Shanty Town (1) - Building Something from Nothing

Something I've mentioned before is my growing interest in post apocalypse gaming. I've long been a fan of This is Not a Test and back in November at Fall-in I picked up the 7TV Post-Apocalypse Starter Set (and a small fortune in figures from Crooked Dice) from my friends over at Phalanx Consortium. This have sat idly by while I've debated what exactly I wanted to do with the project. In the mean time, I've also picked up a bunch of the Lead Adventure Forum Stalker Figures and have decided it was time to get some terrain going. The stage is set, lets dive right into the content.

This article was also published on the Michigan Toy Soldier News From the Front Blog

Building a Shanty Town: Painting Tutorial


Every so often, I'll come across some sort of figure, terrain piece, vehicle, whatever that just screams "paint me!" While browsing thingiverse after game night one week, I discovered this amazing bundle of files to make a totally modular Shanty Town by Terrain4Print. If you have a printer of your own and want to follow along with my guide the files are available below. Here's the example photo that started it all.
Buildings
Barricades
Junk
Obstacles

Any 3D printing project is gonna start in the same place, at the slicer. I kept my settings pretty standard and opted for a .2 layer height using prusaslicers default .2(Speed) profile. Let's address something up front, Layer Lines. I don't deal with them. When comparing the costs, availability of models, ease of access, range, modularity etc etc etc between 3D printed terrain and commecially available stuff, layer lines are simply part of the equation. If you don't like the lines (and honestly, I don't love them) you can spend some time sanding, then finish with a primer like 3D Prime from Badger to hide as many of the lines as possible. You can also limit the lines from the beginning by printing at a smaller layer height but because of the sheer volume of stuff coming off my Prusa Printer, I almost always choose to opt for speed over detail. Once a part is loaded into the slicer, its off to the printer to wait.

In this particular pack from Thingiverse, you simply pick 4 walls you like, 2 short and 2 long, and print the roof that fits to that design. I chose 4 walls, 2 with doors and windows, found the correct roof and began printing. The total print time for the 5 parts for this building was around 20 hours and was printed in Prusament Vanilla White

I assembled the building in the usual way with super glue. There's a pretty easy system for making the roofs removable but I decided to glue the roof on for stability.

Once the building is assembled it's time to hit it with some paint. I usually prime all my 3D printed stuff. I decided to prime these with Army Painter Gun Metal spray. The majority of our building is this metalic corrugated metal material and this will save a lot of time in the long run.

The first step is pretty simple. Wash a handful of the panels with Black and a handful with dark brown. There's no right or wrong here just, vary the colors a bit so its not all the same shade of metalic.

Next up, I took the building to the workbench to basecoat all those non-metallic details (bricks, tires, wood, cloth) in what ever colors I felt like. I used my usual colors for these, Old Wood and Flesh Shadows from the Vallejo Panzer Aces line for the wood and bricks, Vallejo Black Grey for the tires and Brown Violet for the cans.

Once all the colors are laid down and we're happy with the general scheme it's time to do some weathering. I took the building back down to my game room, grabbed some Vallejo Acrylic Washes and Weathering Effects and a cheap flat AK brush and went to town.  I used the following washes to get the job done.

At this point you simply want to weather the model, I started by washing all of the "details" with black or dark brown depending on the material. The wooden bits and brick parts got a brown wash whereas the tires and washing machine got a black wash. The cans got both. Using the dark rust wash, I painted splotches (technical term) any where the metal was worn or I wanted to break up the color a bit, typically where two panels met but again there is no wrong answer. The Rust texture is "stippled on" roughly. over areas where the rust should look really bad. There's just a hint of texture to this one and I love the effect it leaves. Finally, I sparingly added some streaking grime near where the roof meets the wall in spots to show a gross build up.

