Bob Cordery’s Portable Wargame Rules started with a chess board as the table. But they can be more elaborate.
Chess Board Table
Bob tried a variety of chess boards but seemed to favour a vinyl version with 50mm x 50mm squares. Bob made some hills – the cork bits – for this table. The road is masking tape.
Original Chess Board
Nick Huband, and others, wanted something that looked for aesthetic. Nick’s gridded board is very simple but impressive. It is an MDF board with a light dusting of green spray paint (sprayed from a distance). The patches of colour on the original brown MDF break up the monotone finish and give it a more realistic look.
Nick Huband Battle Board
I really like the look of Nick’s table. Particularly with Spanish Civil War troops on top.
Another shot of Nick Huband’s board – Spanish Civil War
Hex Table
For some reason Bob got keen on hexes and changed the rules to match between 16-18 May 2011. Apparently makes for a simpler game but feedback from players is that they prefer the square grid. Personally I was also attracted to the rules because of the chess board simplicity so the hexes are a bit of a turn off.
People have tried a variety of hex sizes from 4 cm Heroscape upto 10 cm hexes. I’ve got a copy of Command & Colors so, if I want to try the hex version, I can use that map.
Heroscape hexes in use in a game by Dr Vesuvius
Some people don’t like the out-of-the-box Heroscape hexes so have painted and/or flocked them. Bob has painted his green.
Heroscape – painted by Bob Cordery