Not content with working on my Retro Chaos Warrior warband, I’ve been putting together a goblin archers warband too.
Greenskins were my first love. It goes back to the first hobby related product I ever picked up – a deck of ‘Goblinoids’ Citadel Combat Cards in the very early 90s.
As someone who’s spilt a lot of green paint on a lot of different carpets, I decided to push my luck and tempt the fates by picking up these little guys. They’re from the excellent Knightmare Miniatures’ Green Skin Wars range.
I’m not sure if they were sculpted by Kev ‘Goblin King’ Adams, who I know does a fair bit of work for them. But they certainly have a classic Oldhammer aesthetic.
They were a lot of fun to paint. Nothing too complicated, but each model had enough variety and unique character to keep things interesting.
I’ve housed them in a movement tray from Warbases. I find these ones work really well for little warbands of archers.
So now it’s back to finishing the second half of my Chaos Warrior warband, and once they’re done, I have a herd of Beastmen who’re raring to get some paint splashed on them.
If you like these miniatures, you can pick them up from Knightmare. No affiliation here, I’m just a big fan, and regular customer. I also have a roundup of Oldhammer-style miniature companies, too, if you’re interested in that type of thing!
Building a Chaos Warrior warband with the classic Oldhammer vibe has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while now.
What finally spurred me into action was publishing a roundup of Oldhammer-style miniature companies. After spending a bit of time browsing all these sites, a purchase or two was inevitable. And so, the Dark Gods came calling (for my wallet).
The first port of call was a company I already know and love – Knightmare Miniatures. This was either my second or third bulky order from them. I picked up a lot of other stuff too, which I’ll be writing about in a future post.
The hulking giant in the gang is Knightmare’s Jötum Icemane (though he’s more of a Redmane for me). There’s a bit of a scale difference between him and some of the miniatures from other companies. This is inevitable when buying from various companies – especially when it comes to the more retro-looking metal stuff.
They could easily pass for Icemane’s sons, proudly dressed up for their first day of Chaos Warrior school.
Back to Knightmare, here’s Mallüs Bloodaxe. I still consider myself a very limited and early-stage painter, but I’m quite happy with these guys. I got a lot of great painting tips in the Oldhammer Community and managed to try out a few new techniques.
The final finished miniature, for now, is Knightmare’s superbly named “Chaos Warrior 14”. A name that strikers fear into hearts, from Albion to Far Cathay.
Most recently completed and added to the fray, are these 5 Chaos Foot Knights from Mirliton, bought via Campaign Game Miniatures.
They are quite small miniatures, but mounting them on the plastic bases raised their height a bit.
On hindsight, I’ll actually be puling Jötum Icemane out the regiment to use him as an individual Hero or Champion instead. He’s just a bit too big (and slightly different) than the rest. I’ve replaced him with an old Citadel purchase off Ebay.
I’ve talked a bit on here before about playing in pre-created storyworlds versus building your own. This time around, I’d like to dip into something I’ve been working on in the sci-fi genre.
Grimdark fantasy will always be my favourite sandbox to game in. But as a 90s GW kid, I do have a lot of fascination with the 40k universe. That said, I’ve really no interest in collecting a 40k army (or, playing 40k, for that matter).
In order to get my own sci-fi wargaming fix, I decided to start tentatively developing my own storyworld. I’m a big fan of using whatever miniatures appeal to me, rather than sticking to the collection of a particular manufacturer or game. I recently did a roundup of miniature agnostic games that let you use any minis. For sci-fi stuff, I really like Rogue Planet and Mutants & Death Ray Guns. Check out the link there for more on those.
So in my own fledgling sci-fi universe, I’m imagining a world ruled by a corrupt corporate dictatorship, facing down a long-running workers revolt. Cliché? Probably. But it’s a setting with lots of tension and conflict opportunities – as well as opportunities to use some really cool looking miniatures.
