Of scenery, tournaments and fortresses...

So then, time to prove I've not been idle while I've been quiet.

One of the things I did last month was have a 'scenery day'. I've been meaning to do this for a very long time because, although I have a lot of the stuff, its not all in a good state and I knew it deserved better.

For me scenery is the forgotten 'third player' of any game. Its a vitally important part of the experience. Not only does it effect how you play the game and the obstacles you have to overcome, it also greatly enhances the look of the whole thing. And lets be honest, the only reason we are gaming and not playing computer games or reading sci-fi is that this looks cooler.

So, the first thing I set about doing was painting up most of the forge world terrain I had. I had picked up these bits from a verity of sources (I'm sure some of them are on 'long term' loan), but they were all unpainted. Given how awesome they are, that simply didn't seem right...

Troopers Williams and Jones patrol through the ruins

For painting I chose the simplest and most effective route I could. Sprayed grey base-coat, followed by two levels of dry-brush. Job Done. I think thats the key to getting terrain done whilst still having time to paint your armies. Don't get bogged down in the details, unless its a special piece. You can always go back to it later.

These ruins are a prime example, there are a load of ammo crates and foliage that aren't detailed, but at arms length that doesn't detract from the scenery.

Next I set to making some of my own scenery, mainly for the Dark Heresy campaign I am running (hoping to write up a blog post on that soon). Taking some wire mesh and sprue bits I was able to cobble together some effective fencing and, using toothpicks and the GW razor wire kit, I produced some barbed wire fencing.

Simple and effective! Although the barbed wire still needs painting...

The picture below shows the fencing before painting. The two main struts are supported by pieces of spare sprue - that stuff is so very useful when it comes to making terrain.

So, we are nearing the end of my terrain post, and I'm still yet to mention either tournaments or fortresses. Well, allow me to change all that!

On the 7th of April I am attending a small tournament at Warhammer World, and I'll be taking the Dark Angels off the shelf and bringing them along. This is mainly because there will be a planetstrike game, and I love deepstriking and assaulting Deathwing!

However, the coolest thing is that each competitor needs a terrain piece. Now, I could have dipped into my terrain collection, but then I recalled that GW had recently released a Dark Angels specific terrain piece. Well, I simply couldn't resist...

I'm hoping to be able to put aside a whole day or two, and try and get this done before April. Wish me luck and look out for some pictures!

Thanks for reading...