MTX - DCT1001 - Dirt Cheep Terrain - Basic Set

Dirt Cheep Terrain™Basic Set

Designed by Greg K. PoehleinWith additional components by Gary M. Williams

Copyright 2001 MicroTactix Gameswww.microtactix.com

Building Dirt Cheep Terrain marked with a capital letter "G". Unless otherwisenoted, all Glue Tabs fold in towards to the structure.Use a straight-edge and scoring tool to score alongthese lines so they fold easily.

Creating gaming terrain has never been easier orcheaper. Now it is as simple as building a cardboardbox. Included in this package are two 6x6 inch bases(one for land and one for water), four pages ofterrain blocks used to build hills, six pages of streambank blocks, a bridge and four different trees thatcan be mixed and matched to add woods and foreststo your Dirt Cheep Terrain set.

Some of the parts are folded into standups. Theseare folded so the two end panels overlap. These twoend panels form the base and are glued together, sothat the final standup is tent shaped, with atriangular cross section.

Dirt Cheep Terrain is created in the 25mm scale,in which a 6 foot tall figure is about one inch tall.This equates to 1/72 scale. The bases and blocks aremarked in a grid pattern. These tiles can be usedwith not only MicroTactix's own SimplyRoleplaying and Compact Combat games, but withany game system that uses a one-inch square systemfor movement.

Disclaimer We have made every effort to makesure that all the parts fit together properly, butsometimes tolerances are tight and mistakes dohappen. Test fit all pieces before applying glue.Some trimming may be required.

A Hint for Printing the Tiles and BlocksTo build the Terrain tiles, you must first print or

photocopy the parts to a good heavy card stock. Werecommend at least 65# cover stock, and heavier iseven better if you can find it.

Try using different colors of cardstock torepresent various types of terrain and conditions.Obviously, the land base and the blocks will need tobe printed on green card stock, and the water baseprinted on blue. However, you can use other colorsas well. Try using white stock for the land tiles torepresent snow. Or use red card for the water basesto make lava rivers and lakes. Tan card stock couldbe used to represent desert sands.

Tools RequiredBesides the printed pages, you will also need the

following tools and supplies:• Scalpel or sharp-bladed hobby knife• Scoring tool (optional) - dead ball point pens work

well, or just turn the knife blade over and scorethe line lightly.

Land Base Tile (page 4)Cut out the Base completely, then score and fold

the sides and glue tabs. Unless you are building aplain base with no hills or other accessories, do notglue the sides together - gluing the blocks to thebase is easier when the sides are left unglued. Onceall other details are glued to the base, glue the fourglue tabs inside the sides so the base stands 3/4inches tall.

• Metal ruler or straight-edge• Cutting surface - a self-healing cutting mat is just

wonderful, but a sheet of corrugated cardboard oreven heavy poster board will work as well.

• Glue - white glue, glue stick or wax stick. Doublesided cellophane tape also works, but may let goafter some time.

Cut out the four base locks, including the slot inthe center. These are assembled as standups with aslot in the center. (See Figure 1)

General Construction NotesWhite glue contains a good deal of water. Too

much glue will warp the card stock to a point whereit becomes almost unusable. If you use white glue,put a very thin coat on the glue tabs - the thinner thebetter. You can use a cotton swab or your finger tospread the glue thin. Remember to keep a damppaper towel handy to remove any excess glue.

Figure 1

Each part has been marked with a series of GrayLines that are Fold or Score lines. All Tabs whichare to be glued to hold the structures together are

Water Base Tile (page 5) Building HillsAs with the Land Base, cut out the Water Base

completely, then score and fold the sides and gluetabs. Again, leave the sides unglued until all streambank blocks are glued in place. Once all otherdetails are glued to the base, glue the four glue tabsinside the sides so the base stands 3/8 inches tall.This base is half the height of the land base so, oncethe banks (which are also 3/8 inch tall) are glued inplace, these tiles will match up with the land bases.Four more base locks are included on this page andare assembled as above.

Once you have some land bases and blocksassembled, it is time to use them. Of course, youcan leave the base bare and use it for flat, openspace, or place trees (glue or not, it's your option)on it to represent woods.

To make the hill bases and have them be reallyuseful, they have to be geomorphic - that is, theyshould fit together no matter which way you put twoor more bases together.

