Workbench: The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Mag Guns...

Last week was almost a bust thanks to the changing seasons.  Gotta love allergies.  Thankfully things are slowly getting back on track this week and I decided to dive into expanding my terrain options.  I've been brainstorming some ideas for buildings constructed from foam core but need to grab a couple of white pens before I can really push forward with those.  Why white?  Instead of using the plain white boards, I decided to use black boards instead.  This should make the painting process a bit since there is no base coating required; it's already black!  It'll be interesting to see how it actually plays out but fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I dug out a utility knife and started cutting up some of the spare insulation board to make some hills.  Inspiration for the technique is straight from the Tabletop Warlords, specifically the Modular Hills episode from their Antares Build playlist.  Currently it's the only episode in that playlist but that's because of all the other Gates of Antares content they've been churning out which I definitely recommend checking out.

For my hills, I followed most of Kevin's suggestions and so far I'm really happy with the end result.  I did "flock" mine slightly differently (aka not at all) because I glued cut fabric to the tops instead of going whole hog with more traditional basing material.  This keeps them in line with my other terrain pieces though and I think that will help pull them all together visually.

Just a quick shot for this week but I think they look pretty good.

In addition to the hills, I've also started shaping some of the off cuts into boulders so I can put together some rocky outcroppings.  This will mix up my terrain options a bit more and add more variety to the mix.  So far I'm sticking with my more verdant board but eventually I'll start working on putting together my desert world as well.  As I already had a head start with the green board, it only makes sense to finish that one first and then move on.  This also works well for other gaming options as the green board can be used for other systems a bit easier than my shocking yellow desert.

I'm also going to try to do something to kick start my painting.  With my three armies nearly complete, I've been having a heck of a time sitting down to finish the few models that I have left.  I've tried painting other genres to try to kick the painters block to the curb but there's been enough of a break that I'm really frustrated with the quality that I'm producing.  Only I get the current projects situated, I'm going to try to work out a painting routine doing just one figure a day to keep my hand in practice.  Most of these will be just quick paint jobs but that seems like the perfect thing for this time of year.  After all, it's almost Zomtober.  Normally I'm not a big zombie fan but I did pick up some of the Zombicide Black Plague game.  These will fit into any fantasy setting quite nicely and this will be the perfect excuse to get some paint on them.  Until next time...

Workbench: Civil War - It's Not Just For Marvel Anymore!

Back when I first started picking up miniatures for Antares, I decided right away that I didn't want to field any of my armies with the studio paint schemes.  This wasn't because I didn't like them, but because I really liked the open sandbox approach that Warlord and the Antares community have as a whole.  It's your army, paint them anyway you like!

As time has gone by and the story has started to advance, I must admit that I am going to start collecting figures using schemes inspired by the studio paint jobs.  It only seems fitting as I start working two new Algoryn forces inspired by the recent talk of potential civil war.

On one side, you have the disgraced Tar Es Janar.  After his treasonous behavior at Xilos, Tar Es Janar was exiled from the Protectorate but not all felt that this was justified.  While he did break normal protocols, his actions helped deny the Ghar a foothold on Xilos.  Forced out into the wilds of the Determinate, there are those still loyal who have been quietly gathering their strength in anticipation of the day of his return.

Meanwhile, the vacuum left by his exile created the ideal opening for Ess Ma Rahq to ascend to what she feels is her rightful place.  Already the commander of the Special Division, the success of the hazard armor has brought her even more favor with the Council.

So my plan for this is to build a small force for both sides of this conflict.  For the exiled legions of Tar Es Janar, I want to focus on assault squads supported by standard AI squads.  Meanwhile, Ess Ma Rahq has been able to tap into the power her position in the Special Division so her force would consist of mostly hazard squads and infiltrator squads, possibly with some standard AI squads to fill things out.  Of course since they are all Algoryn, the color scheme will be the big difference here; the traditional Algoryn red for the exiles while the ominous forces of the Special Division will be black.

