Last year the Designer/publisher of an upcoming post-apocalyptic miniature game reached out to me. Alex of Cardboard Dynamo (Giga-Robo!) envisioned the world of Grave Trigger full of the ruins of Brutalist Architecture.
We discussed the Body-Horror film genre, music, brutalist architecture, Grave Trigger game concepts and of course, terrain.
We had a good call, and the project sounded so unique and fun I couldn't say no -Especially after seeing the quality of his designs and miniatures!
Cardboard Dynamo (or Alex) sent me some of the miniatures he had available at the time - and I painted them just in time for Halloween.
The Grave Trigger Miniatures
An Animus Reactor is mutated bio-armour that has overtaken it's human wearer. This Chronoclast faction miniature is one of my favourites and was a joy to paint. I used contrast paints and some drybrushhing for most of the work.
The miniatures are high quality and pack heaps of detail - they are a plastic resin mix I believe. The monstrous designs are pretty unique.
I think there are many tropes going around in the tabletop design world, but these monsters really stand out and are refreshing. I think an anime and 70's Japanese sci-fi is a connective influence for many of the miniatures.
And they were certainly refreshing to paint after a lot of military sci-fi I'd been painting.
I'll focus on the terrain from now but If you want to know more about the game this video from Late Night Wargaming with Jon and Adam explains it better than I can!
The Post-Apocalyptic Terrain Design Process
Since Grave Trigger is a post apocalyptic setting,
I wanted to the feeling of desolation and hopelessness you can imagine the human survivors suffer every day while they try and avoid the animus reactor factions battling in the ruined cities.
The monolithic silhouette of this concrete structure I had seen somewhere before was embedded in my brain, and I thought it a suitable starting point to come up with something memorable for Grave Trigger.
Collages are a quick and easy way to communicate design concepts.
As shipping container sized boxes are always useful for any game, incorporating the into Alex's brief of modules joining together to create a bigger structure was a no-brainer.
They can be inserted into the structure and cantilever quite far out, yet remain stable because of the sheer size of the structure and the rigidity that the columns and slabs provide.
Here you can see the prototype laser cut terrain in card. The final product will be die cut on 2mm thick card, textured expertly by Alex himself.
As there is the potential for Cardboard Dynamo to sell the terrain separately too, I thought that the dangerous ruined slabs would be perfect for sci-fi games like Necromunda. It could easily represent a column in a hive city, with residents dwelling on the edge.
The structure itself is also large enough to fit most of the massive miniatures. This terrain kit would be an epic centerpiece for any sci-fi tabletop game, and the cantilevered shanties allow the large bases to fit and fight on the side of the structure.
Keep in mind these miniatures are more than 32mm high! But the structure works for 28mm miniatures too, and would be even more imposing!
There is a lot of fast vertical movement in Grave Trigger, and I wanted to provide ample opportunities for ambushes and jumping.
There is a hole you can hide miniatures and a platform on the angled wall at the rear.
It would also work well to display your miniatures.
Scatter Terrain and Neoprene Mat
Scatter terrain was needed for the game too - this crater or broken concrete slab doesn't look fantastic here, but with the final full colour texture it will!
Some other various scatter pieces were needed for the game. Alex has categorized the scatter terrain into normal, and volatile scatter which can have some effects in the rules of Grave Trigger.
Some giant mushrooms with room for the large bases of the ~32 - 50 mm sized miniatures, giant hell-spikes and of course, always useful ruins seemed to be appropriate for the bio-mechanical themes of the game. (some of the Animus Reactor miniatures have fungal details all over their bodies.)
The prototype scatter terrain laser cut - the final products will also be full colour card. Some designs shown here have slightly changed to suit die cut manufacturing. There is a difference between Die cut design and laser cutting design, I found out!
Some action rules allow interaction with terrain so the rubble pile allows you to remove and throw parts of the scatter at your foes!
The ruins are on a slight angle to add to the menacing and post-apocalyptic atmosphere. I imaged either a blast had shifted the ruins, or the ground had given way.
The starter set will come with this vibrant full colour neoprene gaming mat!
These are the pre-production test images Alex sent me. Some slight improvements to come and it will be ready for the kickstarter production.
On that topic, please do sign up to the Cardboard Dynamo mailing list for the Grave Trigger campaign launch. I just clicked the link then to test it and saw you get a fee Corpse Veil miniature with your pledge if you subscribe!
Alex has spared no expense making this a top quality release.
If you want more info have a look at the Grave Trigger website -
Scroll down for more pictures I took last year with some of the miniatures.
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