PIRATE COVE FROM pez47

Here is a cool set up using Dwarven Forge, and other elements to make a Pirate's Cove. I think that I see a few repainted Conflix buildings in there, but I'm not sure...

MINE RAID: CAINE

The picture above shows how Caine was able to get up on a low wall, start blasting with his pistols, pop his feat, and turn a failed assassination run by Magnus into a warcaster kill.

MINE RAID: MERC

Magnus had been using the mine as a hideout. He was dealing in blackmarket 'jack parts with a few members of a pirate crew. Caine had managed to show up right in the middle of the transaction, so the two forces join in an effort to eliminate a common foe.

I deployed Magnus to the top of the ramp, and clustered his force around him. Boomhowler and the boys would act as a living wall to draw out the enemy and allow for Magnus and his 'jacks to get in close for some hack-n-slash. I planned to utilize the narrow center of the board with the walls to tie up the Cygnar force and limit clear shooting lanes. If you look at the picture below you might notice a "stone boulder" in the lower left corner. This piece of terrain was allowed to be used as a missile. We worked this out as a Special Action ahead of time. I really wanted to get my Freebooter up to the boulder and toss it at the enemy, so I made sure that happened. The Mule and Renegade didn't waste any time popping the boys in blue with their ranged attacks, right before Boomhowler and his boys smashed into the enemy lines.

In the picture above you can see that the Mule took up position right in from of the section of Cracked Tile which counted as Rough Terrain. The Mule and Renegade both popped the Defender hoping that this would somehow help Boomhowler and Company. Luckily, it did. With the Defender's Movement sytem knocked out it made Boomhowler's job a little easier.

The Renegade did its terrible work on the Hunter but only after taking a nasty shot on approach.

Boomhowler and his boys put axe to metal, trying their best to hold out against an onslaught of Cygnar Warjacks. The tight spaces helped to tarpit both armies for a short period of time on the right hand side of the board.

Meanwhile, Magnus was able to run ahead on the left hand side of the board. The Freebooter tossed the boulder and took out a couple of Arcane Tempest Gun Mages. Squish! Magnus was able to engage the GMCA in melee. Megan was unwilling to use the Gun Mages or Caine to fire into combat in case she would actually miss and hit her own GMCA. Magnus easily cut down the GMCA and made a wild rush to assassinate Caine. However, in the end, Caine survived the assasination run. My own "bold" move actually was my demise. Caine flashed to the top of a low wall, blasted away with his pistols and then popped his feat. When it was all over, Magnus was down for the count.

Cygnar had control of the Mine, and had captured The Traitor!

MINE RAID: CYGNAR

Megan's main focus was to engage Boomhowler at the middle of the board in order to block charge lanes and limit LOS from Magnus and his 'jacks to Caine. Although this plan worked to tie up the right hand side of the board, the left was wide open. Magnus was able to rush in and flank the Cygnar force by using the walls for cover. In the picture below you can see that Magnus is engaging the Gun Mage Captain Adept in the far left corner of the picture.

Megan attempted to use her superior firepower to weaken (soften up) Magnus and his 'jacks before they could enter melee. This tactic worked fairly well. Magnus was actually able to run into combat, engage models, and remain in constant melee. This was a bold move, but made Megan make a few hard choices with whether to fire into combat or select other targets.

In my next post, I will focus on the Merc side of the battle.

And I'll tell you who won ... and how.

Until next time, keep rollin' sixes.

MINE RAID: DEPLOYMENT

We enjoy little stories with our games. So we made up our own. The idea was that Magnus was found to be roosting in an abandoned mine within Cygnar's territory making some deals with various Pirate outlaws. Who knows what schemes the villian is planning right under the boots of our the heroic Cygnar citizens? Caine rounds up a posse and rides out, brashly deciding to engage Magnus within the confines of the mine.

Megan took:

Faction: Cygnar

Model Count: 12

Victory Points: 16
Lieutenant Allister Caine

> Hunter

> Hunter

Journeyman Warcaster

> Defender

Gun Mage Captain Adept

Stormsmith

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages [6]

and I took:

Faction: Four Star Syndicate

Model Count: 14

Victory Points: 19
Magnus The Traitor

> Renegade

> Freebooter

> Mule

Bosun Grogspar

Dirty Meg

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator

Greygore Boomhowler & Co. [6]

SETTING IT UP

Depending on what sets you have in your collection, setting up Dwarven Forge for use in a game of WARMACHINE can be as simple as trying to create wide rooms and double sized hallways. There will be narrow sections where only small based models will be able to enter, but that's okay. Just discuss it ahead of time with whomever you're playing with and make sure you're both on the same page as to entryways and which size model can fit where in the game.

