As I write this, I’ve probably got an hour or two left of painting on the Dark Angel. Instead of showing you a 98% completed miniature, I’m going to show you some Fallout stuff I kept for a “rainy day” like this.
A little while ago, I picked up Military Barricades terrain for Fallout. They are exactly what they sound like and so they don’t need a lot of explanation. In the game, they are not tall and seemed to be designed to give cover for a human kneeling in front of it. From what I can tell, you can craft these in Fallout 4 and paint them several different colors so I felt empowered to give half a green color and the other half a gray color. They aren’t all that rusty in the games but I figured some rust would tie them into the other things I’ve painted in Fallout. I particularly like the one pictured below where where the rust is concentrated along the bottom. That one I think is actually the most realistic looking rust and I probably should have done a couple more like that if I had figured out that pattern sooner. The best part about these is that they weren’t expensive ($20) and were quick to drybrush. I spent as much time basecoating them as I did drybrushing and adding rust I’d imagine which is perfect for terrain.
I talked not too long ago that I need to focus on Fallout terrain because I have a good amount of minis painted for starting to play the game and that remains true. I got a bit distracted by the Primaris marine but I have knocked out some terrain in the last two months and wanted to see if I had enough to feel comfortable trying the rules. The first five scenarios I’ll be playing are designed to teach you the rules so I imagine they will be the sort of thing where you’ll play them once, enjoy them for what they are, but they probably won’t have a lot of replay value so I don’t want to slave over terrain or try to get the perfect setup before playing them. Truthfully, I am eager to get some games in as well. I think that will motivate me to paint more Fallout and I obviously want to make sure that I enjoy the game and can commit to it for months or hopefully years ahead. Here is what my board looks like with everything I have done (or nearly done in the case of the hill on the right which needs tufts still).
My first reaction was that looks a bit bare but now that I think about it, I think that is just about the right amount of terrain. I do plan on buying a mat that matches the terrain I’ve made much better than this one does (though I think I can use this mat for Fallout New Vegas scenarios whenever Modiphius releases minis for that video game so this one will get plenty of use). I just want to again make sure that I like playing Fallout before I take that step as mats aren’t cheap and take up a fair bit of space.
It is great news that I can finally give at least the first scenario in Fallout a go because I’ve kind of hit a wall with terrain that I can make or buy for the game. Modiphius makes some great things but they’ve been out of stock in the US since before COVID started and shipping with Modiphius is very expensive so I figure my best bet is to wait for a restock in the states. I know I don’t have a lot of line of sight blocking terrain which is crucial for a game that has plenty of ranged combat but hopefully that won’t be a huge issue until I can get more barricades and terrain like that. I have been getting creative and trying to come up with ideas for terrain that would work well besides what Modiphius makes and I may very well take on some ambitious and new kinds of terrain projects this fall. Stay turned for more on that.
Before I wrap up, I finally did get my order from Games Workshop even if it took almost two weeks to get to me (which is truly unheard of) and with an MESBG diorama project on the horizon, Fallout gaming stuff to work on, and some other ideas I’ve been kicking around, the hobby future seems bright for me and I’m excited to see what trouble I get into. I also spotted an indie wargame that has some potential and I will probably pick up in the coming weeks. I’ll talk more about it in the future as I think I’ll get the rules, see how I feel about those, and then get miniatures needed to play after that. Part of the reason I’m interested is that I think I can get by with the MESBG terrain I already have and it would only require 10-15 miniatures so a very small buy-in there. What might surprise you (and it certainly does me), you may see some prehistoric gaming here on the site! Have I finally gone historical like many wargamers do as they age? Well, maybe, we’ll just have to wait and see!
Kuribo's Painting 
Nice barricades, Kuribo! 🙂 I quite like that mat you’ve got! Good to hear you’re making progress! Prehistoric gaming sounds good, the sort of thing I could fancy doing!
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Thanks, John! Its actually a Caves mat though I think it can easily pass for other environments. That is great to hear on prehistoric gaming. I’m excited about the possibility of fielding some cavemen but it is just as exciting to know others might be interested in seeing it too 🙂
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They look great! I think if you look at your ME terrain with an open eye, you’ll find more in there that can be used across games as well. Also think about things like fences that will easily work across both games as long as you’re a little conservative with their basing – remembering that even in the most lush environment, there’s always patches of more dry and less overgrown area. Either/both of these would fit into both games, from my experience in reading books and watching films set in ME, and many hours wandering various wastelands…
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That’s a good example, mate and thanks for mentioning it! I’ve been thinking about getting some fences together for Fallout and the thought hadn’t even entered my mind to keep it so it can cross over with MESBG. I’ll definitely give this some thought as I plan out terrain for Fallout 🙂
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Great rust!
I look forward to reading your thoughts on the Fallout gaming experience.
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Thank you and you have reminded me that I have a rust tutorial to write in the near future. I will be looking forward to that and to getting some gaming in as well 🙂
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Doing well on the rust! One suggestion is to rust around the bolts more as that is where the metal would have been scratched and more likely to be rusted.
Prehistoric? Don’t temp me. I have been a big fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs forever and have been tempted to do Pellucidar, The Land/Time Forgot gaming for awhile. Warlord Games Savage Core and Bob Murch’s Pulp Figures keep calling my pocketbook but lucky have been able to resist so far.
Looking forward to see what you are doing.
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That is a great suggestion that I need to try on future projects. It is hard to stipple with foam around such fine details but I’ll try to give it a go. Thanks, Bret!
It sounds like we have a similar project in mind. I was thinking of using Savage Core minis with a different ruleset but instead of jungle or true ice age terrain, I’ll use some of the MESBG stuff I have. I’ll definitely keep you abreast of this project and it is great to know that others are interested/excited by it too!
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Nice work on the terrain. I’m not a gamer but I am intreagued by the prehistoric references and what that turns out to be. A genre I have never really dabbled in but one that would be very different.
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It is good to hear that even non-gamers would be interested in seeing more. The minis I have been eyeing could be right up your alley, I’d say TIM as they have a bit of a pulp feel, so I look forward to sharing more details in the near future 🙂
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Great looking barricades, they appear to be solid and imposing. I’m glad your GW order arrived as well. And I’m glad you’re gonna try playing fallout. Usually one can get a good idea how a game plays by reading the rules but nothing is really a substitute for actually playing it.
Prehistoric? Great choice! I’ve often been tempted into that genre but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Forest terrain from LoTR should be able to pull double duty as a prehistoric forest as well. What rules were you looking at?
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Thanks, Stew! I couldn’t agree more about playing a game. I know I mentioned here on the site but I was convinced I would enjoy the Walking Dead miniatures game and I played the tutorial missions and found it was lacking in personality so that is now in the back of my mind when I have a new game that I haven’t played and I’ll be eager to get a game in soon!
Great minds think alike! 🙂 I was going to use the pine trees and rocky hills from the Hobbit to capture a not very cold, Ice Age setting. I’ve been looking at Palaeo Diet from Ganesha Games. It not only has solo play but seems like it has a bit of a narrative focus which is always something I seek out. The fact that it has two supplements on top of the basic rules is encouraging too. There’s other intriguing indie games where I had a similar thought of I only need to paint up 10-20 minis and I can use the terrain I already have but those games only one rulebook with 5 generic scenarios in it which isn’t likely to keep you playing for long and makes you question if it is worth the effort to start playing. I’ll definitely do some kind of a “review” of the rules when I get them to share with others like yourself who may find them interesting.
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