Showcase Archives - Saucermen Studios

Rapture – A Tactical Skirmish Game That Pairs Perfectly With Our Terrain

If you’re looking for a new sci-fi, tabletop skirmish game to sink your teeth into, Rapture from our friends at Gravity Bay should be on your radar.

Set in a world on the brink of collapse, Rapture pits Atlanteans, aliens, and gifted humans against each other in tense, objective-based missions. It’s a fast-paced, cinematic game that balances accessible rules with tactical depth – and best of all, it plays beautifully with terrain layouts from our Flatline City and Grid City sets.

Why You Should Try the Rapture Skirmish Game

We’re always on the lookout for games that play well with our 3D printable terrain collection, and Rapture stands out for a few key reasons:

🧠 Easy-to-learn rules – You can get started quickly without sacrificing depth.
⚔️ Reactive combat – Actions trigger responses/reactions from your opponent, making every move count, even when it’s not your turn.
🗺️ Tight, objective-driven missions – Played over six rounds on 90x90cm tables, using small, characterful battlegroups.
🎲 Optional depth and chaos – Additional rules for roaming creatures, loot crates, weather effects, and the Chance Die expansions keep gameplay unpredictable and exciting.
👥 Supports multiplayer – You can scale the game up to four players with included or expanded rules.

Terrain That Fits Like a Glove

Standard mission setups typically use 3–4 buildings and a handful of scatter terrain. This makes Rapture a perfect match for our Flatline City and Grid City terrain ranges, especially with modular elements like interconnecting walkways and stackable structures.

If you’re after quick builds, versatile layouts, and cinematic line-of-sight blocking, our terrain kits provide the perfect toolkit for Rapture missions.

Want to Try It?

You can grab the free rules for Rapture at:
👉 https://gravity-bay.com

Explore compatible terrain at:
👉 https://saucermenstudios.com.au

Whether you’re already building your battlegroup or just hearing about the game for the first time, we’d love to know!

Light Up Your Sci-Fi Terrain with Animated LED Signage!

If you want to take your sci-fi tabletop terrain to the next level, adding animated LED signage is a fantastic way to do it! Using budget-friendly 44×11 pixel LED name badges, you can bring dynamic lighting and cyberpunk aesthetics to your wargaming setups.

The Build

I recently experimented with these LED name badges and designed a custom 3D printable enclosure that fits them perfectly. Printed on my Bambu Lab P1S, the enclosure comes with multiple face-plate options, allowing you to customize the look to match your gaming environment. These enclosures are designed for ease of use and are compatible with OpenLock clips, making them a seamless addition to Flatline City terrain. To enhance the display further, I also used a diffuser circuit board that I demonstrated in a previous project, giving the signage a clean and professional finish.

How to Add Digital Signage to Your Terrain

Want to add animated LED signs to your wargaming or RPG setups? Here’s how:

Get an LED Name Tag:
- These LED badges are inexpensive, USB-chargeable, and have a resolution of 44×11 pixels.
Program Your Signage:
- Use the included mobile app to upload custom text animations or even video via Bluetooth. The app can be quirky, but with some patience, you can create some incredible effects.
Print the Custom Enclosure:
- A 3D printed housing gives the LED sign a unique aesthetic that seamlessly integrates into your terrain. I’ve made a design that’s compatible with Flatline City and other cyberpunk-style setups.

Where to Get the Files

If you want to incorporate these animated LED signs into your terrain, you can grab the STL files from my website: www.saucermenstudios.com.au.

Whether you’re creating cyberpunk cityscapes, dystopian outposts, or futuristic battlefields, these signs will make your tabletop terrain more immersive than ever.

What’s Next?

I’m working on even more atmospheric effects to enhance your wargaming experience, including interactive lighting, ambient effects, and modular sci-fi elements. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this build—what features would you like to see next?

Let me know in the comments or share your own LED signage projects!

How to Add Smoke & Simple Atmospheric Effects to Your Wargaming Terrain

Creating immersive battlefields for tabletop wargaming goes beyond just printing and painting miniatures. Adding atmospheric effects, like smoke or steam, can enhance the realism of your terrain and bring your gaming sessions to life. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to easily add a simple smoke effect to your terrain using a low-cost ($3AUD) atomizer circuit and a USB power source.

Why Add Atmospheric Effects?

