Battery by Slug Industries

In this post I take a look at the battery terrain piece which was produced by Slug Industries as part of a kickstarter project for their Spanish Fort.

In my recent review of the 28mm Spanish Fort I already mentioned that I also got the battery piece that was funded via the kickstarter project. The battery is a solid piece of resin. Aside from the main piece there is a planking piece, similar to the one that was provided with the Spanish Fort, and an MDF kit for a ladder - again, same as with the fort. So, beside filing off a few sharp edges and assembling the ladder, there is no further assembly required.

The battery, the planking (right) and the ladder kit (bottom right)

Painting

I painted the battery the same way as the fort, not only because I had an upcoming gaming session ahead of me, but also because that is the best (and only) way to make the two pieces look similar. Even though I use the same technique, the results vary every time because the paint mixes are slightly different.

The battery from Slug Industries, painted and ready for battle

Back side of the battery with the ladder

The battery on the table

Before the kickstarter, I had never felt that I needed a battery for my table. We are mostly playing pirate skirmish games with only a few models per side and artillery is not really a thing in our games. But I thought, since I am pledging for the fort already, I might as well get the battery and see if I can put it to good use. And I am glad I did ...

When I set up my Port of Gierburg game table, I immediately realized how well the battery complements the dock section:

The battery set up to extend the jetty in the dock section of the table

The battery defends the port

A scenario that we play quite frequently is "Capture/Burn the Ship" where the crews try to attack/defend/capture/burn/steal a ship in the port. Eventually, one crew may win the game by sailing the ship out of port. With the addition of the battery, a whole new win condition can be added: the crews can now also fight for control over the cannons of the battery, so should the opponent attempt to escape with the ship, you can gun the vessel down. This makes the scenario a lot more interesting.

Another game that we played was a sort of "Breakthrough" where a medium-sized vessel attempts to attack an enemy port and wins by having the ship leave via the opposite edge of the table, which represents the port. That side of the board was defended by the Spanish Fort and - surprise - the battery. Both models are perfectly suited for ship-to-coast action and you can set up a great coastal fortification with them.

The defending player controls the fort, the battery and a small ship and
must prevent the attacker's ship from passing this side of the table

The attacking ship approaches

This worked out so well (despite me losing that game) that we came up with a couple of variations that we plan to try out some time soon. And I decided that I actually wanted another battery because it adds so much to the games. With two batteries and the fort I will be able to set up a coastal defense line across the long side of the 4' x 6' ocean board.

I finished painting up the second battery model today:

The two batteries

In closing, I have to say that I am very happy with the battery and the fort and how they have enhanced our games. Over the last years new terrain usually meant that another house is added to the table and that rarely had any impact on the gameplay aspect. These buildings, however, provide whole new levels of interaction for our crews which is quite invaluable.