- #Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming how to
- #Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming pro
- #Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming series
- #Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming free
The printer and tiles answered a question I’ve been asking for 20 years: How can I make cool looking, functional, and modular map tiles for the games I play and create? I figured I’d have to learn to use a 3D CAD program to get what I needed and then stumbled on these campaign tiles instead. Unlike these hex tiles which are modular and reusable when magnetized my WWII map is static. My WWII North African theatre campaign map was a labour of resin-casting love which, ultimately, is limited in use. I know from experience how labour intensive and pricey it is to create a campaign map.
#Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming how to
I began my 3D printing journey by investigating how to create hex tiles for both a SAGA: Age of Magic campaign as well as a homegrown game to play out the Japanese Sengoku Jidai that a friend of mine (Hi Dennis!) have been working on since we met in Japan almost 25 years ago. In terms of rarity, comparable products aren’t available. For me, having tiles this cool available on-demand in unlimited quantities is worth it. This will be a recurring theme throughout these 3D print articles so let’s get it out in the open. If you’ve read this far you’ve probably muttered, “But it’s expensive!” at least once. Which brings us to the third point: cost. Games Workshop might be able to pull off tiles this versatile and customizable but can you even begin to guess how much they’d charge you for a set of 75? There isn’t a fantasy archetype, trope, setting, story, or adventure that couldn’t be beautifully rendered across a completely unique fantasy map printable at home for a fraction of what it might cost – even if it existed – to buy from a manufacturer. Every fantasy and most historical campaigns can be easily set up and tracked using the campaign tiles. The signature pieces like volcanoes, Wizard’s Towers, castles, enormous mountains, and evil lairs are uniquely wrought with details that you couldn’t sculpt by hand or, even if you could, couldn’t be cast in plastic.įrom the tiny details up to the visual spectacle when hexes are set up in an infinite variety of ways, it looks the business from both near and far. Mines come with tiny carts on rails complete with ties and handrails. A 3mm wide stone walkway and attending castle have clearly visible individual stones slabs that are less than a 1mm wide. 5mm high houses have 2mm fences with rails and posts. Or, to rephrase, these campaign tiles make what were decent GW tiles look rubbish.Įvery Hexton Hills Tile is a little work of art. By a cost and quality comparison the GW plastic tiles are vastly overpriced junk. The only comparable tiles are the now out-of-print GW Mighty Empires and Planetary Empires Campaign Tiles. There is not a ‘soft’ detail on any of the tiles. It’s so fine I opted to use oil based washes to shade the details as acrylic Games Workshop and Vallejo washes flooded over rather than highlighted the nooks and crannies. The detail on the resin tiles straight off the printer is astounding. I don’t believe it’s possible to get the same results from plastic injection sprues. After printing over 75 tiles I’ve not had a single failure or misshapen tile, not a single mishap with the printer, not one bit of difficulty or substandard print quality.Īnd that’s the second reason 3D printing is best: quality. They come well presupported (which is a huge time and skill saver) so they print perfectly, every time, no matter how complex or simple the tile. I went straight to the Hexton Hills tiles which were the nudge that encouraged me to take the 3D printer leap. I didn’t even bother test printing Elegoo’s supplied cool looking chess piece.
#Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming pro
When I got my Elegoo Mars 2 Pro I had never even seen a resin printer in action live and had only limited experience with a filament printer. I love three things about printing the Hexton Hills Campaign Tiles (HHCT). Photo Credits: Cassie O’Brien and Sean Souter
#Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming free
Full disclosure: I wasn’t given a single dime or any free access to product to do this article so you can be sure that there will actually be constructive criticism where needed. Let’s start with printing hex campaign tiles that in both imagination and execution are far superior to anything even the best manufacturers have created. By instalments, I’m going to prove that 3D printing is now a viable and indeed superior way of acquiring wargames figures and terrain.
#Is it cost effective to 3d print terrain wargaming series
In this first of a short series on 3D printing I won’t bury the lead.