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Terrain 101


SoldierFortune

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Howdy, folks! My FLGS is starting to carry Malifaux, but he doesn't have a lot in terms of terrain resources, etc. I had some questions about terrain use with this game, seeing as it looks like I'll be putting stuff together.

I've just completed my personal gaming table for That Fantasy Wargame and The Other Steampunk Wargame, but besides whipping out some hills, craters and forests with a foam cutter, I haven't had a lot of experience putting together the big multilevel ruins like in Mordheim. Can you guys recommend some references? Second, does Malifaux use Mordheim-esque terrain with rooftop gunfights and bridges over alleyways?

BTW, I did check out Yazza's and the keeper's ginormous Crisis link, and it looks fantastic. I'm probably looking for something more simple.

I love the idea of the blasted Western ghost towns, and I was thinking about getting started with something like the rat's nest of scaffolding along the mine scene in The Mask of Zorro. I've been saving up a roll of plaster fabric for just the occasion..

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Anything works fines as terrain. I know the only good terrain I have is my ruins, (out of about 4 tables worth of terrain). Also the Mordheim-esque terrain can work with Malifaux. The general theme of Malifaux is the western, steampunk, victorian, from what I see.

Just rememeber, use your imagination!

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Take a look at this link:

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

Lots of inspration here!

I tried everything myself. I once made a beautifull river landscape for my flames of war. But it wasn't very modular, and after some time this gets stale. Lately I strongly believe in highly modular terrain. I bought some PDF sets from World Works Games http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php, invested some time and now I have a very nice Malifaux city. I think it's the perfect mix between nice looking terrain and functional and modular terrain. Also, you have a board then that's completly finished: ground tiles and buildings.

Now I'm also in the process of adding very nice buildings from Dave's Games. Also pdf's.

http://www.davesgames.net/

In the near future Terraclips will be released by WWG, and it looks promising. No need to invest a lot of work, just money.

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Balsa wood is your friend, always remember that,

the D6 generation podcast has a good epicode about making terain, i stole some of there idea's to. i beleave its episode 49.

Also in my feeling mortheim style scenery works very well for malifaux. at our local game store we also like to use the city of death scenery. some 3 dimentional buildings can really make for a lot of fun.

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Yep, foamboard or cardboard covered with popsicle sticks works quite well. Corrugated cardboard looks awesome for sheet metal shanties. I picked up the Citadel book on "How to make Terrain" and it's awesome for another beginner like me. I've found all sorts of awesome ideas out of that thing.

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If you also play other miniature games, I'd recommend trying to create terrain features that can easily be used for all of them. Most notably, WHFB is not really set up to use structures very well IMO. WM/H is a bit more, but still I'd likely shy away from it.

What I find Malifaux really needs, because it is such a small board, is lots of LOS-blocking terrain. I'd create some forest pieces, maybe some large boulders or rocky outcroppings 4"+ tall, etc. Those could be used really well by all of the games.

Also, simple things like walls and fences that can be used for cover work great.

One thing that I find REALLY shakes up a game and allows for a lot of board customization is modular river pieces with movable bridges. Water tends to really dictate movement heavily and being able to change the shape/length of the river and bridge placements can greatly influence your gaming experience. I'd recommend putting some good forethought in how you construct it though, make sure you keep them of uniform length and make any "turn/bend in the river" segments all turn at the same angle and keep your widths the same so that everything is flush no matter how you string them together.

In the end, I'd shy away from making too many Malifaux-specific terrain pieces if your group is short on terrain overall. Make stuff that can be used for all your gaming needs until you have a good collection. Then work on some more game-specific stuff.

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I'm a big fan of foamcore covered with craft sticks. Tedious process but it results in great builidings.

Tedious indeed. My craft stick shacks for A-con have nearly cost me my sanity(I made 24 of them). Honestly after this project I want to learn more tricks and really up my terrain making game.

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Tedious indeed. My craft stick shacks for A-con have nearly cost me my sanity(I made 24 of them). Honestly after this project I want to learn more tricks and really up my terrain making game.

I seen nice results carving sheets of balsa, but this tend to be a bit more costly than using the craft sticks. If you're making multiples of the same type of building, creating a mold of the walls and casting them out of dental plaster is the way to go. The mold silicon is a bit pricey but you can mass produce terrain fairly quickly with some practice.

A rotary cutter makes crafting shingles a breeze though. You can cut cereal boxes into small rectangles quickly. Attaching them is still slightly tedious though ...

Edited by jmp_mydog
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Great responses, guys! Mighty appreciated.

I love the printed stoneworks and buildings. Will give them a test run for my personal group and see how they work out. And will also check in with the podcast.

Will show results later. I had in mind a raised gallows platform for Guild executions - and those Crooked Men have to come from somewhere...

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Dave Graffham's cardstock buildings are very simple and easy to assemble. They're a great place to start (he even has packs of ruined walls/buildings you can populate an entire table with), then move up to more complex cardstock (WWG is awesome, but there's a learning curve to it) and/or follow the advice above for more traditional terrain-building strategies.

I find I'm torn between the relative speed and ease in which I can build paper terrain vs. the solid feel and look of traditional terrain. But ultimately it's whatever you find comfortable.

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