If I could play only game for the rest of my life it would be Battletech. This game captures my imagination like no other. The background makes 40K look like a short story. It is, IMO, the ultimate sci fi setting (at least for me).
This week I finished the last few bits of my urban battlefield. At it's core, Battletech is a boardgame. I very much enjoy playing on the original paper map sheets. However, I have upgraded Battletech to the 21st century, allowing for traditional wargame style play.
The battlefield consists of a 6x4 felt hex map by Hozmat. The hexes are 45mm in width. This is important since I am using Heroscape terrain for hills and those hex hills are 45mm wide as well. z-scale trees form my forests (tree density determines whether it is light or heavy). Buildings are from the 6mm Old Crow line. Jez makes some fantastic stuff that paints up quite easily.
The water and road tiles are from Gamecraft Miniatures. Depth 1 water is blue, Depth 2 has a darker blue center and Depth 3 is an all dark blue hex. The buildings are also on hex tiles, painted in a lighter grey, to differentiate them from roads. I wanted to delineate which hexes the buildings actually occupy since some of them are either too large or too small for the hex boundaries. Everything was airbrushed with both Vallejo and Tamyia paints. I used a base of Tamyia Medium Grey and then highlighted with Vallejo US Airforce Light Grey and then Vallejo White Grey. This gives a color modulation effect, with the brighter colors on the tops of the buildings. Accents were done in Reaper Master Series paint Dirty Grey.
Now that this is completely done I am relieved. Many of these models were in storage for some time. It is nice that they finally can see a table.
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| Overall battlefield |
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| 6mm Old Crow Power Plant |
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| 6mm Old Crow Residential Blocks and Tower |
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| Old Crow Residential Block and Silo |
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| Old Crow Residential Block and Garage |
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| 6mm Old Crow Round Tower, 3 levels high) |
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| Lake |
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| Downtown |
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| 6mm Old Crow Buildings |
Lovely terrain! Now this goes back almost 30 years for me but I had all the original
ReplyDeletebook maps and mecs. The two things I could never adjust to were one Hexes and two those
bloody heatsinks.....always found my self looking for games at the waters edge so I could fire all my stuff....)
Thanks Don. The cardboard mechs? I remember those. I much prefer games on hex maps myself. Grew up on Avalon Hill games so they seem natural to me.
DeleteThe cardboard mechs that came with the box then plastic and lead (those I still have). Did too many land navigation courses in the army and a grid on the ground
Delete(not just on the map)would have been helpful...)
GPS has taken all the fun out of mapreading, Don. The city looks convincing to me in a way that the odd WH40K block on a grass mat does not. I think it must be the three close shades of grey. Very nicely executed!
ReplyDeleteKind regards, Chris.
Thanks Chris. Tamyia makes some of the nicest greys around. They airbrush nicely and dry almost instantly.
DeleteWhat an amazing setup. That reminds me of my first BT experience playing Citytech when it was first released, running down streets and ambushing Mechs from Infantry in buildings.
ReplyDeleteBT is one of those games that gets people in for life. I'm not that guy but probably because I never found gamers like you down at my local club to take me that extra bit. I too love the background and think that the Succession War Atlases are some of the best SF gaming supplements ever produced, by anyone. I love to read and reread them.
BTW I lament the loss of the original Mechs like the Warhammer and Riflemen which were my absolute fav....
Pity. Finding people to play with is a problem. I enjoy the 1-3 Succession Wars the most myself. Not a fan of the Clan era.
DeleteThe Unseens are back...both in Mechwarrior Online and in Catalyst Games' books...
DeleteHey those are Great Buildings! I did not know old crow made 6mm buildings hope they still do I have a lot of the 28mm Hovers and such I love his work:) want to get the 15mm and the 6mm tanks as well. Hope I can still get the nice Buildings. Thanks for showing us the buildings. Hey I like 1/200 scale BT like when it started out. I know 6mm can be a lil of both 1/200 and 1/285 sometimes. Will these go ok for my 1/200 scale Zscale stuff? Thanks
ReplyDeleteThey probably will. Old crow stuff tends to be a bit bigger than normal. The range is so extensive that I am sure you will find something to fit the bill.
Delete