Here are a few more photos of my new 3mm New Vistula Legion troops, trying out my second Smade's World terrain module.
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| The Light Attack company and Scout company of the First Regiment scope out a crossroads. |
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| A squadron from the 24th Uhlans backs up the Light Attack company. |
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| Drones lead a mounted Light Mechanized Infantry company down the road. The commander watches from the side. |
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| Task force of the 1st Regiment, New Vistula Legion |
The last photo gives you a pretty good glimpse of the terrain module.
This is built on a 60x30cm framed artist's canvas with a styrofoam backing board glued in underneath. This particular board is a plains board, with only one small hill in the center, just to the right of the helicopters.
I now have three Smade's World boards done and a fourth coming up. Hopefully, I'll get a tutorial done before too long!
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My, those boys are looking sweet! - Only thing that strikes me is that I bet those Light Attack boys are not big fans of the Uhlans - talk about bullet magnets! - Not exactly 'nap of the earth' whilst standing so tall.... :-)
ReplyDeleteAmazing looking terrain tiles, too - I'd heard that those artist boards can be not quite true, and prone to warping - has your styrofoam backing worked okay so far - I'd been thinking about doing some myself, but wasn't sure how they might turn out....
Yeah, but if you decide to play with mechas, you're already going into the realm of science fantasy, so...
ReplyDeleteMy rationalization is this: the technology used to make the mechas (and also things like the heavy power armor walkers) is alien and involves biofeedback. The pilot doesn't "pilot" the suit: he IS the suit. This means that he can effectively use the suit as if it were his body.
Now, the human body is a fairly efficient terrain-crossing machine, when it comes right down to it. Plus, it's easily configured into multiple geometries. This means that while the mechas LOOK huge while standing in the open at parade rest, they generally fight laying down or crouched behind terrain features. When you look at it from that angle, they're really not that much bigger a target than an MBT.
As for transport, they just curl up into a tight ball or cube, a la transformers. They just fold themselves into a packing frame, which can then be stacked. They're actually much more rationally configured for star-mobile transport than an MBT, although they do take up more space and weight in absolute terms. An MBT has to be lashed into a container, with much wasted dead space, and the total package isn't much smaller than a mecha transport frame.
Of course, you could ask "Why not do everything in anti-grav if the technoglogy is so high?" My response is that the biofeedback device makes mecha "natural" vehicles for bipeds. Any reasonably fit athletic type can be trained to use them whereas anti-grav vehicles require much more specialized training. Plus, anti-grav vehicles use waaaaay more handwavium than mechas.
That's the ticket, yeah....
The artists' boards are often not true, which is why you have to be careful when buying them. I always buy in multiples of four to six and check them against each other in the store before purchasing.
So far, I have had no warping problems. I put the base layer of flock on with silicon adhesive, though, so not much water gets through to the wood beneath. The framing is quite thick (1.5cm), so I'm hoping it won't warp long-term. We'll just have to see...
The biggest problem so far is that some of the canvas raises up a bit on the side when painted. That can be fixed by simply applying more staples, however.
The joins between modules are far from perfect, but they are better than anything I can get without wood-cutting tools of my own. (And if I had space to put wood-cutting tools in my apartment, I wouldn't be playing in 3mm in the first place!)
So far, the artist's canvasses have caused me fewer problems in terms of warpage and join than my older modules, built on artists' boards and shown here: http://leadnobleed.blogspot.com.br/search/label/Terrain%20Modules
Cool - sounds like with some careful choosing of the boards, these are a definite possibility - I've heard rumours that they sometimes pop up in the 'Pound Shops' (where everything sells for a £1) over here in the uK - have to keep my eyes open in the future...
ReplyDeleteGood realisation of the Mecha concept too - an active, crouching, skirmishing machine rather than a lumbering robot - me likee!
Also, it should be noted that at the scale I play, those scout jeeps are almost two klicks ahead of the mecha. At this point, they're hoping that the Uhlans kick up dust and draw attention to themselves, given that grav scanners are going to insure that any opposition is going to know that something's moving out there, anyway...
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