The metal grid was still warm beneath his feet. This place had only been abandoned recently: until the sounds of war had drawn too close the workers had been busy at their machines, producing the tools and consumables of battle. The building beneath him still smelled of oil and smoke, and the massive engines were ticking as they cooled. The metal grid on the roof was still warm, but this made no difference to the assassin as he knelt, took out his rifle, and checked the sights. This place was abandoned, but the enemy would be here soon enough...
Once again, I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post. Partly this has been life, work, and other circumstances, but partly it's been because (for the first time ever) I found the latest hab block build a bit tricky.
I've been working on Mad Gaming Terrain's industrial upgrade kit, which provides a variety of bits and pieces to create a cool new look for your basic hab blocks. There's a lot in the pack, and it's not always clear how it's designed to be used. I had to work stuff out, and I'm not sure I've got everything right!
I'm happy with the end result, though, and Andy from Mad Gaming Terrain has assured me that new instructions will soon be produced for this upgrade kit. This is great news, and will make a brilliant product even better.
You can see from the pictures that one of the main elements of the upgrade is the new roof, which gives a cool slanted effect to the hab blocks. You can add railings, walkways, and so on - all of which is pretty straightforward. The most tricky element is the ladder, which can be dropped down or raised up. This is very cool, and adds a great narrative element to the tabletop. I used magnets behind the bottom rung to lock the ladder in place when it's up, but I'm not sure whether this should be necessary or not - I may have built it wrong!
Like all the terrain, it fits really well with everything else. You can see how it looks good with the other hab blocks, walls, and walkways. And it's great for play, too - you can hide models inside, or use the rooftop for an excellent vantage point. I've upgraded a couple of double height hab blocks, which means there is a really good field of view across the table from up on the roof. Perfect for those pesky assassins, and the added height is great for hiding big units like Knights, too.
One of the best features is the walkways, which you can readily run across the top of the roof. You can join buildings together, too, with little overlapping sections which slot onto the longer walkways beneath. Of course, the buildings are magnetised too, which means that everything is extremely sturdy once you've set it up, but those little linking walkways really help make two buildings look like one united structure.
As always things slot into the hole network, and once you've got your head around a couple of the more tricky bits it's all very straightforward. I think it looks fantastic too - a few of these on the table could easily create the effect of an industrial area for your game.
I'm hoping to start working on painting the hab blocks and stuff that I've got soon, so that they're not just a field of grey. I've got a few miniatures still to paint as well, though (a few = a great many). I'm slowly working on a Knights / Guard list, and getting things painted up, so hopefully the photos won't have too many unpainted models for too much longer. I've only used painted minis in this post!
Let me know if you've got any questions about the industrial upgrade kit, and I'll see you again soon.