Bases
Glued sand drybrushed green on this Chaplain
The quickest way of doing bases is gluing some grass mats on, but the quality can be a bit on the side and they tend to loosen up around the edge as time goes by.
I prefer another quick method which is putting glue on the base and dipping the miniature in sand, let it dry and paint it using a simple dry-brush.
You can even do this before you prime your miniature, I always do this especially since I prime most of my miniatures black, then it is just a matter of dry brushing the base in what ever colour you want, green for grass, grey for ruins etc.
Bilbo's base is a combination of static grass and sand drybrushed brown
I recently found that combining the two techniques above could give a really good result. Basically you put glue on the base, then you stick bits of grass mat on, then you dip the miniature in sand. That way you get a combination of both grass and dirt, which looks really great and is really easy to do.
Another cool and easy trick showm below on Boomhowler and his mates is to use brushes from an old toothbrush to creath long straws sticking up from the ground.
The snow on the Troll's bases is made using a tutorial found on Number 9's site.
