15mm Terrain - Early Test Casts

Greetings all,

This week I've had a chance to attempt some test casts from the terrain rapid prototypes! I snapped a few pics alongside some undercoated Rebel Minis Titan Marines for scale (and because that's the army who will use these in my own games!)


These were simple one-part molds, so the bottom detail wasn't captured. The final production pieces will have two-part molds, so the bottoms of the buildings will be much cleaner. What amazed me is how much detail the silicone I used captured... I had no idea the texture from the 3d printing would cast so well! I am going to sand a couple of the test pieces down to smooth surfaces, leave a couple more with the texture, and see how they both look when they are painted. If the smooth version looks better, I will make sure the final production models are cast in that style.


The barricades, on the other hand, look terrible in this picture. But don't fear! Rather than the actual poured RTV molds, these were done with "quick putty" silicone. This is basically silly putty that dries semi-solid, which means it has quite a few air bubbles and "smoosh" joints in the finished product. The production molds for the barricades will be FAR better quality than these, and I will post those test pieces by this weekend as well.



These "quick putty" casts for the barricades are simply a way for me to see how they look en masse, and try to get an idea of how I want to package the starter sets.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Chris

Announcing Basement Gaming Bunker 15mm Terrain

Greetings all,

This post has been delayed a few times for an assortment of reasons, but the time is ripe to reveal what has been occupying our time the last few months. Basement Gaming Bunker, as part of its switch from a dedicated 40k blog to 15mm gaming, is announcing a small line of resin sci-fi terrain! With no further excuses or delays, here is an overview of our Wave 1 releases.

We hope to get this word out through Dropship Horizon, Miniature Review, Tabletop Gaming News, and The Miniatures Page over the next few days. The main thing we need to know is what kind of interest there is for this sort of product so we have a rough idea of how many initial castings we need before we start shipping.

We're hoping for a release sometime in early June. To begin, we will probably set up a Google Checkout shop on this blog. As the line expands, we will explore options for a dedicated webstore, so this can remain a proper gaming blog rather than a business newsletter.

All feedback is appreciated. Good gaming, all!

Chris Knowles, Bunker Honcho

Theme

Wave 1 is a line of prefab military structures. The thought behind this is when a large force enters into a lengthy engagement, they will need some barebones headquarters, supply, maintenance, and barracks structures. These are centered around large armored panels which can be assembled right off the dropship and put into service. A set of this terrain would be great in any attacker/defender scenario, or for use as a centrally-contested objective in neutral territory.

These buildings were purposely left devoid of some fine detail and additional parts. As such, they would work extremely well with conversion parts from IMEX plastic kits, Ground Zero Games' building fittings, etc. More buildings will definitely follow - but how many will depend on sales of this first wave!

All buildings are shown with Rebel Minis' awesome Scourge for scale.

Sci-Fi Defensive Barricades

The Defensive Barricades are a set of chest-height walls deployed around critical structures. The straight walls will come in either packs of six or eight (still haven't decided), while the 90-degree and 45-degree corners will come in two-packs of each.

Small Modular Building

I actually based this first piece on something I scratchbuilt for Epic almost fifteen years ago, and this is what inspired me to create this terrain. It can serve as anything - an armory, command post, security checkpoint, communications building, industrial control center, ammo dump, portable restroom... just about anything that only requires a small amount of space. It has a double blast door on one long edge, and a single blast door on the opposite short edge. The removable roof is recessed enough to place troops on top of the building, where they can take cover behind the armored walls.

The small building will be available individually, or in two-packs for a modest discount.

Medium Modular Building

The centerpiece of the collection. I actually scaled this building to the Brigade Tactical Operation Center where I ran radio and computer networks in the Army a few years back. It could serve as a headquarters building, barracks, dining facility, or any military (or future civilian/industrial) structure that requires a bit more interior space.

Putting It Together!

We haven't worked out the specifics yet, but we will offer a few "combo packs" of buildings and walls together. One thing I know I want to offer is this set as an introductory special for the first month:

So stay tuned for official information about the release, along with our standard complement of miniature and gaming system reviews. All feedback is appreciated!

Skirmish vs Battle Games - Where 40k went wrong

Greetings all,

I'm back to regular blogging after the spring hiatus. Big things going on between getting married, house shopping, and preparing for this weekend's big announcement (more to come).

The past few months have really helped give me some perspective on why I went on a semi-hiatus from GW last fall, and have been diving into 15mm miniatures and alternate gaming systems. Some of it was GW's corporate policies, some of it was the price of gaming, some of it was realizing I was unable to see that "the GW hobby" is a buzzword so that people who are really part of "the wargaming hobby" only buy GW product. But, as I've mentioned in a few posts, a big part of it is GW's rule systems. I've finally figured out how to articulate it.

I've made no secret that 1997's Epic 40k is one of my all-time favorite rulesets. Forge of War has been a great replacement for large 40k games mainly because of the vague similarities of those two games. But Forge of War has always seemed to be missing some intangible thing, especially in small games. I've finally figured out what it is, and this will involve a walk through history.

Warhammer 40,000 originated as Rogue Trader. Not news. But anyone who has actually played (or even read) Rogue Trader knows that it is a true skirmish game - made for only about 10-20 models per side, and dealing with a far greater level of detail than a full set of battle rules. 2nd Edition was an attempt to streamline some of the random/detail mechanics and increase to platoon-size forces. Somewhere around this time a few different things happened that changed 40k forever.

1) Plastics became a standard to fill rank-and-file troops and vehicles, which grew army sizes.
2) The tournament scene took off, especially in the US and Germany. This called for streamlined mechanics and lists and fewer "scratchbuilt" options. Hello Codex armies, goodbye Citadel Journal and White Dwarf special lists.
3) Necromunda spun off as a new high-detail true skirmish game.
4) GW became an immensely successful corporation, rather than a small business.

