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Not entirely sure what section this fits in, so it's in here!

I'm after something similar to the citadel realm of battle gameboard, but I really think that £175 for the GW one is somewhat expensive.
Does anyone know of any similar cheaper, pre-made, easy to disassemble alternatives available or would it be a case of having to build one myself?

I concur, a gaming board like this would be fun

 Daedricbob wrote:
Not entirely sure what section this fits in, so it's in here!

I'm after something similar to the citadel realm of battle gameboard, but I really think that £175 for the GW one is somewhat expensive.
Does anyone know of any similar cheaper, pre-made, easy to disassemble alternatives available or would it be a case of having to build one myself?

There are cheaper alternatives out there, but they aren't going to look anything like the Realm of Battle boards. This is a hobby where largely you get what you pay for.

An alternative would be the Games & Gears, Gaming Board kickstarter. It's probably not going to be funded but it would give you a flat, lightly textured playing surface. Zuzzy Mat is another option as well.

There's an Australian company that makes really good alternatives (at least, they look good on their website) and for a good price too but the shipping costs to the UK are an absolute killer. Unfortunately, I can neither remember the website nor the name of the company in question - perils of getting old I'm afraid.

 filbert wrote:
There's an Australian company that makes really good alternatives (at least, they look good on their website) and for a good price too but the shipping costs to the UK are an absolute killer. Unfortunately, I can neither remember the website nor the name of the company in question - perils of getting old I'm afraid.

Was it Back2Base-IX?

In the UK you could try http://www.battleboards.co.uk/

I've found them to be really helpful and they will custom make you stuff, it can end up expensive, some are even more expensive than the GW boards - but tell them what your budget is and what you want and maybe they can come up with somethng for you.

Germany Company Ziterdes also makes modular gaming tables but their products are not that much cheaper than GW...

http://www.ziterdes.de/ziterdes/en/produkte/listview.php?catID=69&subcatID=

 Catyrpelius wrote:

 filbert wrote:
There's an Australian company that makes really good alternatives (at least, they look good on their website) and for a good price too but the shipping costs to the UK are an absolute killer. Unfortunately, I can neither remember the website nor the name of the company in question - perils of getting old I'm afraid.

Was it Back2Base-IX?

No. I'd know it if I saw it (and I know that isn't much help!)

Thanks for the suggestions The Battleboards on looks especially interesting!

Is the australian company this one by any chance? http://www.miniaturescenery.com/

 Daedricbob wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions The Battleboards on looks especially interesting!

Is the australian company this one by any chance? http://www.miniaturescenery.com/

Yeah, that's the one - I was looking at their City Grounds set - looks good but the shipping is a deal breaker

http://www.miniaturescenery.com/CategoryPage.asp?Code=CAT_BGND

You could look at these: http://www.gelaendestuecke.de/onlineshop/index.php?cat=c26_modular-boards-for-all-scale-modular-boards-for-all-scale.html

Not to sound like a sarcastic gakker, but B&Q?

1 piece MDF, they cut it for you there into 4 different pieces (or keep it as 1) - then simply texture the top ?

It's no surprise to me at all that the upper management of GW hold their customer base in such low esteem - they've managed to sell what is essentially just a loosely textured surface for a ridiculous amount of money, and people lap it up as though it is something special or otherwise necessary for tabletop gaming. A slowed, blind baboon could get the same results for about 1/10th of the cost, and probably create something that looks better (or, is it because of the 'skull pits' ?)

Next up
- the Citadel 'dice cup', necessary to roll dice.
- Citadel miniature drying platform (place your miniatures on this handy, perfectly level surface after painting them)
- Citadel water pot, a handy vessel used to hold water while painting your miniatures

OK... I'm going to stop sounding like such a sarcastic gakker now..

I found this the other day - not less expensive than the realm of battle board, but looks more flexible

http://manorhouseworkshopmindstalkers.wordpress.com/manorhouse-workshop-catalogue/mhw-modulars-gaming-tables/

These also look interesting - they are one foot by one foot so again more flexible, but still pretty much as expensive.

http://www.wargame-innovations.co.uk/terrain_modules.htm

Realm of Battle is cool because it has the in-built hills. It may seem like something tiny but I can build colossal hills. Have you ever tried playing a LOTR game with the two armies climbing the peak to claim an objective? It's a helluva lot of fun, but of course if you want to do that by yourself then it requires a lot of skills that I don't have.

Whilst I largely agree with your points Pacific some people lack any talent at DIY at all, for these premade boards are better. I know it may seem easy to those with the talent, but if you had seen any of the DIY my dad ever did you wouldn't say anyone can do it

Personally I got myself a battleboard as it was 100 times better then anything I would be able to make, but the other boards I simply bought the "blank" boards they do and built them up myself - even though it was more expensive than an MDF board I found it to be a far better material to work with for a gaming board and it's much lighter as well, which makes it hand for transporting, however each to is own, if money is an issue and you have the skills then make your own, if you have the cash and don;t have the skill buy premade.

http://www.zuzzy.com/rl-tf-001_terra_flex_gaming_mat.html

This lacks the built in hills etc of the real of battle, but it is a good 6x4 rubber matt, textured to the terrain you choose. can even be used unpainted if you want. (at least the cityscape one cant)

 Pacific wrote:
Next up
- Citadel water pot, a handy vessel used to hold water while painting your miniatures

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod50014a

 ExNoctemNacimur wrote:
Realm of Battle is cool because it has the in-built hills. It may seem like something tiny but I can build colossal hills. Have you ever tried playing a LOTR game with the two armies climbing the peak to claim an objective? It's a helluva lot of fun, but of course if you want to do that by yourself then it requires a lot of skills that I don't have.

