Build a bastion, er, bunker, er, both!

What's that?  That's right, I'm talking about some terrain today.  I need to switch my focus completely to getting my Adepticon army in order and painted to a standard better than 'done', so what did I do?  I built some terrain instead...

That's right, I'm always focused on what's important in this hobby.  As it turns out, building terrain can be important too.  In this particular case, it was.  You see, I'm running a Planetary Empires campaign in my game group and we needed a bastion to fight over.  Seeing as how the other players are mostly newbies, I had to 'take one for the cause' and finally build one of mine.  And it was fun.

It was fun because it was very easy, but it was also enlightening.  I don't have any money these days, so buying the new bunkers and trench lines isn't an option, yet I really wanted a bunker.  Is there a way to build the bastion and still be able to make it into a bunker as well?  Why, yes there is!  GW was brilliant when they designed this kit, and a little less glue than normal can give it a dual purpose.  Let me show you a whole series of pics and give you the basics on how to do it all:

First, get all the bitz cut and cleaned up.

Secondly, build the base.  It's easiest to glue the triangular corners to the facings and then glue it together.  Make sure it's 'squared' up.  Plastic glue can move too much sometimes...

Then build the second layer.  I made sure to build the gun-mountings and install them after everything is done.  Really, I wanted to focus on getting the sides done right.  After all, a gun-mount is only as good as the concrete holding it, right?

 Of course, the next step is to build the parapet walls.  Same thing here, make sure you pay attention to 'squaring it up'.  I did this at each step by test-fitting each layer on the layer below repeatedly until it held.

No good deed goes un-noticed, so I have to show off the fitting of everything.  Note that there is no glue between the layers, just a snug fit.

Now comes the important part- adding the flooring!  I built the floor separately and then dropped them in.  In fact, I found the floor may have been a safer bet for testing the 'square' status.  Luckily, it all fit perfectly and proved that my years as a carpenter actually mattered...  Please note, again, no glue for this.

What about the next layer?  Same thing, no glue, tight fit, perfect!  And not gluing the floor down means I can easily switch this thing anytime I want.

Finally let's see how this looks all built up:

See bastion done.  Done, bastion, done.

See bunker done, minus the middle layer.  Shrink, bastion to bunker, shrink.

And that's it!  Simple, sweet, and almost like it was designed this way.  I know most of you have probably built your bastion the same way and thought the same thing when you bought the kit, but if there's anyone that hasn't- hopefully this helps!

Now on to making this blog worth reading...

How many people bring fortifications into their army?  I don't see it very often.  When I do see someone bring a fortification, all I see are Aegis Defense Lines.  I know they're cheap and that makes it easier to include the too-often-necessary AA Quad-gun, but think about this:

A bastion is only 25 more points, comes with four more heavy weapons, two levels of fortification (AV 14 building and 3+ cover-giving parapets), plus the same weapon options.  Do I have an Aegis line?  Of course I do!  But 25 additional points to gain that much extra stuff is a deal, to say the least.

What about players that refuse to bring any fortifications in their lists?  Those players are, unfortunately, very much like me.  I appreciate terrain under player control, but I appreciate my army more.  That usually means I would rather spend the points on more troops or a bigger, meaner HQ or tank.  But hey, terrain is just as important to the game as the toy soldiers themselves are.  The fact that GW included this option is one of the many things about 6th edition that I LOVE!  It may not be the wisest idea, especially in the competitive meta, but the cool-factor alone more than makes up for this.  Plus, who doesn't like having bunkers from Turn 1 for those heavy weapon squads?

Let me know if you like fortifications and, if you do, which ones you take and why.  Otherwise, Happy Gaming!