With Games Workshop’s recently release of their competitive arena battle game, Shadespire, many players have looked for ideas on how to add a bit of flair to their adventures in the Mirrored City. We still have a large back catalog of proper minis to paint, so in the meantime, we’ve opted to go back about 15 years for a product that fits our current gaming needs.

Released a decade and a half ago, the prepainted Mage Knight Dungeons Artifact sets allow us to place obstacles and debris in the obstructed hexes of the Shadespire board directly, without the need to scratch build anything. The packs came in two sets, one with columns and tables and the other having a more mystic set of artifacts. Fortunately, we have both as they find use in our Warhammer Quest games as well as Age of Sigmar battle field objectives from time to time. Originally retailing for around $15, they can still be found on eBay in the $20-25 range shipped…if you’re patient.

Being highly durable plastic, the bits can simply be tossed in the Shadespire box with no concern for chipping or breaking. This is the sort of easy storage we need and it allows our Shadespire box to be an instant battlefield.

As a hobbyist, I always prefer to see and play on custom made tables with unique terrain. However, as mentioned above we’ve got plenty minis still to paint, so using the Mage Knight Artifacts allows us to get stuck into the game while our warbands are being converted and painted. In fact, while getting the Shadespire minis suited for high adventure, below are a few shots of some of our suitable Age of Sigmar figures demonstrating Mage Knight Artifacts in Shadespire. Simply tossing a few bits in the obstructed hexes allow for a slightly different look and feel to each game.

Behold….The Pools of Radiance!

Brawl in the Mead Hall!

Sacrifice to Nagash at the Kataphrane altar!

I’m sure Games Workshop will find opportunity here to fill this void of Shadespire terrain, but what other ideas do you have in the meantime?