On through another month and this time my painting total is looking a little healthier, but has a major difference between any of the months previous. It’s mostly terrain. My main work was the Mantic terrain crate and this one is difficult to stack onto my model count, so I’ll be starting a new scenery count as well.
Models Painted: 14
Scenery Painted: 65
Model total: 20
Scenery Total: 65
With me getting back into playing the Batman Miniature Game a bit more often I realised I needed to pick up a few more tokens to help keep track of everything, so off to the wonderful Counter Attack Bases I headed.
Their Superhero Skirmish Range is where I picked up all the rest of my tokens for the game when I was first starting out and they’ve added to the range since I was last there, meaning they have nearly everything for every situation you could think of.
The first thing I needed was something for the action counters for the character cards. Since I’m using a Batman/Law forces force as well as a Harley gang I wanted some action counters for each of these forces. Their shield counters work perfectly for the Batman side of things, shown here in blue, and the Harlequin design is perfect for the Harley gang, shown here in red. These are both around about the same size, both perfect for fitting into the attribute slots on the character cards and are not too badly priced for what you get, £5.00 for 25 counters.
Next up I wanted to get some tokens for both ammo an any titan that might be picked up during the game and they had an Ammo/Titan Set just waiting for me. At only 35p each it meant I could pick up enough to cover all the ammo that the guys have from the start and any extra I may have purchased for them. Much like the action counters before, these are the perfect size to keep on or near the character card whilst not taking up too much room.
The final thing I wanted to pick up was some Activation Markers as I’m terrible at remembering who’s already gone. I really love the Arkham themed design of these and they’re a really great way to keep on top of your tracking.
I also got a bonus in the box in the form of some extra ammo tokens which turned out to be incredibly useful. I hadn’t thought about the models that have two ranged weapons and the need to maybe track more than one type of ammo.
As usual I’m really happy with the quality of the tokens I got from them and will no doubt be back again soon to buy some more 🙂
It’s been a couple of months since I’ve popped anything on the site and for that I apologise. It’s mostly been real life getting in the way, with me having to stay at the in-laws for a month while the family and I sort out a new place to live taking a lot of my enthusiasm away from the painting, whilst the actual hassle of moving and unpacking took away an time I have had in the last few weeks. Honestly though the biggest thing eating my time and passion for painting has been this….
I just couldn’t put it down, not even for a paint brush. Not even to paint Batman figures. I’m not even sorry. It is awesome.
Luckily Knight models have started releasing some figures from the game that fit perfectly with what I was doing before my break, and I have these on their way to me…
These will definitely get me away from my console and sitting at the painting table 🙂
I also had some very welcome news about getting some of my painting published, which I’ll give you all the details on next time…
A few months back my lovely wife got me a fair amount of Knight Models Joker Crew models, unfortunately it was right around the time I started a commission for a Joker Crew. This meant all my enthusiasm for the project went into the commission, which turned out exactly how I would have wanted mine to. Whilst I enjoyed it enough to do the same with mine, I felt something different would be a good change of pace, especially since I’ve not really strayed from the Knight Models schemes when painting their models, other than with that commission.
This led me to the idea of a Harley Quinn based crew, and I have to admit I took heavy inspiration from the Arkham City: Harley Quinn’s Revenge DLC pack…
So I got cracking into the models and only after a few licks of paint I knew this idea would work for me. I found it hard to put the brush down.
I started off with a few basic guys…
And also a couple of the Shield Clowns, on which I used the shields to really show off their allegience :)…
Although I have found out since starting to paint these guys you can now only take one shield henchman :(. Really pissed that I won’t be able to use both in the same crew, but if it helps make the game better I’ll just have to live with it.
I’ve also begun working on some of the more elite henchmen, trying to add something a bit more special with them…
Sitting behind these guys on the painting queue are some of the characters to lead the pack in the form of both versions of Harley…
and Mr Hammer, who I have converted with some cutting and a touch of greenstuff to make him fit in with the rest a little better…
In all honesty I struggle to work with greenstuff so I’m really pleased with how he has turned out 🙂
Last but not least is a couple of objectives for them…
I might try and make these a bit more Harley than Joker, but not sure what I want to do yet 🙂
Continuing on from my last post, let’s take a look at the last few odds and ends I’ve picked up to get my Batman board up and running. In addition to all I’ve gone over so far I also have the Corner Apartment Building and Street Furniture I reviewed for Multiverse Gaming Terrain last week, in case you missed it here they are again 🙂
These great sets and many more can be picked up from Multiverse Gaming Terrain :).
As I said last time I had a special bit of terrain for the board which is also my favorite of the lot, the good old Batmobile…
I picked this bad boy up on ebay, but it is from a range of die-cast Batman vehicles from Eaglemoss. They have a fantastic selection, but I had to go for the Animated Series version as I have loved it since I was young and enthralled by the series.
