Jeez forgeworld is expensive

What can be collected for inq54 seems finite. But for the ambitious or mad faffer there is a surprisingly large and/or expensive amount of minis that can be bought. Lately I have turned my eye to inq54 vehicles and terrain. And how can i not blog about terrain? Isn’t it mandatory to discuss the difficulties of buying suitable terrain for inq54.

Well this is not 2001 [Ed: Yeah, wake up marshmellows]. It’s over 15 years since Inquisitor was released, and 40k terrain is dead simple now. Most official GW terrain is large enough to look suitable for 54mm. Sure it may lose a little of its imposing size, but it’s still very gothic and grimdark. The recent sector mechanicus scenery looks great at 54mm – ferratonic furnaces, alchomite stacks, haemotrope reactors, promethium pipes, and thermic plasma regulators. Only the walkways are a tad small. I purchased a whole stack of this type of scenery and have magnetised a lot of it.

The old Cities of Death buildings are great as well, such as the Manufactorum, Basilica Administratum and Sanctus Imperialis. They are perfect for Inquistor [Ed: Sadly these are now out of print. Does nothing ever last.]. Later came the void shield generator and sky shield landing pad [Ed: they look a bit dopey] and the Shrine of the Aquila [Ed: looks awesome]. Also suitable are 40k moon craters, the eldar webway gate, munitorum armoured containers, honoured imperium (especially the space marine statue), the deathworld forest, and feculent gnarlmaw.

Finally there is also the one official inq54mm terrain piece – the STC Colonial Habitat. This one-piece scenery has some charm, but i have rarely seen it painted up.

560464-OOP Citadel Scenery STC Colonial Habitat — An image off the net: The stc colonial habitat. I would love to make a modular roof for this piece one day *[Ed: Faff dreams]*

For terrain, i think more about how many different scenarios can be readily created with what scenery is on the market. Here are some possibilities that come to mind without too much thought [Ed: Rubbish. You think about this all the time. It’s like a sickness of the mind]

A Hive city using GW Sector Mechanicus,
An Imperial city using Cities of Death buildings and the Shrine of the Aquila,or the newer Sector Imperialis Basilicanum and Administratum and Manufactorum,
A Shrine world using the Sector Imperialis Sanctum and the old OOP GW Chapel of Sanctity
A besieged Imperial city using the OOP FW city fight ruins and tank factory [Ed: Do you even know how expensive OOP FW is on ebay?]
A fortress world using the Imperial Bastion and the FW Imperial Fortress world and various bunkers [Ed: Jeez. FW Imperial Fortress. Hello Mr Moneybags]
A Deathworld or alien forest using GW Deathworld forest
An Eldar Maiden World or Crone World using Deathworld forest and Webway gate,
A Tyranid world using FW Tyranid capillary towers and Tyranid brood nests,
A Tau world using GW’s Tidewall Shieldline, Gunrig and Droneport,
AdMech dig site using Tectonic Fragdrill and Galvanic Servohaulers,
A Colonised planet using STC colonial habitats,
AdMech forge world using the Manufactorum, Thermic plasma conduits and Haemotropic reactors
A Moon colony using GW Moonbase Klaisus and GW moon craters.
Abandoned research station using FW Anphelion Base
Daemon Worlds using Age of Sigmar Baleful Realmgates, Fane of Slaanesh, Noctilith Crown and the new Khorne themed terrain
Ancient Civilization World using Age of Sigmar Terrain such as Azyrite Ruins [Ed: Careful now. ‘Don’t cross the streams!’ You want to collect fantasy stuff now as well?]

And if that isn’t enough terrain, many other companies sell terrain ideal for 40k. Microarts sell Tau-style foam terrain (TauCeti), blueforge terrain sell a tau inspired city, M3 studios sell necron-like obelisks, kromlech sell orkenburg. Then there are the regular kickstarters for terrain. Finally alien flora using plastic plants originally made for aquariums has been an idea for decades now.

And then there is good old-fashioned foamcard and other bits and pieces to make terrain yourself. White dwarf had some create articles on how to build versatile Inquisitor terrain.

SceneryWorkshop_09 — Great old white dwarf articles on how to make scenery for inquisitor 54mm.

And then we have a whole range of gaming mats to play on. Made from Neoprene (the same material used for computer mouse pads), there are a whole slew of mats on the market, from many different companies, and in a huge range of designs. These mats have really taken over the wargaming community as they are easy to set up and pack up, and look great on the table [Ed: Is it just me, or are they surprisingly expensive?].

But the big gamer changer for terrain is 3d printing. The cheaper printers can’t print good quality minis, but that type of quality is perfectly acceptable for scenery. And there are plenty of free or cheap stl files on the internet for terrain.

Vehicles in 54mm is much more problematic. I still haven’t found an easy solution that doesn’t involve an insane amount of faffing about. I have searched the forgeworld website hoping to find an upsized version of a rhino or landraider, but to no avail. My plasticard skills are rudimentary, so I may have to wait for a 3d print option.

720706-54mm, Inquisitor, Razorback, Sentinel — Amazing work from Marcoskull, a member of the conclave forum – a rhino and a sentinel at 54mm scale.

But back to forgeworld. Though I’m not sure what vehicles can be repurposed easily for Inq54, there are still a number of minis that can be kitbashed.