Baseplate Substitute

[Thyclaine]

Okay, I'm tired of using my speakers as a BrikWars battlefield. Th[img]e hardwood looks tacky and really out of place. It's too shiny, and it messes up the picture in my camera.
And I don't have the money to buy 4 X-large baseplates to cover it up. So, what I need you guys to do is help me find substitutes.

An example of a substitute would be like in this picture.



So, give me ideas.

[Tzan]

Looks like expensive cutting boards in that picture.

You can buy cheap fabric at a fabric store.



I put the grid on with a Prismacolor colored pencil.

[Dr. X]

Hmm... you mean, substitutes for sticking lego people on to stay on, or just flat, hard surfaces? For the former just use a lot of smaller plates and connect them together (This only works for small battlefields unless you have a LOT of plates.). For the latter, you can use the table, the floor, the shelf, THE DESK, or if you have carpet in the room, a bunch of thin hardback oversize books places together.

I've personally never had a problem with this, because my Lego collection being as huge as it is, has a huge supply of baseplates. I have my main base, a jungle, an airport, and then there's my brother's base, all pretty darn big and built on baseplates, and we still have some left over.

For a nice, awesome battlefield, I really recommend buying some baseplates. Bricklink.com has some baseplates cheap, just look at this link (http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=pd ... D=10880997) for example, this guy's got 6 32x16's for 2 bucks each. I've personally never bought from Lego.com, everything is SO very much cheaper on Bricklink, you can get any part you want for rock-bottom price.

I really recommend biulding a battlefield, it adds a LOT to your game. A game in a beatufully designed jungle, a grey, lifeless military base, or a thriving city street is always better than, say, on top of a book on the floor. If you've got baseplates and bricks, the two most basic things, you've already got a great battlefield. Just connect the baseplate, and build some houses with the bricks. You can be as decorative or as bland as you want, but the more things there are on the battlefield the more things there are that the minifigs can interact with. It's so very much better than stereotop games, if you ask me.

[piltogg]

go to some garage sales.. you might find cuting boards like fryslayers or large pieces of wood and tables too!  you could also buy the same stuff from a store... but you probaly want to go for something cheap.

[Blitzen]

Buy a large piece of plywood.

[Rayhawk]

I find that a couple yards of green cheap canvas or linen from your local fabric store works great.  Or some other color maybe, depending on your preferred terrain type.

[IVhorseman]

I've had great success with textbooks on top of carpet, with bridges between. put a little brik building on the textbooks for flavor/cover, and say the carpet is lava/water/acid, and viola! hazard-filled and well-made map!

[Thyclaine]

For the former just use a lot of smaller plates and connect them together (This only works for small battlefields unless you have a LOT of plates.).

Yeah, I would have done that.

But, I'm a pretty recent Lego fan, so I have hardly any decently sized plates.

I'll check out Bricklink though, see what they have. Maybe buy some extra bricks and scenery too.

If not, I'll go with Rayhawk's idea.

Thanks for the help, guys!

[Dr. X]

This guy has 32x32 baseplates for 4 bucks each, much less than Lego's: http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=cap_fantastic75&itemID=10838229

This guy has 6 32x16 baseplates for 2 bucks each, same price basically: http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=pdx1rdr&itemID=10880997

I really recommend baseplates, for everyone here. Occaisonally you can find huge boxes of Legos at garage sales, and they have baseplates too. BUY THOSE BOXES, GO GARAGE SALING EVERY WEEK!! WORTH IT!!

[Tzan]

If you do go with fabric, get a cardboard tube and keep it rolled up. If you fold it, it will have lumpy bits.

[piltogg]

you can buy smaller baseplates for 1$ each so just get a bunch and attach together.