These things led to 3rd Edition. In that book, the design notes clearly state that it was an attempt to create a set of true "battle" rules to reflect the growth in player forces. This philosophy has carried through into 4th and 5th. But I think GW failed in many respects. 5th Edition 40k, with its 2000-point average game size, still relies on a skirmish-built system of roll to hit, roll to wound, roll to save; and the game rewards clever army lists and rule-bending rather than realistic strategy or fluff-based force organization. It's a battle game being played with skirmish rules.

Necromunda (and it's brother Gorkamorka) were attempts to satisfy the skirmish niche. And they do so fairly admirably - these games have a small but loyal fanbase. The level of detail that these games provide are great for small unit scenarios and campaigns, and horrible for tournaments.

Epic: Armageddon was an attempt to satisfy battle rules and tournament desires. It does both, but at the expense of actual fun in my opinion.

But back to 40k, and how we're dealing with it. I recently purchased Flying Lead and Mutants and Death Ray Guns from Ganesha Games. They are FANTASTIC skirmish rules which I will review soon. But for now, what you need to know is that these games allow you to play 5-20 troops per side (and a vehicle or two) in a game that is very enjoyable and rewards strategy. Forge of War doesn't provide skirmish detail, but it makes large games of 40k an absolute joy to play.

So what we've decided for now, not only with all the new 15mm goodies but with our 40k collections, is to change the way we play. We are going to use Ganesha Games (Mutants and Death Ray Guns mixed with Flying Lead elements) as our primary gaming rules, using what would normally pass as 40k Kill Teams. These will form the bulk of our campaigns, especially in Imperial cities. When the time comes for a large, decisive battle, we will break out Forge of War. Playing 40k this way actually allows us to create stories far closer to the 40k fluff than Warhammer 40,000 5th edition has ever allowed. And we're going to have a lot more fun doing it.

I encourage all of you - even if you are dead-set against using anything but GW models - to try alternate rulesets to play different kinds of games.

On the table: Rebel Minis Earthforce Marines

One of the things I've really been enjoying about 15mm sci-fi is the variety of games you can play with a handful of miniatures. My last project, the Scourge, can serve as anything from Warhammer 40,000 Necrons to Terminator T-800s. Keeping that theme alive, I begin the next project - Earthforce Marines.

When I purchased my Scourge, I also picked up a variety of these troops. The standard infantry are great, but I really think my favorites are the hardtops. With the right paint scheme, these are incredibly versatile miniatures - and that's exactly what I'm doing with them.

I'm trying a different technique and paint pallette this time. I've been using Armory primers and Citadel paints - and now I'm switching to Testors' Model Master series. I used these years ago for my Epic Dark Angels, and I'm not really sure why I stopped. I grabbed a matching medium gray spray and brush paint, and undercoated a full platoon with these. The detail work will be a lighter gray drybrush, flesh tones, weapons in steel, and boots/details in black.

My ultimate goal for these is to strongly resemble the Starship Troopers movie infantry. With that look, they can be used in Starship Troopers games, as Alliance troops in Firefly/Serenity games (a war that really appeals to me in gaming terms), John Connor's resistance in Terminator gaming, Imperial Guard in 40k universe games, and even some urban-themed troops in near-future scenarios (the Shadow books by Orson Scott Card, for example). Since the troops are very gray, I will use my desert-basing method to finish them without making them too bland (urban-basing fits my other tabletop).

So far the undercoat stuck extremely well, even in the cold weather. I hope to get the model details painted tonight, and the bases done tomorrow. I will update when finished!

Rebel Minis Scourge

Sorry it's been so quiet around here lately, folks. We have something big being announced soon, and it's taken a lot of our time to make those preparations. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'd like to post a review of Rebel Minis' excellent Scourge models, since I assembled and painted a few of them earlier this week. I picked up two packs of the Scourge Infantry and one pack of Scourge Heavy Weapons when Rebel Mike ran his December sale (along with a few other models - later posts!). I wanted to knock these out first so I could get a 15mm army ready to play.

The models themselves are excellent sculpts - some of the best I've seen so far in 15mm. These models have received some criticism for not being "skeletal" enough compared to offerings from Ground Zero or 15mm.co.uk, but I really like how "chunky" they are. As with most things in this scale, they aren't tied to any particular ruleset or sci-fi universe. They have more of a "battle android" appearance, but are easily able to be used as Terminators, Necrons, or anything else one could imagine (and I probably will). The sculpts themselves were very clean - they required almost no trimming or clipping before I was able to break out the primer. Variety is also good among both packs. There are five different infantry poses in the main pack, and two sculpts each of four different weapons in the heavy set.



I selected 32 figures for my initial set. I based them individually on pennies for Forge of War, and can mount them on my movement trays to have eight units in Alien Squad Leader or Future War Commander. If I take the energy shield option, this gives me a 96-point Automaton starter force in ASQL.

Painting was extremely simple. I hit them with black Armory primer, dabbled the eyes with Blood Red, and gave them a Boltgun Metal drybrush, and a medium gray (cheap terrain paint) base. The next night I dipped them all in some sand I swiped from a local playground. My original intention was to give them a "gray ash" effect base, which you can see on one of these:



After completing one, I decided it was too monochromatic and boring. I dipped the rest, but didn't paint over the sand on the remaining models. I think I prefer the sandy bases, but I still have gray showing on the edges. I might hit the entire base with a Sepia wash to see if it helps. I'd also like to lightly drybrush the bodies with Mithril to lighten them up. I haven't decided if I want to paint the weapons a different color so they stand out, or just leave them as they are. But whatever I decide, they are good enough now for the tabletop. Now I just need something for them to invade...