or the battle on the outskirts of Bellephon, the Studio Hobby Team wanted to show the effects of an orbital bombardment that preceded the main assault. We rendered an entire 6' x 4' section of board into craters with the remnants of a crashed Imperial shuttle lying wrecked on the battlefield. We also built in a large plaza onto which we could place the rather large orbital defense laser (as seen in the Exterminatus battle report in the Apocalypse expansion).

Click any of the images on this page for a larger picture and text explaining how the terrain was built.

We started the board by gluing 1"-thick polystyrene insulation foam to an MDF hardboard base. Once this was dry, we used a marker pen to sketch out the areas of terrain. We cut the terrain out of the polystyrene insulation foam using a sharp hobby knife. By varying the diameter of the craters, we could give more variation to the battlefield as well as allowing different sizes of cover in the game.

To create the banked lips of the craters, we cut wedges of foam card and placed them around the upper edge. This allowed us to give extra height to the craters and simulate the displacement of earth from the orbital bombardment.

Once all the craters had been given edged lips, we took some foam card and added it to the bases of some of the craters. We cut this material roughly so that there was an approximate fit to the craters. This gave a variety of heights to the craters, with some being able to hide tanks rather than just infantry.

We used plaster bandages to smooth out the surface of the board and blend in the craters. This process also hid any gaps we may have left when putting the foam card bases into some of the craters. Although it took a fair amount of time, the overall effect of the board was really coming together. The next step was to embed a crashed shuttle into the board.

To create the large hill that bordered one side of the table, we reused an old terrain piece from another project. By retexturing it, we could save some time and make the best from our stock of battered old terrain. The moral here is never to throw anything away!

We built the Imperial plaza from 1"-thick polystyrene insulation foam, with the corners housing small bunkers. We built the bases of the bunkers from foam card and finished off with 1"-thick polystyrene. Once painted, this would give a texture akin to fortified concrete. We paved the flat area of the plaza by cutting rectangles of thin card. We placed them in a random order, working from one side to the other. By leaving slight gaps between the card, it will be easier to paint, as drybrushing will naturally highlight the edges. To finish the raised plaza, we glued wall sections from the Manufactorum building kit along the edges. Using kits like this allowed us to make the board recognizably Warhammer 40,000 without going crazy (which helps when you have to build a brand-new 16' x 6' board!). Not only that, but the amount of extra details on the 40K buildings kits means there's always something left over for the next terrain project.

We took the plastic crashed Imperial shuttle and placed it on the board. We drew an outline around it and cut holes so the shuttle could be embedded in the ground.

Once the filler was dry, we used a combination of sand and gravel to texture the board. We stuck this material down with white PVA glue, and it brought all the elements together.

To give the impact direction, we cut a 4"-wide groove that led up to the shuttle. We finished this in the same way as the craters. The edges of the shuttle were blended into the board using ready-mix filler.