Monday 28 May 2018

Modular terrain boards

Following on from Ian's post I'm looking at the idea of a modular city scape for WW2 Eastern Front (Stalingrad of course but also could double as Leningrad, Sevastopol and pretty much any city on the Eastern Front.

Following Mark's suggestion I think 2' x 2' boards is the way to go.  This way different city sectors can be fought over simply by altering the boards.  So the modular elements can include riverside, commercial sector, residential sector, industrial sector, parks and recreational areas, small lakes, railway sidings and station etc. etc.  (and also the Mamaev Kurgan - the hill that dominated Stalingrad.

I'm going for 3mm mdf for the bases as they a) are cheap (£9 for an 8 x 4 board cut to size into 8 squares by B&Q) b) take paint etc really well c) are fairly light for transport and d) doesn't tend to warp

There are a  number of things to consider though (and feedback is welcome).

a) Do I do them for Winter War or keep the bases more generic (i.e. no snow or ice).  Or do a set for Winter and a set for other seasons.

b) Do we glue and fix the buildings in place on each board  OR mark out spaces for them to be placed into (I'm thinking about transportation and them getting knocked about)

c) Consistency - by which I mean all edges of all boards should fit seamlessly so the same paint / talus / finish should be use on all boards.  This means one person handling that element otherwise the boards will look unconnected.

d) How much area does it need to cover?  What size city should we be aiming for (bear in mind that Stalingrad is / was like Liverpool - a long, flat city several miles long but only a couple deep.  So do we need enough module elements to cover 1,2 or 3 6x4 tables?

Feedback welcome!




3 comments:

Ian said...

I'll be posting my attempt in the next day or two. On an operational game level I would create two tables at the most - 2C and 3B. However, I think there's a Thursday night game on one table so I would do one table (4' x 3') to begin with to try it out and then go for a winterised one. I am using a separate base board, town sectors and buildings to give maximum versatility. The problem with the temperate boards is that we haven't agreed on a fixed look so you're question about consistency is a good one - I think we need to come up with an agreed look for European/temperate boards as a priority. Stalingrad is a good place to start with devastated city terrain but I think you need to be a little generic to get the most out of the effort - we will want to to do Berlin, Budapest, Cherbourg, Toulon, Metz etc - I am using 1' x 2' boards and integrating them into my 4' x 3' desert boards - see my next post!

Unknown said...

Hats off Chaps, this a bold undertaking to create these boards. I will be interested to see how things progress

mark said...

i think i will start with a 1.5'x 2' board so with with 4No it will make 3'x 4'.
Russ do you have any of board we use for operational games?
I am thinking of making a road network for each board with spaces to fill with multiple town sectors or a factory or park
Colour of the base board will need some experimenting