Acheson Scatter Terrain for Post-Apoc & Modern Games

    Acheson Creations has always made quality, inexpensive terrain - here is some of the latest I painted

I continue to plow away on the terrain that I have purchased for my modern and post-apocalyptic games. My latest accomplishment is to paint up a number of pieces from Acheson Creations. Most were bought from the Miniature Building Authority booth at Cincycon 2023, but some have been sitting in my unpainted tubs for longer. They painted (and flocked) up very quickly, and I already have them tucked away in my downstairs closet displaying all my terrain on shelves.

My next post-apocalyptic game is planned to be on an urban battlefield, so I jumped these pieces to the front of the painting queue. I particular like the miscellaneous pieces which include tires, barrels, and a concrete slab. I grabbed four of them from MBA at Cincycon. I also picked out the stacks of tires, knowing how easy they'd be to get ready for the tabletop. My standard method is to run the pieces through the dishwasher on low heat. Next, I spray them with Krylon matte black. I follow that up with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water to ensure complete coverage. Then I dry brush it a dark gray, light gray, and so on. For the rims of the tires, I painted them with a metallic gray steel-colored paint. Finally, they receive a black wash and flocking and they're done!

I think these Acheson concrete pillars will look good for a bombed out or post-apocalyptic area  

I also liked these lone concrete pillars or pilings that look like they belong on a ruined city or post-apocalyptic tabletop. They received the identical treatment as the tires, above. Now that I see them in a photograph, I may have to create some piles of rubble to mix in amidst them. Or who knows? Maybe I already have something that will work for that -- I will have to check.

   The Bass Reeves, one of my post-apoc gangs, prowl through the rubbish looking for things of value

The final pieces are absolute trash. Well, two piles of garbage and a row of trash bins, that is! The trash piles are NOT Acheson. I'm not sure where I picked them up. My guess is that they were cast for me by my friend Tim Peaslee a couple years ago, and could very well be Hirst Arts or something similar. They took the most time to paint up due to having to put more than just black and gray in them. I could have spent even more time picking out details in the trash with other colors, but decided to keep it simpler. They are designed with a flat back and I believe meant to be shoved up against the wall of a building to show trash piled against it. The row of trash bins ARE Acheson Creations, and was the first time I found this casting in 28mm. I should probably buy more for my modern games, but hey! That gives me something to look for next time I see MBA or RRB Minis and More at a show!

All in all, these pieces should flesh out my tabletop more. I honestly believe it is the random "scatter" pieces that can make a game table seem to come to life. Acheson Creations makes some great pieces for that! If you see someone carrying them at a convention, you should pick some up!

Ruined 3-D Printed Buildings for Post-Apocalyptic

Bucknuts investigate one of my new 3-D printed buildings I bought from Jarls Workshop at ATC 2022

One of our HMGS Great Lakes members 3-D prints some amazing buildings, and I talked him into coming to last fall's Advance the Colors 2022 as vendor. Rusty Parker calls his shop "Jarls Workshop," and I bought quite a few items from him at the show. Most of them were ruined buildings that I could use for my post-apocalyptic games. I grabbed four of them earlier this week, and prepped them for painting.

    Rusty's excellent 3-D prints paint up quickly with base coat and dry brush for concrete and brick

Rusty's prints are of very high quality. He understands the different types of material, which gives the best results (which he uses), and invariably produces clean, flash-free buildings. I prepped them by spraying them with Krylon Matte Black primer, then following that up with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. Once it's dry, it is a simple matter to dry brush the buildings. I start with a dark gray and follow up with a lighter gray highlight. Most of these buildings had sections of brick on them, too. Once I was done with the gray, I painted the brick sections with Iron Wind Metals Red brown. I followed that up with a dry brush of Howard Hues Middle Eastern flesh. The final touch was a relatively heavy black wash.

