James' Hobby Projects: Azyrite Plaza

Here we go again with another of my random hobby projects! 

In between some of the larger hobby jobs I want to complete this year, I've got a few smaller projects going on, mostly just things like clearing out long-standing items in my backlog or models I really want to paint. This post will detail something that's a bit of both. 

In my previous post in this series, I detailed the work I'd been doing to finally finish off the Warcry starter sets terrain. In that post, I also mentioned plans to expand upon the set, and what do you know, I've managed to do just that in the form of the Azyrite Shattered Plaza that I finished recently. 

In this post, I'll quickly go through the bits and how I went about painting them and whether I've now developed the terrain painters itch.

After completing the Warcry starter terrain, that I've dubbed the Azyrite Townscape, I decided it would be worth investing in a few more pieces to expand out to a full 6x4 tables worth of scenery. Fortunately for me, Games Workshop offers two additional boxes of similarly themed pieces - the Azyrite Ruined Chapel and Azyrite Shattered Plaza. As I already owned the belltower, the "feature" piece of the Ruined Chapel kit, I decided the Shattered Plaza was the better way to go. Not only did it offer more bang for your buck in terms of terrain, but it also featured some unique scatter pieces you can't get anywhere else. 

One of the other big draws for me was the chance to assemble some two-tiered buildings. While the Azyrite Townscape does offer you the option of this, as it's also the terrain used for playing games of Warcry, you need to assemble it in a certain configuration. This happens to be one with no additional levels on buildings, so I wanted to correct that here. Having a few additional pieces that add height to the table helps to conceal larger models in a game and adds to the immersion. 

For the paint scheme, I kept it exactly the same as all my previous terrain. Many greys and some natural tones keep the whole set neutral, so it can work on any table setting and be nice and speedy to complete to boot. The small scatter pieces allowed me to get a bit more creative with colour choices. For the fountain, I wanted the armillary sphere (that's my learned something new of the day!) to be the focal point, so I painted it in bright gold to stand out, even when mixed in with the rest of the terrain. Add in a bit of brass and blue-black detailing to tie in with the collapsed head of Sigmar in the Azyrite Townscape, and hey presto, one finished fountain.

The treasure chest is full of a few trinkets and coins, serving as another chance to add a bit more colour into the scenery. A sextant, an old tome full of who knows what, a golden chalice, plenty of coins and of course, a few skulls for good measure. It's a treasure fit for any adventurer!

I'm very pleased with the end results, and managing to complete all this in 1.5 weeks is a great turn around for me. Altogether, it's a rather complete collection.

That doesn't mean, however, that I plan to stop here. Nono, there are still a few additions to be made. I think the next kit I'd like to add will be some of the new-ish Wyldwoods just to give the board a bit more diversity beyond ruined buildings. Fortunately, Games Workshop has another box to suit my needs in the form of the Ravaged Lands: Souldrain Forest. That'll give me six wood sections, as well as the obligatory set of rubble scatter terrain (new ones, though) to continue building up my collection.

It's been a good experience painting up my own set of terrain. The process has taught me the value of having your own set and not relying on a local club to provide everything. It also allows me to style my armies around it. I'm planning on getting back to my Ossiarch Bonereapers this year, and narratively I like the idea of this town being the remains of one of their tithed populaces. Perhaps the forces of Chaos sought to deny Nagash his due, or is Order now destroying their own people to slow the expansion of the Ossiarch empire? I can have some fun coming up with a small story, which I'm coming to value more and more in the hobby. A game's more fun if there's a story to tell.

Until next time,

James