From MilesR: Welcome to the Jungle 2.0 (375 Points)

Well it has been just about a month since I've been able to post something to this years Challenge.  To be honest, February has been a very difficult month as my son is struggling with a serious health issue.  While I may not have been present, I wasn't away either and the friendships I've made in this silly hobby both at my club and online with this community have been very welcome distractions and sources of strength.  I can never thank you all sufficiently.  Enough with the sentimental stuff.

You tube has become a fairly important source of hobby inspiration for me over the past year both as a viewer and content provider via my clubs channel - Little Wars TV.  Yes, that was a shameless plug - want another one? watch the D-Day game video, especially at point 20:37 - I seem to have that playing on a constant loop....

One of my favorite how-to terrain making channels is called T-T Lenny's Terrain and Gaming Tables.  He has a superb series on Jungle terrain which I've pretty much pirated.  They say mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery.  After seeing Lenny's videos I realized that I both need to make some new Jungle terrain but also redo some of the terrain I made back for another challenge.

Towards the front of this pictures are the new sections - there are 15 in total.  I think they came out grand and really captured the meso-american theme I was going for.  Why that theme?  Well I'm working on a new convention game concept that is similar to the DAK & Dragons WW2/Fantasy games I've run in the past.  The working title is "ANZACS and AZTECS" and I'll leave you to ponder the deeper meanings of that title.  I was planning to run this game at Cold Wars in March but real life events have changed those plans.  Maybe Fall in later this year.

Each of the new Jungle sections has at least 12 different types of ground textures used to make undergrowth.  All of the palm tree have been painted and washed several shades of tans and green and the vines are custom made by yours truly.  I think it gives off a very nice effect but there's still room on the bases for figures.

The Palm Trees and Bambo were purchased off AMAZON (all hail Jeff Bezos) and I think I spent less than $30 bucks on them.  There are still a few spots where the glue is still drying (whitish areas)

The rocks are cork bark - this is the first time I've worked with cork bark for scenery and I really like it.

The undergrowth is still drying - it will take several days for it to set but it will still have a "damp and icky" look to it - just like a real jungle.

Here's a shot a test piece a I made a bit earlier - it shows how the ground cover cures to a slightly lighter but still damp looking green.  I wonder what creepy-crawlies are lurking under that ground cover waiting to pounce upon an intrepid gaming figure?

I also stripped down and re-did a bunch of my old jungle sections to match the new style.  These are going to make their way north to a certain snow lord who has requested some Jungle terrain.

This was a very fun project and a welcome relief from real-life for a bit.

Pointage - well thats a tricky one.  Let's break it down into 2 different groups.

Brand New Jungle Terrain:
When squished together the new stuff covers a 18 by 48 inch foot print and is, on average, 9 inches high - so that's a base volume of 7,776 cubic inches.  Now wait - theres a whole lot of air in there so let's cut that in half, so now we've got 3,888 cubic inches.  Divide that figure by the magic 216 cublic inches per terrain scoring unit and you get 18.0 terrain cubes or 360 points.  That feels fair but, as always, I defer to the minion of the day.

Recondition Jungle Terrain:
While it's been completely re-done, it wasn't 100% done for this challenge - I didn't recut the terrain bases and the palm tress where painted (and counted) for Challenge 8, so let's go with ZERO points for the reconditioned stuff.  To be honest, I just included it as proof so a certain snow lord calls off his collection goon.   That Prof Douglas guy moonlights as a debt collector for the Snow Lord and he's damn scary.

Well there you have - my Jungle Terrain 2.0

***

Hello Miles, great to hear from you again! I know I speak for all Challengers when I wish you the best as you go through a difficult time.  We all send you our best wishes, and hope the community, camaraderie, and distractions of the hobby bring fun and support.

And it is certainly fitting that you would share with us a submission that is worth at least 300 points, right? This is a major bombardment of terrain effort...so much work on terrain almost makes me fall off my chair, I can't even contemplate that! I feel like a hobby hero when I manage to paint one 10mm building.

As for points, your calculations on the new stuff are above reproach as always. But zero points for the re-done portion seems a touch rough.  I mean, it's not like you were "playing Donnybrook" or something else as vaporous. But I'm scared to attempt math calculations, so let's just add 15 points on my completely, 100% subjective "seems about right" scoring grade. 

Great stuff Miles!

GregB