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Category Archives: Mag Bellum

Kulo’s Castle…

24 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by Alex in Mag Bellum, Terrain, Wolf Time

≈ 37 Comments

Tags

Rogue Trader, scenery, Wolf Time

Greetings Terrans, and welcome. This is it folks, the big one, Kulo’s Castle in 3D… I have been looking forward to completing this part of the project, but let’s start at the beginning, shall we? From the Marine briefing in the Book of the Astronomican:

“The stronghold is built around the ruins of a crashed Ork spacecraft, and is heavily garrisoned. There is a main entrance to the south and a separate vehicle entrance to the north. There is an additional domed area covering an aerial launch pad, through which it may be possible to bring airborne troops, although it will probably be necessary to destroy it first.”

And from the Ork briefing:

“The stronghold is built on two levels: a top ‘spaceship’ level, and a bottom ‘dungeon’ level. Kulo never leaves the bottom level except in a dire emergency.”

The original scenario used a whole bunch of GW floor tiles that were available back in the day, arranged as per the maps included in the book. I had many kind offers of PDF access to these floor tiles, but I really wanted to do something a bit special for BOYL, and so wanted to recreate the maps in 3D… no small task! But I broadly had the concept that the first level should be industrial, while the second level could be less so. I figured that the dungeon level would probably share a lot of the look of the first floor, as the Orks would no doubt salvage parts of their ship to make walls and such.

I had many different thoughts and ideas on how to achieve this, but eventually settled on using the Mag Bellum system from Heresy of Us… I spoke with Mark about it back in April, and we worked out how to recreate an approximation of the map using magnetic floor tiles and plug-in wall sections. I commissioned the project, and we went to prototyping. After a few alterations, Mark had a system figured out, and then did an incredible job in casting a total of 12.25 square feet of floor tiles & 3D printing a staggering 399” of walls and 60 edging strips! The final kit list is as follows:

  • 20 x 3”x3” smooth floor tiles
  • 12 x 6”x6” smooth floor tiles
  • 39 x 3”x3” industrial floor tiles
  • 22 x 6”x6” industrial floor tiles
  • 16 x 3” edging strips
  • 44 x 6” edging strips
  • 57 x 6” walls (including 6 with big doors and 15 with small doors)
  • 19 x 3” walls (including 4 with small doors)

Mark very kindly hand delivered all 229 individual parts at the beginning of July, and even more kindly stuck around for ten hours to help sand & clean all the bits, and then we had to glue all the magnets into the floor tiles and edging strips… 864 magnets in all!

I have spent the last three weeks spraying, shading, drybrushing and weathering it all – I think it is fair to say that this was a hell of a job, but it was finally finished on Monday night. I used the same recipe that I used on the generator buildings – remember that they were built from salvaged spaceship parts, so it made sense to keep a common palette. Once all the bits were finally painted, I put it all together and worked out a few snags – this is an advanced prototype after all! After some fettling and adjustments, I ended up with this for the top ‘spaceship’ level:

D9E3DCEB-20E6-4A0C-9C2E-CC14C605CB80

 

And then reconfigured it all with different floor tiles to create this for the ‘dungeon’ level, (with cork rocks to build the tunnel walls):

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And here are some staged ‘action’ pics for your pleasure:

E3EBA3CB-DBD8-4576-AD52-7984B8A55307678B9ACC-A5F0-45CC-97BF-754F62E4460324F8FD13-DE1E-4B87-B4D8-207B349374B4F06E08CD-FAEE-4EFE-AE0F-8A142AA7F3BF68B93A78-B589-4FC2-8F4F-AF1EF82522AED77A7564-4655-4BCB-A9C5-7EBF246C5B8B2753F7E9-79F8-499B-9DE8-31D8F96C29F004971237-4BE0-4C19-8C44-3505D3CA015004ACC182-4574-4650-937E-B958F9DE40E7EB7D1B7A-4353-459A-9696-E8AD83504C1E

 

I also picked up a nice little template for Navigator Fogg’s vortex bomb – I was going to make my own, but it was cheap, and time is against me:

E394B8FE-A38D-4132-A60B-9D2A07764B46

 

So what do you guys think? I know it isn’t perfect, and there are a few design changes to discuss with Mark, but it’s pretty damn impressive, no? Of course, it is looking a bit sparse so I need to get some scatter terrain in there! I really really need some help with this so please, if you are going to BOYL and you have any crates, barrels, book shelves, generic Orky furniture, etc. then can you pack them & let me have a lend please? I’m going to spend the remaining time doing what I can, and I’ve had some kind offers from a few people already, (James, Curtis, you sexy legends!), but the more the merrier…

Right, back to it – seven more days until I pack & head to BOYL!! Let’s see what extras I can crank out between now and then 😉

Salute 2019, paint brushes & Doc ‘Bits’ Spleenripper!