The main rank and file troops are made up of iconic Terminator endoskeletons from River Horse Games, and Soviet Heavy Infantry from Warlord Games’ Konflikt ’47. The former representing the cold mechanical killers of the state, the latter being the rebellious worker’s movement known as The Rhizome.
Some of my original 90s miniatures have been pulled into this storyworld. Pious 40k loudmouth Redemptor Kyrinov has been primed to become leader of the state’s terror-inducing Inquisition. He’s backed up by two Practicals (yup, I read a lot of Joe Abercrombie) who were originally Warmonger Miniatures’ Plague Apothecaries.
Another old 90s piece was this Imperial Assassin. A great miniature with a lot of character. I figured he could join the side of the rebels. Sidenote – I always wondered just how much time it takes him to make a kill, given that the skin has already rotted from the bones of his last one. Unless he carries that skull around with him to use as a little stool?
I originally bought a box of plastic Necrons from GW to play the role of the robotic state killers. However, I thought they were absolutely horrendous to assemble, and looked a bit goofy, too. I then discovered the endoskeleton miniatures from Terminator Genesys and thought they were perfect for the job. These were tricky to purchase, but I got lucky on Ebay. I promptly moved those ridiculous Necrons on whilst I was at it, too.
Finally (for now), here’s another fellow from the mid 90s. He’s a Space Marine Captain who looks like he’s lived a hard life, and he’ll be representing the state.
Overall, it’s a small collection at this stage, but there’s already the scope for an entertaining skirmish game. I’ll continue to add to both factions over time, as and when I see things that I like. I’m particularly interested in miniatures with an ‘oldhammer’ aesthetic.
One of the big positives of keeping a productivity blog is looking back at how much you’ve achieved over the past month. Obviously that swings both ways, and some months I’ll reflect and think “is that it?”. But September has been quite fruitful for me.
I did this trio of Chaos baddies. The beastman and archer were old Battlemasters miniatures. The multi-limbed champion is by Knightmare Miniatures.
I’m always banging on about the Oldhammer aesthetic, and that prompted me to do a roundup of Oldhammer Miniature Companies I’m aware of.
Javvo the Productive – Chaos Multitasker
Another company with a great old school aesthetic that I like to buy from, are Midlam Miniatures.
I needed some additional fighters for my village militia units. More on that a bit further on.
Oathsworn are another miniature company I’m a big fan of. Here’s a Starling Rogue that I painted up.
This Plague Apothecary (from Warmonger) is a miniature I’ve had for a while, and finally got round to slapping some paint on it. I’m trying to get better at big smooth flat areas (like capes and coats).
I’m not 100% happy with it, but practice and progress beats perfection every time.
This Lovecraftian horror is another Midlam miniature. A really cool little figure.
In terrain news, I found this standing stone I’d “made” as a kid (circa 1995). I very nearly threw it out, but then decided to give it some TLC.
A bit of a zenithal priming and some Citadel contrast paint had it looking much better in no time.
Seems to work pretty well on the battlefield, and makes a nice addition to my terrain collection (with added nostalgia factor, too!).
It was a big month for movement trays. I bought a pile of these ‘Infamy Mob’ trays from Warbases.
I like the way they house units that wouldn’t look quite right formed up into neat, organised regiments.
I now have 2 completed village militia units.
These guys are a mixture of goblins and snotlings.
Whilst these are exclusively snotlings. They’re from the old metal blister packs where they were all meant to be based on the same little square, to act as a swarm in Warhammer or 40k.
Here’s the classic Krell miniature leading some modern-day GW skeletons into battle.
And more modern-day GW miniatures – this unit of Chaos Marauders I’d finished up last month. I have 10 more still to paint, and those will form up a second regiment.
And that’s about it. As I say, not a bad month looking back on it. I’m starting some new projects but I’ll save those for my October update. In the meantime, what have you been up to? Fire a comment and a link down into the section below. As ever, I’d love to take a look!
