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Hi everyone!

I'm planing to make a modular gaming table. I have a table large enough for at least a decent small-points match, so I'm going to get some plywood boards cut to something like 30x30 cm which can be randomly put together to make terrain. Probably far from creative but I think it is a quite viable option. I'm unsure on the general outline of the field however. Special structures like cover, areas, buildings and suchlike can be added by making more boards but what general setting would you love to see? Some radioactive death-world? Industrial city/ruins? Burned out wastes? What would you love to see most?

Radioactive death world all the way.

Frozen outpost, obviously!

(sorry couldn't resist!)

machineuk wrote:
Frozen outpost, obviously!

(sorry couldn't resist!)

I came into this thread to make the same joke. Beaten to it.

That said, I like the ice world and arctic basing. It gives a nice plain base for your minis to stand out from. And you can freeze guys in the ice for fun

Though a lot of it is done to death my top pick is forgeworld, followed by DKOK trench system, followed by daemon worlds.

machineuk wrote:
Frozen outpost, obviously!

(sorry couldn't resist!)

Huh? I don't get it.

As I'm building a Khorne Army on the side, I've been thinking about a demon world. For me it would be that burned wastes-option. Scorched earth, burned trees, sooty ruins... what you'd imagine the world would look like after some serious orbital bombardment. But I'm open to suggestions, if something cool is named I'll probably do that, otherwise i'd love to see what dakka thinks looks most awesome.

Terrain that is well done and versatile.

Ive made a lot, and played on even more - and for me, well done versatile terrain is what is most enjoyable. Various types of wild environs (forests, tundra, swamps, beaches, jungles, lava flows, deserts, steppes...) as well as civilized, both in ruins and well built - with various stylistic, thematic and historical bents. There have even been underground ones, both in caves and tunnels/mines. The ones which are planned out well tend to be the most enjoyable.

You also have to consider the replay aspect of it. A friend spent nearly a year building a 5x12 Stalingrad board, and although that was very meticulously done...it doesnt have a huge amountof replay in it. It really only goes together in one way (even though it is 6 boards), so after you have played on it a half dozen games...it starts to feel repititous.

So, take some time looking at movies, art, comics, books... and figure out what hooks you the most (doing a full table of terrain, you really need to want to do it). Look at the different ways to tile structures, terrain features and what not. Draw it out ahead of time to make sure dimensions work. Plan ahead for things like storage and transport if needed (flat tiles are pretty simple to store, but less simple is are urban tiles with building or something like Endor with giant tree trunks). Start your build with reasonable expectations based on your abilities, time, finances and tools.

A well done desert looks a lot better and is more fun than a poorly done urban board.

When it comes to the most fun. I would say it was probably a cave board based on the dungeon geomorph concept that TSR had years ago. Was a lot of cat and mouse and games like those made by GW, it wouldnt be much fun (would probably take 5 turns just to come into contact with another unit). For games that work like GWs current offerings, things with lots of cover are needed but not things that prevent movement too much. Urban or the fore mentioned Endor forests allow plenty of hiding, but still plenty of room to maneuver.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kosake wrote:

machineuk wrote:
Frozen outpost, obviously!

(sorry couldn't resist!)

Huh? I don't get it.

As I'm building a Khorne Army on the side, I've been thinking about a demon world. For me it would be that burned wastes-option. Scorched earth, burned trees, sooty ruins... what you'd imagine the world would look like after some serious orbital bombardment. But I'm open to suggestions, if something cool is named I'll probably do that, otherwise i'd love to see what dakka thinks looks most awesome.

Cool 》Cold 》Frozen...

Frozen Outpost

For the deamon worlds, I tend to look at the D&D art and descriptions for the "Nine Hells" or the "Abyss". Much more interesting than the skulls and ash which GW use in most their schlock.

i agree with demon worlds, theres a great tutorial on how to make a lava board complete with how to do burned out trees, i'll have a look and post a link if you cant find it, just search "lava board" in P&M and it should be there

 Sean_OBrien wrote:


Cool 》Cold 》Frozen...

Frozen Outpost

Ouch.

