June Update

Wow – it's been over two months since my last blog post, and what a crazy time it's been. Aside from mundane things like decorating and major earthworks that have eating into down time, the hobby is very much alive and kicking.

To begin with, though it seems a lifetime away, I had a cracking visit to Salute. I haven't been for a couple of years so was really looking forward to it – normally the kiss of death. However, I didn't hold back this time around and came home with a boatload of loot, chatted to quite a few people about their projects and products, and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

After my game of Kill Team with Bull, back at the beginning of March, I was buzzing for my Crimson Fist marines and (more so) my new gaming board and terrain. I has quite literally become an addiction, and I have been building lots of Sector Mechanicus bits and pieces to create the ultimate skirmish environment.

Once done I had some time to ponder and ripped half of it apart and rebuilt it _ with magnets galore –  in a more modular and funky way. This felt a bit mad at the time, but has proved to be a genius move as the set of terrain I have is looking awesome.

Very happy bunny indeed. Most of it has a base coat, whilst some has been lavished with shade and even highlights. More on this another time.

My son even got in on the action, taking the time to construct a battlescape one afternoon, using lots of my 40k models. It was a good opportunity to dust a few old bits off and assess the model collection. I think I need more.

I managed to get a fantastic 2-day gaming session in with Bull at the end of May. Instead of picking up the Kill Team again, of which he wasn't really a fan, we took another look at Shadespire. I think it's fair to say that this definitely ticked a box for Bull, to the point I did think he might go out and make a rather large purchase of everything related (but he held his nerve!).

I had a bit of a lull after this marathon gaming event, but my son persisted with the big 40k displays. It got my enthusiasm back up again, and I've been spending my evenings building lots of Space Marine models I'd bought and had sitting in a box.

This last weekend was something of a highlight as I took him to his first ever wargame show – Broadside 2019 in Sittingbourne. Despite not being a fan of all the walking, and the fact he was a little short to see what was going on most of the time, he loved it. His biggest highlight was a demo game by Friday Night Firefight Club of Dinosaur hunting, using a modified version of the Congo rules. Of course, having been reminded of that amazing game we had at Awdry Towers, I had to buy the Congo rulebook!

Painting my Kill Team Terrain… with a Sponge!

Having acquired a rather large amount of GW's Sector Mechanicus terrain for my new Kill Team board, I had to face the task I normally fail at – painting it all!

I no longer have access to my airbrush, so I needed to find a quick way to get some colours down that would also satisfy my nitpicking attitude towards details and 'looking cool'. I decided to go down the route of the sponge technique I'd used on my board.

I spray undercoated everything with Leadbelcher (what an awesome spray can that is!). Immediately things looked better. I then painted the area I wanted to colour up un Rhinox Brown. A couple of thin coats later we were ready to rock and roll.

I started by mixing Rhinox Brown and Mephiston Red on my palette and began sponging the colour on, subtly at first but then I got bolder. I added more Mephiston Red and let the sponge do the mixing. The colour was beginning to focus around the central part of each segment, leaving wonderful dark shadows at the edges.

I gave the red areas a wash of Baal Red (now sadly no longer available) then, once thoroughly dry, applied more Mephiston Red, moving up gradually to Evil Sunz Scarlet and even a little Wild Rider Red.

I retired the sponges and tried out some edging colours with a fine brush, going through my cycle of reds, and things were starting to look good. However it was not dark or dirty enough.

Next I touched up the Leadbelcher where the sponge had contaminated the metal with red, and washed the metal areas in Nuln Oil then, once dry, the whole thing in Agrax Earthshade, concentrating on the recesses and clearing the glaze away from the central highlight areas almost completely. Understandably I had to leave it 24hrs to dry!

I was very happy now, but felt I needed to highlight the individual plates within each segment. Again, I cycled through my reds, but pushed on to a Fire Dragon Bright and even touches of a flesh tone (don't recall white one – Kislev?). I finished with some Agrax Earthshade in the recesses between the plates to add contrast to the highlights.

I'm calling these red sections done, except for maybe a huge stencilled number and sone distressing at a later date. The plan is to approach the metal parts in a similar fashion, getting the overall highlights to a mid-tone then some edge highlights quite bright.

I'm just happy that I'm close to my first piece of painted terrain in almost 15 years!!

