So, in preparation for my mid-July convention game, I needed to do some significant reorganization but there is no way I will have time for any rebasing or reorganizing the figures and also get some additional figures painted, some buildings painted, and some terrain pieces built.
I hit upon the simple expedient of using 'talus' and 'tufts' to define the "new" units. In some instances, rather than talus I will use rail ballast - it is what I have on hand in sufficient quantity and variety of colors.
As a for instance, I have constituted four units of a similar nature each with six stands where previously there had been six units with four stands each. For this grouping, I made piles of white talus on each stand the group identifier and then each unit is further defined by different colored flower tufts: white, yellow, red, and blue.
What I like most about this approach is that it is readily visible without having to look at the lettering on the base of the figures and without any visually distracting labels.
I only have 72 more units to finish (that is 432 more bases to go)!
Then there are the units I need to get painted to add to the mix - but those might be easily differentiated by how the figures get painted, well some of the units. The native units will require a bit more finesse but might still be able to use the painted colors for some to differentiate, maybe.