WIP: Ships and terrain

The weekend has seen a couple of terrain items finished, some new 1/3000 ship packs bought, and a few Navwar models varnished.

The new camps, enclosures and pond should do the trick, I hope.

I'd been meaning to pick up the last three Fujimi 1/3000 model expansion kits and finally did so. Unfortunately, most of the shops double up with those in the packs I already have, so that's a slight disappointment.

It's my own fault: I suspected this already, but rather than fiddle about trying to read the kanji in the shop, I just bought them anyway.

I can use the destroyers of course, but there are only so many Yamatos, Musashis, Akagis, Kagas and Nagatos a man needs. The good thing is that I can use the extras to experiment with painting. I find plastic models harder to paint than metal ones, so I might well end up being grateful for getting a second go!

Hopefully there will be a few more finished 1/3000 models to game with in the near future.

Terrain workings

After being less than impressed with my own table last week I decided it was time to get some terrain organised. I'm not really very good at making terrain, but I wanted something to pass for a camp, something else I could use as a suitable enclosure for a Celtic or Dark Age village, and something that might do for a pond or small lake.

Village enclosure:

First up, cut a stick mat used for rolling sushi into two 2 cm width lengths and affix to an 80 x 80  base. Use white glue and sand to texture the base.

Spray with gray primer to help the glue hold better.

Brush on some old craft paint in burnt umber.

Dry brush with buff.

Flock to taste.

Think about getting some better houses!

(Roman) Camp

100 yen shop bricks glued together and onto a base.

Texture base, prime gray, and then paint tents darker gray using brush.

Apply burnt umber, then dry brush the tents lighter using various grays and off whites.

Prepare to flock.

Pond (so far).

Cut out shape. Glue on small stones pond.

Add sand. Paint bottom of pond green. Burnt umber elsewhere.

Flocking and water effect still to come...

More Modular Terrain

Further to my last post, I was lucky enough to scrounge a few more carpet tiles which allowed me to extend the modular terrain system to include rivers. Based on Lost Battles, I've cut out five main river terrain patterns, with some directional variation within that (two left-to-right and then two right-to-left, for example), and now have enough for all scenarios except Sellasia, but I'll probably prepare for that too, just in case.

Here are a couple of sample battlefields as laid out in Lost Battles  with a couple of sample units to show figure scale.

The Sambre

Crimissos

Chaeronea

I still have to do some spray painting on these and I'm wondering whether to add another layer to some of the hill tiles to make them stand out a bit more. I'll see.

Obviously, this terrain is very stylised, but I don't mind a bit of stylisation in my games, and I think this set would also work quite nicely with other projects I have in mind when a greater emphasis on realism in the terrain might not.

Anyway, am feeling quite enthusiastic about how this has turned out. There's still some work to do and decisions to be made, but to have acceptable tables makes a huge difference, and should see a few more games played at house Prufrock in the coming months.

Modular Terrain

For a while I've been gearing up to make a modular terrain set using interlocking carpet tiles. The difficulty has been in finding carpet tiles in the quantities needed, but after stripping the local store of another stack last weekend, I decided that I had enough to proceed.

The main impetus behind this project is Lost Battles. I'd seen the terrain that Phil Sabin and friends use for their demonstration games and decided that that was the kind of thing I'd like to go for.

With a day off today and no family activities planned, it was time to take the first step, which was to make the hill tiles.

After reserving twenty-four tiles for flat terrain (Lost Battles uses a 5 x 4 configuration, but I wanted to be able to do 6 x 4 for games with other rules), I had twenty-nine left to use for hills and other things.

A couple of hours of hacking away at them with a hobby knife resulted in thirteen tiles that can be arranged in various ways to create any of the Lost Battles scenarios.

Unfortunately, I now have to pause, because another fifteen or so tiles are needed to make the river sections.

If I can't track down any more carpet tiles I'll have to look at buying some flexible plastic rivers such as these instead, so if anyone has personal experience of such items and could recommend other manufacturers, please let me know.

Cheers all, and hope it has been a good weekend for everyone.

Fluffy Boa Puzzle Mat: where have you been all my life?

I popped into the hundred yen store yesterday to pick up some tape for work, and as I hadn't been there for a while I had a quick scour of the usual sections to see if there was anything that could be put to honest wargaming use.

Lo and behold, there was a sight for terrain mat hunting eyes: 30cm square interlocking foam mats, topped with a greenish teddy bear fur type material.

I grabbed four to take home and check out (I could always use them as an actual mat, I said to myself...). They looked OK, so I went in again to get another sixteen (the final sixteen, it so happens!) so that I can do a 4' by 5' Lost Battles board.

In their packages...

Set up for Lost Battles' size

With a different filter which is closer to the actual colour of the material.