Next up was some more scatter and buildings, this time coming in from Counter Attack Bases, who you may remember I got a good amount of tokens for the game from.
I picked up this great building from them…
The 3 Storey City Apartment Building is a nice kit, but since it lacked floors on the interior I decided to make it a dilapidated and boarded up building. All I did was glue some cut up bits of lollipop stick over the windows before putting it together, simple 🙂
In addition to the building I also picked up some barriers for more general scatter…
The Railed Fences/Barriers are nice, simple and cheap making a great addition to the board.
Here’s how it looks so far, with and without models…
I still think I need to get a bit more buildings and bigger bits of scatter, especially for round the edges of the board. I do have my eye on some bits and pieces, and will be sure to post about them when I get round to picking them up 🙂
With a lot of the minis I have for the Batman Miniature Game painted and ready to play I thought it was about time to focus my attentions on getting a board, scenery and some scatter terrain ready.
So off I went to source my first batch of stuff, which there is a fair amount of choice available, but the first thing I wanted to get was some buildings. So I picked up a great warehouse set off the TrollTrader on ebay…
As well as the building itself, this set also comes with a selection of crates to fill it a little…
For only £26 it is an absolute bargain. It’s a fairly sizable building that I thought would be great as you can use the interior for the game as well. Here’s how it looks with some models…
I wanted to grab some stuff to fill it even more and really make it look like it’s in use, so picked up these…
I ended up getting 10 sets for only £23, and the picture above only shows the 2 I’ve built up so far! You can get these off ebay as well here.
Next up was a wee bit of scatter and the all important lamposts. While I’m aware that Knight Models do their own set of lampposts and sewers they are fairly pricey, so I wanted to get something that would make a good stand in for now. Again Trolltrader was the place to go…
I picked up 2 of these to make sure there is enough lampposts for any situation. It also gives the added advantage of a wee bit more general scatter 🙂
On the subjest of some scatter terrain I also picked up a couple of cars for the streets of Gotham…
These are the perfect size for games, and whilst they are a bit banged up, I think this works well in the context of the game.
Next up I’ll look at some more scatter, another building and a really cool car terrain piece 🙂
As anyone who has played the Batman Miniature Game from Knight models knows, you need a good amount of tokens for having a game. Whilst Knight Models have a good selection of tokens out, some areas are still only accounted for by print out and cut paper counters.
Whilst looking about I found Counter Attack Bases, who offer a good amount of stuff perfect for the game in their Superhero Skirmish range 😉
So I got the old wallet out and ordered some stuff up…
First up was some nice KO and Knocked Down markers. It’s important to differentiate the two plus I don’t like laying down my painted models, so these tokens are great 🙂
Then we have some effect markers, which I haven’t use as yet, but are gonna be really handy when the time comes.
I also picked up some objective markers because they are fairly cheap, and a good stand in until my painting queue is a bit shorter and I can get onto some of the fancy ones from Knight Models themselves.
My final purchase from Counter Attack Bases was some blood and stun markers. Knight models also do these, but these ones where a good deal cheaper and just as good.
I did support Knight models however when it came to Take the Lead counters, picking up two sets to cover every eventuality…
The only thing left for me to pick up is a set of templates for expansive and explosive weapons as well as a good amount of tokens for use as action counters, which Counter Attack Bases have all of 😀
After working on the Corner Apartment Building Review earlier this week I moved my focus onto my second review of some terrain from the wonderful people at Multiverse Gaming Terrain. This one covers the much smaller but no less valuable Street Furniture set. This one, more so than most of their other kits, seems like it is made for the Batman Miniature Game. Each crew will need at most 3 lampposts and 3 sewer markers to cover the standard game setup, and maybe more depending on the crew taken or strategies selected and this set will cover that wonderfully.
First and foremost, let’s take a look at how they come to you…
I have to admit it was one of those kits that I took my first look at and was fairly perplexed as to how it would do together (the lampposts mainly, the sewer covers are fairly simple :-P), but the instructions, available as download from Multiverse Gaming Terrain’s website, where so clear one look was all it took to know what to do 🙂
The only advice I would give on the construction is to be extra careful when cutting out the smaller ‘rings’. They are fairly thin, and even a small slip with your hobby knife and you’ll chop ’em to bits.
Here’s how they looked once glued together…
And with the Batman, to give a sense of scale…
Finally here’s my thoughts on the pros and cons of this kit:
Pros:
Cheap; Another bargain kit, coming in at 5.99 euro (about £4.30), two of these kits will sort you out with everything you need for Batman(or any other games) for under a tenner 🙂
Simple; The whole set only takes about 20 minutes to get together
Quality; As with the Corner Apartment Building it feels strong and secure
Cons:
Stability; The bases on the lampposts are fairly small and I would like to add some more to them, just to make sure they don’t get knocked over during a game (not that that would damage them, just a minor annoyance when you’re gaming away)
My Final look at Multiverse Gaming Terrain is a look at what else is in the Dark City 30 range that I would love to get a hold of and use in my games of Batman 🙂
The range has only just arrived on the scene and it’s already got a great range of full on buildings and small details that add something really special and really help set the scene.
