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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
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With Germany’s necessary reliance on its U-Boat fleet , amphibious troops are a necessity , but not to be under prepared , they have gone one better ; amphibious AND airmobile .
Lacking aircraft carriers to ferry large numbers of troops into a combat zone , German naval leaders have opted for placing helicopters on many of their ships , even small reconnisence choppers on some of their more advanced submarines .
To make the most of this pairing , the german navy has begun training amphibious air moble commando units that can be deployed from subs , and aircraft to go after a variety of targets oat sea and on land : “KAMPFSCHWIMMER”
Armed with marine modified MP40’s and demolition kits , they can be deployed almost anywhere , at any time .
These are “U Men” , from the Heroclix game . I wanted an axis equivalent to the current US Navy SEALS . I don’t plan to play them often , mostly just for scenarios , and while they may seem under powered for their cost , we have changed the aircraft rules , to remove a huge hole for abuse that we see in them . As such , this units “Airborne“ makes them much more valuable .
Our rule change is that any unit deploying from an aircraft can ONLY perform move actions . “Airborne“ allows this unit to act normally when deploying , so they can deploy using a move action , and then perform an attack with their second action if they so choose . Airborne is a “shared” skill .
We will also apply airborne to the Chinese volunteer squad .
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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
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MEDIUM-HEAVY COMBAT WALKER MH-7
After the axis invasion of Britain began , it became apparent that things were at a make or break point for the European war effort . Losing England and Ireland would greatly relieve the pressure on the Axis , and spell disaster for the allies hopes of a allied Europe for at least the next decade .
The previously limited factory production in Ireland soon became the largest source of allied war production in Europe , and the people who had been oppressed under British occupation would come into their own .
The allies were in a position that they simply could not wait for supplies and weapons to come in from Africa and North America , if they hoped to keep their foothold in England .
Ireland had been kept a third world economy under British rule , but now that would change . Over night , the difference was almost night and day , as the poor were hired in droves to man the numerous small factories that were being built as money was poured into infrastructure and production facilities .
Unlike most other nations that concentrated their production into large factories , Irish manufacturing was spread out amongst hordes of smaller facilities spread all across the nation .
In general larger items like vehicles would be produced in factories spread out across a county , with each factory working on limited aspects of the unit , before shipping it off to another factory for the next step .
In many cases the designs became changed as they were modified to meet the capabilities of these smaller factories . In order to maintain at least some uniformity , a larger vehicle construction was limited to being produced by only one county , so that all the parts and production methods would match .
While this was a less than ideal method in regards to speed of production , it was the only real choice .
One such factory community , Gorham United , in Kilflyn , Tralee , began production of a new medium-heavy walker .
The allies needed a heavier walker platform to counter the axis medium heavy walkers like the JagLuther , and Wotan .
An American company , Lot U.S. , had already had moderate success with its : Ulysses walker , that was based around the M3 grant medium battle tank . Its main drawbacks were that it was a riveted hull , which suffered spading issues , took a great deal of labor to assemble , AND that its armament was some what limited and under powered .
To fit the new need , Gorham United took the idea of the Ulysses , but opted for a cast hull , and built their prototype mostly using parts from allied M2 medium walkers . This allowed assembly to speed up greatly since most of the parts were already in mass production , and would make re-supply and repair easier with fewer different parts needed in the supply chain .
Casting the hull allowed for production with less skilled and trained labor , AND helped solve the Spalding problem , greatly improving crew survival .
The MEDIUM-HEAVY COMBAT WALKER MH-7 was born . 4 proto types were finished in just 60 days , and sent across the channel to see their first tests in a trial by fire . While each of the proto types were destroyed or crippled , they each did more than enough damage to justify full production runs so they could be rushed into service .
Since the initial production runs , most of them have been shipped to units fighting to free Britain , though a few have been shipped to the US for analysis and possible replication of the design .
THE NITTY GRITTY
This project has been something I have been working toward for a long time , since some one pointed me to a post by Lotus in the FFG forums .
His walker was amazing , BUT not easily reproduced since it is made up of probably 500 or so pieces .
So I opted to go my own rout , and make a cast hull version . Originally I had thought about just making a one off copy , carved out of styrene , but figured I would take this opportunity to give resin casting a try .
I have cast a few things in resin in the past , but have never been a fan of resin , because its just always seemed to fragile , and not really user friendly . While I am still no huge fan of it , I find the alumilite resin to be more plastic like .
I chose to ONLY cast the upper hull , and use the already existing medium walker kits for the turret , lower hull , and legs , thus saving me more time . By simply swapping turrets from the other allied walkers , I can make an infinite number of weapons variants , an all around winning idea ………… if only I played allies 
It also made it more fitting as a counter part to the JAG Luther .
First came making a “ master “ to make the mold from . I chose to make a carved hull out of styrene , carved on my band saw .
The first step was to cut styrene sheeting into strips and squares on my band saw .
Next I glued the layers together into blocks , and then carved the rough shapes on my table saw .
Next came some sanding on a sander drum on my drill press . Assemble the sanded shapes , and add in some bits to flesh it out .
Now I had wanted to make the hull more “cast looking , so I used the dab method where you dab and stipple the plastic with plastic solvent , but it had an unintended side effect . the seams between the plastic layers acted like a sieve ; where the plastic solvent got sucked in and dissolved the edges of the players .
Obviously , this wasn’t going to look right . The solution was to glue the doors on , and then coat the rest of the model in watered down liquid green stuff . This filled in the resulting gaps , and made a much smoother surface . This almost did the trick . The gaps were filled in well enough that I couldn’t see them with the naked eye , untill I have made the mold , cast the piece , and then primed it .
Knowing that this casting is not the final step , and that this will be a long continuing project , I don’t mind . The gaps that were left will be brushed over again , and the gaps filled more before the next mold is made .
And then it was off to make the molds .
I have done some resin casting before , but nothing with this much depth to the piece .
I ran into a few problems .
As a result , I made 2 molds for this project , the first went horribly wrong , and was destroyed after only 2 casting attempts . The second was a million times better .
1) The first mold I made had a bunch of air bubble in some key places .
To fix this in the second mold , I took a medium sized paint brush and worked freshly mixed latex mold into the nooks and crannies , this didn’t fix ALL of it , but it did help dramatically
2) the only locally readily available resin kits I can get are at hobby lobby or the like . They all cater to people who want a fast curing resin . This leads to a problem in that if the resin gets to much air whipped in , the resin cures so fast that you cant get it into a vacuum chamber fast enough ( even if you can afford to build a vacuum chamber ) to get the air bubble out .
