MDF Ruin

As a step back from making hills, I decided to take a couple of my pieces of MDF ruins and base them to make a more usable terrain piece. So far I like how its gone and so I may make a lot more for use for Frostgrave and Bolt Action.

I started off by selecting the two pieces and marking out on a base the outline of the former building. The planks were marked out using a stanley knife whilst the exterior cobbles were formed using a rotary tool.

Once the pieces are glued down I'll be adding sculptamold around the joins and texturing them to give the appearance of rubble piles. I will also add some tufts and flock to the cracks in the slabs.

Hills For Sale

Just wanted to give you an example of the hills I am making and selling both through here and at Lancaster Board and Sword.

Here is a few of the selection of hills I'm producing. As you can imagine there is not going to be a fixed shape or size as these are handmade.

Once these are completed then I will be bulk building a few outcrops and linear terrain. This first selection of hills is my desert range - although they also fit in quite nicely with my Southern Italy/Sicily based Fallschirmjager.

The minis you see are from Warlord games and are a range of plastic and metal miniatures. There seems to be a good range of places that they can stand - an issue with a lot of hills I have witnessed.

If you have any requests for either a listed product or something you'd like on commission then please contact me here.

North West Nerd Gaming Supplies

Just to show all the new things I have had a go at this year. I'm also officially putting myself out there for commission and scenery work.

Playing with Resin

Its been a while thanks to changes at home, new job and lack of computer (phone won't upload photos). However I've been doing bits here and there, and having recently been introduced to Luke's APS videos on youtube, I've had inspiration to try a few new things.

Having done a few outcrops using polystyrene and filler, I thought I'd give water effects a go. I couldn't find the two tube stuff in my local pound shops so ended up going to B&Q and getting some 2 part resin by Diall. It was a bit more expensive and I wouldn't recommend it but it was ok for a one off.

You get 2 tubes (one the resin and the other the hardener) as well as a small tray and stirring stick.

I wouldn't use the tray again mind, its too shallow to be able to stir it well and I could not get rid of the air bubbles.

The test piece I made was a small pond using polystyrene as an outcrop, sticks and prodigious amounts of hot glue for the shape and then fillered. I completed the texturing completely before applying the resin.

As I mixed the resin it did produce a silvery quality which others have mentioned so I was fairly happy it had activated but the bubbles as stated would not go.

This picture makes it look worse than it is and I will add another pour to fill it a little more.

I wanted to try the resin neat to see how it would work but I will add a little nail polish remover next time to allow it to run a bit better - it took a while to find its level by which point it had dried. 

Its currently at home drying so I'll update you all tonight or tomorrow morning to let you know how it goes.

Terrain Tiles (Part 3)

Continuing working on the terrain tile project, and today I have an update. I found a pack of 8 sheets of 2'x6' hardboard (which works out as 24 2' squares) for £52 to good starting point!

I have also designed the basic designs for 24 tiles as a combination of plain, streams, hills etc

Stream/River Tiles

I didn't want to make any waterways too wide so that they can be used for multiple scales. A such these are 1" wide.

Hills

These are for significant hills, obviously smaller hills can be added across any of the other tiles.

Coast tiles

Can be used as a three like this and have a wide front or use 2 and go deeper (on a 6 tile table).

Trench Tiles

These won't be as extensive as my previous trench tiles as they need to drop down to the same level.

All the tiles!

At the same time i've been rethinking how to make the tiles. Rather than base then polystyrene, I'm thinking of using a base sheet, topped by 1" blocks at corners (stepped back by the depth if the sheets) and another sheet on top (as well as strips round edge to fill gaps).  

Just add the top

For areas with depressions (streams, trenches), I would do the same but the top would be made of two board strips at either side and the gap would be made of polystyrene.

Stream design

Probably a delay on this going ahead as DW is getting married tomorrow! WOOT!!!

On another note I have got some mdf laser cut buildings for Frostgrave - so pics soon and I will hopefully get some more games in.

Terrain Tiles

So having discussed a super secret project with my friend DW, we have discussed the potential to make a large quantity of terrain tiles (once its announced I will be letting you all know exactly what is going on!). With a back and forth about what he wants etc I have come up with following pros and cons etc.

