Playing the game

   I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've also started two more jobs and that's kept me a bit busy.  But not so busy that I haven't been able to play 40k...

  Every weekend, my son and I throw down some models and toss about the dice using the new 9th edition rules.  I've been more than clear about my opinion of the new edition so far and I will stand by it.  But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to play or even keep up with my most consistent hobby, so we've made a point out of getting a game in every weekend since release.  And that gives me something to quickly blog about in between job shifts, so here we are!

  My Necrons have battled against the Dark Angels under the new system and have had a great deal of success.  Is this because of 9th edition's rules changes or just me figuring out how to play the army?  A little of both, but more of the new rules on top of taking advantage of my son's lack of experience are certainly more to credit.  See, the new rules change a couple of things that can really make a difference to scoring points.  

  First comes the table size and focus on terrain- the table is smaller, the terrain is more and more complicated.  This means that I will often take advantage of advancing behind woods and ruins to either avoid or mitigate my opponent's changes to hit.  Standing in a crater gives a better save against that shooting.  And with so much obscuring line-of-sight and the already famous resilience of the space robots from space, this means that my opponent has less of a chance of wittling down my own withering firepower in return.  This newer concept has certainly been something that I can take advantage of in a big way- I dread the day we play with little more than natural terrain and a generally open battlefield.  

  Second comes the modifier cap.  The fact that Necrons have very few buffs to help them out while the Space Marines have tons means that the modifier cap in shooting is much more balanced.  We've even run into the stacking modifiers not mattering because of this cap and it's been interesting.  Woe betide the pointy-eared Eldar when they finally hit the table.  It's not as big a deal as the terrain, but is coincidentally impacted by the terrain as well.  Who needs a psychic power that gives a -1 to be hit when just crouching behind the trees will do the same thing?

  Finally, it really comes down to objectives.  This is where my love and hate of the new edition really coalesces.  You see, previous editions rewarded you for killing the enemy and maybe holding some objectives once in a while.  But this new edition actually allows you to choose secondary ways to score points while also providing a boatload of victory points for holding those previously-ignored objective points.  And here's where the game becomes too 'swingy'.

  If you hold one of the four-to-six objective points on the table, your army gains five points.  If you hold two or more, you gain five more points.  If you hold more than your opponent, you gain five more!  And this happens every turn.  The rub is the fact that 'alpha strike' is still a thing as your primary goal at the start of the battle is to move to take objective points and then destroy your opponent's units that can also move up and take objectives.  Whoever has the first turn can literally 'cripple and conquer', while the player with the second turn is stuck having to force their opponent off with whatever units they have remaining.  And if the first player doesn't strike hard enough, then the second player can easily just force the first player off the objectives and dictate the rest of the game.  I've actually succeeded in both ways.  

  This objective-focus is further exacerbated with the choice of secondary objectives.  Admittedly, my son is still not associating those secondaries with his army builds and overall strategies, but he's still young and hasn't played wargames all his life while I have.  But it's really cruel to score points against your opponent because you killed more (while holding the most objectives), moved up the table quicker (to hold more objectives), and planted more flags or peed on some objectives (because you hold more objectives).  This scoring system becomes a dynamo- the quicker you gain those points the more points you gain.  

  To illustrate (and I have to disclose that this is me versus my son, not versus some expert-level ITC gamer), here are the scores of our battles since we started playing this edition:

1. 48-24 Necrons

2. 10-72 Necrons

3. 37-9 Necrons (game called in round 3)

4. 50-14 Necrons (game called in round 3)

5. 33-68 Necrons (game called in round 4)

6. 49-21 Necrons (game called in round 3)

  That's ridiculous.  I'm not saying this is proof that the game is unbalanced or anything like that.  But I was under the impression that this edition was designed to create more evenly-matched battles.  Instead, I'm seeing even more lopsided victories than I saw in last edition!  A complicated game that almost removes close battles?  Hmmm...