08 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by Alex in Mag Bellum, OldHammer, Scuplting, Wolf Time

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Conversion, Painting, Rogue Trader, Sculpting, Wolf Time

Greetings Terrans, how goes it? It has been a bonkers weekend for me, and this is a pretty eclectic post as a result. First up, I had the privilege of attending Salute this weekend – as a trader! I was helping out my pal Mark (Heresyofus) on his Mag Bellum stand, along with Ed (aka E.J. Henries of Malific Design). It was a real eye-opener being on the other side of the table, and was brutal on the voice, (I completely lost mine), but wow, what an experience! We didn’t sell much, but we got a whole lot of positive feedback on the Mag Bellum system, and on the prototypes for the next phase of the product. We also learned a hell of a lot about running a stand in the process, and we will certainly be better prepared next time! It was also great to spend some time with Mark and Ed – great company & we had a proper good laugh, (Ed faking an orgasm was a thing of absolute beauty). Here they are, looking tense (Ed?) prior to the punters coming in:

EC94A25A-8B58-4C18-9D7A-4A7928FE6294

The rest of the show mostly passed me by to be honest, but I did get to say hi to a few pals from the OldHammer scene, (Geoff, Paul, James, the Wargames Foundry team), and I got to say a quick hello to Annie from Bad Squiddo too. Dave ‘The Imperfect Modeller’ kindly stopped by to say hi – lovely bloke, great to meet him & put a face to a name! He had some of his minis with him too, so I had the bonus pleasure of seeing some of his work in RL – (the photos on his blog really don’t do him or his minis justice at all!)

I also had the chance to have a brief natter with John Blanche, (gasp!). I’ve met John before, but only very briefly, and I was a bit too star-struck to say much on that occasion! It was great to have more interaction with him this time, and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing him at BOYL later this year. I also met & had a really good chat with GW designer Maxime Corbeil – wow, what a lovely guy! His enthusiasm for his work is just brilliant to see, and he’s such a cool dude to chat with.

On a personal level, the highlight was probably bumping in to Kev Adams. We had a good talk about sculpting, and I got to show him some pics of my attempts at Ork power armour –  I was quite nervous, but he was so kind and positive! He gave me loads of encouragement & some top tips on how to do a better job of edging and detail, so it was brilliant to meet him again & so decent of him to take the time to give feedback and advice. He really is a top bloke.

It was also my Birthday over the weekend, so my only purchase at Salute was a slightly indulgent paint brush set from Artis Opus – I used some B’day money I received from my folks, so thanks M&D!!:

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I had a quick spin with them last night, and they are bloody lovely to use… Not revolutionary, but they are certainly nicer in the hand & more accurate than the brushes I am used to. I also saw a demo of their new KickStarter Drybrush set, and I had to completely revise my view on what you can do with a drybrush… I saw a piece in hand that was so subtle that it almost looked like airbrushing. Seriously guys, go check Artis Opus ‘D’ series on KS – it’ll blow your socks off! Needless to say, I’ve now backed that project for an early Christmas pressie to myself ;-)

Speaking of painting, I did manage to finish one of the characters for the final scenario of Wolf Time in amongst all the chaos! Doc ‘Bits’ Spleenripper is the first out of the blocks – he’s basically a proto-painboy. From the Book of the Astronomican:

“Doc is fond of ‘experimental surgery’, as many of his patients have discovered. It was whilst cleaning his chainsword that he lost his right arm, and whilst many surgeons would have taken this badly, ‘Bits’ merely saw it as an opportunity for further experimentation. His arm is a marvel of Ork bio-engineering ‘know what’. It doesn’t work all that well but… by grumblat! …it’s impressive.

Doc’s arm is bionic and includes all the gadgets listed below. To represent the fact that this piece of technology is rather haphazard, roll 1D6 immediately before any phase of hand-to-hand combat:

1 – the arm goes wild, attacking any randomly selected model within 1” (including Doc Spleenripper himself)

2 – the arm simply fails to work for that combat phase

3-6 – the arm works normally

Doc Spleenripper is armed and equipped as follows:

Flak armour, Mesh armour, Bolt pistol

Plus

Bionic arm: Chainsword; Power-glove; 4 Jokaero digital lasers.”

So quite a specific and tricky modelling challenge! I started with an ‘Ere we Go era Painboy, (the one with the surgeons mirror to match the artwork from the book), and I looked around for a suitable bionic arm to graft on, but I really couldn’t find one that worked for me so I ended up having a go at sculpting one over a wire frame. I wanted it to look like it would work as a hand/power-glove, yet have a chainsword that could be extended out as required. I also tried to suggest some digi-lasers on the knuckles as well – not the easiest of things to represent! While I had the putty out, I just did the left arm as best I could, and sculpted on one of my ‘standard’ bolt pistols:

DCDEDC17-8C4D-4E0A-AD34-66E60BAC0D22

F29263EA-7D99-4CA4-AF11-2302C97CA14F

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Paint-wise, I kept to a blue theme for his scrubs – for reasons that will become apparent in the near-future. I also deliberately added less rust & gunk compared to the Ork Guards, but I did slap some ‘Blood for the Blood God’ around to really push the crazy surgeon vibe. Finally, I added a suitably ‘Painboy-esque’ glyph to the back plate – back plates & glyphs aren’t strictly a Rogue Trader thing & came a bit later, but I thought it a nice nod to the Doc being the first example of what has since become a standard part of Orky law.

