Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

The plan:

To build a custom 8 ft x 4 ft Flames of War table, inspired by a real area in Germany (aka: my grandmothers village).

The method:

Use the terrain features from the real area (roads, rivers, fields, etc) and scale the area into a usable table that uses 2ft x 2 ft tiles to make it more modular. This will mean that the buildings on the board are going to be bigger than the actual buildings on the map. I am also going to open up the village a little bit to get more fire lanes and make it just a little bit harder to camp out in there. We usually play with tables that are a little bit more open, so I want to take that into consideration.

The goal:

Get a nice table with a good balance of terrain, a good mix of cover and open areas, a good balance to play from all sides of the table and get a variety of options for the different scenarios. The table should also be enjoyable with infantry, mech, or tank armies.

The inspiration:



This was the original map that I am going to work off on. I did do a grid for 1x1 ft tiles, but I couldn't find anything that I wanted to work with and figured that since I'm not looking to make it modular I might as well use the 2ft x 2 ft boards from Home Depot that are easy to work with. This should also help cut down on seams.

The Work:

The first board that I'm going to work on will be the 2x2 section that will make up the 2nd board from the left in the top row.







Roads are all going to be gravel/dirt roads and they should end up wide enough for two tanks to drive staggered so that they could both shoot. Some of the side roads, like the one going between the empty field and the wheat field, are going to be just big enough for one tank. In addition to it being smaller I also plan on doing some grass in the middle of the road to simulate that it is less traveled. Still have to pain all the roads and then do some dry brushing and that should take care of that.

Got static grass on the way for the green areas, and some of them will end up as little pasture areas or small gardens. Thinking about making one of the big areas an orchard as well.

Gotta figure out where exactly to put the buildings, where to put fences and hedges, what areas to leave open, etc. I keep on moving my stands around to make sure that there are areas where they will actually fit.

Worked on coloring in the roads, gotta hit them with a dry brush to get some definition and then add some flock to the center of the less used path.

Started to add some hedgerows around one of the fields. They will just be basic hedgerows, no crazy boccage in Bavaria! Just a little floral foam, hit it with white glue, and add some different color flock. Also playing around with the layout to make sure it is playable. I wanted to make sure that you could fit at least one large base between the buildings that flank the entry to the field. Also want to make sure that the hedges are not high enough to fully block LOS.

FOW is a bad wargame, but I still think this table is great work.

Off to a great start. There's a lot of potential in what you've shown so far (and also a lot of work!)

Thanks guys!

First layer of flock down, and started to mark off the spots for the houses. The plan is to put a thin plasticard frame around the building to mark where it goes and prevent it from mowing during game play. The flock is still pretty thin in places. As it dries I will put down another layer of watered down white glue and flock again. I think after that I am going to hairspray the flock and add one more layer on top of that and then seal with a matte sealer.

This is looking very cool. I love the idea of matching a real world location, I can't wait to see how it looks when all completed.

Nice work so far

The "less traveled" road hasn't turned out quite like I planned. I need to see if I can make the grass strip in the middle a little smaller or if I need to add some ballast on the other side.

Almost done with the "farm" half of the tile. Coming along a lot better than I expected. Finished the hedges and added another layer of flock. I don't know if I want to extend the fence all the way to the edge yet. I kind of like it the way it is. Input is appreciated.



I had to extend the road in the intersection a little bit. The hedges ended up being a little bit bigger than expected and it made that corner pretty tight, so I gotta add some color over the ballast and then work on the village portion of the board. I also need to get a little bit more of the dirt and rock to show on the small side road, I don't know if it is obvious enough that it is a path yet, I'm worried that it ends up looking like a weird section of grass that just runs between a fence and a hedge. Some of the grass keeps on ending up in the field, but I think I'm going to seal them in once I'm finished. Ends up looking like seedlings.





The crop field and the wheat field. I keep on adding little pieces of tuft next to the field, I'm worried that the transition from grass to wheat is just to abrupt. I think the transition from dirt/path to grass is looking okay. Gotta work on detailing the buildings and the spots for the buildings and get rid of the grass on the fence.





The second wheat field and hedges. Fairly happy with the way the hedges turned out. Gotta brush all the loose flock off the tufts and then seal them with hair spray and matte varnish. The hedges look solid enough, but are still small enough that the Pak 40, the barrel of the StuG and the models are all visible. So they can still shoot and be shot at.

I'm still trying to make this a board that is visually pleasing, but also fun to play on. I want it to look "busy" in places, but I don't want this to be an infantry only board. Tanks can drive over the fences and hedges and there will be roads and open areas for them to navigate across the board on. And the roads will also not just be "straight sections across the board" that end up being fire lanes for the tanks to die on.

Off to a reasonably good start so far. I like that you have chosen an actual area to try and represent as a wargames table.