Another attempt at a modular Mordheim table.

So I have been wanting to build a modular mordheim table ever since I have been playing Mordheim.

Currently we play our games on 2x2 pannels covered with vinyl cooblestone tiles


We have 6 of these pannels to accomidate larger games when needed. And while these dont look 1/2 bad, I dream of being able to have more surface details etc.

I started a little while and built one modular pannel based on 1/2 mdf with a 2" foam base, but after getting it mostly done I realized that not only would 6 pannels be heavy, but with that thickness be hard to store. Also I was a little bit worried about the getting bored with the same pannels issue.

So I set out to design some tiles...



arranged in a different way...



the black lines outline road, the highlighted areas will be raised platforms 2" high. At least that is the plan for now.

So I set about making my first four pannels. I have yet to add the 2" sections. But here is what I got so far.



And a close up shot of the road work, and begining detail





And a test of the brick pattern that will be over most of the clear ground.



Let me know what you think so far.

this looks very promising. what are the roads made of?

It indeed looks great so far.

Interesting idea. I have also thought about ways to do a modular board. Do you think having the same dead end alleys and things will get stale? How many different ways can you make up a logical board? Would also be interested in the materials.

My group is doing 1'x1' tiles on 1" foam with no backing. I have a clamping jig so nothing moves. You can see it on my Flickr page. I like that you have pre-addressed roads, though. We did not. Alas, our Mordheim has no streets.

SiliconSicilian wrote:

My group is doing 1'x1' tiles on 1" foam with no backing. I have a clamping jig so nothing moves. You can see it on my Flickr page. I like that you have pre-addressed roads, though. We did not. Alas, our Mordheim has no streets.

Those pieces are going to be a bit flimsy and prone to damage, aren't they? A simple thin sheet of something sturdy might be a good idea. We bought some particle board and used it as backing for our various sized (around 1') blocks and it works pretty well. It keeps the foam from snapping in half or something while being moved/stored.

Great stuiff!
I'm actually planning on making my board similar to this one (exchangable modules, roads, platforms, so the terrain could be swaped and arranged in different ways).

Do you think it would be too hard to add water canals to the modules?
I've been thinking of leaving the streets out, and just adding canals instead, with little bridges n' stuff to go from one platform to the other and so on. But maybe there's a way to include both streets and canals, I'll have to mess around a bit and figure it out

Keep us updated! this thread is awesome!

If the foam is thick enough...ours is 1"...you can carve out about 1/2", line it with plaster, and add water effects. If you are thinking of putting canals throughout, I would go 2" foam. Ours is only 1 river extending straight for 4'.

As far as durability, the tiles are pretty solid on 1" pink foam. When placed in my jig, they don't move and resist damage even better. This cuts down a lot of weight, especially when some of the pieces of terrain weigh up to a pound or more.

SiliconSicilian wrote:

If the foam is thick enough...ours is 1"...you can carve out about 1/2", line it with plaster, and add water effects. If you are thinking of putting canals throughout, I would go 2" foam. Ours is only 1 river extending straight for 4'.

As far as durability, the tiles are pretty solid on 1" pink foam. When placed in my jig, they don't move and resist damage even better. This cuts down a lot of weight, especially when some of the pieces of terrain weigh up to a pound or more.

That's another reason we added the particle board base to ours. We can cut the foam all the way down to the particle board for rivers or other effects and it doesn't lose sturdiness. The particle board is pretty thin (about 1/4" or less) and fairly lightweight but sturdy.

I don't wanna convince you to do anything you don't wanna do, just trying to offer up some suggestions.

Mmmh I think that I agree with svenn, even a thin layer of thick cardboard can make all the difference, glueing it at the base of the styrofoam/pinkfoam/etc. At least it would allow to go all the way down to make the canals, but you might need 2in foam thickness

VERY NICE stone work!

I guess I should have added this picture to the initial post. These pieces are backed on thin MDF currently. The 1" foam with the MDF make it MORE than sturdy enough.



Right now I have only made 4 sections, but have plans for 4 more. I think with the combination possibilities with 8 tiles it will be a long while before things get boring. This also will allow for me to make the occasional "one off" tile where I can add special built on scenery.

Also, as I mentioned in the first post. The yellow / highlighted areas will be built in 2" platforms. I will most likely make these removeable so I can swap them out with 4" or combinations of the two. But the way it is designed will break up the flat areas of the table. The wall details will look something like



I will of course make stairs for these platforms, either build in or modular like these.



My overall goal is to make the tiles / pannels more detailed than you can get with your regular flat pannels to add that extra layer. While not as fancy as that Wolfgang table, I think this will be a happy medium.

As far as cannals go, I agree that you would want something more like a 2" base minimum. If these go well, I think that will be the next evolution of my table.

I have also always liked the idea of having grates / sewer openings that would correspond to entrances into a secondary playing table modeled to represent the catacombs under the city. Of course having both of these aspects all in one would be awesome (like a post I saw the other day where he had open sections around the outside, and a pull out drawer. Sorry dont remember who that was) but like I said, that will most likely be the next evolution of my gaming table after this.

Coming along nicely. I really like what you are going to do with the multi-levels.

If it was my choice, ours would be mounted on MDF as well. I have 2 sheets of 96x36x1/4" that cost me nothing. Perhaps I will re-introduce the idea this weekend.

wow, not bad not bad, i like it very much, and also because i for myself wanted to build a modular board for mordheimgames, but i do lack space to store them. i am really lookin forward to see this great project finished, will be awesome i think! Keep up the good work!!!!

The start of your board looks really good. Any updated work on it? I am thinking of making a board in the same style and I am interested to see how yours looks when painted up. Thanks!

Sorry, no update at the moment. My wife and I just had our 2nd daughter a few days ago. Once we adjust to the new member of our house, I plan to finish up my first 4 pannels, and post an update

HornedRat wrote:

Sorry, no update at the moment. My wife and I just had our 2nd daughter a few days ago. Once we adjust to the new member of our house, I plan to finish up my first 4 pannels, and post an update

Awesome!! Congratulations to you! That is great!

CONGRATULATIONS on the new addition to your family!

Gratz on your new daughter!

Your foam blocks look almost identical to ours. We use 1" foam backed with... I think it was actually MDF. Our blocks range in size from 6" squares to 18" squares though.

Looking good! Can't wait to see more pics.

i really like the stone walls, very realistic