With the version 2.0 of Pax Stellarum pretty much ready, I decided to improve the table and scenery I use for my space battles.
I do have a space mat, but it's a bit too blue, too full of nebulae, and I wanted something darker, so I just sprayed one of our gaming tables at our club black, added stars with the tooth brush technique and painted a few gas clouds to give it a bit of color.
The result was a very convincing outer space background with little investment:
![SAM_0574](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/429/31654264063_2d07cdf79e_c.jpg)
I also worked on some pieces of scenery. Below are a couple of Hyperspace Rifts. In game terms, ships moving into contact with these risk getting randomly projected to a different spot on the table.
![SAM_0576](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/616/32466024395_9b895f2c2d_c.jpg)
On the back of these I painted Distortion Fields, which affect ships' heading when they move in contact with them.
![SAM_0578](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/324/31668117033_de9d5fbc44_c.jpg)
I also painted a trio of planets, much larger than the ones I previously had. These are styrofoam half-spheres that I covered with acrylic puty, sanded and painted.
First, a gas giant:
![SAM_0579](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/510/32466014235_a22dcc91fd_c.jpg)
Next, an Earth-like planet:
![SAM_0581](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/602/32466009465_e004234c25_c.jpg)
And last, a barren planet or large moon:
![SAM_0582](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/744/32087812750_03f2840e11_c.jpg)
To come up with mines, I used sewing beads, they're pretty inexpensive, and already come with holes for the pins, so quite practical. I would prefer to have used the mines from Battlefleet Gothic, but they go for crazy prices on ebay these days, and I needed a lot to use in a minefield, as well as to represent mines laid out by ships while they move, so for now these will do.
![SAM_0618](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/477/31695597813_6b31cea984_c.jpg)
Below, I put some ships next to a mine token to give an idea of their scale:
![SAM_0620](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/340/31663675904_6b67430952_c.jpg)
I already had several pieces of plasticard sprayed black which I use as area terrain to determine the boundaries of my asteroid fields, as can be seen on the pic below. Their underside is painted as nebulae, so I can use them both ways, just like my Hyperspace Rifts/Distortion Fields.
I'm now pretty satisfied with my gaming table. Looking forward to putting it to use soon!
![SAM_0587](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/320/32314496902_6511ac6b38_c.jpg)