I'd just like to point out right now that these battle reports are heavy on the graphics; users with slow connections might want to hold off, or be ready for something of a wait. The minimum adviseable graphics setup to view these battle reports is 800x600 resolution (ideal) and 16 bit colour or better; any worse, and the symbols might be difficult to read.

I get asked this alot.

I use a program called Animator Pro, from Autodesk. Apparently, they don't sell it anymore. One certainly cannot find any mention of it on their home page. It is old, counter-intuitive for people raised on Windows environment programs and it can be a pain to get running if your computer uses Win95 OS. I use it for damn near everything. Kudos to the guys at Autodesk. Great product. Good luck finding a copy.

Similarily, I would like to point out that these battle reports are written and drawn by yours truly, usually in the evening after the game but on occasion up to a few days after (aided by sketches and conversations with the participants to flesh out the action). They are as complete and accurate as I can manage, but I do occasionally have things happening a turn before or after they did, or the position of units or terrain slightly wrong; however, I do try to be as accurate as I can.

The Factory Complex is built of a long piece of styrofoam originally designed as shipping material for a TV. It is elevated three or four inches, allowing miniatures to move and stand beneath it. One edge is lined by a wall tall enough to obscure a standing mini, broken up by a blast crater. The dark circles are cooling towers, which can be landed on top of but not otherwise entered, perhaps ten inches tall. Models can gain access to the raised styrofoam walkway via the yellow staircase on one end or a ladder on the other.

The concrete ruins are another piece of strangely shapped styrofoam packaging. It is roughly 12"x12" square and surrounded by walls tall enough to conceal anything but a Giant sized mini. The four walls are broken in several places. Set into the middle of the open centre square is another piece of fragmented concrete, as tall as the exterior walls. The whole thing is covered in stucco mixed with sand and painted a variety of shades of grey to give the appearance of concrete. Nice, if I do say so myself.

Various vehicles are included in our tabletop. Among these are an M-3 Grant in desert scheme, usually set into the middle of the Condo Complex, 1/35th scale (I believe); a PzKfw III tank lacking its turret; a PzKfw II, and a German halftrack (an SdKfz 251 I think) in 1/48th scale.

The Condoes are the biggest piece of terrain we use, and quite possibly the closest to actually being finished. Built on a slab of wood, the condo surface is covered in green (paper-backed felt like substance) and white (stucco to create the effect of pavement). The two circles are tall towers, roughly eleven inches tall. Models can land on top of them but cannot otherwise gain entry unless specified in the scenario.

Also included on this terrain piece are a firing position and a crater, offering nipple-height and waist-height (respectively) cover, and a broken down scratchbuilt Thudd Gun for a Dark Angels army I was going to build way back when before Warzone stole me away from the GW devil. There are also walls of stone, marked grey on the image, offering full cover.

There are also various other little pieces of terrain, all inert and unenterable, which we scatter over our tabletops. These include a series of waist-high walls made from a strange concoction of water and baking soda; bunkers crafted of old styrofoam burger containers (meticulously washed), and a number of shipping containers and/or bulk fuel cells made of oddly shaped shampoo containers spraypainted yellow. We also use a tower, taken from the Battle Masters boxed set, nicely painted. It takes one action to go from contact with one of the two doors set into the base to the trap door in the roof. The crenellations along the top offer roughly waist-high cover to models on the top. The whole thing stands about six inches tall.

We also use forests. Out of a combination of my own inadequacies when it comes to making terrain and a desire for portability and flexibility, our forests are built of pieces of green felt cut into odd shapes. Lay the felt down on the table, there's your forest. People it with trees with your imagination. Sooner or later, I'm going to make water out of blue felt to go with it.