Re: Space Terrain

>Thinking about the game that I will be running this weekend, I've been
>giving some thought to the matter of making the board look as visually
>appealing as possible.  The problem, of course, is that there is
generally
>not all that much to see in outer space....  So, I was wondering what
other
>people use for "terrain" on their FTII boards.  We use lava rocks as
>asteroids, some of which have been mounted on flight stands--I intend
to
>replace these with some artificial foam rocks, as the bases will
cheerfully
>snap off of the rock at even the slightest hint of an impact--and
cotton
>pulled out into "nebulas".  These give a -1 to any shots that pass
through
>it.  I've seen a planet that someone made, using a plastic hemisphere,
and
>intend to do the same at some point soon.  Does anyone else do anything
>neat and different?  I'd like to hear about anything at all.
>
>John Crimmins
>johncrim@voicenet.com

Coat the pumice ("lava rock") with thinned PVA (white) glue and
let it dry (24 hours or more). That should keep it from coming
apart. You could glue it directly to a flat, rigid base (foamcore,
plastic, or metal). If you use a flight stand, drill into the coated
rock so the stand extends 3/8" to 1/2" into it, place it upside down,
fill the hole with PVA glue (or 2-part epoxy or epoxy putty), and
insert the stand. Leave it alone until the glue is completely set
(PVA completely clear, no white left).

I picked up some dark, opaque, irridescent marbles to use for bogeys,
or maybe for asteroids (though chunks of pumice should work better
for asteroids). I also picked up a bunch of 6" 2-piece spherical
clear plastic "display balls" at an after-Christmas sale ($.40 each),
and I'm painting one half up as an Earth-type planet. (Another half
will become a nuclear power plant--terrain or terrain objective--for
Dirtside, and others will become diorama covers. Definitely worth
the price!)

Also, instead of counters for missiles and submunition packs,
I use fancy sewing pins (the kind with the ball-shaped plastic
head) or ball-head map pins, stuck in 1/2" diam. wooden disks
from the local hobby/craft store.

I haven't tried it, but if you're using plain black or dark blue
felt instead of a commercial "star mat," you might try picking up
a couple of different sizes of glitter (mixed colors) and dusting
a little (probably a *very* little) of that over the table.
Voila--instant stardust! ;-)

- Sam

________________________________________
Samuel Reynolds
http://www.primenet.com/~reynol
reynol@primenet.com
samuel_reynolds@csgsystems.com