Being An Arbitrator. Big Plans For Eventual Return To The Tabletop: Part Two
When you are wrong, you are wrong. Admit your mistake and move on. Necromunda Zone Mortalis Floor Tile Set, I'm sorry I thought you went together poorly and were too expensive, I have been living under a delusion these many months. So there it is: I'm now in love with these new floor tiles and have been busily crafting away in my bunker. Continuing on with my campaign plans while building terrain is the theme again this time. Let's do it...
Just joining in? I've grabbed a Dark Uprising box as well as two boxes of Floor Tiles for my new 'Uphive' project. This will build eight tiles in total. The average game will require four to six tiles, so eight should keep games fresh for some time. I've also culled through my bits boxes and scenery for quite a few nice additions to these tiles and that's where I got started.
The assembly time on the walls, doors and stairs in the Dark Uprising box takes a while. That's not a bad thing but I just can't sit still long enough so I've decided to get going on my 'non-standard' tiles first. I'll be using the Badzones, Environments and Events card deck in this coming campaign and so would like to represent a couple of those environments in these new tiles.
You know where you are? You're in the Dome Jungle baby...It's O.K. I'm singing Guns and Roses as well...
Building various environments in one set of scenery or another is going to dictate which type of game (Mortalis or Mechanicus...) is being played. I'm not really crazy about that but it does help me organize my play structure...or could. Building a campaign also depends on your players (I'm still not sure who they will be...) but it is a safe bet that someone (usually me...) will end up playing more games in a campaign week than the other players. This can allow a good or lucky player to make more credits or get more stuff, potentially pulling ahead by simply playing more games. In my mind: more games should = more danger. And so an new house rule is born(ish...I may change it later, but for now, you get the idea...). If both players have already played a standard game then they will need to go further afield (and will generate a battlefield by drawing a Badzone Environment.) That seems simple enough and should make experienced players experience a bit more peril in their games.
This is a great time to remind folks that your Necromunda fun time will be influenced (at least partly...) by the stuff you have. Doubtless you won't have it all and so working with what you have becomes the solution. Rather than trying to attain every release I've tried to stick to ones that I find interesting...and ones that I can get my hands on. Anyway, your Hive may not function exactly like mine, which is also fine. Each Necromunda spread should be distinct and different.
The Dome Jungle is my favorite environment...so, I built two tiles. Gangers will be choking down poisonous spores in no time!
Getting started on these tiles has a bit of a learning curve, I highly recommend building the pillars and walls first, then take a bit of time to see how they affix to the tiles, then start figuring out configurations you like...then reach for the glue. I wasn't ready to commit quite yet and so, thought I'd start on my Dome Jungle tiles.
I don't know about you but a good bit of explanatory text really gets my motor running. The card for Dome Jungle reads, “Local flora and fungi has claimed the dome for its own, the crumbling remains of habitation completely overgrown by twisting creepers and deadly Carnivorous Plants.” Sweet music to my ears.
All the scenery on these first two tiles was already assembled and painted and languishing, unloved in a box marked KILL TEAM. I painted up two floor tiles, stuck on the scenery added a bit of putty and flock and a scattering of Barbed Braken and then blended it all together with some 1980's flock/fungus, rust powders and a few washes. These first tiles were fun and fast and I'm loving the vaguely autumnal colours.
Any game table looks better with the addition of giant, creepy statues...
As an aside, my eight year old daughter and I painted the trees and my four year old son and I did the rust. Some nice family painting time and good memories worked into this new project. I'll never say 'no' to some positive vibes to keep the creative juices flowing. The ancient box marked KILL TEAM also had some statues and rubble piles that I didn't stick directly down to the tiles. This makes me think that I should do a bit of themed scatter terrain for each tile as well. Visually it always looks good but will also be helpful for the look of the battlefield, depending on which Environment is used.
The smaller details are getting done first. Can't wait to use these doors in-game!
The first two tiles are finished as well as some nice themed scatter terrain. I have six tiles left and am still assembling all the pillars, walls and various details, prior to the actual tile construction. Playing around and setting up various configurations with the loose parts is essential when trying to construct a usable and (re)playable area. This stuff isn't cheap, nor is it as multi-part as some may like. Time and thought are two things that are needed for best results here.
At this point I begin to think that the contents of the Dark Uprising box are many and assorted...but, not enough to adequately cover six tiles. I'm going to take one tile and make a sort of 'chaos' tile out of some bits and pieces. This will have the double effect of lowering the number of tiles in my 'Uphive' pile and also allowing me to use several pieces of GW terrain that I put together incorrectly previously...
So, the trick with the last five tiles will be to assemble and paint them all at the same time. A project this large requires a bit of space and forethought to get working correctly and a project this size also is going to require some more Games Workshop product. Realistically these five tiles will require a 'Platforms and Stairs' box as well as a 'Columns and Walls' box to be properly realized.
Ah yes, the inevitable 'more boxes' situation that I knew I would find myself in...
As the sun sets, old, stooped Uncle Mike can be seen furiously trimming and assembling. The Tile Madness now in full effect. Will he realize his strange man/child dream of finally having a super neat-o sci-fi dungeon? Tune in next time...
-Uncle Mike
