Building the Evergreen Fields

Hi guys,

I have a very clear idea of what I want to do with my moderns campaign in my head:

For reasons that don't matter, lets say a coup was made, a certain group started rebelling against the government forces and gained control of a large part of the island. I am not quite sure if I'd make a campaign map or something, not in the least because I couldn't do it, but the games I'd play would all be really small.

The idea is to play series of scenarios, that all look great in my head, but when I am about to play (or when I play) I keep finding my games lacking *something*. Apart from an opponent, I blame it on the terrain. So what I did in the past weeks was I've cut up my urban boards I never used (which also reminded me that it's my 3rd+ year in blogging and I still haven't gotten anywhere far!) and recycled them.

I decided to build more of the small houses as I built last time, again leaving the roofs to save my limited mojo, but still get a playable city. I cut up all the roads and got more stripes than I'd ever need.

After 3 and a half years, I also finally built a fence on top of my apartments block. In the upper right corner, you can see some stripes that are supposed to be terrain irregularities and/or ditches and a burnt car I wanted to build for years.

 As mentioned, houses follow the same pattern. I will add windows to them and probably plank them with coffee stirers from the inside. I could do this much!

 What couldn't be used elsewhere was torn apart and used for rubble bases. I'm not too happy with the pile two because they are too low in height, but once put together, they should add some value to the terrain as a whole. You can see a squad of Slovenes working their way through them.

Next step is adding the windows, doors and other details to the houses. After that, I need to wait for the weather to get better (it has been raining for most of the week now) to go out and put sand on them. Then it's all about painting them and I am all ready to go.

Just to keep a list of other ideas I had, I also need to work on:
- a check point
- IGLA anti-air rocket launchers to represent an AA strongpoint that would have to be neutralised to bring the air support in.
- technicals. I made no progress, but I'd really need some battle taxies for the rebels!
- Vegetation, my bane enemy. I have a lot of aquarium plants laying around and I just need to get on with it and use them.
- Find a way to make more trees, possibly with some leaves on them!

If you have any ideas, feel free to share them in the comments!

As usual, thanks for reading!

Mathyoo

New terrain!

Hello guys,

Deciding I lack houses I could use in both urban and rural settings, I decided to build two smallish box houses that could fit in both SA and Modern setting.

They were recycled from my "urban terrain tiles" I built years ago for my zombie town and never really used all that much - I only had them for 3x3 and they started wrapping.

 The design is simple and meant for an easy and fast building. I used slightly larger bases so I could add a bit of a yard to each of them. They have no roofs as I found out roofs to be a lot of hassle for little gain. They aren't used during game, but they do look lovely at the beginning.

 One has a broken fence and the other one a laundry rope, other than that they are both pretty bland. I was aiming for even whiter colour with only a hint of yellow/blue, but I am quite satisfied with them as they are.

I decided against cutting holes for windows and doors as they aren't REALLY needed and as they don't have separate rooms, windows look weird (as they do on my older terrain).

Also, if the two are put together there is a lovely alley formed in between:

In other news, I started working on two technicals for rebels and I hope to play a game soon - I have so many soldiers painted now I'd love to use them some more!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Concrete walls

Hello guys,

I just posted some better photos of my walls (and some of my WIPS "accidentally"!). The walls are nothing but a simple metal equipment case dividers stuck to some cork and painted. Those cases used to be popular for transporting miniatures around here and I bought one myself - I later invested in KR case instead and I am really happy with that one.  They dividing walls come in three sizes. I didn't bother cutting them or anything, so I got two long sections, one medium  and two short ones. They come just a bit over 3 feet long combined.
As much as I'd like, the idea is not mine. Guys at our club used those to make terrain for WH40k, but I don't know if they came up with it.

I gave them a coat of PVA to seal the foam they are made of and sprayed them black, then drybrushed them with greys. This was a great opportunity to paint some graffiti on them, but I unexpectedly ran out of ideas very quickly. I settled for some shameless advertising of the people that helped me bring my moderns project to life in the first place.

Grekwood miniatures:

Project Zeke, with an old "Evergreen" graffiti next to it:

This one started as a  plain red star (I was thinking about converse snickers, honestly!) and it turned into an ex-state flag (mind the white-blue-red order, it matters :D).

E-Bob:

And the one that started it all, a very lame "Free EG (Evergreen)!" slogan.

I am quite happy with them, they were a fast build, but I should put some more effort in the graffiti I think.

I left other sides blank - the idea is I'd use them for military base and I'd want at least one side to look "professional" :D.

Below is a "scale" shot, with one of the crew members I keep showing. As you can see, he will get a helmet, too. Looks like finished conversions weren't all that finished after all!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Some new terrain

Hello guys,

I've finally been working on some terrain for my games again. With all the posts about Salute ruining my days lately, I have also started unearthing old stuff that is either half made or still packed. That includes resin crates and barrels, some miniatures (I am putting off painting cultists as I'm afraid I'd never get colours same again :P) and lots of smaller scatter terrain.

Anyways, I have been thinking and planning about setting (some of) my Strange Aeons games in Slovenia for a very long time (remember the three bridges board idea that never progressed?). As this project overlaps with my idea of  "Slovenian mythology" games, set in Dark ages, and I thus read a lot on the subject lately, I've decided to play some games with what I already have in my collection.

Before I could start, I needed just one piece of terrain that defines the local area more than anything else I could imagine - a Hayrack. We call it "kozolec" which would be pronounced something like "kozolets". It's an awesome little device and while outdated, they can still be found on most of farmsteads in at least one of their forms.  I went with the most basic of the designs - single straight line (Check link above for more variants, some are really great). To make building it easier, I went with stone pillars instead of usual wooden ones. And I also used way too few vertical poles, that are used to hang on hay. As it was a rush job, the pillars are awfully crooked, but that's fine as I was aiming for backwater place anyways. I added some logical supports and talking of the vertical poles, I really should break one, to add the feel of neglect. I did, however, sculpt some hay on it, so that's a plus.

