Take Cover! – Part 4

You may have noticed that many of my recent posts have been contributions to the community challenge “Squaddie September” run by Azazel of Azazel’s Bits Box (so much so that I think I’ll put up a self-indulgent round up post in the near future!). However, never being one to shirk from hobby productivity, Azazel also ran “Scenic September“, with the aim of motivating us all to paint some of the terrain, large or small, which might otherwise remain unpainted for another month. As my own terrain collection has been suffering in the doldrums for a while now I decided to take the opportunity throughout last month to chip away at as much as I could, and although the larger projects are still not done (I’ve only got one pair of hands dammit!) I did at least manage to get my teeth into some more of the barricades, scatter terrain and other odds and ends I’ve had waiting for attention.

First of all we’ve got a heap of rusty junk that was released as part of the Speed Freeks Ork racing game from this time last year. In part I used this as an opportunity to experiment with contrast paints for terrain and I’m fairly happy with the results, although there are definitely things I think I could improve upon. However having faffed around with it quite a lot I think I’m going to call this one done – I have several more in the same style so I’ll take what I learned here and apply it to them, and then perhaps come back to touch this one up later if I still think it’s required.

Then there’s this fungal monstrosity which forms part of the Deathworld terrain set released by GW a few years ago. It’s a pretty ugly model, and came packaged in with a bunch of other stuff that I bought second hand on ebay. Either some bits were missing or it simply doesn’t fit together all that well, either way a bit of greenstuff was required to turn it into something usable. Frankly I didn’t lose too much sleep over it – you’ll note for instance that not all of the trunks reach the floor and whilst I could have put some extra time and effort into fixing that or covering it up I simply couldn’t be arsed. If this is the best example of xenos terrain that GW could find no wonder the Imperium keeps purging the alien! It’s a shame really, I’m all in favour of terrain pieces (and models in general) which are  bit more creative and unusual but this one just misses the mark. I think it’s improved by leaving out the fronds which normally crown the top of the model (and which to my eye look particularly naff) but it’s still nothing to write home about.

That said it should have a fair bit of utility as part of my terrain collection, handy for the badzones of Necromunda (or even an outcrop of the drug-producing fungus ghast), or to decorate the dank caves inhabited by Night Goblins and Gloomspite Gits.

And of course it makes for a fine corner of Nurgle’s garden, he doesn’t mind if things are a little on the ugly side!

Next up, something I had more fun with. I really want to get started on Warcry, I keep hearing good things about the game and the models are frankly gorgeous. So far I’ve only managed to absorb the setting by obsessively reading the core book and pouring over my box of unassembled models but as soon as I’ve cleared my feet a little more I’m going to be diving straight in. In order to play the game however I’m going to need to get a whole load of terrain built and painted and so I’ve dipped my toe into the water by painting up this barricade to get a feel for what it’s like to work with. This one was a real joy to work on so hopefully I can maintain my enthusiasm and paint up a load more soon.

Finally we have another piece of scatter terrain for my slow-growing Necromunda collection. I know I’ve not broken as much ground on this front recently as I planned but I always expected that the project would take a while – I’m just not someone who knocks out large terrain pieces in short order. However I’ve not forgotten about it and I’m aiming to get back to it before long. In the meantime here’s a street light for what may be a little Underhive settlement (perhaps somewhere for my civilians to take up residence).

And there we have it – four more disparate terrain pieces with which to decorate the far future and/or the Mortal Realms. I make no promises about when I’ll tackle any more but there’s certainly plenty waiting for attention so I’ll try to finish off some more soon(-ish…).

Mean Streets – Part 3

Work continues apace on adding buildings to my industrial terrain board. This time it’s the turn of a couple of mid-sized buildings, not as large as the centrepiece buildings that will dominate the board but still bigger than the barricades and other scatter terrain. Once again part of the credit for motivating me to get these done lies with Azazel and his latest monthly challenge.

First up we have a thermic plasma regulator.

I still have a second one of these to paint so expect to see it put in an appearance in due course.

Next up we have this small ruin, made from the old manufactorum kit. I’ve had this one kicking around for quite some time so it was high on the list of things to get finished this month.

As we’re looking at terrain here’s a few other odds and ends that I’ve finished off lately. First up here’s an Ork barricade (although it’s suitably generic, I feel, to serve pretty much anywhere, including Necromunda which is probably where it’ll see most action).