Let’s take a look at what they have other than the Corner Apartment Building and Street Furniture sets I have already reviewed 🙂
Buildings:
Here is the Office Building, a fairly large and imposing building very much in tune with the aesthetic of Gotham :). At 49.99 euro (around £36), it’s a bit more expensive, but I think the character more than maes up for that :).
This is the Apartment Building, very similar in design to the Corner Apartment Building but without, you guessed it, the corner. A mix of this and the corner variant could make a good looking city scene.
Everyone of these building’s has an option to buy extra floors, so if you want a much higher level, be it one extra floor or 7 you don’t need to buy the original kits and have extra bottom floors.
Apartment Building – Additional Floor
Office Building – Additional Floor
Corner Apartment Building – Additional Floor
Detailing Kits:
The Aircon Ducts kit is perfect for adding to the existing buildings or your own. Certainly makes it more interesting than your standard flat roof 🙂
The Fire Escape Stairs look like they will add a great element of character to your buildings, but also work on a functional level during your games as a cool way to make it up and around buildings.
The Atlas Statue and Gargoyles kits are two of my favorite from this range. If you have ever watched the 80’s to 90’s Batman films, you will know that these scream Gotham City as well as being an awesome place to perch a hero or villain so they can survey the field of battle 🙂
Whats Next:
That’s the full range of Dark City 30 terrain. For now. But it seems they are hard at work on many other cool projects, such as this awesome diner…
Make sure you like their Facebook page, as any new or preview stuff seems to pop up there first 🙂
As a fairly new company Multiverse Gaming Terrain asked for a few sites to review some of their products and I was lucky enough to be one of those selected to get some goodies to have a look over. With a couple of ranges designed for different scales of games (30mm and 15mm), I was excited to take a look at their Dark City 30 range as from the previews I had seen it looked perfect for the Batman Miniature Game 🙂
I received from them a couple of kits to look over. The Street Furniture kit as well as the Corner Apartment Building. Todya I’ll be having a look at and giving my thoughts on the Corner Apartment Building, but keep your eyes peeled in the next couple of days for the same on the Street Furniture 🙂
So without further ado, let’s take a look at how the building looks straight out the envelope it came in…
As you can see it looks pretty good detail and quality wise. It’s cut onto good thick MDF, which should mean a nice strong building once put together. The cutting itself is perfect, with a lot of the pieces just falling straight off the sprue and any others only needing the one cut with the old hobby knife. The one peice I was pleasantly surprised to see was the detail sheet…
This is cut from a thick sheet of card and gives some sections to detail the corners of the buildings as well as the windows and doors, something lacking in a lot of the other kits I have seen.
So far this kit is looking pretty good but let’s see how it goes together…
Construction took me around an hour to an hour and a half, and was a doddle. Each kit has a set of downloadable instructions available from the Multiverse Gaming Terrain webpage which are clear and concise. The only issue I had was an error in the way I constructed the top floor, meaning it won’t slot on properly without cutting off some pieces. This is an error that has been addressed with an edit to the instructions, but I would still make sure you keep an eye on this when building your own. It’s an easy mistake to make, even for experienced builders 🙂
Overall I found this to be an exceptional kit, definitely worth the asking price of 31.99 euro (around £23), in fact on reflection that price is stupidly cheap for the quality of this kit. As you can see from the images, the detailing is superb. The touches on the door, windows and especially the addition of the cornerstones (which hides the joins brilliantly) are a genius touch which I am certain will be ‘borrowed’ by other manufacturers in no time.
I also love that each floor separates easily but still feel secure when attached, as well as movable doors. It means you can move the action indoors, floor by floor, and add an extra dimension to your games.
In conclusion here’s some pros and cons of the kit:
Pros: Cheap; At only 31.99 euro (around £23) it’s a bargain.
High quality; The MDF is thick and the way it goes together means it feels very secure.
Detailed; The patterns etched into the walls are fairly standard, but the additional card details jsut add that extra wow factor.
Functional; It’s designed with gaming in and around it, and suit a variety of games.
Cons: Honestly the only thing that comes to mind is the roof construction in the instructions, but this has already been addressed and I think in part it’s down to my own error and excitement to get it together 🙂
Head over to Multiverse Gaming Terrain to order yours, and keep up with news on their ranges via their facebook page 🙂
Finally let’s take a look at it with a few miniatures, that’s what it’s for after all and it gives a good sense of scale…
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DeathWatch Studios 