At this point I'm calling the piece done. This is the kind of project you can pant in a day and with how quick these paint up, I'll be able to cover a small table in a weekend. I also think its a great first project for someone wanting to dip their toes into a terrain project because, believe it or not, this is actually only the second terrain piece I've ever finished painting. Most of the terrain I've done has either been pre-painted or I've had it painted by someone else.

Next up on my agenda for this project is to start doing some multi floor buildings, then its time to print and paint scatter terrain. Finally, I'll finish the project with a wall to defend the town.

Flintcon 2020

Each year in Flint Michigan, a friend of ours runs a nice little convention called FlintCon. Its a pretty short drive, there's usually a decent turn out for the flea market and the games are usually pretty good. I'm very much so a "convention-fan" so I don't usually miss an opportunity to go to a show more or less in my backyard.

Photos after the Jump

Punic Wars (1) - The First Batch of Romans

The long awaited Punic Wars project actually has some paint on it now! I've long had an interest in gaming the era and decided to liquidate my 28mm figures in favor of the smaller, more affordable, more "amass-able" 10mm ones. I talked about it during the challenge and mentioned it in the prep stages here but I picked a battle from the Age of Hannibal scenario book and finished purchasing everything for it.

Much like my English Civil War Collection, the entire collection is based on 40mm squares with 1 unit being one base in the Age of Hannibal rules.

First on the agenda is the Roman Army. I originally figured I'd paint a unit for each side and alternate back and forth to keep the project playable as I go but to be honest, I think seeing the roman army finished would be a better motivator than painting nearly 700 figures before calling anything "done"

And here is the first unit type. Velites for the Roman forces.

I don't have step by step photos but they are dead simple.

Prime black, paint the flesh with Pz Aces Flesh Base, paint the Red with Mephiston Red, Spear Shafts are Pz Aces Old Wood and the wolf pelts and shield backs are Leather Brown.
The trick with painting the 10mm figures quickly in my opinion is to prime black and leave a touch of black between colors. This makes them pop just a bit without feeling like I need to highlight. These aren't winning awards but the batch of 25 figures was painted and based in just under an hour and 20 minutes.

I also managed to crack out the first couple bases of Princepes. These figures are 2 strips to a base with a total of 10 figures. The scenario I'll be running calls for 7 bases of these. I have some Celts on the desk now but I think those will be a wip while I complete the first wave of Numidians.

So here we have everything done for the Romans so far. The bases are my usual fair though this time I used Woodland Scenics 2mm grass.

The usual things apply here, in that this is one of a great many projects i have in the works but seeing them come together for these photos I'm very happy with the track I'm on.

The Battle of Hoth Playtest

As part of the convention circuit this year. Dan and I are running a big 10mm Battle of Hoth scenario at FlintCon in February. This evening the normal group and I set up what is basically the first playtest game. After some deliberation we settled on trying out Future War Commander for the rules. 

Originally we were going to use Horizon Wars as a bit of an homage to an earlier episode in which we reviewed the rules but the more I thought about what I wanted from the game, the more we looked for something a little more streamlined.

I've rated the troops pretty much as such for the first game and like all my bright ideas, what is present on paper is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the ideas I have up top.

Storm Troopers
MV 10 ATTACKS 3/30 ASSAULT 3 HITS 4 SAVE 5
At-st
MV 15 ATTACKS 4/60 ASSAULT 4 HITS 4 SAVE 4
At-at
MV 10 ATTACKS 6/60 ASSAULT 4 HITS XX SAVE 3
Rebels
MV 10 ATTACKS 3/30 ASSAULT 3 HITS 4L SAVE 6 COST 20
Snow Speeders
MV 10/20 ATTACKS 4/30 ASSAULT 3 HITS 4 SAVE5/6 SEE NOTE
ATTACH TOW 4+ DROP SAVE TO 5 AND MOVE TO 10
Turrets
MV - ATTACKS 4/60 ASSAULT - HITS 5 SAVE 5

