Train Tuesday P40: Ale Rails

These DnD Hovertrain cars keep rolling off The Forgotten Rails assembly line as we get closer and closer to the inaugural voyage! Our beloved rail line couldn’t leave the station without this critical Ale car by Aether Studios. So, grab a stein, and let’s sift through the suds!

We can’t imagine a more precious cargo than Waterdeep’s mead supply! Its citizens have a hearty appetite for the continuous pour and demand only the best from dwarven breweries scattered across the Sword Coast. Ale is big business, and The Forgotten Rails’ new transportation network could turn the drinking industry on its head!

The Ale Car is from the mighty Yardworks Industrial set by Aether Studios. We love this collection of 3D-printed tiles because it’s stuffed with all sorts of commercial trade details, such as large liquid tanks, big barrels, and stacked crates and boxes, which can really open up new campaign mission goals and new DM storytelling outlets.

Indeed, the main eye candy here is the mighty wooden barrel, presumably filled with Rhealm’s finest ale. However, we adore this particular rail car for all its subtle details, which combine to make it the perfect transport choice. We’re really stoked to build some colorful one-shots around this fab Hovertrain car.

Colorful encounters like escorting a rare ale to a low-profile buyer, helping a new brew-meister enter the mead space, or sneaking into the car late at night for a little taste test are all fun ways to liven up your travel time.

Regarding its exterior, this one fits our dirt and grime master theme. As previously explained, Hovertrains make an absolute mess of things, thanks to their powerful engines and mysterious Corederite fuel source. Thus, the darker metal, sprinkled with copper elements and finished with a black wash, gives this train car that battered industrial look we’re looking for here.

We especially love the industrial loading main door – our first completed car with this type of door. The wider access point makes perfect sense, as we imagine a fury of workers rushing to the platform to unpack its precious cargo. Waterdeep’s Omin Dran certainly prides The Forgotten Rails on its efficiency and won’t tolerate a sloppy operation.

For traveling access, we went with simple, scuffed-up metal doors here. Pulling off large amounts of cargo naturally leads to bumps, dents, and scratches, as the Rail’s Construct workers (e.g., The Lifters) don’t care about style points.

For the main brewery barrel, we naturally chose an Ale-ish color since that would be the expected default cargo. DM Ben used AK Interactive’s excellent Transparent Water Gel. It’s a little pricey but so darn handy. The key though is to not pour too much in at a time. Small amounts layered over time typically get you the best results.

A dwarven brewery car makes the most sense here, but as we shared in our Tanker post, there are all sorts of different liquids that could top off that oversized barrel — everything from specialty cooking liquids to gnome tinkerers’ favorite grease material.

Lastly, you’ll once again notice we kept a decent portion of this Hovertrain open for things like miniatures and scatter terrain. Flexibility and modularity are vital components in every build we do. Immense amounts of effort go into our game boards, and we can’t stand being pigeonholed.

Pretty frickin’ fantastic, right?! Does our new Hovertrain Ale Car make you thirst for new adventures? Well, it should…cause it does. 😉

Until next time!