If you’ve ever looked at industrial sci-fi terrain and thought it would look even better with active smoke plumes rising from refinery rooftops, you’re not alone. Effects like these can add depth to your battlefield, making it feel alive rather than just a static collection of miniatures and buildings. The best part? You don’t need an expensive setup—just a few budget-friendly components and a USB power source.

What You’ll Need

To create this effect, you’ll need just a couple of inexpensive components:

A $3 micro-USB powered atomizer – Search for something like “Humidifier Module USB, Atomization Plate Circuit Board”
A USB power source – A small power bank works great for portability and terrain integration
Some clean water to generate vapor
Some terrain with hollow interiors, vents and chimneys (such as those Grid City: Gothic)
A 3D-printed reservoir (optional but recommended for neat integration into your terrain)

atomization disc 5v module usb — Example of the Atomizer circuit we used (powered by Micro USB)

This setup produces water vapor, not actual smoke, which means it’s completely safe to touch and won’t generate heat that could damage your terrain or miniatures.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Order Your Parts and Gather Supplies

You can find atomizer circuits online for just a few dollars. These small devices generate mist by vibrating at a high frequency, breaking water into tiny droplets that appear as a fine mist. Make sure you also have a USB power source—this can be a simple phone charger or a power bank for a more mobile setup.

2. Connect the Atomizer to Power

Once your parts arrive, simply connect the atomizer circuit to the USB power source. Most atomizers come pre-wired.

3. Test the Effect

Touch the atomizer to a small area of moisture, and you should start seeing vapor almost immediately.

If the mist output seems weak, try flipping the atomizer disc over—sometimes the correct orientation makes a big difference in performance.

4. Understanding the Vapor Effect

This effect is actually water vapor, not real smoke. That means:

It’s not hot, so it won’t burn or damage your miniatures.
It won’t leave residue or stain your terrain.
It’s safe to touch and won’t warp plastic.
Be safe & mindful of electronics and water – Ensure water does not contact the bare wiring, the circuit board or the power source.

5. Integrate It Into Your Terrain

For a cleaner look, I designed and 3D printed a custom reservoir (included in one of the Grid City: Gothic terrain sets) to house the atomizer and hold water. This keeps the effect self-contained and makes it easy to integrate into my terrain setup. The reservoir fits neatly inside my Grid City terrain set, allowing vapor to rise through vents, simulating factory smoke or steam escaping from a futuristic refinery.

Alternatively, you can use small plastic containers hidden inside buildings or structures to achieve the same effect.

Want to level up your terrain projects?

If you’d like to get the STL files for the terrain set I used in this project, you can grab them from my website at Saucermen Studios or check out my latest terrain Kickstarter for even more immersive battlefield elements.

Give it a try, and let me know how you incorporate this effect into your own terrain builds!

Flatline City Wave 3 Kickstarter: A GamingGeek Terrain Review

gaminggeek youtube terrain review flatline city 3

We’re thrilled to share a fantastic review of the Flatline City Wave 3 Kickstarter from YouTubeer GamingGeek. In his recent video, GamingGeek dives deep into what makes our latest sci-fi terrain set a must-have for sci-fi and Cyberpunk skirmisg games.

It seems GamingGeek is quite fond of the previous Flatline City sets. Having reviewed both volumes 1 and 2, he was eager to explore the third wave, which continues to build on the modular and versatile design that fans love. The review emphasized how well these sets integrate with each other, making them a perfect fit for both cyberpunk and grimdark sci-fi settings.

Back Flatline City: Third Wave on Kickstarter here

Terrain Painting and Customization

One of the standout features mentioned in the review is the flexibility in painting and customizing the terrain. GamingGeek highlights how they’ve previously painted the terrain in a grimdark style but decided to go for a brighter cyberpunk look this time, thanks to their new Monster Fight Club Cyberpunk Combat Zone game. This shift in style showcases the terrain’s adaptability to various themes, making it an excellent choice for different gaming environments.

Unique Features of Wave 3

Flatline City Wave 3 isn’t just another set—it’s a game-changer. With 21 stretch goals already unlocked, this standalone set is also a perfect expansion to your existing Flatline City terrain. We’ve added 100+ modular building sections and over 300 additional stretch-goal models to take your tabletop setups to the next level.

The new signs, add a vibrant, dynamic element to the buildings. The ability to clip in these signs or attach bridges between structures enhances the modularity that Saucermen Studios is known for.