Table Setup: 6' x 4' with modular terrain (standard table size)

2 feet square vs 1 feet square:

• 1' is obviously more flexible in terms of arranging your terrain in different layouts. 
• 2' gives you more flexibility as to where your terrain leaves the table. You always want it to be the same place on each tile so they match up and gives you the flexibility of deployment. In a 1' tile you should probably put the leave points in the middle especially if cutting down as the strength of the tile will be compromised. Whilst on a 2' tile you could put it at 6", 8" or 12" (the middle) away from the edge). Having said that you would still need to leave at midpoints to achieve maximum flexibility.
• Cost; 1 2' tile is a lot cheaper than 4 1' tiles.
• Edges; when building if you have a full woodshop you can make edge guards out of wood - obviously this is cheaper when making 2' tiles as less edges. I don't have the capacity to do this so I just put the polystyrene up to the edge and papier mache. The only problem is that this creates some shrinkage away from the bases and therefore slight gaps when putting tiles together. This is an increased problem when you have more, smaller tiles.
• Storage; may be easier to store 1' tiles, there again 2' tiles have less edges so less chance of damage. This really depends on what your storage is like.
• Weight;  obviously the 2' tile is heavier (and bulkier) so more difficult to move around the space. However this means they should be less susceptible to movement on table.

Looking at all this I'd advise 2 feet squares. I would also only put terrain to cross board edges when there is a physical depression (trench tiles, rivers, gorges etc).

The only other feature that would cross board edges would be large hills - either with set crossing points or as a terrace (cliff) - I think this could lead to some really fun designs with waterfalls.

Significant hills should probably be terraced (With smoother edges) - this makes it a lot easier to join edges across boards as well as reducing issues with figures falling over and for rules which use heights is a lot more quantifiable.

Other terrain we can build to sit on top of this could be other linear features such as roads, fences etc or area templates (woods).

With regards to depth of the tile it would be the depth of the wood base and then about 1" of polystyrene.

Frostgrave Scenery Update

Months ago when I ordered my bases for my Seven Years War and WW2 things I also ordered some larger bases to make scenery for 28mm (ruins), mostly for Frostgrave. I'm experimenting with these at moment but I've already decided that I definitely want to make a few more. This is where I'm up to so far:

This one will have a reasonably significant bit of flooring in the far taller corner.

The black painted one in the background is the one shown previously but painted with its undercoat.

Part Painted Thug for scale

The walls are stuck with lots and lots of PVA - I'm not bothered about drips as I'm going to texture the bases anyway.

Pringles!

This one will have to be well painted to cover the bright colours - but then it isn't as thick anyway so probably needs it anyway for some rigidity. This one is going to have 2 partial floors (just enough to stand on) and some remnants of stairs (using lollipop sticks).

This final one is at a slightly later stage with filler added to texture and represent rubble. It also has a partial floor (with a small window to shoot from).

I want to make a few more unique buildings: religious building, fountains, pillars,

I also have played a couple of games of X-Wing with the missus. Was enjoyed; quick start game was stupidly quick and the second with full rules (and boosting up to 32 points) was really long with Luke combined with R2-D2 being seemingly impossible to shoot down. Going to buy another ship each: probably a Y-Wing and a TIE Interceptor to add to the fun - unless others have better suggestions?

Update (August 2016)

So I've painted all sorts of bits and bobs but aren't really massively moving forward with any. Really need to pick just one and paint that. Having said that - I've no actual planned games in near future so I guess its more about enjoyment at the moment.

To give you an idea of how disorganised my painting is at the moment I have painted the following in the last few weeks.

• Soviet 10mm Armour
• Soviet Heavy Mortars and HMGs
• German 10mm Armour
• 2 Prussian SYW Cavalry Regiments
• My Gronn Flamme Warband for Frostgrave

1st Prussian Hussars

Both my seven years war cavalry and my warband still need their based doing as I'm undecided how to do them (hence why their pictures have "snow" bases presently. As such their official posts will come when these are done.

And now I have got back to scenery. I've got plans for a few different things for my Frostgrave terrains and once I really get into it I'm going to start mass manufacture to sell a few I think. Here's my first (single storey) ruin's walls.

I will also be making towers, columns, archways, wells and larger buildings until I can cover a table. I'm going to make them fairly generic so that I can use them for other periods (Stalingrad perhaps or Skirmishes in Hue for my Tour of Darkness campaign).

What Is Next?

Following D&D last Friday, I'm now trying to work out what is next. I have a few bits I could do both for myself as well as to clear some space.

