WWG TLX Malifaux modular board

[poulpox]

Hi all!

After reading again and again the AMAZING thread from Sholto here:

http://wyrd-games.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14084

I decided to go ahead and try to do mine. Please note that I would have posted in the aforementioned thread to keep it going however I found that there are so many entries in it that it became hard to find the relevant info when came the time to build. Btw I really think Sholto's thread should be stickied for its usefulness and awesomeness and inspiration power

Right I decided to go for making my terrain with Worldworks games PDFs, from the TLX series (mainly coz I didn't want to wait for terraclips anymore, and I like the versatility of TLX).

I considered Sholtoing my TLX (ie using foamboard to create walls and other 3D items and sticking label paper on it) however, having no spare room and a wife, well I needed to find a system which would be foldable and tidyable, so that NOTHING CAN BE SEEN WHEN THE GUEST ARE HERE. :/

So I opted for the traditional TLX system: board tiles in foamboard and structures of card.

Here's the list of the stuff and sites I got it from (mainly thanks to Sholto's advice):

. Worldworks PDFs: I bought the tile planner, TLX Himmerveil streets, canals, garden and thoumont, Hinterland and sewers (hum, yes I know...)

http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/

. Foamboard: I bought 10x 5mm black A1 sheets

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FOAMBOARD-BLACK-5mm-A1-10-sheets-Foam-Core-Board-/290338809458?pt=UK_Crafts_FramingMatting_EH&hash=item43998aa672

. Magnets: 100 of 3x1.5 mm discs

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Back-to-Base-ix

. A4 white label paper: x50

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Fasten-It-Ltd

. A4 200gsm white card x50

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Executive-Paper-Products

. I also bought in a local stationary a 9mm paper cutter, plus I use an A3 green cutting mat and some PVA

Total cost so far: about £120

Step one:

Planning the board. Took me a while, especially as using TLX requires to think of where anchors for walls will be going and where it will be useful for a modular terrain.

I came up with this:

The yellow lines are walls. The fluff is that they will separate Malifaux "proper" town from old Malifaux and its Neverborn left-overs. I also had in mind an option where I could surround the tiles by a wall to make a sort of incased section, maybe with watch towers or something, but that's for too far ahead yet

When planning this I based it on a 3x3' board, with 9x 12x12" sections

Step two:

Printing!... Ok I have an Epson Stylus DX7450 (one with 4 color cartridges). When I did a test print on normal paper with optimum setting I found the colors were a little too dark so I changed the settings of brightness to +10 and contrast to +15 and was relatively satisfied with the results (I just don't seem to be able to get the perfect picture from the screen, so i guess it's due to the printer and using matt paper too)

Once I got my settings I printed all the board tiles.

Step three:

Cutting.

Now at this point although using the techniques explained by WWG I had a couple of revelations:

· Cutting foamboard: Cut a first 12x12" tile and use it as template to cut the others. DONT USE IT TO CUT THE OTHER BOARDS, just to draw the limits with pencil, otherwise you end up cutting your template... also they tell you to cut at an inward angle, and since you can fit 2 tiles per A1 sheet you can cut the first tile, then flip the sheet over to cut the second one, this way the cutting angle will already be good on that second tile (I hope I make sense here).

· When cutting, whether paper or foamboard, MEASURE before you're going to cut. I know it sounds obvious, but when using a template you tend to assume that it'll all be the same size... Wrong! So check before you cut.

· Cutting paper: I did the mistake of cutting a whole tile worth of label paper then when I sticked it on I realised they were too short... I now cut them one at a time so that if one is a little too short then I adjust on the following cut. I might take a little more time than "factory cutting", but that should save the inaccuracies of cutting (and if you're like me, there'll be loads of that!)

Here's a pic of a couple of tiles so far:

Step four:

Magnetising. WIP I'll come back once this is done

[Sholto]

Looking great so far Is the brown section Hinterlands?

[SuicideCommando]

Always nice to see people using the planner.

Keep us posted on the progress!

[poulpox]

Thanks for showing interest!