 The shingles are on a large side, which might not look as realistic as loads of little ones, but I actually prefer the cartoony "warhammer" feel they make. Don't unfriend me, Joe! :D

Below is a painted version. It's painted horribly as my craft paints seem to be kinda odd. Or I could blame the brushes.

As I was so inspired, I've also painted a very simple hill I've made last year. I kinda like it now that it's painted, but I was putting off painting it for so long for a reason unknown. It's just boring, you know...a hill. Yawn.

It's made for miniatures to fit on it and yes, I am aware I should put more effort in the overall shape, but it will do for a while!

On other fronts, after millionth try on the guns, I've decided it is time for drastic measures. As none of the guns felt quite right, I simply cut off all the putty from one of those, cut the nose and restarted from step one.

Keep in mind F2000 is only about 700mm long in real life, so 12mm seems about right. The guns above it are the "old kind" for comparison. Mine is a bit crude, but I have decided to call it done. If I'll try to have it cast and then polish it and add the gadgets.

I had great plans for my Whateley farm model - from housing an abomination from out of space, to secret laboratory of Herbert West (I never got to build an autopsy table, that I've planned - I should do that!), Church for an evil cult and...naturally, a distillery. I've even made a still for it. It never got painted beyond basic undercoat and seeing it now, I'll swap that wire for something just a bit thinner and I'll coil it more. I will keep the "pot" and the "barrel", I think.

Lastly, a photo of my current (okay, about a session or two outdated) sculpting "table". In upper left quarter are modern weapons and modern sculpts (kinda on hold for now), lower left corner is Kurent (came out too thin - I can't lose that habit!), which is essentially a man wearing mask, cow bells and a baton with hedge hog skin. Back in the days (so, when SA takes place!) the groups could fight each other, so it seemed like a good idea for a lurker - a mad man, hitting people with his club while making noise with the bells - yes please! The large guy is Horroclix's fiend (Frankenstein's monster) that Vampifan kindly donated. He will become a Slovenian demigod for the Dark ages myths games. In the right upper corner are dead bodies (disturbingly ugly sculpts, rushjobs), 4 beastmen, being turned into dog headed soldiers (that hate humanity!) and a "fire elemental" that will probably be painted by a stone idol or whatever. I've been "working" on this one for well over a year, but I'm not too satisfied with it. Lastly, the 4 GW wolves are a Wolf herder (mythological creature) and his pack. They are way too "undead" and certianly waaaay too large for my liking, but I got them as a bargain, so they will be used as a stand ins until I get my hands on some proper werewolves.

That's it for today. I've also played a game (yay!) and I will post report in mid week one day. It's gonna be a bit different than what I usually posted, but just as long, filled with endless blabber! :P

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Jungle terrain

Hello,

one day I was shopping for groceries and found this cheapish hot glue gun and just had to buy it. I've finally been able to use all the aquarium plants I was hoarding for some months now.

I went with mesoamerican look, not strictly aztec and anything. So they could fit in any historical or fantasy setting. I went with mostly snake motives, for serpentmen and such games.

Below is all that I've made, most of it (except for 3 or so smaller items) was made in one go. I've had the ball rolling when I got the idea for that snake monolith with wooden superstructure. Now, keep in mind they all need more foliage and static grass to call them done.

 Below you can see a stone with half carved snake (not seen to good), a tomb (checked "pyramid") and a random base of left overs used as a bamboo-like plant.

 The tomb up close

 Snake-faced warning sign:
On second picture, you can see more leftovers used usefully.

 A pond - WIP. Probably won't be finished anytime soon, hehe

 Sacrificial monument. small stone infront of the agent is a place where victims are held over when their head/heart gets cut off/rip out. All in sight of great god (the standing monolith)

 Big face something:

 Jungle plants:

 Giant snake statue. Looks like an expedition has built a working stage next to it for easier exploration. The ladders are missing. I was thinking of playing it with special rules - as it grants great vision for snipers, the wood is old.  When a man climbs on it, a die is cast - on 1 the rotten wood collapses and a man falls down to the ground.

 A close up on glyphs. Main image is that of a giant snake eating a man. Can't really make it out? Below is a reference art, hopefully you can make out the snake and the body now!

 A Cthulhu head on other side:

Other than that, I've got many lurkers painted that I will show in separate posts for sake of established pattern. I will probably post more often to pump them all out by end of the month. I've also repainted my Dunwich horror. You can see new and old pictures at its original post, HERE.

Thanks for looking,

Mathyoo

Whatley's farm

 I've painted ol'Whateley's farm now. It is a bit of a rush job. It is empty, and I will eventually put some crates and furniture in to make it a farm, autopsy table to make it Herbert West's lab or still because spirits has to be where cultists get their money from in times of prohibition!

Board of the Living Lead diorama contest

Hello guys,

I had quite a busy for quite a few weeks, that have ended yesterday by what I hope to be my last exam!

I still wanted to show you at least something, so I will repost some pictures of my entry for Board of the Living Lead forum's competition.

The entry is pretty simple, it represents an encounter in an underground. Nothing special when you look at it now, but it took me quite some time to build it. The miniatures are separate so I can reuse them, and scenery can double as a background for shots of newly painted miniatures that way.  I might have mentioned that the male miniature is from Urban war (I bought female militia and he was mistakenly in a pack!), with his left hand cut of and swapped for a reaper's revolver. Looks way cooler than a clutched fist! Zombie is from Mantic and had a wire struck in his head and then clump foliage glued on to represent heads insides bursting out.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo