Board Tutorial Part I

So I'm in the process of making my first game board for Warmachine/Hordes. My friends and I love going to our local store but a lot of times we just don't feel like packing all our stuff, or want to play late at night. We've always thought and talked about making a board but didn't take much initiative. My friend Keith did buy a 4'x8' that he was going to make in to a warhammer(ew) board but I think it was a little too much and it's only half done at this point(about a year). I decided to take the initiative and exploit my recent re-interest in Warmachine to make a board. I'll be writing up a tutorial here for those who'd like to try making their own.

The first step is to print out some graph paper. Make sure there are enough squares to equate 1 square to 1sq". Draw out a 48x48 square and go wild. Plan out your map carefully, where you want terrain, what kind of terrain and buildings you want, how it will interact with the various scenarios, etc. This will make it much easier to make the board itself. I'd show you mine but I'm too lazy to use the scanner. After you've got your board laid out you can start beginning.

Materials Required:
A 4x4 1/2" thick MDF Board - Get MDF! Don't get plywood or sheetwood or something that will split and bend and break. MDF is absolutely the way to go, it is very durable and will stand the test of time. You should consider cutting this in to 4 2x2 boards as I did for storage purposes, but if you've got a place to put a 4x4 board then consider doing it, the board will look better.
1 Sheet of Pink Insulation foam - You know, the pink panther stuff. This stuff always comes in 2'x8', so have it cut in half if you're doing a 4x4 board or have it cut into 4 2'x2' if you're splitting the boards. Thickness is up to you. 1/2" is a good all-purpose but you may want to go thicker if you have terrain features like rivers that you'd like to dig in to it.
Wood Glue -  This stuff is important. Don't get the white elmers because it won't last, it'll eventually crack. When you spend so much time on a project like this you want it to last.
Some Brushes - Various sizes, you'll need larger ones than you're used to for painting models.
Sand, gravel, ballast - You'll need this to make your board nice and textured and not a boring flat surface. The same kind of stuff you use for basing. Multiple grain sizes is good for variation but more on that later.
Stones, Extra Foam, Foam Core, etc. - Anything you'll need for your terrain.
Flock - You'll want some grass. You could just paint some green in but flock looks really nice.

Alright so let's get to it. I was saving up all my pictures to write one big guide but decided it'd be overwhelming, so I'll split it in to 2 or 3 parts.

Step 1
The first thing you want to do is glue your insulation foam to your MDF board. Score the wood with an exacto knife to allow a few good places to grip, then apply a generous amount of glue. You'll want to add weights to the corners so that it lays flat.

Nice right? Various heavy objects. Repeat this process for all 4 boards, or both halves of your 4x4. You should also consider stacking them like this once you've got them all setting. Make sure you let them dry for at least 30 minutes. An hour would be better.

Step 2
So now your boards are all foamed up. It's time to start translating your chart onto the foam itself. Use a marker that will stand out, purple, blue, and black all work well. Draw out your roads and terrain features so you have an idea of what's going where.

The best way to do this is to count the squares in between terrain features. For example, I had a house(top left rectangle in the picture above) to draw in. I measured how far it was from the edges, 2" out and something like 15" in. It's very easy once you have a feature or two in for reference and to build off of. This took me about an hour, maybe hour and a half.

Step 3
This is more step 2.5 than anything. For positioning and drawing in buildings you should consider using pieces of paper or cardboard cut out to the shape of your building. Lay this down in it's general position and get a sense for whether or not it's in the right place. What looks right in your drawing may not translate well to the board itself. I ended up redesigning and moving the house a little bit to get it in a position I thought would make the board better.

Step 4
The next and final step for Part I is to do any roads or terrain features that are built in to the foam itself. For example, I wanted cobble-stone roads running through my board. The best way to do this is to imprint them into the foam using a sharp-ish pencil. Do not use a pen. Do not use a mechanical pencil. Don't use a screwdriver, carving tool, anything. Just a regular old pencil, anything else will tear the foam. Use your pencil to carve out your desired shapes and features. I had my sister help with this since there was a good amount to do.

And here is a close-up picture of the effect:

That's all for now! Expect Part II tomorrow.