I know there’s a lot of debate around the question “what is Oldhammer?“. I personally feel that it’s just one of those things where you know it when you see it. To me, it’s a certain aesthetic that reminds me of leafing through the pages of White Dwarf as a kid.
In fact, my first point of contact with the hobby back in the day was Citadel Combat Cards. The miniatures on those cards really captivated me. They had bags of character, and a subtle sense of humour. I don’t deny that modern-day GW miniatures are excellent from a technical point of view, but aesthetically, they do nothing for me.
Fortunately, there are more miniature companies out there these days than I’ll ever know of. Many of them create miniatures in what I’d consider as the “Oldhammer aesthetic”. Some even utilise the talents of some of the legendary sculptors who created old school Citadel Miniatures many moons ago.
My Favourite Oldhammer Miniature Companies
One of the first ones I discovered following my return to the hobby after a long exile, was Knightmare Miniatures.
My Chaos Raider Champion, from Knightmare Miniatures
Knightmare have 3 main ranges – Pantheon of Chaos, Green Skin Wars, and Space Raiders. Many of their miniatures are created by legendary sculptors like Kev “The Goblin King” Adams, and Tim Prow. I challenge you to browse their website and not rack up a shopping list in your head that runs into the 3 figures.
Chaos Warrior Warband – A mixture of Knightmare & Ral Partha miniatures
Another company I’ve bought a lot of miniatures from these past couple of years is Midlam.
One of my Midlam Miniatures’ villagers
There’s a diverse range of medieval and fantasy-style miniatures available on Midlam’s website. They too have a range of greenskins by Kev Adams, and I love the stuff created by Josef Ochmann too. The villagers and townsfolk really capture “the pathetic aesthetic” that’s often talked about with fondness in Oldhammer circles.
Mushrooms are on the menu at CP Models. There’s loads of great stuff available there.
Warmonger Miniatures and The Wargames Foundry are two sister companies I’ll frequently buy from, too. They have a wide scope of figures available, including an ex-Citadel range featuring miniatures previously produced by… well, Citadel, naturally.
I, like every other mortal, have a very finite amount of money and painting time available. I’m well aware that the Oldhammer miniature companies I’ve mentioned here are only the tip of a very large iceberg.
I’ve been asking around for other recommendations so that I can try to list them all in one place. Here’s what’s come up so far. Obviously, I can’t vouch for anyone I haven’t bought from. But there’s a lot of fantastic looking miniatures here and it’s likely all of them will receive my custom at some point in the future.
“The nights are drawing in” is a common bit of smalltalk you’ll hear at this time of year. And whilst the inevitable death of summer is a bit depressing, it does potentially mean more time painting and playing with toy knights and goblins.
This month for me was really about making progress on the things I’d started in July. I finished my first squad (or unit) – is it a squad or a unit these days? – of GW Chaos Marauders. I enjoyed painting these guys, despite not being a huge fan of modern GW minis. I’ve been big into Viking fiction this past year, so I think that’s where the inspiration came from.
With these guys it’s very much a wash and drybrush job. So I picked out a few minis from my to-do drawer to mix it up a little. An old Chaos Barbarian Archer and Beastman from the wonderful Battlemasters game of the early 90s. On top of those, I threw in a Chaos Raider Champion from the brilliant Knightmare Miniatures range.
I bought myself a new thing too. I grabbed the Frostgrave 2nd Edition rulebook after hearing Dan talk to creator Joe McCullough on the Paint All The Minis podcast. I’ve had a few leaf-throughs so far, and it looks fantastic.
Aside from that, I’ve been very well behaved with not buying new stuff. I have an ever-growing wish list, but I also have plenty unpainted miniatures to warrant these new ones remaining unpainted on someone else’s shelf.
So that’s where I’m at with everything right now. How about you? Feel free to post your own hobby updates or blog links in the comments below. I always like to read through them 🙂
Painting motivation. Even the most enthusiastic hobbyist goes through stages where they’d rather do anything other than pick up the paintbrush.
