Micro Hulk

dabbk

Gang Hero
Yak Comp 2nd Place
Tribe Council
Nov 26, 2016
802
1,754
163
Berlin, Germany
Hi all,
I want to make a portable, 1/4 sized, magnetized Space Hulk board & accessories. Why? Because it's cute, and practical: setup is quick if not instantaneous, and it can travel with me.
So, 1/4 means 6mm miniatures, 7.5mm squares for tiles, and also that every standard map should fit on a standard A4 sheet: super convenient to create new missions, and also small enough to travel.

I also plan to reuse some of this to make a dungeon crawler of some sort (either reuse existing rules, or make something like a hivecrawler).

I created an album to store all my experiments here:
https://yaktribe.games/community/gallery/albums/microhulk.308/


There are tons of ressources online about SpaceHulk.:
I wont list those for now.

There is some ressources about mini or micro gaming, see:
https://yaktribe.games/community/threads/micromunda.1362/
https://yaktribe.games/community/threads/just-for-fun-micromunda.3652/
https://yaktribe.games/community/threads/hivecrawl.5918/
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/447131/travel-epic-variant
http://www.tabletopwelt.de/index.php?/topic/155083-vollmagnetisiertes-modulares-spielfeld-für-6mm-fantasy-dungeon-crawls/
https://theminiaturearchitect.com/collections/pocket-quest/products/pocketquest

Info&files to recreate your own:
TODO
 
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So, first experiment:
I scanned the mission book at 600dpi, and printed it at 300dpi, after inversing the colors. It turns out pretty well, meaning the mission book itself is 1/8 scale or so! I then glued various things on top of 5mm magnets, to see what works.


Second experiment:
I created an Excel sheet with 7.5 squares. More precisely, 3.75mm, as I wanted to make border easily. I made an empty grid (biggest that I could fit on a A4 sheet with my printer's margins) then recreated Mission 1, all in one A4 sheet.
I still have to make tokens & pawns, and then try it out. If it works well, I can make the other missions, and/or create new missions (there are tons of those online, too). One could say it is sad to not have the artwork, but it makes it easier to printout. And there'll be less legal trouble I guess...

Next experiments:
- find Epic scale miniatures (these arent easy to find!)
- make tokens, doors, ...
- find dice that fit (electronic dice? smartphone app? tiny dice?)
- find a correct box/case: ideally laptop sized I think (so, it could be A3 once opened completely, or A4+casing for tokens & scenario sheets).
I guess I could lasercut or 3D print some stuff. Once I'm done and happy with this, I'll publish all the files.

At some point (these will probably be in other threads) :
- make actual magnetic tiles, for custom boards/crawler type action
- buy Pocket Quest and f**k around with it/its rule system
- try other game setups (GorkaMorka, Deadzone, Necromunda/SWA, Kings of War,... )
 
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Why not go ultra micro. ;)
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This guys are 3mm! :eek: :p
Pocket quest looks awesome by the way, I might have to grab one myself.
Love this project, I'm with you all the way! (y)
 
Agreed, if it was to play on a smartphone, I'd use Templar Assault or the later SpaceHulk+campaign clone by the same guys, and be done with it!
So, tiny dice on ebay it is, then :)

3mm is way, way too small. I have to be able to pick them up and move them around a board :D Thanks for your support though Ned :) If you have suggestions on miniature sources, I'd be happy to read them!

About the miniatures, I'm looking at stuff, but it isnt easy: Epic Tyranid swarms and space marines terminators are neither cheap nor common on Ebay.

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/15mmscifi-infantry.html#alien-creatures These are nice aliens, but 15mm and maybe a bit too big. They seem to make these in 6mm too: http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/6mmscifi.html I'll probably grab some of those. Still looking for the Marines, though. Any suggestions? I could always get some of the plastics for Epic and be done with it...

Oh, and I thought about a thing: print inverted on transparent plastic sheets, and play on the "bottom" (eg to see text inverted twice, eg readable), where it is impossible to scratch the printed side...

I have tons of magnet sheet (bought a roll for basing), I have to buy a hole puncher, now. I am worried with the neodyme magnets: those are very strong! Probably doesnt make sense to use something that strong for a 6mm miniature or even worse, token.
 
Oh I know that feeling well.

I bought some of their 15mm Skinnerz just to make a change from painting 28mm. Now I'm thinking I could paint up some 15mm figures for when we do our Star Wars Edge of Empire RPG on Tuesdays. SOOOO tempted to get a selection from Onslaught just to see what will work.
 
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Hahaha @Azzabat, welcome to the Compulsory Miniature Buyers' Group :D Let me guess: you too will not buy another miniature until you have brought your stock of unpainted stuff to a reasonable lev... oh look! Sales! New project! Cool mini!

