3D Clouds

[Ryjak]

As I start ramping up for another Tournament and other events, we're looking to build a 3D Terrain collection for Firestorm Armada. Asteroids and Debris Fields are pretty easy, but we're kinda stumped on how to handle Gas Clouds. Cotton seems like the only material to use, but maybe there's something else?

In addition, what's the best way to paint it? What would a space gas cloud look like?

Finally, how do you put it on the table? I see the following options:

1) Just place the cotton on the table
2) Place the cotton on a round base, which allows the construction of a large mass
3) Build some kind framework to place on a elevated stand, and cover with cotton while obscuring the frame

Of the three, #2 seems best, as long as it doesn't end up looking like a column of smoke... Would it be bad if a Gas Cloud was represented by a few cotton columns?

If you have any suggestions from your playing experience, please post them here. And if you can include links to photos, that would be even better.

[Ruckdog]

In the past for BFG, I used cotton balls that I had stained by dipping them in watered down craft paint and letting dry. I then arranged them on the table surface like so:







I got this idea from the BFG rulebook, and it works ok. It might not be as 3D as you are looking for, though. for that, i'm wondering if it might not be possible to use some thin wire to make an armature that the cotton can be fixed to. The wire could then be attached to a flying stand, so that the "clouds" would stand up off the table a bit more.

[Landlubber]

Ryjak, it's funny you bring this up, it's a topic I've thought quite a bit about for both Firestorm Armada and Halo: Fleet Battles.

Ruckdog's idea below could work, I think. One thing that I always keep coming back to is how to determine when ships are in the cloud. For Firestorm, the flight peg has to be in; for Halo, the middle of the base is what counts (essentially the same thing, except the bases are bigger). With Ruckdog's idea below, you could shift the cotton around to accommodate the ships once they are in the cloud.

The other idea I had was to build a sort of cloud "fence", roughly oval in shape, made up of several stands with armatures like Ruckdog mentions below. They wouldn't be actually connected, so you could "open" the fence for ships to move in. That method would at least make it look as if the ship was surrounded by cloud, but now that I think about it, it might make it difficult to measure to/from the ship.

Ruckdog, did the cotton get brittle after the paint dried?

[Ryjak]

A thin enough water-based paint will act more like a dye, and bond more internally to the fibers.  Of course, real fabric dye is cheap enough at a craft store.  (And to think of how many people have died in the past to trade dye...)

The 3D terrain will be for aesthetics; we'll still be using the 2D cardstock templates to easily denote terrain boundaries.

I think, visually, building some kind of armature to elevate Andy's cotton would look the best, but I'm not sure...

1) what material to use for the armature?  It needs to be strong to not get destroyed during transport and 'tough' gameplay.
2) how do you adhere the cotton to the armature?  Do you even need to bother?

[Ruckdog]

1. When I wrote this last night, I was thinking of thin steel wire, or even unbent paper clips. Thinking about it more,what about pipe cleaners? They should be durable enough.

2. I would definitely glue the cotton to the armature. Fabric glue or even white glue would probably do fine. This would be another benefit of using pipe cleaners; there would be something for the glue to grab.

[Pendrake]

As I start ramping up for another Tournament and other events, we're looking to build a 3D Terrain collection for Firestorm Armada. Asteroids and Debris Fields are pretty easy, but we're kinda stumped on how to handle Gas Clouds. Cotton seems like the only material to use, but maybe there's something else?

In addition, what's the best way to paint it? What would a space gas cloud look like?

How about a sheet of clear plastic? Ideally a big flat piece from clam-shell packaging.

Airbrush or spray paint cloudy FX onto it. Lay flat on table. Any ship on the plastic is in the cloud (suffering or benefiting from the effects as provided in your rules).

[Fracas]

Lichens liked used for table top folliage