Putting the 'Inspiration' back in 'Vacation': 'Vacinspiration'

So I haven't gotten around to posting in a while. I had a week of vacation at the end of June, and after that was a couple of weeks of apartment hunting that left me too drained to compose. But not to worry-- I've been working away on my little projects.

Even better, I've returned with a head-full of inspiration! My vacation took the form of a week-long group camping trip to the southwest U.S. I had never been there before and the scenery blew me away. I says to myself 'now this, THIS must be what another planet looks like...' and that got me thinking...

I briefly discussed the idea of a Stardred Martian setting in my grass flock tutorial. Now I'm starting to take it seriously as a narrative setting for Stardred/ Necromunda/ Rogue Trader/ Red Sand Black Moon/ Red Sand Brown Sky. It would be a primitive Martian Colony abandoned for a century after Earth plunges into civil war. Since the planet is only partially terraformed, life is pretty hard for those left to eke out a living, let alone those security forces cut off from authority, attempting to seize military resources, gangs jockeying for power, Squat miners attempting to horde resources in the absence of government tithes, and perhaps ancient alien natives seeking to regain their land... and eventually, those forces from Earth have to show up, right? Will they be rebels or the forces of Hegemony?

Anyway, I picture it something like this:

What is a desert wasteland without a rusted-out windmill or 2?

There may not be any forests in the desert, but what about cities of rocks?

Reminds me of this.

I think 3-5 CD's with this style of rock sculpted on would make excellent terrain for skirmish wargaming.

I wasn't just looking at terrain. Saw this guy at the Sonoran Desert Museum. Now imagine him with 2 or 3 martial warriors mounted on his back. Now THAT's a monstrous mount.

Stands of Saguaro Cactii for some flavor.

Giant martian condors for random encounters? Hell Yeah.

These rock formations from Bryce canyon were my absolute favorites. They are actually called 'Hoodoos'. How kick-ass is that?

 

 So that's what I want the general flavor of the terrain set to look like. Except that it's on Mars, so the sand and grass must be read, the tree foliage purple, and the scrub-brush a nice bright orange.

I also have some great ideas for the martian derelict structures I want to build. There must be a spaceport and a small town, an observatory with a high-powered telescope, a mining site (for the Squats), a hill capped with a water tower, etc.

But I was also thinking that instead of trying to build a modular river, which wouldn't work with the kind of portable layout I intend to use, why not make a post-apocalypse style aqueduct? It could run over trestle spans and hills thus remaining modular, but also solving the problem of realism by literally placing the river above the playing surface!

Anyway. As exciting as this stuff is, I probably won't be able to work on it for a while. I don't even have a single Skulldred warband yet, let alone all of the Bloodbowl figures I need to convert/paint/sculpt. Oh yeah, can't forget finding an apartment. Still, don't be surprised if I come up with some fluff over the next couple of weeks.

Peace!