Slums of Bogenhafen WIP (Mordheim)

Here are a few Morheim style ruined buildings I am working on to add to the Bogenhafen Layout.

I have started a few new techniques with my buildings worth noting:

1. Roof Shingles are now made from a thin wood veneer. I cut them in to strips, stack the strips and use a mini-mitre saw to produce them. This gives the shingles a meatier look, plus I can snap them on the fly if I need to fill gaps.

2. Tight Bases: I am now cutting the bases of each building to the exact contour of the footprint (or as close as possible). I noticed in a recent game that we had trouble positioning a model on a corner due to the base sticking out about 1 cm, so I am going to eliminate the excess base material.

3. Banisters / Railings: I have developed a fast technique for railings and banisters. The bottom is foam core, with toothpicks poked in to the foam edge, followed by 2 or three thin strips at the top.

The slums of Bogenhafen are the aftermath of a brutal siege by the Axebite orc tribe. Fierce combat spilled through the North wall of the city and greenskins occupied the neighborhoods on the north side of the river Bogen for nearly three weeks before reinforcements from Altdorf finally arrived to drive the orcs back to their lair in the Grey Mountains.

Efforts to rebuild these devastated areas have been slowed by the expansion of the docklands, leaving the majority of Bogenhafen’s peasantry homeless or living in squalid conditions of ruined homes. There have been numerous requests for relief aid sent to Emperor Karl Franz, but so far Altdorf has been slow to respond.

Modular Wargaming Hills

These hills are designed for maximum battlefield efficiency! Each hill is made to last, mounted on beveled MDF bases, completely textured with sand and light gravel, painted in three shades of latex matte interior paint and flocked with some green stuff.

The hills were cut from pink polystyrene using a jigsaw set at an approximate 30 degree angle, beveled mdf bases ate at 45 degrees. The hills are attached to the mdf via hot glue; I used two hot glue guns simultaneously and you have to work quickly before the glue cools.

The sand and gravel texture is applied by brushing out wood glue then sprinkling the sand over the hills. A roller was used to apply the first shade of dark brown then two lighter shades were dry brushed over the base coat. The flock is applied in the same manner as the sand; glue then sprinkle flock.

A note on angle and texture: I kept the edges of the hills at a fairly sharp angle, as a gaming compromise. Low angle / gradually sloping hills look great, but are nearly impossible to balance miniatures on. I also kept large rocks and pebbles out of my texture so that hills would lay flat on each other when stacked.

Terrain philosophy: I always balance game play with aesthetic value in my terrain pieces. What makes for a great diorama does not always make for a playable piece of terrain that minis can be placed on. I also go for durability as this stuff gets a lot of use and tends to be clunked around during transport and set up.

Spider Mines

These Spider Mines were built on commission inspired by those pictured on the Combat Zone Chronicles site.

Materials used: wood plug, steel wire, cylindrical shaped beads. I used a dremel tool to drill holes for the legs, eyes, and antennae, and super glue for all bonds. If you look closely you may see the black post supporting each Spider Mine from below.

Spider Mines can scale virtually any terrain feature and are ideal for infiltration missions. Their main drawback is their slow speed (max 7 mph) and the soft whirring sound of the drive shaft powering the legs, which can alert enemy troops to their impending attack…

ROBOT FACTORY WIP

ROBOT FACTORY

Ahh, styrofoam packing material; it has been years since I used this stuff as inspiration for a terrain piece (the SCI FI INDUSTRIAL JUNGLE).

This is the beginning of a larger set which will include 4 building structures, 2 raised bridges and a walled courtyard.

I'll be painting this up in the style of the Desert Badlands I finished recently.

Orc Boss-Hut (WIP)

"IT BETTER BE DA BIGGEST FING IN DA CAMP!!!"

This is the first stage of the Lair of Urktash Axebite, the biggest baddest Black Orc Warboss ever to roam the Grey Mountains!!

Every morning when Urktash wakes up he stands at the door of his hut and bellows a challenge to any orc that thinks he has what it takes to be boss. This inevitably results in a bit of a mess but is great entertainment for the rest of the tribe...

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Docks: project update

The Docks are coming along nicely, and I decided that a water table was needed to determine the color pallette before the docks (small ones) and piers (large ones)could be finished.

I have built three piers (and five docks so far. There are a few more designs I may try in the next wave, but these will do for now. Once they are given the x bracing below and the deck has been scratched up for weathering, I'll be able to finish the painting.I will most likely add barnacles to all of them so that they hava an ocean look, even though Bogenhafen is a river town. Ropes are another detail I plan to add as well.

Water Table Finished

I have just completed work on a two panel water table. Here are the details on how they were made:

The basic table sections are constructed with 2'x4' masonite, braced on a frame made of 1"x2" boards. They are heald together during game with two c clamps.

These table sections were recycled; that is to say the original surface was done as a grassland board, textured with cat liter. I own 5 of these panels and don't often have a need for a 10' long table so I decided to scrape two of them down with a rasp to refurbish them as water tables. The original texture of the tables was reinforced with a thin layer of fine sand, primed with gesso, given a thick coat of black latex, then the final waves were painted using matte latex interior paints. After the colors were finished, the table was then sealed with Minwax acrylic gloss varnish.

Foggy Bog

A bog piece for War in the Age of Magic

Although this Foggy Bog is made for 15mm stuff, I could not resist using the pic with one of my 28mm zombies...

I don't own any 15mm models to shoot these pics with. That is a good thing; I have more minis than a sane person needs.

Sacred Shrine

This is a shrine in 15mm for the game War in the Age of Magic.

Storm Cloud 15mm

War in the Age of Magic: STORM CLOUD

This Storm Cloud was made using a can of spray foam insulation, which is messy stuf!!! My first atempt was disastrous. I reccommend latex gloves and newspapers to help contain the mess. The foam was layered over a foam core piece, mounted on a wooden dowel. The lightning is also foam core. The cloud is painted with black matte Latex undercoat, then acrylics.

Chasm of DOOM

More terrain for the War in the Age of Magic 15mm fantasy miniatures game. This piece is the Chasm of Doom, in which unlucky troops may fall to their DOOM while atempting to cross.

Made of Pink Foam and Masonite, painted with acrylics.

Illusions

These are the Illusion Markers for War in the Age of Magic, a 15mm scale Fantasy miniatures game. The controlling player places three of these on existing terrain sections to indicate that they may be an illusion.

The Illusions are a set of three, made with foamcore, pink insulation foam, MDF and painted with acrylics. The cotton is used to represent clouds over a mountain range. The illusions are not really meant to be in 15mm scale, but a flat representation of something the soldiers might see off in the distance when viewd from their point of view on the table top. My goal was to create something that did not look quite real, to give it a flat quality befitting an illusion or mirage.

Graveyard

The Graveyard is part of a 6 piece set I produced on commission inJanuary 2010, for the game War in the Age of Magic, a fantasy ruleset for 15mm miniatures.

This is the first series of pieces I have done in the 15mm scale, and it was alot of fun! I'll be posting pics of the rest of the set soon; it consists of the following:
1. Graveyard
2. Illusions
3. Storm Cloud
4. Chasm of Doom
5. Foggy Swamp
6. Sacred Shrine

The Docks WIP shots

Aquisition of a mini miter saw from Micro Mark has significantly accelerated production time for the docks of Bogenhafen. I have 3 piers and 5 dock sections assembled. Here are some wip pics to show the progression of the whole layout including the quay. Questions and comments are always welcome. More coming soooooon