Cheap, quick and easy Tau scenery part 1 - bastion

With the release of the new Tau book and our upcoming campaign, I got the old brain thinking as to how I could make some cheap and Tau-like scenery for our games. I wanted it to be interactive scenery (i.e. fortifications) and so used the imperial bastions and aegis lines as inspiration. Please note, for one bastion and 2 aegis lines with quad guns I estimate this to have cost no more than £10, so if you have some time and want some scenery, this is a great, cheap way to do it! Please use appropriate safety equipment and be careful with sharps if you plan to follow this guide.

Part one – Bastion

I prefer to think of this as a bunker rather than a bastion, due to the height restriction and only carrying one squad. I therefore have a different profile and costing for it:

Tau Bunker:

AV13 all round                  4 burst cannons*             Capacity 14 models         14 fire points*

*To fit the look of my bastion, the firing points are 90° slits on opposite sides, with the burst cannons occupying the other two arcs.

First, you will need the following:

• Pencil
• PVA glue
• Hacksaw
• Sharp precision knife
• Decorating filler
• Round food storage tub (I used a round whitefurze one, from Wilkos UK)
• Hardboard or foamcard
• Spare Tau devilfish side hatch (I cast mine from green stuff)
• 4 spare burst cannons, preferably battlesuit ones.

Once you have these, this is how to make the bastion:

1.    Take the tub and cut the bottom off it with the hacksaw. This may not be necessary depending on the tub you use but mine was too tall and tapered inwards at the bottom.

2.       Draw around the outline of the lid onto the foamcard. Once you have the outline traced, cut the circle out using a knife. Note, the lid on my tub was ideal as it was slightly larger than the base of the tub – if this isn’t the case you will need something slightly larger to draw around of a compass. Glue the base to the tub. Alternatively, you may opt not to base the bastion at all.

 

3.       If you have based the bastion, now is a good time to use the decorating filler to create an embankment leading up the bunker. This gives the impression it is embedded in the ground rather than just sitting atop it. I also tapered the edges of the base with a scalpel before using the filler.

4.      Stick the door on in a suitable place.

5.    Stick the burst cannons on in a suitable place. I’ve opted to have them each 90° apart, which is logical given the shape of the bunker.

6.       Add any texturing (i.e battle damage) to the bunker and sand down any excess filler. Also, if you wish to add any embellishements (spare pulse rifles etc) now is the time to do so.

7.       Spray, then paint. (yes, it’s that simple that it only takes 7 steps maximum!)

That's all folks. Over the next few days I will be putting up tutorials for Tau Aegis lines and quad guns also.