Collins Does Yavin IV Table Build

As with any random idea that comes into your mind the best thing to do is

• Write it down – done
• Research it – doing it
• Plan it
• Realise the dream
• “Save the dream” – Saw Gerrera

A lot of information about Yavin IV base can be found on Wookieepedia from both Canon and Legends timelines.

I don’t think im going to make a full temple as its huge (see below image) however I think it would be awesome to make a section of it, or a ‘runway outpost’ type part of it.

So given that its huge shall we look at sections of it that could make excellent gaming areas.

Below is a cross section/cut away of it and it perfectly demonstrates just how large this thing is. In the bottom left of the underground hanger you can see two GR-75 Medium Transports, that are 90 metres in length. You may remember these ships as one of them bounced off the front of Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer at the battle of Skarif and were extensively used in the escape from Hoth.

So now that we’ve decided that it would be foolish to make the entire site its time to think smaller.

The size of a gaming table for Star Wars Legion is set at 6’x3′. Thats a large area but also its quite small by normal war-game standards. I do not anticipate being able to make enough stuff to cover the whole table. Certainly not in time for this challenge, I’m not a madman. My FLGS (which is where I play this game, a lot) has recently bought a lot of the wonderful gaming mats from deepcut studios. The best one for this I feel is the swampy one. So I’ll work with that as the base.

Given that its going to be an outdoorsy type table (I still can’t believe I’ve decided to do this… lunatic) lets look at some cool artwork online for inspiration

I really enjoy the last image, I think it would make a wonderful play area. Open, flat, easy to see models etc but also plenty of line of sight blocking material, specifically ships, cargo, fuel etc to make interesting games. Not sure how I am going to make it without having to make the temple however, I don’t want to make a big one. Perhaps it would be wise to look at the original inspiration for the temple for the films. The set for the Yavin IV base was the Mayan City of Tikal in Guatemala.

We can definitely see where some of the inspiration came from. The tops of the temples are alike and the stepped sides are similar, just much much bigger in Star Wars. Because as Warren always says, “More, is More”. The steps on the Tikal temples have been replaced by large stepped buttresses.

I feel it’s time to make a drawing!