Now you CAN buy slower curing resin from the company directly , but it just makes it MORE expensive as you pay for shipping and must get it in a higher quantity .
3) the more resin you mix , the faster it cures , and can generate air bubble as the chemicals speedily react . This also led to the resin expanding and warping the piece . It looked like a balloon version of the original .
Because there is so much volume to the piece , the resin I needed to mix for each was curing so fast that it was setting up before I could even pour the cup into the mold .
I tried mixing faster , and did get it in the mold a couple of times , but each time it expanded and warped , and on the second attempt , it destroyed the first mold .
To fix this , I mixed it in a lot of smaller batches over a longer period of time . So instead of a quick 5 minutes a piece , it was spread out over about an hour . While it may seem logical that I could mix smaller amounts , one after another and just pour them in one after another , it didn’t work out that way . As each batch is mixed and poured in , it starts to heat up and cure , pouring in the following ones too fast causes a chain reaction where by it over heats and cures to fast , warping again .
By mixing and pouring each partial ounce several minutes after the previous one , the layers were thinner , the previous layer would cure , heat up less , and start to cool off , letting the next layer cure at a slower pace , and reducing the heat and expansion .
This reduced the air bubble dramatically , but not completely . STILL , the results are 1000% better than the old “epicast” resin vehicles many WH40Ker’s may remember form 20 years ago . Each one requires some light clean up after de-molding , but hey , it beats sitting for 3-4 days to cut 5-600 pieces of plasti card each .
4) the more detail you put into it , the more likely you are to get air bubble .
So while the hull looks bland , I also made a separate mold of some detail bits , that I can add to the hulls to add more variety later . Still got some air bubbles in some of the details casts , but nothing I can’t easily fix in clean up , and something I can also use for other models as needed 
5) the mold doesn’t hold up very well with these undercuts and details , so its just a simple fact that I will have to replace the mold before to long , and that each cast piece will require more and more clean up as time goes by .
I plan to try a sturdier mold material next time , but that will have to wait till later , when I have time and cash to buy more latex . For now , this mold will do .
6) the resin DOES expand , a little bit , even if pouring it in smaller quantities .
As a general rule , when things heat up , they expand . The mixing of the 2 resin chemicals causes heat , the more you mix the hotter it gets , and the faster it cures , and the more it expands . NORMALLY , when a hot item cools , it shrinks . The problem here is that it’s a liquid that heats up , expands , and then hardens while its still hot and expanded .
There was no real way to totally stop this in a 1 piece mold , so as a result I have to do a little clean up in the turret ring to make sure it fits smoothly . Nothing major , just about 30 seconds of light sanding and its all good !
So after making this second mold , and casting from it , I see there were a few imperfections in the master that I didn’t notice until I primed it , and could see the shadows . I need to take care of them before I make another mold of it . Nothing horrible , nothing I cant live with in these test pieces , but my goal for the final product is to have the hull as perfect as possible , so that its requires little or no filling or clean up before being put in place .
While not perfect , its still pretty cool IMHO , especially since I don’t play allies , and was doing this for the fun of trying the project , and not as a make or break project idea . I am chalking this up in the win column .
Now to make this hull fit the medium walker body , and look right , I also cast a piece to fill the empty space inside the hull , to give a better gluing surface all around .
I popped the lower hulls top off .
I tried making the insert thinner , but it looked too flimsy , so I sanded a little bit out of the front to make the trench deeper and allow for a more appropriate looking insert .
The hull sponson is NOT movable . Its all part of the solid cast hull . I made a small sponson mount to attach weapon barrels to , but to simplify the build , the back side is flat , not curved . To attach it to the hull , I pinned and glued it , and added in a bit of liquid green stuff to fill the gap as needed . The barrel mount piece is part of the detail bits mold I made .
As far as playability , this walker project presented some interesting challenges , and opportunities .
I refrained from trying any mods that would be over powered , like say 2 independent 17 pounders , which would make this walker the most powerful in the game , because of the target and damage opportunities that would open up .
This walker is in some ways much weaker than the punisher/fireball heavy walkers , but also has some major advantages , most notably being its smaller target profile . One of the major drawbacks to a heavy walker is that because it takes up 4 squares , it requires a large area to move through , and it occupies a large area , allowing more enemy units to target it , once they are within range .
By occupying only 1 square , this walker can only be targeted by units that can see that 1 square . It makes it much harder to hit , and thus has a greater survivability .
While it does have 2 heavy weapons , this is some what off set in most variants in that it lacks the massive machine gun armaments that the allied heavy walkers have .
Thus far , most of the variants we have proxied have been worth about 10 points (old point system ) , and while some may see that as excessive , you have to realize that adding in a second heavy weapon DRAMATICALLY changes the dynamic of the game for both sides .
You will notice I have not fifnished painting the figure , this is an ongoing project . There will be atleast one or 2 more posts on it as it progresses , and we finish play testing the variants out .
I chose to prime the figure to do the pics for it because the unprimed resin hull was to bright and shiney , so I was having to lower the exposure on my digital camera , which was making for crappy pics . by priming it , i was able to get better pics of the details
I am REALLY not happy with the grate , so it will be covered over in the next mold . As it stands , once I soot it up it wont look bad , but I know its there , and it will bother me so .......
so there you have it , MEDIUM-HEAVY COMBAT WALKER MH-7 ......PART 1
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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
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PANZER AUFKLARERLAUFER I-Q JONAS
With the increasingly widespread use of walkers in the major conflict zones , it was inevitable that battle fields would become more dynamic .
A multi purpose mechanized armor unit was needed that could fill some of the new rolls that were becoming apparent as vital to the front line war effort .
First was a need for a light , highly mobile light artillery unit that could give close support to infantry as it advanced .
Second , a mobile unit able to strike and fade , for use to draw an enemy out , or hit and run strikes to disrupt enemy supply lines .
And third , a light support artillery unit that could move up close enough , and quiet enough to get a decisive opening barrage to provide cover for infantry to move up behind and close to striking distance of the enemy .
While high command had initially wanted a unit with a large bore artillery mount , a design submitted by Gorhieam Firma presented a design that incorporated a long barrel gravity fired , auto fed ,5 cm leGrW 36 .
While not a traditional artillery weapon , it proved to be very effective in initial field testing on firing ranges at the factory facilities . The comparatively low noise produced by the mortars firing made it much harder to locate , especially at extended ranges .
A major weakness was exposed in field tests in actual combat situations ; the mortars effective range becomes drastically hampered by close in fighting as its targeting gear tries to cope with the rapid changing target ranges on a moving platform . Most operators shift to manual targeting for targets closer than 100 meters . But even with this drawback , it is none the less proving to be a fantastic close in infantry support vehicle
Pairing the mortar with an MG 44 gives the JONAS hitting power at short and medium ranges , allowing it to move in to support infantry , or stand off to protect important objectives .