I’m really happy with how the Doc came out – there are probably a few things I’d do differently if I were to do him again, but he certainly fits the brief admirably I think. I’ll be continuing to finish the remaining characters this week – they are all basecoated & shaded, so it’s a quick evening on each to highlight, add detail etc. You can expect a series of smaller posts as the week progresses, and hopefully the Orks will be finished by the weekend!

Onwards and upwards :-)

It’s the Final Scumbo!

18 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Alex in Mag Bellum, Terrain, Wolf Time

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Mag Bellum, Wolf Time

Greetings Terrans, I’m happy to report that a) I’m back in the saddle with Project Wolf Time, and b) the last squad of Scumbos is finished:

 

Nothing to say about these guys that hasn’t been said before really, although the banner bearer did give me the opportunity to try out my freehand on a Space Wolf freehand chapter badge… I’ll have enough of these to do soon enough! Also note the old school yellow helmet stripes – proper RT style ;-)

 

Here’s a group shot of the whole Scumbo collective – what a rabble :-)

 

That just leaves me with the power armoured Orks, and the characters to do… we’re on the home stretch!

 

I also had a visit with Mark @ Heresyofus over the weekend – a chance to drink tea, talk Salute, kick some ideas around for Mag Bellum, and chuck some dice around. Salute is going to be awesome & I can’t wait, but I’m really really excited about where Mark is going with Mag Bellum… Hopefully there will be some more news in that regard soon…

As for the game, we put our Mag Bellum sets together to make a really smart board, and went at it – Exodites vs. Black Shields & Inquisitorix:

My Scorpions managed to break through and destroy the Daemonic manifestation in the end, but really the day was won by the terrain, the models, and (of course) the dice gods!

Mag Bellum

11 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Alex in Mag Bellum, Terrain

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Mag Bellum, New stuff, scenery

Greetings Terrans, I hope all is well with you guys & gals. I have something a little different to show you today – I’ve spent the last week on a bit of a terrain kick & have a funky new skirmish board to show for my efforts! Now, as some of you know, I occasionally get to hang with Mark over at Heresy of Us. Mark is working really hard to get his business of the ground, making all kinds of weird and wonderful grim-dark pieces for 40K, and the terrain to game over. Mag Bellum is his flagship system – a series of 6×6 tiles that magnetically lock together, and that have these inserts that allow you to model terrain into the board, but then allow you to swap the bits out by modelling extra inserts. To illustrate this, here’s my new board:

8459AA52-5965-4DD1-B101-812E697F47FC

 

And here’s the exploded view, showing all the component parts:

913C5ED5-F5C0-4C5F-A91B-F9EB56A9D52C

 

So just by buying more inserts, (available separately, very sensible money), I can use the same board but set it up for AoS, Frostgrave, Necromunda or whatever… The tiles themselves are the main (modest) expense, but they get reused, so it’s a great way to build a really good looking & flexible board in stages and without breaking the bank… and yes, the circles do work for Citadel trees :-)  As an added bonus, I can fit this lot (minus the big buildings) into a shoebox!

Mark is also expanding this range to include indoor spaces – think Zone Mortalis, but with the ability to build up as well as out… IMO, this is a very cool system, and Mark is only starting to scratch the surface of what’s possible. Of course, like any small business, Mark needs exposure & sales!! To help with this, he will be bringing Mag Bellum to Salute this year, and I’ll be there helping him! If you’re there then make sure you swing by & say hi, check out the system, buy some goodies, etc. If you’re going or not, make sure you order up a t-shirt & help support Mark in making his vision a reality, and of course, there is always the webstore too!

And here’s some eye candy to tempt you even more:

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Good old Imperial Sector ruins

 

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Plenty of hiding places

 

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Perfect spot for an ambush

 

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Loads of raised spaces to explore

 

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A nice view of the outskirts of town

 

BB154C63-F548-4506-B6F7-E332A7294B47

Obligatory drop pod

 

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Weird Jinmenju head-tree… picked this up in a kick-starter ages ago, plus a grim-dark ATM

 

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A failed print from Mark’s rubbish pile – a great source of bits!

 

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A colleague got a load of these coasters from Mexico as office gifts… One tap with a rock, and bam – perfect terrain :-)

 

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A ‘Writhing Flesh Statue’, also by Mark, and available on Heresy Of Us

 

Not bad for a week’s effort, eh? I hope you agree that this looks the business, and I really hope that you might be inspired to pick up a few bits & do a board yourself – any questions, just drop them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer :-)

Anyway, that’s it for this post – I’ll be focusing almost exclusively on my Wolf Time project from here on in… I haven’t been idle in that regard – all the Power Armoured dudes are sculpted & undercoated, so it’s all gravy from here on in!

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