DeepWars and ShadowSea (08-25 Coyotl Warriors)

[Timbor]

I took some time this weekend, and finally finished the paintjob on my sunken ruin for DeepWars.  I am quite pleased with the result, although I had thought of trying one last wash with a darker grey to tone the colours down a bit.  For now I will likely not, but if you think it is a bit too bright, I would appreciate any suggestions.  I took a lot of pictures, so here are a few to give you an overall feel for the ruin:





A bit more detail on the encrusting bits:



And a top-down view of the corals:



As for how I painted it, I started with a base of flat latex exterior house paint.  I mixed black and white to the grey colour I wanted.  Subsequent layers had differing amounts of cream added.  After I was satisfied with the stonework, I painted the sealife.  Many different shades of purple, pink, green, red, blue, yellow, orange, green (did I miss any, ?) were applied to give it a sense of diversity.  Mostly it was a base of purple, and other colours drybrushed on.  Although I did apply some blue washes to the whole structure.  The sand was done as my gaming mat - a base of brown with purple, green, and blue, followed by another drybrush of brown.  Final touches were applied with bright blue-green to simulate the shining effect of the ethers in the Shadow Sea.

More pictures can be seen on my blog: http://mylifeinmm.blogspot.ca/

I also finished my Draconid Sea Demon Shaman, and will post it up shortly.  Next up is the Chal-Chk scientist... somewhat of a daunting prospect!  I am having a hard time determining what is armour/equipment and what is his natural chitin/skin parts... should be fun!

[Damien]

Hi Timbor, I have enjoyed seeing your WIP develop. This amphitheatre/ruin is amazing, I really like the base, the purples and all the little details you sculpted; I am envious of your skills.


Cheers,
 Damien

[HerbyF]

This is a beautiful undersea set-up. I really like your paint on the fish man. Different from most but very realistic.

[Estarriol]

Loving it How are you going to deal with the multiple depth levels in deepwars? I have some plastic pots which can stack to represent up to three depth levels, but I'm unconvinced that it's the best solution.

[FramFramson]

I actually think you could go brighter still in some spots!

[**GS**]

Hi there!
I LOVE the colors on your ruin. Please do not make them any brighter as that would ruin the ruin's (pun intended) under water look.

Keep on being inventive like that.

Greetings
GS

[Timbor]

Thanks for the kind words, I think I will leave the colours as is for now. 

Loving it How are you going to deal with the multiple depth levels in deepwars? I have some plastic pots which can stack to represent up to three depth levels, but I'm unconvinced that it's the best solution.

I remember Antimatter saying they were working on flight-style bases for that.  In the meantime, the best I could figure would be to get one of these:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/22-Long-Telescopic-Magnet-5-lb-Pick-up-Tool-Flexible-Metal-Magnetic-Reacher-/140854710028?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20cb984f0c

Its a telescopic magnet.  Shortest length is just over 5:, which is close enough to the 4.75" of one depth level, then extends far longer than you need it to.  I would like to get a few, and mount them on larger 60mm bases for stability, with some rocks for weight, etc.  Magnetize the base of my miniatures, and they are all set and good to go.  It would likely cost about $5 per magnetic base or so.

[Cherno]

Hello,

I just found this thread and I have to say your terrain looks great. I like the little underwater plant details and the overall color scheme. It all has a very "sunken" look to it =)

For some more inspiration, I recommend taking a look at the old X-Com: Terror from the Deep game. The undersea missions were very well visualized IMHO.

[Timbor]

Hey, that's awesome!  Is there anywhere you can play that game online?  I think I need to paint more pixels on my miniatures... 

[Cherno]

I am sure your can find it online for free.

I think it's also available on steam for a few $ as an updated version that runs on Windows without Dosbox.

It's pretty hard though

On Topic, some aquarium store supplies might also come in handy, such as plastic plants and those nice little ruins and column... Or even actual shells etc. from the nearest beach!

[Estarriol]

xcom Terror from the Deep is an amazing game. I still play it but still can't seem to win. It's so hard compared to the original!

[Thantsants]

Great job - the fauna/flora really brings it alive.

Love the lionfish inspired Salvager too 

I was reading Seas of Blood the other day (Fighting Fantasy) and had the image of your model in my head whilst exploring the undersea ruins!

[Timbor]

I am sure your can find it online for free.

I think it's also available on steam for a few $ as an updated version that runs on Windows without Dosbox.

It's pretty hard though

On Topic, some aquarium store supplies might also come in handy, such as plastic plants and those nice little ruins and column... Or even actual shells etc. from the nearest beach!

I will take a look at the game!  I have gotten a few aquarium ornaments - a couple corals, a volcano and a clam (to use as a carnivorous clam).  I plan on getting some plants to make some kelp forests as tactical cover.

Great job - the fauna/flora really brings it alive.

Love the lionfish inspired Salvager too 

I was reading Seas of Blood the other day (Fighting Fantasy) and had the image of your model in my head whilst exploring the undersea ruins!

Seas of Blood... is that a novel?

[Cherno]

xcom Terror from the Deep is an amazing game. I still play it but still can't seem to win. It's so hard compared to the original!

In case you didn't know, there's a littel bit a trivia connected to the difficulty setting in TFTD

X-Com: UFO Defense had a bug that always chose the easiest difficulty setting no matter what the player chose at the start of the game. Of course, nobody knew this, so people complained that the game was too easy when they chose the hardest difficulty settings.

So when TFTD was developed, the programmers (who were still unaware of the bug) severly ramped up the difficulty even on the easiest mode, basically making the original hardest X-Com: UFO Defense the easiest mode for TFTD and going from there.

So there, this is why Terror From The Deep is notorious for it's high difficulty setting... Along with the nasty Deep One bug that makes the game unwinnable without taking great care (or just using a cheat which is no problem at all).

Sorry for being Off Topic here

[antimatter]

The whole terrain piece turned out great! It will be a great centerpiece for the game. I'm curious about the aquarium store clam. How much did that one cost? I want to produce the Doom clam but not if the aquarium one is cheap and looks good.