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Man-made desert...

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zenrak
Jun 28, 2006 4:40:59 I was thinking of making a 3 ft. x 4 ft. "sandbox" that I can conduct some of my Dark Sun battles in. I figure it would be 2 inches high, filled with 1 inch of sand.

This would make it 180 ft. x 240 ft. in the 5 ft/1 inch scale.

Is this enough room to conduct most battles?
Has anyone done something like this? If so, how did it work for you?

I love big projects! Woo!
#2
darksoulman
Jun 28, 2006 5:53:34 Haha, fantastic!

I have no clue about miniature combat, just had to commend you for doing something like this! :D
#3
kalthandrix
Jun 28, 2006 7:34:56 Sounds cool - my only queston would be how you would trace movement and such. You could use the ruler like and Warhammer - I see no reason that would not work. It would be sweet to have that set up - so go for it man. I have one of the 3'x4' battlematts and have had no problem with the size - so a sandbox the same size would work. It would be a great way to show broken terrain, obsticles, cover, ect... something that is needed alot of times that a 2D drawing cannot do. I plan on using styrophome for stuff like that - I already have some peices cut, shaped, and painted too.

Have fun with the sandbox!
#4
pneumatik
Jun 28, 2006 8:59:10 Zenrack, if you don't want to break out the measuring tape and/or string to do movement, you could make a 1" grid out of string and run it over the sand. As long as the sand is level, it shouldn't cause too much trouble when creatures bigger than 5'x5' are involved.

Hmmm ... You might want to make each square a little bit larger than 1", maybe 1 1/8", so that a 1" square minis always fit in each square. Otherwise they might tip over a lot, or be hard to pick up b/c they're under one of the strings.
#5
xlorepdarkhelm_dup
Jun 28, 2006 10:09:19
I was thinking of making a 3 ft. x 4 ft. "sandbox" that I can conduct some of my Dark Sun battles in. I figure it would be 2 inches high, filled with 1 inch of sand.

This would make it 180 ft. x 240 ft. in the 5 ft/1 inch scale.

Is this enough room to conduct most battles?
Has anyone done something like this? If so, how did it work for you?

I love big projects! Woo!

I would almost suggest, rather than a bunch of loose sand which can get EVERYWHERE, to do a little arts & crafts to it. Mixing sand with something like wood glue (or just "regular" elmer's glue), and painting it over a slab of wood, or some cut-out pieces of stiff foam, you can make a very "desert" looking environment, that once dry, it will be quite functional, and far less of a hassle to keep clean. I've made some various terrain pieces for Warhammer before, and you can really get into some rather intricate terrain pieces using the techniques that Games Workshop provide. I know that when I was living in Nashville, the local GW Store had sort of "classes" on terrain building. If you can find the foam, glue slabs of it together (once again, GW has the supplies for the glue, etc.), and then use a special cutter, you can shape the pieces into things like rocks (or pillars of rocks ala the Grand Canyon), some of GW's materials can do for dry/dead (petrafied?) trees, a little work and you can get some cacti as well. Once you've shaped your terrain, coat it with the sand/glue mix, and then you can add things like a light "dry-brush" of light earthy, desert colors to make it stand out more. Coat it with a plastic sealant, and presto, you have terrain useable for Dark Sun.
#6
Sysane
Jun 28, 2006 10:23:18 You can use foam. I suggest the pink kind that you can pick up at home depot like stores. You can actually grid off the piece of foam with a dull pencil and ruler and then use a mixture of white glue and water and then sprinkle playground sand over it. Once dry you can prime it with a non-aerosol primer (or just hand prime it with cheap acrylic paint). This effect works out beautifully. I did something similar when I made a small gladiatorial arena which had a sand covered floor. It came out awesome if I do say so myself.
#7
dirk00001
Jun 28, 2006 10:23:52 Although I've never made a "sand table" my father has - when he was younger he used to wargame a lot - and I recall him mentioning how they used some sort of "special" sand that was easier to use, something along the lines of it not sticking to figures and being easier to work with. I'm honestly not even sure if it was real sand, it was probably some synthetic stuff.

Anyway, the idea is solid and it'd be cool to do IMO, but given that it's not a "new" idea I suggest you search around the internet for info regarding it. I'm sure you can find some good instructions that'll tell you the best way to make the table, the best sand to use, and anything else that'll make the whole setup better.
#8
zombiegleemax
Jun 28, 2006 12:06:10 http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/ is a website devoted to the creation of scenery and boards for table-top gaming which might help.

