Acquisition Tyranids

Been a while since I have provided any real content to this blog eh...

Notice anything in that pic?
So much yellow... so many bugs.

That's right folks, Tyranids.  I have been up to my elbows in painting the 'Nid horde you see in the following pics.  These came to me by a buddy looking to off-load them.  I got them for quite a great price, and I gotta say, other than the time consuming nature of painting such a swarm, it's been nothing but a lot of fun.

Winter Trees

I was really lucky this winter season.  I acquired some trees from a former railroad hobbyist... THANKS DAD....and along with a few other supplies, I decided to go whole hog and create a set of trees for the Arctic setup I have.  I hadn't really fleshed out that set at all yet, so I was looking forward to getting something on the mat for an arctic setup, instead of just the cloud idea I have already.  These came together over a weekend, and I decided to make some, and use all of the winter trees I had been given.  All together 16 CD bases of arctic, tree filled goodness.
The tall trees are done with wooden skewers, that I sized up to 5-6" each, and the branches are odd cut shapes of scrub mats that I got from a former employee at work.  Poke a hole in the cut out shapes... hot glue down the painted skewer, and then top with snow.  For snow I happened to have a very dated diorama kit and just used the snow packet for it, but you could use anything.  A quick matte seal coat over the top and boom... trees for almost nothing.  If you had to buy everything yourself still under $20, less if you don't get the fake conifer trees.  For me... nothing says better than cheap.

Special Mission: Starport Assault

Playing with the set of clouds was rather enjoyable, I gotta say.  Just took a couple of shots on the setup and a few in-game shots.  I wanted to show the versatility of the setup, and man, was it great seeing my buddy configure the setup.  I can't believe it never occurred to me to put a bridge directly over one of the clouds, but yeah, it just reinforces the idea that I will only ever have a partial picture of the potential of the things I make.  That being said, the games we played were quite excellent.  We ended up doing 2 games on the special mission list. The setup was perfect for the "Starport" mission, and played really quickly.

Stronghold Assault - Version - Hipster

I posted the Cloud set I did up last night, and as I was uploading the pics, I got the urge to organize my picture sets.  Doing so gave me a headache, but hey, what else is new right?  I came across quite a few shots of past games, and tried my best to organize them such that my OCD to tag/label every iota of data was satisfied.  In doing so, I came across some relevant shots of a game from about a year ago.

I mostly just wanted to show off terrain that can really impact the game.  Buddies and I did a 2v2 game using this laser cut FORTRESS terrain from Warmill.co.uk found Here.  This set really shows what kind of terrain setup you can potentially have when you are not willing to give any effort, but instead just want to throw money at the problem.  While the buddy that got this setup as a gift only plays rarely, he was super excited to show it off, and other than the unpainted models all over the board, I think it looks great.  He even let me keep the scraps, so expect to see some extras from the set sometime in the future.

So long story still kinda long, we played this match up about a year before there were official rules for strongholds, and I gotta say, I was a great game.  Can't wait to start using it with the new rules.

Head in the Clouds

I re-watched the original Star Wars trilogy a few weeks back.  For the most part, it was background noise while I was building... the usual.  Then Empire came on, and the Cloud city on the Planet Bespin came up when Lando sabotaged Han and Leia.  I happened to look up when the ship was landing and saw the huge cloud-scape layout, and wondered if I could do something like that and realized I was already setup to do it.

I cobbled this first phase of this set together in a single night of playing around and building, and quickly realized not only could I do this... I had all the parts to do it for no additional cost!!  My dream build.  This couldn't have come together more easily, and when played out on the Icy Mat I have, the clouds absolutely POP.  I will do a follow up with how they look with the platforms and catwalk setup I have, but I just had to post these while they are still drying.  I laid them out and  couldn't be happier with them.  Easy big lumps of puffy clouds that make for PERFECT line of sight blockers, and impassable terrain.  They will compliment the Arctic set when that gets rolling as big snowy hills as well.

