Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Painted Scenery for Star Wars Imperial Assault





I've just painted over 100 pieces of scenery for Star Wars Imperial Assault. And I'm tired. CombatZone Scenery, a company in the UK, produces a beautiful line of terrain tailored for the game. Rendered in heavy casting plaster, the pieces reproduce the 2-dimensional features printed on the map-tiles, as well as other items like control consoles and supply crates.



Terrain is central to achieving an authentic Star Wars feel...  what is Tatooine without the lonely moisture vaporators, or a Rebel base without glowing tactical screens?  So I'm happy that there's a way of bringing these places to life in 3 dimensions. The only problem is the cost in money and time. Buying and shipping all this terrain cost me almost $250 Canadian -- and then it was about 7 weeks of intense painting. That's a long time to spend painting crates and snowbanks.

But, in the end, it's worth it. One of my recurring themes is that Imperial Assault is a game that straddles a borderland between board games and proper war-games. A key difference between these two categories is a board game is ready to play out of the box, but a war-game only becomes playable after a long labour of love: collecting the miniatures, imagining the armies, customizing the models, assembling the terrain, planning, painting and presenting.




I've always wanted a proper Star Wars war-game -- one with broad horizons for the hobbyist in me. I suppose Fantasy Flight Games made their game a little bit too structured and a little bit too easy for my tastes. Well, screw them. I'll keep on finding new ways to make Imperial Assault costly and time-consuming.









Thanks for looking. And don't forget: if you like Imperial Assault, I have galleries of the complete painted miniatures for the Rebels, Imperials and Mercenaries.


15 comments:

  1. Some fantastic looking terrain there. Nice understated OSL on the displays.

    I also excel in making my hobby more costly and time-consuming. Where's the fun in frugal efficiency?

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  2. Gorgeous! The cost and time has put me off, but they look fantastic.

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  3. Excellent I applaud the cost expense and most of all the final product!

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  4. What can I say? Your painting work is prepared to perfection:)

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  5. Looks like a labour of love. Good work, they should enhance your games plenty.

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  6. Fantastic! These look great, and I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment about Imperial Assault. It is a little too card-based boardgamey out of the box for a good wargame. Would love to see an official Frostgrave-like skirmish wargame sourcebook come out for Star Wars. The minis game from Wizards from a few years back wasn't half bad, but the minis weren't as good as the FFG ones you painted above, that's for sure!

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  7. Great work on those scenery pieces.

    Remember you can use them for other Sci-Fi based games as well, which gives even more value to them.

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  8. Wooooow! I love what you did here! I totally agree on your boardgame/wargame approach, I love this scenery. Duly noted, I may as well steal your inspir... ehm... pay you a tribute!

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  9. Beautiful stuff. I think these elements really add to the game.

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  10. Where did the display screens that C3PO is standing in fromt of come from?

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    1. From Combatzone.com's set of Imperial Assault scenery for Return to Hoth.

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  11. I would love to feature your work on PawnsPerspective.com. How can we get in touch?

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    1. Hi George -
      I just sent an email to pawnsperspective.com. If I didn't get the right address, just let me know.
      Matthew

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