This week I’ve been planning a custom made scenic Bloodbowl pitch. I have seen a lot of these over the years, no wonder really since they present the opportunity for a nice self enclosed and small terrain project without having to think about covering a big table top. It’s something that excites me a lot but I haven’t seen a Wood Elf themed pitch yet.
The idea is that the pitch is formed from a natural glade in Athel Loren. Being a glade, rather than a pitch, the ground will be highly uneven, with exposed tree roots, leaf litter and “clumped” static grass to look as natural as possible. One end zone will be a small brook tricking through the forest. Pitch lines will be formed from trailing vines and there will be flowers, mushrooms and other forest life present. The pitch should be surrounded by trees… to show it’s in a forest.
The pitch will be foldable (folding up into a neat carry case format) and I’ve planned it with the following dimensions:
- 3cm squares = 78 x 45 cm pitch (26 x 15 squares)
- 5cm border around pitch
- 2cm wooden frame
As usual when I need MDF I went straight to http://www.mdfcuttosize.com. If you lack precise cutting facilities at home I can’t recommend these guys enough – all the MDF I need came to a poxy £4.86. They are based near me, but deliver too.
When I got round to picking up the MDF I ordered a couple of weeks ago and started putting together the home ground (provisionally “Wildwood Meadows”) for my team.
I had some wooden battens lying around so cut those on the mitre saw to fit and then glued and tacked them into place so I have two halves of a case that will eventually be hinged together:
Last week I cut the blue foam to size and marked out the pitch, plus started to plan some of the features that will be on the pitch. I ordered a hot wire sculpting tool that arrives this week from ebay which is where the real landscaping will start:
The pitch surface slots nicely into the frame:
Lastly I also got a narrow bottom strip of MDF to cover up the unsightly hole that will appear in the bottom of the case when closed and prevent loose bits falling out. This strip will most likely be magnetised or velcro’d in place for transport:
