Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Frostgrave => Topic started by: Bloggard on November 25, 2017, 02:52:43 PM
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a catch all thread for my crafting, painting and playing with regards to the Ghost Archipelago ....
to begin with I'll be posting pics of the various bits and pieces put together in terms of figures and scenery.
Although loving the aesthetic aspect of the hobby above all else, my skills are, ironically, rather moderate.
As such, I'm going for an evocative 'table-top' standard (telling myself this is necessary in terms of enabling practical game-play ;)), and am trying to box clever in terms of using materials and items that make the lightest work of things as possible.
... so much of what follows has come from a magpie-like scrutiny of hobby-activity (and, um, ebay ... ), courtesy of google, with sources credited where possible / remembered.
Anyhow, first up:
(https://i.imgur.com/U7mg4oM.jpg)
I'd tried a mat and various pieces of felt, before further obsessive surfing let me to the wonder that is crushed velvet.
No doubt obvious to many, but it hadn't occurred to me (and unfortunately I can't remember the specific source - may well have been someone on this board).
it works very well - the way it changes depending on light-source, and your own position is great - doesn't come across in a photo I guess. This stuff isn't the cheapest around, think it was about £8 a metre off ebay, specifically, 'crushed glitz velvet' in aqua.
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Great idea! And what's more, if you want green, swampy water, you could simply go with a green crushed velvet for the same effect!
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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Great idea! And what's more, if you want green, swampy water, you could simply go with a green crushed velvet for the same effect!
Mike
I've picked up some other shades, Mike, as you say.
remarkably effective stuff, and good value in comparison with gaming-mats.
here it is, in a wip set-up for the watchtower scenario:
(https://i.imgur.com/MnKe0Ol.jpg)
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that is a fantastic set up and wonderful terrain! Nice!
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Yup, that looks great and should play well too! Nice elevation differences.
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Looks great! How well do the miniatures stand on the velvet?
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That set up looks great and the blue crushed velvet is perfect. I was looking for a similar solution for my own board.
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That looks really good. Crushed velvet - who'd-a-thought....?
Impressed....!
Doug
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That board is spectacular!!! :o :o :o
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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thanks for the postive comments, all, much appreciated.
the sum is def. greater than the parts, and GA really lends itself to that, with the suitability of aquarium decorations etc. There have been some flukes too with how materials have worked out, when bought purely due to price (i.e. low).
I will be posting pics of the constituent parts with some verbiage, in case of interest one way or another.
Ogrob: hope so: never actually played 'pure' frostgrave' despite picking some of the printed matter, so have no idea of what really works in terms of scenics etc, but have taken the 'more the merrier' advice in the rules very literally ...
critsmash: on bases, no problem with miniatures standing up? - but of course the crushed velvet is only the sea area - and figs wont be on it that much (but having said that, see following post about sharks...).
James: having picked up a few different pieces of crushed velvet now, and some samples too (particularly of the relatively expensive stuff - £20+ a metre!) and would say it's worth going up from the basic £3 quid a metre stuff, to the sort of thing shown in the pics here.
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my oldest chum and his missus are here for the week - we were supposed to be archipelagoing, but still rather a lot to do on the craftage front.
He's done a very nice job on the sharks:
(https://i.imgur.com/mvIKhYh.jpg)
got to make sure they get used now - thinking of a 'sink or swim' type scenario - particularly given the rules supplement in the latest WI concerning boarding larger vessals etc: possibly two boats having rammed each other / or driven onto rocks, and the sharks start to circle ...
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He's done a very nice job on the sharks:
Not just a nice job, but a frighteningly nice job! :o
I'll be seeing that Great White head in my nightmares again...be sure to thank your friend from this shark-o-phobic gamer... lol
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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I have taken your idea as inspiration and got some crushed velvet of my own. Just £3.50 on ebay, and arrived in two days.
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rLBKEWJqHPA/Wh_V5mhZ2oI/AAAAAAAAgt4/zg1BIRq58Uo6t868X9xuuQqjYal-zf9sgCKgBGAs/s400/20171130_095500.jpg)
Forgive the blurry photo, but you get the idea. It's definitely telling me I need more islands, bridges, etc. Just used my own crude homemade hills as islands. Maybe a shipwreck would be fun ...
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yes Mike, he's done a great job. And I'm the same shark-wise!
Am really chuffed with a statue / fountain he's done, using a blotz mdf kit and a bones mini-me Cthulhu fig - brilliant verdigris'd copper effect, which I'll post a pic of when the 'still water' has set (could be problems with that actually) ...
James - yep, looks great. definitely one of the bargains out there scenery-wise for this game. And agree - the more scenery the better - one of the main things attracting me to this game (look for a post about umbum ships soon - yes, you read it right, that is 'umbum', btw). Also, just to clarify again - I'm not claiming to have originated the use of this material, having seen it in someone else's post / blog - just can't remember where.
only managed 8 figs to completion in time for a game this week, so hope 4 figs a crew works out (can always use some base-coated ones if really necessary I suppose...)
just shading and dry-brushing, and surprising how well (for me) these have turned out: there are some superb figures in the official range.
I've actually felt the need to give the barest impressions of eyes with these.
should point out that one of the Heritors is a Foundry fig from the Swashbucklers range ...