Just to prove I do occasionally paint things for games rather than just for the hell of it, I also painted up this escape pod as an objective marker. I didn’t go too mad on it, just enough to make it look nice on the tabletop, as I don’t imagine it’s something that anyone, even me, will really pause to admire, but hopefully it’s good enough to serve it’s purpose.

All in all I think I’ve made fairly solid progress on terrain this month and there’s plenty more in the pipeline (indeed, some of it even contains pipelines). Here’s the board as it begins to take shape.

Next up will probably be another large building, although I’ve got a few other projects I want to wrap up first so it may not appear straight away. Still, with the Underhive now well on its way to becoming a reality I’m keen to press ahead and get more done with it soon.

 

Mean Streets – Part 2

Undoubtedly the biggest project I’m currently working on is my collection of Underhive terrain. It’s something I discussed at length when I first started this series but to recap, as it’s been a while, I’ve always dreamed of having my own set of terrain but until recently I had neither the space nor the money for it. If I’m honest with myself I probably still don’t but, with a bit of creative storage and careful budgeting I’ve decided to go for it anyway. After all if you’ve been planning something for over a decade it’s probably time you just got on with it right?

I wouldn’t really consider myself a gamer, for me painting and modelling comes first and any dice rolling, if it happens at all, is a very distant second. That said when I do play games I want them to be as evocative and atmospheric as possible. Nice though it would be to create all the landscapes I can imagine games being set (a crumbling dwarven mine infested with Skaven and Night Goblins, the wraithbone spires of an Eldar craftworld, the ever changing madness of a daemon-world within the Eye of Terror, the verdant gardens of Nurgle, a shrine-world covered in statues so vast that tank battles can play out in the Emperor’s cupped hands, a Blood Bowl pitch with cheering crowds, hotdog sellers and a commentator’s box, the inside of a Tyranid bio-vessel, and so on) practicality tells me I can only really have one board for the foreseeable future. Thus, as my predilections lie towards small scale skirmishes in the 41st Millennium (mostly Necromunda but there’s room for some Kill Team/Inq28 shenanigans in my life too), what I need is a slice of decaying industrial hell, layer upon layer of toxic, crumbling factories, a place so rough the apocalypse would improve things and streets so mean even the rats won’t go out after dark.

Needless-to-say, although I’ve painted a huge number of models over the years, terrain is still pretty new to me. I’ve been chipping away on this project for about six months now, and the learning curve has been steep, but Azazel’s latest monthly challenge (which calls, appropriately enough, for terrain) has given me the push to get one of the bigger pieces done at last. (Those unfamiliar with Azazel and his famous challenges – where have you been? – should take a look at his blog, and I urge you to join in – this is a phenomenon not to be missed). Anyway, let’s take a look at the building shall we.

As might be expected I got a lot of things wrong here, there’s certainly things I won’t do the same way twice, and places where I made a lot of work for myself that I really didn’t need to but on the whole I’m happy enough and hopefully I’ll be able to apply what I’ve learned and things will continue to get easier and smoother.

Mean Streets – Part 1

For over a decade I’ve harboured an ambition to own my own terrain board. Surely for many hobbyists this is the big one, the ultimate goal to aspire to. If you’re a keen gamer then what better than to be able to roll dice in style within the comfort of your own home? If your predilections lie more towards the painting and modelling then what project can compare to capturing not just the characters that inhabit your chosen world but the actual world itself?

The downside of course is that it’s expensive, it takes up a lot of space and it’s a lot of work to build. Leaving aside the lack of disposable income, which in itself lead to a lot of careful budgeting and saving up, until recently I just didn’t have the room to store such a comparatively massive construction. However at the end of the day life won’t wait. I’ve been made keenly aware over the last year or so that whilst planning for the future is a very sensible and intelligent move, putting off all your plans to an unspecified future date might just mean they never happen at all. Having managed to set aside a space in the house for it occupy I’ve set about building a section of Imperial cityscape.

Building a terrain board isn’t like other hobby projects. It takes a certain amount of preparation and self justification before you even think about spending all that money (assuming of course you’re not one of those geniuses who can make a convincing fusion reactor out of an egg box and a Pringles tin, which I am most certainly not).

