Itsy’s Wild West table build log

[ItsyBitsyFighter]

I have not played more then a demo game and that was a year ago. So to say I am new is an understatement. I love the idea of a smaller scale game with less models and more character!

Malifaux certainly fits the bill! Now the thing that got me interested in this hobby originally was seeing pictures of tables covered in terrain. I have always wanted to make my own. I have dabbled with terrain in the past for D&d, but never a full table. 
 

I have decided to bite the bullet and make a pledge here to get going on that goal. After looking around at the amazing selection of models that Wyrd peddles, I decided to go with Parker Barrows as my first crew. There is something captivating about a bunch of bandits facing a much more frightening foe like the undead or literal nightmares.

With that I now had not only my crew selected but also the Setting. What is a cowboy without a fitting Wild West town? This will be the primary battleground I will use to hopefully lure others into tasting the Malifaux water with me.

I have made some starter sketch’s of buildings I want to make.

I do have a couple of questions for those more knowledgeable than myself:

Are building size objects problematic for game play?

How important would multiple playable levels be?

should internal parts of buildings be playable?

that is all at the moment. I am excited to start this project. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them!

thanks

Itsy

[TimH]

"Are building size objects problematic for game play?"  No, buildings can be fine, they can be used to make blocks of blocking terrain or potentially narrow chokepoints if you use a couple of buildings. Dont go too overboard though as you do need space on the board to place objectives and too much terrain (or too little terrain) will scue the advantage towards certain lists.

"How important would multiple playable levels be?" You don't strictly speaking need them but at the same time you don't have to avoid them. What I would say though is that ideally any raised surface a model can occupy (a raised walkway, a flat rooftop) should ideally have a staircase or slope that allows non flying/teleporting models to reach them. (not 100% sure on that one)

"should internal parts of buildings be playable?" I love this conceptually but in practice have never found it to work. It leads to games getting bogged down with trying to fit models inside of house only to find they are too tall, removing roofs and having to calculate where models are upstairs in relation... Also inevitably you get problems with 50mm base creatures needing to enter human sized doors.

 

Personally I love the idea of the wild west town board, I have a few MDF assembled buildings in that vane, town gallows, market stools and rails that I use for my own faux board.

[ItsyBitsyFighter]

44 minutes ago, TimH said:

"Are building size objects problematic for game play?"  No, buildings can be fine, they can be used to make blocks of blocking terrain or potentially narrow chokepoints if you use a couple of buildings. Dont go too overboard though as you do need space on the board to place objectives and too much terrain (or too little terrain) will scue the advantage towards certain lists.

"How important would multiple playable levels be?" You don't strictly speaking need them but at the same time you don't have to avoid them. What I would say though is that ideally any raised surface a model can occupy (a raised walkway, a flat rooftop) should ideally have a staircase or slope that allows non flying/teleporting models to reach them. (not 100% sure on that one)

"should internal parts of buildings be playable?" I love this conceptually but in practice have never found it to work. It leads to games getting bogged down with trying to fit models inside of house only to find they are too tall, removing roofs and having to calculate where models are upstairs in relation... Also inevitably you get problems with 50mm base creatures needing to enter human sized doors.

 

Personally I love the idea of the wild west town board, I have a few MDF assembled buildings in that vane, town gallows, market stools and rails that I use for my own faux board.

Awesome! Thanks for the answers. Hopefully will get some of the buildings framed and ready soon.

[Adran]

Building sized objects are certainly playable. If you have too many you will want them to have playable interiors as otherwise you just lose too much table space.

I would suggest having the interiors relatively simple and also to have reasons to enter them, and I'd generally try and have at least 2 entrances to let them be a short cut to have a reason to use them. 

In terms of multiple levels you need to consider the logistics of getting to the levels and levels below. Most of the time I find levels are either ignored as there isn't a reason for it, or they are used to make a sniper nest giving a huge advantage to the side that can use it. 

For a cowboy town, that is largely wooden buildings I would restrict to maybe 1 or 2 areas above ground level, perhaps a big balcony around a saloon or raised up walkways over a swamp. Maybe a town wall with walkway

Regardless of other considerations you don't want to add to much play space to a table either.

From a modelling view point it's easier to make a model that can be used on multiple levels and with a usable interior and then rule in the game you can't use them than it is to not make them and then want to use them. 

Good luck with the plan. Do you want a fixed layout or a range of items you can make into a variety of different layouts?

[Butch]

In my games buildings only fit the role of blocking line of sight. So I prefer smaller buildings.

I have the western cottages from Micro Arts Studios and I think they have the right size. I too have other buildings like the bank but I find them too big.

Some different levels are nice to have but most of the time these are irrelevant for gameplay. But sometimes it adds a little flavor or creates a special situation.