Let it not be said that I don't read and act upon the comments made by my regular blog readers. I have therefore created an 8 x 8 'mix and match' grid of Heroscape hexes using those that I have already painted and a few originals. The resulting grid looked like this:
It certainly makes for an interesting and varied look ... and has made me wonder if there might not be something worth pursuing here.
Time for a bit of reflection, I feel.
It certainly makes for an interesting and varied look ... and has made me wonder if there might not be something worth pursuing here.
Time for a bit of reflection, I feel.
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To me the "all green" or "green on green" are the best looking. The "green on brown" is the least attractive to me. We can all see the hex pattern without the extreme definition that the "green on brown" provides.
ReplyDeleteJay Stribling,
DeleteI agree that the all-green hexes (in different shades) are far better than the original green-on-brown ones.
All the best,
Bob
Perhaps mix & match is not a bad idea? Certainly would give an interesting looking terrain.
ReplyDeleteStryker,
DeleteThe 'mix and match' option certainly looks a lot better than I expected.
All the best,
Bob
I'm not sure which I like best now! Perhaps all green is best but keep some in the original condition for rough ground?? The 192 hexes with the river certainly looks very striking.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteI have similar thoughts about the 'mix and match' option.
What I like about the river hexes is the fact that they are not as thick as the other hexes, and the rivers therefore lie below the level of the rest of the terrain.
All the best,
Bob
The mixed hexes may look more natural but I am not sure that they are more attractive. Its hard to tell without figures and other terrain pieces on the board.
ReplyDeleteIf the figure bases have a uniform finish they make look better and blend in better on some hex colours than on others.
If going with a multi-colour look, it might be interesting to designated different colours to different types of open terrain: well cropped pasture, easy to move across, chest high crops, less easy and capable of concealing snipers or skirmishers, soft ground, and so on.
Ah the joy of exploring choices!
Ross Mac,
DeleteYou have pretty well summed up the conflicted thoughts I am having ... and I have yet to resolved them.
I'll get there in the end ... I hope!
All the best,
Bob
Bob, I highly recommend deploying some troops to test each approach.
DeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteAn excellent idea! I'll try to do that with my next 'experiments'.
All the best,
Bob
Green on brown would work well for some Viet Nam games.
ReplyDeletePat G,
DeleteThanks for your suggestion. Green on brown would work for any area where there are patches of dense vegetation interspersed with clearings.
All the best,
Bob
Perhaps a modified mix would work: against a common background, the raised areas could be dry-brushed a variety of slightly different greens. This would bring the board together as a whole, while still offering some variety.
ReplyDeleteChris,
DeleteYour suggestion makes a lot of sense, although I would need to practice my dry-brushing technique first before trying it out.
All the best,
Bob
Stu Rat,
ReplyDeleteThanks for an excellent suggestion. I'd be tempted to use a green for woods that matches the colour of the bases my trees are mounted on.
All the best,
Bob
Have you tried adding modgepoge on the water tiles I saw a pic somewhere (cannot find it now) that added ripples on them and they looked great.
ReplyDeleteADB,
DeleteI had to look modgepodge up, as I'd not heard of it before. I might give it a try once I ve sorted out the colour scheme of my terrain hexes.
All the best,
Bob
The mottled look has it I think. Looks great.
ReplyDeleteConrad Kinch,
DeleteIt does have a certain something about it, doesn't it? The result has certainly given me pause for thought.
All the best,
Bob
I like the mixed look - and personally I think the Green on Brown does work - but might be better if the brown was more of a Khaki Drab colour and the Green was duller - I think it is possibly the sharpness of the contrast in the original tiles that drives the comments?
ReplyDeleteIan Dury,
DeleteI think that you might be right about the reason why the original green-on-brown colour scheme looks too stark.
At this rate I am going to have to conduct quite a few 'experiments' before I hit on a colour scheme that works for me!
All the best,
Bob
The main advantage of mixed colours is the ability to easily define differing terrain. No difference than using the various Kallistra tiles on the same board.
ReplyDeletePS: played a couple of games using the ancient rules as printed. Franks vs Avar and Huns vs Sarmatians. The system works perfectly straight off the page.
Barry Carter,
DeleteYou make a very valid point, and one that I am giving serious consideration.
I am very pleased that had no difficulty using the rules.
All the best,
Bob
Barry the main difference I have found between these two solutions is that the paint between and on the sides of the raised hexes rubs off due to the tight fit compared to the Kallistra ones that are molded in a more sensible / eye pleasing colour :-)
ReplyDeleteI have never used - or even seen - the Heroscape tiles but I can envisage the problem you mention. I do have a Kallistra setup but tend to use a self made board with 45mm squares for PW. in 15mm.