    Adding Woodland Scenics flocking to the dirt floor of this print makes it really pop, I feel

Next, it was on to the flocking. For the 2-story and 1-story buildings, I painted the areas that were sculpted to represent a dirt floor with white glue. I also dabbed white glue in the corners of the buildings and other spots where the wind might blow dust and dirt. In these areas, I also added some light gray Woodland Scenics clump foliage. I really felt the flocking made the 2-story and 1-story buildings "pop," so to speak. I even considered adding some posters on the walls or similar items, but decided to leave them relatively generic. I can also use these buildings for the bombed out interior of a city in Modern Skirmish games using my Wars of Insurgency rules.

    This 6-story corner shell of a skyscraper is probably my favorite of the buildings I bought from Rusty

Probably my favorite of the four buildings is the 6-story corner shell of a skyscraper. The moment I saw that sitting on Rusty's vendor table at ATC I knew I had to snatch it up before someone else did! I think it will be an iconic looking piece of a post-apocalyptic tabletop. Although this one did not have brick sections, it did have a stone tile facing on the first level. I decided to give it a dry brush of a dull, washed out green over top of the gray. The hint of color gives it a nice look, I think. What's more, I decided to add rubble on this piece. I used Woodland Scenics coarse mixed gray ballast, as well as loose resin bricks I'd bought from a game store, and some craft sticks for beams that have fallen loose onto the floor. All of these also received a dry brush or black wash. 

    Close up of the rubble, bricks, and beams that I added to the building to give more character

 I really like how the extra little bits added to the character of this very cool 3-D print. I wanted to give it a more three dimensional quality but also not impede miniatures from being put inside the building itself to take cover. I bought a total of six ruined buildings, so the next two will be following these four onto my painting desk shortly. One is a duplicate of the 2-story brick and concrete ruin that is at the top of this page. I may add a washed out color for the exterior and interior walls to make it look different. The second building is a sprawling, 2-story affair that will have a relatively large footprint on the tabletop. That's good because the next scenario I plan to run for my post-apocalyptic games will be inside a city. So, the more buildings I have, the better!

    I really look forward to seeing this 6-story ruin on the tabletop for my next post-apocalyptic game!

So, stay tuned for more update (hopefully) soon!

    Another view of the 2-story brick and concrete ruin from Jarls Workshop

Space Station Zero - a new project begins

    My first Sci-Fi terrain piece sits on my newly-constructed gaming board for Space Station Zero

I had been seeing posts on Facebook about a new miniatures rules set put out by the company that wrote the "Reign in Hell" rules we've played a number of times. This science-fiction game, by Snarling Badger Studios, is called "Space Station Zero." The idea is that there is a derelict space station lost somewhere in the depths of the universe. Starships end up stranded there when their warp drive or hyper-light travel systems fail. Players each take on the role of crew of one of those ships exploring the sprawling, dark, but still functioning, interior of the station. I liked the activation system of Reign in Hell. Its game mechanics played smoothly enough, so I figured I'd spend the less than $20 to give it a look.

    Space Station Zero is a Sci-Fi miniatures rules set by Snarling Badger Studies

The mechanics are different than in Reign in Hell, but seem like they'll work well enough. The same system is used throughout: Roll a certain number of 12-sided dice to pass tests. Even numbers pass, odd numbers fail. Yep - you read that correctly. An "11" is a failure, but a "10" is a success. Some tests toss in target numbers, so you may need to score 6+, for example. That would mean 6, 8, 10, and 12 pass, while lower even numbers and all odds fail. 

    Some of my Post-Apocalyptic forces on the Space Station Zero gaming boards I created

Players determine which type of ship they are from, which will give them a list of types of crewmen (or women or aliens!) to select their force from. The types include medical officers, soldiers, engineers, etc. Players also select how many figures they want in their crew, either 4, 6, or 8. The fewer figures, the better each individual crewman's statistics. The players similarly equip their leader (who does not count towards the 4, 6, or 10). Finally, they select an "Edge," which is a special ability or equipment type that the entire crew possess.

