In our How to Paint Everything series, we take a look at different aspects of the hobby. In today's article, we're looking at how to accessorize and enhance your Blood Bowl experience through the use of terrain!
Blood Bowl terrain is a bit of an odd concept; the game doesn't really need terrain in any real sense, but it's still worth talking about some cool projects and kits you can build and paint to add flavor and character to your game. Building your own Blood Bowl arena can really add a lot of fun to the experience and cultivate a "home field" feel to your games.
Ironheart Artisans Scoreboard painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
In preparation for our local club's spring kick-off, I painted up some terrain from
Ironheart Artisans.
Ironheart Artisans Scoreboards painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
In addition to scoreboards, they also have several sponsor boards:
Ironheart Artisans Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
If you don't feel like painting the sponsor boards yourself, you can order
painted and weathered versions from their site.
Basing the Terrain
I based the terrain using
Buffalo Chicken's method from a
previous tutorial and sealed the bases with primer. I keep a large bucket of sand, gravel, pebbles and other detritus for basing terrain. You can get a combination of materials from local hardware and pet stores. Throw it all in a container and save it for future projects.
Painting the Scoreboards
Most tutorials suggest priming MDF before painting, since the wood could absorb the paint - but I didn't want to risk obscuring the laser-etched detail with primer. As an experiment, I airbrushed Contrast paint directly on to the MDF without primer:
Airbrushed with Gore-Grunta Fur
Airbrushed with Cygor Brown
Note: You can paint the contrast directly on to the MDF, but the color will be darker. I then drybrushed the remaining colors.
The
darker wood scoreboard was drybrushed with
Gorthor Brown, followed by a drybrush of
Ushabti Bone.
The
lighter wooden scoreboard was drybrushed with
Mournfang Brown, followed by a drybrush of
Ushabti Bone.
The
ground was drybrushed with
Dryad Bark, followed by a drybrush of
Gorthor Brown, with a final light drybrush of
Ushabti Bone.
Once drybrushing was complete, I
sealed the terrain with
Testor's Dullcote.
Painting the Sponsor Boards
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
I painted the sponsor boards with a range of GW colors, but you can also get them
pre-printed in color with new or weathered variants.
Once the base coats were complete, I weathered the boards using
sponge" frameborder="0"> weathering and dabbing on
Rhinox Hide:

You can apply different amounts of pressure to simulate various levels of wear and tear.
And that's it! Additional Photos below:
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
Ironheart Artisans Blood Bowl Sponsor Board painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
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