Ok... our local group managed to get a hold on an Imperial City Boxed Set, from a nice fellow named 'Mike'. I have been entrusted with building this thing (as my OCD needs to kick into overdrive! ) The objective was to create an Imperial City in which we could play . So, in honor of Mike, I have baptized it Mike-lopolis. I first began discussing with the guys how we wanted to have the city built. We agreed to have a 'ruined' industrial city (rather than a non-destroyed one) so we could maximized the parts. We also decided NOT to based the buildings because it would give us some flexibility on deployment.


Let me tell you... this thing is 11 lbs of sprues! It took me little more than 3 hours to clip everything down, and re-organize it on zip lock bags... so I could find the parts later! Here is a picture of the packaged parts! HEY!!! I told you I have OCD tendencies!


With the preparations completed, it was time to start building!

Ok... I first decided to test several things. I wanted to create buildings that would allow the 3D aspect of the game to shine. Also, each building should be SUPER modular.

1. Allow 3D Terrain to Shine: Unlike 40k, Death Squads does take full advantage of 3D terrain. We can actually climb and jump. For us, terrain is not just something to block LoS, but a functional element of the game. Mike-lopolis should give PLENTY of opportunity for intelligent players to maximize terrain.
   
2. Create Incentives for Jumpers: One of the coolest things in Death Squads (as well as in Mordheim) is Jumping. In 40k we can't take advantage of this 'basic' premise... in we can! To me it makes the game a lot more realistic, while adding two or three simple rules. When I play, I like to climb and jump... I mean, even Orks with their Initiative 2's become bunny-rabbits when I play them. I just love to jump gaps and fall from the sky in top of things... mostly I die, but I laugh on the process. Mike-lopolis should have plenty of places where player could jump gaps!
   
3. Ultra Modularity: Rather than few 'square' buildings, we wanted Mike-lopolis to be completely modular. We are aiming to have different parts (buildings) to be able to be either removed and used as more terrain or to be able to 'stack' in other parts to make more complex buildings. This would require some planing, but it can be achieved.
   
4. Open Doors: In our group, a closed door on a terrain feature is treated as non-existent door. You can draw LoS and receive no Cover from the door itself. All the doors in the Boxed Set are closed, so we decided that we would open several of them for the cool factor.
   

Following this guidelines, I worked in creating Building A. The concept is a small tower with a door on the ground level and one on the 2nd floor that leads to a damaged 'cat-walk'. Also there will be a separate one story building, with a 'retractable' roof. The roof you can put in top of the building or use at ground level for a barricade. The roof also has a damaged 'cat walk', so it can be placed near the tower's... so players could go from the tower to the building and vice versa with a "simple" jump.



Next... opening the big doors on the building and a picture of the building without the roof!

Sounds like some great ideás with the modular buildings. One of the guys from my gaming group has a city box lying around. Maybe i should snatch it and do something like this.

Looking forward to more updates

If you get it... be prepared to go crazy on it! HA! I plan to make a tutorial on quick painting the terrain. Maybe we could end with Mike-lopolis Sister City; Mud-Land!

Looking great!

Nice planning on the buildings! Some thinking before building really pays off.
I'm starting to get used to "normal life" so hopefully I will be able to pick up the hobby pretty soon!
I've got enough plastic* to build some extra terrain so I'm really excited to start!

*a few CoD boxes, 2 Imperial sector boxes and even a Fortified Manor House

I like that newest building a lot. Good levels, cover and if placed right that is a building that could house an entire Squad with good lanes of fire.

-AK

I love it. It is great. The ladders are a nice addition.

Thanks guys! The cool thing about this is that now we have 5 structures that can make 2 to 5 buildings! The plan for modularity is coming out pretty nice, if I may say so myself.

Next building would be a little more straight forward... kindda. If you look at it from the top, it will be a cross. It will be a 'platform' meaning that the '1st floor' will be accessible, but the '2nd floor will be a cool platform. it will have a 'statue' of... an Inquisitor sized Space Marine Battle Brother Artemis!



I was thinking of making it a bronze statue, with some nice weathering (including some pigeons!)

OK... Building C is almost done! Simple in design. From the top it looks like a cross (to help those Orbital Bombardments!). It will have a 'giant' Space Marine stone statue as a center piece. The statue will boast a 'golden bolter', which would become a focal point.

In practical terms, the building provides efficient Cover (shooting from windows) while defending from Assault (if players decide you can't assault through it). Also it allows for a higher elevation platform (2nd floor) to shot from. My daughter (she will be 9 soon) made the building, while I concentrated on the Inquisitor model. It will be known as the Hall of Valerium.

The building had to be reinforced on the INSIDE, to accommodate the weight of the Inquisitor model... that sucker almost as heavy as an old school Dreadnought YIKES! The Inquisitor model is pinned all over! I plan to make it removable, so makes for easier storage and transport. I still need to green-stuff the gaps and sculpt the inner part of the right leg. Hands and head will be painted separate, to avoid errors! Here are the pics!

Wow looking very nice and the statue looks like it could be quite epic.

Wow!

Nice work!

Excellent work so far!! My only critique would be the pose of the Inquisitor model. The posed right leg just looks a little.....off to me. I would suggest moving the knee in towards the left leg a little more. Right now it looks like hes spreading his legs for a Sister of Silence!!!