What would a WW2 based game be without mortars ?
When I started looking at adding in mortars to the game , I had 2 trains of thought , first was to use the spigot mortar on the steel rain as a guideline , and the other was to look at using range “A” . each has its own merits , and its own drawbacks .
First , I thought about the range “A” option . This makes sense in that mortars do have a really long range , but the major drawback is that I was worried it would become a game of artillery , with both sides piling artillery on in heaps . Which would really take away from the fun of the battle . Additionally , I think a lot of people get caught up in the “designers reality” loop : in reality , “X” weapon can do “X” , shoot at range ”X” , and cause ”X” damage . But this all relies on the idea of the weapon performing at its best , in the best conditions , with the best possible operators . The “actual reality” is that weapons are seldom used under those conditions , and seldom achieve their “designed” stats . Take for instance a generic infantry rifle , yes it could shoot a bullet 500+ yards , but under battle field conditions , most targets and shots were taken at only a fraction of that distance , so an in game statistic would be more like range 6 for actual combat effective range .
While I DO see a potential addition to the game for “A” range mortars , like the 380MM one used by Japan , what I was looking for in this instance was a smaller infantry weapon that would not be out of place on a variety of battle field sizes such as those we play on .
Next was the idea of the spigot mortar on the steel rain . This initially worked kinda ok , but we found that on small or large battle fields , it started to become a hindrance . On large battle fields , the max range was too limited , on small battle fields , the min range let the opponents get too close too fast . These wouldn’t have been as big an issue , except that because its primarily an anti infantry weapon , its not really designed to stand up to enemy vehicle fire .
We originally played this out using infantry .
As a result of play testing it on a variety of table sizes , originally we found it was a nice addition when played with a range of 2-5 or 3-6 . It wasn’t over powering , but wasn’t so limited as to make it undesirable .
We ran into problems facing off against increasing numbers of allied armor 3 infantry . Their speed 2 and jump made them just too maneuverable , and left them too able to get behind the range limits of the weapon , or in the case of tank busters , too able to jump in to range and lay waste to the unit before it could really attempt to defend it self .
So we tried widening the range to 2-6 , and found it allowed the units to act a little more aggressive , AND be a little more intimidating to opponents infantry to try and assault . But this came with a change of focus for the weapon . While the weapons load is good against infantry , its still not great , which is perfectly fine , since its smoke shells allow for mortar equipped units to block LOS which lets not just the unit with the mortar to advance across open terrain , but large numbers of other units as well . .
We then tried it both on infantry squads , and with this walker as a vehicle mounted weapon . It works pretty good either way . a lot of the games I try new stuff out in , we use proxy figs . If something works , we will go through the effort to make/get figs to represent . I plan to add in infantry mortar squads , but haven’t found figs I want to use for it , so those will wait till later .
We found that smoke rounds were pretty powerful , so after playing it through , we limited it to just 3 rounds , because on larger boards , it allowed for a couple turns of additional jockeying for position as LOS is blocked to units with range “U” .
The smoke shells ability works in a similar way to the NCO smoke rounds , BUT with a few exceptions .
First , we found that simply allowing the smoke round to be fired in addition to a regular round was a bit on the strong side because a squad could make a sustained attack , firing the mortar and any other weapons they had , and then pop smoke to stop retaliation . To tone it down a bit we made the “smoke shell” special skill attach to a weapon , and count as an attack with that weapon , but substituting the smoke shells effects instead of damage .
This also means that smoke shells are effected by any other skills attached to that weapon ( such as “reload” on our tanks ) , and is limited to having the same range , instead of all the smoke shells having range “U” .
I don’t generally like the idea of using units to “support” other units . I see that as a waste of points that could be used for more aggressive units , as nothing causes an opponent to panic as much as getting mauled . THIS unit is the exception to that policy . Its smoke rounds allow it to be supportive while moving forward to take position . Its weapons allow it to find and hold key points from infantry , but still be a serious threat that will tend to cause opponents to expend more resources to deal with .
By no means is this a frontline charge in and kill’em all unit , but its proven to be a very good counter to ever increasingly deadly A3 infantry , which is still in short supply at this point in the games development .
I wish this was another official unit , as I would love to have 3 in my collection , without having to take the time out of working on my other projects to build them .
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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
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As the war has drug on , it has shifted farther away from a war of bullets , bombs , and tanks to a war of pencils , records , and supply sergeants .
Nowhere is the issue of supply more apparent than those units that are far from friendly territory , who cant get regular supply runs ; and looking at the world map ; its apparent that each side has more than its fair share of such combat zones .
But necessity has always bore the greatest inventions , and combat engineers and mechanics become ever more valuable as they work miracles in getting otherwise scrapped units ready to fight again .
Walker tank hybrids have begun popping up on all sides , in most major combat theatres . In the fight or die circumstances that each force faces , combat mechanics and battle field engineers have salvaged anything they can , and its led to some truly bizarre creations . An ever increasing sight are hybrids that even combined walkers and tank parts salvaged from enemy units defeated in battle .
The biggest drawback is pilots having to learn to drive a walker with totally different controls . But with the integration of tank parts , such as the gun mounts , it can also result in a much slower rate of fire , if auto feeds aren’t available for its weapon systems .
Reffered to as “Fanken-tanks” by the allies , “Dvornyazhka” (mongrel) by the Sino-Soviets , and “Mischling” (mutt) by Axis commanders ; most crews of such units are treated as second class pilots . The units are seen as “better than nothing” gap fillers , with less than desirable combat capabilities .
Because the salvaged walkers have had such a negative reception ; its not unheard of for a higher ranking officer whose walker has been hybridized , “commandeering” a lower ranking pilots ride , and forcing the lower ranked pilot to drive the scrap walker . BUT , on occasion , a hybrid walker crew will have sufficient success to earn a reputation and at least a certain degree of notoriety .
Enter the Berge-Mischling ............
With dwindling supplies available to the German expeditiary forces in West Africa , battle field mechanics have their hands full taking apart and rebuilding any vehicles they can get their hands on and rushing it back out to the front lines . As a result , nowhere are the “mutts“ more prevalent than in the west African units .
Needing to be able to recover and repair vehicles ASAP , the battle field engineers and mechanics took to building a specialty vehicle out of what they had on hand , to help them in their tasks .
With all the punishment that an allied heavy walker can take , its no coincidence that opponents have to pretty much destroy them to neutralize the threat , thus those that ARE left behind by retreating allied units usually are nothing more than slag .
