A Dedicated Gamimg Table for 25mm DBA

Perhaps the only disadvantage to playing 25mm DBA is when you have to relocate terrain boards as a result of the dicing for deployment areas. This can be a major logistic exercise. Boards can get out of alignment and terrain features can move out of place. So I came up with the idea of constructing a dedicated table that could be folded away when not in use. The image above gives you an idea of the finished product. What follows will give you an idea of how I built my table.

Materials

1200mm x 1200mm x 12mm piece of MDF.

Four pieces of 75mm x 25mm dressed pine cit to the following lengths: 2 x 1200mm and 2 x 1150mm.

A set of folding legs.

Grass matting: I used Citadel's Gaming Mat. Other suppliers include Busch, Faller, Model Power and Noch. All of these suppliers product should be available from any self respecting hobby shop.

Paint: I used a chocolate brown and beige.

Screws, PVA glue, a paint brush and importantly, a sea sponge.

Method

1. Take the four pieces of the pre-cut pine and screw them to the MDF so that four of the pieces form a frame. Make sure you counter sink the screw holes. This will ensure that the scew heads are below the level of the MDF.

2. Attach the folding legs to the MDF. Once again make sure you counter sink the screw holes.

3. Paint the table top and framing brown and allow to dry for at least two hours if you are using acrylic paints.

4. Cut up the grass mat into random shapes and sizes, and then glue it down on to the table. Once the glue has dried I then painted the "grass" with a diluted solution of PVA glue. This would ensure that the grass matwould stand up to robust use. Allow this to dry overnight.

The finishing touch is to lightly dip the sea spng into the beige paint, dab it on to scrap newspaper and then dab it over the painted areas of the table. The effect you are trying to achieve is to have the beige cover the brown, but not to completely obliterate it. The finished effect should look like the image below.

Once the game is over, the armies returned to camp and the terrain put away, the table's legs can be folded up and it can be put away.