A gaming board can come in various shapes and forms. I created the most basic one, because my terrain is based and can be placed on the board as I see fit. Modular boards, with their built-in terrain, have a better look but become boring quickly - unless you build a whole collection of various and compatible components. I have not the time and space to create such a collection - yet - so let's start with an easy but rewarding project.

Material

You'll need a properly sized isolation board, a grass mat, simple and double-faced adhesive tape, and a hobby knife. All those can be found in a DIY store at bargain price (especially when you are accustomed to GW prices), except the grass mat which belongs more to hobby stores. I've used a Faller one but other brands exist, like Busch. Check if the green shade and blend of artificial grass suit your taste. I've discovered since then that Busch produces even a self-adhesive grass mat! If you find some, it will make your project even easier.

For the board itself I've considered other materials, but none came close to an isolation board made of polystyrene foam. A thick wood board is heavy and expensive and shards can cause problems. A thin wood board, on the other hand, is easily buckled. Metal is harder to find, expensive and potentially dangerous because of sharp edges. Thin layers of plastic are bent under their own weight, so it really boils down to the isolation board.
I've therefore opted for three 125 cm x 60 cm boards (that's 50" x 24") allowing up to a 50" x 72" battlefield when disposed properly. It's enough for a battle of any size. For smaller games, I can deploy a 50" x 48" square with two boards, or even one single board for small engagements or for other games (Necromunda, for example). Those boards are 4 cm thick and easy to carry around thanks to their lightweight, yet massive enough not to let miniatures fall over.

Procedure

Apply one side of the double-face adhesive tape on the board, trying to get a regular pattern. Make a frame of adhesive at the edge of the board.
As soon as the tape is in place, remove protective paper to expose the upper adhesive. Apply the mat carefully, starting on a width - and be sure not to mess with the exposed adhesive! Unroll it gently, making sure it's tight. Your goal is to avoid bubbles and folds.

Once the mat has been applied, cut it with your hobby knife so it fits with the board. It's up to you but I let a small line of mat over the edge, just to fold it sideways. After that, I applied a line of single-sided self-adhesive tape on the thickness of the board for a clean finish, using it to hold the exceeding mat. Although this step doesn't seem necessary, it really gives a better look to your work and help protect edges and corners of your board.

Variants

Since your grass covers only one side of the isolation board, you could apply another color to the other side, to get a proper cityfight playground or some open sea for Man O'War.
Also, since the board is thick and sturdy, it's possible to carve a river, a ravine or a trench without too going too deep. You can go quite far very easily. But remember that if you add any height to the board, it will become one-sided forever since you won't be able to lay it on the bumpy side. Also, having a mix of embedded terrain and moveable terrain on a board isn't esthetically pleasing.

I've seen plenty of online guides for building a gaming board, but they differ from what is explained here. Many tell you to apply watered down paste on a wood board - a bad idea under every circumstances. Not only it's awfully boring and expensive, but glued flock doesn't resist time, moisture, and even gameplay; applying such a mixture is likely to buckle a wood board and leave you with falling flock forever.
Other techniques rely on paste rather than double-sided self-adhesive to attach the grass mat to the board. This approach has its merits, but gluing a mat this way is more time-consuming and expensive - you have to buy a dedicated brush for the job. You must also be sure that the glue you use will not melt the surface, and to be careful not to spill over some paste everywhere. Since I don't have a garden or a garage for such work, I went for something easier.

An imperial outpost at dawn

published on 31 Aug 2004