Somehow industrial settings seem to be very popular. I personally thought that would be the most overused setting aside from a fantasy table as forest/jungle.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:


You also have to consider the replay aspect of it. A friend spent nearly a year building a 5x12 Stalingrad board, and although that was very meticulously done...it doesnt have a huge amountof replay in it. It really only goes together in one way (even though it is 6 boards), so after you have played on it a half dozen games...it starts to feel repititous.

I figured that any piece of terrain I may want to create can be either fitted on a 30x30 board or split in two boards adjacent to each other. Thus I can just add more and more features by creating new tiles and mix them up for variety.

 Kosake wrote:

 Sean_OBrien wrote:


Cool 》Cold 》Frozen...

Frozen Outpost

Ouch.

Somehow industrial settings seem to be very popular. I personally thought that would be the most overused setting aside from a fantasy table as forest/jungle.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:


You also have to consider the replay aspect of it. A friend spent nearly a year building a 5x12 Stalingrad board, and although that was very meticulously done...it doesnt have a huge amountof replay in it. It really only goes together in one way (even though it is 6 boards), so after you have played on it a half dozen games...it starts to feel repititous.

I figured that any piece of terrain I may want to create can be either fitted on a 30x30 board or split in two boards adjacent to each other. Thus I can just add more and more features by creating new tiles and mix them up for variety.

Industrial is popular in 40k because GW has excellent terrain for cityfighting - it's modular and easy to build.

Also, Ruins present an incomplex way for players to have buildings in their games, without having the complexity of building occupancy.

Finally, ruins are actually a lot of fun to play in - Tau aren't as effective because of the dense terrain which negates their fields of fire, and Marines, Orks and Nids are more effective for the tightness of the combat.

Dark eldar also love fighting in cities - Have you seen a beast squad set loose with razorwing flock at a 4+ cover save? Let me tell you, it's nasty.

Truth be told, I've got some ideas here but I am also afraid of starting with city terrain. What I know from GW are some cathedral-type ruins which may be okay-ish for a stalingrad-themed bombed out city. This is the easiest biuld I think.

The other direction here would be towards some forge-world/industrial area with hangards, factories, maybe some conveyor belts. Lots of Ideas but also lots of work actually building that AND making it look at least somewhat decent.

ozzzzzyj wrote:
i agree with demon worlds, theres a great tutorial on how to make a lava board complete with how to do burned out trees, i'll have a look and post a link if you cant find it, just search "lava board" in P&M and it should be there

I think I've found what you mean. The tiles are much smaller than what I have in mind but the general Idea is the same. The other P&M-blog is closer to the board size I want to use. I think a medium-sized building should fit on a single tile.

By using tiles you can start with an open field and add buildings by making more tiles later on.

The key thing is how to make any roads, rivers, lakes and hills capable of matching up on the edges with as much flexibility as possible.

For example, two tiles with one large hill split over them can also be put on one edge of the table as two ridges side by side, or at opposite ends of the table. The same idea can be done for a lake.

Most people make the rivers and roads meet at the middle of the tile edge.

Once you have worked out that on paper, a lot of the terrain can be constructed and painted any colour you like.

Features such as woods and industrial areas can be built on sub bases that fit into recesses which are fields, swamps, salt marshes or toxic pools underneath. Or you can make such features as addition sub bases.

Personally I like desert worlds.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
By using tiles you can start with an open field and add buildings by making more tiles later on.

The key thing is how to make any roads, rivers, lakes and hills capable of matching up on the edges with as much flexibility as possible.

For example, two tiles with one large hill split over them can also be put on one edge of the table as two ridges side by side, or at opposite ends of the table. The same idea can be done for a lake.

Most people make the rivers and roads meet at the middle of the tile edge.

Once you have worked out that on paper, a lot of the terrain can be constructed and painted any colour you like.

Features such as woods and industrial areas can be built on sub bases that fit into recesses which are fields, swamps, salt marshes or toxic pools underneath. Or you can make such features as addition sub bases.

Personally I like desert worlds.

