Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Fighting Fields of the Reconquest - Terrain part 3

I can't honestly go through a survey of small scale terrain pieces without including the card stock and resin offerings from Hawk Wargames. Any of the 10mm pieces I have looked at so far would be an excellent fit with Hawk's popular Dropzone Commander game, but Hawk has produced a line of their own (mostly) resin terrain pieces to fit the scale as well.


Although very clearly molded in the style of Dropzone Commander, these pieces are perfectly usable in other 10mm scale games, such as CAV or Firestorm Planetfall. Really enterprising 10mm sci-fi gamers might even trot out their old GROPOS models to play along.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Building a Better Tomorrow, Today - Terrain part 2

Last week, I posted my thoughts on the 10mm urban terrain options offered by 4Ground miniatures. This week, I turn my attention to the equivalent product line from Blotz.


Blotz terrain is superficially similar to 4Ground's products: Both are made from laser-cut MDF; Both are made in the UK, and both require you, the consumer, to assemble them. How do they stack up? Read on to find out.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Pick your battle(fields) - Terrain part 1

Recently, I have been working with a lot of war games terrain. Part of this is to get some variety in my miniatures work, and part is because I have agreed to run a Dropzone Commander tournament in the spring - and I need to be able to supply three or four tables worth of terrain! As part of that project, I will be sharing some of my experiences with 10mm scale terrain over the next few weeks. This week, we begin with pre-painted, laser-cut terrain by 4Ground Miniatures.


4Ground offers quite a range of terrain styles for 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, and 28mm gaming. They also offer terrain from many genres, but they are not evenly distributed across scales. Happily, their 10mm terrain focuses on a combination of ultra-modern and art-deco urban terrain. I will leave it to your imagination to guess why.


Say, is that a Scourge Grav tank in their promotional image? How did that get there?

Anyway...

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Dropfleet Commander

I have been posting quite a bit work on Dropzone Commander over the past year, including my review of the game. I have really been enjoying Hawk's approach to tactical, objective-oriented games, and now I am very excited over the impending release of Dropfleet Commander.



Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Confrontation Part II: It's Not Easy Being Green

As expected, I have been proceeding slowly with this giant diorama WIP. In the past few weeks, I have been mostly painting tabletop miniatures for my Dropzone Commander armies (more on that in a later entry.) Still, I have done a lot of work preparing the dragon Narthrax for paint.


I need to get both the dragon and the knight mostly cleaned and assembled before I can begin construction of the scenic base to support them. I can't really complete their assembly or paint until I get that done. As is usually the case, prep work is key.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Ten Milimeter Paint

After posting my recent review of Dropzone Commander, by Hawk Games, I thought it might be a good idea to write up my painting experience with the Shaltari and UCM armies.


The two are an exercise in contrasts. One shows the bold colors of an alien military, unconcerned about hiding their position, while the other is a more traditional military force, emphasizing pragmatism over style.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Confrontation Part I: Storytelling

With convention and tournament season over for 2015, I am starting to think about show-piece painting again. I have a few projects percolating at the back of my mind, but one thing I have never tackled is a diorama.


Dioramas are all about telling a story in miniature, and in a confined space. A good diorama presents exactly what is needed to convey its story to the viewer, and nothing else. For my first try, I am going to attempt a classic showdown of knight versus dragon. The two models are large, dynamic and iconic. It will be up to me to bring the piece together with base design and arrangement.