Rules

Sunday, 21 December 2025

Gaul Warband, Robots, and Sci-Fi Terrain

Most of my available wargaming time this past week was spent getting some painting done and scratch-building simple Sci-Fi terrain. I had prepared and undercoated a 48-figure 20mm plastic Gaul Warband at the start of the week, but in an effort to delay tackling them I decided to first painted a couple of Spider Robots for my Star Wars Legion forces. One was the official kit, which came with some spare legs and guns. This gave me the opportunity to build a second robot using a scratch-built body assembled from whatever suitable parts I could find in the spares box (mostly unused bits from old Warhammer 40K kits).

The completed Spider Robots. The closest one uses the spare legs with a scratch-built body.

The Spider Robots from the front. Official kit on the left.

With the Spider Robots finished, there was no avoiding the Gauls. Once I got started painting them, I quickly found my rhythm and completed the unit over a couple of days. My approach to painting Ancient armies is deliberately simple. Basic block colours over a mid-brown base coat, which helps hide any missed areas. A final coat of PVA glue gives the figures a durable and glossy finish which I like.

The complete Gaul Warband made of 4 bases.

A view from the front. The figures are mainly 20mm HAT miniatures with a few Italeri Gauls added in.

Finally, while tidying up the storage in my wargames room, I came across some plumbing items picked up at the hardware store that I must have bought with scenery in mind. These were quickly mounted onto some MDF offcuts left over from last week's container construction to create a set of vents for my Star Wars terrain. I will use them either as scatter terrain, or added to the roofs of block buildings to make them look like a factory (and a suitable scenario objective to be destroyed). 

The vents used as scatter terrain.

The vents on a factory building roof. They add a bit of colour to the buildings.


23 comments:

  1. The Gaulish Warbands are very impressive Peter!

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  2. Looking forward to seeing your Gauls in action - do you thin and/or colour the final PVA coat for a wash effect?
    Also, I think the semi-scratch-built Spider-bot looks better than the proper kit one, but not being a Star Wars fan I'm not that familiar with the original.

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    1. For the figures I do not thin the PVA glue. The only time I thin PVA is to hold the flock on the base after it is glued in place.

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  3. Tackling 48 figures in one batch seems a big task especially since they are not all naked. Neat Sci-fi additions.

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    1. The next warband is waiting, but may be tackled in two batches.

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  4. Very nice work all round there Peter, especially the scratch built spider bot:).

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    1. I was very pleased with the second robot. I was lucky to have some suitable spare pieces in the bits box.

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  5. Hmm… I particularly like those spider robots. How big are they? (i.e. how “tall” and what size base do they require?)
    Your Gauls look nice too - certainly giving the impression of a sizeable horde of warriors.
    Cheers,
    Geoff

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    1. The top of the spider robot stands 40mm and the base width is 70mm. They were fun models to make.

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    2. Thanks for the clarification Peter 😉

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  6. That's all very cool Peter. The extra spider looks the part and you did a great job cranking out that unit of Gauls so quickly. Also, the vents for your sci-fi terrain collection are brilliant.

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    1. The vents were a useful (and colourful) addition to my sci-fi terrain. Keeping with the look from those old 1950’s sci-fi films and series.

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  7. Great results on all your work Peter.

    Gauls vs Spider Bots.... that is going to be a tough one 😂

    I do like the blue and the red plants you have made for scatter terrain.

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    1. The red and blue plans are old seed pods I have collected on my walks and painted.

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  8. Great looking Gauls, they should look the business on the table. Nice additions to your sci-fi projects the vents and spiders look super.

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    1. I think I may persist with using 4 base units.

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  9. Loving those spider bots - and even though the end result is great, I also understand the desire to put off doing those Gauls.

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    1. The robots were fun to paint, and I was glad to get the Gauls done (eventually).

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  10. They all look really good. Great additions to various projects and the table.

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    1. Thanks. It always seems easier adding to projects, than starting from scratch.

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  11. PETER,
    I really like what you have done with your terrain for the Sci-Fi Game- looks great. Cheers. KEV.

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    1. Thanks Kev. I have been gradually building up the terrain trying to keep to a 1950’s sci-fi film theme.

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