This was more or less my blind guess at what would work. The Rules state that troops in the open are hit on a 4 and troops in trenches on a 6 so my logic is "rebels will be hard to his but easy to kill. Stormtroopers will be hard to kill but easy to hit" We'll see how it pans out in subsequent tests. On to the Scenario

Rebels (Deployed in the Trench Lines)
XX x Stands of Infantry
5 x Gun Turrets
4 x Snow Speeders (Recyclable)(Start in Echo Base)

Empire (Deployed on the board edge)
15 x Stands of Infantry
4 x At-St
3 x AT-AT

And some eye candy from the Playtest game

Some thoughts. Most of the numbers worked really well, especially considering my lack of experience with the rules.The Snowspeeders however basically need an entire rewrite and after a lot of debate we decided to basically come up with a new system for them that would make it a little easier to attach but a little harder to kill. I think we'll be testing it once or twice more before the show but in general, it's almost there. Ill need to print the turrets and do a little more basing but otherwise I think we're just about ready. I have a page full of notes to tweak some stuff but its nothing major. We are on track for Flintcon

Hive City Table (1) - Plans and First Progess

In addition to the Zone Mortalis Table (more on that very soon) I'll be working on and project logging a "Hive City" Table. Did I mention I went off the deep end here?

First the inspiration photos can all be found here https://imgur.com/a/RqoK8

 
Way back when, in White Dwarf issue 207, they ran an article about a "vertical" table. During a discussion with a friend, he mentioned if he was gonna bother getting into Necromunda it would be on a table like that. I did some research and eventually found the article archived and, looking at it, it didn't seem like an impossible task to recreate it. An impulsively bought Proxxon Cutter (with some glowing recommendations from Anton over at Anton's Wargame) and we were on our way.

First some notes. After monkeying around with some figures I've come to the conclusion that the Ambot is the tallest Necromunda specific Figure in the range except maybe the chaos spawn. The Forgeworld Ortuum- 8-8 figure is ever so slightly taller but giving a 3 inch gap between floors was enough for either to fit without scraping the ceiling.

The depth of each floor is 60mm and is cut out of 1in thick board. The reasoning behind this is simple, two figures can pass each other but no one can fit by the Ambot.

The floor and Structural Walls are cut from 1.5in board and the over all dimensions are 28" x 36" x 42" These dimensions are the result of measuring the trunk of my SUV and the airducts above my gaming table at home.

The structural parts were glued together with Liquid Nails and reinforced with toothpick "rebar"

Once the structure was together it was simply a matter of figuring out where to put each wall and floor. I've decided each corner will have a "point of interest" and in the case of this one, that point is going to be an elevator shaft.

Above is about an evening of work put in. The floors and walls are cut into 60mm strips very quickly with the proxxon and then the thing gets assembled.

The process it self is simple. George and I went Floor by floor saying things like "what if the gaps on this side this time" and simple cut parts to fit, stuck some toothpicks in the side and glued it into place. There is a "measuring jig" cut from some foam to keep the 3 inch gap relatively the same across the whole board but otherwise things were generally eyeballed. For all the floors we used Titebond Wood Glue. Its easier to work with, clean up etc, and a little cheaper to boot. We feel pretty strongly that things don't need to be "perfect" because who else has an almost 4 foot tall board like this to play on? Almost every layout decision is spur of the moment and you can see some marks on the parts for ideas that are still forming.

Here you can see a shot with some figures on it.

The end goal is lofty still but I figure the board can be used obviously for necromunda but also for games like Reality's Edge, This is Not a Test, Hardwired, Zone Alfa, Judge Dredd, Zone Raiders ect ect ect. And in the event I get tired of it, I know of both an infinity and an existing Necromunda group who would probably love the donation.

This is obviously early days still but I wanted to get this thing "out into the wild" so people can see some of the process behind it and hopefully my board can inspire others to build something crazy

AHPC X (4) - The Next 2 Entries

At long last, I'm entering the Challenge Island. As mentioned previously Poseidon's Warriors was one of the games I wanted to try this winter. My hopes are to use the rules as part of a huge Punic Wars campaign sometime down the road. I did finally got around to setting up my portable light booth. I definitely still need more light but I think I'm on the right track here.Let me know if it's working.

