Just Completed- Realm of Battle: Sector Imperialis

Hey there denizens of the warp (which I guess is another name for the Aethernet-- get it?). Old Man Chaos is here with another exciting article- try not to fall asleep, OK? So- without further ado, I bring you--- Games Workshop's Realm of Battle: Sector Imperialis!

First, a little background. My friend Pete and I have always been interested in gaming tables. He's got the construction know-how, I've got the imagination. Pete's first table was a Martian red desert table (and the terrain he built for it was equally awesome). Later, he built a lava table- which he was initially unhappy with. I told him he'd be crazy to throw it out- I explained how the table had so much potential with resin lava- we both worked on it and made a gorgeous table- one of the best I've ever seen and played on.

In 2005 we went to Games Day in Baltimore. We saw large Gale Force Nine buildings (which I later ordered from them) and city themed tables. This became my mission: to build a city fight table! An urban warzone that fit my imagination! A city reduced to rubble by the weapons of the 41st millennium... that's where my games of 40K should be! After Baltimore we planned and built that table (with a bunch of friends also helping). The results were great- and I loved playing on that. The gaming memories from that table were astounding.

But, of course, times change. I got married, needed more room in my basement, and well- no more gaming table. I gave it to my friend Joe, who is planning to make a frozen warzone from it (eventually). I meanwhile, still wanting a battlefield of some kind, made a temporary table from large wooden boards- which I have used since then (say the boards are about two or three years old by now I think...).

Anyways, for Christmas my wife decided to give me a big surprise. She got me the Realm of Battle: Sector Imperialis!! As she says, she doesn't mind the hobby, as she knows where I usually am at night- painting away at my work station. She got the boards because they are easily storable in their own bag, and she knows how I've missed my previous gaming table. I am very lucky to have a wife so understanding, willing to put up with the plastic crack that is 40K.

I must admit, I have never painted anything quite like this before- there is a ton of detail on the boards, and they are big and broad pieces to boot. My only quibble is that there are only two types of board surface, I wish there was just one more.

Because there are only two board types, I decided that I would need to paint in a bit of variety to differentiate the boards. At first, I generally stuck to the painting video GW has online. In particular, the usage of Skavenblight Dinge for much of the surfaces, like roads and sidewalks. I also adhered to using Dawnstone on the sidewalks, followed by highlights of Ubshanti Bone and Nuln Oil for the cracks, etc. The roads I then washed with either Nuln, Earthshade, or Cammoshade. Once dried, I dry-brushed Administratum Grey.

To keep the boards similar, I made the metal walkway planks all Leadbelcher with Nuln wash. So the roads, sidewalks, and metal walkways were all the same. However, I got creative with painting the building footprints and those areas. Some industrial areas were done with Leadblecher and washed with other colors, such as Sepia. Some of the set pieces (like the Aquilla) I did in various ways, some metal, some stone, some brass, some gold. I used various greys (Russ, Mechanicum), and some greens (Castellan) as well. Finally, I did two factory areas red, to match my factory pieces.

In the gutters I did plenty of Typhus Corrosion and some Nurgle slime. I also used Blood for the Blood god fairly liberally on some boards- this is a warzone damn it. People are getting shredded out there!

So, in this photo spread I have only shown the boards. I will be playing on these tables VERY soon (next week), so I will then show terrain, models, etc. As it stands, I love the boards and how they came out.

 They have similarities that time them together, with some differences to make them unique, yet not garish or overwhelming. The boards are certainly in urban colors, and will work well with my terrain. My Khorne Bezerkers and Plague Marines will look really good on the board. And I must say GWs video was very helpful to me, giving me focus and tips on how to make the board come alive.

I told you I was working on something BIG- this is one of the biggest paint projects I have worked on, that's for sure. I cannot wait to use the Sector Imperialis for my campaign!

 Until next time... stay thirsty, my friends. 

