Get FWC1 or wait for FWC2? Plus Qs

[Octo]

For the FWC starter sets that we're selling, we're including:

50x30mm rounded = For all units except artillery and command
60x60mm rounded = For artillery
40mm circle = For command

Great to know!

I use MDF bases, several of the companies who do MDF bases will do pill style bases, including our very own Pendraken.

"Mass their stands" just means clumping bases together to get maximum fire on a target. Smaller bases can concentrate more fire than bigger ones if they huddle up close. If there are weapons that use templates they will conversely hit more smaller stands but few bigger stands if those stands are huddled together. It's why I also base vehicles, easier to work out if they are a target or not.

Where possible, it is easier if both sides' bases are the same size.

Thanks for the info on terminology (and strategy)! I mentioned that I was planning on basing my tanks to futureproof basing hover tanks, and I'm sticking to that. I'll be basing all of my armies the same way, since I'll likely be running demos, so I'll probably write up a document on that for people who are interested.

Terrain, where to start? Hmm. How about with packaging of all sorts. An up turned yoghurt pot, suitably based, painted and embellished can make an excellent building.

Wait, we're a DIY terrain hobby? Are there no affordable at-scale kits? Like, I know Warcradle has a 10mm modular Industrial Dystopian kit for $55 US (on average), but I have no idea how many buildings it makes or if it fits the aesthetic. TTCombat puts out the DzC buildings, but they're not cheap, either. Everything else I've seen is MDF, and I have no idea how well that stuff paints up. Some of it looks like it hides the nature of its construction well while the rest of it... Doesn't.

Guess I'm going to have my work cut out for me lol

[Big Insect]

Terrain, where to start? Hmm. How about with packaging of all sorts. An up turned yoghurt pot, suitably based, painted and embellished can make an excellent building.

I totally agree about recycled plastic packaging - the plastic inside packaging for certain chocolate biscuits (a while back) when turned upside-down, made fantastic light industrial units. However, some of the plastic can be quite flimsy, but I just fill them with DIY filler or mix-up some plaster of paris and pour it in. It strengthens them significantly. Very often I spray with black undercoat, even before putting in the filler, as it give you a much better idea of what the building might look like.

I think the thing with buildings is consistency. I paint all my windows black, and gloss varnish them for example. I tried using a light-blue previously, and painting on highlights, but as my standard go-to building colour is a light blue-grey it just didn't look right.
I also try and avoid putting distinctive terrain around my building - such as snow drifts or tropical plants - as without these I can use the same building in a variety of terrain settings. Generic rubble or street furnishings works ok.

In fact its also worth remembering stuff like power pylons, street lamps etc. as they can really make your table come-alive.

[Big Insect]

One word of caution though, regarding DIY terrain.

I once build a series of roads on an embankment. The embankment was made from a strip of polystyrene ceiling coving/cornice. I carefully made the roads up by using wide strips of masking tape, and created a central reservation using match-sticks and balsa wood strips. Then........

I made the terrible mistake of spraying it with a matt black undercoat -     
Of course the polystyrene dissolved   
What I should have done is given the areas of polystyrene a thin coat of DIY filler to protect it from the spray paint. Hey-ho - you live and learn.

There is a lot of sci-fi terrain on Etsy - I had some 12mm stuff (a large oil/chemical refinery) reduced down to 6mm scale by the seller. However, I find a lot of the 3D print stuff is just not robust enough. The thin bits will snap-off really easily. There used to be a lot of 6mm cast resin sci-fi terrain around, but that;s no good to go with 10mm. 

[Raider4]

. . . TTCombat puts out the DzC buildings, but they're not cheap, either. . .

Gosh, they're not cheap, are they?

Luckily they still provide downloads so you can print & make your own. Use cereal box card, perfectly acceptable. There's an instruction sheet available. They are quite a big footprint though, so I generally cut them down to 3x1, 2x1 or 2x2.

They also do roads.

[Octo]

Gosh, they're not cheap, are they?

Luckily they still provide downloads so you can print & make your own. Use cereal box card, perfectly acceptable. There's an instruction sheet available. They are quite a big footprint though, so I generally cut them down to 3x1, 2x1 or 2x2.

They also do roads.

I've got some of their cardstock buildings from their starter kit, but I personally think they need more depth. I might actually print out the buildings a couple more times and layer them up if I don't find or make something I like the look of.

