Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: cameron on 30 September 2014, 07:02:14 PM
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First off, I took a lot of inspiration for this project from this LA thread:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=66404.msg803082#msg803082
I have been working, in small increments, through most of the summer on a 15mm Saga project. I had painted up a force of Picts to use against a friend's Anglo-Danes, but when he lost interest in Saga, I decided to put together a force of Vikings, so I could provide both sides at club night.
I don't own much terrain that would be really appropriate for the Viking era, aside from the usual felt forest outlines and stand-alone trees, and I wanted to be able to play some raid scenarios, which require something more than empty forest to raid. Rather than build more scatter terrain to go with my usual setups, I decided it was a good time to do something I've been thinking about for a while: build a proper diorama-style board, and put the sort of time and attention into it that would be wasted on a scatter-terrain board.
It's a good thing I enjoyed the process of building this board, because the question of how much use I'll get out of it, compared to the time I spent building it, is still open. It will see first blood this Friday, though, with a scenario designed specifically for this setup.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4OvA-74Qm4E/VCoxP8A37oI/AAAAAAAAMXc/8_COv6qwzlY/s1600/DSC_6243.jpg)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BvPwgO3hVKg/VCoxWqPuxYI/AAAAAAAAMX0/r11LrN2QC-c/s1600/DSC_6249.jpg)
More pics at my phlog here: http://cameronstinylittlemen.blogspot.ca/2014/09/saga-pictish-village.html
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Brilliant work Mr. C.; pastoral, perfect and (reasonably) portable!
:-* :-* :-* :-*
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That looks great.
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Brilliant!
Lovely!
And scenic!
:-* :-* :-*
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Looks superb 8)
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Love it! That is what appeals to me about Saga, you can have a cracking game in a very small area, but that area being so small can be highly detailed and really brings the game to life. This terrain is really inspiring.
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Wow! Nice work! :-*
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Top Job!!
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Great looking terrain. :-*
May I ask what is the size?
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Thanks for the comments, chaps. The board is 2'x2'. I made some half-size measuring sticks to use for Saga, and it all seems to fit well with the 15mm miniatures.
I would like to build a second board to go with this one, maybe with a bit of sea coast at the edge, so I could do some proper Viking raids. It will have to wait until I finish some other projects, though!
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Looks grand although I would suggest a little more evenness for the tree foliage, perhaps a light mist of a mid green to bring them more together :)
cheers
James
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That is marvelous! And a huzzah for 15mm SAGA!
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This is some serious great work!
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I'd have thought the land immediately adjacent to the buildings would have been cleared for cultivation, rather than left wooded. Although a screen of trees on the side of the prevailing wind might be left to shelter the buildings. Nice model, though.
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Simply WOW :o
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very atmospheric little scene!
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I would suggest a little more evenness for the tree foliage
I have to agree. I may get some leafy flock and glue a layer of it onto the foam bits.
I'd have thought the land immediately adjacent to the buildings would have been cleared for cultivation, rather than left wooded.
In my mind I have the cultivated fields off-board across the path, on the other side of the sheep paddock. You can see a little brownish path leading from the main path off to the right in the first photo. If I expand my setup with another 2x2 board in the future, that's probably the side I'll build off of, likely with some growing fields and maybe a shelter or two, and possibly a bit of beach at the far end.
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Great work Mate! :D
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Well done :-*
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That is WOW with a capital 'double U' !
I've been building a few smaller boards this year using cheap white / notice boards as they have a wooden edge but they are mainly plain terrain compared to yours to simplify storage. How do you plan to store this and keep the dust off?
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I don't have a great plan for storage. The trees and building roofs are removable, and it's fairly flat when I take them off. I think I'll put it in a plastic recycling bag when I store it to keep the dust off, probably with some spare blocks of styrofoam sitting on the flat places so that whatever I put on top of it doesn't compress any of the bushes (or my beehives!!!!).
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This diorama is excellent !
Please give us more !