    Close up of the silver, textured paper from Hobby Lobby and my Sharpie grid of plates and rivets

I liked that the game can be played cooperatively or competitively. So many miniatures games we play on Sunday evenings are competitive, that I thought it might be interesting to try something cooperative, for once. However, I think before I spring it on the Sunday night crew, Jenny and I will try out a few games as a two-player cooperative game. In this case, the denizens and dangers of the space station that we will face are controlled by an Artificial Intelligence, essentially a priority list that determines how each droid or crazed alien mutant will act.

    Extreme closeup of applying rivets and grid lines - a functional (if not spectacular) playing surface

Everything seemed to be moving along on this new project, but there WAS a major barrier. I own only a handful of miniatures that could be used in a Sci-Fi game like this, and I own pretty much zero terrain. Well, painted up, that is. And I don't have a playing mat or board that looks like the deck of a space station. Perhaps curiously, that is where I decided to start. I had seen a patterned silver paper at Hobby Lobby when looking for something else awhile back. I went back, checked it out, and felt it would do. The playing area is a weird one (though Snarling Badger says its common??) - 22"x30". Doing the math, that meant if I could produce six tiles of 11"x10" they would cover that area in a 2x3 arrangement. 

    The creases I put in the paper kind of disappeared once I glued the paper to the acrylic tiles

Each piece of silver paper was a foot square, so I cut them to size with scissors easily enough. Then, I decided to crease them to hopefully give the board slight, 3-D look of depth. I reinforced by lining the creases with black Sharpie. I ended up gluing them with spray glue to a smoky, acrylic material which I scored and snapped to the same size. Once attached, I added in a pattern of rivets at each intersection to give the effect of a space station floor made up of rectangular plates. The board is by no means perfect, nor is it the most beautiful playing surface anyone has ever designed. It is functional, and was quick and relatively inexpensive to produce.

    The rear of the power generator - an excellent 3-D printed terrain piece from Jarls Workshop

But what about terrain to put on the boards? "I thought you said you had none?", I hear you ask. Wellll, I did buy one incredibly cool piece of Sci-Fi terrain from Jarl's Workshop owner Rusty Parker at Drums at the Rapids 2022. It would be my first piece to be set down upon my newly-constructed space station floor. As cool as the piece is (Power Generator?), it was an absolute BEAR to paint! I spent more time painting this piece of terrain than nearly every piece of terrain I have ever done. There are just so many recessed grooves, cool lines, and supports, etc., that I think I spent four of five nights on it, several hours each evening! I like how it came out, though. I used metallic craft paints for most of it. I am happy with how the light blue metallic contrasts with the dark gray metallic (and especially the copper accents that make it pop). 

    Side view of this large, 6"x4" terrain piece - it took me LOTS of time to paint all the details

When it was finally done, I was happy with the result. I'm a bit leery of going to such lengths, again, though! Future pieces of terrain are definitely going to have to paint up quicker, or this project will never see its first game. To set up a game, players roll randomly to see how many 5"x5" or 2"x2" pieces are placed on each quarter of the table. So, each board will have a minimum of four pieces and a maximum of 20 (!!!). Now, this power generator WAS one of the big pieces. The smaller ones -- and hopefully subsequent big ones -- will likely take a lot less time to paint up. So, no worries...right??

    Wooden pegs, drawer pulls, brass wire, and beads are the genesis of a force of space station droids

The skeptical second-guessers among you are probably smirking, now. You're just waiting to say, "But what about figures?" Well, I likely have enough figures in my Post-Apocalyptic forces to represent the player crews. So, I'll be set for Jenny and I to test it out. I know, I know...I see your grin! "Enemies?", you ask. Yes, yes, yes, I know. So, I went through the dozens of scenarios in the rulebook and catalogued the enemy creatures or mechanical forces that the players have to defeat. I'm happy to report they break down into essentially two categories: mechanical "drone sentries" (Laser-armed, Medical, Guard, Repair, Worker, etc.) and "mutants" (Starving, Deranged, Experimental, Drunken, etc.). 

