Thoughts about army boards.

First, my frustrations with Witchfate Tor continue.  Painting is going slow, I ended up cutting a few brushes so I could actually reach in to do the detail work on floor #2. I ran into another issue with floor #1, There are 4 pillars that surround the tower, and extend up to floor #2. Thankfully, they did mention to only glue the pillars to the base, so you can take to floors apart.... Wonderful. Too bad that the pillars do NOT fit on the base, I had to add some green stuff to make them butt up against the wall, then secure them with a very loose glue joint, because there was no real area for the glue to hold...Once I got all of that worked out, I went to put on the second floor, and....Yup, the pillars are now too tight, and didn't fit around the tower... all because that one wall was warped and the base of the tower is not circular... OY.  I did get it resolved, but this is seriously turning out to be the most frustrating model I've ever built. One of the reasons for that is the thickness of the pieces. It is not like other models, where add a little heat and/or pressure and presto! The walls are seriously over 1/4" thick, and heavy duty.

Anyway, I should finish floor #2 up this weekend, and I'll try to post some pics. This is a real labor of love at this point. I am really putting a lot into this.


ONWARDS!

Last night, Old School Terminator, Vogrin and the Judge from DFG and I went out to dinner to celebrate SeerKarandras' birthday. Over dinner there was much booze and gaming talk. Good times. Anyhow, with all of the terrain I've been building lately, SeerK had asked me to assist with an army board sometime in the future before next year's adepticon. I must say I am totally on board for this. 

Army boards are a new concept for me, I only just recently found out about them from the tourney circuit. (Yeah, I know.... I'm a little behind the times) But, I have always enjoyed doing terrain and scenery, and doing something like an army board really appeals to me.

Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about, an army board is, well, a board decked out like a piece of terrain to show off your painted army. Here's a couple of images I stole off the web so you can see what I'm talking about.

I've seen some amazing boards, (Like Bob-Tan's) and I've seen some incredibly lame ones. (Sorry, SeerK, a flocked piece of styrofoam? Really? LOL!)

My brain instantly goes into how to build one of these.  Not bout the terrain, that's the easy part. I'm talking about the board.  What type of features do I want it to have? Do I want a frame around it? Should I cut out places for bases?

For my first attempt, I picked up two foam boards from the office supply store. What I think I am going to do is lay out my army on one board, and outline where the units will be. I'll cut those pieces out, so that when the model is placed in the hole, the top of the base will be flush with the board, looking more like an actual army, rather than a bunch of miniatures. Past that, glue both boards together, and prime it. I think the added stability of a frame would be great too.

Another idea I've been toying around with is magnetizing the army board. With the depressions already cut in, it would make it really easy to do, and also really stable and secure. The downside to this, not really conducive to army expansion... Where as if it was a flat board, you could always add to it. Hmmm.... I wonder if I get a thin sheet of metal that the rare earth magnets would be strong enough to adhere THRU the foamboard... and if not, could I paint and flock the metal??????? Hmmmmmmm.....

Just some ideas I'm tossing around now... feel free to chime in with any input or advice. :)

Now, back to Witchfate Tor.....