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Greetings Terrans, how goes it? I know it has been quite idle on this here little blog, but I’ve been far from idle behind the scenes! I’ve been working my way through more terrain for the second & third Wolf Time games – mostly items to do with power generation. Let’s go straight into scenario 2.
Scenario 2 is set at a geologically active area of the island – one where sudden and violent winds howl through a network of subterranean tunnels, occasionally breaching the surface with explosive results! I’m paraphrasing, but basically the Orks have rigged up a huge turbine from bits salvaged from their crashed space craft – this single large building caps a permanent blowhole in a rather precarious way, has a single double door and a wooden watchtower accessible from the roof. The generator is in a walled compound, along with two long huts (so reusing the ones from the first scenario), The Orks also have four control valves located around the facility to manage the flow of gasses to the generator. I haven’t built the walls yet, but the rest is done, so let’s take a look!
First, the big generator building:
This big beasty was basically assembled from a takeaway food bowl, a section of cardboard tube, an old pc fan, thick card and coffee stirrers. Additional detail was added from the ever-useful ‘Maelstrom’s Edge’ terrain sprue, plus a few odds and ends from the bits pile. Once primed, I textured the main building with Typhus Corrosion before spraying again with a pale green, and then washed, drybrushed and weathered the hell out of it. You’ve probably noticed that the turbine fan appears to be moving in the pics – that’s because it is! I figured out the wiring & plumbed in a 9v battery to spin that bad-boy :-)
And here are the control valves for the same scenario (pictured with a commanders hut for scenario 3 – slightly confusing know, but ignore the hut for now):
Nothing special to report here – all are from Crooked Dice, and painted in the same way as the long huts I presented in my last post. Right, on to the next scenario!
Scenario 3 is set in a lava field set in the midst of a stone forest. The Ork compound has two tall, cylindrical heat exchanger towers, each with a tall wooden watchtower with an emplaced Heavy Bolter in each one. The compound also has two long huts (again, reusing the ones from the first & second scenario), as well as a smaller hut for the commander and a tool shed. I haven’t finished the shed yet, but the rest is done – as before, let’s start with the generators:
These were fairly simple to build – the main buildings are just cardboard tubes with a bit of Maelstrom’s Edge bling, and watch towers built from more coffee stirrers. The heavy Bolters are on magnets, so can be placed on any of the pintles set around the outside of the watchtowers, (including the big building from scenario two if I choose). I also set some magnets inside the tubes, with the idea of connecting the two buildings with some cabling. The cable junction boxes are small crates with the handles shaved off, magnets set inside, and wires glues into small holes.
And here is the commander’s hut for the same scenario – with the roof off this time:
Nothing special to report here either – the hut is also from Crooked Dice, and painted in the same way as the long huts I presented in my last post!
So that’s it for Orky generators, but there is one other generator mentioned in the game – a phase field generator, that may be available to the Marines to use in the last scenario. I couldn’t find a picture of a phase field generator anywhere, but the Rogue Trader rulebook describes it as a large, heavy bit of kit that temporarily phases a small patch of matter into the warp, allowing models to create a doorway through any solid object. Of course, the field isn’t 100% stable, and can collapse with spectacularly terminal results for anyone caught inside the field when it pops! I bashed together a fairly industrial-looking bit of kit from bits & pieces to do the job, and gave it a very quick paintjob in Space Wolf colours:
I quite like the end result, despite it being a low effort affair – it actually ended up looking quite steampunk! Here’s a final shot of some Marines trying to phase their way into an Ork building:
So that’s it for now – I have just 15 more days to finish the project! There are other odd jobs that I may or may not get time to do – walls etc. but none are vital to the scenarios, so I’m counting these as stretch goals… However, the final critical bit of the project is a biggy… Kulo’s Castle… Wish me luck!
Beautiful, little touches like the magnetised cabling are very nice, well done.
Can’t wait to see all of this in action, its going to be a treat!
Re Phase Field Generators, I reread the Deus Ex Mechanicus short story from ~2000 during the week. The description of the PFG was fairly vague, what you have looks the part .
Cheers matey – I’m not usually too excited about terrain, so it’s important for me to inject a few neat little touches to keep me interested.
I’m glad the PFG turned out as well as it did – for very little effort tbh! Not long now dude – see you there :-)
Can’t wait to see these up close! You’ve given me some building ideas of my own ow. ;)
Not long to wait now dude, & glad I could fire up some building ideas for you! :-)
These are great Alex. I’ve been meaning to do something with those Maelstrom’s Edge detailing kits myself – this is the inspiration I need!
