Hi everyone, long time lurker first time poster yadda yadda and so forth.
No, genuinely though, I have been a very long time admirer of the projects and blogs on this community, I just had to have a go at some point.
So, before we start, I will just warn the intrepid follower that my blogs are often doomed to failure, the nature of my work being that I am often away from home, and often for quite a long time to the point where I get back and old projects are pushed aside to make way for new similarly futile endeavours.
I will also make no apologies for the lengthy OP, as I do go on quite a bit. I'm not going to give you my life story, however, there are a few things that I need to explain in order to allow you to make an informed assessment as to whether or not I am really quite mad.
Necromunda is a game I have loved since the first boxed game hit the shelves of my once beloved games workshop. I played the hell out of it when I was younger, more casually as I grew older and now the live-in Necromunda opponent I spawned with my wife is about to hit puberty I'm getting right back into it hoping my enthusiasm will drag the little s*** away from his PlayStation.
This isn't my first rodeo, I've built several pieces of scenery and one piece gaming tables over the years as well as painted at least one of every gang at some point and in some cases (just love the hooded loonies) several of the same gang. What I'm trying to accomplish this time is a bit different.
Because I am hoping to release my own skirmish type game on kickstarter in the not too distant future, I want a terrain set that doesn't send out a mating call to GW's IP zealots. I also would really like to create some 'counts as' gangs using other models than the originals. I've already painted most of the range once so I'm keen to try something new and besides, I just can't justify the cost of the models on eBay (vulture-bay more like) to the long-haired commander-in-chief.
So without further ado:
Ever since I saw TT Combat's laser cut gaming table I had to do something with it. If you haven't seen it before, it's basically sixteen 12" square mdf panels that lock together and form a 4 foot by 4 foot gaming table. It's crying out to be used for some sort of modular terrain. This is one of the panels:
The project will run in 3 phases. Phase one is to construct and paint 9 of the tiles to give me a 3 foot square table (I prefer 3x3 to 4x4 anyway as they're usually much more brutal affairs).Phase 2 will be to work through the remaining 7 tiles. This will be more to add variety to my set up rather than switch to a 4x4. Phase 3 will be to build a nice looking folding cabinet that the whole thing fits in so that she who makes the decisions might allow me to keep it in the house.
During those phases I intend to get some gangs together, using models like the tau, the IG, Chaos cultists and genestealer cults to use as 'counts as' Van Saar, Goliath, Cawdor and Delaque respectively.
So, to make sure I didn't write a long OP and basically have nothing to show afterwards, I started the project about a month ago. Here's what I've got for phase 1 so far:
Ever since I saw the panels stood on a frame about 1 inch deep I knew I had to cut into it. This will eventually be a toxic death pond with all manner of floaty bits. For me, lots of small changes of level in-between storeysmakes it feel more realistic. The pipes I picked up off eBay for a couple of quid, I am well impressed with them and I will be buying more!
This will eventually be a slag heap, with plenty of scrap/ waste to take cover in. It needs a lot more work but you get the general idea. I think it's important not to neglect the ground floor in Necromunda. It's much more fun for the bodies to fall into a putrid death swamp or a pile of razor sharp scrap metal than tho just hit flat terra firma. Plus, that sort of thing gives opportunities to make up house rules that add so much narrative to the games.
This also needs a good deal of extra work. I basically want the panels to be over a couple of main floor storeys with buildings on both levels taking it to 3 and 4 storeys high. This is kind of a demonstration of how the modularness (I'm having dibs on that new word) will work. Essentially all buildings and floor levels will either be right up to the edge of the board or at least an inch away. That means buildings and levels will either merge together to form new ones or have at least 2 inches of floor between them. It will make more sense when I've got a few of these together to demonstrate.
This is sort of what I am aiming for with the my buildings, somewhere between the original style Necromunda terrain and the infinity ultra tech style. One thing that hammers my sensibilities with a lot of necromunda terrain out there, including the original box set is the number of structures and gangways that serve no conceivable purpose other than to play a game of Necromunda on. And there will be no 1mm thick floors on my table! Every building and structure will look like it does something, it might not be obvious what it does, but it certainly won't be a set of purposeless open platforms with gangways that lead to yet more purposeless open platforms. I have nothing against those who like that kind of stuff, it's just that I can't cope with it. I makes my eyeballs want to eat my face.
So, After what I said about avoiding GWs IP zealots, you're probably surprised to see an old fire base chopped up here. Well, rest assured, the final piece will only have a passing resemblance once finished. I'm actually planning on making this a multi-storey street market.
I saw this on V-bay and was intrigued enough to give it a try. As nice as the kit is, I'm going to have to jush it up a bit or it just won't fit in with the rest of the modules. I'll pass judgement when it's done whether or not it fits in my original 9 or is relegated to phase 2.
You will notice that nothing is painted as yet. That is mainly because I broke my airbrush by over tightening the nozzle which duly snapped and I completely eradicated the screw-thread trying to get the remains of it out. Bugger. I'm off to Belgium this month to watch the F1 so I am being uncharacteristicly frugal. It's probably going to be September/October until I get a new one.
In between all that, I managed to get hold of some chaos cultists for under a fiver on V-bay and have started painting them. I'm pretty happy with them, they should look pretty good once they are finished.
Well, that's the start of my project in a colossal nut-she'll. All feedback is most welcome, as are suggestions for my 4 remaining phase one panels (one of them will be a power station. Probably). Hope you enjoy!