With an ever greater premium being placed on recovery and repair , the need for larger ARVs is felt on front lines every where . Where as a crippled tank can usually be towed , walkers often have to be partially disassembled and placed on trucks to be hauled to repair facilities .
First appearing in the German Expeditiary forces in Africa , this salvaged ARV design is proving to be worth its weight in VK . Variants are cropping up on all major battle fronts where the axis and allies face off against one and other .
Having a heavy ARV has allowed German forces faster recovery of lighter walkers , and increased recovery and repair on Heavy walkers . Its cargo capacity allows for rapid deployment of mechanics , as well as spare parts and scrap to be carried back for recycling after a battle .
Because of the ferocity with which the war is being fought , and the desperation for raw materials and manufacturing facilities , the German high command has so far refused to approve the development and production of a heavy ARV , but some are starting to reconsider that policy based on the results that the heavy ARV are achieving .
Despite the stigma that most Mischling crews operate under , crews of the Berge-Mischling are seen as life savers by troops and commanders alike . With the impact that a heavy ARV can have on a battle , Allied and Sino-Soviet commanders have issued orders prioritizing the heavy ARVs as targets , and have even attempted commando raids to try and destroy them . As such , axis commanders generally only deploy Berg-Mischlings where they are needed most ; when large battles are planned .
Rumor has it that allied and Sino-Soviet planners are working on heavy ARV’s of their own , for limited production and deployment
WHO LET THE MUTTS OUT ?!?!? WHO? WHO? WHO?
I LOVE the look of the allied heavy walker , and wanted to find a way to ad one to my German forces , but don’t want to blur the lines of the factions . While I had envisioned this design with a 8.8 in the tank turret , with the reload ability , I didn’t want something that was just too close of a rip on the walker made by another company for their alt history WW2 game .
So I decided to go with a recovery vehicle . Especially after seeing a pic of what was termed the Bergetiger .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergetiger
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bergetiger+tank&gs_sm=1...
While there is plenty of good supporting evidence to suggest that the “Bergtiger” is NOT an ARV . I liked the look of it , and wanted something that similarly looked like it was put together by battle field engineers as opposed to something factory direct .
I wanted to dramatically change the weapons load to make it more of an engineering vehicle , and less of the monster that the original is in the game . I decided on a regular flamer , and an MG44 .
If I were an allied player , I would have just bought a Mickey ARV to use the turret , and make this an allied ARV .
I don’t really plan to play it much , and see it mostly as a scenario objective …….. And something that was a lot of fun to build 
Popping this walker aprt very much made me thing of shucking crabs . You will notice the kelly green spots on the unpainted walker , thats the color the paint turns when you apply a brazing torch
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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
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Since the official rules for transport came out , i am updating my vehicle cards . here is the first batch , more will follow .....
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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
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Like many other fans of DUST TACTICS , I to would LOVE to see more “mundane” units like tanks enter the game . I realize that the longer FFG can draw out the slow release of units for this game , the longer they can control it . In all likely hood , IF more “mundane” units were ever to be released , it would be years from now . So lets talk tanks .
FIRST , lets address the reality of the situation for WW2 production . I have seen a few people comment on various boards with the basic notion of “ well if they had access to walkers , why would they want to use tanks ?” , which I would counter with : if you had a choice of using jeeps/trucks to transport supplies , or horse pulled wagons , which would you choose ? When Germany had this issue arise , they chose both . Its estimated that as many as 600,000 horses were used as draught animals to help transport troops and supplies to begin operation Barbarosa , which was still somewhat early in the war . Some estimates put the total number of HORSES killed in combat/transport related duty in the USSR theatre of operations at over 14MILLION .
The attitude of “Why use tanks ? “ is very much based on a “modern warfare, made in china” mentality .
We as a WORLD , have become very much used to the idea of instant gratification , never ending supply , and cheaply made goods . For as much as so many people LOVE to HATE stores like Walmart , big box retailers are just a symptom of social model that most people have embraced their entire lives .
Our worlds history , since WW2 , is full of conflicts both large and small : Korea , Vietnam , Panama , Iraq1 , Iraq 2 , etc …… . but because they were comparatively such limited wars , with such a small area of conflict , they have not had such a profound effect on the daily lives of the citizens of most developed nations .
So lets look back 68 years to 1943 . WW2 has been in effect for over 4 years . In pretty much every country involved in the conflict , severe rationing has been initiated .
In America the “War Production Board “ was established in 1942 . They take control of materials like steel , copper , aluminum , rubber , silk , and nylon . Over 300 items ( like refrigerators , toothpaste tubes , and beer cans ) are listed as “nonessential” , and are not allowed to be produced for the remaining duration of the war .
Ration books are given out with tickets . If you want meat , you are limited to buying ONLY what your ration book allows , so once you are out of tickets , its either no more meat for the week/month , or you buy tickets on the black market and HOPE you don’t get caught .
Americans are driving cars with an average of less than 12 miles per gallon , and due to the war , they get an average ration of only 3 GALLONS of gas a week .
Women give up things like nylons , resulting in the mass use of “leg makeup” , a substance that ladies painted on their legs prior to going out . To get the appearance of a “seem” , they would have some one draw one in with an eyebrow pencil .
National scavenger hunts are a constant theme , as people look for ANYTHING that can be recycled and donated to the war effort .
Keep in mind , this is in the USA , a country with very few incidents of actual attack on home soil . Most other nations are even more stringent on rationing requirements .
This is set against a back drop of war time production . Tanks , planes , and ships are built by the thousands , in record time. During the war over 600,000 jeeps alone were built . This is the world Dust Tactics is set in ; a world where EVERY persons life is impacted .
Imagine how many lives would be ruined TODAY if suddenly there were going to be no more video game consoles made for the next 5 years , AND people were forced to donate the ones they had to the war effort to recycle the “rare earth elements” used to make them .
Even with all that war time production would accomplish , it needs to be remembered that a lot of what was produced were replacements for items lost in combat : At the beginning of the invasion of France , Germany only had 290 Panzer IV’s . over the next month they would lose 97 of them in combat ; to be replaced at an initial rate of 13 a month .
So lets look at the question of “WHY would they want to use tanks if they had access to walkers ?” . to do so , lets look at the German TIGER I battle tank .
While the tiger was a MONSTER of a tank to face , it was also a monster to produce and maintain/repair .
A complicated suspension system , with hard to access components meant that just to repair a drive problem could take 2-3 times as long as it would to repair a similar problem on any other German tank of the period .
