A New Year's Resolution

Now that I've got a two Warmachine armies under my belt, and have two Hordes armies to paint up, I've decided that they'll need a battlefield on which to wage war.
I've set myself the goal of creating a gaming table, as well as all the terrain and scenic elements too. I'll be trying to balance my hobbying time between this project and my army painting projects too - oh, and making sure I get to the local club once a fortnight to get my game on.

I've always loved the modular elements of the Citadel Realm of Battle
Gameboard - but for AUD$450 definitely not an option.

I haven't decided on the theme for my battlefield yet, but with so much inspiration to be found online, I'm sure the trouble will be deciding which theme to pursue!
I'd like to make a proper table specifically dedicated to my mini-wargaming, but sadly our apartment doesn't have the space for one. So it looks like I'll be exploring the option of making a gameboard which can be stored when not in use.

Warmachine Gameboard - Commissioned by Penny Arcade

I'm very excited about this project, and I've decided that I'll be splitting my hobby time evenly between my army painting projects and terrain making projects. That'll mean my armies will take longer to finish of course, but hopefully I'll still be able to maintain a steady pace with them.

Sync out.

Terrain - Trees

Khador Widowmakers seek concealment in a forest

Trees and forests are a great looking terrain feature, and I personally feel that greenery and foliage really help bring the table-top to life.
A while back a buddy gave me a set of trees, and I thought it was time to get them table-top ready!

Like my Modular Hills, I wanted my forest to be able to be reconfigured for different landscapes. I think that versatile terrain pieces are important as different games and game sizes require very different terrain set ups.
So I had 4 smaller trees and 2 large trees - I decided I'd base them each individually, and use the smaller trees to mark the corners of the 'forest area' with the large trees as purely decorative features within the forest.

Materials - unknown brand of scenic trees, and 30mm bases

1. Glue the trees onto the bases

2. Sand up the bases

3. Paint the basing, and add some flock.
I also stuck a 10c piece under the base to add some weigh to it.

4. Get it on the table!

Sync out.

Terrain - Barricades

Khador Widowmakers take cover behind make-shift fortifications

After reading through the Warmachine Rulebook I decided that I needed some form of barricades to provide Cover.
Again, I wanted versatile pieces that would look appropriate across a range of battlefields - from grass plains to ruined cities, something along the line of makeshift barricades, using walls and/or sandbags.

I'd been through all the options from Games Workshop (which is the most accessible range to me) and a few ranges online but nothing really jumped out at me - mostly because they were way more than I was willing to spend.

Image taken from eBay listing

I managed to find a great range of options on eBay, and stumbled on this fantastic find - $5 for 7 pieces of terrain, and exactly the style I was looking for. It was too good to be true, and once I received the items I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised. Apart from a few casting imperfections, which given the price should be expected, they ready to be painted and put onto the table-top!

I'm not going to really go through a step-by-step, but here are my progress shots:

Barricades, straight out of the post satchel

Undercoated

Basecoated

Washed and highlighted, ready for the table-top

Khador Widowmakers take cover behind make-shift fortifications

Sync out.

Painting Competition!

My local gaming club runs a painting challenge through the year. There are six rounds, each round lasting two months, and the category for each round is randomly selected.
As Warmachine and Hordes are difficult to categorise in general wargaming terms of Historical/Fantasy or Modern/Sci-Fi, it was decided that to simplify entries, Hordes would be Fantasy and Warmachine would be Modern.

My Skorne Warpack - my first Hordes army!

Round One for 2012 was selected as Historical/Fantasy Monster - perfect for Hordes Warbeasts! With a lot of new Warmachine and Hordes players joining the club this year, I thought I'd step up and represent Privateer Press - and since my Christmas present this year was all about Hordes, it was the perfect opportunity to enter!

Titan Gladiator - straight out of the box

So, these are my registration photos - I'll be entering my Skorne Titan Gladiator, and I've got until February 23rd to get it done, which shouldn't be a problem. I'm not really too concerned with winning or anything - the club has some fantastic painters and hobbyists! But like my philosophy on wargaming, I'm going to have some fun and proudly represent WarmaHordes! :)

Sync out.