(https://i.imgur.com/7XdLuFv.jpg)
going for a 'hybrid' basing approach - I really like the acrylic base look for skirmishing, and got quite a lot of them in ready, only to discover I can't cut metal figs cleanly from their bases ... so of necessity, have gone for a neutral base on an acrylic round - works pretty well.
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getting the table set-up 'properly' now to actually attempt a game or two ... we're both v. impressed by the rules, read-through-wise.
love the quasi- pen n paper rpg feel, with the campaign rules in particular.
so another pic of the cloth - favourable angle and lighting and the effect can be quite remarkable - although can't seem to get rid of a colour-cast in this image.
boat from a nice chap on ebay uk, just getting going with a resin scenery business - will post about his stuff presently.
(https://i.imgur.com/DFM37DG.jpg)
as mentioned above I'm right chuffed with a fountain and forbidding statue that my chum Barry's done - we had trouble using still-water (basically wasn't enough) and my attempt to add a diy'd mix had an, um, interesting effect as you can see. Putting it down to devilish other-worldly emanations.
(https://i.imgur.com/5B2nSO6.jpg)
going to have to think up a scenario for it now.
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Great stuff! Yep...just add him into the storyline!
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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will do Mike - looking forward to creating scenarios / campaigns to make the most of the rpg qualities of the game ...
but we ended up having time for one game only, and went with the abandoned watchtower - as the scenery and available figs were pretty much set up for that.
2 teams of 4:
Zardoz O'Connery (heritor), Windy Mere (stormwarden), Master Bates and Esmeralda Escutcheons (crewmen)
vs
'Sir' (self-awarded) Neville Maycare (Heritor), Hannibal Magnetism (beastwarden), Juan (soon to be Juanita if the expedtion's successful) Sabaton and Stumpy Stoggins (one mustn't ask about the 'stumpy' bit).
anyhow, we really enjoyed it, although randomizing the Heritor abilities limited the effectiveness of that part of the game (we realised subsequently). The narrative element of it went really well, with a cool denoument at the watchtower, seeing 'sir' Neville making off with the spoils having let the other team do most of the work.
contrasty lighting and phone cams don't mix well, and we didn't get many good snaps, but here's a few as far as it goes:
(https://i.imgur.com/csmgCnq.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MKVAEDk.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iCYewYJ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UMZQfEe.jpg)
as ingenue players we do have a few queries about the basic rules which I hope we can get answers to here in due course.
But in general it was everything we hoped it might be - and the 4 figs a side was fine for a first game.
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and a couple more taken after the event ...
(https://i.imgur.com/xbEc5in.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/m2yZKfu.jpg)
the lovely little treasure chest comes from the seller on ebay I mentioned earlier in the thread:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/andretelfe_7/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
treasure (not clear in photo) various shinies from Bad Squiddo games.
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Those photos look great! Mine will also be iPhone photos until I take the plunge and by a digital SLR (hopefully Christmas).
I love the pteradon with his jaws around the figure... lol
The bridge looks great, too! I'm glad to hear that smaller games of G.A. work out well...
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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cheers Mike.
razorbeak - poor old Stumpy had to retreat to the longboat with the first treasure token, having become even stumpier during the fray.
the last two pics were taken with my dslr, although with very mixed artificial lighting (3 different sources!).
* the bridges are the usual low price / good quality items from China / Hong Kong. Pre-painted / roped etc.
we found 4 figs a side fine for our starting game - and with the relatively dense scenery as well was no bad thing from that point of view I think, as we're not the most dextrous pair of hombres these days.
They really are a great set of rules. I hadn't really understood (not having played frostgrave) that they take the 'rpg' side of things as far as they do in the campaign context. No doubt pretty straight-foward to expand upon that oneself too (and there'll be official expansions I expect - I've pre-ordered the 'lost colossus' one [they're showing great cover art for that atm]... ).
Didn't get a chance to try anything with the additional ship-boarding rules in the latest WI, but hopefully next time.
anyhow, for now, will be continuing to give some details about my scenic-supplies in as far as they might be of interest to anyone.
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I'll follow the thread with interest, I've already saved some pictures with terrain for future reference. The velvet is so good idea I regret buying gaming mat with sea pattern :)
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aye Kuba - same here re: printed mats - wish I 'd come across the velvet idea a little sooner!
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been playing around with my aquarium pieces, seeing how my terrain 'works' with other set-ups, and the conclusion is that I need to make more islands, and smaller 'elevation' areas, so hope to get that all done before the New Year.
here's a staged pic from this experimentation, showing one of the Schleich critters I mentioned above. Be one heck of a 'boss' for a scenario.
will be putting up a pic of my collection of pre-painted behomeths, with character figs for scale shortly.
(https://i.imgur.com/O48NGO2.jpg)
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Terrain (and dino) look awesome... :-* :o
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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:D agreed. dino fits great. I like no base on a big fig like that as well. they aint cheap but I may hafta...no I cant...can I? santa? lol...looks way good!!!
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here's a not very brilliant pic of most of my pre-painted critturs with character figs for scale. As such not a great idea to put them in 3 rows and photograph at an angle, but best I could do at the time, so hopefully of some interest. I might get better ones up when opportunity allows.