Another feature that caught GamingGeek’s attention is the inclusion of sidewalks, which they creatively used to add balconies and elevated walkways to the buildings. This innovation not only adds depth to the terrain but also provides additional strategic options during gameplay.

Flatline City on Kickstarter

GamingGeek highlights many features and benfits of the Flatline City Wave 3 set, demonstrating its versatility, modularity, and the sheer number of options it provides. Whether you’re into cyberpunk, grimdark, or any other sci-fi genre, this set offers endless possibilities for creating immersive gaming environments.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Flatline City Wave 3 Kickstarter and join the growing community of backers. And don’t forget to visit GamingGeek’s YouTube channel for more detailed reviews and painting tutorials that can help bring your terrain to life.

Get Involved – There’s still time to back the Flatline City Wave 3 Kickstarter and unlock even more exciting stretch goals. Visit the campaign page today and take advantage of this incredible deal.

Scrap Terrain Setup for Expendable Employees

We recently learned of ‘Expendable Employees‘, a game from Alexei Vella. It’s a rule-light, cooperative miniature skirmish game where 1-4 players assume the roles of employees sent by a company to scavenge dangerous exoplanets.

Collecting Scrap for the Good of the Company…

Upon reading the fluff, our Spaceship Graveyard terrain immediately sprung to mind for a table set-up! Each game is played on a 2×2′ to 3×4′ table with only 4-6 pieces of terrain, so we opted for our Fuselage Wreckage Set as these are chunky, break up line-of-sight easy to paint and help give a three dimensional perspective to the table!

What is Expendable Employees?

The gameplay involves several key elements:

Mission Setup: Players generate an exoplanet and deploy their space hauler on one board edge. They then send their employee miniatures on missions to retrieve scattered scrap before darkness envelops the board.
Objective: The primary goal is to collect as much scrap as possible while maintaining a profit quota. The bigger the pile of scrap, the higher the profit, but it also increases the risk of encountering hostile entities.
Challenges: Players face various threats including scrap-possessive entities, unpredictable environmental conditions, and encroaching darkness. They must navigate these threats to survive and complete their mission.

Gameplay Mechanics:

Scrap Collection: Scrap is dropped onto the battlefield by holding and releasing a handful of D4 dice from two feet above the table, simulating scrap falling from orbit.
Entities and Hazards: Entities that can attack players may spawn from shadows and other hazards must be navigated.
Rules and Role-Playing: The game has a lightweight ruleset, which includes humorous disclaimers from “The Company” about the dangers faced by employees.

Miniatures Agnostic

The game allows for any suitable miniatures to be used, although it offers STL files for 3D printing custom miniatures.

Overall, “Expendable Employees” combines elements of resource collection, survival, and cooperative strategy in a setting reminiscent of popular cooperative video games. Check out this game on Kickstarter now!

3D printable terrain that may suite game?

DarkHyve Assault Terrain – Launching Soon on Kickstarter!

DarkHyve Assault terrain Kickstarter now live

We’re about to launch our SEVENTH, large 3D printable terrain bundle on Kickstarter. This unique printable scenery is compatible with other sets from our Assault Series terrain range which is ‘push-fit’ and easy to use. Mix & match walls, pillars, junctions, platforms, doors, accessories and thematic inserts to craft your ideal terrain setup that’s different every game!

Check out the pre-launch page here.

SEE THE KICKSTARTER

Ideal Necromunda Terrain

This wargaming terrain is designed for customised environments and the perfect backdrop for underworld gangs, ravaging cyber thugs, deep-space scavengers, vault dwellers, military squads, and other tabletop skirmish games with sci-fi themes.

GamingGeek 3D Printed Terrain Reviews

Having been featured on the GamingGeek Youtube channel a few times and even been ranked as one of his favorite terrain sets for the Flatline City series, we wanted to share some of the videos. They include excellent demonstrations of the terrain sets and painting tutorials for each.

Spaceship Graveyard Community Showcase!

Lost Colony: Spaceship Graveyard was our second Kickstarter release and featured a range of modular, 3D printable spaceship wreckage terrain. Here’s some of our favorite set-up from the community. The examples below were all 3D printed and painted by our customers. all

Do you have awesome pics of this terrain and want to be featured? Send them on over via social media or to #saucermenstudios. Don’t forget to let us know how you’d like to be credited/linked and we’ll add them to the showcase!