The ebb and flow of motivation is all part of human nature. There’s a quote I’ve heard often in the creative world though. I had to look it up, and it’s attributed to photographer Chuck Close.
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”
So “just sit down and do it” is a tip that we can’t ignore. But are there other things you can do to make the process more desirable? I certainly think so. That’s why I’ve put together these 8 tips to rekindle your miniature painting motivation.
You put the undercoat on us about 25 years ago. Any chance of… y’know… finishing the job!?
Consume Content About Painting
Whether you’re an avid YouTube watcher, podcast listener, or blog reader, consuming some hobby-related content can help shift your brain back into its motivated state. I’m a big fan of the Paint All The Minis podcast, and there’s never an episode I listen to that doesn’t get me up for cracking on with my to-do pile. The good thing about podcasts, too, is that you can actually keep them on whilst you’re painting.
YouTube tutorials can be really helpful for painting motivation too. Just seeing someone applying a splash of paint and making a good job of it makes your brain think “Okay, my turn”. You might even find blogs like this one useful. I mean, that literally is the point of this post, so I’d hope so!
Be Like Hemingway
I don’t know if Hemingway ever picked up a miniature, but he sure knew a lot about getting stuff done. One famous piece of advice he gave to fellow writers was to finish a session mid-sentence, when you know exactly what comes next. That means it’s much easier to sit down the following day and get started.
This can easily translate to painting miniatures. End the previous day knowing that there’s a nice big simple bit to do next. That way, it’s going to be much easier to feel motivated than if you were sitting down and thinking “well, I suppose it’s time for the iris on this Epic 40k snotling”.
Bring out your (Blood) Red
Get Nostalgic
There’s a hobby origin story in all of us, and whether that dates back to the 1960s, or last week, is irrelevant. The point is, there was something that initially stoked a fire in you to get started in the collecting and painting of miniatures. You can lean into this when your painting motivation is low, and you’ll be surprised at how much it helps.
For myself, I have an old dog eared pile of White Dwarf mags from the mid 90s near my painting table. A quick leaf through one of those never fails to capture the imagination. The goblin green bases, the red spear shafts, the photos of staffers with dodgy haircuts. All combine to have me reaching for the paintbrush in no time.
Minimise the Barriers
There’s nothing new or groundbreaking about this tip, but it’s an important one. If a painting session for you means clearing the dining table, putting some newspaper down, finding the shed key, going out to the shed, retrieving your paint box, going upstairs, finding the miniatures you want to paint… alright, you get the picture.
Not everyone has the luxury of a permanent painting area, which obviously solves all of this. But think to yourself “how can I minimise the barriers to getting started?”. What’s the minimum amount of steps you can be set up and painting in? This will be unique to your own situation, but the chances are, you can make it a bit easier than it currently is.
Be Accountable
Accountability is incredibly useful for some miniature painters. You might choose to do this on social media, or in an online community. You might also run a blog like this one and do monthly hobby updates. The point is, even if no one is really paying attention, you know that you’ve come out and declared that you plan to get this next thing done. That can give you the motivation towards actually doing it.
There are loads of painting communities and miniature painting challenges online. Or, you might look into the possibility of joining or creating a ‘real-life’ painting club. When you’re working on your stuff alongside others who’re in the same boat, it can give you that extra nudge through those inevitable periods of flatness.
The stage is set, only for you to ruin the immersion when you turn up with your legion of unpainted soldiers.
Have Clear Goals
If you know you’re testing out that new game with your pal in 2 weeks, and you need to have this warband finished for it – then that’s painting motivation.
The alternative is staring at your huge pile of plastic and thinking “okay, what next?” Here, there’s no real end in sight, so your brain will convince you that it’s really not worth the bother at all.