    "Intruder Alert!" the space station's droids whir towards a crew investigating the power plant

So, that led me to my first scratch-build - generic drones for Space Station Zero! I modeled them on the only vaguely humanoid worker ones from Star Wars. I used two pieces of craft wood as the body -- the upper body is a wooden peg and the lower is a "drawer pull." Think BB3 with arms. For said arms, I drilled through the upper body with my pin vice and ran brass wire through. I slid beads onto the wire, bent the arms at various angles, then glued aluminum tube over the brass to be a gun barrel or holder for a melee weapon. Parts of this were more fiddly than I expected (particularly using pliers to re-open the crimp caused by cutting a length of aluminum tube). I also used styrene tube as an outer barrel for the gun weapon. It came out better on some of the droids than on others. Same with the weapons. I kind of like how the lengths of dangling chain look for a melee weapon. I'm less happy with the hammers. Oh well. This IS to test out the game and see if I like before I go out and buy commercial models, right?

    Although not originally designed as armed sentries, the droids have repurposed tools for defense

Once the bodies and arms were completed, it was time to paint them. I decided to go with a pearly white body (once again, ala Star Wars) with metallic gray arms and weapons. I also made the lower part of the peg's head a bright steel to give the suggestion of a head and sensors. I painted stripes in bright colors, making each different for ease of identification during game play. Finally, I added tiny gemstones along the centeral torso to represent glowing panels. How do they look? Passable, I say. Hopefully, they look better once they are battling it out with investigating crews amidst the background of laboriously-painted Sci-Fi terrain! Ha, ha!

    Hopefully, these 8 scratch-built droids can cover me for a couple missions of Space Station Zero!

Anyway, more Space Station Zero stuff is on the way, so stay tuned!

    I bought these smaller Sci-Fit terrain pieces from RRB Miniatures at Shore Wars 2022

Rusted Post-Apocalyptic Vehicles

    My rusted out, dilapidated Post-Apocalyptic vehicles from Diabolical Terrain

When I go to a convention, I always like to try to support the vendors in attendance. Sometimes this leads to purchases that I don't need right away (or may never truly need). Other times, it leads to purchases that are a bit more pricey than my normally cheapskate nature might contemplate. 

    This abandoned taxi makes for great terrain for a Post-Apocalyptic game (or modern junkyard?)

Such was the case with these two 3-D printed dilapidated Post-Apocalyptic vehicles. I was at DayCon 2022 and one of the vendors in attendance was Diabolical Terrain. They 3-D print a very cool Post-Apocalyptic line which is meant (I believe) for the Fallout Miniatures game. These were incredibly cool and evocative terrain pieces that immediately caught my eye. The price tag was a bit of sticker shock, though, considering what I normally pay for 3-D printed terrain. I ended up buying two dilapidated vehicles, a van and a taxi, to place on the tabletop for my Post-Apocalyptic games. 

    The Bass Reeves, one of my Post-Apoc gangs, check out the taxi for anything salvagable

The van was $30 and the taxi was $20. I think that is a tad steep, but the sculpts are very clean and required zero cleanup or trimming. DayCon is a convention I attend every year, so I wanted to support its vendors. So, I sucked it up and made the purchase. Once the rush of getting things ready for the Advance the Colors Saga tournament was done, I immediately slotted those into my painting queue. If I am going to pay top dollar for these cool terrain pieces, then I am going to get my money's worth and get them on the table ASAP!

    Hopefully the two-tone rust effect and the sky reflection on the windows came out okay on this model

To prep them, I spray painted them with Krylon matte black. I followed that up with my usual 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water. I went online and look for images to inspire me, but was surprised to find very few. I figured these being Fallout terrain that there would be a bunch of screen shots of the game featuring this van and taxi. Not the case -- or at least in the search terms I was using. So, I decided to go with a very faded yellow as a base coat for the taxi. I dry brushed this white, but felt it looked too blanched, and didn't have even a hint of that taxi yellow. So, I did a wash of golden yellow and was much happier with the result.