(https://i.imgur.com/ouT9Fyl.jpg)
Most are Schleich / Papo toys - couple of D&D ones I think, and otherwise 'no names' on Amazon uk.
price: given size and pre-paint quality (variable, and many would be improved by a degree of titivation - but all are acceptable at least, imo, and some a good deal better than that) I'd say they are, relatively, excellent vaule against what you'd pay for anything similar from conventional gaming miniatures sources.
Actually, the one shown previously in the thread, and the 'saurian' type in the front row have moveable jaws!
if I had any kind of internet graphics skills I should do a quick animated gif homage to Ray Harryhausen :D
adding a pic of these snakes (Schleich I think):
(https://i.imgur.com/pl3R2AE.jpg)
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Was most of this terrain purchased or created?
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Was most of this terrain purchased or created?
a mix PM, but most 'created' (the islands from insulation boards, the 'ruins' from (very) thick cork).
some aquarium pieces (temple in last game pic - rope bridges etc).
the jungle scatter stands are commercially available trees and aquarium foliage stuck in polystyrene pieces glued to CDs (both normal and small size).
I do mean to go through my bits and bobs in more detail in case of interest, as per my first post - hopefully get some more details up by the coming weekend. But if there's anything specific you'd like clarifying give me a shout.
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(https://i.imgur.com/fflZkzn.jpg)
this is the stuff I use for my islands etc.
from memory pretty much the cheapest insulation boards available from B&Q. 50mm thickness pictured here, but I use 25mm as well.
can't remember now what (if anything) was the difference between the uniformly dark grey and duo-tone boards.
I think the one-coloured stuff cuts that bit better with less flaking but possible there's nothing in it in reality.
bit of a fluke, but for my purposes this stuff has proved better than the 'proper' blue / pink craft-foam.
although you do have to handle it with relative care, it holds its shapes / cuts very well (again the dark grey stuff seeming better), but more to the point I found that semi-cutting the desired shape at an angle with a serrated carving-knife, and then making cuts from the edge of the board to the cut line and snapping pieces off, left a ready-made 'cliff' texture / shape.
anyhow ... shown here is my 'largest' island which together with other smaller ones will allow me to have most of a 4x4 board covered in 'land', together with some taller hills etc to start taking gameplay more into the vertical dimension (!).
look and ye shall find - nice longer ropebridges available on ebay too.
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8) cool stuff.
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thanks.
here's a pic of the larger landmass, and taller hills having been painted / sanded / flocked ...
(https://i.imgur.com/rfNH7Cp.jpg)
re: sanding - I just do a mix of craft paint and pvc glue (about 50 / 50 or so) and then sprinkle sand on. Seems to dry pretty well / hard.
flocking. think I might have had a 'road to...' as far as this goes, and have some faux fur on the way to see if I prefer it to 'proper' model grass.
On the face of it, it should be much more flexible for reasons I'll elaborate upon when I have hold of the stuff.
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:o fab!!!!
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I am loving this thread! keep it coming!
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Man, I'd love one of those Bayon temple ruins from Angkor Wat! I assume it is an aquarium piece?
Looks great -- your players are going to love your table... :-*
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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thanks LFF and Joe5mc - much more to come :)
hi Mike - yes, here in the UK at least there a number of aquarium pieces using that basic look - I'll put up a group pic in due course.
quite a long way to go before I've got the terrain done - faux fur has come, and I think it's going to work ...
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ok, so here are some of my aquarium pieces.
I'm in the process of dry-brushing them all white-ish as shown, to fit in with my cork 'ruins' pieces.
bit of a shame in that the original pre-paint jobs are really good imo (and nigh on indestructible - don't know what they use!) but was necessary to my eye.
(https://i.imgur.com/nWYd3sd.jpg)
also - finally took the plunge, having acquired a jeweller's saw, and have cut my finished figs of their bases (as per pic higher up in the thread) and glued them on accordingly. With the final fig in this set I've got into pinning at long last and that seems to have gone well, so from here on in I'll be taking that approach.
(https://i.imgur.com/5g0f4tA.jpg)
btw - I did the 'use Klear polish on the base' thing to try and avoid super-glue fogging the acrylic and it seems to have worked, with very little in evidence.
having said that, with the pinned figure I've used a 'canopy non-glazing' pva glue - will see in the morning if that's worked or not.
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:o way cool!!!
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cheers LFF.
getting there with the overall set-up etc, and should get some pics up for that over the next week or two.
here's some concerning the Umbum ('clever paper' too, but you've gotta go with umbum) ships I've built.
they're remarkable quality for cardstock models. Very thick card is used, with a degree of 'relief / 3D texture' (i.e. embossing or debossing of some sort I guess?). They go together very well indeed, with only the 'proper' string rigging be too much for me (I just 'glue' enough on to give a reasonable impression! - they are intended for 'ages 7-70' ... so I guess that says something about my skills lol )
yes they're technically too small in scale - but I see the boats in GA as being 'sports' yachts effectively, and I generally prefer models / terrain in 28mm to be 'undersize' - looks better to my eye, with correctly proportioned stuff often seeming too big (particularly on smaller tables).
