Templecon 2012 Scenario Table - Genesis

In the beginning there was nothing.  The foam was shapeless and void, lacking in any detail or meaning.

Work on the scenario table for Templecon 2012 has begun!  My girflriend and I have begun work on what is being tentatively called the "Graverobbers" scenario table.  Most of all of the materials have finally been gathered and work began in earnest last evening with the purchase of the foam necessary to create the surface onto which the rest of the details will be placed.  I have some pictures to show you all of how the project is progressing but first let's list the materials used in this project so you can follow along:

Woodland Scenics makes the best
realistic-looking terrain out there -
and it's cheap!

For the surfaces:

2' x 8' sheet of 1" pink insulation foam
2' x 8' sheet of 1.5" pink insulation foam (the joints are weird so we decided to use this for the hills instead of the main table)

Wood Glue
Sawdust (literally just asked the guy at Home Depot who cuts lumber and got it for free)

Perfect for graves and headstones!

Details/structures:
2 Garden of Mor boxes
Various wood chips, 1" x 2.5"
Woodland Scenics trees and foliage

We will be getting more supplies as the project moves on.  For now, we just completed the planning stage, by laying out where we wanted everything.  Each deployment zone was measured out and I traced the arc for the radial deployment with sharpie onto the foam.  This makes it easier to ensure that there's some balance of terrain on the table.

The normal deployment zone will be 16" for Player 1 and 18a"
(or the wall and gates) for Player 2.  Theme lists with +2" to
their deployment zones will have a greater advantage than usual

The dashed line represents the normal Advance Deploy line

We also traced the other terrain features onto the board, like where the road and hills would be.  I also traced out where the forests would be made (roughly).  We decided that the final table will also have trees scattered sparsely around the board, but in game terms they will not provide concealment but will get in the way of movement, charges, etc. while also making the table look good.

We also made sure to trace out where we wanted the crypts.  you'll notice a section of yarn is used to divide the table in half, to ensure that there is balance of distribution of graves and crypts.  The crypts were placed in specific locations, and then traced with sharpie to make sure their locations would be remembered.  Each section was numbered to make sure there would be no confusion later.

Originally, we wanted to have a fog machine hooked up so that fog would come out of each of the crypts.  Unfortunately, since there were some complications with the foam, and the 1.5" foam has weird joints, we decided to use the 1" thick foam for the base.  This does not leave much room for the plumbing necessary for a fog machine, so instead we decided to install another neat effect: lights!

WoOoOoO!  Creepy!

The effect is really creepy and cool, and yet it was incredibly easy to do!  Literally all we did was cut a hole in the foam, stick in an LED tea-light, and then I bunched up some plastic wrap to diffuse the light.  The end effect looks great and I'm excited to see what it will look like when the whole table is finished!

The light also "flickers" which adds to the effect!