Heavy armor and an underpowered engine left many tanks broken down on the side of the road during maneuvers . Additionally , because the tank was so heavy , none of the existing recovery vehicles were capable of towing it to a repair facility . Apparently there was even a regulation prohibiting tigers from towing other tigers because towing ANOTHER tiger only served to over work their engines even worse , resulting in 2 tigers sitting by the road side , waiting for repair .
For the cost of one tiger , the German military could buy AT LEAST 2 other tanks of other design , AND the tiger took twice as long to produce as almost any other tank in the German arsenal . At the height of production , a mere 104 a month were being produced .
Set this against a back drop of over 56,000 Shermans , and 36,000 soviet T-43’s vs. about1,400 Tiger I’s produced (with only about half as many actually in running condition at any given time ) .
It becomes a question of numbers : do you produce twice as many PanzerIV’s for half the cost per tank ? Or do you wait , and wait , and spend , and spend , to get JUST Tiger I’s into the field to fill the tank vacancies while the battles rage on , and you are losing tanks every week ? At the same time you have to replace losses in shipping , aircraft , rifles , uniforms , etc ………..
While we are talking about a FICTIONAL game unit , it’s the same situation . Just knowing the structural requirements of how to build a walker doesn’t make it cheap or easy to produce . Now you are talking about needing new alloys , more technically demanding components , entire new systems to design, and all of it would be even more expensive than a tank .
So if you were running the war production of one of the nations , would you continue taking the losses every week in tanks , walkers , planes , etc ……… and wait so you can replace them with more expensive , harder to produce walkers ? Or do you keep manufacturing “mundane units” like tanks to keep the war going , adding in walkers as production allows ?
Thats not to say that tanks wouldn’t see some advances in technology to , but in the middle of a war , it would be more of a trickle , as opposed to a flood of new technology .
And this doesn’t even address the issue of crew training , which would become even more burdensome for a vehicle that is so much more advanced and complicated as a walker would have to be .
Now lets talk about some guidelines we use here for playing tanks .
First , as the fluff states , walkers would provide a better vantage point , for a better command of the situation . As a rule , keeping this in mind , tanks can not see over tank traps or low hills ( unless they have a skill that allows otherwise) , though they can see over infantry .
Tanks cannot enter medium or heavy wooded hexes , they are not nearly agile enough .
While walkers have auto fed weapons , tanks rely on people to load , aim , and shoot them , so tanks should have the “reload” special ability . This also allows the more expensive sophisticated auto fed weapons and aiming systems to be saved for the walkers that can better use them .
Because of their inherent stability , many medium or light tanks should have the “fast” ability .
Most tanks will have at least 2 more life than a comparable sized walker . This represents that while a medium walker may have the same bulk as a medium tank , the tank has “wheels” , so it only has to roll or sit and shoot while a lot of a walkers bulk is devoted to standing and walking , so it can take a lot less damage to destroy/disable a walker than it would likely take to destroy/disable a tank .
Some of you may recall that I posted pics of tank cards in the gallery a long while back . I have since gone back , taken them down , and re submitted them with the “reload “ skill , and re-costed them a little cheaper to reflect the impact it has on game play .
Below are a few of my tank cards . I have more in the works , but decided to repaint most of the tanks before i photograph them , so more will be posted as they get done getting painted , so stay tuned 
-
kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
-
PANZER AUFKLARERLAUFER I-N(A) UTZ
WITH Hitlers demise , wiser heads could prevail . With a free hand to do its job right , the ,military could take a more logical approach to warfare . After suffering substantial delays and losses in the African campaign , to the British “Long Range Desert Patrol Group” , Field Marshal Rommel took the experiences to hart . With the war dragging on , and the allies fighting to keep a hold on Europe Rommel pushed through a plan to start a special operations group based on the organizational structure and operations of the LRDPG , but with a substantially increased unit size .
Seeing the success a small group could have , and all the chaos they could leave in their wake , Rommel wanted to see how much damage could be done if such units were spread out to all the corners of the axis area of influence .
In western Romania , Rommel established a secret special operations training facility , to train troops in non standard unit operations , small unit tactics , demolitions , and escape and evasion training , based on the reports of the damage caused by the LRDPG .
Organizing and operating the new unit ,dubbed the "Dachs-Kampfgruppe" or badger brigade , Fell to a a newly promoted colonel with experience in dealing with the long range desert patrol ; Colonel Hans Gudegast .
Gudegast sought members from far and wide through out the Reich , believing that their regional knowledge , and experience in the varying terrain types would be a strong building block on which to found the units .
While referred to as a “brigade” , in reality the organization is closer to a division in size . While the LRDPG was a some what small unit , it was just one unit , and thus could only accomplish its operations in a limited area . The Dachs-Kampfgruppe was to become a large loosely associated fighting force that would be broken into smaller units and sent out to operate on the various fronts . Its members would be deployed in groups of roughly brigade size or smaller , operating under their own command structures , to achieve the goals of the overall battle front commanders they are assigned to .
To accomplish this , the badger brigades are equipped with various light transport vehicles , some light armor , and occasionally even pack animals such as horses or camels .
One such vehicle is the PANZER AUFKLARERLAUFER I-N(A) UTZ . Intended as a light anti infantry walker , the Utz mounts 2 MG 44’s . It was originally intended for use in occupied territories to deal with civilian uprisings , but the high cost of producing walkers means it will be years before walkers can be spared for civilian control duties .
Among many of the Badger Brigades duties is sneaking behind enemy lines and calling in artillery and air strikes . While mechanized armor would seem like the last thing a scouting team would want , the added height of the light walkers allows for a better observation platform , especially in heavily wooded areas .
Generally , Utz are deployed with other infantry units behind the lines . To better facilitate this , the Utz has a cargo rack to carry extra supplies and offer a good artillery spotting blind .
To maximize its operation abilities , each Utz has 2 permanently attached team members that serve as artillery observers , and often carry 2 other special operations members that they can drop off along the way to better support the mission .
Nearby infantry can use their weaker radio units to call in artillery strikes and battle field reconnaissance to the Utz , which then relays the information on its more powerful command radio .
Its easy , when looking into the world of DUST , to get lost in the cool sci fi feel , the nostalgia for a simpler time , and the really hot pin up art Parente and his cohorts bring to the execution of the image .
And I am sure we have all sat down and given a light thought to the “what if” possibilities , but its really an amazing thing to consider just how much even just the premature death of Hitler would have caused .
For those not aware , beyond the limited events depicted in the movie “Valkyrie” , Hitler would go on to order the deaths of about 5,000 people , and among them was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who was not an active participant , but was alleged to have know about the plot in advance .
With Hitler’s death , it was more than just the death of a nut job , it was a whole new chance for those 5,000 people to help turn the tide of the war , and new ideas to see the light of day .