Having convinced myself, with some difficulty, that it was ok, and that buying a few model buildings wasn’t the sort of fiscal irresponsibility that would see me reduced to fighting the other tramps for food in a matter of weeks, the next question is; what kind of board to build? Of course the answer to that very much depends on the kind of games it might be used for. The fantastic landscapes of the Mortal Realms may look amazing but my heart still lies in the 41st Millennium. You can keep the flyers and tanks of 40k proper, I lean towards Necromunda, Inq28 and perhaps a little bit of Killteam so my board in turn will be the close-packed warrens of the Underhive, the decaying depths of a crumbling Imperial city where Inquisitors roam and gangers hold sway.

In spite of my recent resurgence of interest in building this board its story actually began a few years ago when, following some kind of fit of fiscal frivolity, I bought myself the Sector Imperialis board from GW, and then froze like a rabbit in headlights and never painted the damn thing. Instead it just sat there, a brooding avatar of my decadence, lurking in the corner of the room to guilt me. No more I say! We’ve scowled at each other long enough, time to set aside our differences and get some paint on it. After all I may have spent rather a lot on it, and I may have regretted it afterwards, but the deed is done, I may as well enjoy it! For the last few months, in between other projects, I’ve been chipping away at it and at last the first section is ready to show off.

Rukk and Grak set out to explore the crumbling deaths of their territory.

Meanwhile the girls from the Ladykillers gang discover a lurking sump horror has been making its home beneath their streets…

Over the coming months I’ll keep working away on this, adding the rusty, crumbling buildings and industrial structures of the Underhive’s heart. Naturally a project like this takes time (or at least it does if you happen to be me, I know some people power through terrain projects like they’re going out of style but alas my progress tends to be rather slower). Nonetheless keep an eye out and hopefully soon a city will begin to grow here.

Take Cover – Part 3

My efforts to populate the Underhive of Necromunda with rusty, grungy terrain continue apace. Indeed, I’ve got a few bigger items in the works which are tantalisingly close to being ready to reveal, but you’ll have to wait just a few days more. In the meantime however I’ve painted up more of the scenic elements from the Underhive Wars box.

Decorating the Underhive calls for plenty of doors, walls and barricades…

… including some from the new Orks kits …

… and some from a much older Ork release.

Next up the crates, some of which contain useful stashes of ammo, whilst others turn out to be empty, or even deadly boobie-traps. The design here is rather clever, each crate is double-sided with one side full of ammo whilst the other is empty. Clusters of makeshift explosives can be hidden in the blank side and whilst the lid is on players won’t know what awaits them until they open the box. The downside is that this makes them something of a slog to paint as I had to be careful not to leave any distinguishing features that might tip us off later as to which is which.

These hatches are of course nothing more than pieces of decorative terrain and would never be used by sneaky Underhive residents springing up from ambush (particularly not dastardly three armed creatures)…

Then we have a set of control panels (useful for opening all those doors!).

A gang relic, which appears to be some kind of notice board. Perhaps those are wanted posters for the gangs most famous alumni.

And last but not least, the sump-monster which lies in wait for unwary gangers.

Take Cover! – Part 1

To my mind any game needs scenery, a landscape to capture the rusting darkness of the underhive, the magically infused Mortal Realms or the war torn 41st Millennium.

Remember that great Black Library novel where the heroic and square-jawed space marines storm across the kitchen table to defeat the tyranid menace lurking behind the heap of books and beer cans? Funnily enough, neither do I. Now I know the role-players out there are shaking their heads (justifiably) at the implied lack of imagination here, and I’ll also admit that back in my university days we played some damn exciting games with books for hills and beer bottles for towers, but given a choice between that and the rich reality of the worlds in which our games are set it’s really no contest.

Because I haven’t played much for the last decade or so my terrain collection is next to nonexistent (and the fort made of cardboard and yogurt pots that I was once so proud of has long since gone into the bin – and yes, it was as bad as you’re imagining). However, now I’m gathering a band of ruffians to explore the Underhive I need to make sure there’s an Underhive to go exploring in. So far I’ve mostly concentrated on painting up the barricades from the Necromunda boxset but expect to see more terrain from me soon.

I don’t think I’ve shown this bit of ruin before (with almost 400 posts on the blog now it’s getting hard to keep track). It’s an older piece but I reckoned it would tie in nicely here.