While still waiting to finish the board for Episode 1, I decided to start on Episode 2. Those pesky train cars are still missing and I need to figure out what I plan to do for them. More plotting and planning, less buying MDF train models. Good time to start looking at the board for Episode 2.
The Feature Pack has these wonderful isometric maps for the game board layout. I’ve always had a fondness for isometric maps since I learned to draw isometric projections in drafting class. They give a great view of the board and better demonstrate the terrain set-up than a birds eye view does. Also, they have that nostalgic ’80 RPG feel.
The problem is, it becomes difficult to translate the iso map to actual layout at times. I want ti figure out the sizes of the buildings and the room I must maintain to match the map as closely as possible. Time to unproject the image.
There is a bit of a grid on the map. This is a 3’x3′ board, meaning that grid is 2″ squares. With that, a little sketching and square counting gets me a bird’s eye look at the game board. And it helps answer the question about sizes of the buildings.
Things don’t look as busy from top down. A full inventory of the proposed buildings and other bits shows that I will need two docks, four small (roughly 4″x6″) buildings, a barn that has to be 4″x8″, the refinery and boat house from the Kickstarter, and the boat.
Some of this, I already have. The Kickstarter came with the refinery, or cannery, or whatever it’s called. But here is a decision, which one to use? I have both the intact refinery and the derelict refinery. They are both good models, but in the end I let my other terrain and scatter choices help inform. I’m going to use the intact versions.
A lot of the scatter terrain I have and can use to fill some of this board represents newer stuff. It’s not stuff to fill shops and areas from the 1930s, nor is it decaying and neglected. I would like to use the Terrain Crate stuff I have sitting here, which means the game will be in a more recent era. Thus, I don’t want dilapidated buildings.
Also, I really enjoy the recent Lovecraft Investigations podcast. There, Innsmouth is not falling apart and rotting. It’s strangely empty and odd, but it’s not derelict. Something about that concept made the setting a little creepier. That’s along the lines of what I’m going for.
I need a few buildings, still. I have the refinery and the boat house. I have the boat and one of the docks. The small buildings, I will need to build. Nicely, I have a pile of TT Combat western buildings that will fit perfectly. No barn in my collection. Looks like I’m scratch building a barn and a small dock.
I will also need to do something about the ground. The water level is lower than the ground, and the docks have a certain height to them. There are a few ways to achieve this, but I don’t want big painted and flocked blocks of pink foam. I’ll work on it.
That refinery is huge. Probably best to start on that first.
2024 Count:
60 figures painted (0.674 per day)
0 figures printed
8 figures purchased
6 terrain painted
the immortal frequentist 
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