They're mainly for set-dressing I can't deny, what with no official rules for ship to ship to action, but there have been some rules for boarding (a wreck to be fair) in one of the WI articles, and I'll look at adapting / extending those ( have to look at movement rates etc I guess).
quite like the idea of a moonlit raid by a heritor and a few crewmen upon a competitors vessel - with a few sea beasties thrown in ...
(http://i.imgur.com/hFyc5Pl.jpg) (https://imgur.com/hFyc5Pl)
(http://i.imgur.com/K1zHimn.jpg) (https://imgur.com/K1zHimn)
glimpsed in the background is the faux fur I've ended up using as my main island ground cover.
looks great to me, and some very useful advantages to it in terms of embedding other terrain features; I'll elaborate upon those in due course.
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Very nice and wonderfully done island. The boats look quite good.
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cheers LFF.
.....they are intended for 'ages 7-70' ...
Damn! I like the look of those and I’d quite like to get some but it appears I’m too old....! :o
Doug
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Those are some great looking boats!
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Those boats are from a russian company - very cheap as well
link
http://russia-best.com/ (http://russia-best.com/)
I am using the Dhows for my Sudan campaign
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It's not a rule system I've played.
But I'm intrigued by take on it, The idea of smaller chunks of land I can store easily appeals to me.
( come to think of I've ships pirates,slann,and palm trees ;D) I'll watch how you get on and come Partizan I'll pick up a copy (of course when the Mrs asks I will be blaming you :D).
On the subject of the boats,I've a Chinese junk,and the Arab Dow on order,for a couple of Pulp ideas.
For the two it came to the grand total of £18.64p including p&p to the UK.(placed the order on the 2nd Feb no idea when they'll arrive though.)
Mark.
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I've had a bit of trouble with one or two orders from them, but all my ebay orders (4 in total) have come through in the end.
An amazon one I gave up with but that was amazon at fault iirc.
Umbum / cleverpaper are the 'make' as per my post above.
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time for a bit of an update - lots of stuff I meant to post but haven't got 'round to but might as well get up to date with a couple of pics of a dry-run layout:
(http://i.imgur.com/MSNTs2t.jpg) (https://imgur.com/MSNTs2t)
(https://i.imgur.com/dzxorP0.jpg)
so, I've gone the whole-hog with the fake fur I mentioned further up the thread.
to my eye it works - allowing placed scenery pieces to embed much better than a flocked / static grass surface etc.
I've sprinkled plenty of 'scatter' flock tho', which helps to break up the monotone green, and add texture; it did look a bit too 'frankie howerd' (if of a green variety) without ...
funny thing is that overall, as far as I'm concerned, what I said at the beginning of my ramblings really does hold true: in isolation all the components look a bit shonky (some more than others) and certainly betray my decidely modest modelling skills, but all together and it pretty much achieves what I was hoping for.
Also a lot of the titivation I was expecting to have to do (like drybushing the trees etc) doesn't seem necessary now everything's in place, so that's good.
I've bodged an extension to my board to make it 6 x 4 - my aspirations are very much towards the bogdanwaz / chris palmer setups (although if I get anywhere close in terms of actual game-play / scenario-design it'll certainly be more luck than judgement) - and I wanted more 'space' for narrative / exploration.
Obviously with this setup there are no water areas, but that's due to the scenario I have i mind.
a good thing about the setup overall is it's flexibility in this regard: switch the board-covering fake fur with the crushed velvet 'sea', and I'm good to go with an islands type set-up etc.
anyhow - should get some pics up of recent figures painted soon, and hope to be having a mini-campaign weekend after next (although we'll prob. be lucky to finish one game I suspect).
still got to do a quick 'interiors' area too....
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Wow, that looks properly beautiful! I can see all sorts of daring heroics taking place in such a set up.
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8) amazing.
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thanks for the nice comments guys. There's a lot of top and tailing I could do, but I feel it's looking good 'enough' really in terms of my hopes for an atmospheric presentation. Figures do actually stand up on the rug ok believe it or not lol !
need to get a fair few of 'em painted over the coming week - brush has been on hiatus for quite a while ...
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That's an amazing set up. Bravo!
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Looks fantastic! I agree that your the fur seems to make the pieces set on top of it blend in better than a straight up green flocked board. Love how it looks all put together. Thanks for the inspiration to get over the top and finish my stuff out to begin running games of GA.
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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Extremely nice looking terrain.
Knabe
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thanks JP, Mike and Knabe for your positive comments, much appreciated.
a bit of blather about the fur in case of interest to anyone:
I got hold of all sorts of fur and fleece samples, and the stuff I ended up using is short-pile faux fur which I think has a technical 'length' of 14mm.
this seemed the best balance between 'look' and practicality in terms of figures standing on it ok.
although, ymmv: I haven't had a proper game using it yet, and although early signs are that it'll work for me I think there is a degree of 'wanting' it to work required, and players without such an attitude may find it irritating / impractical ... I'll certainly post again about that post a play-session.
I suspect there may be longish-term implications in terms of its durability, although it's pretty well-made stuff, and doesn't shed particularly or easily.
its pile-length makes it quite easy to work with in terms of roughing 'up' or smoothing down, although I've been a little disapointed to discover it does seem to have a 'memory' if left rolled or folded-up for any length of time with little ridges resulting (although you can still work with these, and they're not really visible once you've got everything in place etc).
