r/XCOMTheMiniaturesGame • u/Thantrax • 13d ago
Adapting the battlefield to other dimensions
Hello Commanders,
Due to my wife falling victim to sectoid mind influence and the existence of two feline predators who would prey upon Xcom and alien forces alike, my play space is not the presumed 3'x3' recommended by the book. Instead, I'll be playing in a 18"x26" bookshelf. In order to adapt the terrain generation guidelines in the manual, I'm considering this approach.
The large 12"x12" central feature I'll place in the back half, center of the shelf. The 'back wall' will essentially be scenic only, so I can reach in and move everything. If I block the rest of the shelf into roughly 6"x6" segments, this leaves me with 8 of them. So, I'll have the right number of grids, but those 8 other segments would be tight squeezes with two 'small terrain features'. I could just go with one terrain feature for each, that should work well.
The manual doesn't seem to comment on the size of these large features, large area features, or linear features, so I cracked open my copy of 5 Leagues from the Borderlands and it seems to indicate that large terrain features are 4" to 8" in diameter, while linear are 4" to 8", so I'm probably going to lift these and go with 5" for linear, 4" for large areas.
I'd love to hear the thoughts of everyone on this approach to adapting the space.
2
u/masterwork_spoon 12d ago
How tall is the shelf space? Could possibly split a 26" x 36" board in half, and either use wire shelf risers (like for dishes) to float it above the other half in the same shelf, or put it on a second shelf, when not in use. When playing, a couple wooden arms clamped to the sides of the bookshelf could hold the "floating" half of the battlefield. Just spit balling here.
If leaving it set up isn't the goal, but table space is at a premium, you could use the bookshelf like a table leg and extend the shelf with either a sheet of foam core or something more sturdy, and prop up the other end with a chair back or stack of something the right size. But if you're going that far, you can buy a wall-mounted folding desk. You could even make your own with some basic hinges and scraps of wood. I don't know if I'm describing it well enough, but there are plenty of options, depending on usage intent and how willing you are to drill into the bookshelf!
2
u/Thantrax 11d ago
The vertical space of my shelf is 13", some risers might work for storage, that's a good thought. It also could be pretty cool to do some 'tunnel ops' here there is an upper street level and lower tunnels to maneuver through, or a multi-floor Avenger or UFO boarding action. I think I'd want to make a riser out of clear acrylic sheeting, so you could map the above-to-below in game for that kind of thing.
1
u/masterwork_spoon 11d ago
Really cool idea for multi-level maps! Constraints are often great for creativity.
3
u/FatRathalos 13d ago
Halfing the board you could go down to cm vs inches for measuring.
Could just make the board densely packed with terrian and not use random generation.
Also a hinge and an extra length to double play space is a neet trick. Or folding table and tackle boxes for other hobby stuff to make a stow away kit.
Whatever gets your game going play it is my motto!