    I love how all the various ribs and metal beams are twisted and bent on this van model!

Trim for the bumpers and wheel wells was done in a steel color with silver highlights. Same for the metallic chrome around the headlights and tail lights. I also did splashes of medium gray on the tires. For the rust, I once again resorted to Google Image searches for patterns of rust on old, weathered vehicles. I used a medium brown as the initial coat, following that up in the center portions with a terra cotta orange. I went back and forth about how to paint the taxi sign atop the vehicle. It is divided into three sections, which I have never seen anywhere on a taxi. I decided to ignore the sections, and simply use a Sharpie marker to write "TAXI" on it. 

    The Vallejo black wash provides an overall grimy effect that, even though I water it down, looks good

The final coat was with Vallejo Black Wash, watered down considerably. I love how it settled in the folds and creases and made the vehicle look long abandoned. I didn't consider what it would do to the Sharpie, though, and it made the letters run. On reflection, now I actually liked the effect it had on the lettering. I think it adds to the overall sense of ruin and neglect. For the windows, I had painted them solid black. I used a very watered down deep blue on the top half of each window to give the effect of reflecting the blue sky. I used a line of watered down very light blue to give the effect of white clouds reflecting off the glass. I finished off the windows with diagonal streaks of the almost white blue to represent glare. I like how the windows came out, and think they give a decent effect.

    This vehicle looks long since looted by previous survivors in the grim post-Apocalyptic world

The van I dry brushed a cream color with another highlight of white. I gave it a dark olive drab green broad stripe at the bottom, which was dry brushed with a very light olive drab. The interior was done with the same cream for the floor and console, while the seats were done in a lighter olive base coat. Dark steel was used on the chrome or metal sections, with a silver dry brush, like with the taxi. I used the exact same rust effects, as well as the black wash. I was really worried that I didn't put enough thought and effort into the van, but really like how it came out.

All in all, I am very happy with how both terrain pieces came out. I recommend these Diabolical Terrain pieces if you want some iconic looking, Post-Apocalyptic terrain for the tabletop.

Post-Apocalyptic (or abandoned) Trailer Home

    My Sarissa Precision 'Residential Trailer' modified for a post-Apocalyptic or very seedy setting

This has been a model many months in the making. I started working on this Sarissa Precision MDF "Residential Trailer" over the summer. From the beginning, I intended major surface modifications to the design. Rather than the inscribed vinyl paneling the model comes with, I planned on adding corrugated tin or steel panels and patches. I wanted the trailer to look at home in either a post-Apocalyptic game or some seedy, modern setting in a slum or dilapidated area.

    The Bucknuts gang investigates the area around the trailer for signs to see if anyone is home

Luckily, I had several different sizes and types of corrugated styrene plastic. However, the base horizontal corrugated material would actually be done with corrugated paper that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I would use the styrene for the "patches" of corrugated material and for the vertical corrugation along the bottom edge of the trailer. I made an exception for the roof, though. I used all styrene corrugated material because I figured it would get more handling and wear as the roof was taken off and replaced during games.

    I like how the roof came out. I used paper towels as blue plastic tarp weighed down with craft bricks

I covered the windows with black plastic mesh material trimmed to appear as metal bars over the windows. I dry brushed the black with steel paint, but it kind of gets lost on the dark material. I should probably have done brighter metal highlights to make it look more obviously metal. I also decided not to use the cardboard awnings Sarissa Precision includes with the models. Not only could I not see how they wouldn't get knocked off during normal gaming, I also thought they were a little hoity-toity for the owners of this trailer that I had in mind! It is hard to see, but the skylights on the top actually have clear plastic window material that Sarissa included with the model. The clear coating I sprayed on frosted it, but I actually hoped that it would do that to make it a more realistic skylight. Otherwise, the windows of the model are just open holes with the plastic mesh trimmed to fit over them.

