My thoughts on modular Mordheim tiles...

So I've done some research around this forum, and the net. The best thing for me would be to have modular tiles. It would make storage easier, plus it's a bonus that I'd be able to rearrange them at will to create a different looking board each time. I've been thinking a lot about what exactly the purpose will be, and how I am to go about creating it. I don't want to jump right in (like I usually do). I want to put a lot of thought into this so I don't end up wasting materials and money. This is what I have so far...

I have some hardboard that I plan to cut out into sections. I was first inspired by this board. I like how simple it is, yet it's very interchangeable. I'm thinking of 16"x16 sections though. That would give me the 2 foot width, although it would come up a little shy on 6 feet. Still, I think these board sections would be a lot more manageable. That would give me 12 tiles to make all together.

Another thing I need to figure out is how I want my board to look, texture wise. I don't want to use the hirstarts molds, so I was thinking of doing the texture myself. A post here on the blog shows what I'm after. I also got inspired by I ordered some depron foam online. I also saw these pictures too, to show how the foam can be used for buildings as well. I think that sculpting the stuff myself will be more cost effective than the molds. Plus I'll have a lot more flexibility in design. My order should be coming soon, so I don't have any to work with now.

Like in the terragenesis article, I want to give my board height. Instead of a canal though, I want to opt for a sewer. It would basically be a trench, and would be passable by all figures. I'd build up the sides with pink foam to give it the height it needs. My first idea would be to make a total of 4 sewer sections. They would all run straight through the middle of the piece. At the sides of the trench, and at theends I would model grates. That way no matter which way I position them, they would always look like they were running together, or running underground. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to explain it better. It's getting late... so maybe I'll put some up later...

Now for the terrain. I would like the terrain to be modular too. At first I thought of modeling the terrain on the pieces itself, like
here. However, I think that could make storage a bit of a hassle. I think it would be better to mount each building on its own base, so that way they can all be moved around with ease.

So that's about it. Sorry for the rant. I like to get my thoughts down on paper... err... well you know... somewhere first. Just wanted to share and see what other people think of my ideas so far. I don't want to rush this and have it turn out crappy, so I'm taking more time than usual to plan it out.

The 16" square would work fine with the standard 4'X4' Mordheim board...only multiplayer games use a larger board. Browse your way through all the cool terrain until you find something you really like; then give it a shot at imitating it...most all of the Guys enjoy sharing the "how to" aspect of the craft.

If you don't mind, I'll move your thread to the Scenery & Terrain section. You'll get a better response there...just give the word.

Sure, that would be great. I already have the hardboard set up, I just have to cut it. Hopefully I won't be missing any fingers. I don't really like using power tools, especially this saw I have that sounds like a demon escaping from hell. XD

Zogoff wrote:

Sure, that would be great. I already have the hardboard set up, I just have to cut it. Hopefully I won't be missing any fingers. I don't really like using power tools, especially this saw I have that sounds like a demon escaping from hell. XD

I CAN identify...give me a power tool & you get Texas Chainsaw Massacre . I'm moderately better with the non-powered variety or, at least, it's easier to control the bleeding.

Well, I finished it. I just got 9 pieces done, which are roughly 16" square. I'll work out the kinks when I start adding the pink foam. I'm in the middle of constructing them now, and so far so good. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

I would have suggested a 1foot by 1 foot for each tile. means 4 tiles width 6 tiles long meaning 24 tiles.

Large buildings could be two tiles long etc.

Duce wrote:

I would have suggested a 1foot by 1 foot for each tile. means 4 tiles width 6 tiles long meaning 24 tiles.

Large buildings could be two tiles long etc.

Thats what I've done and it gives you a good size too work with.

I also would have reccomended buying some floor tiles instead of cutting them by hand.

As another power tool challenged person the first set of tiles I cut ended up quite wonky

I now use the pre cut tiles and they are perfect squares.

Our group uses a bunch of 12x12 tiles. We use 12x12 so we can do things like the river I'll talk about below.
Whats on the tiles varies, some are simple foam buildings, some are the Blood in the streets buildings glued down to the tiles and some are Hirst arts buildings.

In addition to the 12x12s we have a set of 4 tiles that have a corner cut off, this allows us to put a single 12x12 in the center of the board for scenarios that require a central building with these 4 around it then use normal tiles for the rest of the board. These corner cut tiles dont have buildings glued on them, we use trees and free standing buildings on them if needed.

We also have a set of 4 12x24 tiles with a river running down the center (channel is from center of the long edge to long edge) of each. The water channel is designed so that any of the tiles can be placed next any of the others for a continuous river the length of the board.

For all of these we use 1" thick blue foamboard for the base. Actually being in Florida we cant get 1" so we glue 2 1/2" together. The 1" height lets us cut out things like the river channel and then fill it back up with water effects. Except for the tiles with Hirst blocks, they are extremly light and have held up for about 6 months so far without damage. The Hirst tiles tend to be heavy and until we get something better than plaster of paris we have stopped making them.

Storage is on a set of shelves in the garage. Again except for the Hirst stuff, we just throw in on there without concern.

Rules for tile creation: http://teuse.net/games/mordheim/terrain/modular_terrain.html
Tiles and full game images using them: http://teuse.net/photos/misc/mordheim/

See the footbridge for a sample of the river tile, sorry I dont have more someone stole my digital camera recently.