Personally, I have the following sets: Cavern Set, Cavern Passage Set, Two Fantasy Room sets, a Narrow Passage Set, an Advanced Builder set, the Wicked Additions #1 and #2 sets, a Room and Passage set, two Ogre Den's, a Sci-Fi Alpha Expansion set, and 12 of the 6" x 6" Square Floor sections. So I have a lot of different options for setting up and arranging the sets in such a way to create a good WARMACHINE environment.
Megan and I cleared a spot and put together a layout on a 24" by 48" section of Battle Board.

We agreed that the Pool would be considered Deep Water. The Pillars would block LOS. The Crypts were considered Impassable. And the Cracked Tile sections would be Rough Terrain. The sections of DF walls are considered to be ARM 18 with 1 Damage Capacity per inch. Walls that block Warjack entry may be destroyed to create Breaches. All normal tile and stone sections of flooring are considered Open Terrain.

Megan decided to play Cygnar and I would play Mercenaries.

USING DWARVENFORGE FOR WARMACHINE

Okay, first off let's be clear. I am not employed by Privateer Press or Dwarven Forge. So what I am discussing here is not some expert information that should be etched in stone. It's opinion, folks. This is in fact ... a blog. I am simply a fan of both companies and the product that they have supplied to fellow geeks like myself.

If you don't know what WARMACHINE is exactly ... Why not?! Go here and read about it. I include this because I recently posted some pictures in the Dwarven Forge forums and many of the hobbyists there were not familiar with Privateer Press (PP) or WARMACHINE.

Likewise, if you have no idea what Dwarven Forge might be, click here. They make really cool polystone terrain pieces that can be used to create buildings, dungeons, caverns, and more.

So anyway...

If you plan to use Dwarven Forge (DF) stuff as terrain for games of WARMACHINE, please understand that there are some basic elements you have to wrap your head around:

• DF is made for 25mm miniatures. So in a game like WARMACHINE where the small bases are 30mm, you're not going to always be able to squeeze your medium and large based models into the terrain pieces. No big deal though, because this can add an interesting aspect to playing a game of WARMACHINE in a DF environment: limited access. Small based models can go into the tighter places and larger based models can't follow.


• Collecting miniatures is not an inexpensive hobby. Both PP and DF could be considered expensive to collect. I really don't want to go into discussion about this because if you collect miniatures, you already know where I'm coming from. We love our toys so 'Nuff said.


• DF WARMACHINE games are best played in 2x2 or 3x3 game areas. That's my opinion. It gives you enough space to set up environments of both "outside" and "inside." I will discuss this later.


• A game of WARMACHINE using DF pieces will more than likely take place ... inside. Yes, battles can occur inside. It might be a duel or skirmish between small forces in a mine, a building, or an ancient temple. No matter where it takes place, the idea will be that most of the fighting will be played out as if the models were inside rather than on a battlefield.


• Set up and tear down can be tiresome. Since DF stuff is modular, it's awesome because you can set up your maze or dungeon however you wish depending on what sets and pieces you own. But I know that the "worst" part of playing any game is cleaning up and packing up. SO not only will you be putting away all your models into foam trays, but you'll be packing up individual pieces of DF terrain too.

That's all I have for now. I'll take some pictures, and post some more information soon. I might even play out a MKII Field Test using some of my DF terrain and post a short battle report.

Leave a comment if you wish, and check back soon.

SUPPLY DEPOTS IDEAS FOR YOUR IRON KINGDOM SCENERY

The next issue of NO QUARTER is supposed to feature some information on railroads in the Iron Kingdom. Being a fan of both real life and model railroads, this sounds like a good thing to me. If you're designing a railroad layout, one idea might be to recreate a supply depot.
Now, I'm making an assumption here. I'm assuming that an Iron Kingdoms steam locomotive is fueled by coal and water, not wood and water. In the United States up until 1870, almost all of the steam locomotives burnt wood rather than coal. However, as it became obvious that coal was the more readily available (and I guess better) resource, they switched from wood to coal.
I'm also not taking into consideration any bells and whistles that might come from magic. I'm sure that considering that the Iron Kingdoms is a high magic environment that magic will take some effect on the powering, maintaining, and so forth of IK Railroads. Heck, maybe there will be Railcasters that operate trains like a Warcaster operates Warjacks. Who knows.
So anyway...
Steam locomotives need constant maintenance, supply, and waste disposal. So along the service lines, depots were built to meet these needs in a "quick" and "efficient" manner. The expectation of a supply depot would be to hold, maintain, and store the basic materials needed to keep the trains running from point A to point B. If we ignore the complicated systems of signage, switching (including Wye and turn abouts), markings, signaling, and man power ... we can focus on supply issues.
COAL: Coal burning steam engines require tender bunkers. A medium sized 32-foot tender holds about 15 tons of coal. Larger tenders could be filled to capacity at about 22 tons. Depending on the number of locomotives operating on a given track, and the distance required to travel from point A to point B, a basic supply terminal usually needs about 28 tons of coal every day for each operating steamer assuming that the locomotive was making a round trip. That's a lot of coal. Thank Marrow for Labor Jacks, huh?