So first up, 6 quinquireme's I think. These are 1/600 scale models I got from Wargames Vault and 3d printed in Resin. I read somewhere that they tore the sails down when they actually went to battle so I decided to skip the sails on these (so no bonus points there). These are gaming models for me and I gave them a very quick paint job accordingly. I've decided I'm going to go with a generic "red" navy and a generic "blue" one which should work perfectly for gaming.

So here are the first 6 boats for the project. There's a scenario I want to try in the Poseidon's Warrior book that will need 30 in total but I wanted to start my trek into the island. As an aside, I love the challenge island because without it, I have no idea when I would've gotten to this project.

Over the New Years break I also managed to get the newish King of The Dead and the Heralds of the Dead box set for Lord of the Rings. These are incredible simple paint jobs to match the rest of my army.

So 3 x 28mm foot for 15
30 Points for Reidy's Reef
5 Bonus Points because it's a new project for you at Reidy's reef  (First boat models I've ever painted)
18 Points for the 6 1/600 scale boats.

Thanks everyone, and Happy New Year!


Welcome along Matt, i do like the sound of printing the ships. i have adjusted your points estimates to give a total of 68 points. 



To continue my journey inward onto the island I've headed in the direction of Burch's Bluff. I was sort of wracking my brain a bit on this one to be honest. I was debating what I wanted to enter for this spot and originally I was going to work on the forgeworld Rogal Dorn kit I purchased for my Imperial Fists but was a little intimidated to start on it. Then I thought maybe work on my Epic stuff or a Contemptor Dreadnought when I realized I had built this when they were released and never actually put any paint on them. A bit of Army Painter Gun Metal primer and a couple hours later and here we are.

Here's 2 of the Cerastus Knights for Titanicus. These were quick paint jobs but I'm pretty happy with them.

While I was trying to decide what to paint I worked on a couple other odds and ends for the other projects on my list. First up the new Saruman to go with War in Rohan.

This one was an absolute blast to paint. I had recently painted the old finecast one and was pretty proud of the paint job until an accident involving a bottle of Vallejo Warlord Purple took him and his white cloak out of commission so it was nice to get another Saruman Finished. Sidenote, if the paint doesn't come right out, don't keep squeezing.

Finally I painted some Anvil Industries Bomb Rats for my Cawdor. It's funny, my plan for the Necromunda stuff started at "paint the Cawdor cus theyre neat, who cares about the game" and now its "Matt, why do you own all of the models for a game you still haven't tried." I'm gonna roll with the the energy though. A couple people have asked whats next and the answer is Goliath. For now though, rats

These are simple little paint jobs. Unfortunately they didn't come with bases originally but that's nothing a trip to Thingiverse couldn't fix. I have some of the official models from Forgeworld on order but I can't imagine how many of these I'll end up needing.

So here's where I'm at for the island now

Next stop is "any figure bought AFTER the Challenge was announced (very shiny and new)." which shouldn't be a problem for someone with 0 impulse control.

For today,
15 points for the Cerastus Knights
30 Points for Burchs Bluff
15 Points for Saruman Mounted and on Foot
10 points for the Palantir and the Rats

Thanks

MilesR: Minions get cranky when they're asked to think (it's not one of our strong suits) but I'll forgive you (this time) because of the quality of the submissions.  For the Cerastus Knights, I'm going to count them as 28mm infantry BUT award 5 additional bonus point because they look big).  I'll count the Palantir as a figure and the tiny rats will be combined onto another.  That should net you a tidy 70 points

My 2019 in Review

As 2019 comes to a close, I've taken a bit of time to look back on the events I've attended, shows, games Ive played etc. Its been a crazy year for me hobby wise and I want to look back month by month here. This post is picture heavy and a long one so you can see more after the break