    I wanted the trailer to look like a cross between post-Apocalyptic and some backwoods nightmare

I love how the roof came out. I epoxied a piece of styrene corrugated material to cover the length of the MDF roof, having to make a few cut outs to account for the two large skylights on the roof. I put a couple different size styrene "patches" over the roof and also added in some tarps. I took ordinary paper towel material for the tarps, and glued it into place with white glue. I then painted the material heavily with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. Finally, I added some craft bricks I had bought from a package at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH.

Bucknuts members take up positions to watch for the owners while they prepare to loot the trailer

There are other various modifications I made. The trim pieces along the sides of the model are simply wooden craft sticks trimmed to the right size. The wooden flooring on the staircase leading to the front door are similarly craft sticks trimmed to length and glued into place. Similarly, the frame around the front door is also done with wooden craft sticks.

    The rear of the trailer, with a section patched with wood and the obligatory warning to trespassers

Painting the trailer was easier than I thought it would be. I spray painted the model black, then went over it again with a 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water. I chose faded pastel colors for the corrugated paneling, and gave them extensive dry brushing to simulate sun-bleaching. Finally, I went crazy with red brown and an orange rust color to simulate a rusted, dilapidated exterior. I looked at photographs online of rusting tin and feel I came close to the effect. I am still not sure if I went overboard or got it right. I would be curious to hear what you think of the effect.

    The interior turned out ok - everything is painted except the doors, which are printed out & glued on

The final part of the model was painting the interior. Originally, I intended to use patterned paper as wallpaper and save myself the trouble of painting. But there are so many windows on this model that I finally decided it would be more work to measure and cut out the paper than it would be to just paint it. I gave it a black base coat then dry brushed my colors on. I did a lighter highlight dry brush, then a black wash to give it a faded, dirty appearance. I think it turned out functional. I could have put posters on the walls and such, but decided for a slight more bare bones look.

    This is how Sarissa Precision envisions the model - WAY to pretty and posh for what I had in mind!

The final touch was the abandoned love seat and easy chair sitting in the yard. These were plaster cast pieces I'd purchased from my friend Tim P. I also decided to add in the stereotype abandoned toilet in the yard, used as a planter for flowers. The fire pit is simply rocks. I realized that I forgot to push burnt sticks and ashes inside the fire ring. I also wanted to black wash the rocks and dry brush some soot stains. So, I guess I am not technically done with the model. It was just, with the months it took to get to this stage, I was ready for it to be complete!

More Altars for Saga Objectives

    More altars and idols for Saga objective markers (and maybe also Pulp temple scenery?)

This last week before school starts up has seen a flurry of projects finish on my painting desk. Here is a second batch of altars and idols for objective markers for Saga. I think I needed only 10 more, but once I got started creating them, I kept finding more things in my unpainted boxes and drawers that would work. Some of these items have probably been in a box for more than a decade, just waiting for that right project to be used with. And once again, the plaster bricks that Tim and Zeke had given me years ago were crucial to being able to create these.

For example, in the first photo, that bull's head was lead and I don't even remember where it came from. I would not be surprised if it has been lurking in my unpainted lead drawer for 20 years! However, it makes a perfect pagan idol when set atop some Hirst Arts fieldstone "bricks." The two matching temple dogs are brass pieces that I picked up in one of my trips to Southeast Asia. They're very detailed - note the Buddha on the back of the dogs - look like statues you might see in a medieval Hindu temple. The stone column base is Hirst Arts fieldstone again, along with two plaster bricks picked up from a bag of scenery items at a gaming store.