Take stock of every unpainted miniature you own. Group them into categories, considering things like “why do I own this?”, “what’s it for?”, “when does it need to be finished by?”. If there’s stuff on there that you can’t really answer these questions about, don’t be afraid to cut your losses and stick it on Ebay.
This not only helps with painting motivation, it also comes in handy next time you’re about to buy a new horde of minis on impulse.
Block Out Time & Have Painting Cues
I’ve mentioned the writing world already, and the miniature painting world is very similar in the oft repeated advice of “you should paint every day”.
If you genuinely can’t paint every day, don’t feel guilty about that. Instead, pick out some slots in the week where you have a free hour or so, and block them out. Book a date with your paintbrush, and let nothing stand in the way of showing up. Also, leaning back on some of our other tips, know exactly what needs done, and why.
If you’re in the position where you can paint on a daily basis, but you often don’t due to lack of motivation, then you need to create a cue.
This simply means “when I do this, then I paint”. So, “I do the washing up, then I paint”, or “I have a shower, then I paint”. Take the decision out of the equation and make it automatic. If you miss the odd day due to some anomaly or emergency then that’s absolutely fine. But make this your default routine.
Treat Yo Self
There’s nothing quite like a well-earned reward. Set up some for yourself to keep your painting motivation high as you work towards your goals.
Again, this builds on the previous tips where we know what needs done, why it needs done, and when it needs done by. Make sure your targets are realistic, and perhaps even start this strategy with the bar set low. You want easy quick wins to get you into the grove, then you can begin to step things up over time.
Set a reward in advance of each month. That could be anything from going out for a meal, to buying yourself a new crate of minis (careful now!). Whatever your reward is, hit your target and you can enjoy it guilt-free, and with a feeling of accomplishment.
Better late than never. Now… what about my 600 comrades?
What Are Your Own Painting Motivation Tips?
I’m writing here as if I’ve got this stuff mastered, but I can assure you that’s far from the truth. I’m always keen to learn about how others stay on track and get their work done. I enjoy reading the comments on these posts, so be sure to leave your own in the section below!
These are my ‘work in progress’ football (soccer, for you Americans) dice game rules. They’re very simple, but hopefully good fun. I thought I’d share them on here for others to enjoy. I’d also be glad to hear any thoughts, feedback, of suggestions toward potential improvements.
You Will Need
2 players
2 D6 dice
A pen & paper
A token or marker (like a coin)
The Basics
Each player takes control of a football team. They have 8 points to build their team with.
These 8 points are distributed to 3 areas of the team, the Defence (D), Midfield (M), and Attack (A). This represents each side’s strengths, weaknesses, tactics, gameplan, and formation.
For example, a team may choose to line up with an overly defensive lineup of D5-M2-A1. This team would be difficult to beat, but would find it equally hard to score goals.
The opposite might be a cavalier all-out attacking side playing D1-M3-A4. They would concede a lot of goals, but would score a lot too.
A team’s D, M, and A ratings represent the modifiers they’ll add to dice rolls when competing in this area of the field.
Both players write down their points distribution (their “tactics”) in secret prior to kick off. They are revealed prior to the first roll of the game.
Here’s how the pitch is divided up into areas of play. Draw a rough copy of this on your piece of paper. Place a marker (like a coin) on it to keep track of where the play is taking place.
Playing a Match
Both players roll their D6 to kick off. Each player takes their score, and adds their M rating to it. The player who wins this midfield battle is now able to launch an attack.
Both players again roll their D6, but this time the attacking player adds their A rating, whilst the defending player adds their D rating as modifiers. If the defending player comes out on top, the ball is cleared and returns to midfield. However, if the attacking player is victorious, their striker is presented with a goalscoring opportunity.
Aftermath of a game between two evenly-matched sides
Scoring a Goal
When an attacking player wins a roll-off against a defending player, we imagine their striker going clean through, or the ball dropping to him right in front of goal.
Both players make a single unmodified roll (unless there are special rules in play – these will be covered later on). If the attacker wins the roll, the ball is in the net. If the defending player wins, however, the goalkeeper pounces on the ball. It is kicked back to the midfield area and the process begins once more.
