Gallowdark, part 1

So, a Kill Team: Into The Dark project is happening. The Gallowdark is such a cool sounding setting, I can't wait to start exploring it!

I'm going to aim to make the tiles with "zero" spending, as I have way too many partial 40k scenery kits in storage, doing nothing. (And I think all my hobby funds are going on Warcry, so this is the only chance I'll make the Space Hulk scenery I have planned (but never started) for years!).

Many half finished scenery projects have been sacrificed to this project.

I've been planning to make modular space hulk scenery for a couple of years. I made most of these sketches during lockdown in 2020. I was originally thinking of using Necromunda floor tiles, but they are so big only 4 of them would be needed for a Kill Team board and that wouldn't give much variation in layout.

The plan was shelved while I waited inspiration and/or a different idea...

But then the new season of Kill Team was announced and with it the idea occurred to me that 12 tiles would work: each at 180mm square, with doors in the centre of one (or more) sides.

So I am kit-bashing Gallowdark tiles around multiples of 60mm squares because the Sector Mechanicus (etc.) scenery is all based on that size. The Sector Mechanicus walkways come in two sizes - 60x60mm and 60x120mm. Nearly everything else is made to multiples of 60mm.

When laid out in 3x4 rectangle twelve 180mm-square tiles are virtually the same size as a 20x30" Kill Team board. 12 squares that can be oriented in any of 4 directions and placed in any location in the 3x4 grid, gives me a hell of a lot of arrangement options!

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I started building at the beginning of August (2022). I sorted out my hobby space, so all the boxes of 40k scenery were easily accessible and I could see what my options were.

My first noodling was of layouts for the tiles, on bases made of 5mm thick matt black foamcore card from Hobbycraft. I penciled-on 60mm squares so I could be sure everything will be in the right place, relative to the other tiles. The exits from each tile will be flush to each other. All the space that isn't a wall, a bulkhead or a path will be full of machinery and junk.

Before I glued anything down I tried a few test layouts. I think 3x3 tiles (18cm a side) with between 2 and 4 exits will be the most useful in terms of layout and playability. But I like the 3x5 and 3x2 ones enough to make one or two of each.

Once two of the tiles had the bigger components glued down I started getting a feel for what worked. I tried more test layouts of non-glued tiles

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Once I had a few tiles glued I started adding the junk piles in the gutters either side of the walkways.

I found a few of the smaller space, especially on the T-junction tiles, were a bit harder when it came to adding walls, so I cut a few bulkheads in half to make the corners.

The walls aren't all exactly the same height but they are close enough for me.

I made a 3x2 tile that is entirely full of machinery, pipes and storage tanks (made from the larger size pots that supermarket herbs and spices sometimes come in), with a walkway over the top.

At the moment none of the other tiles have a way to access this upper level. But I have an idea for a vertical access tunnel, and maybe some more upper-levels, that I will try to get to later.

I know. Googley eyes!

This is as far as I have got, but I'm still working on it. I have a big pot of texture paste that I'm going to pile up around the walls and junk. I will also make at least three more 3x3 tiles.

I also have a few Necromunda doors, that need to be widened a little to fit the 60mm doorways. I will leave them free-standing though, so the can be "opened" or "shut" during games.

My plan for painting is all about getting the base colours down as quickly as possible, then adding details afterwards (cables, screens, hazard stripes, a few block colours, weathering and grime, etc.).

I'll spray it all black. Zenithal-spray it grey with something like Halfords Grey Primer. Then another zenithal-spray but only in a few smaller areas with Greyseer. Then I've got a big bottle of Acrylic Matt Medium and mixed up some big batches of "Not Nuln Oil" and "Not Agrax Earthshade" (see this video!) and I will blast everything with a fat brush.

More updates soon!