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Greetings Terrans, how goes it? I wanted to get a quick post out today to show you some of the exciting work that my friend Mark at www.heresyofus.com has been working on in his Manufactorium. He has developed an ingenious terrain system called ‘Mag Bellum’ that uses magnetised 6×6” hard tiles, so it’s great for adding texture and easy to scale up & store. Some of the tile options also contain removable plates that allow you to model terrain features ‘into’ the board, (rather than plonking stuff onto the board), while still letting you swap the plates out for ones with other terrain pieces modelled in. He kindly invited me and my Brother-in-Lead Ross over to a gaming get-together last Sunday, and we got to see his latest set-up in person:
All the buildings, objectives, trees etc. are completely swappable, giving an incredibly versatile system that really is very smart and perfectly scaled for modern skirmish games. I urge you to go and check it out if you’re considering a new terrain project, could do with a new underhive to battle over, need some scenery for your blog pics, or whatever. I picked a couple of sets up while I was over there, so I’ll be working on them in and around my Wolf Time project – watch this space!
In other news, during our game on Sunday, (using cut-down Rogue Trader rules), Ross and I were getting pissed off with the melee aspect of the system, and generally moaning about how GW systems don’t quite seem to hit the sweet spot for either of us when it comes to hand-to-hand combat… it’s always either too slow, too complex, or too simplistic depending on the system. Ross and I play a lot of Frostgrave, and we find this to be a much better rule set for skirmish than anything GW have ever produced. I know that is heresy of the highest order, but there it is. Anyway, long story short, we wondered how easy it would be to port Rogue Trader/40K gear & troop types into the Frostgrave rule set. As a result, project ‘Frost Trader’ is go, and I’ll be working on a 40K hack for the game over the next few months, doing some play testing etc. I’ll keep you all posted, but hope to have something worthwhile to show for it :-)
Leadballoony - It's a lead thing 
Neat system offering a practical storage solution too my the look of it.
Sure is – it’s amazing the amount that packs into a shoebox!
I really like this system, it looks great and really functional.
Me too mate – I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with it!
The Mag Bellum stuff looks really interesting, terrain just takes up so much space but it adds so much to a game as well, anything which makes it easier to store has to be a good thing. Curious to see what you do with the Frost Trader rules as well, I’ve been generally dissatisfied by GW’s rules for combat myself so I’ll be watching with interest.
You’re so right mate – space is the main thing preventing me from having the board of my dreams… I reckon this might well be the solution! My first look at Frost Trader was promising – the core system is superbly flexible, so it’s just a case of overlaying all the killy stuff, armour & gear really! Fingers crossed :-)
Looks very versatile AND cool. Great stuff Alex!
That’s all Mark’s board mate, but yep, it is very cool :-)
Looks cool Alex. Nice promotional post. I didn’t think storage would ever be an issue for me but, sighhhh, now it is
I’m glad you think so mate – I’m certainly impressed with what Mark has produced! I’m surprised you’ve got space issues though – I thought all you Aussies had mahoosive houses?!
Haha to be honest it is actually a fairly big house but I just have too much bloody hobby gear now. Time to sell some I reckon. Only to make way for new stuff though ahaha
Very nice, your minis look great on that terrain! Their color pops nicely against the stark grey.
It’s been quite some time since I hacked a system. I imagine once I figure out what’s what with the Necromunda rules, I could be in the same boat. So, I’ll definitely keep Frostgrave in mind.
Cheers mate, but this post is more about the terrain than the minis ;-)
It’s well worth taking a look at Frostgrave mate – very reasonable price for the book & such a good set of rules…
Yep, I got that. Just not in the market for terrain right now, so I notice the minis more. ;)
Good solution though, and hope your pal does well with it!
Once I get my head around Necromunda (all new to me), I’ll likely give Frostgrave a try. As slow as I paint, will be awhile.
Looks definitely nice. I totally agree about the c/c issue. I tend to favour 4th Ed WHFB c/c in my games, wich isn’t so messy as RT or 2nd Ed. But the Frost Trader idea looks interesting, I’d love to read your thoughts and experiences on the subject!
It’s lovely to play on, and I’ll do a post on how it is to build & work with :-) Yeah, melee has always been a pain imo… I’m unfamiliar with 4th/2nd, but I can definitely recommend Frostgrave’s opposed D20 system. Looking forward to some experimenting!
If you like Frostgrave then well worth a look at Rangers of Shadow Deep. I did start work on a homebrewed ‘InqGrave’ ruleset at one point so interested to see how far you get with the idea.
Yep, got RoSD in hand mate – looks amazing! How far did you get with InqGrave? Any insights or advice you can share?
You are welcome to my rough notes:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fogo4q31ibw2kc/InqGrave%20Outline.docx?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3y32h4bfb8s3bqq/InqGrave%20Stats.xlsx?dl=0
I think I was possible trying to be too complex. Now I would probably consider removing the extra stats and instead go with skills and talents to differentiate the tougher stuff like space marines – more in line with Rangers of Shadow Deep.
Happy to collaborate of something if you think there i anything salvageable!
Interesting start point mate – thanks for sharing! I can see where you were going with the extras, but I agree that a RoSD skills based approach is more promising. I’ve gone a bit oldschool in my thinking, with base stats for each race, and then improvements for minor heros, major heros etc. I’ve used ‘fight’ in the same way as FG – either you’re good at evading, or very good at fighting (or both). I’ve also made guns & armour very powerful – the way I see it, if you shoot me with a stub gun when I’m in my pants then I should have a very high chance of being a gonner… however, if I have my power armour on, then that’s a different matter! Early days, but I’ll figure out a way to share my progress when I have something to show :-)
I’m always keen to see how people do boards differently. They definitely take up a lot of space when they’re one piece affairs, but I still think they look better because they don’t have the division lines that modular boards do. Easy fix, just turn your one piece board into wall art :D
Tinkering with RT hey? Tis the path that many a grognard travels down. I wish you luck with it, not because I think it’s impossible, I’d just be keen to see how you tweak it.
Cheers mate :)
Thanks dude, the deeper I get into the FG/RT mashup, the more complex it gets! Man, having a sweet one-piece is the dream… but sadly so impractical for most – even my bloody walls are full mate!
Looks good, but I admit, I can’t figure out how it becomes easy to store in comparison to other terrain options? Large buildings and trees other pieces remain the same size, so it’s… essentially tiles with indentations rather than a rollable game mat or the like?
Yeah, I know mate. I’d say it’s more satisfying than a mat though, because of the texture & stuff being part of the board rather than on the board. I guess it’s just referring the convenience of being able to pack a decent skirmish board into a shoe box (with a few bits of terrain to boot) :-)
Oh, I agree that they look great – I was just thinking storage wise. :)