What Happens When Dice Rolls Tie?
If at any point a roll-off is a tie, play simply resumes in that area of the field.
For example, if both midfields tie, they will go at it again right away.
If the attack of one team ties with the defence of the other, we imagine the ball is temporarily blocked or cleared. However, the attacking side remains in possession and on the front foot.
If players are rolling to decide the outcome of a goalscoring opportunity, and there is a tie, we imagine the goalkeeper making a save. However, the ball is still in open play and the striker may pounce on the rebound.
In each of these cases, both players simply re-roll their dice after a tie.
Phases of Play
A normal football match lasts 90 minutes. To represent this, we break the game up into 9 phases.
Each time the ball is returned to midfield – either as the result of a goal, a defence coming out on top, or a goalkeeper kicking it out after making a save – we move to the next phase of play.
So when we kick off, it’s phase 0 (0-10mins). The first time The ball returns to midfield, we move to phase 1 (10-20mins), then phase 3 (20-30mins) and so on until we reach phase 9 (90 minutes plus stoppage time).
The player who has scored the most goals over the 9 phases, is the winner.
Special Rules
The core rules should be enough to let you play out a couple of fun games. You might then look to add an extra layer of depth by adding these special rules.
Both players should roll 2 D6 prior to kick off to see which perk (or hindrance) they’ll be playing with throughout the match.
2 = Dodgy Keeper – Player suffers modifier of -1 when making a roll to save against a goalscoring opportunity.
3 = Big Donkey – Player suffers modifier of -1 when making a roll to attack a goalscoring opportunity.
4 = Long Punt – When player wins a roll to save against a goalscoring opportunity, they can immediately launch an attack. Their attack should now roll off against the opposition player’s defence, as opposed to the ball being returned to midfield.
5 = Offside Trap – When player loses a midfield roll-off by 1, the opposition does not launch an attack. Play remains in midfield.
6 = Scout – Player can look at opponents tactics prior to kick-off, and adjust their own, if they wish to do so.
7 = Prolific Goalscorer – Player gains modifier of +1 when making a roll to attack a goalscoring opportunity.
8 = The Cat – Player can re-roll when making a roll to save against a goalscoring opportunity. This can only be used once per game.
9 = Athletes – Player can add 1 additional point to their defence, midfield, or attack when play enters the 7th phase.
10 = World Cup Pass – If player rolls a 6 during a midfield roll-off, it creates an immediate goalscoring opportunity.
11 = Tactician – Player can change tactics at any point during the game. This can only be used once per game.
12 = Big Team – Player can add 1 more point to their defence, midfield, or attack prior to kick-off.
I managed to play out a few entertaining games with my dad at the weekend. If you like the look of it, please try it out yourself. Let me know your thoughts, feedback, comments, and suggestions in the comments section below 🙂
November 2021 Update!
I’ve been working with a friend on this game for the past year and a bit, and we’ve done a lot to (we’d like to think) make it better. It’s now much more developed, polished, and fluid. If you’d like to keep up to speed on the new version when it eventually goes public then please subscribe to our newsletter or podcast!
Lockdown ain’t what it used to be – at least where I live, anyway. There’s more opportunity to get out the house these days, it seems. That’s obviously great, but the painting output has taken a slight dip.
Nevertheless, I said last month I’d hopefully finish this small band of Perry Miniatures bowmen, and I did. They were multibased on a strip of wood from Homebase. I’ve got 3 more identical units I plan to get done, though they’re not on my immediate to-do list.
Must be hard work for the lads having to dig up and re-plant these wooden stakes each time they move in a game. But I’ve seen multibased units who have to carry trees and ponds around with them, so it could be worse.
I’ve massively enjoyed Song of Blades and Heroes so far. Such a good skirmish game. I picked up its sci-fi companion Mutants and Death Ray Guns too. Rogue Planet is also one of the most innovative rulesets I’ve ever seen. Here’s more on both.