  9th Edition 40k is definitely different from 8th.  I still have my complaints about the theoretical stuff, but now I can complain about the practical as well.  I don't hate the edition, but I still find 8th to be more rewarding and simpler.  Let me know what your thoughts are on this rant.  Better, let me know what your experiences are with the new edition so far.  Who knows- you may completely disagree with me or you may find similar issues.  I'm excited to read what you think.

  Until next post- Happy Gaming!

Death of the flamer

  The changes in 40k between 8th edition and 9th edition are revealed ad nauseam all over the interwebs by now.  So of course I have to add a little bit as well.  One of the biggest changes to the game is how certain weapons work.  And there is one big change that really burns me up... 

  The biggest beneficiary of the Overwatch rules in 8th edition was the underrated Flamer weapons.  Being able to blast opponents charging from 8" or less with auto-hits made these weapons extremely useful- especially on defensive units (typically campers holding forward objectives).  In an offensive mode, flamers required some interesting maneuvering or even the so-called 'transport tax' to ensure that they were going to get used.  Which was okay, because who doesn't like burning stuff? 



  In 9th edition, the flamer has lost the ability to Overwatch without spending a Command Point.  This means that only one unit can take advantage of the strength of the weapon, which further means that players will be extra-selective when it comes to which unit to waste this on.  I have two units of Flamegressors and I used to love putting them straight out front and letting my opponent charge right at me.  The fire was glorious.  Now I will need to combine the units to take advantage of that.  Or change the unit's role to 'offensive' and pay that transport tax.

  Now all is not lost.  Vehicles, Dreadnoughts, and Monsters can still fire their flamers while engaged!  This is amazing and you'll see far more walking sarcophagi with underslung flamers.  You'll also see Land Raider Redeemers actually hit the table once in a while- especially for the boyz-in-blue!

  On that note, Ultramarines maintain their top-level ranking among the Astartes because of that Chapter Tactic that allows them to still fall back and shoot.  In 9th, units that fall back can do NOTHING else.  They can't even cast psychic powers, much less shoot or charge again.  But the Ultramarines...  yeah.  This means that my Flamegressor units are still vicious, having teeth that other colors of marines lose now.  And I enjoy that, obviously.

  Much like most of my complaining with this edition, it's not really a big deal.  But I hate to see the oft-forgotten flamer fall to the wayside like it did for so many editions previously.  8th edition really brought it back into the fray as a legitimate weapons option and I worry now that 9th is going to re-retire it.  I like my flamers.  And my wife, with her infantry-based army of Sisters of Battle, really likes hers as well.  Now to get up the nerve to tell her...

  Let me know what you think or if you already realized this and I'm just late to the party.  Until next post, Happy Gaming!

 Public Service Disclaimer- Please note that I IN NO WAY condone setting things on fire in the real world.  This is just a game and representative of the horrors of war in a grim and dark universe.  Setting things on fire in real life is known as arson and is classified as a crime (often a felony).  I will not be held responsible for any actions or threats from arsonists or pyromaniacs instigated by this, or any, post.   

Nine lives and no more

  I have my hands on it.  You know what I'm talking about.  The entire interwebs has been talking about it for months now.  It only became available for preorder a couple weeks ago.  This was the harbinger of the awesome new age.  And it's mine.

Pandora's box, er, awesomeness!

  If you haven't figured it out, I mean the Indomitus launch set for 40k 9th Edition.  I had the connections to get my box and begin digesting the new rules and I took full advantage.  This box is such a great deal that it was irresistible.  The models are amazing, even if I'm not a fan of returning the Space Marine aesthetic to the 'skulls and chains' motif.  I'm more of a fan of the 'sci-fi' motif that kicked off 8th edition.  But they still look awesome and the Necrons are much more alien-looking (it's becoming generational!), so I'm not unhappy about spending money on this set.