Made from Blue Foam, cut into random shapes, some in a few levels, and then a layer of glue followed by Poly-Fill Fiber.  I happened to have purchased a bag of this over a year ago thinking it was something else, and it landed in the closet of possible build materials.  I thought when building them that the blue foam would show through on spots, and in fact it does... but when it is on the mat, it is a perfect blend for the blues on the mat itself, so I think it works well.  Follow the jump for a few more shots.

Combining Sets

Played a big game this last weekend, and man was it a blast.  The only downside?  As soon as I setup the terrain, the darn camera battery was dead.  That silly thing takes a few hours to charge, so all I got was a few shots of the pre-game setup, and then all my buddies decided to change the setup completely anyway because the only guy that brought tanks had no chance of really using them in this setup.

I just wanted a post to show the initial setup using the combined lava flows and platforms and catwalks of the urban set.  If you look closely you can see the finished flows of solid magma... they now have a glow effect on the edges to showcase the brightness of the lava all around it.  Follow the jump for more pics.

Liquid Hot Magma.... Lava Mat - Now with Magma flows!

Couldn't resist the blog title.  As any of my friends know, I was obsessed with the Austin Powers movies from the 90's.  Liquid Hot Magma... ok, I will stop, I promise.

So I took the pics from the earlier post a bit early.  Technically I was only half done with the mat when I posted those shots.  Sue me, I was excited to post about a new shiny thing.  I added a black wash to the mat, and it added that much needed flow to the mat.  putting in the curvy hill/obsidian hills puts some movement on the otherwise static color.  The best thing though is it really makes the yellows and oranges pop way out of the red.  I did a LOT of painting today, and while I had these hills reserved for an arctic set I am building, they looked WAY better cracked and black.  So I decided to flesh these out for the lava mat instead.  Gotta say, these look REALLY good.

Battle Effects! - Blast Markers

Video explains it... I made a set of these a while back, and they are still a favorite.  Check out the blast markers... they double as smoke launcher markers really well too.

Don't Burn Your Toes - Lava Mat

Figured since I was doing a Jungle mat... and had all the materials to do a 2nd one, might as well get it done in the same time frame right?

I had the idea to do a Lava mat for quite some time now, seeing a few other examples, they mostly looked really well done, but one really stuck out in particular.  Seeing a mat done up completely in the lava colors and then some flat slate grey elevated points, I wanted to duplicate that kind of look.  So I made a mat with the reds/oranges/yellows on the mats, and future plans will include some slate gray plains areas.  The idea of course is to have the lava only really show between the flat areas.  I did the mat up, and wanted to test it so here are some pics in progress.  I used the existing hills I have, but imagine less elevation and several, nearly interlocking pieces with a few bridges/connecting points to allow for safe movement between magma flows.

Welcome to the Jungle - Part 2 (Now with Battle Mat)

Posted the jungle set before I finished the mat I was making.  I just couldn't wait patiently one more day to post the whole thing together.  Finally finished the Jungle mat I have been working on.  This is now officially my favorite mat, and it will be the the star of many games in the future.

I did this using the same methods I have done the last few, following the DIY guide from Miniwargaming.com found Here.  The basic run down is very simple.  Painters Tarp (aka Duck Cloth or Canvas) that is covered in acrylic caulking in several thin layers, allowed to dry between each, given a random textured surface on the last coat, and then painted with the trusty airbrush, sealed with a matte coat, and then cut to size.

This particular mat was done in several shades and tones of green.  I wanted a very earthy vibrant feel to a mat, and I think I pulled it off on this one.  As usual, more pics after the jump.

Tau-crons vs Daemons - Rumble in the Jungle

Had a great game with my Tau buddy this weekend, and because it was the first game of the new year I knew we had to have some fun with it.  I played a Tzeentch Horde bomb list that was completely fluffy and untried, but wow was it a blast.  I just wanted to show off a few of the more dynamic shots from the game, and a few shots that showed off the Jungle pieces I just completed.  Pics as usual after the jump.

Welcome to the Jungle

Going through some of the posts on this blog made me wanna re-do some of my previously done pieces.  I happened to have a spare vine of greenery garland, and a half dozen pieces I wanted to rework that all happened to be floral and highly vegetative.  I decided to combine both of these sets into one much more fleshed out set.  I gotta say, having played on it today was very pleasant.  The greens were offset by the pops of colors for the other floral things going on within each piece, and because the bases are sandy and the flowers have lots of oranges and yellows, very earthy tones, it fits really well as an oasis to the desert mat.

