Mech + Tech Services - An Underhive Workshop

Back in May and June 2020, I went through a flurry of building some fun buildings out of old Necromunda bulkheads. In July 2020, I build a little workshop, then did nothing with it!

I discovered it in a box during a bit of a tidy up over the weekend, so decided to do a quick paintjob and get it ready for use.

The Shop on the Corner - A Necromundan Trading Post

Hopefully you're not bored of seeing buildings constructed from old Necromunda bulkheads, as I've finished a couple more!

This time I've delved into the world of commerce with a general store topped by another hab unit (a mixed commercial and residential unit if you like!).

Smaller Habs for Humble Folk

In my two posts I've covered the making of some habs from old Necromunda bulkheads, and this post covers more of the same. This time I've made a pair of small habs with some street accessories, and I've made a small foray into a flexible layout.

The thoroughfares of Necromunda are often bustling and lively.

A Larger Hab for a Person of Means

After enjoying the construction and painting of the previous two habs, I've been on a non-stop urban expansion drive! I've finished a third slightly larger hab, and have another five at various WIP stages.

My third hab is a two-storey (or possibly one-and-a-half storey) construction to add some height and variety to the settlement.

New Home Construction - Some Necromunda Habs

Bulldog Lopez posted a really cool building he'd built from classic Necromunda bulkheads on Facebook the other week. The design worked brilliantly because of its simplicity - the bulkheads were just glued together and a roof dropped on top. I'd been holding onto some bulkheads with some much more complicated plans in mind, but hadn't got round to attempting anything. Being shown a simpler and effective option got me motivated to make some buildings of my own.

The first two buildings of a new settlement.

Helmawr's Gate - Making Use of a Warhammer World Drinks Token

I slipped in a brand new piece of scenery in my last post - a new gate / entrance that I threw together the other night.

The gate has been specifically created to hold one of the drinks tokens that used to be given to event attendees at Warhammer World for use at Bugman's Bar. Obviously plenty of people decided that they'd rather keep the token than exchange it for a free drink, so a fair few number of these made it into the wild!

The token is in the form of a Necromundan credit. It features the Imperial Aquila accompanied by the motto "Imperium Approved" on one side (the tails?) and the noble visage of Lord Helmawr on the reverse (heads?):

The Water Tower

You know what it's like - you have a burst of energy making something, then it sits unloved on a shelf for 6 months.

 

I build this water tower ages ago, in about an hour. It's a simple construction from a tin can, some Necromunda bulkheads, plastic rod and a few resin details. And then it sat, gathering dust and occasionally falling on the floor when I knocked it. Until this week, that is!

 

 

Easing Back Into Things - Spacelords Pilot

After 3 weeks with practically zero hobby time, you'd think that I'd be eager to get back to painting. In fact, the reverse has been true - I've struggled to motivate myself to sit down and paint something. In order to try and get myself back into the groove, I decided to get a couple of relatively simple projects off the WIP shelf.

First up is a Spacelords starship pilot - a rather nice sculpt that I've had undercoated and ready for paint for over 12 months. After sitting so patiently on the shelf, I decided she deserved some attention.

Coming to the BOYL - the Importance of Playtesting

Yesterday, my good friend Graham was kind enough to not only host me at his place for a day of gaming, but also willing to playtest the game I'll be running at 'Bring Out Your Lead' in a few weeks time at Wargames Foundry.

The game is designed to use the compact 1st edition Space Hulk rules mechanics, with a shift of setting to Necromunda. 4 'escort' players will attempt to safely usher a VIP to safety and up and out of the Underhive. In the meantime 1-2 players will control rampaging mobs of rioters, high on spook or other nefarious narcotics. Hopefully it's apparent enough that the 'escorts' will play as Space Marine terminator squads, while the 'rioters' will play as genestealers.

So, with my draft modified rules in hand, and the playing area set up, we set about giving the game a throrough run through.

Graham deliberates on the best course of action in the first turn.

Bits and pieces

I've been busy with a few odds and sods over the last fortnight, but unfortunately I've not really finished very much. My main focus has been more terrain, but I still need to add a few finishing touches to that before I take some photos.

Still, I've been merrily snapping away with the camera on my phone and thought I'd share some photos of other stuff with you. First up are some in action shots of my newly completed terrain, being used in an Inquisimunda campaign I'm participating in. The Quest for the Golden Phrogg has around a dozen players and semi-regulars, using the Inquisimunda modification rules to Necromunda. Essentially, instead of using a Hive Gang, you can use an Inquisitor and their retinue, an Adeptus Mechanicus or Rogue Trader warband, or Squats, or Eldar pirates, or pretty much whatever else you fancy!

I've been using a radical Ordo Malleus warband, complete with mutants, beastman and daemonhost. Three games in and I've managed to pick up a host of experience, in spite of losing two out of three games!

Some of the warband advance warily into an abandoned herders' village.

