Until now, I've been playing my battles on decidedly unprofessional bare tabletops. Now, I wanted to make myself a good 4'x4' wargaming board. Being new to wargaming, I decided to go to your (hopefully) expert advice.

I plan to base the entire thing on several pieces of styrofoam (probably 1'x'1' a piece). I'm also planning to throw in some static grass and modeling sand (it's cheaper on amazon than on GW ). I'm going to put on two-three of those grape stem trees, as well as a couple rocks from around the area.

Now, before I go out and find all of these things, is there anything that I should know about building a wargaming board? Thanks in advance!

well, just watch all the pictures on this site! u can make a 1level board, but perhaps it's cool to make some hills. how to make everything u can read in wargames terrein book, or scenerio books

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donuthare - helmsdeepbuilder - love this site

my board that i have is a 4' x 4' board made out of 2' x 2' 3mm mdf pieces( got it all for 2 euro in B&Q offcuts ) it is flat and grass, with mixes of scorched grass and static grass(GW scenery kit thingy) and i have some buildings and trees and hills that i can just place on it. I think that makes for more varied scenery each game
hope that helps

I'm afraid that you'll have to explain to newbie what mdf is.

MDF stands for medium density fiberboard. It is a great solid base for gaming boards.

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" I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Bilbo

Hmmmm..... Interesting.

By the way,what do you put on top of the mdf? Styrofoam, carved for terrain? I feel extremely lost now....

Yes, you can glue styrofoam on top of the mdf and then carve out the features of the land.
If I can make one suggestion, don't make the trees part or other features like large rocky outcroppings part of the board - instead have them removeable (ie. make them on a piece of thin mdf and place that onto the board where you want the trees) it'll make it easier to store the board when it's not in use.

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http://bdhobbymadness.blogspot.co.nz/

May the wind under your wings bear you to where the sun sails and the moon walks!

I used mdf, and for hills I used the Citadel Gaming Hills. For trees I use railway scenery trees.

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Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. John Bunyan - Pilgrim's Progress

I will start by saying welcome.

I have been at this for many years. I have a large collection of figures and Terrain. I probably like making terrain better than any other part of the hobby. I like to set up a different table every time I play. I keep the elements small so that I can use them in different combination's.

Start with a cloth table cover. You can make or buy one.
From the ladies craft store pick up:
Reindeer moss
a small bag of polished stones and or pumice.

Find a piece of scrap Styrofoam cut it into a small hill with a bread knife.
Use the hill under your cloth until you learn to finish it.
This will give you enough stuff to play.
I have some table Photos in my gallery if you would like to see.
I will be more than happy to answer any question you have.
It is easier for me to answer questions like: How did you make that table rather than how do you make tables in general.
Hope I can help

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Just one question: What thickness of styrofoam do you usually use? I just picked up a hot wire cutter (for only twenty US, a pretty good deal), some 4-6mm mdf, and some 1 1/2 inch styrofoam.

One inch Styrofoam is good. You can stack it up if need be. Don't forget you can stand it on end as well.

There are three or for kinds depending on how you look at it. There is foam core. It has plastic , paper or aluminum backing. The foam core with paper backing is often used for model work and school projects. The aluminum and plastic core are used for insulation. White foam has large beads and is used as packaging and insulation. Florist foam has a lot of air blown in it and crushes easily.Most people have the best luck with medium density foam. It is usually used for insulating houses. It is often called blue or pink foam. Blue and pink foam are the most durable. You may have to remove a plastic membrane before you can cut some brands with a hot wire.

http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/
Check safety tips

I don't use it for table / lay outs/ because of durability issues, I still use it for large cliffs and hills. Some of the white package forms have interesting shapes and make nice sci fi buildings.
w to table surface article
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page252.html

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I'm trying to go for somehting of a desert theme, with some ruins and such. I'm planning on spraying it with some tans and browns, adding a couple rocks, and on a hill, I hope to put in a ruined face of an ancient monument, made from a foam head that I stumbled upon in a Hobby Lobby. Two questions:

Is Modelling sand that good of an investment?

And what's a good way to make cheap ruins?

again, styrofoam is probably best. brickwork can easily be carved in using a pen. for platforms, doors etc balsa wood is best. its cheap and mega-easy to cut.

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Hello.

Most spray paint will melt Styrofoam. Try Krylon H20 latex.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Most spray paint will melt Styrofoam. Try Krylon H20 latex.



If yo live some where you can't find sand free or you wanted it to be a scale size like N-gauge railroad or you need some of an specific color it might be a good investment.

Cheap ruins try wedding cake decorations and pet store decorations in the fish or reptile section of Pet Smart.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Mmmmkay. Thanks.

Okay:

Base paint with some darker browns, then some tans, a dash of black, until I get what I want. Carve some rocks from some spare foam (thank you, X-Acto knife!) glue to my MDF, and add some ruins later on as I have more room in my budget.

Thank you so much! I'm extremely grateful for your help in this matter. I'll post some pictures of the finished project (hide the kids - it's gonna look terrible) and probably the inaugural battle as well. Again, thank you!

Okay, the newbie's back with one more question: how much foam is covered by one tub of GW modeling sand? I need it to cover a 2'x2' space.

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Sanity is not among my failings.