Tuesday 24 March 2015

Rogue Trader Campaign: Terrain - Gothic Ruins

With my girlfriend's Rogue Trader campaign nearing its impending start date I am frantically painting models in order to expand both sides military forces before kick off! However the campaign will have a strong narrative element to it and so I wanted to prepare some new terrain so as to set the scene for this conflict. Without giving too much of the story away I am aiming for a strong gothic theme to the setting and so I have sourced some appropriate buildings to facilitate this. 

To start with I found a couple of the old Gothic Ruin sets that were produced by GW back in 1998, these were glued to a Warhammer modular movement tray (these are an excellent basing resource for scenery as they are already embossed with a natural tile effect). They were then sparingly scattered with sand & PVA and painted. Personally I think that these are some of the best pieces of terrain that Citadel ever produced...they are simple, basic and fit the old school 40k gothic image perfectly...they are also very reminiscent of the custom terrain that used to appear in set pieces within White Dwarf and assorted Codices in the mid-nineties. 




This piece came out really well in my opinion and I was so pleased with it that I wanted to get some more terrain that fitted in with the same theme. Now don't get me wrong, the new GW scenery is okay and I have a fair few pieces of it in my terrain box...but in truth they are a real bitch to put together and I personally feel that they deviate from the dark gothic image of the nineties that I am trying to emulate in this campaign setting. 

With this in mind I dug out a box of Pegasus Ruins that I bought about seven years ago and hadn't gotten around to using (like so many models in my man-cave). On looking at them I could see they would fit perfectly next to the earlier Gothic ruins and so I set about assembling them. Compared to GWs kits they are a tad crude but they go together quickly and easily and still look great.

You get two sizable ruins in each box, and I stuck these on half a modular movement tray each to tie them in with the other piece.





Painting was fairly simple, I sprayed the models with a black undercoat followed by a grey base. Once this was dry I gave the buildings a liberal wash in Devlan Mud. This was followed by a heavy drybrush of codex grey and a subsequent light drybrush of bleached bone. Once this was done I again waited for the paint to dry before super gluing on some green flock to simulate moss and make the terrain pop. The wood was painted in the same way as the rest of the model before being given two heavy washes of Devlan Mud.

Overall I am very happy with the way these buildings turned out, I was able to knock them up relatively quickly and I reckon they'll add a real sense of atmosphere to my campaign setting. I am considering getting a few more of these Pegasus buildings as they are a joy both to put together and paint...and are also considerably cheaper than current GW terrain (no surprises there then!)

Let me know what you think!







14 comments:

  1. Looking good mate, I don't know why but green static flock looks great on grey buildings/ruins :). Basing them is also a top idea as everything looks better with a base in my mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers mate, many thanks!
      I completely agree about the green on grey, I was considering using a yellower 'dead, grass, but I don't think the contrast was enough! The green is on a whole different level!

      You're right, everything needs a base on it! And those modular movement trays are great (albeit expensive)!

      Delete
  2. Hi!

    Utterly fantastic work on those ruins! The Pegasus and classic GW stuff really works well together and looks spot on for more sturdy versions of the cardboard ruins produced for 2nd edition.

    I may have to investigate some of the Pegasus stuff for my own projects!

    Could you take a couple of pics with figures in situ so we can get an idea of scale (it would also be brilliant to see something akin to the shots from old White Dwarf magazines!)

    All the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi mate; yeah I completely agree about them being sturdier versions of the original card ruins! I love those card ruins, I use them a lot but their durability isn't amazing! These really capture the feel in a tougher format.

      I have to strongly recommend the Pegasus stuff, I wish I'd painted this stuff up when I furst bought it. I have just ordered a couple more sets cheaply on eBay!

      I'll try and get a few more snaps up tomorrow with some models on!

      Delete
  3. Looking good! I have fond memories of those old gothic ruins. The Pegasus set accents them well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They were great pieces of scenery, and even came free in the third edition boxset. I am really pleased with how closely the Pegasus stuff matches them!

      Delete
  4. Hmmmm, nice! I pretty much like the overall aspect, nice touches here and there! Well done, mate :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers mate. I do like the heavy gothic nature of these pieces!

      Delete
  5. I have a set of 6 corners of these pieces, and they definitely have more visual "heft" than the more modern GW terrain (which seems very flat). Glad to see they fit well with the Pegasus buildings. Now, I just need it to warm up enough so I can prime them outside!
    Nice work!

    Now, it just has to warm up enough for me to be able

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a very good way of phrasing it. I can see exactly what you mean about the newer stuff being 'flat'.

      I just don't think it conjures up the image of the gothic setting as well as these old pieces did!

      You definitely need to get them painted up! They are great fun to fight over!

      Delete
  6. hmm, I hadn't seen that Pegasus stuff before, thanks for recommending it, I'll have to try and get some....

    Oh and great idea on using the trays as scenery bases, that works quite well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to say it's pretty good stuff, a bit chunky but durable. I've used it in a battle today and it held up well!

      I can't remember where I learned the tip about those basing trays but they do a remarkably good job!

      Delete
  7. Just painted up a bunch of Gothic Ruins myself. Nice work on yours! :)

    Warburton

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Warburton! You can't beat the classic Gothic Ruin! I've just taken delivery of another Pegasus boxset today, so hopefully I'll be able to get them painted up and on the table relatively quickly.

      Delete