Wooden Tables for Gamers

Creating your own gaming table is a great way to start a tabletop miniature gaming community. Fortunately, terrain and boards don't have to cost a fortune and can be constructed with some very cheap cuts of wood. Whilst you can get rubber mouse mat boards that fold away and PVC mats with a waterproof marking, none of these offer a 3D experience that makes tabletop gaming such a joy. Granted these mats are portable, but in order to get varying height levels you'd need to transport terrain too which defeats the point of portability. 

Making Your Board

One of the best cuts of wood for a board is chipboard. It is both cheap and lightweight, whilst being able to support weight. This is important, especially if you're going to have gamers leaning on it. Chipboard is readily available from just about all good wood suppliers and comes in conveniently sized boards of varying thicknesses and lengths. What thickness you choose it up to you, however bear in mind that it needs to be strong enough for stability, but light enough for a couple of players to be able to lift and store upright.

In order to make your board you need to sand it down very lightly in order to remove any wood splinters. The edges can be left bare; however, strips of wood, perhaps skirting board, can be used to both protect the edges and corners and create a barrier to stop dice falling off. The strips can be screwed and glued into place on the top of the board. The bottom can be left bare to avoid rocking, and the edges can be covered with thick parcel tape.

If you get loft boards, they slot into each other very easily, which can be great for making more portable boards. You can even make a series of flat and textured ones so that you can swap and change the segments.  

Designing Your Board

Once you have constructed the basic board you can texture and paint it. If you use plaster mixed with paint or pigment powder you can create interesting terrain features such as hills and trenches. If you're looking to make a diorama board then trees and wooden decking for the trenches can be pressed into the plaster. If you'd prefer a flatter board to use with pre-existing terrain try spraying the wood a base colour, then coat it in slightly watered down PVA glue. From here you can coat it in flock or gravel for texture, then follow this up with more paint if required. 


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