After taking to some really great tables at Showcase Games in Media, PA last weekend, I felt the urge to create my own table begin to burn deep inside my creative mind once more. It's always there, lingering and waiting for a moment of weakness to come full force back to the front of my consciousness and soaking up hours upon hours of my time. The planning, the thought process, the scouring of the internet looking for new sources of inspiration and images to work from as the idea grows and will likely no longer be able to stay contained to just the mental projection worked up inside of my skull.
There is always a main point of contention though when I find myself pondering a new gaming table though, and that's modular vs. static terrain. The logical side of me wants a modular table full of re-arrangeable terrain pieces that will allow for maximum replay value. The creative side of me wants nothing more than complete and utter creative possibilities afforded by a completely static terrain table that ends up being more diorama than gaming piece. In the end I try and find some balance between the two mindsets and create something that feeds the needs of both sides of my brain.
Past tables have been as simple as a plywood section painted with textured paint and drybrushed. The terrain done completely modular on small MDF boards of their own to move about the table and mix things up. While others have been as complex as a full modeled cityscape with sidewalks, blown apart streets and buildings that had rooms and hallways to create some truly intense room to room combat experiences! I've even gone a nice mix where the hills and rock faces were modeled as one with tree templates and smaller hills to add elements to change things up from time to time.