This is still just in the concept stages right now but it's something I want to work towards.  Still, the journey of a hundred minis begins with a single brushstroke.  Until next time...

Workbench: Making A Better "Tabletop"

As I've mentioned, I am currently traveling for work which makes gaming a challenge to say the least.  Thankfully it an extended stay so I have the same hotel room which does make things easier, but there is still the overall space issue.  A two room suite is not even close to the amount of space in a typical home or apartment.

To try to work around this, I had brought down four 2' x 2' boards that I had attached some cloth to so I could use them as terrain board as is.  Unfortunately the one and only table in the hotel room is pretty thin so putting the boards on it can be a little nerve wracking.  During the game I played last week with Concord vs Algoryn, there were a couple of times that I nearly flipped one of the sections when I leaned on it.

Functional but mildly stress inducing

To get around this, I went out and picked up an 8' x 4' inch thick insulation board.  My original plan was to chop off a 2' section from the end so I could have a 6' x 4' topper.  After some thought, I decided to cut it down to a 4' x 4' topper instead due to the size of the room.

This still left the issue of the overall size.  4' x 4' is a good size for gaming but its still tricky to store it away in a hotel room.  The solution for this was to split it into two 4' x 2' tables and add a "hinge".

The "new and improved" table top

In this case the "hinge" is made with duct tape.  I laid out the two boards next to each other and ran a line of tape along the seam.  Then I folded the "table" in half and ran another piece of tape along the two edges along the seam.  This lets me fold the topper in half and the extra tape should make it a little sturdier.

It's so shiny...

Of course I'll have to see how it works in application but I thinking it should work out nicely.  And as an added plus, I also have all of the extra foamboard to start making some vertical terrain.  That's right, it's time to get some hills!  Huzzah!  I really like how all of my vegetation has been turning out but I'm really excited to add the third dimension to the board.  More on that soon.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Having The Wrong Kind Of Flood

Little light on the miniature front this week thanks to some flooding by the pressure tank for our well.  Thankfully nothing was seriously damaged and the bill wasn't as bad as it could have been.  It does mean that I was a bit late getting down to Boston though so I won't have much chance to do anything miniature related.

That said, I did manage to play some games over the weekend that were a ton of fun.  On Saturday we went over to our friend's house after they helped us get the flooding under control.  To get our minds off of things, we played a game of Azul and Bohnanza, and then later I played a game of Wingspan.  Great fun with all of them, though I'll admit that I'm not sure if Wingspan would be one my wife would enjoy.  Beautiful looking game and interesting to play, but the engine building mechanic on a game about birds... not sure if it fits.  I definitely want to play it again as it had a nice crunch to it, but I can see it not being for everyone.  Azul on the other hand, that's one that I will definitely be adding to our gaming collection.

As for the miniatures, I must admit that I'm showing a massive about of restraint.  Currently Warlord Games is running their End of Summer Celebration Sale and the deals are both crazy and really tempting.  That said, I think I'm actually going to pass on this one so I can focus on some very important things; namely terrain (aka: a better gaming board) and miniature storage.

I currently have four 2' x 2' boards in the hotel so I can put together a 4' x 4' table but its not the most sturdy.  In fact I almost lost a chunk of miniatures a couple of times last week so I'm thinking I need to pick up a 1" thick piece of insulation foam.  This comes in 4' x 8' boards which means I'll be able to chop off a couple of feet and use that to build some hills while still having a full size surface to play on.

I also don't have any way to safely transport my Ghar or my T7 transport so I really need to take steps to correct that.  Sure they are at the hotel right now, but I found a game store up in New Hampshire that wants to start running Antares games.  It's a bit of a drive but I think I'm going to try to head up that way in the next couple of weeks to check things out.  Thus, good storage in general is kind of a priority.  Why spend all the time painting them if you are just going to throw them into a box, right?

Sometimes it sucks being logical but at this point, I think the best use of my gaming dollars.  Then again, if it leads to more and better gaming... well, that's definitely not a bad thing.  Until next time...