 

Building the Underhive - Part 3 (market day)

It is highly possible that you're fed up of seeing yet more terrain. If I'm honest, I'm got a bit of terrain fatigue myself! But deadlines don't move, and terrain has to be finished for my BOYL game. On the plus side, I'm still making pretty good progress, and last night managed to paint up half of my market.

Building the Underhive - Part 2

My last post was all about the terrain I'm building for a game at 'Bring Out Your Lead' at the start of August. If you liked that, then great, here's more of the same (if you didn't, tough!).

With more to make and paint by the deadline than I've ever attempted previously, I've written myself a little programme, with specific tasks allocated to specific days / evenings. If I stick to my programme, then I should complete everything required for BOYL with two spare contingency evenings. So far, it's going well, and over the last week, I've completed more of the required terrain.

Building the Underhive - Preparing for BOYL '15

In spite of playing wargames since the late 1980s, I've never actually had a decent set of terrain. Most of my gaming hasn't been at home; either at friend's houses, events or wargaming stores; so I've never needed it before.

All that changed when I decided I'd run a game at 'Bring Out Your Lead '15', the third annual Oldhammer event, being run at Wargames Foundry at the end of July / start of August.

Mutants and Tables

I'm sure most of you reading this will be aware of Games Workshop's Necromunda and Inquisitor games. In a few weeks time I'll be starting an Inquisimunda campaign. Inquisimunda is a modification of the Necromunda rules to allow 28mm scale Inquisitor style warbands to be used. I plan to use a radical Ordo Malleus Inquisitorial warband, with my Inquisitor Hennel Dirske front and centre. 

 

 

I already had several suitable henchmen painted, but after drawing up a provisional list, I discovered I needed two additional characters - an inquisitional acolyte with a plasma gun, and a recruit with an autogun.

 

 

Having no suitable figures with plasma guns, the acolyte called for a conversion. I had a root around my boxes and turned up an old Citadel hobgoblin with a missing axe head, and the plasma caliver from the new plastic Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii. After some fiddling around, this was the result:

 

 

Industrial Settings - Building a Stage Set (Part 2)

Yesterday I posted my WIP 'stage set', intended to be used inside my Foldio light box when I photograph my figures. What I didn't do was take any photographs showing how the thing works.

 

Below you can see the set inserted into the Foldio. You can see it sits pretty snugly inside, but still leaves enough height to the inside top of the Foldio where the LED strips are mounted.

 



 

Industrial Settings - Building a Stage Set

Last year, with the aim of improving the quality of photographs of my figures, I invested in a portable lightbox in the form of the a Foldio.

 

Foldio portable lightbox

The resulting images have certainly been much better lit, and have maximised the potential of my rather inadequate camera. But while pictures like the one below are all very well for showing off figures, they not particularly exciting.

The neutral grey background is rather, well, neutral. And when you start posing figures together they tend to look a bit silly without wider surroundings. What I love to see is miniatures photographed in situ - with a nice backdrop or some terrain to enhance the look. I know from experience that I don't have the patience or photography equipment to make the most of miniatures in terrain. In fact I don't even have enough terrain. So my solution is to build a flexible backdrop which fits into my Foldio. By moving elements around and even creating drop in walls, I can vary the setting ad infinitum, and hopefully get some nice, well-lit and narrative photographs as a result!

 

"How Much Is That Creature In The Window...?"

"...The one with the wiggly pseudopod."

 

I was in need of painting something that didn't require too much effort, so decided to pull out some of the stock of my WIP Xenos Pet Trader - this time I wanted to complete the creatures intended to go in his little corral.

 

Aren't they cute! Which one would you buy?

More WIPs - Xenos Pet Trader And Another Oddity

I've been messing around with a few bits and pieces with the intention of creating a nice set of terrain populated by human civilians. The actual board itself is some way off, but I have done some thinking (and modelling) of some of the civilians.

I'm furthest along with a figure that stems from an idea about a trader of exotic alien pets. You'll have seen the trader a couple of posts ago, but here's some of his accompanying scenic elements.

 

Hooligans in the Hive - BOYL14

+++++TRANSMITTED: Necromunda (Palatine Spire)
+++++TYPE: Spire News Feed
+++++BOYL 014.M3
+++++REF: MAOL/0302995.49L
+++++SUBJECT: UNCONTROLLED GANG WARFARE

>>PROCESSING<<

>>TRANSMISSION<<

Reports confirmed of incidences of uncontrolled gang warfare breaking out in Hive Palatine. Ground car racing has destroyed exclusive upper spire 'Synth Meadows' open space. Vid-logs show alien species outside their designated sector engaged in destructive vehicle to vehicle combat with Hive Gangs and Brats.

>>Download Complete: Vehicles Involved<<

Gatt Dalvurth, Squat Trader

Monday night is painting night, and this little fellow is the result of last night's session: