Last year I received my Petrolyard post-apocalyptic resin terrain from Studio Level and very impressed I was with it too. A company made by gamers for gamers had focused mostly on the tabletop itself, buildings, mats and carry cases have come from the guys in Poland so far, and so when Seb was unable to lay his hands on square bases for his fantasy gaming he decided that others were probably in the same boat and so ran a Kickstarter combining his love of proper bases and the Studio Level talents with sculpting and casting.

Battle Squares // Studio Level 

The theme running throughout the range has a graveyard feel, with broken tombstones and gravemarkers intermingled on the bases and the occasional skull as well. Kicking off with the 20mm squares there are two styles of bases available with and without holes for tabs. It seems like only the 20mm got this unlocked during the Kickstarter campaign and for some new models it will definitely speed up getting them based and ready to play although you do lose some of the more detailed basing that you would get without the tabs.

Battle Squares

The bases themselves come in singles and regiment bases that are wide enough for four figures and I was surprised and impressed by the variety of individual sculpts. It may seem like a little thing but when you're basing an army you don't want to see the same debris on every fifth man so kudos to Seb and the team for taking the extra time to flesh out the range. Apart from the standard infantry 20mm there are the equivalents in 25mm, and they can be picked up in singles, or with the trays as well.

Battle Squares Cav tray // Studio Level

Speaking of the trays they are all magnetised on the base to hold them firmly for transport, several companies already make carry cases with metal shelving and these will work perfectly with those, or if you have a biscuit tin that'll do the job at a pinch. All the bases are also magnetised and the movement tray has a metal sheet rather than magnetised rubber so you can flip these beauties upside down and not have to worry (we are not responsible for damages to lead figures - ed)

Battle Squares Chariot Bases // Studio Level

Apart from the infantry bases, there is a complete range for all your fantasy gaming needs, like the 50x100mm chariot bases above there is also monstrous cavalry 50x75mm, 40mm, and 50mm monster bases. All of these can be picked up in a variety of ways depending on your needs from singles up.

The range is obviously designed for Warhammer with the choice in basing but can be used equally well in The Ninth Age and Kings of War amongst others. This does mean that some of the trays may not be exactly what you need but you can always go ahead and get them without the trays if you have more specific plans in mind. That being said the choices they've made for the movement trays cover everything I need for Kings of War and if I feel the Oldhammer bug pretty much most of what I would run for those armies also.

Battle Squares // Studio Level

I know the graveyard like theme may give some people pause as to whether it's suitable for their own army, however as you can see above with the right paint job and a choice of basing materials they can look incredibly effective whether you're fighting on the Old World or the Abyssal Rift of Pannithor.

Overall the casting is excellent, I know after the Petrolyard Kickstarter that they brought in more production capabilities and that has allowed Studio Level to keep the quality extremely high while still getting the output. Clean up is minimal on the bases although the 50mm and chariot bases did have a little bulge on the bottom, it doesn't affect the look of the bases or even their use on the tabletop but they did need a small amount of sanding just to help the magnets grip for storage and transportation.

With Oldhammer getting a resurgence and The Ninth Age and Kings of War both solidly popular games I can see these getting a lot of use and hopefully it won't be the last range of Battle Squares that we see from Studio Level. Indeed with GW talking about the return of Warhammer in a few years square bases will be in demand for fantasy gamers en masse once again. If you're interested there are late pledges available and I can't wait to see what Seb comes up with next.

Which is your favourite rank and file game?