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hi folks
hope this is in the right section, if not could the mods possibly move it please?

I am currently trying to sort out a new gaming board so i can start playing once again, my friends and I are looking at getting a city/urban base, but we are open to plain/flatter boards, and we were wondering are there any modular boards availible in the uk (that are cheaper then the GW ones) that would do the job, sstarting at a 4x4 table then expanding later?

failing that we are ok with using MDF and creating our own boards but how do people hold them together to stop them moving during gaming? Also how do you texture them and stop sand coming off?

thanks in advance
millest

I just Googled these three. They look OK. I haven't used any of them so can't give an opinion from experience.

http://terrafirmastudios.co.uk/default.aspx
http://www.wargamesworkshop.com/GroupList.aspx?CatID=1&DivID=69&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
http://www.wargameterrain.co.uk/

MDF boards are easily textured using PVA glue and sand. You paint glue on the board, scatter the sand on it, then after it's dry you paint diluted glue on top. This binds the sand very well. You can leave it as a desert board or paint it something else on top.

<EDIT: Kilkrazy beat me to it>, but luckily making a board is pretty easy!

First thing is to decide what you want from your modular boards. Do you want each one to be fully sculpted? Nice idea but having done this myself storage is a complete PITA If you have somewhere to keep them, great but otherwise I'd steer clear.
Partial sculpt (similar to what GW have done with the RoB boards) is basically tiles with hills on. This gives you an initial amount of scenery that you then add to.
Flat boards have the advantage of easy storage, but if they're completely flat, why do you want modular at all?

As for holding things together, there are a whole range of options but nothing beats sticking your modular tiles on a bigger board. Although this sounds like its defeating the object of the exercise, a flat board is very easy to store, especially if cut in half and hinged. Put your bigger board on a table/tressles/pasting tables/etc and then your textured boards on that and you're good to go.

Finally, texturing is just a case of a big tub of PVA glue (you can get 5l tubs from B&Q for £10) and sand (available from the same shop for <£2). Go in stages, painting on the glue and scattering sand. Let it dry and knock off the excess then do the next section. You will be able to do 2' x 2' sections in one go. When the sand is dry, water down the PVA (about 50/50) and paint over the sand to seal it. Finally, get a tin of emulsion the right colour (you can even colour-match to a pot of GW paint if you want a specific colour) and paint over that before drybrushing and/or flocking.

Hope all this helps, good luck with board!

One of the simplest ways to keep modular tiles in place is to have them fit into an outer frame. Simply tack some molding or the like to the edges of your base board (plywood or MDF) so that pieces can't slide off the edge. Once you've done that, tiles can be made to any regular size (on a 4'x4' board, you could do 2'x4', 2'x2', 1'x1', etc. and use several sizes at once, if arranged properly) and plunked in to fill the space, after which they shouldn't shift during play, but can easily be lifted back out.

Having the base board beneath provides the structural strength, so your tiles can be much thinner and lighter MDF/hardboard without risking the table sinking and bouncing during play. You said you were going for an urban table, but if you decide you want variety later on, it'd be pretty easy to trim and toss a grass mat onto your base board, for two tables in one (the city tiles will cover it during urban games and a grass mat won't crumble and scratch the tiles above like applying sand might).

If you make the solid board, itself, out of thicker material, you don't need a backing. For this method, you can attach blocks to the edges of tiles on the underside which link with pegs (which keep them from sliding, but separate a bit too easily for my tastes, unless fitted so tightly as to be impractical) or staples (old school staples, mind you - think an H or I shaped piece that sits in a countersunk area of the same shape/size that bridges two pieces, keeping them from sliding or separating).

Personally, I'd opt for the tiles-in-frame method, but the hard-linked tiles method is more flexible, as it allows seamless and infinite expansion (at least as long as you can support the boards), as well as allowing customizable shape (e.g. could combine several tile sets into an L or U shape for Apoc.).

Consider making a permanent, 4x6 table and using the space underneath for storage.

(even better, make it 5x8 and have a 6" lip along the board-area for deployment and a 2x5 foot modeling area off to the side).