Pass in Review: Sci-Fi Power Generator and Barricades

(Image:  DSS-02 Shield Generator)

Since I often don’t have the time, talent, or patience to paint miniature figures, I’m a sucker for pre-painted terrain.

A few months ago, I was at the Crossroads Bellevue and stumbled across Uncle's Games for the first time.

One of the items I purchased was the Galactic Warzones Power Generator...

...which is part of Gale Force 9’s Battlefield in a Box, Galactic Warzones line.

The color, weight, and texture a outstanding.  My only “issue” with this piece is that if you want to recreate the Battle of Hoth, and include the targeted shield generators, you’ll need to buy three more sets.  At about $29.25 per set, this will truly be a “high value asset.”

For other gaming scenarios though, a single shield/power generator will be fine.

But even one high value asset needs to be guarded and protected.

A few months ago, I had some Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K) quad-autocannons painted by my friend Dan.

These pieces are part of the Imperium’s  Aegis Defense Line.

Here’s a back-view of the quad-autocannons:

The Aegis Defense Line set comes with one quad-autocannon, four long, crenelated barricades and four short barricades. Below is a picture of two long barricades I purchased at a gaming swap meet:

Here’s a look at two identically painted, short barricades along with some obstacles:

Here’s another obstacle:

I purchased a couple unassembled and unpainted Aegis Defense Line sets.  While Dan assembled and painted the auto-cannons, I tried my hand at painting the barricades.  Here’s a couple of examples of a desert barricade:

And a couple examples of a forest/grassland barricade:

Here’s a look at the back of typical barricades:

When it comes to sci-fi gaming, I don’t limit myself to WH40K.  While I haven’t invested (yet) into Star Wars: Legion, I bought a couple sets of the Barricades Pack.

Since I’m too lazy don’t have the time to prime and paint these pieces, I simply brushed them with a grey ink-wash to give them a greasy, dirty weathered look:

I’m a regular patron of The Miniature Page.  This site offers free shipping for orders of $99 or more.
So to take advantage of this deal, I often top-off my orders with purchases of their Tiny Terrain Line.
In this case, both damaged and undamaged Sci-Fi Walls...

...along with the more mundane Jersey Barriers (only one style of damaged barriers seem to be currently available).

For impromptu barricades, there’s various piles of sandbags (currently out of stock):

While Tiny Terrain figures are inexpensive, I found the hard plastic made them hard to paint.  I tried ink-washing the Sci-fi Walls and the Jersey Barriers, but the fluid just beaded up and ran off the surfaces.  I had better luck applying brown wash on to the sandbag piles.

In addition to plastic, painted or otherwise, there’s also paper terrain the you can download.

I believe I got these from DriveThruRPG several years ago, but the set is no longer available.

The site Paper Make It! has some 3D Models available for download, costing between $2.50--$5.90, along with an assortment of various science fiction-themed materials.

So while we're all "barricaded" in our homes due to the Coronavirus Pandemic Stay-At-Home decrees; we can order, assemble and paint our miniature barricades to protect our critical terrain pieces on the tabletop.