Positional Colours

The Ref · Post by **The Ref** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:49 pm

orange is the color for runners, so don't see why that's a bad color for skaven gutter runners...

Lahatiel · Post by **Lahatiel** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:13 am

The Ref wrote:orange is the color for runners, so don't see why that's a bad color for skaven gutter runners...

I think he said what he did because orange is not "the" color for runners -- not officially speaking, anyway. The Red/White/Green/Yellow coding was the only color scheme that was ever an official part of the rules. So even though several other colors -- blue, purple & orange -- did end up gaining relatively widespread acceptance among those in the BB 'net community, those others have never officially been "the" color for anything.

(For example, I've played BB since 2nd Ed and have been on TBB for a long time now, but this is the first time I recall seeing "orange for runners" mentioned in such a definitive, "that's the way it should be" manner. Granted, I don't always play the closest attention to the base ring color conversation... but at the same time, I have heard of the blue and purple suggestions plenty of times over the years, thus I am surprised to see there's another color suggestion (orange) with which I'm not particularly familiar).

My own take is this: if someone's using colored base rings, I want them to use the official R/W/G/Y scheme, at minimum -- given that it was official at least at one point, I have those so deeply ingrained in my brain that I'd be bothered by any attempt to change them. Beyond that, they'd be free to use whatever they wanted for positions that didn't conform 100% to the original positions, since you'd then be in area where there was never anything "official" and therefore, it's all a matter of personal preference at that point.

That said, though... I happen to agree, personally, with the guys who'd paint their Gutter Runners' bases yellow and their Dwarf runners' bases white.

SouperJim · Post by **SouperJim** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:28 am

Lahatiel wrote:My own take is this: if someone's using colored base rings, I want them to use the official R/W/G/Y scheme, at minimum -- given that it was official at least at one point, I have those so deeply ingrained in my brain that I'd be bothered by any attempt to change them. Beyond that, they'd be free to use whatever they wanted for positions that didn't conform 100% to the original positions, since you'd then be in area where there was never anything "official" and therefore, it's all a matter of personal preference at that point.

Have to agree here, red white green yellow are the only official base ring colours and should be what folks use first. Otherwise you invite confusion, which defeats the object of colouring your bases in the first place.

mage75 · Post by **mage75** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:18 am

Is there any chance that there will be an official revision of the base ring colours to allow for the new positionals?

Dark Lord (retired) · Post by **Dark Lord (retired)** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:41 am

Base Ring colors aren't official...afaik.

skritter · Post by **skritter** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:52 am

mage75 wrote:Is there any chance that there will be an official revision of the base ring colours to allow for the new positionals?

Colored base rings are just a left over idea from 2nd edition BB (of the 1980's) that people like to use. There is nothing official about them in the modern game.

Lahatiel · Post by **Lahatiel** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:14 am

skritter wrote:
mage75 wrote:Is there any chance that there will be an official revision of the base ring colours to allow for the new positionals?
Colored base rings are just a left over idea from 2nd edition BB (of the 1980's) that people like to use. There is nothing official about them in the modern game.

Exactly, the only reason it was ever official in 2nd Ed was because all 16 human minis and all 16 orc minis were identical on either side back then, so they had to provide colored base rings to distinguish them. Since they now have different figures poses for the different positions, I doubt they'd ever again bother with odd, uniquely designed bases that were not used by any other game in their product line.

Darkson · Post by **Darkson** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:57 am

I thought it was mentioned as a optional thing somewhere in the LRB, but I can't find it, so I must be wrong.

Patchwork · Post by **Patchwork** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:22 am

Lahatiel wrote:Exactly, the only reason it was ever official in 2nd Ed was because all 16 human minis and all 16 orc minis were identical on either side back then, so they had to provide colored base rings to distinguish them. Since they now have different figures poses for the different positions, I doubt they'd ever again bother with odd, uniquely designed bases that were not used by any other game in their product line.

Your right, they need to add colored base rings to the amazon team box!

Lahatiel · Post by **Lahatiel** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:33 am

Patchwork wrote:
Lahatiel wrote:Exactly, the only reason it was ever official in 2nd Ed was because all 16 human minis and all 16 orc minis were identical on either side back then, so they had to provide colored base rings to distinguish them. Since they now have different figures poses for the different positions, I doubt they'd ever again bother with odd, uniquely designed bases that were not used by any other game in their product line.
Your right, they need to add colored base rings to the amazon team box!

Hey, I never said the pose differential was done well!

mage75 · Post by **mage75** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:37 am

Ah well, official or not, I am going to keep using them. I find it helps me as well as any newbie opponents. I've seen some done with only a line of about the middle 1/3 of the base which looked pretty clean. I think I'll steal that idea! I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it works for me without impacting anyone else.

Lychanthrope · Post by **Lychanthrope** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:48 pm

I've also seen it done by using a positional colored vertical stripe on the front and the back of the base, and putting the player number on the stripe.

Tritex · Post by **Tritex** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:06 am

I like the idea of standardised base rings but other colours to highlight different positions makes sense too. None of it is official just personal taste and expression

Post by **GalakStarscraper** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:09 am

Darkson wrote:I thought it was mentioned as a optional thing somewhere in the LRB, but I can't find it, so I must be wrong.

Tried to fit it in the FAQ page at one point in Vault. It got trimmed to get the Handbook down to 80 pages. Sorry.

Galak

ClayInfinity · Post by **ClayInfinity** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:00 am

Whilst I agree with the Green / Red / White / Yellow rings (I am an older guy who started out with 2nd Ed) I see no reason why you cant be different.

If you see my Nurgle team below I have used different colours even though the minis are different posed.

The photos dont show it very well, but I used Green for the Nurgle Warriors (blockers), but I used Purple for the Pestigors and Brown for the Rotters. The Beast got a red marking for hopefully all the Blood he will spill!

Be creative! As long as your opponent knows what a Blitzer is against a Catcher, it doesnt matter!