Red Planet Test Tiles

Back Down Under, my former gaming group is holding a tile-based gaming league using the old rules for Blended Empires detailed here. However, the old board that I created for that league seems a bit dated now (as does this larger one which was a later iteration from this one). And here in the UK, I'm sure that my tiles will come in useful for future series of games that we're planning.

Hence, I wanted to paint something new. So the first thing I thought of was doing a Red Planet style set of tiles.

Here are the pair of test tiles.

The painting recipe was simple enough. A black undercoat was followed by a mechrite red base coat. Following a dry brushing of blood red, a black wash was applied to ensure that the recesses became darker. Then, subtle layers of dry brushing and weathering were applied in progressively lighter colours, through from red, even slightly pink to a yellowed bone colour. Finally, pure black lowlights were selectively applied in one direction from the raised rocks. This gives a three-dimensional feel to the overall piece and suggests light coming in and striking the rocks. 

Well, a few more do to for a full planet of tiles. I might keep this one to a smaller size though. A Moon, or small terrestrial in a system for instance.