As part of my weekend hobby last week I started to build my own gaming table. It has long been an ambition of mine so while I was going through my scenery bits to sort them out, I figured what better way to do that than to start building the table! It first appeared in the Space Wolves Army Project update for Week 5 and attracted a fair bit of interest there so as has been suggested, I’ve written this article to answer some of the questions raised there…
A close up of some detail pieces
First of all, why did I glue down the scenery pieces? Well the simple answer to that question is that I didn’t want to have to put them away!
Just as an army can develop its own history and personality the more it is used, I feel that the same is true of battlefields. If the scenery is fixed to a particular layout, it becomes a “known” environment. Suddenly, your collection of Bastion defence lines that used to be put away after every game is now the historic site of a fighting withdrawal. That Space Port Landing Pad is where that Arvus Lighter whisked an enemy character away to safety. That marshland / difficult terrain is infamous for immobilising vehicles.
The possibilities really are endless.
I agree that adaptability can be key to interesting battles – after all, nobody wants to fight on the same battlefield all the time. But I still feel that a fixed layout is a good thing. After all, variety in terrain can be found at other locations – such as gaming clubs.
The placement of terrain pieces probably took longer than the actual gluing them down! In the end I decided that the final battlefield would be two 2ft x 4ft sheets of MDF and would be split into four themed quadrants:
- Imperial Defence Bastion / Command Post
- Ruined Temple / Statue / Cathedral
- Cityfight terrain
- Wilderness terrain
The first sheet of MDF houses the first two themes. The Imperial Defence Bastion / Command Post provides a lot of cover in the form of barricades and also has provision for Planetstrike automated weapons and comm relays. The barricades are close enough together to prevent a Rhino chassis from crossing them which I have to admit was a tough decision. It effectively prevents any tank from deploying there, as well as large based Monstrous Creatures.
The Ruined Temple Quadrant does have space for Rhino chassis (and similar sized) vehicles to deploy and advance through but only halfway across the board. I want vehicles to play a part in the battles that happen here but to my mind it’s the infantry that should carry the day – and there is PLENTY of room for them to manoeuvre!
The table is going to represent a small Imperial Outpost / Settlement that was urban in nature but has fallen in to disrepair. It will be comprised of mostly rock and granite areas with some grassland and possibly even snow! The Wilderness Quadrant may even have some waterfalls, etc.!
Thanks for reading.
- posted on 30/07/2010 15:14:44