 Considering how much money I've spent on spraypainting carpet, curtains, bits of felt, etc. (not to mention flocking foam boards), I think getting this lot for less than US$20 is very reasonable indeed!

One-Hour Wargames project 2 - the painting

I've started the painting phase of the OHW terrain project. I must admit though that I succumbed to expansionist urges and bought a second board, so that I can do 82x164 battles...

I'm not very happy with how it's gone, to be honest. The paint has not adhered very well to the fabric.

The hills, which use carpet, look OK:

But the boards themselves look very lightly dusted by comparison.

When I see the amount of spraypaint used (and I think I'll need at least two more cans to darken up the boards a bit more)...

it would probably have been more economical to buy a professionally made mat!

It might look better with figures on it; we'll see.

One-Hour Wargames project commences

I've recently been hit by the realisation that my usual hobby area has become so cluttered with family odds and ends - boxes of seasonal fruit, boxes of gifts for our students, leftover treats from Christmas that I am not allowed to throw away until at least a couple more months have passed, my wife's sewing materials, the kids' drawings and school creations, my guitar gear - that trying to maintain it as a dedicated wargaming space is almost a lost cause.

While this is on one level a little frustrating, on another it gives me a good reason to get cracking on my Neil Thomas "One Hour Wargames" project.  OHW is a book of rules and scenarios for wargamers who are short of space and time, and at the moment that sounds just about me!

Therefore, I today went down to the DIY store and picked up an 82x82 tatami-mat variant (there are some advantages to living in Japan. Who knew?!) and a couple of bits of carpet.

After hacking away at the carpet with the scissors I've got something that looks like this:

I also conducted a scientifically rigorous experiment with white glue and flock...

...which has sufficed to convince me that for colour application purposes spray paint will be a better way to go!

OHW uses 6 units per side, so I think 82x82 will work well with my 15mm armies.

 

Next step will be to get the spray painting done and then look at creating a few other terrain items.

Impressive terrain boards

My gaming buddy in Osaka, Luke, has been putting together a set of interchangeable terrain boards for 6mm moderns games, and they are most impressive.  If you want to see what can be done with interlocking foam boards, flock and a bit of paint, you can do so here.

Fingers crossed I get to have a game on them over the new year break...

Terrain board update

The basic terrain for my January game project has now been largely completed.  The boards don't look quite as good as I'd hoped; the squares show through, but so too do the joins.  I guess that's what you get for using cheapo materials!  Still, this is an experiment, so I don't mind too much, and once troops are on the table there should be plenty to distract viewers from such quibbles.

I'm quite pleased with how the squares show up under the flock.  They aren't overpowering, but are clearly visible from the right angle.  Thanks are due again to this tool.

Here you can see the beautiful joins in the foam mat... (yes, these mats are from the Japanese equivalent of the dollar shop!).

And with some jumbos for scale.

Despite the joins and the fact that one of the board warps a little, there's nothing that a few troops and a bit of tape shouldn't fix.  I think these should serve their purpose, and next time I make a terrain board I'll know what to do better.  Onwards and upwards, as they say!

A Very Useful Tool

The other day while browsing at the local hardware store* trying to find tools to aid my latest project I happened upon this humdinger pictured below.

The NT DRESSER Ever Grit Sander RS-310P (has ever a name tripped so easily off the tongue?) may not look like much, but I can assure you it is a little piece of grit-surfaced magic.

In the hands of a professional such as myself, this tool allows one to sand straight lines into foam mats, in about two or three runs through, with results that you can see in the next photograph.

As I am putting together a gridded gameboard for a miniatures battle in early January this tool is an absolute godsend.  I was imagining having to melt lines into the foam or, heaven forbid, draw squares in on the board.  Instead, two evenings after my little visit to the Kohnan I have a board comprised of 18 by 8 10cm squares delineated by subtle depressions that I will be able to flock over while still, to the watchful eye, revealing the artful geometry that underpins it.

Or that is the hope, at least...

To finish here is a view of two-thirds of the board, pre-flock:

* Don't tell the wife, but since I've got back into wargaming the local hardware store is a far more interesting place than it used to be...

How to make a quick and nasty hex mat for miniatures

A visitor to the blog, Sean, recently asked how I'd made my hex mat for the Commands and Colors:Ancients games I occasionally play, so I promised to put up a few pictures.

First, the materials.  I got the largest cork bulletin board you could find at the hardware store.  This one is 1200 x 800mm.  If you have a table of the correct size you can just use that instead.

Get some cheap, thin, non-patterned carpet.  Make sure it has a matted rather than ridged texture.  You can use any beige, green or brown colour that takes your fancy, but as you're going to spray paint it the closer it is to the colour you want the more economical it will be.  You can get loads of this type of carpet in Japan.

