Laser Cut Hex Terrain for Bag The Hun

I'm on holiday in Cornwall now but before I left, I shot off an email enquiry to Tony Barr at East  Riding Miniatures about an idea I thought up a while back. This was for a modular laser cut mdf hex tile system for miniature air gaming as an alternative, flexible alternative to the usual cloth or plastic hex mats.

The idea was to have a basic 30cmx 30cm or 8x8 hex sheet with 40mm hexes laser etched onto the surface. This would be designed to interlock with other sheets to form a playing area. The hex sheets would be stackable and easily stored.

In addition, there would be overlay mdf terrain tiles that could be placed on top of the playing surface to represent hills, ridges, towns etc. The sheets would be produced in unpainted mdf but could be painted up in whatever shades you wished including, for example, desert, temperate or winter finishes.

Neat, eh?

Tony, being a really nice chap, was quite keen on the idea but reckoned on a unit price of between £5 and £6.50 per tile. This would mean an outlay of at least £100 for a 6' x 4' playing area making the conventional hex mat a cheaper, if less readily available or flexible option.

Bugger.

Anyway, I still think it's a good idea, so will be trying to find a DIY solution over the next few weeks. This will possibly involve cutting lots of hexes out of sandpaper before sticking them down onto a surface of some sort, perhaps some of those ready made artist canvas frames or some good old fashioned cork tiles.