Monday, August 30, 2010

40K Table - Lumber and Building Supplies

Well I was able to make it to Lowe's this weekend to purchase what I needed for the table. I got everything that I listed in the previous post and had Lowe's cut it for me. The only problem that I had was with the 4x4 that form the legs. They couldn't cut these, so I am going to have to use a hand saw to get these cut.

Something else I noticed in the plans, was that the table called for the legs to be about 48 inches tall. I thought about that, and measured it, but that is very tall for a table. I want it to be more bar level for stools, so I think my ine will be around 36 inches or so.

The supplies all in all cost me around $96.00. I hope to get the extra piece and assemble everything by this weekend.

In other new I started the weathering on the models I didn't quite finish for Wargames con. I will post up pictures for them later this week. They are as follows:

10x Thunder Hammer Terminators
2x Landspeeders
1 Thunderfire Cannon
5 Space Marines in Robes
1 Dreadnought

After those are finished (as in, sprayed and protected finished) I will start working on terrain and stuff for the table. For now, I will soon be done with my marines for a bit as I switch over to working on my 40K table for awhile. I will be trying to get that finished before Dark Eldar come out, which I will have a strong sense I will end up playing.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Weekend Warrior

No pictures today.... sorry.

So this weekend is the first breather that we have had while getting into the new house. I wasn't able to finish my room, as the paint I was using didn't last... that's what I get for not priming... I should have known better. Now the paint I want will not be in for several days.

However, I feel that this weekend is an excellent opportunity to get my table built. I have squirreled away some cash for it, so that sounds like a wonderful project. I'm also hanging curtains (yea....) and mowing grass and what not.

In other news, recently I got some Vallejo Weathering Pigments in. I've been doing my dirt and grime with standard pastel colors for a bit, so it will be interesting to use something that is built for the purpose for which I purchased it. I will report back on everything throughout the weekend. I am going after work to purchase the lumber necessary to start my building project. Here is what I figure that I need. I picked up a drill from Hudsons for $20 a few weeks ago (black and decker too!).

The following is what the Drunken Dwarf site suggests.

- 2 4×4″x8′ posts

- 6 2×6″x10′ boards

- 2 2×4″x10′ boards

- 1 2×4″x8′ board

- 32 1/4″ - 5.5″ long Carriage bolts

- 32 1/4″ nuts

- 32 washers

- 12 90* 1″ metal angle brackets AND at least 24 1″ pan head wood screws up to 48 preferred. The more the better.

Now, I don't own a miter saw (nor do I want to purchase one at this time). They say to cut the boards down to the sizes I am going to give you, but I am just going to have Home Depot (or Lowe's... whatever) cut them for me.

- 2 4×4″x8′ posts into 4 4×4″x39.5″ posts

- 6 2×6″x10′ boards into 4 2×6″x49″ boards and 4 2×6″x100″ boards

- 2 2×4″x10′ boards and 1 2×4″x8′ board into 3 2×4″x49″ board

Now, as I have mentioned the room I have really doesn't need an 8 foot table in there so the x100 inch board (8.3 feet) will be taken back 24 total inches to 76 inches. I'm also considering making the supports (the 4x4) into 2x4. I'm not sure this bad boy really needs to be sturdy enough to hold a TON, after all.

The last change I am making is that I will be putting a storage level on the first set of boards cut on the bottom level. This will hold terrain etc... I will then be painting the table black and protecting it from battle damage as much as I can.

I'll post what all this ends up costing me, as well as how the table goes throughout the weekend. I have about $200, but I hope that it ends up somewhere under $75. Check back for more!

Go 40K Table!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Old Table


I built this table several years ago for The Gamers Sanctuary in Hattiesburg. I thought it came out quite well. The tower and trees in the back were modular, but the rest was not.

I remember modeling it at the time after the battle for skull pass. I liked the table, and it was quite nice (part of the hill in the foreground came up, and a tunnel section with dwarven xxx beer was in there as well)

However, I had a few problems with it, in the sense that when you played on it, your tacticus to some degree were static.

The next table will be different, nice, but not quite so one dimensional.

