I’ve recently been backing a number of 3d printing kickstarters.  From 3d printable terrain (Hexhog Tabletops: Hinterland Hills, and Fantastic Plants and Rocks), to miscellaneous models (The Graveyard Collection and Pillars of Stone), all the way to full 3d printable games (Pocket Tactics, Chibi-tech SD, and Star Scrappers: Battledrill).  One of the things I’m most excited about though, is building a full terrain table – I want to have a modular terrain system that fits into the game vault of my gaming table.

As a start, I want to use the Hexhog Tabletops system to lay down a hex grid in the 4’x6′ space that I have, then build it up from there.  The Hinterland Hills set is a nice base layer since it already has micro-terrain and provides the ability to do elevation changes or inserts for trees and rocks (which I imagine as forests and rough terrain).

Next, I want to build inserts from some of the other 3d printable terrain I have, such as the Fantastic Plants and Rocks, and other small terrain.  The goal here is really just making enough that the surface is playable.  Adding additional, bigger terrain pieces, will be a matter of just setting them on top of the table, and should work at this point.

The next part I think is going to be the most fun though.  My goal is to integrate some of my larger terrain into the modular hexes so that the large terrain becomes part of the hex system.  For example, instead of having my orrery as a loose piece of terrain (where it might be bumped and lose its place), it would be inset into one or more hexes so that it can be secured into a place on the table and have extra stability.  There is also the opportunity to make the hexes that it’s on thematically match the terrain piece and better integrated into the table as a whole.

This, I think, is where the table design really has an opportunity to shine.  As I get more terrain pieces, I can integrate them into the table by customizing and printing a few hexes.  When I think of the design space to explore here, this is the kind of thing that makes it worth it.  I already have on my backlog building some zones for Warmahordes scenarios, working with Brooke on larger, non-playable terrain spaces for headboards and footboards, and even game aide spaces or more traditional board game areas.

Last, but not least, I think this will be a fun long-term project.  It has the opportunity to work in the short term as a basic terrain table with terrain on-top, and grow and evolve into something that is both fun to play on and play with.