FYI I found satisfactory middleground: bought the strict minimum for one µSH set. It's a one man company after all, there's nothing wrong with supporting local businesses :)
 
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Just found this set for £25. I had no idea people sold this kind of stuff, awesome. :D
It would save some time. ;)
https://honeybeeworks.co.uk/products/nano-hulk-6mm-space-hulk-compatible-scenery
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Then, if you got the skills, team it up with conversions like these amazing recreations of the latest termes.
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Then just get yourself some nids and counters and you set, with probably the greatest travel game ever! (y)
 
Pretty cool @Ned Noodle ! I'm not sure I'd use that terrain though, the idea to have 5 second setup by using printed A4 sheets is very appealing to me! Also, the magnetic part means you can put it away quickly, which is cool.

I am working on my yak20 entry tonight, but as I said, I have ordered few miniatures, we'll see how it plays :)
 
Those 6mm terminators are absolutely kickass, btw! It is always hard to remember how small 6mm really is when looking at pictures....
 
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Dont tell my boss, but someone played with Excel all morning at work and redid all first four missions on a A4 printable format. A uSH v0.1 pdf should be uploaded shortly for verification and cloning.

Also, quickly glued some more tokens/pawns:
I guess the right type of nail (flat 5mm head, etc) would be perfect! Dont have any at hand for now.

Now I want to:
- make a rule summary that'd fit on the smallest surface possible. Like a A4 cheatsheet would be perfect!
- make all the tokens/pawns, make a first prototype. Need to go to the hardware store!
- make fridge magnet based tiles for custom maps.

I'm also thinking about the packaging/casing.... for which I have big plans. Teaser: I am thinking about lasercutting something like this:

It may be too much work for no real advantage, though. Maybe just use a simple plastic box like one of these:
boite-a-vis-plastique-allit-l-29-x-h-4-6-x-p-18-5-cm.jpg
 
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I was looking for good rules for solo play (which, TBH, for a travel SH, seem mandatory), and ended up reading these ones, created by a fellow CESM*: http://colorfulminis.com/space-hulk-regles-solo-custom/
Will have to try these out, but it looks really good! Demo game (in french only, though) here:

Anyone with experience solo-playing Space Hulk?

*: CheeseEatingSurrenderingMonkey. I'm a frog-eater, so I can use this vocable for my fellow citizen :)
 
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Thx :)

EUREKA, the perfect box is a DVD case, or rather a slightly thicker type, without the disc support. I happen to have some lying around... from miniatures packaging. Check this out: http://www.avatars-of-war.com/eng/w...ame=Barbarians+with+shields&id=118&Itemid=143
Excellent miniatures btw, even if they're still on my "to take care of" pile, and not very high : no one plays KoW 28mm, so it seems.

Anyway, files from uSH v0.1 fit almost perfectly already! Standard dice fit in there, too. And it's a convenient place to roll dice when traveling (everytving being magnetized means dice wont disturb the pieces).

I also made a few more pawn, painted a vertical line to show facing: purple for 'stealers and red for marines. Not perfect, but had to be tried out. I kinda want to add a ring of color to show the sarge, le heavy flamer, etc... but minis are on their way so wont try too hard.

Also made tokens with a punch through, and painted them: green for OW, orange for jam, blue for guard, yellow for flamer.
Btw need to highlight sections for flamer rules. Made blips: 1 2 or three dots of purple paint on the hidden face, and voilà!


Now I have to get a thin steel sheet: the plan is to cut it in three parts that fit the interior of the box perfectly (while still closing properly) and glue them to the case.

Then I'll have to find templates or recreate them for printed artwork that fit the box, redo the design for maps & all (eg maybe rule summary, solo play stuff, etc), print things properly, and tadaaa!


At some point I will also publish the instruction guide properly.
Thats all for tonight, I will try it out tomorrow in the train and report back :)
 
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I was looking for good rules for solo play (which, TBH, for a travel SH, seem mandatory), and ended up reading these ones, created by a fellow CESM*: http://colorfulminis.com/space-hulk-regles-solo-custom/
Will have to try these out, but it looks really good! Demo game (in french only, though) here:

Anyone with experience solo-playing Space Hulk?

*: CheeseEatingSurrenderingMonkey. I'm a frog-eater, so I can use this vocable for my fellow citizen :)

I've recently painted up my 2nd edition space hulk set and played the first few missions solo with no probs, the 'stealers have pretty simple goals (murder everything) so it was fairly simple to play both sides effectively.
 
I like these bases, perfect in that context! Will probably do something similar with my own genestealers, that I still have to paint. BTW, can we all agree that the ones included in the box (I have 4th ed) are useless? As in, they dont fit on the 30mm squares.