Collecting Kill Team Terrain

Preparation of the Kill Team board continues, as time has become generally limited to finish my team. I'll admit this is probably the most expensive route to go, but the hope is that I will have a decent set of terrain that works well for both Kill Team and Necromunda.

I started with the Ryza ruins from GW, which are relatively cheap and provided a good basis. I then bought in to the idea that I was creating an abandoned/ruined manufacturing zone, and things started to… erm, escalate. I love the look of the Manufactorum (above in grey plastic) and it would also bring height to the table (which is always a double edged sword!).

By this point I was bitten by the terrain bug. I have always loved the Armoured Containers, and they would be perfect for my setting, so they were next on my shopping list. I only have one built at present, but there are two more waiting in the wings.

Then came the 'pièce de résistance'. An Adeptus Mechanicus specific kit, I found it lurking away from the other terrain in my local GW store. It is an absolute beauty, and makes an awesome centrepiece. The fact it cost less than the Armoured Crates was a bonus.

So that is the collection so far. All lacking a bit of paint, but that will come – I'm very much looking forward to getting some colour on this lot and creating an awesome gaming environment in which to play Kill Team.

Stay tuned for more Kill Team!

Making a Kill Team Board

By way of a side project, alongside my A Tale Of 3 Armies kill team building, I decided to make a Kill Team board and have some new terrain for it. I haven't managed to complete my last two board projects, but somehow this one seemed very do-able, even given the limited time I have these day. Once I'd started I got the bug to get it done. I took inspiration from the Malifaux board I made all those years ago, mimicking the potato printing process to create patterns and textures.

I bought a piece of 4x2 6mm MDF and cut the length down so it was 30cmx24cm – slightly wider than the 'official' kill team size of 30cmx22cm (which is a really odd size and surely just so it will fit in a box), but I'm ok with that. I bought a trolley full of tester paint pots at the same time, in a variety of colours, and chose a dark brown to base coat the board. I used a roller so that I would get some subtle texture, but not too much – I made the mistake of using some filler to texture my Malifaux board, and it proved to be quite an issue.

I gave the base coat 24 hrs to dry thoroughly (not a quick process in a cold garage). Then came the fun part!


I cracked open the other tester paint pots and found myself an old car washing sponge. I used a fork to rip up the surface of the sponge so it was very ragged but in a random, natural way, filling the floor with bits of sponge in the process!!


I went back to my original dark brown paint and dabbed it quite heavily over the basecoated board, to fill in any bits I'd missed and to add more texture.

Whilst this initial pass of brown was still wet, I poured different tester pot colours into my paint tray and used the sponge again, letting the colours mix naturally as I dabbed, trying to keep the coverage as random as possible. There were blues and greys and browns and greens, and gradually they began to mix in the tray and on the board, so each application got more subtle. I tried to keep the lighter colours concentrated near the centre of the board, as that is where most of the action would take place and it would become the natural focal point.

After tidying up the incredible mess, I left the board for two days to dry in the chilly garage – even that was only just long enough (the paint on my sponge was still very wet!). I brought the board indoors to put some terrain on it and photograph it, thinking it was done. But something didn't feel quite right – it felt too light in colour, not grungy enough.

My solution was quite extreme.

I managed to find some old bottles of Windsor & Newton ink – Nut Brown and Black. I mixed the two in a bowl, with only the smallest amount of black, as I recalled it was very strong. I added some water and a bit of old matt medium and washed the entire board using a sponge, making sure as best I could that the coverage was even and there were no lines. The board was almost black – I could hardly see any of my sponged on patterns!!

With the ink still wet, I got a clean sponge dipped in water and started dabbing it lightly and quickly around the centre of the board to thin the ink coverage. It was a very gradual process. I kept going until I felt I had the right balance and the results were looking grungy enough for me. I then (gingerly) brought the board indoors to dry thoroughly in the warmth.

I have to say I love the final result. It has surpassed my expectations and I have created a new board process along the way. I will probably add some furniture pads underneath to protect whatever surface I'm playing on, but aside from that (and a coat or two of protective varnish) we're done.

I did consider adding scenery elements (skulls, discarded weapons, etc.) to the board but I want this to be easily stored, so purposefully kept it as flat as possible. Similarly, I thought about printing tyre tracks, footprints, explosions, etc on there, but again decided to keep it neutral so it can be used for any game. The scenery placed on top will create the real atmosphere for the gaming and I wanted the board to be nothing more than a backdrop for that.

