Wargaming for Beginners: How to Make Star Wars Bases

Falling for wargaming is easy. It often hides simple sins – envy that someone else is part of a great community and owns amazing miniatures you absolutely need to have! Pride – your artistic skills are so high that every compliment activates your ego like lukewarm milk wakes up sleeping yeast. Or gluttony. The moment you realize you love the game so much that there isn't a single miniature, card, or die you'd leave lying on the shop counter or in the relevant e-shop category. It all sounds terrible, but remember, wargaming is primarily about quality time spent with those who share the same passion. And you definitely don't have to be ashamed of that! Sins? Those are for Father Knox, not for heroes and commanders… perhaps from a galaxy far, far away!

Star Wars: Legion and Shatterpoint. Two big wargaming (or for some, perhaps pseudo-wargaming) miniature games bring hours of fun connected not only with the game itself but also with painting and creative work.

Star Wars: Legion recently underwent a major rules update intended to provide players with a more balanced experience and paved the way for new miniatures and sets that Atomic Mass Games is planning for 2024 and beyond. Of course, countless drama queens emerged among the players, throwing their cards away and fainting because the way of playing they were used to for the last few years is coming to an end.

Well, as the classic says: "We can argue about it, we can disagree with it, but that's about all we can do." I believe that once the Kübler-Ross model of grief runs its course and all five stages of sadness fade, even these players will turn into prodigal sons and daughters, return, and remember the past only with a nostalgic, bittersweet tear in their eye.

Anyway, if you aren't one to cry over spilled blue milk and you're ready to dive into an ocean of creativity, I'll show you what to get for creating thematic bases in the style of your favorite planets from Star Wars: Hoth, Tatooine, Umbara, and Endor!

The Ice Planet Hoth

Hoth is a remote, ice-covered rock in the Aonat sector of the Outer Rim. Among the native species, you'll find bloodthirsty wampas, which make for very stylish rugs, tauntauns with amazing internal-heating capabilities, and even some cold-loving fungi.

You can start with Basing Bits - Rocks, which will give your base uneven terrain. To create the perfect snow-covered environment, I recommend AK Interactive: Terrains – Snow or the Green Stuff World: Snow Textures – Snow variant. Both pastes create the effect of freshly fallen, dense snow once dry. You can usually apply the snow paste onto a base sprayed with white primer, but applying a thin layer of blue paint to the base first is also an interesting option.

For a slow-melting snow effect, you can use AK Interactive: Ice Sparkles. Looking at the bright reflections of the shimmering crystals makes one fondly recall the hope brought not only by Luke Skywalker but also by the life-giving sun rising over the quietly undulating snow plains.

If you want to spice up your Hoth-style base with some vegetation (after all, those tauntauns have to eat something, right?), there are several types of grass and bushes available. Decorations like Spikey Winter, Winter XL, Frosted snow, and Frozen Tuft will bring some frozen flora to your base. If you're interested in something more exotic, Alien Blue or Alien Frost contain blue grass. And blue is good! It might not look realistic, but it will definitely enhance the impression of a distant alien planet.

For a perfect frozen finishing touch, I recommend using an effect called Liquid Frost. This chemical concoction creates a frost effect on the base. The result doesn't appear immediately after application; you need to wait about 6-8 hours. But what emerges afterward is a true miracle!

The Sandy Planet Tatooine

A place where many stories begin, but rarely end. Because honestly, who, besides Boba Fett, would even return to this galactic junkyard of things and people? Two scorching suns, a business associated with the strange name "moisture farms" (adults with the mind of a teenager will stop giggling), and the risk of constant conflict with local smugglers or native inhabitants make Tatooine a real estate hell.

As a base for an arid, sand-covered surface that will make you feel thirsty, you can use Sandy Desert by AK. A beautiful effect, great realistic color. However, if you crave a rougher environment, try Neutral Texture for Rough Terrain from the same company. This white mass can be painted to any shade you like. Warpaint Fanatic paints Dessert Yellow and Barren Dune are the ideal choice for this.

By adding Basing Bark Chips, which you lightly paint with a sandy color, you'll achieve a landscape dotted with boulders. And as a final bonus, you can inject a bit of life into the plains of endless sandy death! Interesting elements are provided by Laser Plants - Dry Bracken and various Dry Tufts from GamersGrass. If you want a selection, reach for the Dry Grass Tuft Starter Box with glue, a tips booklet, tweezers, and 4 sheets of an allergy sufferer's nightmare.

Lovers of galactic drama can also add a few Resin Skull pieces as proof that Tatooine really isn't a planet for cowards.

The Shadow Planet Umbara

The shadow world, the planet Umbara, is located in the Expansion Region between the Inner and Mid Rim. It will be familiar primarily to fans of The Clone Wars and the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, but it is also mentioned in several comics and books. Umbara is a visually attractive planet at first glance. Various combinations of dark and saturated purple, blue, red, and pink colors make it a place that several weekend users of death sticks would want to visit while high.

For an "Umbarian-style" base, I recommend starting by covering it with dark mud from Green Stuff World - Black Mud or Dark Brown Mud. Into the still-wet paste, you can press some Steppe Grass flock so the troopers aren't just walking in mud. And then comes the real fun! Get ready for crazy colors of all kinds! The Alien Grass Tuft Starter Box will offer you several grass variants. Even crazier is the Mystic Nebulae Set. I also highly recommend Alien Neon or the bloody Alien Blood Moon. And since Umbara is a world full of plants, definitely reach for Laser Plants - Alien Flytrap or the adorable Alien Rosette.

"And where are the Adegan crystals?" I hear from the community. For those, you can use Transparent Crystals from Green Stuff World and paint them however you like.

The Forest Moon of Endor

The forest moon of Endor is a cute, wooded natural satellite with overgrown vegetation and not-so-overgrown furballs who answer everything with "yap-yap" and worship golden protocol droids. The moon of Endor is dotted with conifers whose crowns reach incredible heights. Pebbles, twigs, streams, and especially ferns, bushes… you'll encounter all of that on Endor.

If you'd like to "overgrow" your base in true Endor style, reach for self-adhesive Shrubs Tufts - Light Green, Dark Green Shrubs, Spikey Green tufts, or bushy Jungle XL. Creating bushes that any ewok could hide in is possible with Tall Shrubbery - Yellow Green, Dark Green, or Light Green. The more green shades you use, the more diverse vegetation you'll create.

The moon of Endor is covered by a carpet of taller plants. You can't go wrong using Laser Plants. Specifically Bracken, Deer Fern, Dumb Cane, Elephant Ear, or Lords-and-Ladies. All these large-leafed plants will create the effect of an untouched forest.

Basing Bark Chips can be used for fallen logs or branches, Tree Stumps for stumps, and Battlefield Rocks for stones. Although I don't remember any colorful flowering plants from Episode VI or the Battlefront II mission on the Endor moon, maybe you'll like using Blossom Tuft and will find a place for them.

These are just a few planets you can use as inspiration when creating your bases and dioramas. But there are no limits to your imagination! Experiment as you like and create bases that will be a joy to behold!

author Eva Lassler