Ice Base Zero: A base for testing the future

Developing terrain for my Ice mat is a continuing process that may never be completed. Which is good for me but maybe not my storage in the garage. Our last game gave me a chance to try out some new terrain ideas. Allot of these ideas will make it into a production kit, the shelf or maybe even the fire pit.

These five areas that i'm working on this go around:

A: Complete buildings which isn't my normal terrain focus but necessary for this table theme.

B: A larger Pump House building which will be compatible with our Pipe Works kits.

C: Ice terrain to help set the mood.

D: Pipe Works kits because there awesome!

E: Shipping Container kits with some accessories showing the beginning of the base. The complete building "A" represent the growth of the base.


I'll touch on each of these subjects from a hobby point of view in future posts. I'll also try to discuss the kits development and how they worked out during our games.

Salt River Rumble Results

An exciting day of gaming for the first Salt River Rumble on November 7th. A fun event with a couple of speed bumps but a good job of organizing the event from Dr. Todd. Thanks for stepping up and handling the tournament. Myself I pulled the rough job of handing out free stuff and shaking hands and BS with the players. Something I've volunteer to do again next year.

Here's Your Top Five

First Place: Herb Schaffer - Dark Eldar
Second Place: Scott Freeman - Orks
Third Place: Derek Page - Imperial Knights
Fourth Place: Cail Peterson - Daemonkin: Khorne
Fifth Place: Jason McCormack - Space Marines/Imperial Knights

Herb's Dark Eldar

Scott's Stompa doing bad things in my chemical pool.

Best Painted Army: Darin Shwartzman Astra Militarium

Thanks to everyone who participated and yes we're dumb enough to do this again next year!

Salt River Rumble!

Welcome everyone, Dr. T. here with some great news. I am pleased to announce that I will be holding an Independent Tournament Circuit (ITC) Event on Saturday November 7 at the Game Depot in Tempe, Az. The guys at Mechanical Warhorse have been gracious enough to sponsor the event, henceforth known as “The Salt River Rumble”, and the Game Depot has allotted us their gaming area. Signup now for $10.00 by simply visiting the Game Depot to register. The tournament will consist of three missions randomly selected from the ITC list and army composition (1850 points) will follow the rules outline on the ITC website which can be accessed by visiting www.frontlinegaming.org with the only restrictions that allied detachments must be published in the codex or White Dwarf, sorry no Web Exclusive Detachments. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Keep an eye out on this blog page for tournament updates.

Ice Base Zero: Testing the playing field

Recently, I had a chance to set up the terrain pieces I had selected for Ice Base Zero. A couple of the pieces were not completed, so I added some proxies in order to get a feel for the final project. While it looked pretty good and there was plenty of cover for infantry, it was too wide open for vehicles and monsters... and it was just a little too stark. I know its an Ice Base, but it still just seemed a little flat. So, I added some additional terrain to create more maneuvering and cover for larger models.

Then, inspiration hit me. I will turn the base into a secret lab on some frozen ice planet. The new plan means more cover, bigger buildings with some type of compound and maybe a giant cannon. Don't worry, I'm keeping the burrowing beasts, he will still be creeping around the table.

Themed Terrain Project: Ice Base Zero

Great terrain is essential for all games. When you combine a great looking table with painted armies, it makes the game much more enjoyable. I'm going to use some terrain kits from Mechanical Warhorse along with kits from War Gamma and Games Workshop to complete this terrain project. Inspiration comes from the F.A.T. Mat line from Frontline Gaming and Table War.

Starting with the 6'x4' Alpine Mat and half of the Burrowing Beast with Tentacles kit from War Gamma, I'll bring in Pipe Works kits, shipping containers, and start assembling the rest of the table pieces and a narrative.

I'm off to pull kits and find anything else I've started and can finish for this project. Here's a preview of our next project report "Burrowing Beast"!

Why Mk2 Billboard??

Earlier this year at the Las Vegas Open, I noticed a great piece of terrain being used on the tables, a simple billboard that was eye catching while not taking up a lot of space on the tabletop.

These billboards (now the Mk1's) accomplished exactly what they're meant to do, block line of sight and show off some great Goatboy 40k fan art, all without covering up a large amount of visual real-estate on the F.A.T. mats.

After my return to Phoenix, the billboards kept popping into my head. Every shop with a laser cutter seems to make some sort of towering billboard especially in the model railroad and sci-fi realms, the vision in my head had come to reality but by someone else. So what to do... be a total dweeb and make a knock off or deal with another missed opportunity like that breakfast taco idea I had. I decided to put on my big boy pants and talk to Frontline Gaming about making their billboard idea into an available kit for every gamer. This was a good solution for both of us. But sometimes a threesome makes things more interesting. Goatboy was brought into the scenario and off we went.

Seven-ish months later after prototypes, making the art available, projects already in motion, and life in general, the Mk2 is alive! The Mk2 billboard accomplishes several features we wanted keep from the original Mk1, blocks line of sight, does not take up a lot of space, and features the art. However we have added some upgrades. The first is easy assembly with minimal parts, the other was to make the billboard more interactive. We added a catwalk to the top for a five man squad, adding another function to the billboard. We hope this, along with it's great price, will help you enjoy the Mk2 billboard kit.

The FABULOUS artwork for the billboards can be downloaded for FREE at mechanicalwarhorse.com!

Thanks to Frontline Gaming and Goatboy for working on this kit with me. Look to the future for vertical billboard!?!