  The rulebook, to me, is far too long and heavy.  It's a great quality and with a bunch of new stuff that wasn't present in any of the older editions.  But I was all about the 8-panel pamphlet of rules and the three-page printout update that drove 8th.  Now, I need 40 pages of the rulebook and an immediate FAQ/errata from the Chapter Approved just to have the basic rules!  I really, really, really enjoyed the simplicity of 8th edition.  I absolutely abhorred the complications of 5th-7th.  It wasn't fun playing those complicated versions of the game.  And now we're back to that level of complication- terrain is four pages of rules by itself! 

  I've already mentioned how much I loved 8th edition a few times (here and here).  I've also mentioned how high my hopes are for the new stuff and expressed some of my skepticism.  I can go through this post dissecting every rule change and wax on about how I think it'll affect the armies I own, but everyone else on the interwebs is already doing that.  What I will note is why this has to be the last.

  40k 8th Edition was promised to be the last- a living ruleset that would be updated every year to keep things in balance.  The codices were published at a pace that made Formula One drivers jealous.  The Chapter Approved books came out with small changes and even entirely new missions to keep things somewhat fresh and balanced.  And all of that lasted... three years.  Three years is much less time than the promise implied. 

  The so-called 'codex creep' was insane- not at all different from editions previous.  Imperial Knights completely broke the game and then did so again even when the game around them changed drastically.  Eldar got nerfed.  Tau didn't.  And then the new Space Marines were released and... wow.  The attempts at balance in this edition were sporadic and often ineffective- just like previous editions.  And just like AoS's Stormcast armies, GW just kept releasing new models and new books to keep up.  It wasn't cool.  And owning almost every army meant that I never got a breather. 

  In fact and on that note, the fact that my 'mini-marines' have been basically obsoleted is still a major sore point for me.  I'm not one of those unhappy ragers that is angry that GW felt the need to invalidate years of collecting.  I'm unhappy that I have quite honestly have many thousands of dollars of that old stuff sitting in my garage, taking up shelf space, and reminding me daily how much of a waste of money that was.  I'd be just as angry if I'd just bought all of that at discount as I am having purchased it all over decades.  And all to simply sit on the shelves, never to be used again and having almost no value for resale.  I wish there was a plastic recycling plant anywhere near here...

  So let's see- I'm not happy about the complications being injected into the rules.  I'm not happy about the short lifespan of the game.  I'm not happy about the lack of balance that is sure to become worse.  And I'm not happy about the amount of money that I've spent on useless stuff ever the decades, from 'mini-marines' to strategem cards and redux-codices.  I could quite literally own a nice house based on the money that I've spent.  I'm not sure that my excitement for this edition will remain very high for very long.  In fact, much of my skepticism (though not all) can be expressed on the ever-popular BoK page here.

  So this is it.  I'm going to keep up with this edition as best as I can.  But I won't buy another edition after this.  If you read my previous article linked above, you'll remember that I have almost everything for the previous eight editions of the game and will have everything for this one too.  And just like D&D, where I have the exact same problem (sans miniatures), I am more than happy to just play at home with friends and family using older rules.  I love 2nd edition D&D and I love 8th edition 40k.  Games Workshop is like a cat to me- it has nine lives and it's on the last one now.  Quit being a curious cat, Geedubs.  It's almost over. 

  Let me know if you think I'm being a bit overdramatic or if you agree (even a little bit).  Now for me to get back to digesting that rulebook (and painting Necrons).  Until next post- Happy Hobbying!

New technology for old format

  As my readers may have noticed, I'm a bit of a gamer.  I may focus this blog on GW games (especially 40k), but I'm certainly not limited to just those.  In fact, the right-hand rail of this site is packed with links to game companies that I also support, including card games (deck-building and collectible), board games, and other miniature-wargames.  In fact, I even have a bi-weekly group to play poker and lose even more money to (which is still less expensive than GW).  But my first gaming love was RPGs, especially that Dungeons & Dragons game.