Can I ask about the magnetic cables – what are they constructed from? Are they still flexible? It’s a very clever little detail that neatly ties the two pieces of terrain together.
Cheers mate, yeah, those kits are very useful… I highly recommend them! The cables themselves aren’t magnetic, they are just headphone cable and an old necklace that the missus donated, so they do have a bit of flex in them. The cables are just glued into those boxes you can see at each end, and it is those boxes that have the magnets. They stick to matching mags inside the building tubes – not a super-strong connection, but enough to keep them in place during a game 😉
Glad you like ‘em mate!
Very impressive mate, just love what you have put together here. I’m a big fan of taking objects and using them in a creative way and that PC fan is inspired. Every bit looks the part, great stuff! Looking forward ro what comes next. ”😊
Cheers mate – that means a heck of a lot coming from you, what with all your terrain wizardry! I suppose gaming terrain is a bit different to dioramas though – it needs to be usable in a game, and robust enough to take a knock. I’m really pleased with that fan too – one pair of wires is for power, and the other pair is for speeeed! Shorting them out gives the lowest setting, which is what I opted for… wouldn’t want anyone to lose a finger, or worse, a mini!! 😱
I’m hyped! These are really fantastic, Alex! The colors, the details, the style, everything fits together perfectly. Next time you have a go at some terrain, I wouldn’t mind a little walkthrough ;)
Thanks mate, glad you like ‘em! I’ll try to remember to do a walkthrough next time dude… I did mean to this time tbh, but I sort of got into a bit of a zone & forget!! Must try harder 🙄
Very cool once again – there’s really nothing that says “old school terrain” better than a recycled computer fan :-)
Love what you’ve done with the phase generator as well, if I didn’t know better I’d have thought it was an official kit from somewhere. Not that I think the orks will let a few space wolves phase them mind you…
Cheers mate, glad you like it all. I must admit, there is something deliciously old-school about turning a pile of pots, tubes and other rubbish into something coherent. That phase field generator was a similar process – just lots of disparate bits that came together in a happy way! :-)
No way! This broke my awesometer! :O Seriously, Alex, you are taking this to another level, I’m enormously impressed, can’t wait for the next installment.
Haha, thanks mate – sorry about that broken meter!! ;-)
Great work- watch your fingers on that fan though.
Cheers,
Pete.
Cheers Pete – fingers are self healing mate, I’m far more worried about someone dropping a mini in there!! :-)
Wow, awesome work! And that’s so cool that you made it so the fan can actually move! :)
Cheers IM – I confess, I am ridiculously pleased with myself on that one :-))
Mate they all turned out great! Mind your fingers with that fan ;P
Cheers dude – far more worried about accidentally dropping a mini into it tbh! :-)
Brilliant, mate. Really well done.
Cheers mate ;-)
I saw this on my mobile while at the Physio last week, and typed out a reply, then tried to scroll up to check something else out, which refreshed the page. So.. yeah. Bad idea trying to comment while I’m out.
I did say something about how good the terrain looks, and the rather excellent achievement you’ve …achieved of a merging of the style of late-WD style of scratchbuilt terrain (just before everything became plastic kits you can purchase RIGHT HERE!) with the hacked and bodged-together look of those early Rogue Trader terrain pieces, with all of the charm of them intact.
So in short. Bloody amazing job on these mate. I’m jealous just looking at them, and also just as jealous that I’ll never get to play on them!
Aw, thanks mate – nowt like sticking pots and junk together to make you feel young again 🤣
Never is a long time dude – you may get the chance to pop over to the UK one day, and if you do, you’ll be welcome to visit & chuck some dice around!
We’ll see how we go -and if I’m ever in the area, I’ll let you know in advance! :)
Wow man these are fantastic. I love that you wired up the fans. I didn’t know about these malestrom edge sprues but I do now 😉
Cheers dude, glad you like ‘em mate. I’m delighted with the fan too – so much so that I’m busy hatching plans for more terrain pieces using the same idea!
That’s cool man. Maybe lights and smoke machine too hehe 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Actually I was watching a batrep last night. Astra millitarum VS Zombies and the dudes had strobe lights going and cotton wool draped all over the terrain and table to create an eerie fog. Very cool.
I do have a fog machine actually – https://leadballoony.com/2018/03/28/the-tower-of-the-dead/
All the internals come out, so I reckon I could build a sci-fi outer for it ;-)
Alex these terrain projects are so very cool. Any one of these alone would be a home run, but all of them – plus wiring that fan – just a joy to see. Your game is going to be a visual buffet of wow!
Cheers mate – I hope so!! Just putting the finishing touches to the crowning glory this week… watch this space ;-)
you bet!
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