So I have been working on this idea for a few months . It would have been done sooner , but the holidays and my terrain projects kinda delayed it , for which I am grateful . Had I finished this a few months ago , I would not have seen the MONSTER that the allied heavy walker is , and the cool design of the recon Mickey . I had been on the fence about giving a vehicle the artillery strike ability , but with the recon Mickey , now there is precedent
My original inspiration for this was recalling from my WAYYYYYYYYYY early childhood , little snippets of reruns that they showed on TV of a show called The Rat Patrol . It was based on the British unit named above (LRDPG) . When I was a kid , the show was used by a local TV station as a filler ( back before “filler“=infomercial) for time slots when a movie or sports show ran short or long .
Fast forward to a few months back when I began exploring the idea for this walker , and found a copy of the Rat Patrol complete series was available on DVD , at Amazon.com for a mere $15 ( OVER 18 HOURS OF RAT PATROL RAIDS !!!!!!!!!!! ) , KAZAAAA!
While it may seem like a super powerful walker for just being a light walker , in reality , while the abilities DO make it a force to be reckoned with , its still somewhat limited offensively on its own .
Keeping in mind the idea of recon as its primary job , and that lacking heavy weapons , it would be lighter and need les gyro stabilization to operate ; I gave it fast and scout vehicle .
This walker is intended to operate on larger battle fields where spotter squads on their own are less suitable because of the extreme distances they have to cover .
Its transport of 2 lets it transport up to 2 heroes , spotter team , or sniper team , forward to help take and hold key positions as the rest of the army advances .
I went ahead and gave it stats for a panzerfaust to represent the crew breaking out weapons from their supply stores , and included knives and grenades to represent its infantry observers tossing grenades out as a last ditch effort against armor 3 infantry .
QUATER MASTER : This unit may perform a "skill" action , to resupply one adjacent frindly unit with a complete refill on all of its single use weapons , up to its starting quantity .
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kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
-
Well , what’s a battle field without some walls ? And what’s a battle field in a SciFi game without really heavy fortified walls ? Perfect for pretty much any SciFi game , from Dust Tactics , to WarHammer 40K , and even smaller scale games such as BattleTech , heavy fortified walls are an important part of pretty much any SciFi setting .
This is the first in a series of project articles that relate specifically to walls . it’s a simple how to , but for those without the craftyness or tools to make their own , I have made a limited number of spare walls to sell , just PM me if you are interested , and for international buyers , this project is light enough that international shipping isn’t as ridiculous as it is for most of my other projects .
So I thought it was time to make some low walls so that I could have raging gun battles , but still have a degree of protection , and to give some more visual appeal to my games .
Every battle field has a theme ; woods , farmland , jungle , urban , etc…….. . one thing many have in common are walls . Be they an integral part of the theme such as in an urban setting , or a small visual detail such as a ruined temple in the deepest darkest jungle . They can really add some detail to an otherwise bland battle field ; accenting and complementing other terrain pieces , while not taking away from the miniatures more important larger terrain elements .
My first issue in beginning this project was just deciding on a theme . Because I have limited space to work in , I can only do one project at a time , so for this project I decided that I wanted to work on some fortified walls that would fit both urban settings , and work as well for battles around military targets like bases , check points , and such .
In Dust Tactics terms , it provides a legitimate option for a terrain piece that give hard cover , and could be found inside a base building where tank traps don’t belong ; either in a similar manner to ammo crates , or as fortified positions such as machine gun emplacements .
In micro scale games like battle tech , while they wont stop a mech , they would do a great job of hindering them , and slap a missile launcher battery or similar weapon on top , and now you have a hardened major headache for the players to try and get past .
Now for those that have followed my blogs , you may recall that I don’t sit down and write my ideas out as plans on paper . I may write down dimensions just to keep track of it latter on , but I don’t do detailed planning , its all in my head in a constantly evolving process . I may make several prototypes of an idea just to see how they actually look compared to the minis in the game .
As I contemplated the idea of the low fortified walls , my first idea was to make thin walls , similar to cement traffic barricades . The problem was that those are usually thicker at the base , and thin toward the top . It would present 2 problems ; first would be the pain of producing them in large quantities by hand ( I don’t like plaster terrain , and resin to substantially more expensive and a pain in its own way ) , second is that in gaming scale it just doesn’t look as visually appealing as it does in movies .
So I tried a variety of ideas , which led me to the realization that a “fortified” wall needs to be about ½ inch thick , other wise it looks to flimsy in gaming scale . Its ok for fortified buildings to be made of thinner material because visually the bulk of the building makes up for it . But for this wall project , anything thinner than about ½ inch is just to thin to look right .
I even spent time making a few to test out how the supports should look . I had tried a few ideas , and decided on the one I liked best to give more visual appeal to the walls , but not over power the final piece .
Next was an issue of size . I made these with the idea of using them in Dust tactics , which uses a gridded battle field . With that in mind I needed something shorter than a standard square edge because I wanted something that would fit inside the square . This arose because some of my larger terrain projects let the bases go over the lines , and in urban settings it can clutter the play are if too much terrain fits outside a square . Making these shorter would allow me to add them to battle fields as needed , without cramping the space needed for other terrain pieces .
Remember , these are accents to the battle fields , NOT the focus of the setting .
I tried out a few sizes , and settled on 3 inch increments . At that size I could fit these in with other pieces to compliment them in the over all battle field set up , AND they are more easily integrated into OTHER minis games .
All in all I made probably 12 or 13 prototypes to arrive at the final design I thought looked best .
So here is what I did …………….
Each 3inch wall is made of 5 parts .
First I took a sheet of ½ inch thick MDF , and cut it down into 1 inch wide strips , then cut those strips into 3 inch lengths .
Next I cut a sheet of ¼ inch thick MDF into ½ inch wide strips , then cut the strips into ¾ inch length .
Next step is to sand the edges of 3 ( 2 long and one short ) sides on each end of the ½ inch thick strip to create a beveled edge . This doesn’t have to be exactly perfect . While the walls add a really nice effect , and the bevels really add to that , they are small accent pieces , and wont be as scrutinized as the larger pieces they compliment , so in this case close is good enough .
Here you can see a stack of 10 of the 3 inch lengths with the beveled edges .
Now all you have to do is assemble them . Decide how far apart you want the supports to be , and try to make sure that they all match . To make this easier , you can make a spacing jig to make sure they all match .
Once that is done , I applied a layer of watered down wood glue to help solidify the edges of the MDF , and to make them easier to paint .
After that dried I applied a layer of gray interior house paint . Let that dry for a few days .
