New Gaming Board, Need Advice.

[Dolomyte]

Hello All,

I've gotten tired of playing on our 3x3 ice board that we currently use in the house. So I am going to build a new dedicated 3x3 board, and I've decided to try to remake Jackson Square and some of the french quarter from new orleans.

Here is a picture of the area I am going to steal from.

Here is what I am thinking I am going to do for the board via photoshop. The deployment zones are the left and right side of the map. The church (which I am going to scratch carve from foam to match the actual St. Louis Cathedral, hopefully) and my "stage" are going to be the only fixed terrain on the board.

So here are my issues. The dark gravel, the grass areas, and even the poured slabs of concrete should be relatively easy for me to do, My concern is the flagstone roadways.

My first thought is to buy one or two of the Large flagstone floor molds from hirst arts (#265)http://www.hirstarts.com/molds/molds4.html

And then just pour out a ton of pieces (I would use resin instead of plaster, I have access to a ton of resin, and its just nicer.) but that will probably take a few weeks of pouring out individual pieces (MAS Epoxies cures enough to pop out of the mold in about 6 hours, so at most 2 pours a day per mold)

I would love for someone to show me a quicker alternative to that, hopefully in a decent price range. Im not dead set on flagstone, but I do want the roads to have a stone look, and not just flat pieces of foam painted grey.

My second concern is the church. I've done some work on foam, but nothing very detailed. Typically I just use a few razorblades and some files, but I am guessing in this instance I will want to use some better tools. I know people say hotknifes are good. Do you have any recommendations for stuff that would be good to carve the foam with.

Thanks in advance guys.

Edit - I may end up doing a 4x4 board, and just build in an indicator of what 3x3 is, so that I can use the board for other games as well. I will have to do measurements when I lay out an actual 3 foot by 3 foot map.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Dolomyte

[diehard]

This sounds like an awesome concept, I look forward to seeing where you go with it. I've seen some nice cobblestone roads that were done just by drwing then indenting them on the pink/blue insulation foam (the terrain makers best friend.) And if you're going for a foam cutter, spring for a better one, the cheapies will kill you for batteries.

[Dolomyte]

Some more changes. The church is not going to be a fixed piece of terrain anymore, thats just a pain in the ass for transporting the board. I might build quarter inch catches so that it will secure in place. The graveyard fences will also not be fixed in place. Probably will leave the platform, since that will only be a 2 inch raise, and typically I build that into the frame for the board anyhow.

[dgraz]

I've seen some nice cobblestone roads that were done just by drwing then indenting them on the pink/blue insulation foam (the terrain makers best friend.) And if you're going for a foam cutter, spring for a better one, the cheapies will kill you for batteries.

You can get the foam cutter knives with a soldering iron type tip and that would be great for doing the flagstone.

[Soulreclaimer]

My only concern is the trees on the outer edge. With most objectives being around the middle, forests may not play much of a factor.

But I can see how it has a nice FIT for the 3 x 3

[WookieeGunner]

One trick to speed it up is to make a few pieces, assemble them, and then make a mold of the assembled pieces. That way you can get a lot more made each day after the first few days.

[Omenbringer]

Let me know if you need any ground level pictures of that area as uh, I sort of live around there.

I would also recommend mounting all the trees to 50mm bases then magnetizing them so the board stores and travels better.

I would also highly recommend either the Pro Hot knife or Crafters Hot knife found Here. For cutting HD Polystyrene foam there is nothing (and I mean nothing) better.

[Chev Chelios]

There is this.

http://zuzzy-wargame-miniatures.blogspot.com/2011/02/feldston-paven-sneak-peek.html