  I've run a few groups and campaigns over the last few years, almost always focused on abusing the captive audience of my family plus a friend or two.  The last campaign I ran was a homebrew that just finished up a couple months ago with everyone's character leveling up to five.  But with the current limitations on getting together and work schedules being exceptionally precious, that campaign had to come to an end.  I can't live without throwing some d20s and some people have asked me to get another game going, so my problem-solving brain had to get to work.

  And that's where the new technology comes in.  While my wife and kids are already here (and when the wife is not working), other people that want to play may not have the ability to join us.  That leaves me in a bit of a conundrum.  As it turns out, there's a great many programs to allow people to play over the internet and adhere to the social-distancing rules.  Plus, most of my friends live hundreds of miles away and only visit once or twice a year.  So I started looking into those programs to see how they could work. 

  I had a cacophony of suggestions come from every direction.  In addition to my research (great article here), I found that I wasn't doing anything groundbreaking.  I'm no pioneer (in fact, I'm known as a "late-adopter" or "laggart" in marketing terms), so seeing that other people had the same thoughts years ago was helpful.  Those suggestions and my research narrowed everything down to three main options:

1. Discord- everyone suggested Discord as a great site to run voice-chat and even store some documents for people.  But this was too generic for me and wasn't what I was looking for.  If you're playing some video games, then this is definitely the site.  But role-playing?  Not so much.

2.  Roll 20- This program is awesome!  In fact, it's specifically made to create that virtual environment for people to role-play in.  It contains all kinds of graphic interfaces and tools to be able to show all players where their characters, foes and stashes are in well-designed rooms.  But it still didn't have that thing that I'm wanting...

3.  Zoom-  This video-conferencing program allows for people to speak to each other and, most importantly, see each other face-to-face.  This is what I want in a game.  I've been a DM since the late 80's and I have outstanding storytelling skills (yes, I even do voices).  This means I don't need the visuals of Roll20 to immerse the characters.  However, I still need the face-to-face ability and video-conferencing turns out to be the only way to accomplish this.

  Now, I am BY NO MEANS promoting Zoom to people.  I am not paid by them, nor do I work for the company.  But I'm an instructor and this is the program that I use and am familiar with.  In fact, I play Star Wars Armada over this program with a buddy from New York (I'm a good 'ol Texan, so a bit far away to get together) and it works great!  Plus, we have certain tools such as setting up a 'virtual background' and changing profile picture (although I've forgotten how to do that recently), which can be very useful in the game.  This platform meets my needs specifically and that's what I needed (see what I did there?).

  Being a D&D player since the old days of yellow-bound 1st edition and trying to capture that same imagination-based concept in today's video-driven society is often difficult.  I've already had two other potential gamers decline joining my group because they "don't have the imagination" (something I can't understand, but I also didn't think there were people without an internal voice, so...).  My skills as a storyteller come from decades of narration-to-immersion and my love of video games is limited because of that.  Luckily, it's often the tools you use for unrelated activities that can be the most useful (who thought pipe-cleaners could be used for making animals in kindergarten?). 

  I'll be kicking off this group in a week.  We'll play the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure from the D&D Starter Kit and then work into an adventure book.  This use of published material will serve as the 'control' in this experiment of modern tools so that I can focus on managing the interaction of the party.  After all, I don't have a table to rap on when they start to get out-of-hand.

  Let me know if you've found some esoteric answers to interesting problems like this in your gaming life.  Have you used real-life programs or tools to aid your gaming adventures?  I'd LOVE to hear your suggestions and stories below.  Until next post- Happy Gaming!

Building character(s) into an army

   To me, one of the best parts of the new 40k 9th edition is the army-building rules.  While I have some complaints and worries (check out my last post), the new detachment system is not one of them.  You see, 8th edition is easily my favorite edition but the army-building format was broken.  It encouraged people to take tons of troops, in MSU format, in order to stockpile Command Points for the 'good stuff' like elites and heavies.  In other words, it encouraged 'min-maxing' over army design.  That's not a good system. 