That's precisely the plan. I'll use some thin plywood or similar as base, then maybe 2-3 cm of styrofoam as "ground" in case I want to make rivers, gorges, holes, trenches... and everything else - buildings, structures, ruins, trees... on top.

Yes, it sounds a great project!

Just make sure to plan on paper first!!

Okay. I'm somewhat surprised by the outcome of the vote, I thought the industrial setting would be the most boring and overused but seems I was mistaken. I think the vote is set on infinite so I'll be monitoring the development as long as the thread remains alive.
However, Industrial got a clear majority of votes behind it and even my wargaming buddy things this the most interesting setting, so I'm starting to sketch out the various pieces. My current Idea is to combine several ideas and make a long-abandoned, rusted and maybe even overgrown industrial terrain (depending on whether I figure out how to make some sort of alien trees and other foliage that looks good and not like toothpics with green cotton on top).

Anyone who's thinking "maaan, that's totally lame, I've got a much better idea" is still kindly invited to share his thoughts or interesting tutorials.

Otherwise, what proportions and table sizes to you think suitable for what amount of points? My table's 80x140 cm which I deem suitable for up to 750 pts, may be a tad bit more if the armies aren't too horde-dependant.

If you go with frozen wasteland get some spak filler and model that too look like snow then a light blue wash makes an awesome effect.

I prefer industrial/manufactorium style or jungle, or a mix of the 2 awesome looking terrain when its mixed

3rdGen wrote:
If you go with frozen wasteland get some spak filler and model that too look like snow then a light blue wash makes an awesome effect.

I prefer industrial/manufactorium style or jungle, or a mix of the 2 awesome looking terrain when its mixed

Well, that's oddly specific. I've allready got the suggestion to make an abandonned factory in a jungle setting. Is there anything good on how to make otherworldly vegetation in the tutorials section? I don't like the typical greenery you get in model shops.

Maybe do desert/arid environment surrounding the ruined town/manufactorium? Easy to integrate weathering powders, earth toned paints, and scrubby vegetation from train shops.

I prefer fighting on natural environment like forest, grassland or jungle. Used to do some cool snow maps but havent had that terrain in years. Desert also is a popular and cool one where i play.

I think building maps are bland unless they are done really well (i.e there is actually space and they arent ruined) which they never are.

Natural environments make the best battlefields in my opinion.

Okay, little by little I am proceeding with the planing. So far the general outline is this:

The table is, squarewise a 3x5 area with each square being 30x30 cm long. For the first setup 3 types of squares are planned.

Some half-dead vegetation with maybe a murky pool or two from the industrial ooze, mud, shrubs, that sort of thing.

Transitional plates with the remains of a fence through the middle. At some points the fence is standing, somewhere else broken or patched up with some makeshift barricades. I have some oil drums and tank traps flying around here, that should do the trick. One side is the swamp, the other side are the start of the industrial ruins. Speaking of which:

The industrial ruins itself. I want the streets between the buildings broad enough to get a land raider through without having to allign it by the milimeter, thus the wall-to-wall distance should be in the range of 14 cm. This in turn means that on each side that is not to be placed as a corner of a building or something, 7 cm of space must be kept clear. All larger buildings must thus be distributed over at least 4 plates because the remaining 16x16 area on a single plate is just large enough for a transformator shed or something similar, maybe a couple of tin-cans I will turn into storage tanks.

I have another question for you: For the rubble I thought it would be a good idea to cut up pieces of sprue into small, angular bits and glue them on, just like you would do with sand to represent larger chunks of stone/bricks crumbled from the ruined walls. What do you say, will this work?

Ladies (hey, some may be!) and gentlemen!

I got some basic material, I have some ideas and I am about to start working on the whole thing.

Right now, I have 15 3mm MDF plates, 30x30 cm. I also have 8 styrofoam plates, 30x30x5 cm. This is too thick. I want to cut them im half. Does anyone have an Idea how to go about this? Heated wire? Saw? Kitchen knife? Chainaxe and a quick prayer to tzeench?

Ruins, they break up sight lines, ads lots of different heights to fight. Tanks cannot just dominate and even small numbers of infriantry can make a difference.

Positioning is as important as firepower