The Cave

[Eriekiels]

First post here, so greetings to all. I decided to make a post, well several, as I am starting my new table. While I do like the idea of a city, I wanted something different. Last month had me thinking about various themes I could do, but the one I like the most was an underground theme. So it is going to be a cave table, with different takes on the terrain types we have for Malifaux.

 

 

First o, I have been into war gaming for ages and I love doing terrain. One thing I stopped doing over the years is the terrain base, aka the table, out of polystyrene. This has several reasons:

-       First of, as you move the models around, you will in the long term damage the base and I find it annoying to do repairs. Of course there are ways around this, but for me, the mat is the better solution.

-       Second, the storage is more annoying, as it is big, and you have to pay attention to the things on the terrain. For me again the mats is a better solution.

-       The third reason is, when you do one out of polystyrene you can do a lot with the ground, which then tends to look cooler and more realistic, but you lose a lot of modular options you have with the flat table and the terrain pieces to place on it. Granted you get less depth, but it is less fragile and easier to store in my opinion.

 

 

Finding a cave mat was not easy and I wanted a grey stone one, as I find it better in terms of contrast. I did not find any that suited me, because I wanted a mousepad style of mat, so I had to settle for another colour. I ended up buying this one:

 

 

http://www.urbanmatz.com/p/220/desert-3x3

 

 

The tone works for a cave I just had to change my colours.

 

 

I plan to do the following terrains pieces

 

 

A lot of blocking terrain        - rock formations

3x forest                               - mushroom forest

scatter terrain            A          - boxes

scatter terrain B                    - mining carts & tracks

dangerous terrain                  - lava

 

 

I will try to make terrain for 2 mats, so we can have more games at the same times. And as a warning, I work sloly at times, so sometimes updates will take time.

 

Thanks alot for reading and commenting

[Eriekiels]

 

 

These are the mushrooms I got for the forest, and the first steps on building them. At the moment I am working on the tracks for the mine cart. Will upload pictures as soon as my camera is charged again.

[Paddywhack]

Very cool! Where did you get them, or did you scratch build?

 

[Eriekiels]

Found them on amazon. I think I could build them, but that a lot of modelling mass, which is expensive. These are resin, an were 12 euros for 5, which is ok for me as I also "waste" less time modelling them.

 

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00BM5MU2S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Eriekiels]

Here is WIP of my tracks. Base is out of wood on which i put paint mixed with sand, to get structure. Tricky part was to cut them to get all to fit, so they stay modular.

[Eriekiels]

So before i can work on the structures for the tracks, well those who have structures on it, i need to build mining carts, which i am going to do out of plastic card. I got the "wheels" when i bought the tracks, but i did not find any carts that suited my needs, so scratch build it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SilentSeeker]

Looks very promising

 

I'm excited how the board will look like when it's done. Keep on going!

[Eriekiels]

So was very busy, but managed to do this today:

 

 

Will add pipes and barrels some other random things to it. I am happy how the wood turned you, will play it as blocking HT2. Does that sound ok?

[prof_bycid]

Looks great.  Going to be an interesting board.

[Eriekiels]

Sorry for the slow update, it has been a busy few days for me, so I had the time to work a bit so I can poste an update. If you have any questions, please feel free.

 

[ArcticPangolin]

That's sexy as, I love the wooden supports! So is the idea that the track pieces are tunnels, and the table surface is impenetrable walls?

[Eriekiels]

The cave is huge, these are the tracks that run through it. It would be more logical to just use naked tracks, as they are in the open, but that would be a bit dull in terms of gameplay. The wooden support are there to make it more playable, as it offers some cover. Will do some with more rocks, where the wood makes more logical sense. You could also say, that they mined all the rocks away, and the wood is all that is left.

 

Happy to reply to your questions

[Eriekiels]

Did a a bit of work on my rockformations. I am not sure how I will do em, but they will be my LOS-blocking terrain. So they are very WIP

[EggSak]

Liking the rocks so far. I recommend looking up different pictures  of rock erosion, (i.e. erosion by water, wind, ice, etc.) and picking what you think will work best.

[Eriekiels]

A little update. Did a water reservoir to put on a track, again very WIP, hope you enjoy.

@Peon trying to make stalactites and mits on the those things. Not sure how, as i will finish the tracks first, but i have a few ideas.

 

 

 

[Kaos]

looks ace. If I can suggest on rock formations, I make some on my table with plaster of paris and a metal brush.

 

Here's a pic.

[Burnin' Coal]

I am really enjoying watching this come together...very well thought out and some great detailing....most inspirational 

[Eriekiels]

Hello there, sorry for the long wait, but I had a few personal things come up. Have started again last week, to work on different parts of the table. So first of, thanks for all the replies I had and in you showing interest. 

@Kaos That’s a nice board and I did plan to put rock formations in, but I want to do it a bit differently.

 

 

 

 

So I first made the bases, which consist of polystyrene clues on a 2-3 mm thick MDF (Kind of wood, I know only the German name). Then I cut it to the shape I wanted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I used rods of wood of different thicknesses, which I sharpened to represent my stalagmites and –tites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Also in the works, my mushroomforests. Will post pics, when I have abit more to show you guys. Will use the gluegun to shape them, so it looks lit it is several layers of... stuff on them.

 

Edit: How come the pics are showned as links and not imbeded as before? Did something change or did I fail somehow?

Edit2: Nevermind, I failed

[KrazyIvan]

I like what you've done to give the impression of a ceiling. I may steal this for my own mines board.

[Eriekiels]

@ Governor of MaliPhoenix : Sure go ahead, looking forward what you will do with it, ass all of your work is amazing. Here are some more pictures:

 

 

 

 

I also advanced in my work with my mushroomforests:

 

 

 

 

I glued 2 layers of wood together, so I could create emplacements for the shrooms. I do like the practicality of the games-workshop forests, as it makes measuring easier. I put a few rocks on it, but I still have a problem in my mind. Normally I try to put 3 colours on terrain, as it looks less bland. That is excluding the base-colour, so in this case I will have blue and white for the mushrooms, grey for the stones, but I can not put grass on there, it is a cave after all. So any suggestions on what I could put on there?

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the image quality, will try to upload a few better ones this afternoon.

At the moment, I am working on the tracks again, I really want to finish the construction of them, so I can go back to the rock formation and finish them.

[Nikodemus]

Would lichen be a realistic addition to cave terrain? That'd give you some more colour in there.

[Eriekiels]

Not sure how I would represent it, but the idea is interesting, as I can take a variety of colours. Was thinking of using green stuff, but then again, wouldn’t that just look silly? I have to spin that idea some more in my head. Thanks a lot for your input.

[ArcticPangolin]

You could have smaller varieties of other coloured mushrooms around, moss, or perhaps some crystals?

Maybe even leftover mining/prospecting equipment eg. crashed minecarts, rotting or intact crates, piles of tools or lumber/rails, signs.

[Eriekiels]

Was thinking that too, but the disadvantage of it is, that the placment of the minis is going to get complicated. Moss seems like a good idea. or even small crystaly. Will have to see, what I can find. Thanks for the ideas!

[KrazyIvan]

I think that straight up flock  could work fine as lichen. That is to say the kind of stuff you would use for making trees, not grass. Alternatively  you could just put a bunch of small mushrooms in a different color, hugging the existing terrain features (and thus staying out of the way for minis placement.