WATER: Water is essential in the powering of steam locomotives. I read recently that it takes about 15,000 gallons of water to properly operate a steam train running under full power for a typical run from point A to point B. In Pennsylvania, rail companies required that servicing companies station a water tank every twenty miles along a given railway. Why? To avoid BOILER EXPLOSION. If you run into a problem during transition, get short on the supply of water and allow the boiler area above the firebox to boil down to nothing ... then BOOM! And let's face it ... BOOM ... isn't going to make for a good day on any railroad. So the Iron Kingdoms would need a constantly supply and resupply of water throughout their lines. Also, the maintenance of watering stations would be very important. So considering that the Iron Kingdoms is constantly at war, crippling supply lines of water would be a key objective.

ASHES: Burning coal leaves waste products including ashes, cinders, and clinkers. However, ash-pan capacities do not appear to be a readily available steam statistic. We can figure that the most basic characteristic of coal is that it leaves 10% waste when being burned for steam power. So if the basic steam locomotive supposedly needs almost 50 tons of coal every day to complete a "long round trip" and there are at least two locomotives running on each expanse of track (One for main line and one for service line) then a typical depot might be taking in about 10 tons of ash waste every day. The service lines would quickly become littered with cinder cars and ash pits. So in that case, it would make sense that a typical Iron Kingdoms mainline would need at least three different trains running at a time: one for main transport, one for supplies, and the last for disposal of waste. And the last two are just to maintain a single service station. (But again, I am making assumptions. We'll see what NO QUARTER'S article has to say...)

SAND: Sand is needed for a servicing station. Steam locomotives are equipped with sandboxes from which sand can be deployed to the rails to improve braking and traction in wet or icy weather. A sandbox on a large locomotive can hold up to 60 cubic feet of sand. A typical 40 foot gondola can hold about 1000 cubic feet of sand in a 50 ton load. So depending on the weather, and the need for sand, a typical depot may be filling and refilling the sand towers and sand houses repeatedly.

So the typical WARMACHINE layout featuring a depot could allow for a lot of interesting scenery. You've got multiple crisscrossing tracks, including a possible Wye or a roundhouse if you're into modelling such things. Water towers, sand towers, ash pits, and outbuildings would be a must. You could also add in some free standing gondolas or freight cars that are being used for storage or waiting for transport.
I'm looking forward to reading more about Railroads in the Iron Kingdoms. How about you? Feel free to leave me a comment.

SANDBAG WALLS

I started with a BMC Revolutionary War bagged figure set that included two sandbag embankments and several cannons. I glued the sandbag wall to a piece of plywood craft wood, and applied vinyl spackling to the wood surface for texture. I then filled in the hollow back of the sandbag walls with more of the vinyl spackling.

After the spackling dried, I painted the entire piece with flat brown craft paint.

Next, I painted on a 1:1 mixture of white glue and water on to the base of the piece.

I used a mixture of flock, static grass, kitty liter, and Woodland Scenics talus to base the entire piece.

SIMPLE SCENERY: TEMPLATES

When you're looking to make some simple scenery that can be used in games of WARMACHINE or HORDES, it's easy to get things done using inexpensive materials. Don't get me wrong, I love awesome and amazing terrain. But sometimes you just need to make some simple stuff to plunk down on the table, or use in tournaments. Here's a few examples of the stuff that I made.

Ancient Colossal Ruins

This piece was made using a Craft Plywood Circle, sand, static grass, craft paint, and Kinex parts I bought from Goodwill. The large leg is from a Bravestarr Skull Walker that obviously was broken.



Large Rock Template

No, this is not a chunk of foam cut, shaped, and painted to look like a big rock. It's an actual stone from the yard. I liked the shape and size, and decided it was going to become terrain.

Gear Wall Template

This template features what I like to call "Gears Walls" made from Kinex parts. The only thing that I did with this one was I added a large amount of Woodland Scenics Talus.

FOIL WATER

Here's an interesting step by step article on how to model water using foil.

MOSH PIT MADE EASY

When playing Steamroller 4, there are several scenarios that require patterns on the game table. One good example is Mosh Pit. Although it is perfectly acceptable to use string to mark out the Pit itself, I decided that making a simple template would be more effective.

I went to Dollar Tree and bought several sheets of green cardboard sheets at $0.50 each. I marked the sheets with the appropriate sized circle, and then cut them out to size. I used some scrapbook lettering stickers to label the template (just for fun!) and suddenly I had a useful piece of terrain for my Steamroller 4 tournaments.