Cut it to the size of your bulletin board (or tabletop).

Pick up some spray paint in suitable colours to create a patchy effect.  I used about seven different sprays on a very light coloured carpet.

Note: these are not the exact colours I used.  There were about two more shades of brown...

Finally, get a dark green stain (I used wood stain) to use for the border.  This step is optional.

Next, the process.

1) Make up a hex template.  I did this by printing out hexes to the specifications I wanted (87mm from flat to flat) on paper, taping these to a piece of scrap plywood, and then drilling out the hex intersections to create the template.

2) Use a brown marker to dot the hex corners on the carpet itself and use a straight rule to mark in the hex sides.

3) Spraypaint the carpet to create whichever mottled colour effect pleases you.  I quite like the 'start out light and build up to dark' method but it uses a lot of paint - so much in fact that it would probably have been just as economical to buy a mat from Hotz.  If I were doing it again I'd use a light green base carpet and just add browns, yellows, and darker green.  It's possibly cheaper in paint to start out darker and lighten it with yellows and lighter greens.  However you do it, once you are happy with the look, you may have to redraw some hexsides that got lost under the paint.

4) [Optional] Paint in the border areas using stain.  This takes a few coats as the carpet doesn't like taking the stain very much and - depending on how picky you are - you may find yourself wanting to touch it up again after a few plays as well.

For storage, clip it to your bulletin board to prevent creases forming and simply stand it up against a wall somewhere.  If you use your bulletin board during play like I do, be aware that the frame will not support the cork very well under the weight of the lead so put some magazines between the cork and the table top during play to ward off disaster.  Slingshot journals are perfect...


So there it is.  It's not the cheapest way to do it, but I found it to be enjoyable to make, and I'm reasonably satisfied with the results.  It makes for a tough, hard-wearing surface that looks OK and unlike more sophisticatedly modelled boards which use sand, small stones, flock and so on it won't scratch the backs of your C&C:A cards (which is a very important consideration for C&C players!).


All told, I'd say it took about five or six hours to make and - give or take a spray can or two - about $100 US at the current exchange rate.  As I said earlier, if you compare that to the price of a Hotz mat you might find them to be a better option.  That said, you won't get your hotz mat next day, and spray paint may be cheaper where you are than it is in Japanese hobby shops. 
   

A bit of work on my hex mat for Commands and Colors

With a bit of free time today I decided to spruce up my Commands and Colors: Ancients gaming mat, which has been looking so sad I haven't felt at all inspired to play on it.

All I did was use some green wood stain from the local hardware store to outline the edges of the mat.  It will need another coat or two to get rid of some of the spottiness, but as I'm already getting the urge to have a game on it, it is serving its purpose!

Here's a shot of it, but please excuse the poor lighting.  My normal bulbs blew over New Year and I was unable to find any of the same type at short notice.  As you can see, the replacements are not up to snuff.

The mat itself is a piece of carpet spraypainted with various shades of green, brown and yellow.  I now see that it would have actually worked out cheaper (and infinitely more aesthetically pleasing!) to buy a hotz mat, and I think I may go that route if this latest modification does not prove satisfactory...

Humming and harring over base cloths.

Like all wargamers, I'm always looking for ways to improve the appearance of the old table.  One of the easiest ways to make sure a game looks good is to have a nice base cloth, but getting the right shade and the right texture is a bit tricky.  As I'm sure we all do, wherever I go I'm always keeping an eye out for cloths or carpets or other terrain pieces that might fit the bill. 

Anyway, the other day I found yet another carpet and picked it up, thinking it could be all right.  To cut a long story short, I thought it might be interesting to ask for opinions on which cloth goes best with the basing style I use for my figures. 

Please comment and let me which one you like best.  Feel free to go into as much detail as you like, and any peripheral advice or sage words of base-cloth wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

So, here are the options, in alphabetical order:



A) This is the first base mat I used.  It's made up of carpet tiles spraypainted various greens and browns.  It served its purpose but I don't really use it much these days.  It does fit my big table, however.

B) This is what I use for the big table these days.  It's a curtain, again with spraypaint added.

C) This is a different carpet (originally a kind of off white), with a fine grain.  I put hexes on it for use with Commands & Colors.  Again, it has been painted.

D) This is my current home table mat.  Green carpet this time with a bit of yellow and brown added to it.  It's the one I use for my Lost Battles games.

E) This is the new one I picked up the other day.  It's again carpet, and this is its store-bought colour. 

So, there are five of my base materials.  I have other bits and pieces I've fiddled around with too, but these are by far the easiest to pull out and set up, so these are the ones that get most use.

Which one would you prefer to see being trampled under hordes of leaden feet?