How to Make Scatter Terrain With a Stack of CD's

One of the easiest ways I have found to create modular terrain for my table is by using CD scatter bases. Essentially terrain pieces built on top of an old CDs. I discovered how to make these off of the Terrainiacs Facebook page, and I have been slowly constructing a tabletop forest ever since.

So here is how you can build your own...

What You Will Need

1. CD that you do not want to ever use again

2. Thin plastic or paper card

3. White Glue

4. A few Cheap Paint Brushes

5. Flocking Sand

6. Some flocking Grass

7. Maybe some Fake trees or something?

Step 1. Get a Stack of CDs.

Obviously you are going to need a bunch of CDs to create your bases from. Since I work in IT I had an old stack of blank discs lying around. So that was no problem for me, but you can easily get these from Staples, or just raid your old CD collection. Honestly when was the last time you actually played them anyways?

Step 2. Cover that Hole!

One of the clear problems with using CDs as bases is that there is a big hole in the middle. So unless you are going to glue a solid piece of terrain large enough to cover the hole then you are going to want to cover it up.

I use a thin piece of plastic (about a thick as a sheet of paper). Don't worry about being neat. It is all going to get covered in flock anyways.

Step 3. Prime the Base.

Now that you have a solid base without a hole in it, it is time to give that base a quick prime. Again you don't have to be neat. This is simply to help the flock stick to the base and to help prevent any silver from the disk showing through when you are finished.

(Note that in the next image I actually re-did them with spray paint, as I am experimenting with fast ways of creating these bases.)

Step 4. Flock Your Sand!

Take a minute and without gluing them down, place any trees or other items you want to include. Trace your white glue around these objects, and then remove them. Then just like you did in kindergarten pour that sand all over the white glue, and dump away the extra to get the right texture!

Step 5. Paint the Sand.

If you are flocking your bases and not painting your sand, I have some bad news for you... It is going to fall off. The only real solution you have is to paint your sand.

As I mentioned above I am experimenting with basing colours with Spray Paint. What do you think?

Step 6. Add the Plants.

You may need to flip steps 6 and 7 around depending on what you are doing. But the next step is to add your grass flock, and any plants, etc. that you also want to add to the base.

Above I have also included a small island that has been floating around the tabletop for a while. Now it has a home.

Step 7. Glue Down Those Extras.

As I mentioned above you may want to flip these two steps depending on what you are up to. But after gluing down any cool terrain pieces (like this 3D printed Eldar Webway Gate)  your base is complete. Now you can throw it down on your tabletop with proud, and await the "ooohs" and "ahhhs" from your fellow gamers.

And that's it! That's all you need to do to create some scatter terrain and spruce up your tabletop!

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Augustus the Thief in 15mm

About four years ago I finished up this Assassin mini with no particular purpose for him in mind. I had thought that maybe Jeff could use him as an assassin in an Ivershill Campaign. However that character never materialized...

Well it's now 2019 and I finally have a use for him! As Augustus the Thief in our Age of Heroes Campaign!

Augustus was a member of the Eratrides Thief's Guild, sent to capture two party members (Basil and Exadius) who had done them a grave insult a week earlier. However rather than carry out his mission he decided to betray the guild.

For some time now Augustus had been wanting to defect. The life of a Guild Enforcer had been grating on his conscience, and sees the player party as a possible avenue of escape.

Interestingly it has been five games since Augustus joined the campaign, but afraid what the other party members would think if they knew the truth and afraid of the retribution of the Guild, he has not joined the party.

What he has done is managed to become employed as a body guard by an NPC that the player party has been interacting with since then entered Delphi. Because of this he has been interacting and working with the party. But they do not see him as party of the group yet.

Personally I can't wait to see how they sort it all out!

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Imperial Guard Steel Legion Lieutenant 2

Since in 8th Ed Warhammer 40k you need a whole lot of HQ options to field an effective force, these two additional figures will serve as more Company Commanders for my Steel Legion army.

I will admit that I find these sculpts a little goofy... Like what is he doing? But it is one of only two official Steel Legion Commanders from Games Workshop, so he will have to do!

As I mentioned with my previous Steel Legion Commander these minis are officially considered Lieutenants by Games Workshop. It says so right in their catalogue name. But given the old 3rd ed rules require junior commanders, I actually think this mini was intended to fill that roll, as it does have a similarity to the old pewter Cadian junior commanders of the same era.

And so my Steel Legion slowly but surely grow. Well my painted Steel Legion anyways I have been throwing this force down for a couple of months now in a unpainted state.

So more to come soon!


Written by: Andrew Gregory

4 Ways to Play a Single Player Board Game and Actually Enjoy Yourself

For the tabletop gamer there is little worse than when the game gets cancelled. Whether it's work, spousal obligations, or because everyone is just plain too tired, cancelling a game means that the tabletop fun is off.

Unlike a video game, tabletop games don't normally have a single player mode, and unless you are willing to trek to your local game store they don't really have a random drop in multiplayer mode either. So without your regular tabletop group you can get left a little high and dry.

But there is one option for the desperate gamer: Single Player Board Games. For many this is an area of gaming that they would never dare tread. Too lonely, too boring, too weird: single player games often go unplayed. Despite these prejudices, there is a way that you can make Solo Board Gaming entertaining, and use them to fulfill that tabletop itch. But you do have to keep a couple things in mind.

Deep Space D-6

1. Read the Rules.

Since you will be the only one playing this game, you will need to go over your rules in some detail. You will have no one to warn you that you have made a mistake, so you must be vigilant. In my experience mistakes in a single player game usual result in a easier rule set then was intended.