Is the brown section Hinterlands?

No it's the Garden one. Hinterland is a little more bushy.

So here are the sticking of tiles finished:

I'm now working on magnetising those tiles. Basically putting 2 magnets per side.

It's quite basic (as everything I'm doing with this board!!):

I first measure 2" from the corner and mark with the blade:

Then I push the foam in with some twisers before putting a dry magnet to make the space in the right shape:

Then here's the funky bit: magnets have 2 sides, let's say + and -. The system I used was to glue a single magnet and wait a day for it to be really sealed in. I then use it as my reference magnet pole: I place the new magnet I intend to glue on it first and I mark it with a dot with my marker:

Then I put a drop of PVA in the hole:

The dot helps me if I drop the magnet or if I mess up with the glue when putting it in. Then it's like this: I always hold the tiles blank side towards me. If my template magnet was let's say on the left corner then if the new magnet is on the same corner on its tile (left) it means the magnet needs to keep the same orientation and therefore the dot needs to be showing, like this:

On the other hand if the new magnet goes into the opposite corner, it means I will have to flip it (the dot will be hidden).

I do 2 sides at a time and then leave it to dry overnight. When you let it dry, DONT STACK THE TILES!!! Otherwise you'll see all the magnets popping out of their hole to to gather like a tight community... very nice...

One thing about this magnet system is that they need to be really perpendicular from the tile surface and right at the end of the tile (I mean not too far pushed in the foam) otherwise they don't pull each other that well.

This is a rather long process, particularly as you have to wait a day for drying, so not finished with it yet.

In the meantime I'm getting ready with:

Step 5:

The anchors for columns... Back to the printer

Til later...

Edited January 26, 2011 by poulpox

[Yazza]

In my experience a wall in the middle dOesnt allow lots of strategies. Since in mostcrews people just spend couple of rounds advancing and then a big mash around or on the wall

A collapsed middle center would atract a conflict ofcourse

Or blow up da wall, pull some explosives to the wal, interact and remove that secction. Itis modular so perfectly doable

[poulpox]

In my experience a wall in the middle dOesnt allow lots of strategies. Since in mostcrews people just spend couple of rounds advancing and then a big mash around or on the wall

A collapsed middle center would atract a conflict ofcourse

Or blow up da wall, pull some explosives to the wal, interact and remove that secction. Itis modular so perfectly doable

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't think of the walls being too much an issue (often crews just crawl behind stuff for the first 2 turns). Maybe I could add more stairs to allow models to rise up earlier in the game? However the breakable wall is a great idea! I just look forward WWG releasing a ruined walls add-on.

[Xango]

This is looking good man, great work so far.

[poulpox]

Hello everyone!

I've finished my board (well at least for now ). I'll put the pics here if you want to read a bit more I also have a thread here.

Hope you enjoy!

Murder alley:

Street level view:

City center:

[Sholto]

Fantastic! And I love the "model's-eye shots"

How about a batrep?

[poulpox]

I might try, the first try out game is one Sunday

[greenbull]

What you could have done with the magnets is the following: glue each magnet with superglue onto a nail, then insert nail into the side of the foamcore. That's what I did, and it works like that. Only thing to watch out for: make sure you put the nails further from the corners then their length, otherwise they interfere with each other.

Also, I found it's easier just to use a magnet on one side, and a metal piece ( a flat headed nail without magnet ) on the other side to avoid alignment problems.

[xKoBiEx]

What you could have done with the magnets is the following: glue each magnet with superglue onto a nail, then insert nail into the side of the foamcore. That's what I did, and it works like that. Only thing to watch out for: make sure you put the nails further from the corners then their length, otherwise they interfere with each other.

Also, I found it's easier just to use a magnet on one side, and a metal piece ( a flat headed nail without magnet ) on the other side to avoid alignment problems.

This is the method I prefer, as well. When looking at any tile face up. Put a "north" magnet/nail on the left and a "south" magnet/nail on the right. You will always be able to line up your tiles with this method. 3" tiles do become problematic but you can always print extras to have the proper polarity if needed.