From sketch to reality in just a few days. What shocked me the most about this project is just how little time it took to come together. Thanks to a few multi-part prints designed to glue together, I was able to get a surprising amount of detail in just about four hours worth of work.

You can see I settled on stamping the containers “UNSC.” I found a stencil and printed it off, then stippled white paint through it. It’s not 100% perfect, but the imperfections enhance the effect. I stenciled one side of every container and I’m glad I did because it allowed me to keep them super simple. I primed them a dark forest green, then dry brushed with olive drab, then did the stencils. In the end I was able to do all of the containers in about an hour and a half worth of effort.

One of the truly clever designs here was these crates full of canisters, seen here next to the red flag. That’s three components: the canisters, the base, and the metal cage. All I had to do was prime them different colors and glue it together. What a satisfying little piece of scenery. Similarly, the spool of cabling on the left was four metal supports and two end pieces that glued into place along a central stack of cabling. I primed, dry brushed, and glued those together in just a few minutes time.

The only piece here I might replace someday is the low walls on the crates. They look fine, but if I ever find something that seems like it’ll work better, I might swap them out. I intentionally printed them a centimeter thick so they sit in place well but that leaves them feeling somewhat awkward and bulky.

But the end effect is a highly modular board that really lets you do a variety of setups. I lack photos of additional configuration, but my son has had fun reworking the board between games. The variable heights and tight alleyways make for fun and engaging moments. This is probably my favorite Flashpoint board so far.

I at least remembered to get a few shots during a game. Here’s my ODST Bullfrog charging two Spartans. He got lucky and managed to take one out, then got shot off the board by the other. This ledge proved pivotal for this game due to its advantageous sightlines, which meant half the game was us fighting over it!

Another shot from that same match. Just off to the left is the flag I’m trying to reach. My son’s Spartan Deadeye made his money by keeping this alley locked down—whether from above, or in this case by hopping down and reminding me just how fragile ODST really are.

Like I said: that ledge became a big focus of the battle. You can barely make out a blue flag under the bridge at the bottom here: that was his flag. Here I am with Buck (ground level) approaching the flag. You can see why the ledge was so important. Buck would go on to move the flag one whole space before getting his respawn counter forcefully reset by my son’s Deadeye.

Few terrain projects have been so satisfying. Between the quick turnaround and fun gameplay I’m super pleased with the result here. It helps that Flashpoint plays so well with multiple layers. I find myself very excited to bust out another quick board I have in the works, based on New Alexandria from Halo: Reach. Unfortunately, the weather has turned humid again so I can’t prime it up. I’ll hopefully get around to that one around the end of June.

In the mean time, between this and the arrival of my Rise of the Banished set, which contains yet another set of cardboard terrain, I doubt I’ll be wanting for more terrain for this game any time soon.

Okay, so I ordered the double sized Halo: Reach mat so I can play big team battles and maybe I have to solve a board for that, too. But that’s it. I swear. I promise.

Actually, I’m lacking Forerunner ruins, which would be really cool. I should do that. And maybe a ship interior?

I’m going to regret this when I have five bins of Halo terrain sitting around unused because it’s too specific, aren’t I?