Super Glue to the Rescue!

So this past week, we thanked our Lord for His bountiful blessings and also took out our Christmas decorations. This led to a discussion of how much "junk" has accumulated in my little closet which made me put down the following maxim: any items that were not being used for a piece of terrain by this coming Sunday were going to be tossed. This should (in theory) do one of two things (maybe both): first, I may get some long-awaited terrain projects completed, or second, I may get rid of a bunch of raw (free) materials that I haven't done anything with in months.

Thankfully, most of the materials have been made into terrain pieces or have been thrown out. Here is a sampling of most of the terrain work that I've done in the past few days (paint jobs still to come, but crafting is half the battle).

Anyone who reads this blog knows that most of my terrain is made for one of two settings: forests or tunnels. The tunnel fighting terrain tends to take over my spare time because of my love for Goblins and Dwarves (see the posts on Goblins and Dwarves for a better idea of what terrain I'm talking about). Here we have some of the newest terrain with an emphasis on walls and passages. On the left, you see a pile of rocks with a tunnel running through it and various forms of stairways/climbable rocks to the summit at the top. This will likely serve as an objective/center ground terrain piece in future tunnel-fighting battles. On the right, two wall pieces with hexagonal doorways stand to make the three existing wall pieces longer or provide an entirely enclosed room (with five entrances, of course).

Here's an up close look at one side of the new rock pile. As you can see, there are steps leading up to the top on this side, each step being big enough for a unit to stand on, which allows for stairway combat. The tunnel passes right through but the entire platform is raised a little, giving some cover for those who are behind any part of the structure. This is vastly beneficial to Goblins, who will probably claim such a structure for their own in future games.

From the other side, the structure is mostly barren. A few small rocks are scattered around the base for terrain effects, but in one instance (see the far right) provide a sort of stair to an otherwise climb-only surface. What we can do with terrain really does make me get excited about future games...

Not all terrain can be walls or tunnel pieces, since there needs to be some form of ruins or other in-the-way pieces on the board. To meet this need, I present the following two pieces. The item on the left uses some of my long-standing terrain pieces (two styrofoam tree heads and two cardboard-with-masking-tape barricades) on an elevated base. There is room on this piece for a Troll to pass through most of it, though a few passages are for infantry only. Makes the game a bit more fun when you can outrun some of your more pressing villains (try it against the Bat Swarm at your peril). The second piece uses a ruin used in previous scenarios added to ruins of completely new pieces.

A more focused picture gives you a better idea of this second terrain piece. Two ruined structures and some fallen pillars provides elementary cover from most sides, though as is the case with most ruins, there is not 360 degree protection for the units inside. Both this piece and the other ruin are multi-function, being able to be used in tunnel fighting missions and terrestrial battles. This is great, because both Elves and Uruk-Hai benefit from having something in the way of enemy arrows.

Speaking of overland battles, the final terrain pieces include three pieces that have all existed prior to this crazed hobbying spree. The field boundaries on the left were the first to be cut out when I started making terrain, but finally got glued down when I figured out they moved too much when left to their own devices. Some of these pieces, however, refuse to stay in place, so it is possible to remove at least one of the sides during game play (I don't want to try pulling on the other ones to find out if they all managed to break free from their chains. For the other two pieces, allow the following two in-depth looks.

The work on the smithy (scenery project during Uruk-Hai month a while ago) didn't really go anywhere. As you'll see a little in this picture and more so in the previous picture, the chimney has changed but the roof and chimney have yet to be nailed down (no pun intended). The interior needs to be painted, so that will be one of the forthcoming projects.

Last but not least, the Amon Hen structure lost all of its duct tape and is now super-glued in place. This provides more stability and less protruding grey mass, which makes for a much better looking piece of terrain. Though perhaps the oldest pre-designed pieces of terrain in my collection, it still has to be painted. This will probably not get done before the To The Death game between the Fellowship and Uruk-Hai that will be coming soon (either tomorrow or next week, depending on scheduling). It will, however, continue to be functional and provides benefits to those who are able to use its breadth to break an enemy line (see the Clash of Piquets Fellowship vs. Uruk-Hai battle report here).

Aaaaand, that's it for now. As I just mentioned, hopefully I'll have a battle report up tomorrow or next weekend. Lots of new events in the family and a boat load of holiday planning meant burn-out this week. I've also been getting into Lord of the Rings Online, which I admit has distracted me a little from this hobby. So we'll see what we can do. Until then, happy hobbying!