History of a Gaming Table Part II

Hey there Chaos worshipers! Glad you could all come around to this neck of the woods again. I'm a bit of a happy Chaos camper these days- I'm feeling a lot better health-wise, and I've gotten back on track with my 40K modelling addiction. I just played a game (see my previous post for the Battle Report), and it was a close one but a fun one (just how I like it... except against Joe... then I just want to win immediately and crush his hopes). The new Codex is looking really good so far, and I'm getting the hang of 6th edition now.

A few months ago, I put on this blog how I had to give up my gaming table. I simply no longer had room for this behemoth which had been designed by my friend Pete, put together by several friends, and painted by yours truly. But now, I simply can't let it take up so much room, so I gave it to Joe. It is now in his garage (more on that in another post). However, I still wanted my own gaming board of some kind- after all, what would I do with all my urban-themed terrain?

So, after considering several options, I decided to go with wooden boards from Home Depot. These boards are sized 4' x 2'. I figured that they would be sturdy enough for the job, but also very storage-able, so that they don't take up much space (which is why I needed to get rid of my table to begin with). Best of all, they are two sided- I could very easily paint up both sides, thus doubling my battle surfaces.

After buying 5 boards, I began the project on Memorial Day. I had bought tow shades of grey as well as black paint for the roads. I wanted it to look like my old table as much as possible (see: History of a Gaming Table Part 1 for a comparison). On the first two, I measured out the roads and the blocks. Now, I'm not the perfect with measurements like that, but I managed to have the roads be the same size and connect between the two boards. It was unbearably hot that day, but I finished the two boards by early evening. I was very pleased with the boards, I managed to make them look just like my old  table- or at least close enough to make me happy.

I got to the other three boards at the end of June. I decided to play with the roads a bit, leaving bigger blocks on one, more roads on the other, and finally one that was just block, no roads at all- if I wanted to make a very crowded section of buildings all together. Again, it all went together very well, and I was very pleased to have my "urban battle table" back, but in store-able form.

I began to plan for the other side of the boards. I had made my Dark Eldar with desert basing (Chaos was urban basing, natch), so I decided to make the other side into a desert/wasteland. I bought appropriate paints, and decided to try sand to add texture. Now, because I was ill, I didn't get to do it till this past week, however, I had a marathon session, and I painted 4 boards in the desert color (didn't do the 5th because I ran out of paint, and I figured 4 would be enough anyways). I dry brushed a lighter brown on the texture, and it turned out surprisingly good.

My brother and I decided to play our recent game on the desert side, since it looked so good. The board looked great during the battle. We used a few things that matched the table terrain-wise, and I now want to make a ton of desert terrain... My friend Pete is ready to help make hills and such. I am also re-painting my crashed Aquila ship for desert terrain (I had it urban/grey crash debris, easy enough to change and, frankly, I have more than enough urban terrain anyways).

So, by going the board route, I now have a double sided board system, and it takes up zero room when stored. That's exactly the solution I was working toward, and I'm thrilled that it worked the way I wanted it to. At any rate, I hope that "History of a Gaming Table" parts 1 and 2 will have inspired you, whether its about a gaming board, terrain ideas, modeling inspiration, or whatever. Hope you've enjoyed this.

Until next time...

History Of A Gaming Table Part I

Hey there Chaos fanatics! Old man chaos is back in (somewhat) fine form today with a story about my own gaming table- a story of inspiration, vision, hard work, teamwork, and a lot of fun.

In May 2005, my friend Pete and I went to Games Day in Baltimore. There, we saw some great, great stuff. Besides all the great models and really cool people and games, I was intrigued by the battle tables. Now, up to this point, I had a green gaming mat, and Pete had made a great desert table, but that's it. As I looked around at Games Day I saw all kinds of terrain. Then, I saw something that I fell in love with as a gamer...

I saw an urban war zone, complete with roads, overpasses and very large buildings. When I inquired, the guys there said the buildings were provided by Gale Force Nine. As I looked at the beauty of that table, the gears began to turn in my head. That evening, back in the hotel, Pete and I began to bounce plans back and forth, and Pete whipped out his graph paper and began drawing... We thought of all kinds of crazy things we could never do (removable roads with sewers underneath, for example). Finally, we came up with a reasonable plan for it. It would be huge, have a bisecting road in the middle and have 3 roads going across the width of the table. There would be 8 (!) city blocks in which to put buildings, rubble, and whole armies. It would be a masterpiece.

