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I have compiled a pile of material for a game board I want to make using a set of the FW trench pieces I got secondhand. I'm planning to set the trench inside 3 layers of foam insulation sheets. It will ultimately be a 4x6 board divided into tile sections. There's one thing that's stopping me from starting this project: storage. The best I can do is stack this thing under a table.

Couple of questions:
1. Will the foam insulation hold up? Or should I cut wood trim that would surround each segment? i.e., if I make 6 2x2 tiles, I would cut the foam slightly smaller to fit inside, essentially, a 2x2 frame of wood. The idea being that the wood 'frame' will be more resilient to inevitable dings and dents.

2. I guess I probably will have to gloss varnish it with a layer of matt varnish. Will that be enough to protect the tiles for storage? If I stack them gently on top of each other, will that work? Or do I need a better solution? I thought about maybe plastic storage tubs with cloth between the tiles?

I have never owned a game board before, and trying to sort out how to store this future project is preventing me from even starting it. Any tips and advice are appreciated.

I would cut wood trim to surround the segments. The edges will get dinged up before anything else does. I played a WW1 game years and years ago where the guy had made there trench boards that, when put together, made an intricate trench board. The way he had them was as big hinged boxes - the bottoms and sides of the boards were wood, and when closed looked almost like a wooden trunk. When closed I think only the wooden edges were touching. Maybe the left and right sides were left open with only the top and bottom being open so they could still close while fitting together to make a cohesive board.

Sorry if my description isn't super clear, it's kind of a foggy memory at this point.