  The new system for 9th edition puts everyone on a more level field and encourages more unique army lists.  I mentioned in that last post that I want to build a daemonic Chaos Space Marine army without paying the troop and Huron tax and now I can- without losing access to the important Command Points to make it work!  Finally!!!  This also means that my son can play a pure Deathwing army, my wife can play an angelic Sisters army focused on Celestine and her flying friends, and even my Eldar may see a pure Biel-tan style for the first time in over a decade.  I really think that this new format of army-building is going to be so much more casual-gamer-friendly.

  All that being said, I do see a HUGE disadvantage to this newer system.  The problem is the opposite of 8th edition's issue- troops.  Where 8th basically requires troops to be included in armies (which totally makes sense), 9th can basically ignore them altogether in armies.  Elite armies will become the new norm.  Armies of Shining Spears or DG Terminators (arguably one of the hardest units in the game) will be present while the co-called 'Loyal 32' will be retired and never see the battlefield again.  It will be amazing to see just how unnecessary regular troops will become.

  There is hope, however.  Getting characters into an army under 9th will be a little more difficult.  The specialist detachments (Vanguard, Outrider, Spearhead) are all limited in how many HQs they can take (one required, up to two).  A Battalion, which requires at least three troops, 'unlocks' more HQ slots and becomes more attractive.  Otherwise, players will be forced to pay for multiple detachments and defeat the whole purpose of the new system (remember that the detachment including the HQ is basically free while others have to spend Command Points just to use).  This means that the equation for army-building in this new edition requires more troops to use more characters.  And that's the way it should be. 

  I'm very, very excited about the new army-building format of 9th edition.  I enjoy 8th edition so much that I'm actually willing to simply port over the new system and just keep playing with 8th's mechanics.  In fact, this almost makes me think that we didn't need a new edition at all and could have released a Chapter Approved update for adopting this new system into the current game.  But that's back to that old post I've already mentioned.  Moral of the story- you no longer need troops to build an army... unless you want characters!  That's awesome.

  Let me know what you think of the new army-building format in 9th below.  I'd be curious to see if I'm the only one that notices this or if I'm just diving too deep with this.  Otherwise, Happy Gaming!

There's a 9th Edition now?!?

  A few weeks ago, I wrote up a post expressing my opinions about the announcement of 40k 9th edition.  It was going to be the first post in a long time and I wasn't sure how I was going to pivot back into the hobby.  After all, isn't that what this blog is about?  So I dumped it.  I've been keeping up with everything going on with the new edition, including all the new models and vociferous conversations about all the revealed rules changes, so I'm definitely not without my own thoughts on it all.  And that's why we're here.

  That drafted post from a few weeks ago wasn't very positive.  You see, I actually really, really like the current (8th) edition of the game.  This is a very simple set of rules that actually helps people quickly learn it and get to playing.  To illustrate that point, I tried teaching my son how to play in 7th (and older editions when he was younger, so there was some foundation of understanding at least) and it was very difficult.  It wasn't fun for him.  When the rules [pamphlet] for 8th came out, it was easy.  My wife, who resisted for years trying to learn any of my games, actually learned to play and only finds all the specific army special rules (she plays Sisters, so...) complicated.  More, I invited my neighbor over one day and taught him how to play in only an hour.  So my experience being able to share 8th edition with people was positive.  Why change that?

Adepticon 2009

  I still can't be positive after all this time and learning about those very rules for 9th edition.  It seems that GW (and the tourney-bro playtesters) really wanted to add more rules to the game.  Now we have 'classes' of models back (vehicles and monsters ignoring the 'heavy' aspect and operating uniquely while engaged), complex engagement rules (why the 1" and 1/2" difference?), and insane new terrain rules.  In fact, let me digress into specificity for a moment:

SIMS 4 glitch, apparently

  While I don't have the rules in hand, I have watched a number of tacticas, battle reports, and listened to podcasts about the terrain and I am a bit more confused.  I love the concept of adding keywords and rules to the terrain, but this abstract concept of 'infinite height' and size 'bubbles' is too complicated.  In fact, I think it sounds (and remember that I'm just basing this on listening to other people go on about the subject) more complicated than even earlier editions!  And if I have this right (and I'm definitely confused on this point)- area terrain can block LoS unless you're touching it or in it, then you can see all around from the terrain.  Which means that if I have my marine behind the building, he can't be seen by the enemy, but as soon as he moves up and touches the terrain the marine can now see all around, through, and out of the building!  This sounds so much like a video game glitch turned into a game mechanic to me.    