I used to use the same technique as most other people have suggested; make a thin mixture of water and (what we call) PVA glue, paint that over the surface, then sprinkle or pour the sand over it. One the glue's dry, the excess sand can be poured off.
#9
zenrak
Jun 28, 2006 14:05:23 Fantastic! I'll let all of you know how it turns out... got some good ideas. You guys are the greatest, GROUP HUG! Er... I get carried away.
#10
zmaj
Jun 28, 2006 18:12:03 I dunno what type of players you have, but back in my army days when we made up a sand table for planning sessions and once we were overseas we did a little wargaming on it. We call it a sand table because military folk call Iraq, Kuwait, and rest of the area the sand box. Just something to keep in the back of your head if you game with any military folk. I know some soldiers who get the shakes just hearing the word anymore.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zenrak Jun 28, 2006 4:40:59	I was thinking of making a 3 ft. x 4 ft. "sandbox" that I can conduct some of my Dark Sun battles in. I figure it would be 2 inches high, filled with 1 inch of sand. This would make it 180 ft. x 240 ft. in the 5 ft/1 inch scale. Is this enough room to conduct most battles? Has anyone done something like this? If so, how did it work for you? I love big projects! Woo!
#2 darksoulman Jun 28, 2006 5:53:34	Haha, fantastic! I have no clue about miniature combat, just had to commend you for doing something like this! :D
#3 kalthandrix Jun 28, 2006 7:34:56	Sounds cool - my only queston would be how you would trace movement and such. You could use the ruler like and Warhammer - I see no reason that would not work. It would be sweet to have that set up - so go for it man. I have one of the 3'x4' battlematts and have had no problem with the size - so a sandbox the same size would work. It would be a great way to show broken terrain, obsticles, cover, ect... something that is needed alot of times that a 2D drawing cannot do. I plan on using styrophome for stuff like that - I already have some peices cut, shaped, and painted too. Have fun with the sandbox!
#4 pneumatik Jun 28, 2006 8:59:10	Zenrack, if you don't want to break out the measuring tape and/or string to do movement, you could make a 1" grid out of string and run it over the sand. As long as the sand is level, it shouldn't cause too much trouble when creatures bigger than 5'x5' are involved. Hmmm ... You might want to make each square a little bit larger than 1", maybe 1 1/8", so that a 1" square minis always fit in each square. Otherwise they might tip over a lot, or be hard to pick up b/c they're under one of the strings.
#5 xlorepdarkhelm_dup Jun 28, 2006 10:09:19	I was thinking of making a 3 ft. x 4 ft. "sandbox" that I can conduct some of my Dark Sun battles in. I figure it would be 2 inches high, filled with 1 inch of sand. This would make it 180 ft. x 240 ft. in the 5 ft/1 inch scale. Is this enough room to conduct most battles? Has anyone done something like this? If so, how did it work for you? I love big projects! Woo! I would almost suggest, rather than a bunch of loose sand which can get EVERYWHERE, to do a little arts & crafts to it. Mixing sand with something like wood glue (or just "regular" elmer's glue), and painting it over a slab of wood, or some cut-out pieces of stiff foam, you can make a very "desert" looking environment, that once dry, it will be quite functional, and far less of a hassle to keep clean. I've made some various terrain pieces for Warhammer before, and you can really get into some rather intricate terrain pieces using the techniques that Games Workshop provide. I know that when I was living in Nashville, the local GW Store had sort of "classes" on terrain building. If you can find the foam, glue slabs of it together (once again, GW has the supplies for the glue, etc.), and then use a special cutter, you can shape the pieces into things like rocks (or pillars of rocks ala the Grand Canyon), some of GW's materials can do for dry/dead (petrafied?) trees, a little work and you can get some cacti as well. Once you've shaped your terrain, coat it with the sand/glue mix, and then you can add things like a light "dry-brush" of light earthy, desert colors to make it stand out more. Coat it with a plastic sealant, and presto, you have terrain useable for Dark Sun.
#6 Sysane Jun 28, 2006 10:23:18	You can use foam. I suggest the pink kind that you can pick up at home depot like stores. You can actually grid off the piece of foam with a dull pencil and ruler and then use a mixture of white glue and water and then sprinkle playground sand over it. Once dry you can prime it with a non-aerosol primer (or just hand prime it with cheap acrylic paint). This effect works out beautifully. I did something similar when I made a small gladiatorial arena which had a sand covered floor. It came out awesome if I do say so myself.
#7 dirk00001 Jun 28, 2006 10:23:52	Although I've never made a "sand table" my father has - when he was younger he used to wargame a lot - and I recall him mentioning how they used some sort of "special" sand that was easier to use, something along the lines of it not sticking to figures and being easier to work with. I'm honestly not even sure if it was real sand, it was probably some synthetic stuff. Anyway, the idea is solid and it'd be cool to do IMO, but given that it's not a "new" idea I suggest you search around the internet for info regarding it. I'm sure you can find some good instructions that'll tell you the best way to make the table, the best sand to use, and anything else that'll make the whole setup better.
#8 zombiegleemax Jun 28, 2006 12:06:10	http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/ is a website devoted to the creation of scenery and boards for table-top gaming which might help. I used to use the same technique as most other people have suggested; make a thin mixture of water and (what we call) PVA glue, paint that over the surface, then sprinkle or pour the sand over it. One the glue's dry, the excess sand can be poured off.
#9 zenrak Jun 28, 2006 14:05:23	Fantastic! I'll let all of you know how it turns out... got some good ideas. You guys are the greatest, GROUP HUG! Er... I get carried away.
#10 zmaj Jun 28, 2006 18:12:03	I dunno what type of players you have, but back in my army days when we made up a sand table for planning sessions and once we were overseas we did a little wargaming on it. We call it a sand table because military folk call Iraq, Kuwait, and rest of the area the sand box. Just something to keep in the back of your head if you game with any military folk. I know some soldiers who get the shakes just hearing the word anymore.