I had to postpone working on it, as the room itself isn't finished. I am taking some pictures of that as it goes as well. I ran out of wall paint, so sadly it will be till this weekend that I get it finished. Then laborday weekend I will be painting cutting and laying shoe molding for all the concrete that I stained last month. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to purchase the lumber and get to it. I've been asked to run a tournament in H'burg in October, and I would like to have the board ready by then.

Deadlines are your friend... they make you do things.

I did however start on a single terrain piece for the table. I had decided I wanted some woods for my table, and had a bunch of trees laying around. A problem developed in my mind however the more I thought of it. The world that the Angels of Perdition do their recruiting from, and the table I am building, is much more of a mad max style wasteland that is only just recently coming back to life. I imagine the people that live there life in a Dune/Fremen style meets mad max wasteland.

There just wouldn't be random trees....

What I did think however is that my marines are in general, also keenly interested in breathing life back into the world. Perhaps they have set up wind catchers and water pumps to bring water back to the surface, and the trees could be around these locations. Each one acting as a peace grounds for the people that life there, small oasis areas for them. Each block of trees therefore would also have a small amount of open water, or water pumping station that worked in conjunction with them the ensure they got proper nutrition.

I'm also trying to put ome finishing touches off my marines. Toward that I ordered from BattleForge games some Vallejo Pigments for rust that I plan on learning how to use. I'll try to get some tutorials on that, once I figure out how they work!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

40K Table - The Plans

Ok, so the room that will be my 40K room should be finished, so that will bring me to building my 40K table.

For years I have been jealous of the tables with sides so that your dice don't fall off, and storage below for extra terrain. I also want to slow paint some terrain to go with my new table.

The plans for the table itself will closely follow that of those at the Drunkendwarf website here:

Their's is eight foot by four feet, and that is a little large for (a) what I normally play and (b) my room. So I will be effectively cutting it down to a standard 6x4 tournament table. There will be a level underneath that has room for terrain and all the sides will have some fabric (probably black with a Imperial Eagle perhaps?) that goes around it. I've also considered doing my chapter colors black/bone with the red winged sword as well. At any rate, that part can come later.

Luckily a month or so ago when I was looking for home supplies at Lowe's I found a great piece of bord that is already textured to look sort of rocky. I will be painting that table, although with some changes. I used part of what they had to build my tournament display trey and it came off great I think. I modeled some tracks and mud in the stuff, and some grass and stones in other parts.

Some part of me always wants to build a board that is built to play on in one format, with all the terrain part of the table (or rivers modeled in). However I did that once for the Gamer's Sancutary and while I liked it, I found the inability to move terrain very annoying. My personal table should be about versatility.

To that effect I have about six terrain pieces that I want to work on for it.

(2) tree bases - I want to add a lot of details and not just have flat bases with trees on them. Any ideas on what I can add?

(2) hills - Ditto here

(2) ruined building of some type - These will be closer to ancient ruins of the planet that dirt and sand has partially swollowed.

Once this part is done, I plan on building some nice terrain for centerpieces. I'm definitely going to pick up the Honored Imperium set, The Fortress of Angels big thing and probably the starport and maybe a standard bastion set. In the long run I would like to pick up the Pegasus cathedral set as well.

Pictures forthcoming as the table comes together. This weekend I fill finish the room and upload photo's. By the next week I hope to have the table completed. I will probably work on terrain throughout the process.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Back

I know I've been gone since Wagmames Con... I've been busy, and I was 40K tapped out for a bit.

I also was doing home repair (three floors tained/sealed and four rooms painted) and working at my business.

At any rate my gaming room is nearing completion this week, at least the room is. I will need to work on the table, which I will be reporting on here.

Just a note on Wargames con, it was great, had a good time, that is it. I'll try to get around to posting some results later.

I, at least mentally, and especially here on the blog am going to start getting away from tournament prep articles till after christmas I think. I want to work on my table, finish my marines off, and build amazing terrain for my table as well to make it look like something out of White Dwarf.

Hopefully I will have the table built this weekend, expect pictures!