Expect to see this board a lot on the blog in the future!!

Build A Gaming Board: part 4

No, I've not gone all George Lucas and started a new series with part 4. This is in fact the legitimate part 4 of a post series that began back in 2013!

That's right! After a four year hiatus, that included a house move, four job changes and a new baby who has grown into a toddler, I have finally made some progress on my gaming board. Hey, I may be laid back but I get there in the end… sometimes.

If you missed the beginning you may want to catch up:

Gaming Board: part 1
Gaming Board: part 2
Gaming Board: part 3

So the board was originally meant to be for my now defunct Dark Crucible ruleset. The frame and foam base have been kicking around attics, spare rooms and garages for ages now, getting more damaged by the year. I've always wanted to go back and finish it but for a long time it seemed very unlikely things would progress at all. With my recent stint at rule writing I've been looking to get a new neoprene gaming mat (as they are a superior solution) but every time I went into the garage I'd see my board looking neglected and very sorry for itself. I decided to just do something about it, so (disguised as part of a household chore) I spent some time knocking things into shape.

I've sanded down the frame ready for some undercoat. There were some sharp edges there so I was keen to get it user friendly. I was also bothered by how high the foam sat above the edge of the frame. My original plan was to carve some wonderful rolling hills into it, but that was a little ambitious as I discovered. I'm going for something a little more reserved this time as an opening effort. I spent a long time trimming several millimetres off the top of the foam to get it closer. Once done it looked pretty rough so I gave that a sanding before pouring lots of pva glue on it to fill a few holes and scattering some larger sand/stones on there.

The plan now it to cover the rest of the board with a combination of red oxide and textured emulsion to get a nice, flexible surface. Once that is complete I can paint it and get on with the flocking!!

We may see this bad boy finished yet!

To be continued...

Do You Remember The Castle?

Tabletop Workshop's plastic castle

You may remember about 18 months ago I was waxing lyrical about a new range of plastic scenery that I'd recently 'discovered'. Tabletop Workshop created a series of kits that were perfect for my Medieval gaming. Alas not long after I'd invested some birthday money in their rather fantastic plastic castle kit the website disappeared and their Facebook page fell silent.

I never did get around to building much after the blog posts about it, but it's always been in the back of my mind as a project waiting in the wings. I think many people were rather sad that such an innovative company with a great product range should have fallen by the wayside.

Only last week, whilst tidying up the spare room I found the castle box and it reminded me I have a very exciting project in store.

Warlord Games' new Citadel

However, lo and behold this morning I discover that Warlord Games are releasing their new Citadel model… a model that looks remarkably, exactly the same as the Tabletop Workshop Castle!

They're also telling us that separate walls, towers and gatehouses will become available very soon.

Could this be time to resurrect my castle project? Is the gatehouse they're talking about is the famed gatehouse that TW were developing right before they disappeared?

Needless to say, Warlord haven't mentioned TW at all giving the impression it's their doing. Regardless, if it means that this kit becomes available again then I'm all for it!

Battle In The Woods

So last night was (a slightly delayed) hobby night, but rather than carry on with the painting I took the opportunity to have a run out with my new models, new woodland mat and new made-up rules.

Aside from a couple of village huts there was no terrain – deforestation in medieval times clearly much worse than historians thought – (giving a huge advantage to the bowmen) but as an impromptu game I just wanted to see how things panned out overall. No special rules or abilities were used, just the bare bones basics… move, shoot, melee.

On the Sherwood side we had the Outlaw Prince and 4 Outlaw Rangers, whilst Nottingham brought a Captain, 2 Crossbowmen and 2 Soldiers with sword & shield. The general objective (if there really was one) was to take and hold the village – 'king of the hill' in the middle of the board.

The game started cautiously as everyone raced towards the huts. On the left, the Prince and one of the Rangers managed a couple of cheeky wounds on a Crossbowman who had not taken adequate cover. Similarly, one of the Rangers on the right wounded and knocked down one of the soldiers with a great shot.

