The Terrain Debate

[EricM 2404]

In order to create a thread that people, new to modeling 3D terrain, can look at as reference to "where to start" I am going to ask this question.

What type of 3D Terrain is the best?

Any and all oppinions are welcome.

[JT70]

I was brand new to both A&AM and Terrain building. I found alot of valuable info on these forums pertaining to both. Thanks to everybody here that shares there knowledge and opinions about all subjects. Now on to the terrain question.

While my son and I were playing A&AM that very first weekend, I realized the potential of 3D terrain and how it could not only make the game more fun. But, could also break the visual barrier you get with playing on a flat map with 3D miniatures. I was frequently explaining to my son that "this unit can not see that unit because those trees or that hill are in the way". 3D terrain helps very much in this case.

I have tried a few different method of building terrain in the last few weeks (my wife thinks I have lost my marbles).

First I tried 3D map boards as explained by Warchild7 in this forum. I made 2 Boards using a 4" hex size and modeled them directly after the official maps. I liked these very much but I then realized that there are Alot of maps to do and these things are very large like 22"x32"(approx.) where would i keep them?..........

So I then figured that I would try to make individual 4" hexes of variuose types (plain, road, river, bog, etc.) and then I would have a completely modular setup that i could arrange in any configuration my brain could fathom.
I made a dozen or so hexes out of a thin plastic material that is used for shower walls (had it overhead in the garage). I Found that it is very difficult(not impossible) to make accurate and consistent hexes that will match up on all sides and look good when you put them all together.

Next Idea: Make 4 map boards Ala-Warchild7 with the melted in hexes (this time 3") and make all four boards plain (just green flocking). Then, Make individual 3" hexes from foam board to represent all of the remaining terrain features (roads, rivers, hills, bogs, etc.) and lay them down on the plain map boards to create the playing area. This was actually going quite well, But, It jus did not seem to look as good to me as the first boards I had made using Warchild7's method.

Solution for me:

Make 3D map boards ala-Warchild7 but reduce the hex size to 3" insted of 4".
This makes the overall board size much more managible and is a good compromize btween the small 2" hex and the LARGE 4" monsters. And, I can make some of the individual 3" hexes for customized terrain if I wish. the overall size of the four boards together is approx. 32"x48". :)

By all means if you have the space to store them and a table big enough to play on use the 4" hex size.

Just a few moments ago, I competed my first 4 map set of thes boards. I will be posting photos today of the boards.

Here they are: http://www.mainemetaldetecting.com/terrain_boards.htm

Warning...........lots of pics

Sorry for such a long post. I figure it might just help somebody out who is trying to figure out how to tackle this project.

Great thread Idea by the way.

JT