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Did you glue the flock down onto the fur, or is it just sitting on top? Spray painting on some textures could work too. I remember seeing someone making muddy areas on their board by turning the fur into a gluey mess so that it was mostly flat, then sprinkling in some sand and painting it brown. Though blending that into the rest of the fur may be difficult.
Some loose stones could help around the rocky areas to add a bit more depth. Or I suppose also work as difficult ground/ bring a bit more colour to all that green. Along with maybe a few more low plants. Its just looking a bit sparse for cover if you're playing archer heavy games - though personally I go overboard with cover on my own boards. :)
It is looking good. Surprisingly so for what you've said was involved. Maybe its just the quality of all the individual elements. It looks easy enough to add bits too as well which helps. Maybe some of those Vietnamese style wood huts you can buy in MDF from 4grounds I believe for covering skirmishes in villages. Or have a mix of huts and brick buildings for representing a more built up trading town where things have gone awry. A piece of rock face with skeletal remains partially excavated from it could be doable, more so as an excuse to make some scaffholding up the rock so models don't have to climb to reach higher levels.
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thanks for the critique and ideas Wrymalla - some of that was in mind as necessary ('plants' of which I have loads done from when the boards were flocked - see earlier pics / Jarvis cork scatter of various sizes ready for use etc etc) but where it's 'at' now is good 'enough' for me tbh, and not sure I'll go down those routes to begin with.
have to see how it plays in terms of cover / los - intend to keep ranged attack figs to a minimum for the time being I think. There's some suggestion from write-ups that it's a bit over-powered and I didn't have any bow-equipped figs done for my earlier games so haven't seen how it plays.
the scatter stuff is not fixed - that's the point really: I want things to be as reversible as poss.' to aid flexibility. Thought about the spray paint idea (inspired by Olicana's excellent baize cloth - see his posts in the historical forums), but, again, that would hinder the flexibility of things (quite literally in terms of 'gluing' strands of fibre together). The greeness is broken up adequately atm to my eye.
I have quite a range of Sarissa buildings too now you mention it, but that's not how I see the GA vibe and really my modellings skills are so basic that I want to keep things as simple as poss'.
As mentioned above - I was quite 'down' with things until the trees (which I spent ages drilling and putting metal spikes in the bases of - 2 each!) were added. Not even used all of the trees I prepared... but it seemed to come together when they went on.
Just getting an 'interior' board done - and that really is basic - pics soon.
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Mordheim had a rule where no more than 1/3rd of models could have ranged weapons. Frostgrave oddly didn't carry that over, probably as you're supposed to have some gentlemanly conduct with the other players (any player bringing 8 archers to their first game isn't going to last long with that group).
Mud huts could work too if you aren't into the wooden ones. The Snake Men need to live in something. A bit like the Argonian homes from The Elder Scrolls Online. Though you already have variety with the water and jungle boards. :)
Are you thinking an ancient temple or caves if you're making an interior board? The Green Stuff World textured rolling pin things have a few stone brick textures which could work for pushing out some old ruins fairly quickly.
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heh, no, it's nowhere near your standard of doing things Wrymalla - being kind one might say it was minimalist - but actually I rather like it somehow.
pics tomorrow with a bit of luck.
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WHOA! I don't usually click on the GA threads (idk why), but I'm glad I did! The fake fur is a great idea. I think you're right that it looks much better than a board that is simply painted and flocked/static grass'd. Those game boards are impressive... Is it a problem to clean up the scattered flock?
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thanks CT.
am getting a game or two this weekend, so will update as to the fur's practicality in actual play.
the flock is removed using the 'shake it all off after play-time' technique ;)
even with a 6x4 board there wasn't that much used, and as I don't play very regularly it's not such a big issue.
could try collecting the loose bits, but as the different shades / types would mix together to some degree it might not produce a particularly useful residue (given that I try to sprinkle it on in a variegated manner).
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Awesome looking table with all the overgrown ruines, bridges and other pieces of scenery. The fur cloth makes all the scenery come together nicely. It really captures the feeling of Ghost Archipelago!
How did you make the more regular looking trees? I see you used aquarium plants for them, what did you use for the treetrunk and branches?
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thanks Raz.
the larger, more deciduous (?) trees are aquarium jobs - they come as you see them in the pics - haven't put anything together. ** suddenly realised the differing sizes may have prompted your question - I cut some of the trees up into smaller ones, if you see what I mean.
they do colour variations (this is ebay), and I have some with white-ish blooms / leaves - but somehow that seems to accentuate the plactic-y appearance of those ones and I'm not going to use them for the time being.
as mentioned above, I was expecting to drybrush the 'wood', and probably the leaves etc too, but all together think they look 'ok' as is.
I have 'made' trees in the past, using plastic trunks, painted, drybrushed etc, draping them with pva-saturated lichen of various colours, and then putting them on a sprackled and landscaped base ... and ... I'm very glad to have found an approach that avoids all that carry-on while still looking decent, must admit. these pics show the 'old' approach:
(https://i.imgur.com/lnkKK7z.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/xnh15iT.jpg)
even there, was trying to keep modelling input to a minimum, but seemed like a lot of work.
foray into AoS which is on hold (indefinite I suspect).