No, genuinely though, I have been a very long time admirer of the projects and blogs on this community, I just had to have a go at some point.
So, before we start, I will just warn the intrepid follower that my blogs are often doomed to failure, the nature of my work being that I am often away from home, and often for quite a long time to the point where I get back and old projects are pushed aside to make way for new similarly futile endeavours.
I will also make no apologies for the lengthy OP, as I do go on quite a bit. I'm not going to give you my life story, however, there are a few things that I need to explain in order to allow you to make an informed assessment as to whether or not I am really quite mad.
Necromunda is a game I have loved since the first boxed game hit the shelves of my once beloved games workshop. I played the hell out of it when I was younger, more casually as I grew older and now the live-in Necromunda opponent I spawned with my wife is about to hit puberty I'm getting right back into it hoping my enthusiasm will drag the little s*** away from his PlayStation.
This isn't my first rodeo, I've built several pieces of scenery and one piece gaming tables over the years as well as painted at least one of every gang at some point and in some cases (just love the hooded loonies) several of the same gang. What I'm trying to accomplish this time is a bit different.
Because I am hoping to release my own skirmish type game on kickstarter in the not too distant future, I want a terrain set that doesn't send out a mating call to GW's IP zealots. I also would really like to create some 'counts as' gangs using other models than the originals. I've already painted most of the range once so I'm keen to try something new and besides, I just can't justify the cost of the models on eBay (vulture-bay more like) to the long-haired commander-in-chief.
So without further ado:
Ever since I saw TT Combat's laser cut gaming table I had to do something with it. If you haven't seen it before, it's basically sixteen 12" square mdf panels that lock together and form a 4 foot by 4 foot gaming table. It's crying out to be used for some sort of modular terrain. This is one of the panels:
The project will run in 3 phases. Phase one is to construct and paint 9 of the tiles to give me a 3 foot square table (I prefer 3x3 to 4x4 anyway as they're usually much more brutal affairs).Phase 2 will be to work through the remaining 7 tiles. This will be more to add variety to my set up rather than switch to a 4x4. Phase 3 will be to build a nice looking folding cabinet that the whole thing fits in so that she who makes the decisions might allow me to keep it in the house.
During those phases I intend to get some gangs together, using models like the tau, the IG, Chaos cultists and genestealer cults to use as 'counts as' Van Saar, Goliath, Cawdor and Delaque respectively.
So, to make sure I didn't write a long OP and basically have nothing to show afterwards, I started the project about a month ago. Here's what I've got for phase 1 so far:
Ever since I saw the panels stood on a frame about 1 inch deep I knew I had to cut into it. This will eventually be a toxic death pond with all manner of floaty bits. For me, lots of small changes of level in-between storeysmakes it feel more realistic. The pipes I picked up off eBay for a couple of quid, I am well impressed with them and I will be buying more!
This will eventually be a slag heap, with plenty of scrap/ waste to take cover in. It needs a lot more work but you get the general idea. I think it's important not to neglect the ground floor in Necromunda. It's much more fun for the bodies to fall into a putrid death swamp or a pile of razor sharp scrap metal than tho just hit flat terra firma. Plus, that sort of thing gives opportunities to make up house rules that add so much narrative to the games.
This also needs a good deal of extra work. I basically want the panels to be over a couple of main floor storeys with buildings on both levels taking it to 3 and 4 storeys high. This is kind of a demonstration of how the modularness (I'm having dibs on that new word) will work. Essentially all buildings and floor levels will either be right up to the edge of the board or at least an inch away. That means buildings and levels will either merge together to form new ones or have at least 2 inches of floor between them. It will make more sense when I've got a few of these together to demonstrate.
This is sort of what I am aiming for with the my buildings, somewhere between the original style Necromunda terrain and the infinity ultra tech style. One thing that hammers my sensibilities with a lot of necromunda terrain out there, including the original box set is the number of structures and gangways that serve no conceivable purpose other than to play a game of Necromunda on. And there will be no 1mm thick floors on my table! Every building and structure will look like it does something, it might not be obvious what it does, but it certainly won't be a set of purposeless open platforms with gangways that lead to yet more purposeless open platforms. I have nothing against those who like that kind of stuff, it's just that I can't cope with it. I makes my eyeballs want to eat my face.
So, After what I said about avoiding GWs IP zealots, you're probably surprised to see an old fire base chopped up here. Well, rest assured, the final piece will only have a passing resemblance once finished. I'm actually planning on making this a multi-storey street market.
I saw this on V-bay and was intrigued enough to give it a try. As nice as the kit is, I'm going to have to jush it up a bit or it just won't fit in with the rest of the modules. I'll pass judgement when it's done whether or not it fits in my original 9 or is relegated to phase 2.
You will notice that nothing is painted as yet. That is mainly because I broke my airbrush by over tightening the nozzle which duly snapped and I completely eradicated the screw-thread trying to get the remains of it out. Bugger. I'm off to Belgium this month to watch the F1 so I am being uncharacteristicly frugal. It's probably going to be September/October until I get a new one.
In between all that, I managed to get hold of some chaos cultists for under a fiver on V-bay and have started painting them. I'm pretty happy with them, they should look pretty good once they are finished.
Well, that's the start of my project in a colossal nut-she'll. All feedback is most welcome, as are suggestions for my 4 remaining phase one panels (one of them will be a power station. Probably). Hope you enjoy!
