Welcome to week two 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 weeks new unit is a unit of Half-Orc Spearmen from the Copplestone 10mm range. The figures come 5 to a strip, but where very easy to separate into twos, threes and single figures with some clippers. The models were primed black using Halfords Auto Spray and then painted using Army Painter Acrylic paints. I like to protect figures with brush on gloss varnish followed by a quick spray with Army Painter Matt Varnish to give a Matt finish. They are based on 1″ / 25mm square bases and flocked using Woodland Scenic Turf.
I have started working on some terrain for the game. I am planning to eventually purchase a 3′ grass effect cloth from Tiny Battlemats. I’ve brought products from them before, and highly rate them. The 3′ square mat is £32, so until I’ve saved that in the project budget I am improvising using a green bath towel! This is an ideal stand in terrain cloth, it measures 90cm x 150cm. As we are reducing the ground scale from inches to cm, this is the equivalent of a 7’6″x12’6″ table!
I wanted to have a selection of ‘flat’ fabric features, as this seemed more durable than paper or card and would follow the contours of the cloth they sit on. I had not done this before, but I had an idea that there was a fabric / canvas type of material that you could print on with a home ink jet printer. I purchased a PDF file from Wargames Vault. It cost $5 and contained images of marshes, ponds, fields and broken ground.
I found this Inkjet Canvas material on Amazon and ordered a sheet. It printed perfectly on my Cannon Inkjet printer. I used the high resolution / photo print option, and selected Matt Photo Paper as the media type. Once printed, it was easy to cut with a pair of scissors, does not fray or tear and will lay over contours.
Budget to date:
This week I’ve purchased a unit of Half Orc Spearmen (TM2), a Terrain PDF file from Just Paper Battles and a couple of sheets of Inkjet Canvas Paper (in reality I brought a back of 10 sheets, but will charge to hobby budget as I use them).
Week 3
This week I have added three new units to my 10mm Fantasy Battle project. The first figures to be painted are a pack of Copplestone War Trolls. These come nine to a pack, and being large creatures they are being mounted one to a base. This give me a five base and a four base unit for Wars of Orcs and Dwarves.
The second pack to be painted this week is a pack of Dwarves with Spears. These are mounted four to a base, giving me six bases for a nice over strength infantry unit.
Week 4 & 5
I was on holiday for week 4, so did not get to add anything to project, but ‘banked’ my £15 weekly budget to put towards buying a terrain cloth in a few weeks time.
This is the first new unit painted in week 5, it is a unit of Orc Cavalry mounted on Wolves (Copplestone Castings TM6)
The Cavalry figures have been mounted two to a one inch square base.
The second unit added this week is an old pack of Games Workshop Warmaster scale Dwarf Rangers. I have a few unopened Warmaster blisters from back in the day that you could buy the figures in hobby shops. The blister was marked £5, so I charged that to budget even although it was probably brought a decade ago and probably costs more that £5 on Ebay these days!
A handy unit for the Dwarf Army being armed with Crossbows & Axes.
This is what the two armies are looking like at the end of week 5.
Budget to date: Week 5
My plan is to continue focussing on building up an Orc and a Dwarf army until I have enough units to start gaming, which is around five or six units to make a good sized brigade. I will then drop down to adding a single unit each week to save some budget up for a 3′ square terrain cloth. Until then, this old green bath towel is doing good service!
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
Looks like a great project. I’m eager to follow along. Love those Copplestone figures.