In June, we began to build this dream table. Pete selected the heaviest, best wood to build a sturdy, heavy table (he has a tendency to over-engineer). We also bought white card to make the sidewalk sections. I called up Gale Force Nine and asked for several buildings. They said that they don't just make them like that- but I begged and they relented. They buildings were pricey, but oh so worth it. It was Pete, Joe, my brother, and another friend Brian building this in my basement in the heat of June. Just so you know, my basement has a boiler that emits a heat of like a billion degrees, so you could well imagine.

We had some laughs in that heat. Pete hammered everything into place. Joe decided to stop working and play with my vintage Scorpinok base from Transformers- since then he has been obsessed with it. Brian came to the house not realizing he was going to be pressed into service... I can still see him and my brother cutting little lines into the white card to denote the slabs for the sidewalks. I remember pouring a ton of Gorilla Glue and then putting the hab-blocks into place.

Then, when it was built, I began the painting process. At this point it was just me- this was now up to me to complete. I used paints from Home Depot to paint this huge table. I painted the roads black with yellow hash lines. I painted the hab-blocks dark grey, and then stippled lighter greys on top, to give it a textured effect. I also painted a ton of terrain pieces from Armorcast (at this point, there was really nothing from GW).

It took a full summer, but when all was said and done- the table and accompanying terrain came out wonderfully. Truly this is the biggest single project I had ever undertaken, with all of my friends lending their considerable might to it (except Joe, who is STILL playing with Scorpinok). The table was exactly what I wanted it to be- a table large enough for a huge city battle that could fit like 4 armies on it. It inspired Pete to build his own huge lava table (which is breathtakingly intricate and detailed).

We played some great games there. We played our "Gryphone IV Campaign" on that table (which my brother won with his Imperial Guard, by the way). The table has seen Plague Marines, Traitor Guard, Daemons, Imperial Guard, Ultramarines, Black Templars, Eldar, Tyranids, and Orks fight there. I bought new pieces of terrain for it as time went on (some from others, but certainly the GW Cityfight stuff were welcome additions). Good times at that table. Good times.

But, like all gaming sagas, this one must come to an end. It turns out that there were some problems with my table, or rather, my table's location. My basement was always too cramped to play in comfortably to begin with. It is an unfinished basement, and quite dusty (no matter how much I clean). The basement is also used for storage, thus cramping it further. And then there is the boiler- or as Pete calls it, the "gateway to hell". It is old and throws off so much damn heat that playing down there in the summer was next to impossible.

Finally, when my wife moved in last year, she needed to put her stuff down there too... As we cleaned and threw out old basement stuff we realized that the table was taking up too much room, and that it was always a hassle to play down there. So, we decided that the table would have to go. It took a lot of soul searching on my part, but I knew that this would be the right decision. So, I asked my friend Joe (STILL playing with Scorpinok) if he could take the table... He just bought a new house, and the table would fit comfortably in his garage. So, a few weeks ago Pete and Joe showed up and hauled away my table. A bittersweet end- I don't have my table, but at least my friend Joe has it which means I'll get to see it anytime I want...

But, this whole ordeal has left me with two questions:

First, I still want a gaming table of some kind, even if it is less opulent. But what should I do? I like the GW Realms of Battle- it is storage-able, but quite pricey. Pete suggested that I get two thin boards and paint them. It'll be cheap enough, and if they are lightweight I can store them (unlike my table, which weighed a ton). I'm not sure what I'll do... but I do know that, one day, I will have a gaming table once again...

Second... where the hell is Scorpinok? What the... I think Joe took both the table and Scorpinok with him... Damn him!! How did he pull that sleight of hand?! Now I have to find a way to get it back from him (I told you that he was obsessed with it!!).

Until next time Chaos fans!