Wednesday 4 November 2015

Building at the Edge of The World

Before and After
This wee project was an experiment after 2 consecutive thoughts (yes I know, me too!).


First was regarding a table backdrop. 3'x3' are all fine and well, but visually the battles always seem slightly out in the open, even if the table is built up, due to the table edge. The city centre battles never really seem city centre with so much off table space. At some shows I've seen folk putting in picture backboards to add visual depth, which is an interesting.

Second was how awkward it is to use multi-storey buildings in gaming. We all want a nice built-up area but it is just plain awkward mid-table, either forgetting figures are there or having them disconnected from the table at the side.

So cunningly I've decided to try something that solves neither problem! or attempts to half solve both?
I've made up some shallow multi-storey half buildings to create a usable backboard.

These are from Stoelzel's Structures Olde Town range (apart from the pavement which is from the Dave Graffam kit "The Butchers Shop"). The texture surfaces are printed on card and paper with mounting board in the middle for support. The floors are foamcore with the printout wrapped round.

The shallow nature maximises the playable table space, but means that figure can still use the levels at table edge if they want a sniper position\stronghold. They could also be used as an objective to battle towards.

It doesn't solve the mid table multi levels problem but does add a bit of height to the table edge.







10 comments:

  1. Cracking idea. Not only do they look good but they're usable too :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you made two of each, couldn't you put them back to back to make a building in the middle that is easy to get in an out of?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great idea dude! I think this will be copied on many tables.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks everyone.
    @Tristan. Having two to put together would certainly be an interesting development step. It maybe could work as long as you didn't want to shhoot out both sides. Good idea though...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks everyone.
    @Tristan. Having two to put together would certainly be an interesting development step. It maybe could work as long as you didn't want to shhoot out both sides. Good idea though...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Must be true what they say about great minds (cough, splutter!). Had the very same feeling (with a sci fi vibe though). It's a common solution to railway enthusiasts but adding that bit of depth makes it gamer friendly.

    Tristan's comment is also well worth investigating too. I'm a big fan of mutli-function and splitting a building (like a dolls house?) is a great idea.

    Now combining that idea with some lamp-backlighting could enhance the effect of lit rooms.... (without the hassle of wiring).

    ReplyDelete
  7. If you put some magnet tape down on the floors on each side and had figs with washers for bases, you could easily remove each half whenever you needed to shoot out without fear of dislodging the figures in the half you are moving.

    ReplyDelete