This feels very basic, but a search didn't find anything this far. Can I get confirmation as to whether a silhouette *includes* the associated base, and where that's been formally stated? Our playgroup has recently discovered that our various third party 'official' silhouettes are two slightly different heights (for example, s2 is 40mm tall *including* the base in one set, and 40mm *plus* the base in another. Including the base makes more sense to us, but confirmation would be appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, they include base. There are no miniatures without bases and silhouette value represents whole miniature+base. Fun fact, that I can't find S0 height, but I'm pretty sure, that it is 3mm.(common base height)
To put it another way, the base of an S2 figure is inside of the S2 volume. It's entirely possible that no one got out a caliper or ruler to check the dimensions of the finished products against their specifications. So it would be worth it mentioning names if you're running into silhouettes that aren't the right the size. Anecdotal disclaimer: The first time I ordered laser cut bases from a company I'm not going to name, the laser cutter designs weren't set to compensate for the radius of the laser beam. So I got a set of bases that were a few millimeters too small for what I wanted.
S0 is pretty much defined in Prone: http://infinitythewiki.com/en/Prone Prone troopers have a Silhouette (S) value of 0, that is, the equivalent height of a base.
I've had issues with Micro Arts Studios and "40mm" as well as "55mm" bases. I'm starting to suspect, however, that someone put a different product (possibly Escenorama, a brand I've had radius-related issues with before) inside the MAS packaging (they're easy to open and close without leaving a trace), because the design and plastic is different from the 25mm ones, and then returned them to the store. It sucks when you have to solve the issue by wrapping plasticard strips around the store-bought bases. Just... have a caliper on hand when buying bases the first time!
The best option you can have is to print the official ones in the Downloads section of the site (or grabbing a friend who bought one of the boxes with cardboard templates, those all come with S2 at least). The CB-designed ones (print from "Operation: XXXXXX" or the army boxes for USAriadna, JSA and Spiral) include the base printed in yellow, so you can cut that part and glue the print to a base (using cardboard to keep it upright, of course). Also, the ITS packs used to have a clear plastic S2 marker, with a detachable base that would double as a camo marker.
@Spearhavok, Some designs of Silhouette are made to be mounted on top of a base (either a miniature style base or slotting into another piece of lasercut material) and others are made to be placed straight into the table without a base. I'm guessing you're group has a mixture.