For gently sloping hills, use a two square step. Inother words, along outside edges, the first layer willbe only four blocks long. The second layer will betwo. See figure 2.Blocks (pages 6-9)

Each blocks is just a simple box. Cut out andscore along the gray lines, then glue the corner tabs.Fold the tabs on the open side (the bottom) to theinside - these are used to blue the blocks to the base.If two blocks will end up touching each other, applya layer of glue to the side that will be in contactwith an adjacent block. This will make the basesmuch stronger.

figure 2Stream Banks (pages 10-15)

Stream banks are more complex blocks, but arebuilt in much the same manner as the regular blocks.As always, start by cutting the piece out and scoringalong the gray lines. The long tails will fold in andform the wall under the uneven edge of the block.Glue each segment in place before moving on to thenext segment. Once all segments are glued to thetop, glue the end tab(s) to the walls and glue theother two corner tabs in place.

For steeper hills, use a one square step. Thus,along the outside edges, the first layer will be fiveblocks long, the second four blocks, the third three,and the fourth two. See figure 3. Normally, youwould leave the fifth layer off to create something ofa peak. If you prefer, however, you can add the oneblock fifth layer.

Bridge (page 16)Cut out and score all three pieces. The two wall

sections are identical, so build both just the sameway. Fold the base around and glue to form arectangular tunnel. Fold the top section down andglue to both sides on each end. Fold the end piecesin and glue. figure 3

With both walls built, fold the floor so the tabsare sticking up. These will glue inside the short sideof each wall section. Fold the two ends down tomatch the slope of the bridge and glue the floor inplace.

If you want to make higher hills, use two (forgentle hills) or three (for steep hills) land bases,glued one on top of the other. To do this, you'll wantto add a glue tab to the outside edge of the topbase(s). Then continue your hills as high as you like.Alternately, you can glue two bases together for thesteep hills or use a single base for the gentle hills,and just use them as risers, placing another hill orbase piece on top of the riser.

Trees (pages 17-18)Cut and score each tree section. Fold in half and

glue so that there is a tree showing on each side ofthe piece. Press under a heavy book until the glue isdry to prevent warping. Once dry, score both verticallines on each of the two tree sections. This willcreate a small flat section in the middle. Glue thesetwo flat sections together so that the tree looks likean "X" from overhead. If you like, you can cut thetree from its surrounding cardstock and fold thebottom tab out to glue to a base.

Note that hills don't always have to stairstep -you can make small cliffs by having a rise of two ormore blocks.

Building Streams • Add pairs of tiles, each with one 2x6 straightto make the above pond larger. If the pondor lake is too large, place one or morewater bases with no blocks in the center.

You have two options when building streams. Youcan use the blocks, or you can use the stream bankblocks. Each method has its advantages - with theblocks, you can make any shape you like, while thefixed banks look better and always match up.

If you decide to use the blocks to build astreambed, always use the two inch rule - whereverthe stream exits a tile, it will be two inches wideand always take up the center two squares of theedge (See figure 4). You don't have to follow thisrule, but if you don't, the stream tiles will not matchup with each other.

• Substitute two 2x2 corners for one 2x6straight to add a stream mouth to the pondor lake.

figure 4

The stream bank blocks come in three differentbasic shapes - 2x6 long banks, 2x2 corner banks, andthe larger "L" shaped 6x6 banks. These can be usedsingly or in combination to build over 5000 differenttiles. Some suggestions:

• Four tiles, each with a single 2x2 cornerinside a pond or lake will form an island.Add pairs of tiles with 2x6 straights tomake the islands larger. Don't forget to useland bases to fill in any gaps inside theisland.

• Two 2x6 banks to form a straight streambed.• One 6x6 "L" and one 2x2 corner to make a

curving streambed.• One 2x6 straight and two 2x2 corners to

make a "T" fork.• Build two tiles, each with only one 2x6

straight to form a larger stream or smallriver. Add water bases with no blocks tomake even wider rivers.

• Four tiles, each with a 6x6 "L" bank to forma small pond. Other Building Options

You can build larger, self contained hills forwargaming (such as with Budget Battlefield). Forthese hills, start with a large sheet of paper orcardstock as the base. Then, using the blocks, buildyour hill in any shape and size you like. You canalso cheat, and use the water base, printed on greencardstock, as a 6x6 block - just add glue tabs to thefour sides. Remember to glue the blocks not just tothe blocks below, but also to any adjacent blocks. Ifbuilt in this fashion, the hill will be just as sturdy asany foam construction.

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©2001 MicroTactix Gameswww.microtactix.com

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Documents

MTX - DCT1001 - Dirt Cheep Terrain - Basic Set