Privateer: Building a Blockhouse


Company of Iron has been a great experience for me. There are so many miniatures in the WARMACHINE line that I absolutely adore but have never had an excuse to paint up. For instance, I loved Trenchers for years, and that love led to the Filthy Five.

After getting them painted up, I decided I wanted a blockhouse as well. But with structures not allowed in Company of Iron, I decided to make a themed terrain piece for the Filthy Five to stage their next mission. So, let’s get started…

Step 1: I placed all my collected elements on a rough piece of hardboard and drew out a footprint and the shape I wanted. I then cut the hardboard to make the base of the terrain piece. Remember: be careful when using tools!

Step 2: I test-fitted to ensure all of my elements made sense and told a story. Poster tack helped to temporarily hold things in place to allow for adjustments. I also used a model to make sure there was plenty of clearance for minis to be placed on the terrain piece.

Step 3: Once I was happy with the general placement of the main features, I glued down all of the elements to the base. I drilled holes to allow the matchstick fence posts to stand. Additionally, I sculpted some sandbags to add to the overall sense of a fortification. (You can watch how to make sandbags here)

Step 4: Cover your base in the material of your choice—I chose to use some pumice gel and ballast to match the Filthy Five’s bases.

Step 5: Paint it up to match your army!

There it is—I now have some sweet themed terrain for my Filthy Five to play around!

Now to convince Hungerford to write me a scenario so I can shoot some fools with my dope fortification….

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