Dark Age Village BUA

[lewchips]

I've just finished a commissioned Dark Age BUA and thought I'd share the results. This is the second one I've built and the layout is very similar to the other one.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060065.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060074.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060066.jpg

[lewchips]

Some details of the wildlife, a goose and a bunny:D

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060070.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060072.jpg

[lewchips]

and finally...

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060071.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/LeadBear/DBA%20Camps%20and%20Terrain/P1060073.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Barry

[winterbadger]

Wow! That's lovely! :up It's so natural and realistic looking; I expect some tiny people to come strolling along that street any minute, maybe a gooseherd looking for his lost goose, or a roving band of brigands. :)

[Kontos]

Truly spectacular and, as Jan said, very lifelike! Do you need my address for mailing? :2up

Frank

[ZenBoy]

lewchips, a couple questions:

how big is that BUA, dimensions and scale?

Are those buildings scratch built, resin cast or what?

It is very impressive, nice job!!

[lewchips]

Thanks for the kind words Gentlemen.

Zenboy:

It is 15mm and oversize for a BUA at 21cm x17cm. I believe the maximum size is 20cm x 12cm.

The huts are scratchbuilt by me and then after making a mould are cast in resin. They are undersize for 15mm miniatures but as I plan to use them for camps and BUA's, I'm happy with that.

[NikosP]

May I place an order ?

:p

[David Crenshaw]

Absolutely lovely! An eloquent argument for keeping BUAs if ever I there was one!

David

[miros]

Just great work. I would be ok to keep BUAs if they were just treated as rough going instead of the current rules.

[Paul Potter]

Very nice. Are the buildings models? scratchbuilt? The fence work turned out well.

[Xavi]

Really nice stuff. :) I am not a good painter at all, so you might want to just ignore the folowing question ;)

Have you thought of inking the roads? It might make them more muddy. Just a suggestion.

Cheers,
Xavi

[lewchips]

Paul,
I scratchbuilt the masters, made the moulds (which I am rather ordinary at doing), and cast them in resin (which I am also very ordinary at doing). I also have a building similar to Celtic roundhouse which I hope to have moulded and cast in the coming weeks. I have done the same with a few bits on the piece. The axe, bucket and rabbit are all items I've made and cast in resin.

Xavi,
Rather than ignoring it, thanks for mentioning it.

I had actually considered inking/washing the roads but wasn't sure. As you've mentioned it, I might apply some watered down wash/ink to a small camp, similar to this piece and see how it looks on that piece before deciding whether to add it to this piece.

Cheers,

Barry

[winterbadger]

Just great work. I would be ok to keep BUAs if they were just treated as rough going instead of the current rules.

Or even kept the "substitute for camp" and defense bonus rules and dropped the involved stuff about denizens...

[Rich Gause]

Or even kept the "substitute for camp" and defense bonus rules and dropped the involved stuff about denizens...

An idea might be for a BUA to be like rough terrain that maybe gives the foot defender a +1 defending if his entire base is in the BUA(residents throwing rocks, setting barricades, and giving intelligence on enemy movement in support of their guys). Keep the substitute for a camp rules and allow the defender to set up an element in the BUA. If the BUA ever has no defenders partially in it and at least one attacker partially in it then it counts as a captured camp until there are no attackers even partially in it.

[winterbadger]

An idea might be for a BUA to be like rough terrain that maybe gives the foot defender a +1 defending if his entire base is in the BUA(residents throwing rocks, setting barricades, and giving intelligence on enemy movement in support of their guys). Keep the substitute for a camp rules and allow the defender to set up an element in the BUA. If the BUA ever has no defenders partially in it and at least one attacker partially in it then it counts as a captured camp until there are no attackers even partially in it.

My preference would be to keep them camp-like, in that one is either in or out, and only one element can be in. If there's something that would provide clarity as to a unit's location, I would think it would be its position relative to a whacking big wall or palisade. :)

And more than a +1 benefit; even camps get foot defenders a +2, and I would think a BUA would be as if not more defensible than a temporary camp.

All of which assumes they're a *defensible* settlement as defined in the rules. If it's just a scraggle of mud/brush huts with no defenses, then, yes, that seems like just another type of LOS-blocking BG. But it also doesn't sound like anything the army would care about losing...

[vonBerlichingen]

That is very nice work! Personally, I think that the roads look just fine as they are - they look rather dusty.

[Africanus]

I've had a few pieces from Barry, with more to follow and can say, in all honesty that they are magnificent.
Not only do they look great but play great also. Practical and aesthetic, what more can you ask?

Can't wait to put a few photo's together with it all set up on a BBDBA board.
We've thrown him a rather large project which is still in the planning stage but should look and play great when complete.

Three thumbs up.