Video review of the Shattered Dominion Realm of Battle Boards

Hey guys, posted a video review of the Shattered Dominion Realm of Battle Boards...

Enjoy!!

Realm of Battle - Expansions done, now with charnel pools!

  It is coming...  after all.  My Apocalypse Collectors version really did make the cut at the last minute and is winging it's way here.  A more thorough review of the box when it arrives.

  Today is another chapter in the Realm of Battle board saga.  I bought the extensions some time ago from my FLGS (Active Imagination) and they sat, languishing in the corner.  A couple weekends ago, I decided it was time to get them ready for Space Wolf corpses, so I had better get to it.

  So here it is, in pictures...

The boards, primed in white acrylic primer and the rocky areas sprayed with Black.  The primer is any cheap acrylic primer from a hobby store (Hobby Lobby or Michael's ...), no need to wasted Valejo or <god forbid> citadel primer on this.  Scuff up the boards a bit too with really light sandpaper (after you wash them in water and dish soap, like you do with all your plastic minis, right?)
 

  The two boards after having been painted with acrylic tube paints (thinned with tap water, no special care needed here).  I used umber/sienna colors to match the theme of the old boards.  This step helps in case you get a divot or ding in your flocking.  I tried to roughly feather the colors out from the black to the lightest shade, but having variation and hard lines no and then does not hurt.  If you ever look at "real" terrain from high above (i.e. an aircraft) you'll see that nature is made up of some blends and some very hard lines.  You'll also notice that even in the most unending 'boring' terrain, there is a vast amount of texture and hue difference.  Even flying over Kansas wheat fields you see marked differences in the texture and color beneath you.

   Again, a closer shot just to see where I airbrushed some paint for fun, brushed and generally played around with it.

Realm of Battle WIP

  So, I took the plunge a few weeks back and picked up a Realm of Battle game board set from GW.  I know, I know, I can hear you saying "What a slobbering fanboi".  Yup... and proud.  Listen, I have my homemade MDF terrain boards here and I even built a custom frame to wheel those 2' x 2' beasts around.  BACK off!! - LOL,  j/k.

  Yeah, I have heard all the complaints about the GW boards, but I liked the look of them.  Besides, GW could release the 2nd coming of Christ and they would get knocked for him being too expensive and way overpowered compared to Necrons.  My favorite complaint was that models slide down the hills on these boards.  I have to laugh my ass off at this.  If any of you think plastic minis are going to hold their position on slick plastic boards, you're too stupid to play 40k, turn in all your crap and get out your checkers set! (Yes, I heard this complaint on a podcast.  Somebody was stuck on stupid that day).  I have also heard people bitch that the hills are too gentle and people don't measure elevation changes during movement correctly.  Umm, SLAP THEM, they are cheating.  If you let it ride, then its your fault, get over it.

  I knew the board would need to be flocked going in so I laid in supplies.  I used thinned down acrylic tube paints blasted through an airbrush to do the terrain.  I find these paints tough and durable and they spray pretty well through a .5mm airbrush.  I used;

Raw Sienna (Liquitex Basics)
Burnt Sienna (Liquitex Basics)
Raw Umber (Liquitex Basics)

Payne's Grey (Liquitex) (Super secret wash...  more later)

GW Store Denver and Otter Stuff

  Yep, that's no misprint.  I said Otter stuff.

  So, I went up to Denver this weekend for a quick trip and some serious shopping.  After the great desk debacle of 2012, I have really needed a computer room make-over.  Since the guys from HGTV are not coming to the state of New Mexico anytime soon, I have to do it myself.  Enter Ikea.  Oh, yeah, Euro-goodness. More on that later. 

  The weekend started bad and went downhill.  I'll spare all the drama, suffice to say, I'm sick as a dog, but managed to shop and at least get to the aquarium.  Enter, the otters...

  Ok, enough of the terminally cute otters.

  I have to say, Square One in Denver is a great GW store.  It's a small shop, but the owner is a stand up guy and he runs a good shop.  I spent WAY too much money there, with the highlight being a brand new Realm of Battle GameBoard set.  Other purchases included;

Ball Predator
Space Marine BattleBarge (Battlefleet Gothic)
Space Marine Strike Cruiser (Battlefleet Gothic)
Blood Angles Sanguinary Guards
A Warhammer Wraith (Vampire counts) (to convert a Necron Wraith)
Some Termagaunts and Brood Lord (For the wife's Nid Force)
And fa la la la...

  Yeah, i dropped some hard earned money there, but hey, I'm trying to help the economy!!  I'm doing my part!

  The store was really hopping when I was there (twice, I hemmed and hawed about the RoB board purchase) and there were games on all the table space.  There is a paint bar and all the usual shelves of GW stuff and such.  If you're in the area, do hop in and say hi, you'll be treated well!

  I'm really looking forward to getting this beast primed and painted up.  I have been working on my own set of terrain boards, but to be honest, the thought of transporting them anywhere was daunting.  That and I was having to make them too generic in order to be flexible.  Now, they are going to go full Necron World.  Be ready, these Necron boards are going to be all Necron, all the time.


  So, off to bed with me, try to get rid of this cold and maybe build a desk...