Jericho Anchorage

For at least 4000 years, Jericho Anchorage has been in orbit over the Sub-Sector capital of Rentlaw.  Basically, as long as records have been kept. It is constructed of several asteroids that were towed into position and developed, along with one artificial hab module that was added in the last couple of hundred years.

J1 – Station Control

J1 houses Traffic Control, Customs, and all other Bureaucratic functions. It has a small launch facility for the Inspection shuttles, and a small clearing yard where goods that require special handling or inspection are held.

J2 – Power

J2 is the home of the powerplant. There is a mag-drilling rig that drives a core-tap into the fusion crystals, and it provides enough power for all station functions including the position lock grav drives to keep the orbit stable.

J3 -  “the Hab”

J3 houses all crew and their families. “The Hab” includes all the needed facilities. Apartments, a Med-Center, Schools, Rec facilities etc…

JX – The Observatory

JX has been abandoned for so long and information surrounding the cause of “the incident” has been so severely suppressed that no one is quite sure whether it was operated by the Mechanicus or the Inquisition. It is said to be haunted and access is strictly forbidden. Rumors are rampant, of course, and run the gamut from the Inquisition is still operating the Observatory to whatever catastrophe befell the Observatory, it was so violent, that the ghosts of the lost men can be heard wailing even through the vacuum of space.

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Ok, so why “Jericho Anchorage”?   In short I wanted a cool place to fight Shadow War games. Also, I am putting together a Narrative Weekend Event in a few months and this will be a major battleground for that.

Okay, but why is it named an “Anchorage”?  I thought “Jericho Anchorage” sounded cool.

 BUT, I didn’t want to look ignorant to the smarty smarts that knew the difference. I mean, what the heck is the difference between a “Port”, a “Harbor”, and an “Anchorage” anyway? I had to do some heavy research (30 seconds on Google) annndddd...

Port – where commerce and exchange of goods takes place

Harbor – a protected haven for ships from the weather and large waves of the sea with construction (piers and jetties) where ships can moor

Anchorage – similar to a Harbor, but lacking constructed mooring. Ships “Anchor” themselves.

Ports are within Harbors, and sometimes Anchorages, but sometimes there can be an Anchorage without a Port, where ships assemble before a long passage for example.

Moving on…

The main inspiration(s) come from 2 sources

1.       The old Saturday morning live action serials “Space Academy” and then its follow up that borrowed the same sets “Jason of Star Command” (I’m old, look them up)

2.       Starcraft (the original) had several scenarios set on space stations that were mostly flat stacked platforms with slight rock accents

The whole place is built on MDF bases with short lengths of PVC pipe to give the station a floating look. With the exception of the Hab module, the other 3 modules are carved 2” and 1” HD Foam with details added on top.

The large connecting bridges are made of mdf and carved foam. The foot bridges are from a company called “Wargames Tournaments”. (Great prices, and I think they look very spiffy)

Jericho Anchorage doesn’t have a set configuration. The bridges and pieces can be rearranged in countless ways. (…and this is very important for my future plan for the Narrative Campaign. Remember I said it here, so when you see the big reveal later this year, what happens is no “happy accident”, I’ve been planning that plot twist forever.)

As for the modules themselves…

J1 – Control

This is my second attempt (the first one is in the trash) and I think the weakest in terms of looks. It is simply couple of pieces of carved foam. The control building is a cut up and reconfigured plastic milk crate. This one may need a rebuild based on what I learned from the later modules.

J2 – the Power Plant

My favorite. Over the course of the project I learned that If I used a large 2” piece of foam as the base piece and then cut up what felt like a million 1” pieces of foam  and pinned and glued them in the right configurations, I got the irregular surface I wanted. The crystal effect underneath came out better than I expected.

J3 – The Hab

PVC tube at the core, then stacked mdf circles.

This piece is pretty good but it need work.

1.       The printed stuff is a little dark. This is an easy fix to simply re-print lighter

2.       It needs more 3d elements. I am looking into furniture and bunks

3.       Antennas off the bottom to obscure the pipe to bolster the floating illusion

J4 – The Observatory

I like this piece, and I think it has the most potential, but I need to go back over it and pull out some more detail. Skeletons, accents on the ruins etc…

It has been a fun build so far, and the players at “The Breach” event really enjoyed the setup.

Comments welcome and Thanks for Looking!