Gaslands Terrain

So I didn’t think I would be talking about Gaslands again this soon. I mean it, I feel a bit like a broken record right now. But I did a thing…

Gaslands is a miniatures game. Part of that hobby is building and painting squads or armies to use in the game (and of course to show off if you have any type of skill). It’s been that way for as long as we have had access to miniatures in one way shape or form. Mind you, when we were playing games like Squad Leader, it was all about the card board chits, but that’s a whole different story.

Anyway, if you were to talk to me about the hard core minis games I would have shut you down for a long time now. The time and money sink that becomes something like Warhammer 40k is way more than I am willing to deal with. And it isn’t the game play. I dare say I have always loved and enjoyed games that take a bit of strategy and maybe some good die rolls from time to time. But looking at where Warhammer is now, you can be talking spending hundreds to several thousand dollars to have an army worth playing with. This doesn’t even count the hours and hours of assembling the pieces as well as the painting. It’s a sacrilege to go to a game shop or a tourney with unpainted minis you know. And heaven forbid you put the wrong weapon or a weapon that isn’t even in the current codex on one of your minis. But I digress…

And this is where I get suckered into Gaslands. See, the cars are cheap. I buy them new for a buck a piece or find them second hand for pennies. I already have a gaming table set up for large scale games and such. What I haven’t had is the terrain for a track. Or dare I say, I didn’t have any terrain.

See, I started a little bit ago when I thought I might pick up some gates. The various gates on the track help to delineate the direction of the race as well as some other effects within the games. Sure I could pick them up on Etsy. But honestly, why would I do that? It would defeat the purpose of an inexpensive game if I spent too much money on various things. So I made some markers for gates. And then I started making terrain. And now I have a bunch of terrain that I actually spent the last few days working on. Yeah, I did a thing…

The first time I ever used a hot glue gun was when I attempted to use one for the gates I put together. I ended up burning the heck out of a couple fingers (big blisters and everything). I worked through Elmer’s glue and managed pretty well for myself. But over the last couple days, the Elmer’s glue just wasn’t cutting it. Sure it worked for making I-beams out of popsicle sticks. But a majority of the other stuff I was doing it was taking way too long.

I pulled out the glue gun again.

I am happy to say right now that I finished up the creation process without a single burn this time. Working through Elmer’s glue and the glue gun, I managed to put together all sorts of barriers and obstacles for the track. I even got an initial painting done on all of it (basically an acrylic black paint and mod podge mix. This creates a shell around the sculptures to protect them and give an initial base coat of color). The one thing I can say that I am not looking to do at least into the near future though, is actually finishing the paint jobs and making the terrain all pretty.

Right now, everything is rough and ugly. I liken it to what a group of orcs might have thought would be needed for a race track. I mean, as far as the track goes, we are in the bush leagues. And you know, I’m perfectly ok with that. I figure if I finally get to a point where I can spend some time painting it all, it will still look bush league, but a pretty bush league.

It’s funny too. See, I went to the trouble of even decorating the bases that a number of the models are now on. It wasn’t much but if I ever paint it, it will be that next bit of realistic touches that makes the stuff pop (or something). I glued real sand, pebbles, and some rocks on the different pieces. Here’s the funny part. These too, were covered with the same base coat as everything else. So when I go to paint the rocks to look like rocks… I will be painting rocks to look like rocks. Give it a second…

But hey, sometimes we do strange things.

Anyway, I’ve been planning on a learning race at my house for a little bit now. Had to get my own templates and such to make it possible. Which is also another reason I went to all the trouble to get the terrain set up. I set up a track for a photo op but I am pretty sure that track is not the one I would be using for a learning race. It’s set up to challenge the players right now, which can be a pita when trying to learn the game. At least everything was built with change in mind. I like the idea of never being stuck with one specific set up. And who knows, before too long I might even get a desire to add some color to the field. It could happen…

###

If you enjoy these stories, consider leaving some coffee money in the jar or you could buy a book or two. Either way helps keep the stories flowing.