Then I did a dark wash , and let it dry overnight .
Next a highlighting layer of the same house paint used for the original base coat , let it dry a couple days , then highlighted with a light gray craft paint and let it dry .
And finally sealing with a good coat of clear sealant ( I prefer krylon brand ) and a coat of dull coat lacquer to help dull the clear coating .
I’m pretty darned happy with how they came out .
As I said above , I have a limited number of extras made . Anyone wanting any , just PM me for a price list .
-
kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
-
PANZER AUFKLARERLAUFER I-Q “ENGEL”
When we think of other countries, its easy to forget that countries are just geographical boundaries , and on them live the people . As such , its easy to misinterpret or misunderstand something our enemies have done , because we forget that each group of people is led by other people ; by individuals , that think like individuals , and go about life with their own set of priorities .
The realm of vehicle design is no different . The design priorities of one army will be very different from the priorities of their enemies .
The PANZER AUFKLARERLAUFER I-Q “ENGEL” is an example of how different design priorities are represented on the battle filed , and evolve on their own paths based on how individual command structures use them .
Well before walkers became so prolific on the battle filed , not so very long ago , all the major powers have tried incorporating flame throwers into an armored tank platform . In the allies , they pursued its use on medium tanks , and eventually onto medium walkers , where they see substantial use in clearing enemy fortifications .
For the German armored core , the idea was only actively pursued in lighter out dated tanks , and saw limited success in the Panzer II F “FLAMINGO” , and was eventually temporarily abandoned due to poor performance ,and a perceived lack of need .
But with the rapid expansion of the battle fields across Europe and Asia , and the new realities of close in urban warfare , the idea has resurfaced in the Engel . Though it is still based on a light walker platform , and armed with only a pair of light flame throwers its proving to be very useful in dealing with clearing out enemy resistance in urban warfare .
By removing the more sophisticated ballistic weapons , the extra bracing , additional gyros , and advanced targeting gear , the Engel is lighter , faster , easier to repair , and much easier to drive . There is no need carefully maneuver to line up on the target , all the pilots have to do is rush in and spray the enemy in cleansing flame ..
The new Engel is seeing a rapid increase in use : on the eastern front ; where its flame throwers can turn a cold winter street into hell rapidly with just the pull of a trigger . And at lab facilities dealing with biological agents ; the flame throwers can cleanse a facility of potential accidental outbreaks getting into local communities .
In addition to the standard Mk. I , a Mk. II variant is being deployed for urban use in axis cities and military installations . Almost indistinguishable from the Mk. I ; the flame throwers have been replaced by high pressure , high capacity fire extinguishers . Additionally , a more sophisticated air filter system has been installed in the cockpit . The walkers agility and armor give it a huge advantage when trying to fight the raging inferno’s that result from allied carpet bombing of axis cities .
Well , with all the space that was being taken up by obstacles , I lucked out and had a little extra space while my last order was drying out doors after getting base coated , so I got to work on finishing a Ludwig and this one . Once I get my next batch of obstacles done , I will take a few days and work on a couple more walker variants as well as getting the rest of my axis infantry painted up .
Believe it or not , this idea has taken me a year to complete .
I have always loved the idea of a flame thrower tank , and saw this as the perfect game to make a flame thrower tank based on the flamingo tank that the Germans developed . It had 2 flame throwers that had remote operated mini turrets on its fenders with nozzles that could swivel from side to side as the gunner directed , each spraying out 30 foot long jets of flame , and a heavy machine gun in its main turret .
Now the reason its taken me a year to finish is because I am part of the group that believes that we should see some more mundane units in the game . I really feel that the walkers in this game , and infantry as well , are as cool as they are because their story is set against the back drop of world war 2 . We all have at least some degree of historical learning related to it , and with all the movies and TV shows , the look and feel are familiar to us .
I think having mundane units in the game makes it all come even more alive as the visual appeal of the walkers contrasts with the older trucks and tanks and it fills its niche even more . Games like WH40k just drowned the players in their over the top units , so that after a while , players HAVE to spend tons on custom made units to get away from the same boring bland units that every one has , and has been using for over a decade .
So my original direction I wanted to go was with a flame thrower tank , but with all the other projects I have done , I never got around to buying a die cast tank to build it from .
And then several months ago , the light walkers came along . While I was not overly enthused with the weapons choices available for it , I LOVED the visual look of the light walker body . I decided that it would be a better choice to make a flame thrower LIGHT walker , that that would keep it in the spirit of the original designs .
Also keeping it in the original idea of just a light walker , reflects the different priority that German commanders had VS allied commanders .
I opted to leave the machine gun off , and just go with the 2 flame throwers , I figure it will be deadly enough against infantry without the need for an MG to back it up , though I have toyed with a variant that swaps a MG for one of the flame throwers just to give it a little more range than the flame throwers have .
But I have wrestled with how I wanted the flame thrower units to look . While the DT units have a strong visual flavor of WW2 era design elements , the axis walkers have their own unique appeal , and I wanted something more than just a hose and a fuel tank .
I should also point out to those that would suggest painting the fuel tanks orange or red or some such color , this isn’t WH40K , so such conspicuous colors on the exterior of the walker would have been very out of place on a WW2 battle field . While a part of me wants such a splash of color , I am trying to keep the paint schemes in line with historical paint schemes .
I also wrestled with the parts I would use . I didn’t want to just grab a WH40K heavy flamer , though I wont begrudge those who have . And while I hate to use GW parts on Dust Tactics models ( because I think they pull you away from DT , and back to thinking about 40K ) I thought this was an acceptable compromise in aesthetics .
Now a lot of people think that light walkers should all have fast , and in this instance , I would agree . With flame weapons , and a lighter frame , the pilot doesn’t need to worry so much about drawing a bead on an enemy target ; in this case all they have to do is point and spay , so the pilot can choose to open up the throttle , and move a little faster .
I chose to give it 2 stat lines for the flame throwers so that it can target 2 separate enemy units ( like the original “flamingo“ ) , and rather than just use the stats of the napalm thrower , I chose to use the stats from a regular flame thrower and just increase the range to 2 to represent having a higher pressure tank to spray it farther .
When I play tested it , it was a lot of fun , and though I don’t plan to play it too often , its second on my list of favorite units to play . This is another walker that I wish was a standard design .
This was obviously NOT a 2 point unit , so to begin with ; I played it a few games at 3 points , and it worked out well :
Its “fast “ ability allowed it to cross the field quickly in an attempt to close range with its opposing units . This worked really well on smaller fields , but not so well on larger ones where it took greater thought , and some hard fought alleys to get across the field .