DeleteNot seen them in the plastic that is!
DeleteADB,
DeleteI have not painted the edges of my Heroscape hexes for exactly the reason you state.
All the best,
Bob
Barry Carter,
DeleteThe sides of the Heroscape hex tiles are moulded so that they clip together rather like the pieces of a jigsaw. The tolerances are quite tight, and a coat of paint can be enough to make it difficult to clip two pieces together.
All the best,
Bob
Barry Carter,
DeleteSets of Heroscape hex tiles can sometimes be bought on eBay.
All the best,
Bob
Lay off! I don't need any encouragement to add even more lumber to the wargame corner.
DeleteActually, I have just finished another PW ancients game - Sarmatian vs Hun re-match - the system really does give the look and feel of swirling cavalry melees.
Barry Carter,
DeleteNone of us need much encouragement to buy stuff 'just in case'!
I am really pleased that you are enjoying using my Ancient rules. It is so encouraging to get positive feedback from wargamers.
All the best,
Bob
The feedback is only positive because the rules really do work. A job well done!
DeleteBarry Carter,
DeleteMany thanks again. I hope to write at least one or two more PW books, and I hope that you enjoy them as well.
All the best,
Bob
Good news. A Pike and Shot set would plug a gap and a stand alone Colonial set (mid 18th-early 20thc) perhaps?
DeleteBarry Carter,
DeleteArthur Harman is putting together an English Civil War version of the rules, and I hope to publish them in due course.
I may well consider writing a specific Colonial version of the basic PW rules, but I don't have any plans to do so in the near future.
All the best,
Bob
More good news! When is the ECW version likely to be published.
DeleteBarry Carter,
DeleteHopefully within the next six months ... but look out for articles about Arthur's version in forthcoming issues of MINIATURE WARGAMES magazine.
All the best,
Bob
Kudos to all heroscape-hex-fans (I'm more a Kallistra-fanboy myself :-)), but at some point (this blog and the Man-of-Tin-blog) I started wondering why go through all the effort of pimping your Heroscape hexes?
ReplyDeleteIt is fairly easy to draw a hexgrid yourself to use as the base level, and with lasercutting tool in workshops, fablabs etc widely available (at least where I live), you can easily cut out your own (wooden) hex templates for hills and elevations in any configuration you want.
I always felt the Heroscape hexes were too "plasticky" and "ugly" (YMMV). Now, if you start flocking them etc, they look better, but then you could as well start from something more decent, and better suited to your own needs ... ?
Hexwars! The Lord of Kallistra vs the Count of Heroscapia! That would be ruleset I would buy ... ;-)
Phil Dutré,
DeleteHeroscape is plasticky and ugly? I detect signs of heresy in your comment! May the forces of the true Lord - the Count of Heroscape - lay waste your tabletop! Speak not of the upstart Lord of Kallistra nor the unspeakable lasercut hexes of MDFia, for therein lies chaos! ;^)
The truth of the matter is that before I bought my first Hexon II or Heroscape hexes I did try making my own ... but without access to proper tools (a tenon saw and a wobbly workbench are not proper tools for the job) mine never quite looked right ... and never quite tessellated properly, hence my initial use of squared grids.
Some years ago TKMaxx were selling off Heroscape starter sets very cheaply, and I bought a load 'just in case'. I've had a couple of stabs and using it, and found that it works quite well with small figures and doesn't take up a lot of space on the tabletop. As you wrote, it is very 'plasticky' and that is why I am looking at painting it to improve its overall appearance. It has also given me something to think about whilst I am doing other, boring work about the house such as gardening and cleaning windows.
I hope to see if it will work with my PW rules (I cannot see any reason why it shouldn't) and whether I can develop a skirmish-level game with it for larger-scale figures and an operational-level game for smaller-scale ones.
All the best,
Bob
I've also tried making my own hex board in blue foam using a paper template for the corners and a pen to mark the shapes and got about 90% correct! Like Bob I picked up HS tiles cheap but used them for 15mm skirmish and 2mm Sci-Fi (Germy models from GZG). For scenery I had WarBases cut me multi hex bases that site over the top.
ReplyDeleteThe other thought I had was to get a laser cutter to 'etch' hexes into a 2x2 MDF board for me - spoke with a few and it is possible BUT I keep coming back to the HS tiles due to the flexibility of mix and match terrain types (esp the lower rivers).
ABD,
DeleteThere are times when it is better to get a job done for you that to try to do it yourself! It sounds as if you have found an excellent source of compatible scenery bases; thanks for sharing that information,
I looked at having a similar hexed board laser cut, but also decided that I'd stick with my Heroscape and Hexon II hexes.
All the best,
Bob