Welcome to week six of my getting started with tabletop gaming on a budget blog. If you’ve not read the first weeks blog, it’s worth catching up on as it explains the parameters or rationale, and the thoughts behind the project. In essence the project is about getting started in the miniatures gaming hobby, with mass battle gaming on a budget equivalent to a box of fags a week with a space limitation that the game must be playable on a kitchen / camping size table and all the armies, terrain and accessories must fit inside a single 9 litre Really Useful Box.
This week I have saved up and have purchased a 3′ square terrain cloth from Tiny Battlemats. This is hemmed and printed on premium cloth. I like the detail and it holds down very small, only taking up 3-5mm in the bottom of my Really Useful Box.
The big excitement this week are the two units plus a two figure command base made up of Dwarf Slayer Cavalry mounted on Giant Boars. These are exactly the same miniatures used for my favourite 28mm Wars of Orcs and Dwarves unit, rescaled to 10mm scale. The photograph at the top of the page shows the 28mm and 10mm units side by side. This is one of the things that I really like about 3D printing models, you can adjust the size to exactly match what you need. The two units are slightly different. The front unit is armed with double handed great axe and the unit at the rear is equipped with a pair of hand axes. The models were 3D printed in resin and worked out at an incredible 18p per mounted figure, £1.80 for the whole unit!
I did have a resin 3D printer up until a year ago, and have printed hundreds of miniatures, however I definitely do not advise getting one to have at home. The materials are dirty, irritant and poisonous, and the fumes that are given off by the process are very unpleasant. A lot of time goes into working out supports and then cleaning, curing and removing supports. I now always get my resin prints done by a third party. A normal 28mm infantry figure normally costs £1.50 – £1.80 and is delivered cured and removed from supports. These 10mm cavalry cost 14p for the boar mount and 4p for the riders, so not really worth fiddling around at home when they can be ordered in so cheaply. You need to get some STL files to print. There are lots available for free on Thingiverse and other sites.
There is a utility on Sally 4th website, where you can order 3D prints. Click here to take a look. It is very easy to use. It is where I get all my 3D models printed. I choose Resin as the material and Grey as the colour. It normally take 2-3 weeks for printed orders to be turned around. I reduce 28mm miniatures to 34% in the ‘slicer software’ and then export as a new 10mm sized STL. This reduced scale file is then uploaded to be 3D printed.
Here we see the Dwarf Army painted to date, drawn up in battle order.
All of the miniatures that I have painted to date fit in one Really Useful Box Tray. Four of these will fit into a Nine Litre Really Useful Box.
I have put some self adhesive steel vinyl down on the tray, and have stuck magnetic vinyl on the undersides of the miniatures bases. This provides a lot of security, which is important if you are planning to be travelling with you collection.
Army of Orcs and Trolls closes in on the Dwarves.
I had £22.88 carried over from last week plus the weekly £15 budget. The 3′ square battlemat cost £32 and 24 Dwarf Slayer Cavalry cost £4.32 leaving £1.56 to carry over to next week.
Useful Links:
Copplestone Castings 10mm Fantasy Range
Really Useful Box Trays & Accessories to fit 4 Litre and 9 Litre Really Useful Boxes
Just Paper Battles 2D Terrain Range
Summary of Project Criteria:
- All figures, terrain & Accessories fit in one 9 Litre Really Useful Box
- Game playable on 3′ x 2′ Camping or Kitchen Table
- Budget £15 per week
- Must be playable solo, face to face or over zoom
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