A game of SBH in full swing. Note that it uses 3 wooden rods to measure distances, rather than a tape measure. This seems simple and unimportant, but it makes such a difference to the flow of a game.
On the painting table are a squad of Terminator Genisys Endoskeletons (was there ever a better film than Terminator 2?). I’m also about to tackle some Soviet Heavy Infantry from Warlord Games’ Konflikt ’47. I’ve never played K47, I just really liked the look of them. That’s the way of it, eh!
Finally, here’s a Chaos Marauder I’ve named Frosty Jack, due to his white mane. I’ve still to add his shield on, but I’m pretty chuffed with him so far.
What have you been up to yourself this month? Always enjoy reading the comments, so pop your own update (or a link to it) in said comments section, and I’ll have a look!
For some miniature wargamers, it’s all about the winning. But I’ve noticed that the vast majority of hobbyists I’ve interacted with are in it for different reasons. One of those reasons – something that pops up again and again – is storytelling.
You need a sandbox or setting for your games, after all. And the difference between a tabeltop wargame and a game of Chess is that each piece on the table has the ability to represent a character.
We invest in these characters. We buy and paint them. We throw them into situations on the table and we see what happens to them. Sometimes it’s glorious victory, and sometimes it’s gruesome death. That’s all part of the fun.
Your characters will depend on your setting, of course. You might opt to play in a pre-designed sandbox like the Warhammer Old World. As a kid, this place drew me in from the day I discovered it, and it’ll always be my favourite lore within the hobby.
I’m not a huge fan of GW games or miniatures these days though. They are world-class at what they do, but they’re simply not for me. I’ll still play games in the Old World, and I’m naturally curious to follow what happens with this IP in the next few years. But I’ve started to collect a lot of miniatures that don’t quite fit into this setting (for example, the Oathsworn range).
In fact, I build all of my warbands and armies around miniatures I like the look of, regardless of the company or their intended game. That’s why I’ve gotten so into games that let you use any miniatures.
This has led to me creating my own settings for games and mini-campaigns. The beauty of worldbuilding is that you don’t literally need to build a world. You just need to build a place, and that place can be very small. It could simply be a village or hamlet, or a single farmhouse, or even a well.
Then, you need two opposing forces, a bit of background, and a reason for them to be clashing in this particular place and time.
That’s a lot more fun than lining up two forces on either side of a table and having at it, for no reason other than hoping you win.
Here are a couple of the sandboxes I’ve created recently.
Riversbrook
This one’s a 6mm-scale which is perfect for cinematic rank and file battles.
The village of Riversbrook is situated between two main trade roads. There’s woodlands to the East, and a mysterious ancient ruin to the South.
Here’s a view from the Western bridge, looking into the village of Riversbrook. Broken Tooth Hill is a key vantage point for defending the town against invaders.
Riversbrook priory, and view to the South-West.
There are dark legends surrounding the evil-looking altar in the ruins to the South.
The Eastern bridge, crossing the river into the village.
View to the South-West from the Riversbrook Tavern.
Here’s more on my 6mm terrain endeavours, if you’re interested in finding more about the buildings, trees, etc.
Middensbury
Next up is my 28mm-scale village of Middensbury.
It’s a rustic little settlement with some quirky and interesting inhabitants.
This layout is on a 4×4 mat (again, by GameMat) and I play with the Kings of War ruleset.
The village has seen better days. The castle was once home to a large and proud garrison of soldiers. Now, there are only a handful of jaded veterans remaining, and the building is partially derelict.
So that’s a whirlwind tour of a couple of settings I’ve built for my tabletop (or more accurately, bedroom floor) battles.
What about you? Which settings do you like to host your games in? Do you prefer fully-fledged pre-built worlds, or do you like to create somewhere from scratch? Be sure to let me know in the comments, below!
