Re: [Epic][E40K] Terrain

From: Andy Skinner <askinner_at_...>
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 13:42:49 -0500

Antony Van Der Linden wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> just to get some more talk on terrain going (I'm trying to get
> motivated to make some more), have any of you folks tried making some
> modular terrain boards, a la latest WD. Any success, tips, favourite
> materials...
>
> Thanks,
> Tony.

I have wondered whether I would have preferred this. I originally
had hills cut out of green foam from craft stores. They needed
flocking, 'cause models used to slip down the slopes all the time,
and they were a shiny green. But the big problem was that I didn't
want just lumpy hills--I wanted to be able to raise one whole side
of the battlefield, or have a ridge down the middle, or whatever.
But I didn't want to just increase the size of my lumpy hills, so
I got some Geohex stuff. I haven't actually used it yet, moving
from state to state can really put things on hold. But I plan to
use it for some Epic 40K games soon. The main problems are price
and fiddliness. If I want a shape to go back a certain way, maybe
to close up the contour I'm making, I have to have the right pieces
to make it go back that way. I'm sure I'll get better at it as I
use it.

I wanted to try making my own "terrain system", using 10" squares.
But it would have been as fiddly or more than Geohex, and I just
couldn't cut 'em straight. I put together a piece of wood of the
right width, with a lip on one side and a razor on the other, and
was going to just push the blue foam over it against the lip, but
the blade had enough bend that the edge was far from straight. So
I gave up and bought Geohex.

However, I wonder whether those modular pieces wouldn't have been
a good idea. I still don't know how I'd get the edges straight.
I'm not so good at those kinds of things, and if they aren't
straight, the pieces don't fit so well. I have heard them
described as 2' x 2', but that seems big to me, you'd only have
2x4 on a board. I think maybe 1'4" might be good--three of them
would make four feet, and a 3x6 array would give you 4'x8'. Once
I had 16" squares cut, I think I could get hills to match. I'd
probably decide that hills can match at certain places, and then
just make 'em match by putting them next to each other and cutting
them until they did. The system wouldn't be very easy to store--
worse than Geohex, I think.

Still, sounds like fun to try. I may give it a shot someday, to
supplement what I've got.

How many of you have different armies flocked to match different
terrain, as shown in the GW pictures? Not me! :-)

andy
askinner_at_...
Received on Wed May 14 1997 - 18:42:49 UTC