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righty-o ... time to get some more updates / pics up after actually having had a game couple of weekends back :)
first off, here's my 'super-flexible' (tm) interiors board ... otherwise known as another advert for B&Q's cheapest insulation boards ...
(https://i.imgur.com/p3FHMkz.jpg)
best bit is the Ceri designs flagstones mat - can't remember now why I'd cut it into this irregular shape, thus decreasing its usefulness but there you go ... :D
so ... it revolves around cutting up strips of the insulation board and gluing pins into the bottom of the resulting pieces. Reality check in terms of my modelling prowess in that, try as I might, I couldn't cut the pieces squarely and into exactly uniform sizes, but I'll have to go with it adding to the rustic charm of ruined antiquity.
the insulation board au naturel really doesn't look bad at all for temple walls etc - again, thought I was going to have to titivate it, but think it's fine as is.
'It'll do' (tm)
ironically we didnt' get to actually go into the main temple, but looking foward to doing so next time.
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a few pics from the game set-up, but not actually from the gaming session as mixed-lighting and circumstance resulted in a load of pics which would take too much mucking about with to be worth it ... even with these there's still a heck of a lot more RAW adjustment than I'd like - really admire those that get good pics OOC...
anyhow:
(https://i.imgur.com/jD3l7A9.jpg)
dawn breaks over the ghost archipelago and all seems peaceful (translation: this pic shows the yellow-y cast produced by the 'works' lamps [Argos's finest - basically get the feeling they're going to burn the place down the moment your back is turned ...] I was using and decided not to bother 'correcting' for this pic ...)
(https://i.imgur.com/rG271qI.jpg)
a crewmember encounters a 'swamp-zombie boss' (for which I haven't done stats yet and which didn't feature in the game) which was pootling around trying ... to find a swamp...
(https://i.imgur.com/58y7vmN.jpg)
exiles from a another gaming universe kindly agree to fill-in for 'snakemen' and 'spirit warriors' respectively
in terms of narrative, the GW seraphon (together with some other more recent releases) are going to my main 'antagonistic' civilisation in the isles, while the northstar snakemen are just going to be part of general crews.
the dryads are the spirit warriors.
(https://i.imgur.com/HnLYYPj.jpg)
'as night drew on at the wedding reception, things started to get nasty ...'
this scene is actually (almost) from our game: couple of lizardmen came out of the temple, and let's just say the 'pushback' rule came forcefully into play ...
(https://i.imgur.com/FdgNQLI.jpg)
'sir' neville maycare and windy mere engage in some stinging repartee with unwelcoming locals ...
(https://i.imgur.com/p7OfB5K.jpg)
hannibal magnetism and a souldweller engage in a dance-off, while stumpy stoggins looks on ruefully, his jigging-about days long behind him ...
in general Chris and I had a long (5hrs) and fun session with the game, although nowhere near finishing (other than the fact that crew-members [mine in particular] were dropping like flies).
Was Chris's first go with the rules (and he's a hugely experienced gamer, both rpg and table-top) and while they were a little simplistic for his tastes, he could see where I'm trying to go with it in terms of a narrative driven, rpg-lite, table-top game.
I get the feeling that I'm going to end up effectively being a GM in order to control and introduce narrative contents and events more effectively, with other players being 'against the environment' principally (poor-mans Bogdanwaz approach
ultimately).
aesthetically I guess these pics show that my approach to terrain is definitely best at 'gaming distance' (i.e. the first pic in this post) rather than close-ups, but I'm still happy enough with it overall and feel it's a solid foundation.
onwards ...
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8) way cool!!!
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thank'ee mr. Frostfang
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That is one awesome looking board, sir! I am also doing as you do, substituting in creatures I have for Snakemen, etc.
Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
(http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/mikedemana/Miscellaneous/LPL_bades_zpsl7op2jaz.jpg)
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thanks Mike!
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hmm, chuffed.
short (and not particularly helpful, given lack of pics) post after having received a selection of figs from the Alkemy game (from the confusingly spelt Alchemist Miniatures: http://alkemy-the-game.com/shop/).
saw some very nicely painted samples in this thread: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=107021.15 and loved the harryhausen /sinbad vibes filtered through anthropomorphic critters, to the degree that I thought I might want to replace my current crew figures entirely, assuming the Alkemy stuff would be more Rackham in size etc.
But ... a quick comparison, and they seem to be perfectly in scale with the Northstar stuff, so can integrate them, which is good coz they aint cheap.
will get some pics up at some point.
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I really like the effect you have going on here, even if it is accidental
(https://i.imgur.com/jD3l7A9.jpg)
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aye - so do I, the colour cast is enhancing I'd say.
trouble is, it's still 'mixed' lighting (there's daylight here as well), and so difficult to get consistent results.
the ones below it in that post are more 'controlled' using flashes, but look a bit flat ...
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Stunning Terrain. Far too beautiful for serious fighting.
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thanks ... I think ! ;)
actually, I'm all for non-serious fighting, which is why I play fantasy miniatures games I guess.
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I have a dry humour. Next time i use emoticons.
