Sunday, January 25, 2015

Scenery: Ruined High Rise

Finished!  Well, sort of.

I am pretty much done with the high rise ruin, plus the shanty on the top level.  It could stand some more details (posters and signs on the shanty, some more graffiti, a bit more debris) but it is playable as is.
The busy side of the ruin
In the pictures, I have a various selection of 28mm figs - Heroclix, Wargames factory and Reaper miniatures.  Also one Hot Wheel motorcycle with rider repaint.  The "elevator" still works, if for some reason I want to use it for more than an outcropping.  You can see the business end of the latrine has provided fertilizer for some growth.
Look out below!
Around the "front"? of the building, there are a couple of cheeky signs, and plenty of rubble.  On the top, there is a garden, water trough, and a post apocalyptic lounge area.  The 'water' in the trough has not quite dried yet, but it will look like water in another couple of days.  I used artists gloss medium with just a touch of blue and green to get a watery look.
Drive by some signs
Climb up the rubble
A post apocalyptic hang out
So I forgot to grab a picture of one side.  Oops.  There isn't anything happening over there anyway...  Then on the "rear" side, there are stairs.  I have some graffiti, and it could probably use more (all over the ruin) but I didn't want to overdo it.  The stairs are a bit out of scale, however, they will work to put figs on the steps. 
Welcoming stairs
Storming the ladder
That's it!  I am trying to get more 'ruins' for later apocalypse feel, so I'll be trying a couple more buildings something like this.  I am also considering a small shanty town for post apocalyptic survivors.  That's going to be some longer term projects.

Thanks for looking, comments and suggestions are welcome!

With a bit of luck, I'll have the first battle report for Dawn.  Hopefully real life gives me a chance...

Saturday, January 10, 2015

And Now for Something Completely Different...

With apologies to the Python team...

So I took a short break this week and joined some friends for an Apocalypse 40K battle.  This was just for fun, and was sponsored by a local game store, Adventure Games, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  I have not played 40K in 4 editions (3rd ed was the last time I played) luckily the guys were willing to help me get back in the swing of things, and put up with my shenanigans.

I had a pair of old Armorcast titans (a warhound and a reaver) plus a Baneblade for my forces.  At least they were painted, maybe not great, but passable.  The battle was fought on three separate tables, with some connections between them.  We could lob support shots with our indirect fire between tables, and some vehicles could travel between them.

It was a fun time, and I met some new gamers in the area.  Even if I was swept from the field of battle, I felt I made a good showing, and everyone seemed to enjoy the game.  I won't bore anyone with the details, here are some pics of the battle though.

That's a target rich environment
Oh to have a barrage into that mess!
The central front
We played a few rounds, apocalypse takes a long time to get through with so many models.  I believe the estimated points was 28,000 per side (total of all the boards.)  As I said, it was a fun game - we played pretty fast and loose with some of the rules, just to keep things moving.  I managed to get quite a bit of my stuff killed quickly...
Things start getting hot
Warhound down!
Everyone had some "big cheater" units and models, so we were pulling special rules out all over.  For all the shooting, it did seem to take a while for stuff to die.  It all seemed to be mine when it did get killed, but them's the breaks.
More air support might have been useful
Marines watch from a ruined tower
Chaos and Necrons fight for a shield generator
My damaged Reaver tries in vain to hold the highway
In the end both of my titans were destroyed, the rebels took the highway, but loyalists held the main battlefield.  The fight at the shield generator was still a toss up, but I had to leave before the final turns.  It's fun to play is such a large scale game, I had forgotten how much fun the 'special event' battles can be.

A quick update on my ruined high-rise.  I have a few parts started, and it is getting closer to finished.  I hope to be done in a week or so, depending on how much ATZ I get to play.  Some more pics:
Shanty and latrine started, plus some possible extras
Some weathering and paint, still a ways to go
Some signs added, need some weathering
I hope to get back to ATZ soon as well.  Once I get the ruins finished, I hope to get back to campaign.