theme (Dungeon, Urban, Steampunk,…) and one of the sides features that theme in a clean and/or slightly damaged fashion while the other side has it heavily damaged or busier with extra elements.

Being a Kickstarter, it’s no surprise it was late. And in this case it was just 6 months late. Luckily for me, my main reason to invest in this Kickstarter was to base my Dwarven army for Warhammer. And part of it were the also terribly late Dwarf Doomcrushers from Avatars of War.

I believe the pads are now available for general sale, and if not they should be soonish. If you check their webpage it’s outdated, talking a May 2015 release date.

But what about the pads themselves? The Basius 2 Basing Pads are nicely detailed and well cast. They’re of a decent enough size to fit multiple regular bases, or even movement trays if you want to multibase your Kings of War troops, as I plan to do with my dwarves now.

This picture shows a Basius 2 pad with different bases sizes for reference. On the top left, you can see one of the big 40k flyer bases (this one from a Nephilim Jetfighter) and on the right side a smaller oval base for the Khorgorath from the Age of Sigmar starter set. On the bottom there’s an assortment of regular infantry bases. From left to right, 25mm, round lip 30mm, 32mm and 40mm.

You can see on the header image my first attempts using it. You should wet the pad with water before stamping, to avoid the material sticking to the pad.

I first used green stuff, stamping the bases right after mixing it. It worked mostly fine, but I had a little trouble removing the green stuff from the pad. As it couldn’t be any other way, the most troublesome pad was the Norse pad. The one used for the square base and the one I was most interested in. It required quite a few attempts to get a decent impression that didn’t stick to the pad.

The next day, once the green stuff hardened I added some Vallejo texture to hide my mistakes and help it better blend with the plastic bases. I’m not terribly happy (nor terribly disappointed) with the results. But they’re my first tries and all the fault lies with my inexperience and not the pads themselves.

For my second try, I used Milliput. Not because I didn’t think green stuff works, but because I wanted to try a cheaper material for the Kings of War multibases. And before trying it with the big base, a sure recipe for disaster, I went with a smaller base to get used to the material.

This time, after mixing the Milliput and applying it to the base, I let it cure for 45 minutes or so before stamping and it worked way better. I’m happier with the results this time, and I believe that if I let the green stuff cure a little before stamping, the end result will be an improvement.

As it was the case with the Ultimate Paint Rack, the delay on the crowdfunding’s delivery has left a sour taste in my mouth. But even so, the quality of the final product is undeniable. If you find the pads interesting and you can find them, I definitely recommend that you give them a try.