Alien statue

This piece of scatter terrain was simple to make: a dollar-store action figure (Final Faction) glued atop a pill bottlecap. 

Painting was also straightforward: black primer and a couple of shades of purple heavily drybrushed, including some color-shifting purple to give it an otherworldly glow that's even more apparent in person.

It's a tall piece of scenery for D&D, Stargrave, Frostgrave, Song of Blades and Heroes, or pretty much any 28mm sci-fi or fantasy game.

Gaslands vehicles

 

Inspired by a Wyloch's Armory video from awhile back, I decided to put together a couple more cars for Gaslands.

First up is Learning To Fly, made from a metal Hot Wheels airplane crammed into the plastic body of a car that came with one of my Space Union sets. Unlike my previous frankencar, this was pretty straightforward: I just cut off the automobile's roof, sanded down the parts sticking up, removed the plane's propeller and wheels, and stuck it in there. 

I also glued two pairs of nails in the headlight holes to look like machine guns. I covered the canopy with the helmet from a dollar store action figure and painted and weathered the whole thing accordingly.

Then we have Walking On The Moon, a Matchbox NASA rover with the engine from another dollar store vehicle, and some plastic sprue to emulate the drive train going down to the wheels. 

Because I like the space agency emblems on this vehicle, I didn't want to do a lot of repainting or weathering--just a black wash to dirty it up some. 

And while there is a driver seat on top, you can still operate it from  inside the cabin--you can't tell from the photos, but I did put a driver figure in there.

I always enjoy making vehicles for this game--even if I don't know the next time I will have a chance to play. 

Trashy town tutorial

My trashy buildings were easy to make, and other than waiting on paint to dry, didn't take very long to finish. And other than the cost of paint and glue, which I already had, it didn't cost me a cent. For those who are interested, I have some step-by-step photos of each building and a little commentary after the jump:

Some trashy buildings

Just like I did for some scatter terrain this summer, I created some buildings for Stargrave and other 28mm-scale skirmish games using trash and other bits bound for the landfill.

For the main structures, I used the plastic blister packaging from a couple of Starfinder spaceship sets, another large figure from WizKids, and a Q-tips box.

Just like with my previous terrain, I wanted bright colors instead of a grimdark look. 

And being a packrat who saves all sorts of interesting shapes from the recycling bin, I was able to put a decent amount of detail on these buildings.

While my gaming buddies all have plenty of sci-fi terrain, it's relaxing to put stuff like this together, and I enjoy flexing my creative muscles.

I can use these structures with the toy spaceship I repurposed for 28mm gaming as well.

I haven't had a chance to get these on the table for gaming yet, but I hope to do so in the near future.

Silver dragon

I know it's been more than a month since I've posted. I've done some gaming and gaming-adjacent activities, but I just haven't been motivated. But I am proud of this Dungeons & Dragons mini, a WizKids young silver dragon--it was quick and easy to paint, and I bought it at my wife's suggestion (along with another one for her to paint).

For the drake itself, I chose all metallic colors: gunmetal gray, sterling silver, regular silver, and pearlescent white, in various undercoats, washes, and drybrushes, and some color-shifting white to highlight the creature's horns. The rock the beast is crouching on took some burnt umber and a drybrush of tan, then linen. Like I said, quick and easy.

I don't know when I will get this in a game--or even which game (D&D, Frostgrave, Melee/Wizard, Song of Blades & Heroes ...), but at least it will be ready.

The return of Monopolis

After a year's (enforced) hiatus, I will be bringing my Monopolis setup back to MillenniumCon this year. Monopolis, of course, is my big Ogre/GEV minis setup. As the event description says:

The year after the Great Plague, the peaceful City of Monopolis rises above the rubble of the Last War, a gleaming center of commerce and industry. But no peace lasts forever. Now invaders march to conquer the city while outnumbered defenders scramble to protect their home. This is a custom scenario for Ogre/GEV, using the official Ogre miniatures (and a few original units) on a large hex mat with 3-D terrain. With room for up to 8 players, you and your friends can aid in the defense of the besieged city--or help the invaders conquer it. Fight in the Siege of Monopolis!

As the game convention has expanded to start on Thursday, I chose the Friday afternoon slot for my game. Looking forward to attending this game convention again, and I hope to see some of you there!

Terraformed Mars

 

Since we were one player short for our scheduled evening of Frostgrave, we instead had a three-player Terraforming Mars game. While I have played TM solo countless times over the past year or so, having opponents is a very different experience. 

When you're looking at the board by yourself, you just concentrate the terraforming part of the game, ignoring actions that give you victory points. When you have other players to think about, it requires a lot of consideration about scoring--or denying your opponents an opporunity to score. 

This time, my two opponents seemed to get their economic engines running long before I did, and I thought I would finish a distant third. However, after the planet was terraformed and we tallied up the points, I came in first. But even if I had come in last, I still would have enjoyed playing. That's because Terraforming Mars is a fun and challenging game that gives me a different experience every time I play. If you're into boardgames as well as wargames, you should give TM a shot.