Lacking a machine gun or other longer ranged weapon , it was at an extreme disadvantage when facing other walkers one on one , but did fairly well in hunting infantry as long as it got to go first . A wise allied player can use other infantry squads to screen this one , and let tank busters or bot hunters get shots off that will easily kill it with its meager 3 life points .
While flame throwers are very good weapons in general , as anyone who has played the game long enough can tell you ; its entirely to easy to roll 12 dice and miss with every one . As such , when hunting armor 3 units , it was at an extreme disadvantage since it only has 3 life , and unless you manage to kill the infantry unit , it can retaliate and seriously put the hurt on .
After 4 or 5 games , I played it another 4 or 5 games at 4 points , and it didn’t play as well . Its low armor and low life points made it just to frail to justify as being equivalent in points to a generic medium walker , and far weaker than the allies “Hot Dog”
After a few more games at 3 points , to be sure , I left it at the 3 point mark where it makes a good points filler unit to balance out other odd pointed units .
Very much a fun unit to play .
-
kris gorham
United States
albuquerque
New Mexico
I wasn't born ! I sprang from the forhead of God , as he contemplated a particularly vile joke !
I wasn't born , I was hatched in the deepest darkest part of the ocean , and raised by sharks !
-
BARRICADES
Ok , so I gotta admit that I think the squares are great , but I definitely would rather have 3d terrain to play with , so along comes my next big idea to replace the terrain squares .
Now as I write this , let me preface it by saying that I am not fully happy with this particular batch , but it was a learning experience to get used to the table saw I just bought for the sole purpose of building terrain for my gaming .
I love the LOOK of the paper craft bunkers , but I hate paper terrain , its just to flimsy and easily damaged , and I have seen the people using plaster , but plaster is to easily cracked and crumbled . So I will just stick with the materials I am more comfortable with : wood and plastic .
All future batched will be a little cleaner and tighter than this first batch was , and I now have a much better idea of “expected yield” vs. “actual yield “ when cutting out the parts .
Please keep in mind that while this brief tutorial used wood , people without access to tools to cut it can still recreate the project using card board or the like as detailed on my blog post about using card board and other lesser materials .
While some may criticize my choice of subject to build this particular time , I felt it was fitting , not just because it replaces the card board squares from the first set , but also because when watching a lot of pulpy movies like Hell Boy , Sky Captain , League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the like , this type of terrain element fits perfectly in , so while I will do OTHER types of terrain squares later , this I thought was a great fitting start for a terrain element that would work perfectly in any sci-fi or steam punkish type game .
Also , this project will mark my foray into the terrain for sale pool .
If anyone else is interested in picking any of these obstacles up , I am willing to make and sell them for a limited time before I move on to another project , just PM me here if you are interested . Keep in mind I only accept paypal.
So since this project was intended to be used primarily (for me any way ) for the dust tactics game , I started out with coming up with the idea and making it happen . It may amuse some to know that most of my ideas are never written down on paper as I plan them out , they just happen .
So step one was assembling materials . Unfortunately while I was at the hard ware store , they only had one 2’X4’ sheet of 3/16 MDF , but I was ok with it as a starting batch . All future batches will probably use ¼ thick sheets . It may not seem like a big deal , but at this scale , on this project , it becomes one fast .
Out of the 3/16 I cut 2 sets of strips the first was a set 1 inch wide , the second was ¾ inch wide . For this I used the table saw . Later I used a band saw to cut the 1 inch wide strips into 3 inch lengths , and cut the ¾ inch strips into 2 ¾ inch lengths .
Next , using the table saw , we cut a sheet of ½ inch thick mdf into squares the same size as a single tile .
After that we used the table saw to cut a 2x4 into 2 square dowels each the same size as on all sides .
Now it needs to be mentioned that not all wood is the same size . While a 2X4 is called a 2X4 , its actual measurements are supposed to be more like 1 7/8 x 3 7/8 . don’t ask me why , its just the way its been done for a couple hundred years . The missing 1/8 inch is the width of a saw blade used to cut the wood to size . But this is not always exact , so if a timber mill can shave off an extra 1/16 inch over a million boards , to get a few extra boards , the pennies add up .
So we used the 2X4 as a measure and just cut it into a square dowel , there was enough left over to cat the remainder into a second mostly square dowel . For this project , it doesn’t have to be as exactly square on all corners , some rounded corners will be just fine .
Next we cut the 2X4 dowels into 3 inch lengths .
So here is what we had as “parts”
And now on to the assembly . Using the 3 inch and 2 ¾ inch strips , glue them together as you sandwich them to form “ribbing“ . You can do different configurations if you want , and it adds some nice variety to the finished projects .
Each terrain piece will need 4 sections of ribbing .
If you have cut off like I did , you can use them to add in a little more variety to the piece . I added in some spare ribbing , and square caps to make them a little cooler , but you can do it how ever you want .
After the ribbing sections have dried , glue them to the 3 inch long sections of 2X4 dowels as shown .
After that dries , glue it to the ½ inch thick square base section . They don’t have to be exactly centered . The reason I chose the dimensions I did was to give me a little ledge on all sides to break up the over all shape a bit and make it look a little more interesting .
As you are doing these try to keep the gaps to a min. , but don’t worry if its not perfect , its terrain , and with enough of it on the field , little imperfections wont bother you as much .
Once these are dry , I coated them with a thin coat of watered down glue to make the MDF a little sturdier . MDF is good , but its not indestructible , and the corners and edges are susceptible to wear .
Next I coated them with 2 coats of interior HOUSE paint , to add a little more durability to the finished items .
Next I added some gravel to the recesses to add in a little more variety to the project .
After that was all dry , I sprayed them with a light coat of watered down black paint , so thin that it only served to darken the gray a bit so that the highlighting would add a bit more contrast to the finished project and darken the base recesses a bit more .
Then I did some highlights , first using the same gray house paint , then a lighter gray craft paint for the edges .
I think for future batches I might use black house paint as opposed to gray for the base color , then lightly spay gray paint on top so it looks more industrial and drab .
I also think I went a bit over board with the highlights . I think I will dial them back a bit on my next batch .
Now all that’s left is to let them dry , then seal them , first with krylon clear coat to add a bit more durability , then with dull coat lacquer to kill the shine .
I will warn you , I took just under 2 weeks to finish this , to give the house paint more time to dry since it was not intended to be handled so often so soon with the added moisture from the black wash and the craft paint .
And here they are with some figs for comparison
If anyone else is interested in picking any of these obstacles up , I am willing to make and sell them for a limited time before I move on to another project , just PM me here if you are interested . Keep in mind I only accept paypal
Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:42 am
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