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Post by sgtslag on Oct 6, 2020 13:11:45 GMT
Watched a terrain making video last night, where the person showed how to, "bring a 30-year-old terrain board up to modern standards..." The "old school" board was better than a lot of game tables I've played on, from 1993 to present! His concept of, "modern standards," was to make it more realistic looking.
I go for middle of the road, between super-basic felt roads and rivers, and realistic-looking (very relative term...) terrain. I take the same approach in painting my mini's: I go for the GEtGW standard (Good Enough to Game With, at arm's length). I average 10 minutes of brush time, per figure. I have painted multiple armies, not one; I freely use pre-painted mini's, sometimes I apply The Dip, or Magic Wash techniques to improve them; other times, I just base them. I am a Gamer, not a Simulationist (someone who strives for ultra-realism, ultra-detail, both in painting style, and in terrain making/usage).
Where do you see yourself on the scale, 1 being a pure Gamer, who cares little for realism, freely using blue felt for rivers, brown felt for roads, and green felt for grasslands, without any modification; to a 5, an absolute Simulationist, who strives for ultra-detailed mini's painting (near perfect eyes, on 15mm mini's!), with as realistic as possible terrain, or perhaps only using photo-images printed on a mat substrate? Cheers!
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Post by margaret on Oct 10, 2020 4:23:49 GMT
I went with #1 one, although I could have chosen #2 as well. I love looking at other people's detailed stuff and do the occasional special item. But I don't play enough to justify model-railroading levels of terrain.
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 12, 2020 15:57:43 GMT
Same here, margaret. Even though I am a tabletop wargamer, with 1,000+ mini's for waging war on my gaming table, I find model RR level of detail too tedious, unacceptable due to the fact that my stuff has to be (highly) modular. I use my terrain for multiple scales, when possible. I play wargames with 25mm - 28mm mini's, but I also game with 54mm Army Men (rules, dice, tape measures; no tennis balls, rubber bands no clumps of dirt, nor firecrackers... sorry). For painting, I want to game with my toys before I die; actually, I want to play as many games with them, as humanly possible, before I die. That means I have to compromise, somewhere, somehow. Life is all about balancing desires, and outcomes. I am happy with my chosen balance points. I have friends who are all over the scale, above. Some are an interesting mixture of detailing: some go for highly detailed mini's, using plain felt for roads and rivers; others are 5's, in both mini's and terrain. I'll game with anyone, no matter where they are on the scale. I'm a gamer, so ultra-stylistic painting, and detailing, is not required. Back in the early days of 1980, when I began playing D&D, we used dice to represent PC's and monsters, for combat. Didn't have money for figures or paint, let alone terrain! DM Scotty appears to be around my age (mid-50's), so he had not created his techniques yet. Even if he had, I still would not have had money for supplies -- money was tight for us. Thanks for replying. Happy gaming, whatever your preferences! Cheers!
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Post by skunkape on Oct 13, 2020 2:18:47 GMT
I like level 4, but I don't always get to have my terrain at that level, though I do aspire to it! I'm usually at level 3.
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Post by erho on Oct 15, 2020 21:57:41 GMT
#3, Ive had to learn to let go just to clear the pile out!
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 16, 2020 13:10:25 GMT
I had a friend, years ago, who painted for Reaper, and other mini's makers. They paid him in cash, and product, then they used his work in advertising. He looked at my block painted, and Dip'ed mini's.
He told me, "You could paint professionally, if you wanted. You have the skills."
I laughed out loud. "I could, but I have too many mini's to paint before I die!"
That was around 20 years ago. I am still block painting, and Dip'ing my mini's. I have painted around 1,000 mini's, which is a testament to how little time I spend painting mini's, as I have a busy life, which carries me away from mini's and gaming. COVID has not changed that much, as we still manage to fill our days.
I put paint on some mini's, last night, which I have not touched with paint, for 5-10 years. I've been painting a bit in the past two weeks. I've also nearly completed new projects (WizKids Catapults -- quick, easy, and motivatingly fun), which just hit my painting queue last week! I finished six Dwarven Ram Cavalry mini's the other night, which have been in the painting queue for around 25 years! I still have another 6-10 of them in the queue...
I chose my compromise level, and I've been having a blast ever since. I respect people's choices. It's a personal thing. Just have fun, and enjoy the experience. Cheers!
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