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I knew what you meant, don't worry.
but my wry-ish response alludes to the fact that I do indeed put the terrain side of things, in terms of evocation etc, before worrying about rules / gameplay etc too much, the irony being that I'm not much of modeller to say the least.
anyhow, did get a game last weekend which I hope to stick some pics up for in due course.
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couple of pics from our game last weekend (we actually finished this one- and, even more surprisingly, I won - although largely due to my opponent's generosity in reminding me of rules / tactics etc at critical moments ...)
mainly showing off the still darned impressive (to my eye anyway) crushed velvet.
tried to recapture the light / colour shown in a pic above, by using an artificial light WB, but with mixed results again in general. Looks ok in these two.
Mainly some figs Chris brought with him. Limited our 'active' crew to 6 figs as per the small boat rule, although we did leave another 3 (I think) on our main boats to be brought into play one way or another...
(https://i.imgur.com/XXao114.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/IDBRXkt.jpg)
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Nice looking game Bloggard.
That crushed velvet for t he water looks great.
Knabe
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Stunning terrain!
Sorry if you mentioned this (I have not read through the entire text portions of the thread), but where did you get the plastic trees with the 'flower-like' leaves, please?
(https://i.imgur.com/jD3l7A9.jpg)
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thanks Knabe and Argonar.
trees were an ebay China item - will see if I can find a current link for them.
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:o fab table!!!
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cheers LFF, although to clarify if necessary - the image Argonor's quoted above was from our previous game.
latest one was an islands job, inspired by Chris and Knabe's last but one.
ended up like my watchtower setup, but is on a 6x4 board, with more islands:
(https://i.imgur.com/SUHWQF2.jpg)
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Sorry if you mentioned this (I have not read through the entire text portions of the thread), but where did you get the plastic trees with the 'flower-like' leaves, please?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pc-Artificial-Tree-Plastic-Plant-Ornament-Pot-Topiary-In-Office-Outdoor-Decor/173135291685?hash=item284faae525:m:mYXT_eiZ1kLPNmWPqDHVvvQ
these are them Argonor - unfortunately they're not currently showing the colours (green and green/white) I purchased as being available.
might be another seller with the same item.
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pc-Artificial-Tree-Plastic-Plant-Ornament-Pot-Topiary-In-Office-Outdoor-Decor/173135291685?hash=item284faae525:m:mYXT_eiZ1kLPNmWPqDHVvvQ
these are them Argonor - unfortunately they're not currently showing the colours (green and green/white) I purchased as being available.
might be another seller with the same item.
Thanks, They look very useful! I am making mini-CD jungle bases at the moment, and I need some variation from cake deco palm trees! lol
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I ordered two lots if memory serves, and both were delivered ok.
:) where would we (I) be without these aquarium / decorative trees etc ...
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You’re island set-up looks great! And I agree that those trees are really cool. I may have to investigate getting some too.
Where’s the rope bridge from?
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rope bridges from ebay/china too Chris - aquarium jobs, would have thought they'll come up for you on US ebay if you do a search - although I'd also expect you to 'make' something as good or better tbh, given all your fine and resourceful handiwork!
on that score - although I mentioned it in your thread on the reaper forum, the cork 'ruins' I (actually!) made were directly due to your post there about using thick cork in just such a manner.
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rope bridges from ebay/china too Chris - aquarium jobs, would have thought they'll come up for you on US ebay if you do a search - although I'd also expect you to 'make' something as good or better tbh, given all your fine and resourceful handiwork!
on that score - although I mentioned it in your thread on the reaper forum, the cork 'ruins' I (actually!) made were directly due to your post there about using thick cork in just such a manner.
Thanks for info!
Glad to hear you found my Reaper thread to be useful. :)
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I haven't posted there of late - but it's a hugely inspiring thread.
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posting this while it's in mind, as I 've just come across it:
Barry Hilton (league of augsburg and warfare miniatures I think) has been working on a teddy-bear fur gaming mat, and has taken it further than such as I with impressive results - haven't read through all of his posts detailing his approach, but the results look fantastic:
https://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.com/2018/08/on-mat-some-shots-of-toys.html
thought it of interest re: my use of the stuff as shown above.
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;) you should be getting a royalty check blogg.
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ha :D - well I hope I haven't given the impression that I think the teddy bear fur mat is my original 'idea' (can't remember exactly where I'd seen it before but it's been around a while I appreciate, with variations such as towelling etc), and it's certainly interesting to see someone of Barry Hilton's skills showing how effective it can be visually with a bit more titivation etc - rather in the manner of Wrymalla's comments higher up this thread.
Not sure I'll go that route as I want to keep the stuff as easy to use etc as possible, and scattering flock is ok for me atm.
I think all the approaches to terrain boards / mats can look great, with possibly the exception of 1' square modular ones to my eye - too may perpendicular lines to be effectively obscured etc.
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came upon these guys - my attempt at Erithereans done a while back.
(https://i.imgur.com/L91T9uX.jpg)
zvezda persian elephant heads on reaper ogre bodies with some really poor greenstuff work (but it's elephant hide ::) ).
one on the right looks ok I think.
figure to left for scale - they're supposed to be about 14ft tall in game, so the ogre bodes work pretty well in that respect.
will have to paint 'em up some time.