I actually find the built in hill(s) one of the more annoying features of the GW board, that and the amount of work I had to go through get rid of the bloody skulls. The hills are basically restricting you to one massive hill, or fighting in a valley of some sort. It just comes across as very inflexible for repeatedly playing on.

This is a hobby where largely you get what you pay for.

I don't know about that. Largely I think this is a skill based hobby. Anyone can go and buy a battle board. It's not really that hard to build on though. You are still going to have to put in a bunch of time and paint to get the battle board up and running, might as well save some big money and build your own for peanuts.

I am not a fan of the ROB. Super expensive, limited variety (hills!), loud for dice rolling and too slippery for models. I tried Ziterdes, but they are not that sturdy in the long run, and the edges are prominent. I now prefer mats where I can place the terrain as I like. Zuzzy would be nice if the postage wasn't the killer outside USA. So I use Hotz Mats http://www.hotzmats.com/ , Dirt Planet (with or without craters) for SciFi, and European Fields for Fantasy (be aware that they are 1-2" short). They also have felt roads and other stuff.

Wow, those seem to look really well. Shipping cost to Germany is kinda tough though :/

I posted a great write up for the table Im building (albeit for customers with access to WalMart); I posted it yesterday but oddly enough I cant find it.

Acoustic ceiling tiles. Base and spray them however you want, snaps together. Reversible too so you can have different effects on the back side of it.

 Sigvatr wrote:
Wow, those seem to look really well. Shipping cost to Germany is kinda tough though :/

I wouldn't call 12$ (+6$ for each additional) surface and 20$ (+14$ for each additional) airmail postage for one mat tough.
You get 3 individually detailed felt mats including postage (or 4 one colour) for the price of one ROB (just give him some time, as they are hand made to order):

 Scouseboy wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
Next up
- Citadel water pot, a handy vessel used to hold water while painting your miniatures

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod50014a

Honestly, I just laughed so hard.

fething hell they must take us to be absolute mugs. I'm lost for words.

 Pacific wrote:

 Scouseboy wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
Next up
- Citadel water pot, a handy vessel used to hold water while painting your miniatures

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod50014a

Honestly, I just laughed so hard.

fething hell they must take us to be absolute mugs. I'm lost for words.

That thing has been available for years. I'm surprised you haven't seen it by now. When I was after a paint pot, I laughed when I saw that on the wall, walked to a budget shop and bought a 'plastic paint cup' for $1. And only did that because my fiancee would have killed me if I used one of our mugs. She was right pissed off when she saw these however. She walked into another shop, and walked out with a pack of about 20, all about 3 times the size of the GW emery boards, for $2.

However, I don't know why more people don't use the GW battlemat if they're dead set on sticking with GW. Built in hills? Suck at making terrain? Buy the GW battlemat and two of the GW modular hills. 1/4 the price, flat, non-slippery surface, pre-flocked, basically the same hills. Their battlemat is an awesome value bit of kit. Heavy, durable fabric. Hell, for the price of a RoBB, you could buy an Imperial Sector, a bunch of hills and other terrain, a Battlemat, and have money to spare and wind up with a more variable, interesting gaming surface.

Btw, GW battlemat is one of their best products -but only the one with clothing base (the older version?), the other with paper-base is crap.
I have huge MDF board with hinges (so it is only 3x2 when stored), and the only reason I'd buy RoB is to add terrain, because RoB cannot be used as a table on its own - you have to place it on something (or am I wrong?)

Those felt matts are actually very interesting, especially those designed for WW2 - will have to dig more info on them, because this could actually solve the "issue of non-existent plowed field terrain" - at least these are not existent for reasonable price :(

CainTheHunter wrote:
Btw, GW battlemat is one of their best products -but only the one with clothing base (the older version?), the other with paper-base is crap.

Unless they chnged it in the last year, the current battlemat is the mat with the heavy cloth backing. My fiancee bought me one for Christmas last year, off the shelf in a GW. GW stores don't keep old stock when a new version it out.

It really boggles the mind how they can have both products on the shelf, and someone thinks the RoBB is a better buy. For the price of a RoBB, you can buy a mat, enough GW store bought terrain to fill it, and have money left over for more models.

 Pacific wrote:

 Scouseboy wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
Next up
- Citadel water pot, a handy vessel used to hold water while painting your miniatures

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod50014a

Honestly, I just laughed so hard.

fething hell they must take us to be absolute mugs. I'm lost for words.

They also made the dice cups you mentioned - I got 1 from a friend.

Erm - Games and Gears kickstarter.

Back it!

Can't believe no-one has mentioned it so far in this thread.