  Okay, enough with the rant about terrain, let me get back to the game rules...  So now Overwatch is removed because it 'had so little impact on the game' yet 'took up a lot of game time'.  T'au still get to Overwatch, so no worries there.  But to pull it off, a single unit will have to spend Command Points to execute that action.  Not the worst, but I don't think this should have been removed.  I really enjoyed Overwatch and felt that it added that little bit of fun to the otherwise pedantic charge phase.  That makes me sad.  

  Finally, in the less positive whinging on the rules, I'm not at all a fan of the return of alternating setup.  I really enjoyed letting my opponent set up their whole army so I could step out for a 'fresh-air' break.  I understand the immersion of having both players involved the whole time in the Setup phase, but I'm going to miss those little breaks.  I think that it also forces less experienced players to feel a little more stress because they don't have their rules or strategy completely figured out before they hit the table.  More experienced players may become more frustrated as they wait for the noob to figure out what the heck they're doing.  

  But that old post wasn't completely accurate.  I had no information regarding any of the rules or new models or anything other than a heralding of more money I was going to have to spend.  Now I'm a bit more happy with some parts of 9th- I really like the new Detachment format.  That is...  PERFECT!  I always had the dream of playing my Chaos Marines completely possessed, with Daemon Princes leading Possessed and Warp Talons backed up by Obliterators and Daemon Engines.  In 8th, I'm stuck with the 'battalion tax' just to have the Command Points that make the army work.  So far, it seems like the new system is exactly what I need to pull this army off.  I may even get back to painting those Word Bearers from last year.  

  There's also the controversial issue of the table size being reduced.  I love it.  I also love the fact that almost everything in the game is going up in points so that we're playing with less models on the tabletop.  I have been screaming the need for smaller games for years- it's more immersive, narrative, and often more balanced to play at that 1000-1500 point level!  I really want a return to the 'good old days' when the game was a platoon-size focus and characters were really cool.  From 4th on up to 7th and then later in 8th edition, we seemed to have morphed into this battalion-size game where characters are there to add buffs or survive the screens to wreck face; names didn't matter for these characters.  Now we may see a return to smaller games and that odd marine Captain developing a bit of a storyline throughout his battling career.  

  Finally, the most important positive point of all- the new models.  With everything about the rules, the terrain, and the army development covered, I figured it was time to talk about the new models on deck in the 'Launch Box' and releases soon after.  

  Remember that I'm rather beholden to the Necrons now after my family cunningly trapped me with some space robots as a gift.  I'm not happy that I only get one unit of Skorpek(?) Destroyers and their Lord.  Outside of that, the Necron side of the launch box is pretty basic (we all have Overlords, Crypteks, and Warriors).  I am happy, however, that the Necrons are getting some new units!  I mean, those four three-legged warriors of choppiness are really cool and that War-of-the-Worlds super-Cryptek is perfect for that xenos invader vibe.  Plus, close-combat troops introduced into a game focused on close combat?   Yes, please.

  The Space Marines, on the other hand, are a bit different for me.  I despise Space Marine bikes as I can't understand the juxtaposition of neural-interface powered armor and an up-armored Harley with some machine guns attached.  It's just ridiculous, that concept.  But those new Primaris bikes look soooooo cool!  It's too bad that my son plays Ravenwing and I'm donating those bikers straight to him.  The Judiciar looks ridiculous and needs a head swap at least, while the Eradicators are my dream come true in model form.  I mean, Gravis plus melta plus rules?  Sure!  The Assault Intercessors are to be expected yet unnecessary to my Ultramarine "shoot-em-all" style.  Finally, those Bladeguard Veterans- c'mon now!  I was enjoying the scifi being injected into my Ultramarines and now we're back to carrying skeletons around?!?  They look cool, but they absolutely do not fit the theme of my existing marine army and that's... disappointing.  

