Terrain tiles - making progress

The full set-up so far: 3x4' (12 tiles)

In between dabbling with various painting projects, I spent some more time on getting my terrain boards finished, and have now finished most of what I own. This gives me enough to put together a 3x4' board, with four more tiles to complete.

The roads are a mix of sand and Javis earth scatters

They're a mix of plain tiles, road tiles and a few hill tiles. It's not a large board by any means, but there are quite a few different combinations possible, so I will be able to vary the battlefield set up. The remaining four tiles are streams, which will require a bit more work than the others.

The Prussian commanders eye the French on the opposite hill

I got out the 20mm Napoleonics to see how they looked on the boards, and I'm really pleased with the result. It'll look better with some trees and other terrain features added, and I will go back and touch up some of the edges of tiles where the MDF is still showing through.

A few tiles warped slightly, creating a bigger gap when joined together. Nothing that can't be easily fixed or dressed up a bit before play

For the most part, the boards magnetise together very neatly, but there are a few which ended up becoming very slightly warped during the build. This was my own fault, having got a bit carried away with too much glue, paint, filler etc. I've learned that, with a bit of care, the mdf frames should not normally bend along their sides, so I should be able to avoid this in the future.

The tile normally click together very neatly

For the ground cover I used a combination of foam flock, various scatters and a little bit of static grass. It's all sealed with scenic cement, so it shouldn't shed too much.

Pond / lake feature using Woodland Scenics resin

Once I finish the four stream tiles, the plan is to expand the board to cover a 6x4' area, and eventually 8x4'. I love the modularity of the set up, and the fact that it breaks down and stores easily on nearby shelves. For games, I'll be able to use some gridded map paper to plan out the battlefields, which will be a bit of fun in itself. So, at last it feels like I have the beginnings of a gaming board which should serve me well for a long time to come.

From one empire to another

Kurt Helborg - rescued from a 20-year stint in the lead pile

I had almost two weeks off work during Christmas and New Year, and I had hoped the time would be filled with a feast of wargaming, but it turned out to be more of a wargaming buffet than anything else (lizard on a stick, anyone?).

With a new year on the horizon and my 20mm Napoleonic armies mostly done for the time being, I inevitably started thinking about possible new projects for 2019. My 20mm Napoleonics will be added to this year certainly, and I hope to enjoy many games with them, but for my main painting focus I would like to shift to something different. The question is, what?

My miniatures collection has a number of unfinished projects, and I mulled over each of these in turn, trying to decide whether I had enough enthusiasm to move any of them forward. In no particular order, I have (in various stages of progress):

- 28mm ancient greeks and spartans
- 28mm El Cid armies (a mixture of Spanish, Andulusians and Berbers)
- 20mm Napoleonic British
- 10mm Napoleonic French and Austrians (yes, more Napoleonics!)
- 10mm Seven Years War Prussians and Russians
- 15mm crusader and muslim armies
- 28mm WSS French (not really a collection; rather, a couple of units bought on a whim)
- 20mm Mahdist War

I couldn't (and still can't) really decide what to focus on first, so in the end I got all nostalgic and dug out something from my Warhammer Empire army: Kurt Helborg, Captain of the Reiksguard. This was one of only two unpainted miniatures from my collection from way back in 4th edition fantasy battle, and after 20 years or more languishing in the lead pile, I have finally rescued him with some paint.

Complete with Goblin Green base, naturally

I must say, it was thoroughly enjoyable painting an old classic again; even doing the plastic barded warhorse was fun (ah, the memories...). I was a bit daunted at first by all the details on the figure, but once I got things underway it was just like old times, except that my freehand skull and scroll painting skills have gone a bit rusty. And of course, like everyone else in my Empire army, Kurt had to been given the appropriate Goblin Green basing, which is only right and proper for a hero of his time.

There was no such thing as being too colourful in 4th edition Warhammer fantasy

I'm sure my fingers experienced a weird sort of muscle memory when they started painting another of those plastic barded warhorses

So, what next? Well, I could keep going and paint the Supreme Patriarch, who is now the only remaining unpainted figure from my 4th edition Empire army. Or I could get stuck in to one or more of the above historical collections. Or I could start something completely new. Or I could just skip about a do a bit of everything, and let my focus eventually settle where it wants to.

Whatever I decide to do, I want to spend more time playing and a bit less time painting this year, and that means finishing off my terrain boards and getting my hobby space a bit better organised to facilitate some dice-rolling! The terrain boards are coming along nicely. I worked some more on them this month, so I'll post of some picture of those next. After that, some battle reports with the Napoleonics would be good. And after that? Who knows, but I'll have fun finding out.