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8) very cool!!!
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good of you to say so LFF, thanks.
hopefully get 'round to painting them some time soon.
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This board is amazing! So colourful and tropical. I have not visited the archipalago yet, but I want to go there if it looks like this! Great work.
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thanks Chillyray - very good of you to say so.
hope you get to give the game a go - lots of fun.
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Amazing terrain!
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cheers Smoke Frog.
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bit of a hodge-podge of figs here, but as some are FG / GA, think best to keep to my one thread.
(https://i.imgur.com/YIBHdcE.jpg)
Pretty much settling on a technique centered on the GW contrast paints range - and am pleased with the results.
Certainly helps with 'time', and they look good to me (although the figures are flattering to it).
I do 'extra' work on the figs, both with the contrast paints and conventional opaque ones too, but, still, the way forward for me after all sorts of dead-ends in recent times.
much happier with the basing 'formula' too, at long last.
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:D awesome job!!!
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thanks LFF.
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Some really nice color choices in there.
Exelent job!
Cheers,
Stroezie.
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thanks very much Stroezie.
another plus point for the 'contrast' paints as far I'm concerned is their fluidity - makes them easier to mix (somehow), so been doing more of that than otherwise would with opaque paints.
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should add btw, that another BIG plus point about contrast paints is that they're very kind to brushes.
keeping points on (very good quality / bloody expensive) brushes when using opaque paints is a continuing bug-bear for me, and that's using a wet-palette and a four (seriously!) jar cleaning regime ...
* - also - unusually it appears, I use a white undercoat. Anything else and the brilliance and 'trueness' of the contrast colours are degraded imo.
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This all looks great and is inspiring me to jump into Ghost Archipelago.
I have to ask...how do you store all those cds with plants glued to them?
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Beautiful! Like you said the basing recipe is looking good and I really like what you're doing with the contrast paints. I heard they are not that easy to work with to.
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I agree with them! Some really interesting, bright, varied colour schemes and the bases look excellent and tie all the figures together!
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thanks for the comments chaps.
@Jack Hooligan:
truth be told the CD veg stands have 'gone', which means I at least don't have to worry about storing them (just poor old Mother Earth ... hmm). Don't know if you made it further into the thread, but I switched to a teddy bear fur 'throw', and putting spikes into the bottom of scenery elements, allowing them to be mounted directly on the foamboard landmasses ...
But I'm trying to refine the relatively small footprint concept a bit further - I really do want to be able to chuck a throw over a dining room table and go from there - no bloody great 6 x 4 pieces of foamboard etc.
So watch this space ... Let's just say velcro is making a comeback! ;)
@Scatterbrains - thanks very much.
Swings and roundabouts with contrast paints - for myself, you never know how they're going to 'take' to the sculpted 'topography' of a figure; sometimes they're pretty much perfect first time, sometimes a lot of 'proper painting' titivation is necessary (e.g. drawing pooled paint 'up' folds as it dries, adding extra strokes to creases and folds etc).
As mentioned I use a white undercoat, and didn't have any luck with all this 'zenithal highlighting' business either ... so ymmv as ever.
I'm very happy with the results I've been getting as shown above - but overall it's a mishmash of paints / techniques, with the Contrast paints (and other washes and inks) at its heart.
@Bearwoodman - thanks very much. I guess the brightness of the contrast paints / inks is a bit of a marmite thing, but it works for me. Certainly helps 'em pop!
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Just come across this thread. How did I miss it. Amazing work sir. An inspiration of the highest order. Have had the rules for a long time, as the setting was perfect for me, just never got to playing it.
This has definitely wetted my appetite again, thanks
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cheers Terryb - great setting as you say; really pleased that my efforts have helped get your GA mojo going again too.
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blimey, the dreaded 'red text' dormant thread warning ...
well, as this terrain may as well be used for frostgrave, or a snowily ensorcelled ghost archiplelago, think I'll keep in this thread... :
so, bit of a proof of concept, mini layout, trying to refine the textured 'throw' approach to a gaming surface / mat.
overall I still think fleecy / fake fur throws offer the best-looking and most practical compromise in terms of a low-footprint, flexible, and relatively cheap gaming mat - and as shown here, I even intend to use a white(ish) one for a snow board (!), but as with many boards / mats, a visual anomaly can be water features standing proud of ground level.
As I tend to use crushed velvet for 'water (although may be looking at aluminium foil, cruched up and then dyed), it's straight-forward enough to have that as un under-layer, and then cut and fold back the upper fleece layer as you desire...
obvious issue is the 'spoiling' of the fleece with the 'revealing' cuts (although I'm not actually removing any pieces, just folding back from slits), so it remains to be seen how practical / affordable the approach is in these terms.
If I ever do have a 'snowy' game, btw, there'll be a bit more set-dressing (I'd get some of the 'fake snow' and sprinkle it about for a start, which should help with the overall vibe, and would be adding other flocks and grits)
(https://i.imgur.com/PTd6k7b.jpg?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/sup9CTX.jpg?1)
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8) looks cool!!!
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8) looks cool!!!
ha ha LFF, that's deffo a compliment for the 'snowy' look
thanks as ever for the positive comment.