  Overall, I've shifted from total poopantsery at the announcement to some reserved excitement now these weeks later.  I'm still not happy that the game is being made more complicated but I'm happy the games are shrinking.  I'm very excited about the new models and the deal in that box is unbelievable.  Seriously- $200 is less than I'd spend on the new rulebook and some Necron models anyway.  I'm happy I didn't post that draft because then I'd have to eat some words...

  I'm curious to read what you think about the new edition.  The 'Launch Set' has just gone up for preorder and, remember, it's limited run.  Are you planning on getting a set (or two or three)?  What about the new edition do you particularly like or dislike?  Let me know in the comments below and thanks for letting me share my thoughts.   

The Mortalis Zone

 The Underhive is an unforgiving environment, even for the most hardened gangers.  When I picked up all the new stuff, I was concerned with the different... format of the game.  I'm used to the old 90's era 3D terrain with plastic bulkheads and cardboard rather than the board game style that the new version is.  You can reread my post about that here.   

  But the idea of playing in a 'zone mortalis' actually makes sense- there tons of complexes, tunnel networks, and huge buildings full of hallways and rooms under Hive Primus, so of course gangs are going to battle in these areas too!  But I wasn't as happy about it through a sheer sense of nostalgic tradition.  Then I found a video many months ago about how to build this Zone Mortalis terrain cheaply and easily.  Full credit to Eric's Hobby Workshop for this idea- it was awesome!  I highly encourage anyone interested in making great terrain to check out this channel.  

  I should note that we worked on this last year, but my work schedule really slowed down my posts, so this is a bit late.  Without further ado, let me show you the work:

  First, we had to gather the materials at each step.  This step includes a very sharp box-cutter (although a wire-cutter will work better), a pencil and yardstick to mark the foam, and 1" pink foam.  At this point, I marked and but a bunch of 2x2" squares (77) and 2x4" rectangles (12).  

  I was not very good and the pieces didn't come out square, so I tried to sand them down to make them as flat and flush as possible.  It really didn't work.  I wasn't dissatisfied, though, as it all still fits together well enough.  I laid it all out to match up with the game boards and already started to get fired up.  

  The next required material is glue, which I chose to use Liquid Nails as it is extremely strong.  The only risk is that it expands (though not as much as caulk or other construction glues), but a bit of time running my finger across the joints and corners actually made that a bonus. 

  Finally, it was time to finish it up and make it look good.  For this, we need gray paint, black paint, light gray paint, a couple of paintbrushes (I used 3" and a standard GW brush), and a black pen.  After letting the glue completely dry, we applied multiple (2-3) coats of gray craft paint.  Then we watered down the black paint and brushed it downward to represent concrete leakeage.  Then we drew cracks in the walls with the ball-point pen (useful for also applying that recess as long as you don't push too hard), and finally painted watered down light gray highlights around those cracks.  

  And with that, we were technically done!  We also added tons of pipes using straws and toy construction kits, primed black and attached using hot glue.  With a bit more paint (orange, brown, silver), we made all those pipes rusty.  It is the Underhive, after all.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of that in progress.  Luckily, the video I referenced above does show how he did that and the fantastic results.  

  My wife and I have played quite a few games, with her Escher being the victims of the tough Goliath more often than not (although she's won a lot of games herself).  Below will be pictures from our most recent game.  This terrain makes all the difference...

  We've done more work and built crumbled and ruined walls, as you can see in the pics above.  I am so happy with the results and this terrain really adds that element that the board game version needed- 3D.  And with the atmosphere being set and fully-painted models all ready to go, I guess it's time to get a campaign going!

  Thank you for checking out the blog and stay tuned for more from the Underhive!