"Classic", "Vintage" just plain old crap... First attempt at Hills

I think I keep saying things like.. "My first terrain was X..."  Well folks, I lied this right here was actually what started it ALL.  I did these up in an afternoon orgy of burning foam smell and inhaling super glue fumes, and have been building terrain ever since.  As you can see, I had no clue what I was doing, and even so managed some not entirely terrible hills.  Hey they are functional, and when painted, made a semi-reasonable playing surface to match my table top at the time.  Having done a few sets of hills since, I see all the little things I did wrong here, but for now, just enjoy the blast from the past, and try to learn from my mistakes.  Pics comparing the old set to newer ones after the jump.

From Trash to ....well still trash, but Terrain too!

What would you do if you liked to make Terrain but had a shoestring budget?  If your answer was prostitution, you are looking at the wrong kind of blog.  If your answer was dumpster diving, look no further!!

I made a small set of pieces for a monthly build contest, the theme of which was "Terrain from Trash"  Rules were very open ended, but each item must be made in the majority out of trash or recycled materials.  Gotta say, the number of entries in that month's build was absolutely CRAZY, but I learned quite a bit, mostly through trial and error.  Pics as usual after the jump.

Ork Set - Ork Buildings and Ruins

 Digging back in the pics archive for this set, I had almost completely forgotten the first themed terrain pieces I ever created.  Looking back at this set actually kinda makes me cringe, lol.  I see all the holes in the work, and even though this is an Ork set, it looks half finished and the pieces that are done feel left wanting.  That being said, at the time, these set pieces were well received by friends playing, but I knew I could do better.  Posting this set makes me want to go to each of my buddies houses, collect the various pieces of this set and either torch them or attempt a fix on them.  I may end up doing just that.  Pics after the jump.  

Building a Gaming Table - ver. Karate CHOP

The way I saw it at the time, the only thing preventing me from playing a game of 40k in my own home was a gaming table.  When I realized that, I set out to make that happen.  A thought occurred at the time however... I play most of my games with friends at their places... is there any chance of us needing a 2nd table at one of their places?  Could a table be made to be modular?  

Answer after the jump.

Urban Buildings - Can't have too many of these eh?

So in digging around for pics to post of some of my older buildings, I am really starting to see the progress of my building skills, and more importantly I am seeing all the little ways I would do it differently/better now.  That gives me hope that there is in fact progress in my goal to build better and more dynamic terrain.

These pieces I built over a year ago and they were mostly just experimenting with foamboard and corrugated cardboard.  I wanted a construction site feel to these pieces and this was the first time I had ever played with the wire mesh.

More Urban Ruins

 So I made a few pieces for a terrain building contest on Miniwargaming.com and the theme was Recycled Goods.  I did up a few pieces, and even if I didn't win, I saw with the huge variety of entries just how versatile trash could really be.  I made quite a few pieces revolving around that idea when I have wanted to build, but not spend any money.

The idea behind this set was a quick and dirty assembly of nearly all plastic bottles/cardboard.

Ruins. Quick and Easy.

This set was quick and easy.  Nuff said right?  I have been building for a while now, so this set when handed to me was a very fast turn around.  I immediately saw the potential.  I got handed a set of brick walls made by Tamiya, and they were already red brick plastic.  I knew some finishing touches would make this set pop and it would be really painless.

Mounted on foamboard, and then flocked with a mix of sand and turf, then I just added some grass and foliage.  All I did to the bricks themselves was wash heavily in brown and then lighter in black.  Gave it a worn and dirty look.  Hit the jump for pics of the set.

Alien Plant-life

The VERY first time I went to Hobby Lobby, I fell in love at least a dozen times.  This was for me, the start of terrain building.  Having just walked in and finding literally isles full of plastic plants, I knew that I would be making some alien plant-life for my games.  I will admit I've been to a hobby location nearly every weekend since.  Mostly for inspiration, but also for raw materials.  Foam-board, Glue, Spray-paint, you name it, I get it there.