Building an Exotic Table for Star Wars Legion

It’s no secret that we’re fans of the Star Wars universe, and of wargaming. The Gloaming Swamps and Wilderness terrain STL presented the opportunity to create a unique gaming table for Star Wars Legion.

What do we mean by “exotic”? Thats anything that looks like it doesn’t belong on earth. The Star Wars Legion universe is full of wild exotic places, and we’ve got the perfect terrain STL to create it.

Not only that, but it can easily be applied to just about any other fantasy or sci-fi gaming system. There’s already plans to use it for 40k, Age of Sigmar and DnD.

Planning it out

When creating an exotic gaming table, its worth doing some planning. Ask yourself a few questions to better define what you want to achieve:

What Games do I want to use it for?

What environment should it be? (Jungle, Swamp, Urban etc)

What colors do I want to use?

Which terrain STL should I print first?

I like to write down my ideas, search the internet for reference photos, do some sketches and get a clear picture in my head of what I want the table to look like.

Printing and Preparation of STLs

So you’ve got a mental picture of how you want it to look, and you know what models you need. Time to get printing! I began by printing a single wall piece. I did this to paint up a test model while the rest of the terrain printed. Meanwhile, the rest of the terrain took a week or so to print out in FDM.

I wanted to go for contrasting colors of turquoise and orange, with psychedelic purple fungus, something you might see in the Clone Wars or the Outer Rim. With three bright colors on the model, I did the exposed roots in a neutral grey color for balance.

It was also important that I go for something quick to paint. I mostly play DnD, and often need a certain terrain piece on short notice. Choosing a quick and easy color scheme is ideal for this.

During printing I also painted up a board play on. I used a spare piece of MDF that I threw various oranges and browns at, sometimes with a little sand mixed in for texture, sometimes very watered down as a wash. Being abstract and having fun is the key!

By the time the board for Star Wars Legion was done, the rest of the terrain STL were printed. Before I remembered to take a photo I’d already cleaned it up and undercoated it all! If you’d like some tips on readying your terrain for painting, have a read here.

Painting

It was painted in one large batch painting session, over the course of 2 days. By doing it all at once, it keeps the terrain looking consistent, as if it belongs to the same place. It also saves a bit of time!

After priming, I sprayed them with Red Leather, then directionally with Orange Fire in a few coats to get a nice bright, orange. To finish off the orange earth I drybrushed it with Lugganath Orange.

The foilage/moss was basecoated in Kabalite Green, drybrushed with Sybarite Green and finally Gauss Blaster Green

The Roots were basecoated with Dungeon Grey and layered with Ash Grey.

Finally the fungus was picked out in Hexed Lichen then highlighted with Warlord Purple.

Gaming

With my board and terrain painted, it’s time to set it up and see what it looks like!

It’s come out just like my original sketch and idea for Star Wars Legion. The Terrain STL printed easily, and were fun to paint. There’s two defensible hillocks, some walls for cover and difficult ground in the floor pieces. This setup is fairly mirrored, ideal for competitive play.

Overall I’m very pleased with the result for a week’s worth of printing and painting.

Here are some other photos I took just for fun;

What’s Next?!

Next up I want to add some of the Swamp Plants, I think they’re perfect for this environment and will make it look lush. I’ve also got my eye on a few of the stretch goals from the Gloaming. Especially the Rune Stones, the Dragon Carcass, Gloamwood Fort and the Bog of Ever Stench. In the meantime my printer is already printing the other Hillocks and more wall pieces.

We hope this has given you some inspiration in creating a Star Wars Legion table. It can be just as versatile as any other terrain, but unique to YOU. If you give it a go, share it with our community on facebook.

We want to hear from you!

Is there an aspect of the hobby you want to hear more about? Let us know in the comments!