    More brass pieces that I picked up in my travels plopped atop stone altars

And as long as I am showing off what I'd picked up in Southeast Asia, I may as well talk about these three next. Once again, they were bought while visiting a temple somewhere in my travels - Myanmar? Thailand? Vietnam? Not sure. The middle one is the monkey god Hanuman. You see statues and paintings of him in many temples. On the right is a brass figurine of Ganesh, the elepant-headed god beloved by Hindus. Both he and Hanuman sit atop Hirst Arts brick columns like the temple dogs. The other Ganesh to the left sits atop a plastic piece from the Pegasus Hobbies Gothic Cathedral box. I did not use any of the interior pieces when I built St. Jennifer's with the kit. I saved the pieces, knowing they'd come in handy one day. I believe it is a baptismal font, but the circular base of the Ganesh fit so perfectly into the font basin that I made it into a pedestal for the statue.

    Two altars from the Pegasus Hobbies Gothic Cathedral & Reaper Bones Cthulhu column

The two altars on either side of the column also were interior pieces intended for the cathedral. I added a Hirst Arts stone pedestal and a fancy bead to the back so it wasn't so plain. Since I was basing them up on 1.5" wooden circles, I didn't want a large blank area on the back. The pieces will be towards the center of the table in the Wrath of the gods scenario, so will be seen all around. The column is a Reaper Bones Cthulhu eldritch, carved column. The base it came with was the perfect size, too. So, the only thing I had to do with it was the same thing I did with all of them. Spray paint with acrylic black paint. Seal it with a 50/50 mix of black paint and water. Then dry brush it to shades of gray.

    The final three altars or idols were Reaper Bones models and an unused 28mm Greek hoplite

The two end altars or idols here are also straight out of the box. They are from the Reaper Bones "Harrowgate" pack, and are actually the second pack of these that I painted up. The one in the center is a 28mm Greek Hoplite as a statue, placed atop more Hirst Arts stones. I realized after I had taken the picture that I had made him into a "lefty." I put the shield on the wrong arm! Not sure why, but it looks fine as a Greek statue, I think.

So, with this batch, I am done with the objective markers. Time to move on to the next project! Stay tuned for what that will be...!

Idols, Altars, & Sacred Spaces, oh my!

    Primitive Idols as Objective Markers for Saga - I love how these Bad Squiddo ones turned out!

Now that Historicon is over, it's time to set my sights on what I need to prepare for my next convention: Advance the Colors 2022 at the Clark County Fairgrounds, Oct. 7-8, 2022. I will be running a Saga tournament there for the second year in a row. Last year, we had 16 players and this year I am hoping to increase that to 24. 

    Plaster or resin stones with spare 28mm figures and you have a Pagan or Christian Idol/Altar

One of the challenging parts about running a Saga tournament is organizers are expected to provide the battlefields and terrain. In this case, it means I should be ready to have a dozen tables of relatively matching terrain for each round. I'm probably a bit anal retentive on making it fair, so I want each board to be as identical to the next one as possible. The terrain will be preset, and each round it will be changed out to provide the players a new tactical puzzle. So, if I need a large hill in the center of round two's board, for example, that means I need 12 large hills! Last year, I prepared for eight matching pieces of terrain of all the different Saga types -- fields, bogs, ruins, rocky ground, etc. So, I need to up those numbers some, obviously.

    These resin 'Toothy Skulls' have been in my unpainted resin bin for years...now they'll see use!

I took care of the hills at Historicon, purchasing a dozen very affordable hills from Pastimes on the Square's booth in the Exhibit Hall. I will count out to make sure I have enough styrene pieces pieces to plop trees on for Woods, but I think I am okay there, too. That means I need to pony up some more of the other four types -- yikes! I guess I'd better get busy on that!!

