These buildings represent part of a Khadoran facility for mining ore containing one of the vital minerals used in the production of red blasting powder, and the final buildings will be part of a much larger diorama. The larger building is dedicated to refining these minerals into the pure components required by alchemists to produce both red and black blasting powders. The finished powders are packaged into large barrels and shipped by rail to ammunition assembly shops and factories, and from there to resupply soldiers on the front lines.

The spare weapon arms from the plastic heavy warjack kits can be used to make some effective battlefield gun emplacements. The guns can be used simply as terrain details, as objectives to be captured, or you can go so far as to create house rules for controlling and firing the guns during game play.

The design of this piece was a long time in the making. I wanted to work on some Cryxian scenery so I could feature swampy terrain. Since necrotite mining rigs have been done to death, I decided to create something different: a large boiler-like vessel covered with leaking pipes surrounded by murky pools of the caustic chemicals used to create Bile Thralls. While looking for parts with which to detail the piece, I came across the perfect components for a kind of Bile Thrall refilling station. And so, the Cryxian Bile Reservoir was born.

Rough and impassable terrain comes in many forms and can be useful in directing your opponent’s models, protecting your flanks, or locking off portions of the battlefield. While an area of rough terrain can be represented by a template of broken ground, ruins, or scrub brush, it’s much more entertaining to create a thematic piece of terrain with some special in-game effects.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make some effective minefields along with some suggestions for incorporating them into your game with unique terrain rules.