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Lovely little diorama :-*
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One thought I had over storage is to make the board so that it just fits into a cupboard and then remove the shelves but leave the supports in and put the board on the pegs!
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That's IS lovely!! :-* :-* :-* :-*
I would love to see more people doing boards like this! It adds soon much to a game having scenery like this!!
Brilliant! Keep up the great work!
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Like it.
Very nice, and i like your blog (especially what you are doing with the Quar. I have been resisting them for quite a while).
I get so much inspiration from various LAF Threads so happy to see my dark age farm inspired you.
Looking forward to see some pics of your games on this terrain.
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Great piece of scenery and lovely modelling! :-*
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These are the scenario briefs I made for the game:
Hadwin Hairy-Breeches
It’s time for some new wives! You have traveled across the vicious seas for days, and you have one thing in mind: capture some slaves to bring home for sale. Your half-brother, Snorri, though, has been argumentative and disrespectful for the whole journey. He would bear watching.
Plunder victory points:
Each unit that stays in contact with one of the buildings in the farmstead (that is not occupied by fighting men) for one full turn may capture its inhabitants. Each batch of inhabitants you carry off the board (by any edge) gives you +3 VP.
Snorri Most-Beard
It has been nearly a year since your last raid, and you can already feel the red mist descending. But here’s Hadwin again, trying to tell you - you! - what to do and how to fight, just like when you were children. Well, you didn’t come all this way to line his pockets with slaves and plunder. You came here to do one thing: wet your sword and dance in the flames.
Savagery victory points:
Each unit that stays in contact with one of the buildings in the farmstead for one full turn may light that building on fire, OR slaughter its non-combatant inhabitants. You may not slaughter the inhabitants of a building if that building is on fire. Each burnt building or group of slaughtered inhabitants gives you +2 VP.
Drosten The Farmer
The northmen have come! You have secured the women and children in the hall and outbuildings, but the walls are thin and the thatch is dry. You have sent for help from Onuis over the hill, but he’s had designs on your lands for years, and you don’t know how far you can trust him. There’s only one thing to do: muster your men and try to keep the northmen from stealing or destroying everything you value.
Preservation victory points:
Each building in the farm that remains intact, with living inhabitants, by the end of the battle, earns you +3 VP.
Onuis The Farmer
A breathless messenger has just arrived from Drosten’s farm over the hill: the northmen have come! Honor requires you to ride to his aid, but Drosten has been sneaking his sheep onto your pastures for years and thumbing his nose at you in council. And besides, your son is of age and needs land if his own. Perhaps you can offer help, while advancing your own interests at the same time...
Betrayal victory points:
Each group of Drosten’s people that is kidnapped or slain by the northmen grants you +3 VP (no, you may not kidnap or slay them yourself), but each of his buildings that burns costs you -2 VP.
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Very nice! :)
I understand your concerns about the use of the board - it's what is always keeping me from making some sculpted modular landscaping, instead I always make multi-purpose flat boards and 'place-on-top' terrain.
BUT, now that you've made it, maybe you'll have incentive to think up scenarios centered on the farm, maybe carving out the story of it's inhabitants, and how they fare during times of war.
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Very nice work.
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Inspirational stuff! I have been mulling over starting a Saga terrain project, and yours might be the one to push me over the edge.
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I ran the game on Friday, and posted a brief write-up and some photos at my phlog.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tN0rUTWBAac/VDG0L7K8QlI/AAAAAAAAMfg/0vwSDJ32vwk/s1600/DSC_6251.jpg)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-azOOQ5x7PuE/VDG0TzkMiHI/AAAAAAAAMf4/GuufhNhSozE/s1600/DSC_6255.jpg)
You can find a bunch more photos and words here:
http://cameronstinylittlemen.blogspot.ca/2014/10/the-saga-of-hadwin-hairy-breeches.html
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Just gets better and better...
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That looks awesome. And can I add another 'yay' for 15mm Saga?