Hi there guys,
Would appreciate your advice on this. I recently acquired a sizeable amount of 90s big hat Chaos Dwarfs - this was hugely exciting for me, as I had a small army way back when but let it go when I went to university. With the release of The Old World, I’ve decided to try and rebuild that army. It’s a real passion project for me and will be the main focus of my hobby over the next couple of years.
My question is about bases. The models I acquired are on 20mm slot bases, with their slotta tabs intact.
I paid a considerable sum for them, as you can imagine. While my intention is to keep hold of the army this time, my question is this: would removing the slotta tabs significantly devalue the models?
If I was thinking about it from an aesthetic perspective, I’d probably remove the tabs and base them on sculpted/scenic resin 25mm bases. Easier to rank and looks prettier. BUT I suppose it’d be a bummer to know I’ve effectively killed the value of all these models I’ve just ‘invested in’.
So I suppose my questions are:
- how much does it devalue my ‘investment’ if I remove the slotta tabs?
- Does anyone have a good method for creating new slots in resin bases?
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Removing slottas is not a significant question for buyers compared with overall condition, paintjob etc. That said I recommend not removing them and keeping them on 20s. Just use a spacing tray. You will want a movement tray anyway, why not kill three birds with one stone?
Minis without slotta tabs will constantly break off their base during play over the years. That’s why slotta tabs were invented in the first place.
Regarding creating slots in resin, I think the idea of digging out slot spaces in an existing solid base is terrible. Theoretically youd just need a dremel but in practice the amount of poisonous resin dust youd put into the air would be insurmountable even if you had an outdoor hobby space and an N95 mask. You would also likely damage many bases, ruining the money you spent on them.
The best thing to do in that situation would be to print or have someone else print STL scenic bases with the slot pre-built into the base.
But my overall advice would still be to keep them on 20s.
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Removing the tabs immediately violates the originality of the model and without any kind of benefit. You can put tabbed Chorfs on slotted 25mm bases. Why cut the tabs off at all? Not too mention you are also sacrificing the value of utility for the spirit of the moment. On 20s you can go up or down editions without missing a beat. 4-8th plays on 20s. TOW plays on 25s. Future editions will be played on??? TOW isn’t the final edition of WH. It’s just the most current. Right now your army has a passport to go anywhere. If you put it on 25s you lose that and TOW is the only place you can go (without issues). If someone brings 25mm Hobgrots to my 6th competitive table… well it isn’t happening too begin with so that isn’t going to be a problem.
Utility has value and the moment will eventually pass. Guard your army, Praise Hashut and curse the ancestors. Don’t worry about anything else.
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Thanks both. Great advice. I’ll go with 20mm and make some pretty looking movement trays that expand them to 25.
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I don’t think anyone responded to the aesthetic consideration: chorf axemen rank up poorly on 20mm bases, and essentially need to stand diagonally to not hit each other.
On 25mms they have some more elbow room, as it were, and can pretty much square up to face the front of the unit.
You haven’t mentioned which system you will be playing, if any, so I think it’s worth considering: if you’re not intent on playing anything that came out prior to TOld World, then why do 20mms and adapters? A point was brought up that they might go back to 20mm down the line somehow, but I find that hard to believe.
Those are my 2 cents.
Because again you’re sacrificing the value of utility. The OP might be planning on playing exclusively TOW but that doesn’t mean that whoever ends up with the army if they decide to sell it is dead set on that course. Then the OP losses the potentials of sale because their army doesn’t fit the UTILITY needs of the possible consumer.
I don’t think anyone disagrees with you that bigger bases makes for nicer looking ranks, obviously. They DO prohibit objective gameplay going down however. As a consumer if I’m laying down Chorf kind of cash I want the value of utility and the flexibility to play on any tabletop from 4-TOW.
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I think that issue is void though. The 20s are still separated at the distance of 25s by the spacer, thus giving you the elbow-room benefits of 25s without taking time to rebase or losing the ability to play 20-based rules if you so choose
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Oh wow, ok, I hope we didn’t get off the wrong foot here.
Can we agree that it’s a bit - if just a tiny bit - of a bother to go with 20mms and adapters as opposed to just plonking the boys down on 25mms and calling it a day?
I’m building an army for TOW, and that was my line of reasoning, vacuous though it might be. I never said I was a smart man.
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Hahaha sorry, I should have used my language more sensibly - meant in the technical sense, the point being void - the issue being described is offset by the approach. I’ll edit to moderate!!
Ive always played with movement trays and considered them fundamental to the old base size, so to me and the folks ive played with, youre going to have trays anyway - and the minis old mate is describing are already on 20s. So it’s less steps, in my book, to get spacers, than it is to rebase even a single model. And to me, moving around regiments on 25s without a tray is added faff
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Oh there’s no wrong foot taken or toe that was stepped on. It’s totally cool. I think the 21st century social media experience has ruined nominal net conversation. Because we’re trapped in this textual format and the world has conditioned everyone too believe that any contradictory opinion, thought or idea is an attack on their own (or at best a snarky quip second cousin to every Deadpool joke written) because I can’t digitally convey the context of my statement.
I don’t want you to think I’m arguing with you or “shutting it down”. That’s not how I operate. I’m saying I see what you see and I agree with you about what we see but I also see something else beyond what you see and it’s intangible but completely substantial. If my choice of wording was poor in trying to convey that imagery to you then that’s my fault and the error lies with me and not you.
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You guys are wonderful, and I’m delighted and feel privileged to be a part of this community. Real people on the internet, who would have thought 
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