GROUNDWORK TEMPLATES

Begin your project with easy to find materials. I will be using thin plywood, titebond white glue, green putty, vinyl spackling, and basing supplies (sand, flock, static grass, talus.) See an example of these kinds of templates here.

These templates can be used as generic groundwork templates in your games of HORDES and WARMACHINE. You can use them as sections of rough terrain, building and ruin bases, forest templates, and other generic terrain. For now, I'd recommend sticking to 5" x 5" or 4" x 6" templates.

Simply, the project goes like this: (1) Shape (2) Texture (3) Glue (4) Scatter (5) Flock (6) Paint (7) Accent (8) Seal

(1) SHAPE: Cut your template to the size you want it. Craft Stores often sell their craft wood in various sizes. You may be able to find a size that you need pre-cut however chances are you'll need to use an hobby knife or dremel (with cutting disks) to give the template a little shape. (Using foam is easier here as you can just cut it to shape with a hot wire cutter.)

(2) TEXTURE: Apply your putty and spackling. These materials help to add texture to the template. You can also use a fine grit sand mixed with paint as a substitute. Also, Spectre Hobbies sells "Texture Gel" which does the same thing very well. Anyway, add the putty first followed by spackling. Leave empty space at the edges. Add the putty, spreading it thin and pressing a few medium sizes stones into it. Follow up by adding the spackling to the remaining empty spaces starting from the center. Allow the template to dry before going to step #3.

(3) GLUE: Coat the template with glue. I use Titebond straight from the bottle however if you wish you can use some water to create a 1:1 mixture. It's really up to you. Spread a thin coat of white glue over the entire template including the empty space on the edges. While the glue is still wet, continue with step #4.

(4) SCATTER: Place a paper or cloth towel under the template. Gather at least three grades of stone-like flock. I recommend craft sand, fine talus, and coarse talus. Sprinkle the stone flock over the template beginning with the finest material and ending with the coarsest. Allow the template to dry. After it is dry, carefully shake the template over a container to remove any extra talus. I usually shake the excess talus right back into its original container as to not waste flocking materials.

(5) FLOCK: Same story as step #4 but this time with flock. Use at least two colors of flock, one dark and one light. Take a cup or sifter and mix the flock together. Now get the white glue. This time, use a 1:1 mix of water/white glue. If you have a scenic sprayer, use the regular mixture. Figure out where you want to add patches of grass on the template. Add your watered down glue to these areas, and then sprinkle with your flock mixture. If you have a scenic sprayer, mist the flock lightly to add an additional seal. Allow the template to dry before moving on to #6.

(6) PAINT: Using a black or brown spray paint, coat the entire template. After the template dries, use a large brush to paint the entire thing with a basecoat of dark brown or reddish brown. Don't worry about getting fancy because this is a basecoat. Once the entire ground is painted, it's time for drybrushing. Start with the rock outcropping, painting them with a dark grey. After finishing with the rocks, drybrush with a slightly lighter color. Remember to take a little care to maintain the level of "dryness" on the dry as to avoid ugly smudgey spots on your template. Afterwards, drybrush a second time with a even lighter highlight color to add contrast. Allow the template to dry before moving on to #7.

(7) ACCENT: Now is when you can add Undergrowth, Bushes, and Grasses. For undergrowth, use polyfiber. Seperate the polyfiber be carefully tearing it into layer. Stretch the layer until thin and lacy. Apply white glue to areas of the template you undergrowth. Gently push the polyfiber into the glue, then sprinkle around the edges of the polyfiber to add volume and to fill gaps. Do the same with bulky moss or foam bushes. To add grasses, simply add small amounts of white glue to the surface, and add small pinches of grass to the glue. Allow glue to dry before moving to step #8.

(8) SEAL: When you are happy with your template, use a matte spray like Dull Coat to seal it. Lightly mist the entire template with the spray. It will protect your template while you're moving models and tossing dice on the game table.

SIMPLE SCENERY: OBSTACLE

An obstacle is any terrain feature up to 1" tall that is low enough that it can be climbed upon or easily crossed. This large rock falls into that category.

SIMPLE SCENERY: ROUGH TERRAIN

Using some more K'NEX pieces bought from Goodwill, I was able to easily make this piece of simple terrain. I glued the parts in place, added fine grit sand, and then painted it. I added some flock and static grass (from Spectre Hobbies) to finish it off. Quick and easy!

SIMPLE SCENERY: GEAR FENCE

This one I call "The Gear Fence."

I constantly visit local Goodwill stores in an effort to find interesting materials for making terrain for WARMACHINE. I found a small box of K'Nex parts and decided that they could be used for something although at the time I had no idea what. They laid around for awhile and then one day I was reading my World War II magazine and I decided that I'd make them into something akin to hedgehog obstacles. Basically the idea is that the battlefields of the Iron Kingdoms are littered with parts, and these could easily be transformed into defensive fortifications.