Continuing work on the board for Episode 2. It requires a a few small buildings, described in the Feature Pack as shops and shacks. The drawing on them makes them look like buildings most often associated with the Old West. Front facades, plank walkways, and not too big. I was tempted to scratch build them, but I do have a stack of unassembled western buildings from TT Combat. These were bought cheaply either at Historicon or online int he early part of the pandemic. I can’t recall.
My collection of Old West buildings stalled out after buying these. They are boring buildings. One or two on a table looks good. A whole town? Eh…
They are all the same. The same size, the same shape, the same look. Boring. For this use, however, they will suffice.
Even though the Episode doesn’t require play inside the buildings, I do want to add a little something unique to the interiors. I have more terrain and scatter that will go nicely with the idea of shops. Beyond that, some detail on the floors never hurts.
Though free handing this tile was annoying. There are companies that make sheet stickers for this kind of flooring just for gaming purposes. Next time I’ll go that route. Or find a good image online and print it.
Most of the floors I did with a pen and paint. Measure and draw boards directly ont he MDF with a Pilot pen. Let it dry and then paint over it with watered down brown craft paint. The ink will run, it’s never fully dry. But that smearing of the ink helps add a bit of visual depth to the effect.
I stopped priming my MDF buildings years back. The material will suck up paint and most people advocate priming or sealing to avoid this. I say, why fight it. The MDF will have imperfections. Burn marks, darker patches near the cut lines, blemishes. These are all good. Water your paints down for the first coats and just get it on there fast.
Start with a darker color. Add layers as you go in lighter tones. Don’t strive for total coverage. Things paint up fast this way.
All of the roofs needed a little attention. Flat boring roofs are flat and boring; we can all do better than that. Two of them get a plank and board treatment. Definitely not a good idea for the wet New England climate this game takes place in. Another gets tar paper. An easy look to achieve with construction paper and paint.
The sloped roof gets hand cut shingles. Takes more time, but they do look good. And they paint nicely. I don’t tend to be too finicky with the shingles. You can take your time and really make sure they are perfect. I cut them to varying sizes and let them line up however they line up. A little creative chaos.
This last building turned out very well. Not only the colors and the look of the building, but especially the sign.
This was the Gunsmith building from TT Combat. Had to cover that up with something. A little freehand lettering and painting turns this into a fish wholesaler. The fresh version looked a little too clean so I weathered it a bit. This is at odds with my choice to avoid the rundown ascetic but the sign still looks good.
As a block of buildings they do still look a bit boring and same, but they won’t be lined up like this. They will be spread around the table, breaking up the monotony.
And they are still usable in other games. Not sure I would trust a fish place in and Old West town.
For Episode 2 I still need a barn, some docks, a boat, and the boathouse. More terrain to come. And some extra scatter.
I do enjoy these complex boards. They look great and are a blast to play on. But they do take a bit of time and care. Future Episodes will hopefully let me reuse things I already have.
2024 Count:
97 figures painted (0.942 per day)
0 figures printed
8 figures purchased
9 terrain painted
the immortal frequentist 
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