Western Town Layout and Board

[Elbows]

Yep, there's no reason that modular doesn't mean keeping the town set in one way.  Most of us game 28mm, so it's rare you're going to have a full town set-up which is that large.  Well, what if you wanted to play down main street a bit?  Shift all of your buildings and put some new ones on.  Want to play the approach to town?  Shift the buildings to one edge and add some trees, etc.  If you run a particular convention game, or you play Old West once a year maybe a fixed board is fine.  Me?  I can cover 3-4 tables with the terrain I have, so I like to keep it variety-packed.

[rebelyell2006]

Plus, that wood is nice and flammable.  Stone is less susceptible to fires, but even adobe buildings will collapse after a fire because the wooden roof and vigas really hold the walls together.  The west tends to be windy, and lanterns break easily.  A modular or semi-modular board would let you swap out the occasional burned house or shop.

[Vagabond]

I'm not sure if this will work but this is the sort of effect I would like to get.

I don't know the etiquette for this. It is some elses picture rob b not sure of last name who posted it on this board a while ago, so I guess there may be some copyright issue, please let me know if I shouldn't post it and I will remove it.

What has been done is to use the 4ground bases fixed to the board with street ruts and vegetation built in. The buildings are loose on top but it looks like it's all one piece.

This means you can have the same town each time or to vary the town you need buildings all the same size to swop round.

[Vagabond]

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=94199.msg1162593#msg1162593

This should be the link to his original topic and it is rob bresen.

For me what makes this outstanding is the interface between the buildings and the board.

Thanks for all your thoughts so far.

[dinohunterpoa]

Really IMPRESSIVE!  

I did something like that years ago for a 1,20m X 1,20m ROADKILL scenery (a simple old Route 66 dinner and gas station), but it soon was transported to a table tennis table (sadly with no texturing at all) as the number of players and gangs increased! 

[Doug ex-em4]

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=94199.msg1162593#msg1162593

This should be the link to his original topic and it is rob bresen.

I remember that thread - doesn't it look fabulous? And Vagabond, I think you can rest easy about using the photo - I know Rob and I doubt very much if he'd object.

Doug

[jon_1066]

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=94199.msg1162593#msg1162593

This should be the link to his original topic and it is rob bresen.

For me what makes this outstanding is the interface between the buildings and the board.

Thanks for all your thoughts so far.

Why not do that then?  The boardwalks act as place holders for the buildings and you can swap the buildings about to produce variety if you want (or leave them empty or put in something being built and burnt down).  It could be a nice way to build up the twon.  So you start the town with the road and place holders for a couple of buildings plus say one building and a building under construction.  You can then add another place holder and move the building under construction.  You then swap that out for the next building you complete and add another empty lot.  Keep going as you expand your town (all the while playing games on it).  Perhaps a building burns down - swap it for a burnt out wreck.  You could use additional boardwalk on buildings that are smaller to fill in the gaps.

[hentzau]

I decided against the dedicated town layout board because I really don't have room to store something like that.  I use a roll-up mat for the ground and just set the buildings on the mat, but I always lay it down in the same way because I like the town that way and can get maximum buildings and terrain on it that way.  I currently only break this out for conventions.



This is kind of the end state of what Zenda looks like.  Once i get my game room re-assembled and can start up a full on campaign, my plan is to go back to the roots, and start with a little 3x3 set up of just a couple of buildings, and through the campaign watch the town grow.  Add a building each game, as people invest in the business in town.  Then continue to grow the town until through the campaign it looks like the above. 

[DS615]

I decided against the dedicated town layout board because I really don't have room to store something like that. 

That's the deciding factor for most of us, I imagine.
I can build it, but where the heck do I put it?

A board the looks like a modeled one but has separate pieces for storage or arrangement, is kind of the holy grail.

[Vagabond]

I remember that thread - doesn't it look fabulous? And Vagabond, I think you can rest easy about using the photo - I know Rob and I doubt very much if he'd object.

Doug

Cheers Doug - that's good to know and yes I thought it was one of the best and most inspirational tables I have seen.

Jon1066 - thanks - your suggestion seems to be simply the right answer. The only question is that I don't want buildings with the same size footprint, but I sort of see that might be the trade off that I have to make.

Hentzau- nice looking town, when you go back to a 3'square table what will be be the configuration of table, ie will you have main Street and then some side street, how do you find games work out tactically.

DS615 - I'm thinking that I have a10mm thick board and so if I raise the surface as Jon suggests by place holders and boardwalks of say 20mm I can store it fairly easily.

Thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions

[hentzau]

I would probably start with a crossroads.  Just a couple of buildings, some tents, and lots of woods.  Then start to build out buildings as people invest in businesses.  I would probably draw it up on a map, and then we could play our 3x3 games on different parts of the town, just set up those buildings.

[dinohunterpoa]

Vagabond, North Star put a 25% off sale for the next week on 4 Ground Old West buildings, check them out! 

http://northstarfigures.com/list.php?man=129&cat=363&page=1

[Vagabond]

Dino, thanks for the link, they look quite a discount. I have decided to build my own to get a town that looks different even if they will not be as professional. Good of you to send the link though. I appreciate it.

Hentzau- I think that is excellent advice, cheers.

[Elbows]

The best place to get 4Ground buildings for DMH is directly from Great Escape Games.  They have excellent combo-deals w/ free international shipping.  I have yet to find a single reasonable US retailer for them.

Asshats like Noble Knight Games sell them on eBay with completely incorrect MSRPs (30-40% higher than from the 4Ground site) etc. 

[dinohunterpoa]

I have decided to build my own to get a town that looks different even if they will not be as professional.

For me scratchbuilding is always the way to go! 

Looking forward to see your western town! Have you already got its name?

The only thing I know for my WIP town is the name of the saloon/whorehouse: "THE HORNY JACKALOPE"