First...HAIL CHEAPNIS!
FIND YOUR GAMING SURFACE
The basic elements of the game board are tiles of identical size.
Why ?
One problem with wargaming on the tabletop is you have to have a wargaming tabletop. If you have a nice polished wooden table it must be protected and covered with a landscape of some kind. If you have a pink marble tabletop or a blue formica one ..it must be covered. Or not.
Use tiles to create the playing are. Tiles are sections of playing surface that can be arranged together to form a continuous area. Your tiles can be laid over any flat surface and your figures just operate on the tiles against a nice suitable terrain. Dice, crisps, clutter and spilt coffee can remain outside the gaming area. Also, the playing area can be dismantled and be stored in a compact space.
You can make tiles with any flat material.
Three reasons why you should not do this.
1) You must cut them acurately if they are to fit together well in any orientation.
2) The material should be durable, cheap, and light. Granite tiles ? Maybe not..
3) Save your TIME!
The solution is easily found these days. It is interlocking foam underlay.
Find them at sports shops, kids' shops, cheapo shops. Look at a few and get the cheapest and best.
COLOUR - pastel pinks and blues will need to be covered, takes time and money. Get black or grey.
RIGIDITY/DENSITY - some types are very open structured. Comfortable to do yoga on but floppy and difficult to paint. Get the stiffest, densest you can find, The type for under machines are good.
TEXTURE - some have patterns impressed on them. Usually the back is plain, though. You cannot hide little parrots and elephants or ABC graphics.. Some have a nice mesh pattern which could be steel plating - great stuff!
BUY ENOUGH! - In a consumer society the same product rarely stays in stock for long. You need 16 tiles minimum. I would get 24 max. Loads of tiles takes up loads of space and makes an enormous playing surface.
FROM UNDERLAY TO SPACESHIP
PAINT : use acrylic paint. Try spray-can paint but the solvent may melt the tiles if there is no form of undercoating. Household paint remnants are a good cheap resource. Bung some cheap black acrylic into white to get steel grey. Otherwise you can conjure your own mix using any paint except oils mixed with at least 10% PVA glue. Undercoatings are often tough and very adhesive paints to use also.
WHAT WILL I PAINT ON MY TILES ?
1) A grid system for regulating play.
2) Details relevant to play.
A GRID SYSTEM is not necessary. You can use free movement. I recommend a grid BECAUSE..
Mark out the squares on each tile with a skabelon/mask/template. This is quicker than marking out and drawing in by hand. Use the mask and hasty painting with a BIG brush. Or spray.
I used a more and less silvery base colour to give differentiated squares. You can paint them more or less accurately to give a more detailed or more atmospheric feel.
HOW MANY SQUARES ?
More squares means smaller squares. Smaller scale figures can use smaller squares but it can also look good with lots of space around the figures. Using ARMY MEN a square of 55mm gave me 5 squares a side on my tiles. An ODD number per side is better otherwise no one can occupy the exact centre of the tile and doors will be offset. 7or 9 are also possible at a pinch.
Though 7 of 9 is infinitley preferable. HERE
WHAT ELSE ON THE TILES ?
You can put too much on the tiles if you want to save time and effort.
You can never put too much on the tiles if you want to create atmosphere.
SEE SOME ACE TILE ART HERE
The priority is WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR GAME FUNCTION ?
I put the following:
So now we have a basic playing area of interlocking tiles that can be variously arranged.
On the next page we can find out about adding moveable stuff to the tiles - FURNITURE.
FIND YOUR GAMING SURFACE
The basic elements of the game board are tiles of identical size.
One problem with wargaming on the tabletop is you have to have a wargaming tabletop. If you have a nice polished wooden table it must be protected and covered with a landscape of some kind. If you have a pink marble tabletop or a blue formica one ..it must be covered. Or not.
Use tiles to create the playing are. Tiles are sections of playing surface that can be arranged together to form a continuous area. Your tiles can be laid over any flat surface and your figures just operate on the tiles against a nice suitable terrain. Dice, crisps, clutter and spilt coffee can remain outside the gaming area. Also, the playing area can be dismantled and be stored in a compact space.
You can make tiles with any flat material.
Three reasons why you should not do this.
1) You must cut them acurately if they are to fit together well in any orientation.
2) The material should be durable, cheap, and light. Granite tiles ? Maybe not..
3) Save your TIME!
The solution is easily found these days. It is interlocking foam underlay.
Find them at sports shops, kids' shops, cheapo shops. Look at a few and get the cheapest and best.
COLOUR - pastel pinks and blues will need to be covered, takes time and money. Get black or grey.
RIGIDITY/DENSITY - some types are very open structured. Comfortable to do yoga on but floppy and difficult to paint. Get the stiffest, densest you can find, The type for under machines are good.
TEXTURE - some have patterns impressed on them. Usually the back is plain, though. You cannot hide little parrots and elephants or ABC graphics.. Some have a nice mesh pattern which could be steel plating - great stuff!
BUY ENOUGH! - In a consumer society the same product rarely stays in stock for long. You need 16 tiles minimum. I would get 24 max. Loads of tiles takes up loads of space and makes an enormous playing surface.
FROM UNDERLAY TO SPACESHIP
PAINT : use acrylic paint. Try spray-can paint but the solvent may melt the tiles if there is no form of undercoating. Household paint remnants are a good cheap resource. Bung some cheap black acrylic into white to get steel grey. Otherwise you can conjure your own mix using any paint except oils mixed with at least 10% PVA glue. Undercoatings are often tough and very adhesive paints to use also.
WHAT WILL I PAINT ON MY TILES ?
1) A grid system for regulating play.
2) Details relevant to play.
A GRID SYSTEM is not necessary. You can use free movement. I recommend a grid BECAUSE..
- a source of variation, error and argument is removed
- play is quicker and smoother with a grid
- measurement and rulers are removed
- CHEAPNIS HATES COMPLEXITY
- Practicality of marking them out.
- You will never remove some quirks from using a grid of whatever form. Accept. it.
Mark out the squares on each tile with a skabelon/mask/template. This is quicker than marking out and drawing in by hand. Use the mask and hasty painting with a BIG brush. Or spray.
I used a more and less silvery base colour to give differentiated squares. You can paint them more or less accurately to give a more detailed or more atmospheric feel.
HOW MANY SQUARES ?
More squares means smaller squares. Smaller scale figures can use smaller squares but it can also look good with lots of space around the figures. Using ARMY MEN a square of 55mm gave me 5 squares a side on my tiles. An ODD number per side is better otherwise no one can occupy the exact centre of the tile and doors will be offset. 7or 9 are also possible at a pinch.
Though 7 of 9 is infinitley preferable. HERE
WHAT ELSE ON THE TILES ?
You can put too much on the tiles if you want to save time and effort.
You can never put too much on the tiles if you want to create atmosphere.
SEE SOME ACE TILE ART HERE
The priority is WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR GAME FUNCTION ?
I put the following:
- RED TILE DELIMITER BANDS I.E. 'WALLS'
- FLOOR MARKINGS FOR CARGO BAYS
- LOCKERS IN 2 CORNERS ON EACH TILE -I removed them in exchange for counters later
So now we have a basic playing area of interlocking tiles that can be variously arranged.
On the next page we can find out about adding moveable stuff to the tiles - FURNITURE.
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