Wish there was more Xenos terrain out there for 40k Kill Team? Check out this amazing custom multi-tiered Kill Zone table!
Hobby Maniac James Martin shared his amazing xenos themed Kill Team board, and his thoughts on the project with us. We’ve got a beautiful Killzone today made by a fan. Take a look at the board and find out what his inspiration was and how he made it.
Working From the Start
When Kill Team was announced, I knew I wanted to build a series of scenic terrain boards that would add some real depth to the games. One of my favorite parts of the hobby is terrain building, and whilst I love the quality and convenience of the fold-out boards for Kill Team, Necromunda and BloodBowl, I wanted a full 3D environment to fight over.
The Death World Kill Zone board is 30” by 22”, the size of the game board supplied in the boxed game as I wanted to stay true to the established game system.
I started the project the week before Kill Team landed and spent a few hours here and there on it over a three-week period. First I sketched out some ideas I had floating around in my head using the iPad app Procreate, using the Apple Pencil. Once I had the basic premise for the board (an underground bio-experimenting facility of the Ordo Xenos) I set to work.
An Experiment Gone Wrong
I knew I wanted to have a lower level which was overrun by experiments gone wrong; essentially a Tyranid incursion. There are two sections defended by Imperial force fields, but unfortunately, one has failed, leading to a containment breach and a loss of communication with the facility… The baseboard is made from high-density insulation foam glued to hardboard, and the raised outcrops also being made from stacked and shaped insulation foam.
The features were then covered in a pliable plaster-like product called Sculptamold, which has a working time of around 20 minutes and sets very hard after a couple of days drying.
Sculptamold was a great find as a wargamer, as I’ve previously dabbled with plaster products, which will not stand the test of time (and dice).
When the Sculptamold was still drying, I placed the Games Workshop and Forge World terrain features in places I’d previously mocked-up and left space for. This allowed me to glue and press them into the still-wet terrain, giving the appearance that the gantries, landing pad and other man-made elements were carved into the terrain.
Once the Sculptamold was dry, the whole board was sprayed with a base of rattle can colours, carefully blending areas of rocks, paths, undergrowth, and structures.
Sculpting a Tyranid-Takeover
The most fun of all the stages was detailing the board. I painted and set out the 3D printed ‘bio-terrain’ from Horizon Creation 3D and created pools of gunge out of GW technical paints and Woodland Scenics Water Effect. I then used a mix of old Citadel jungle trees and soft plastic plants to create the tall growth, and the newer creeping vines and small plants from Citadel for the undergrowth. A pre-bought mixture of mosses, ground leaves, and twigs was then used to cover the hot glue used to stick the majority of the terrain features down, to create texture on the paths and walkways.
Finally, I leaned heavily on the Games Workshop range of technical paints to heavily weather the metal structures as they would look old and corroded in the hot and humid environment of a Death World.
So what do you think? Does this get your hobby juices flowing to make you very own custom Kill Zone board for your games?
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of LostSouls.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
