Leveraging new synergies in buzzword-compliant micro-basing paradigm

From the front

From the back

I've been in the habit of basing my micro-scale infantry on 0.5mm sheet steel for two reasons: first, so that I can store and transport them easily on magnetic sheet, and second, to keep the bases as thin as possible so the figures don't loom over everything around them.

I still like the first idea, but I've changed my mind about the second, for reasons of playability. A thicker (3mm MDF) base makes the unit easier to pick up without inadvertently bending the teensy-tiny figures, and it provides an area at the back of the base to glue unit identification text.

I've moved away a bit from the idea of a tabletop wargame as being a kind of moving diorama, and more towards the figures and vehicles being playing tokens. I wouldn't go quite as far as having everything represented by cardboard squares, like in Squad Leader and the like, but  the usability of the models for gaming purposes has become more important to me than their intrinsic beauty.

And in any case, it turns out that the thicker MDF base doesn't really stand out a hell of a lot more than the old steel base.

I'm not sure what to do about the storage/transport issue, but maybe gluing some very thin steel sheet under the MDF will do the trick.

Also, cutting MDF cleanly in these very small sizes is kind of a pain in the arse.

The figures shown here are Heroics & Ros 1/300 WWII German Fallschirmjäger and Panzer Grenadiers.