Squaring the Circle

I started back in 5th ed WHFB, this is established

I fuckin' hate square bases. Theyre miserably ugly. Round bases for everything, forever. Maybe ovals now and then as a treat.

Squares help sort models into organized ranks. Sure. A regiment is a square or a rectangle, but not an individual. A square bases forces individual minis into specific poses to facilitate ranks and often lead to awkward 'front' angles.

Circular bases emphasize each mini as an individual model, even an individual diorama. They let you pick and choose posing and facing, and still fit into the rectangular regiment shape if you decide you want to play rank n flank. There is no reason to put a model on a square base.

All of that said, the main reason for base shape seems to be a sort of ideological allegiance to Old World or Age of Sigmar. Im building this army for both, and for neither. Im dedicated to round bases and generally to newer sculpts but I'm not building Seraphon, I'm building Lizardmen.

This is probably (definitely) a topic worth making its own post about, but as much as I think AoS is actually a more interesting setting overall, I strongly prefer the Old World Lizardmen lore. To me, it feels grander, more tragic, weirdly more Cosmic (in a Lovecraft-y cosmic horror type way, vs. Seraphon's more cosmic kinda super hero comic book fantasy), and just resonates more (lost children of fallen gods and all that, also a different post waiting to be written).

This is all a lot of pontificating to say that i dont expect to play any specific game with these. This project is about collecting, building, and painting miniatures that my 14 year old self wished they could make and writing lore they would have thought impossible to create. Its a nostalgia thing, kinda, but also a reverence for this hobby and the many years ive spent in it, manifested physically. Neither i nor the army are beholden to a ruleset or particular lore beyond what I write for myself. Its not about round or square, Old World or Age of Sigmar, its about cool fuckin' minis.

Oh, I guess here's some Saurus on round bases. I might go back and add some pelts and cloth, im undecided.