    A couple of wooden Buddhas & a resin snake atop plaster bricks make good looking idols

One of the scenarios that I am running in this year's Saga tournament is called "Wrath of the Gods." It was developed by Joe M of the Northern Tempest Saga Podcast. It features three objective markers which are meant to represent idols, altars, or something similar. Prior to coming back from Historicon, I had plenty of "loot" type of objective markers, but only about a half dozen that could be considered idols. I dug through the closet where I store my various unpainted resin and terrain odds and ends. I found quite a few that I could use as idols. What's more, I found plaster stone tiles that were the exact dimensions required for an objective marker that Tim P had given me a few years ago. Adding in the plaster bricks I had left over from my friend Dave Z's generosity years ago, and I could do quite a few with zero new purchases!

    Bad Squiddo Games' Enchanted (or Angry?) Tree Stumps as they appear on the package illustration

So, I sat down and started Tacky Gluing pieces things together. Resin skulls were attached to plaster stones, and appropriate looking idol heads were glued to the 40mm square stone tiles. I also went through my 28mm unpainted lead looking for things I could use as statues. These would be placed atop platforms made from the resin stones. Before I knew it, I had 14 altar-like objective markers assembled. Another six were created using a purchase from Historicon -- the Bad Squiddo Games "Enchanted Tree Stumps" package I had bought at the Badger Games. I used green stuff to bond the incredibly cool looking resin stumps to the top of a large Acheson Creations tree stump. Once placed atop the larger stump, the leering faces of the "Angry Tree Stumps" looked like a seated tree god or spirit. Or maybe they were a primitive wooden  idol lost and forgotten in a forest? I was incredibly happy with how they turned out. Yes, if I tell you that I used green stuff to bond the two together, and then carved to look like bark, you will be able to find the "seams", so to speak. But they look like they belonged on top of the stumps. Very sacred grove looking, I thought!

    I used green stuff to attach the tree stumps to a larger tree stump and they look like seated idols!

Once they were all constructed and put together, I spray painted the whole lot with Krylon acrylic matte black. Then I did my usual thing that I do for terrain, and went over the entire surface with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. Painting these was SO easy and quick. For the stone ones, I started with a dark gray dry brush, then followed up with a light gray one. That was it - a coat of clear acrylic matte and they were done! 

    I had only five large tree stumps, so this one sits alone on the ground (flocking still wet with glue!)

For the Enchanted Tree Stumps, I began with a Howard Hues Camo Brown dry brush. I followed that up with a light khaki colored dry brush highlighting. Then it was time to get creative. The picture that accompanied the pack of stumps showed them painted up with the faces in various colors. I tried to make it look like paint had been daubed across the wood, sticking to the highlights but not sinking into the crevices. The eyes I painted a bright light green. The mouths or maws were done in a darker red brown. I used a number of different colors for the faces, including Terra Cotta, faded blue, darker green, lighter green, and reddish brown. 

    Another of the resin cobras and a Norse and Celtic looking figure atop stone altars

I was very happy with how the faces turned out. I looked at the pieces, though, and decided the colors of the faces looked a little chalky, and needed a good dark wash. I did a black wash over the entire piece and was even happier with the results. I had only five of the large Acheson tree stumps to be the seated bodies of the tree spirits, though, so one had to be attached to a circular base and flocked. I have a feeling these models will appear in non-Saga games -- perhaps as warnings to trespassers that they are entering a sacred grove protected by a savage tribe!

    Two more resin skulls I've had sitting unpainted and an African looking statue

From start to finish, this entire batch of 20 objective markers took only about four days of a couple hours work each day. This brings me to a total of 26 markers. I'll need 36, as each board has three of these. So, before October I have 10 more to do. I've got the formula down, so I imagine they'll go fast. 

So, what's next for me? Two things are fighting the idols for space on my painting desk right now. One is the last two stands of my 28mm Mongol army for Saga - the warlord and the kettle drummer. Each stand will have two figures on it and are primed on my desk as I type this. The other thing is a Sarissa Precision trailer home. More on this hopefully soon. It has been sprayed black so is almost ready for the brush! Stay tuned for more updates as I use these last two weeks of summer to squeeze in as much work on projects as I can!