@Mark, sorry to hear about your misadventures. Luckily, I'm an avid watcher of Boulder Creek Railroad on YouTube. Elle, nee Luke, does a great job of explaining her process plus any potential pitfalls one might run into. I'm pretty sure she does HO scale dioramas, rather than N, but the techniques are still applicable.

As for going to Etsy, I do have my own resin printer, so I try to get the STLs where I can. I might splurge on a new FDM printer for printing scenery, but that'll be a few months down the road at least.

I'm visiting a dollar store now, gonna look for anything that screams terrain lol

[fred.]

There is a lot of GW terrain for Adapatus Titanicus and Legions Imp - but that really will set the bar for not cheap!

With MDF buildings - they are great as the base structure - and adding a few little extras can really lift the building by adding a bit more 3d to the look - eg window sills or door lintels, just made from card. Adding roofing tiles to sloped roofs. For modern flat roofs there are some resin packs around to add ventilation units or 'chimneys' to them - and I'm sure plenty of 3d printed options. 

[Big Insect]

Looking on eBay (a few minutes ago) there seems to be a fair amount of 4Ground and TT Combat MDF stuff available. Prices don't seem that bad (excluding P&P from the US to UK - not a problem for Octo). I particularly liked the look of the 4Ground electricity pilons, although they are starting to get dated (as the UK replaces that style with a newer version) 

But I agree with fred - they need to be customized to improve them. I did buy a load of destroyed MDF buildings - large sky-scrapers and rows of houses - of a chap a few years back for a 'Woken Furies' FWC scenario game at a BootCamp. It was a c. 12foot by 6foot urban cityscape with a lot of rubble and destruction. But sadly I think the chap may have now gone out of business - but they were the business.

[fred.]

Commission Figurines do a lot of damaged buildings in MDF - I think mainly aimed at WWIi eastern front but a big bombed out building is a big bombed out building!

[Octo]

I've made some strides with terrain - namely, I made some terrain. Initial test prints are successful, so I'm going to support everything again, test them once more, and then likely upload them to Cults3D for sale. What I like to do, however, is offer the community I'm a part of a coupon code for 100% off, so when I get to that point, I'll likely make a new thread showing it off.

In the meantime, I was looking at the rulebook to determine the table size. It says it's designed around a 6'x4' table (and change the number of turns based on increases or decreases in size). That got me thinking about scale and movement and stuff. A turn is supposed to be 30 minutes, right? Randomly choosing an infantry unit, it moves 10cm (per command issued).

Now, if that unit is in 32mm (1:57.2) scale (WH40k, for example), that means they just moved 572 real-life cm in half an hour. That's 18' 9".

Alternatively, if that unit is in 10mm scale (1:150, per Leon elsewhere, iirc), that means they just moved 1500 real-life cm in the same amount of time. That's 49' 2".

In 30 minutes Yes, I'm sure some of that time is dedicated to reading radar and consulting maps and experts, but that isn't the point here. The point is that there's a large difference in distance traveled. The same goes for command and weapon ranges. Now, there can be some hand-waving regarding effective weapon range vs actual weapon range, which would support the new headcanon that the smaller the miniatures are, the more elite they are. To that effect, if you're playing with 54mm scale minis, they're basically walking 10' and shooting effectively within 30', and their most advanced command tech's range is a whopping 25'. So, like, "Hey Steve, run over there and shoot at the squad across the hall"

I'm not suggesting to change the ranges and distances based on scale. Ok, maybe I am, but that's too much work. Instead, how about changing how long turns are supposed to take? Like, 30 minutes would be reasonable for 10mm scale battalions mobilizing against each other, but maybe divide that time by the number of additional 10mm in scale. 32mm scale turns would take [(30/((32-10)/10))=13.6363 repeated] minutes, and 54mm scale turns would take 6.8181 (repeated) minutes. This could explain away some of the snapshot-iness of gunplay and why you're only running 10'

[fred.]

In wargames, the ground scale, and the figure scale rarely align - it's been a while (years) since I did some of the maths around this. But IIRC most wargames are much closer to 1 : 1000 ground scale, rather than the figure scale of 1:50 to 1:150 or so. For the very practical reasons you mention. 

I have done the odd game with 10mm figures with close to figure scale ground scale. But you don't end up with many figures on a large table!