A Side note here, I have often found that single player games often have some ambiguous or poorly defined rules. When in doubt check the forums on Board Game Geek: they should help steer you in the right direction.

But overall make sure you know how the game works, and there is no rush. It's just you this evening!

Merchant of Venus

2. Don't be Afraid to Restart.

Since it is only you, no one is going to get mad at a do-over. So if you have been playing the game incorrectly (see above), realized that you will definitely lose, or just want to use a different tactic; just restart the game.

Personally I like to do a full restart, but if you want to roll it back by a turn or step or two then go for it! Just make sure that you have recreated the beginning of the turn or step accurately. Hence why I like to do a full restart. I can never remember and I always second guess myself.

Space Infantry

3. Be Honest.

Without the judgment and prying eyes of another player it is pretty easy to fudge the numbers, change a roll here, move a token there. etc. etc. In other words it is easier to cheat. But a single player board game isn't about beating a rival, and all the emotional attachments that involves (not condoning cheating, just saying), it is instead about over coming a logic system.

So if you cheated you didn't really over come the system and the only person who has any emotional attachment to this game is you... So you really only cheated yourself.

Give the game and yourself the respect they both deserve and be honest.

Space Empires 4X

4. Remember it is Supposed to be Difficult.

Without the thrill of overcoming an equal opponent, single player games must rely on the difficulty of the challenge to keep people engaged. That means you are supposed to lose so you come back and play it again.

So Don't be frustrated if you find yourself losing again and again. You are supposed to. Just keep at it and I promise you will win someday.

With these four personal rules in mind, give a single player game a go and try to beat that system!

Written by: Andrew Gregory

The Tabletop Space Cannon Project Part 3

A few weeks back Mike and I finished the super structure for our Space Cannon. Being our first scratch build together we are quite pleased with the result, and intend to hide any imperfections with paint, glued on extras from Warhammer sprues and of course moss and over-growth.

Once we had finished we actually really liked how it looked, without the large base that we had intended to mount it on.

So we decided that we would split the base off into different project, where we planned to turn it into a Helipad using Hirst Molds to create some interesting tiling and components to adorn it.

But for now we are considering that a different build. So be ready for the up and coming Tabletop Helipad Project.

Behind the Cannon in the second picture you can see three modified candles, that I intend to turn into the Generators for the cannon. These will serve as the actual objective markers that we need to destroy in the Warhammer 40k/Battlefleet Gothic Mission that we started designing this for in the first place!

Hopefully by the End of the Year we will actually get a chance to throw this scenario down!


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Imperial Guard Steel Legion Lieutenant 1

Way back in 2005 when 4th edition was very new, I started an Imperial Guard (Astra Militarium for you youngsters out there) army after "completing" my Death Guard Chaos Space Marines. In strange twist of fate in 2018 after "completing" my Death Guard a second time for 8th Edition, I hummed and hawed about what my next army would be, until I finally decided for second time, 13 years later that I would start an Imperial Guard Army.

This however I was not interested in going with the generic Cadia Model currently in use, I wanted to do something fun, something and so I settled on an old favourite of my from 3rd Edition: Steel Legion.

I have a thing for old Games Workshop models and games, and the Steel Legion fit the ticket perfectly. So slowly I started collecting. The problem of course is that aside from the standard infantry squad, most of the Steel Legion figures are discontinued, and I haven't heard any rumors of them being revived.

So I had to scour Ebay, the Old Hammer and Middle Hammer trading groups on Facebook, and ask old friends to find all the pieces I need. But finally I have everything I need to make a 1500pt build, so it is time to get painting!

I actually had the paint scheme for these guys selected before I bought anything!  As usual my paints are from Reaper Minis and if anyone is interested I will post my list in the comments below.

According to the Games Workshop Catalogues this fella's official model name is "Steel Legion Lieutenant 1". Back in 3rd/4th Edition You needed to create various levels of commanders for each section in your army. So your whole army would be lead by a Senior Commander, and each infantry platoon (made of of several squads of guardsman) would have to be lead by a Junior Commander.

There are indeed two different Steel Legion Lieutenants, and given this figure's similarities to the old Pewter Cadian Commander, I believe that this model was intended to be used as the senior commander.

But those does are long gone and in 8th I am currently using him as my Company Commander for my Spearhead Detchament.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Battlefleet Gothic Tyranid Kraken Bio-Ships

With these final escorts, these Tyranid Kraken Bio-Ships finish off my  for my 850pts Tyranid Fleet for Battlefleet Gothic!

Which means that it is only a matter of convincing one of the guys to play another round of BFG with me!

In the Battlefleet Gothic Cannon, Kraken Bio-Ships act as both scouts and escorts fulfilling the main frigate role in the fleet, and as such they come with a variety of different armaments from the bio-torpedoes I chose above, to pyro-acid batteries and even feeder tendrils!

As anyone who is familiar with the Battlefeet Gothic model catalog you will know that Games Workshop never released an official mini for the Tyranid Kraken beyond the few made for BFG's precursor, Space Fleet. And at that point they were pretty odd, so they don't really fit the current aesthetic if you ask me.

To get around this issue I searched online and was inspired by a blog entry I found about ten years ago now. I cannot remember for the life of me what the link is. However they suggested using Tyranid Gaunt parts to create Krakens, and I modeled mine after his designs.

So with a bit of cutting, super glue and green stuff, my Tyranid fleet is ready to swarm across the stars, consuming every fleet in it's path!

Let's see if my Eldar, Death Guard, or Space Marine fleets can hold them off!


Written by: Andrew Gregory