What's the BEST way to base your Bolt Action artillery?

Today I'm looking at the various methods for basing artillery, and other weapons teams in the Bolt Action tabletop wargame, the answer may seem obvious to regular players, but it's a question new players ask a lot so I wanted to help out.
It has been noted in the comments by @e-4airman124 that I should list my sources for the information in the video. I think that's a god idea, and an oversight on my part. Proving that it's a good reason to post a comment, and read the description.
My sources are all from the Bolt Action 2nd edition rulebook:
Page 31 Distance Between Models. Describes the 25mm area of influence as if each crew member had its own base, even if multibased.
P 92-97 Artillery. this section is devoted to artillery.
P 93 Artillery Units. This describes the unit coherancy.
P 93 Artillery and Measuring Distance. Describes measuring from the breach.
P 93 Artillery and Sight. Describes direct LOS must be from the gun itself, and indirect LOS can be from any member of crew or spotter
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[@e-4airman124]

it would be helpful if you cited where in the rules the art. rules can be found

[@EDSKaR]

That is a sensible idea. I will look them up and add references in the description! Thankyou.

[@Tirana-qg1ft]

Fantastic video.. I definitely see the appeal of diorama bases

[@Rottenflieger.]

I do like how the game gives you options for your basing. I put every weapon team on a single base, usually Games Workshop circle ones, though for artillery pieces I have some MDF rounded rectangles which I found made them a bit easier to fit on a board without getting a wide circle base stuck on terrain. I really like building little dioramas on some of the larger bases, and whilst I and my opponent are aware of the imaginary 25mm circle rule for crew, like you we've generally we've found templates will hit all the crew anyway so it doesn't tend to come up much.

[@EDSKaR]

A lot of my bases are actually sprue goo (All 3 in the thumbnail are sprue goo) and I mix two part resin in spray can lids that just happen to be 60mm, which is convenient as any leftover resin can be popped out for a base (My soviet mortar/HMG/45mm all have these in the video) Plenty of options and the game does a good job of just letting you get on with cool models if you want to :D.

[@Rottenflieger.]

@@EDSKaR absolutely! It's pretty refreshing how relaxed it is on a lot of details like that.

[@cfox7811]

For a new player this has been really useful. Many thanks !

[@EDSKaR]

Time to get yourself building your arty then :D

[@grampawerewolf9832]

Nice one! Lots of good options 👍 liking the mini diorama style, with removable individuals 😀 👌 ahaha glad this video longer than 10 seconds 😄

[@EDSKaR]

I dunno, shorts are popular, them 10 second vids makin bank!

[@philRminiatures]

Inspired and wonderful work on your bases!!

[@EDSKaR]

Thanks!

[@dariostabletopminatures]

Thank you and this Looks Great!

[@FrozenThrog]

The only issue that I can see come up is if you play on uneven or dense terrain with larger bases. Could be a bit cumbersome to fit it in. But with the prevalence of flat neoprene battlemats, I don't think that will be too common.

[@EDSKaR]

I did mention that you can leave them unbased to fit between trees or buildings. Hard to fit an 80mm base in an alleyway :D. I think a lot of players do accept the wobbly ballenced model with a "it's really here-ish". More I think it's just something that doesn't come up much. I have done this for my Italian howitzer shown in this video because I want to play around with sneaking it into places a larger base couldn't go.

[@brother_bear_hobbies]

Yes i was jyst wondering about this

[@drowningin]

What about transparent bases like planes are given? That way it always matches your terrain

[@EDSKaR]

You can if you like, that wouldn't affect the rules at all. I personally don't like clear bases, but if you do, go for it!

[@astrocat1128]

What was that template you’re using? Custom job? How does that work ? Is that for bolt action? It isn’t the same as the ones you get in warlord games boxes 🤔 @ED-SKaR

[@EDSKaR]

@@astrocat1128 template? For the bases? I did not use any template, I simply put a big blob of sprue goo on some baking paper, then another sheet on top and weighted it so that the bases end up mostly flat.

[@astrocat1128]

@@EDSKaR no the the thing you use as the HE template or marker ? Looks like a cross hair circled device you’ve made? This is not supplied by bolt action I think, did you make it?

[@EDSKaR]

@@astrocat1128 Ahhh, I see. Yes that was my own design, albeit a very simple one. I did want it to look like a 'spider' aa sight and I painted it to look like old rusty metal.

[@astrocat1128]

@@EDSKaR nicely done! I see it has the 2,3,4” all in one.. very cool!!

[@Ratman99UK]

What if we base the artillery in a building with the crew say placed over two floors of a destroyed building. Can we fluff the rules that way somehow

[@EDSKaR]

Any terrain on the base is considered aesthetic, and does not give in game benefits. For example a wall of sandbags on the base would not give hard cover to the unit. You could make a ruined building diorama base with walls and some crew standing higher up the rubble with binoculars, but you would measure LOS as if they were on ground level, if using the crew. Arguably if you can see them, they can see you, so it's a bit of a disadvantage in some ways.

[@Schyzofrenic87]

the british 17 pounder ,,, CD base ? that's what i did with my PAK 40

[@EDSKaR]

@@Schyzofrenic87 in my case I used a spread out blob of sprue goo, but yea, archaic objects from fallen civilisations (CDs) also work great!

[@aslars15]

is that an old valhallan ice warrior 2:39 ?

[@EDSKaR]

Yep, There's a company called Games Workshop that makes so great 3rd party models. I actually painted that specific model on video a couple years ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnbCoGOahpV5maM