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Yeah, that cake stand's pretty cool. Looks sturdy. That is more or less what's needed. Something like that that's square, 4x4/6x6, and gridded would be pretty ideal, no?

PDK, the idea of a stand that folds up for storage is pretty interesting. It introduces a lot more complexity into the design & production, but it sure would be convenient & cool. I suspect a design like that can't be done cheaply enough, but I'll put some thought into it.

I'll play around with some prototypes in my spare time (such as it is, heh). If other people have ideas, let's hear 'em!

Hello all,

I got PDK's email, which directed me to this thread. I've thought about making Gar/Col bases before, but couldn't decide on the best method for approaching them. Maybe you folks could answer some questions about how you'd want a Gar/Col base to look?

If one of the requirements is (as suggested in the first post of this thread) that smaller-sized minis must be able to conveniently move through the space of the Gar/Col creature, then a few options occur to me:

Option 1: A simple square piece of clear plastic, 4x4 or 6x6 squares, with gridlines on it for the internal squares. Other minis would move about on top of the plastic, using the grid, when they entered the space of the Gar/Col creature. Pros: Relatively inexpensive compared to more complex methods. Battle map is visible through the plastic, so it's easy to see difficult terrain, etc. Easy to store & transport. Cons: when the Gar/Col moves, there's a lot of shuffling about that needs to happen; creatures in the Gar/Col space need to be adjusted, as does anything in the spaces the Gar/Col is moving into.

Option 2: A "table" design, where the basic square of plastic mentioned in option 1 (with grid) is elevated somehow on four "legs" in the corners. Pros: moving the Gar/Col around is, in theory, simpler than option 1, since you can leave all other minis in place. Cons: More expensive than option 1. Harder to transport & store, and legs could snap off during transport. Unless legs detach, in which case it's possible to lose them. Height of the "table": is it high enough to fit large minis underneath? Or huges? That's probably 4-6", which introduces stability problems, and could look a bit silly.

Option 3: "Cage" design. As table, except instead of a solid top, it's just four narrow "bars" connecting the legs, with the center open. Pros: Now larges/huges taller than the "cage" fit inside the Gar/Col by simply extending through the empty middle. Still easy to move around without disturbing other minis. Could now be color instead of clear, as you don't need to see through it. Cons: same storage/transport problems as option 2. Might look odd. Not much different in principle than simply placing four 1" square markers in the corner squares of the Gar/Col, which is far cheaper and easier to store/transport.

Which brings up, Option Zero: Four 1" square tokens of the same color that say "Gargantuan" or "Colossal." You put them in the corners of the Gar/Col's space. Hell, that's so simple I may just add it to the store today, heh.

Anyway, I'd like some feedback on these, and any other design options that occur to people. I'm not really sure how much demand for Gar/Col bases there is, but one of the advantages of my production methods is that I don't have to make stuff in batches of 50,000. Also, I'm bogged down in a website redesign at the moment, so I may not have time to work on prototypes immediately, but I will check on in this thread frequently.

Thanks for linking me here, this is an interesting problem!

Jason
owner, dapperdevil.com