• Finish WW2 Germans that I have
• Paint up my 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade.
• 6mm Prussian 7YW
• Falklands War Paratroopers
• Vietnam War
• Frostgrave
• Dystopian Wars Prussian Forces (Will be for sale)
• Masses of 1/72 Plastic Napoleonics (For Sale)
• Mass of Plastic WW2 Kits
• 20" Square Trench Tile for 28mm

So what do people think? I want to clear space especially of the stuff at my parents house and raise enough cash to complete my own forces and put towards a few other bits. So if anyone has any of this on a wishlist let me know as well as any other projects you don't have time to complete especially scenery. This also applies to other models or crafting projects as well as research for orbats.

Similarly if anyone has a good idea of how I can advertise myself then advise would be gratefully received.

Tour of Darkness - 1st Game Review

So last night I played a quick throw down game to practice the combat system of Savage Worlds with Alex and Jon. First thoughts; really enjoyed the rules - right balance between rapidity of play and individuality of characters. Long range combat is slow (as it should be) and close range is deadly (especially M79 grenades).

However unless we were doing something really wrong, deviation for area weapons seems ridiculous; we had grenades deviate 18" long on a long throw so effectively a grenade was thrown 102 yards! And an RPG was fired at right angles to the intended target!

Also I need to make some quick play sheets - the index/contents aren't the best (or existent) in either book so much going back and forth was going on.

The session ended with Alex and Jon making their initial characters and discussions of other things to get and do. Buildings/terrain are priorities as is some vehicular support. It will take me some time but my aim is to eventually be able to field a platoon of US Grunts having optional supports of:

M113

Jeep

UH-1 Huey

M48 Patton

M50 Ontos

M728

Anything else I need? Next week I'll be running another game - another random mission probably but this time with some actual role playing and a test run with Alex and Jon's characters.

British WW2 Gliders

So finally getting around to indexing my current troops.

Gliders

First of all here are my scratch built gliders for my British Airborne Division. Just a few matchsticks glued together, cut to shape make the glider itself.

Horsas

Painted all in black then the top half was painted in dark green. This was followed with the brown before the white stripes were added. Finally I retouched up the black and added the black stripes on the white.

Hamilcar

The models I feel are effective if not perfectly accurate. I use these for gaming with my 10mm models, although they are probably closer to 6mm or even smaller. I will eventually post the orbat but for more information on the Horsa and Hamilcar Gliders please click on the names.

Next time; 1st Brigade

Giving Up Spending

Soooooo, I'm getting towards skintage :( things need to be done.

First of all less spending, this means no buying random crap and less trips to t'pub.

Secondly make more money, this means a lot of modelling needs to be done and as much as possible stuck up on ebay and sold, so watch this space.

At the same time I need to keep occupied and keep in touch with people so I'm thinking my life will basically involve work, playing football and inviting people round to the Trenches "to have fun" modelling/keeping me focused on projects.

Oh and get more pictures on here :)

Start of Something New

So first of all I'd like to say thanks to everyone following this :) and also to everyone who's given advice and comments - but more comments on here please :p.

The terrain building has been temporarily been put on hold as I'm moving to Lancaster in a couple of weeks time but as part of that it brings new opportunities which I will now proceed to bore you with as well as some questions that I'm hoping some of you may have some answers to.

Firstly, I have really started to get back into tabletop boardgaming playing with a bunch of friends some old favourites like Monopoly alongside some which I'd heard of but had never played like Munchkin and Carcassone - both brilliant games.

As such I would like to set up a boardgaming club in Lancaster, playing any games people bring along, maybe a few drinks, maybe try out some RPGs. So any suggestions as to location or anyone who wants to get involved get in touch :)

Secondly, and related, I'd like to find a set of rules for Star Wars Skirmish. Simple you say? Well give me some suggestions. They need to be either RPG rules which kind of work as wargaming rules or wargaming rules which have an RPG element. I have an idea for a brilliant scenario based on a book by Timothy Zahn which I won't describe for obvious reasons.


Finally, as I mentioned earlier I'm moving. As such I won't have all of my modelling stuff at first and I've got one box to fit a selected amount of stuff. What do you think I need in there so I can continue with as much painting and modelling as possible.

Cool Beans :p

Trench tiles

So finally got the first two trench tiles done and dusted along with a group of barbed wire sections and they made their eagerly anticipated debut and the Lancaster Wargames Xmas game. So here they are (Figures painted by Dan Johnson).

Mortar Pit

Panzer!!!

Vorwarts!!