I will admit, gentle readers, that I am not in this for the painting. I have no desire to spend hours hunched over my desk screaming at myself, unable to perfectly recreate an eyeball smaller than a pinhead. But don’t think that I don’t care about my army. Tiberious Xorn, the Plague Prophet, leader of what was once known as the Cadian 343rd Artillery, now called “Nurgles Nephews”, has pride of place in my army lists. When Guttrott the Gregarious, the Great Unclean One, arrives on the field of battle, there is much rejoicing. And my traitors know they must be strong, for if their belief flinches they may become part of the zombie horde known as the Unfaithful. As you can see, I am a fan of the fluff of my 40k army. It’s not a generic list I found on the internet, spammed out to make the most of the current meta. It’s got character, theme and a couple of really big guns (gotta love those Basilisks). I know I’m not the only one to create a backstory for my army but I think a lot of people trail off there.
It’s all very well having a story for your army but what about the battle you’re fighting. It’s not 1500pts a side on a ruins board, it’s a battle for the outskirts of Rensvik. The Chaos Traitors are trying to take the water plant so they can spread their Plague of Faith across the whole city and only the Space Wolves have a chance to hold them back. It’s amazing what a story you can tell in a wargame. This is where terrain comes to the fore. I know we don’t have enough time to paint our minis let alone the board they fight over but a couple of new pieces every so often can really add character to a table. They don’t even have to be that good, just a representation of something like “industrial” or “ruins” or “woodland”. Before you know it you’ve got a different feeling for every game you play. Don’t think they have to be scratch built either. If you’ve got the cash there’s loads of gorgeous MDF terrain available and printable paper terrain is extremely underrated. Of course there’s plenty of advice on the interwebs about how to make your own terrain out of next to nothing if you’ve got the inclination. The only problem is you may become a terrainaholic.
Do you have a favourite terrain piece? Do you still use books and green felt? Do all those buildings on the table just get in the way? (I’m looking at you WarmaHordes) Let us know how you feel in the comments below and the best will win the chance to be trapped under a pile of rubble.
Until next time gentle readers.
TheBattlehammer 