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I play Chaos Marines and Daemons. More specifically I only field unmarked or Mark of Slaanesh. I would like to build a display board for my army for tournament play but am not sure where to start. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated and hopefully can spark a solid idea and starting point.

Well, do you have a base that you know would work? I'd say go for a nice (fairly thick) MDF (or similar) sheet. Flock that to match your bases, maybe some ruins, a few rocks.

Make it like a miniature gaming table.

But if you're really lost:

- MDF board (2'x2' maybe)
- add any hills or similar (probably use some shaped Styrofoam)
- Flock it to match your army
- Add any extra details.

Not particularly helpful on the thematic front, but on the more general mechanical/functional and aesthetic side, I find framed display boards to be the best. Since you're in the US, watch for sales and coupons from craft stores (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.) - you can get a reasonably sturdy (16"x20" would be my starting point, scaling up or down to suit your army's size and desired terrain elements) frame for under $20, onto which you can add hardware store handles for just a few bucks more. Added rigidity, protection of the terrain edges from wear, and solid material on which to attach handles... I'd consider it more or less a necessity for a tournament display/transport board, but that may just be me.

I second the idea of using something pre-framed. It adds a lot of style for basically no time invested.

For theme, your bases (based on your gallery) seem to have an urban rubble thing going on. You could embrace that fairly easily. A few ruined buildings, maybe a couple large piles of debris for your centerpiece models to stand on.

Or you could do a pretty cool Wild West style board, where your army is advancing down the main drag of a demolished city. Ruined buildings on either side, only blood and death in your wake.

 Rivet wrote:
I play Chaos Marines and Daemons. More specifically I only field unmarked or Mark of Slaanesh. I would like to build a display board for my army for tournament play but am not sure where to start. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated and hopefully can spark a solid idea and starting point.

Well You are gona want a nice sturdy base.

There are companies that make movement trays out of laser cut mdf

You could also make your own out of a nice wooden food tray.

How have you based your marines and daemons?

an easy theme would be a summoning thing from your marines so you can build up a floor with foam and cut out daemon and slanneshy runes that your marines can be huddled around and stuff.

edit:
Blam Easy start.

You could use some of GW's "Dark Eldar prisoners" models to go with the Slaanesh vibe. Chain them up to a ruined column.

Desubot's shallow tray idea would certainly give maximum durability and ease of transport for minimum effort.

It might seem slightly weird for the army to be below the top of the tray, but you could embrace that as part of your theme, e.g. model the whole army waiting in ambush in the bombed-out basement of a building?

Or use the depth of the tray to make several levels, like a hellish pit from which the daemons are being summoned...

All wonderful ideas! Where did you find that tray image?

 Rivet wrote:
All wonderful ideas! Where did you find that tray image?

Google food trays

This one is from Target IIRC

One method I used was gluing zinc washers to where the models were going to be on the base, then magnetized each base so they sit flush with the display and I didnt have to fear dropping them off the edge when moving (and after drinking too much).

Good call, I did that with my Vampire Counts and their movement trays... hrm....