As the game progressed, the Nottingham crew were becoming pin-cushions as they got caught in crossfire. Eventually the Captain got into base contact with the Prince and an almighty battle ensued. Models were starting to pick up wounds across the board, when suddenly the Captain clobbered the Prince and he dropped. Missing their leader it was looking bad for Sherwood, but the Captain was badly hurt and was finished off with a couple more arrows. One of the soldiers managed to kill a Ranger outright and the numbers were dwindling. With two wounded Rangers on one side and a badly wounded soldier left on the other, it was pretty much over. Nottingham had clocked up more King of the Hill points (having been camped in there for two or three turns) but had all but been wiped out by the Rangers.

A lot to take on board after an opening roll of the dice. Some holes in the rules became apparent early on, other ideas emerging later. Exciting times.

The Woodland pvc mat worked well. It provided a great backdrop to the game and, with the addition of a few fences, trees and vegetable patches will be great to game on.

It does slide around on our polished dining table but it didn't move during the game which was good. I may put a table cloth or table protector underneath next time (slapped wrists!).

Woodland Gaming Mat

I got home last night to find a long awaited parcel sitting quietly in the porch. It was my Pwork Wargames pvc mat.

Given that my gaming board is a long way off being looked at again, I wanted something more than a bit of green cloth to serve as a playing surface. I saw a news post somewhere that they had just released a new Woodland design so I jumped straight in. It's taken best part of a month to get here, but will it be up to the job?

I bought the smallest size they do – 90cmx90cm – although when I measured it is a little short. The pvc is very thin, in fact not much thicker than paper and the pvc smell is quite overwhelming. However, negative points out of the way let's get on to the plus side.

The guy behind this company (I discovered after my purchase) created one of the maps for Aetherium, which is an ironic link.

The illustration is amazingly detailed and looks stunning – the print quality is excellent. It's basically a bit of printed lino so is waterproof, can be wiped clean (so get your whiteboard markers on standby!) and rolls up nicely to go into its storage tube. It does retain the curl a bit so I've rolled it up the opposite way in the hope of countering the curl a little. It's got a satin finish to it so there is a little reflection but not too bad considering it's pvc.

Let's be honest, it's never going to feel as good or real as a well put together gaming board with all the trimmings. But, from a pure convenience perspective it is a genius addition to the collection. The fact that it's a great illustration and well printed just made the effort worthwhile. It also gives me something to emulate as I build my gaming board.

They have lots of different designs too, so you're bound to find one that you can use. My 90x90 came in at approx £25 with an additional £7 postage from Italy. I think the green cloth that I have been using cost £20 from Dunelm so not a bad comparison.

With the addition of some flickering battery candles from Sainsburys, things are already starting to look pretty good – on with the painting!

Bat-phone Engaged?

Always looking to run before I can walk, I stumbled across an idea for a key piece of terrain for our upcoming Batman battles…

THE BAT SIGNAL!!

A spotlight from Sarissa Precision…



and, oh wait!

A battery-powered dolls house lamp from Amazon!


Criminals of Gotham beware!!

Streets Of Gotham – Terrain Thoughts

After last week's look at the idea of a new Gotham gaming board I thought I'd move on to possible terrain for said board.

Many of the example Batman boards you see are made up from Sarissa Precision 'City Block' mdf terrain. It's rather close to what you would expect downtown Gotham to be like and is certainly one of the best options available at a reasonable price.

My only worry is that it would start to look a little samey, so you'd have to mix up these building with some more 'unique' pieces.

As an alternative, I was pointed to a Kickstarter for mdf terrain – Warehouse District by Impudent Mortal – which I found very inspirational. I have no intention of pledging for this particular kickstarter but there are some cracking ideas here and the style of terrain could be easily replicated in foam board… with a bit of time.

I did post the link to the Arkham City Limits facebook group to share this new found gem but was promptly flamed by other members then had the post deleted because promoting Kickstarter is against the rules. Needless to say I am no longer a part of that group!

If you can't share inspirational terrain links with fellow gamers, kickstarter or not, without being shot at then it's not really an open-minded group. It seems that there are some downsides to being made the official Batman facebook group!

Talking of foamboard, the other option is to go pure DIY. The piece above is along similar lines to the Warehouse District stuff, and didn't take that long to make.

However, at a time when time is at a premium, making one's own terrain may not be the best use of it. Time vs money.

And where money is no object, Knight Models will be releasing (eventually) some official Gotham buildings… maybe not for a 3x3ft board though!

Don't forget to check out Bull's Fun Fair terrain building as he creates a Joker themed gaming board!


To be continued…