shep
Eternal Member
Red Alert! Shields up! LENS FLARE!!!
Posts: 1,260
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Post by shep on Sept 13, 2013 2:08:17 GMT -9
We used to use a 0.5 by 1.5 meters piece of a green carpet of artificial grass for our Warhammer and W40k sessions. Available at any building center and dead cheap... ^^ It's really sturdy, doesn't wrinkle and you can easily roll it up. Be sure to buy one without water drainage (those rubber knobs on the underside) – if you can find one, that is...
I guess, though, any carpet with really small slings will do, so you could have a blue one for naval games, a black for space, an ochre one for deserts and so on...
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Post by gothique on Sept 25, 2014 23:34:38 GMT -9
I tried the Ebbles system and found a tendency to drift apart after an age putting them together. Having used Dave Graffam's street maps, I like the sound of mounting a grid of tiles on a cloth. If you're doing the convention circuit, as I do, you need a simple cloth or map that can be rolled or folded. It can also be adapted to any table.
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shep
Eternal Member
Red Alert! Shields up! LENS FLARE!!!
Posts: 1,260
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Post by shep on Nov 2, 2014 4:05:15 GMT -9
I lately experimented with having maps printed on truck tarp. Sturdy PVC that won't tear, can easily be rolled up and stashed away/transported with an art roll (you know, these large tubes for sending posters and huge pictures by mail). We have an online print shop here in Germany that makes these prints in any size. A 4' by 4' tarp map costs about 15 Euros (around 20$) and will most probably last a lifetime and longer. I'm quite sure there are print services in your areas that print these for comparable prices...
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Post by flockofthese on Jan 23, 2015 20:04:04 GMT -9
Is the "Various interlocking hooks and shapes" mentioned in the OP referring to the sort of method that the Armor Grid hex set uses?
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Post by gothique on Feb 7, 2015 5:55:13 GMT -9
I am always open to ideas that can be rolled up like a cloth
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Post by David on Jan 23, 2017 8:52:08 GMT -9
I like using cloth (Green for Grass, Blue for water, and a light brown for deserts/caves, looking in getting a grey for city) for my tiles I use a modified version of DM Scotty's Tile scape and 2.5 (print on cardboard) with the occasional "center piece" usually a foam built piece.
with the cloth it gives me the option to place books or the like under it to make hills and still lets me place built hills/roads/rivers on top. Low tech old school. Recently fiends have been recommending those new hex tiles that recently came out, but they seem just a tad limiting in 1. the cost and 2. there are only three different sets and not quite what I need.
I have used the WWG tiles and like the versatility for building Buildings but I really hate cutting the foam core. have ended up just creating set pieces, as in frequently visited locations, or pieces that can double as multiple locations.
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 9, 2019 5:43:32 GMT -9
I print my Fat Dragon Games Copper Dragon terrain tiles on regular paper. I then cut them out, roughly, with a white border. Then I apply them to the glue side of peel-n-stick vinyl floor tiles. The tiles are available in most DIY stores. I buy the cheapest I can find, usually $0.59 per 1-foot square tile. It works best if I cover the tiles with clear Contact Paper (translucent vinyl, used for lining cupboards, found in the kitchen department of Wal-Mart). The Contact Paper allows me to use wet-erase markers ( Crayola Washable Markers are the very best -- leave on for weeks, and they still wipe off with ease, no ghosting, in any color!). These vinyl tile pieces are heavy... If you pile a stack of pieces such as shown in this photo, into a plastic tub, you will find that it is quite hefty! That is their downside. The upside is the price, ease of construction, durability, and heft (a blessing and a curse...). You can improve their appearance by using a black marker to remove the white edges. No matter what you set them on top of, the blackened edges will make a noticeable improvement in their appearance. If the tiles warp, just gently flex them, and they will lay flat. 3.bp.blogspot.com/-U_Z6neApTY8/UX05t6XieiI/AAAAAAAAAPI/ly2U2uS-mco/s1600/IMG_1114.JPG(5-foot by 9-foot Ping Pong Table, covered in FDG's Copper Dragon Dungeon Tiles) Here is a link to my blog about how I do this. Note that projects #3, #5, and #7 failed due to the vinyl warping, over time. Some basing projects (#2) also failed due to warpage, but these were more due to the fact that painting PVA Glue onto the vinyl surface (to adhere sand to the surface, for ground texture), will lead to catastrophic warpage, in 3+ months. I now use MDF bases exclusively. To keep these from moving around on the table top, I bought some black felt, at the local fabric store. I cut out some 2-foot squares of 1/2-inch plywood, and then I covered these squares with the felt, stretching it slightly, and stapling it on the underside, to keep it taut. The slippery vinyl is not so slippery on the felt! They move very little, but I do have to pick them up by slipping a fingernail under the edge, and lift them. Cheers!
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Post by squirmydad on Dec 9, 2019 20:29:12 GMT -9
I tried the vinyl method for a while, didn't care for the weight issue. At my office supplies store I did find 6"x6" cork boards and used self adhesive labels to crank out lots of lightweight tiles.
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 10, 2019 5:13:37 GMT -9
I recently moved to a new house. Had to pack up all of my vinyl tiles -- made the mistake of putting them all into one tub... They all fit, with the tub being about 3/4-full. It was HEAVY! Not exactly portable. Good thing I only need to haul them from my craft room, adjacent to my gaming table, for games!
The weight is both a blessing, and a curse. The adhesive on the tiles makes them super-easy to work with; they're very inexpensive; they're super-easy to cut with utility scissors; they won't move much at all, on top of felt; and, they're terribly heavy -- ugh! If the pro's and con's are workable for the individual DM, they're great. Otherwise, cork tiles are definitely worth looking into. Cheers!
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