I haven’t been painting lately, but I’ve been planning! After some difficulties with my plastic printer, I am finally back up and running and printing off some Soviet buildings to help me build out a board for Zona Alfa. Specifically, I’m using a series of buildings from Patrick Miniatures on MMF. He has some great, clean designs for Soviet era stuff, often specifically tagged for Zona Alfa.

But the question is always: how much do I need? Obviously, in a vacuum, the answer is always “More is better,” but unfortunately I have a basement with limited space and need to budget these projects into bins. For now, it’s going in a “Small bin” and I need to space it accordingly. To help me plan this I use my favorite tool: Excel.

I start by making a blank board where every square is one inch. This is a 4×4′ board, so 48×48″. It’s simple enough: highlight the columns you want, then set their width to 2.5–this creates a series of squares you can work with. From there, I think about the terrain I have and how I might lay it out. I go about it just like laying down a table: I start with the roads and areas of major greenery, then think about the buildings.

I then think through a few buildings for the board. I try to use a few generic “Houses” that can fit most scenes, then one or two defining pieces for the board. For this first run, we’re using some guard posts and a bus stop to be our big “Thing.”

Most things are labeled. Black is high fencing (concrete walls) and pink/purple is areas where I expect I’ll need some scatter. This helps me think through what I really need to make a worthwhile board. A good chunk of this map can be generic things I use across maps: maybe some modern style shanties, or a small garage to fill some “Scatter” space. Perhaps I use barrels, trees, or garden bits and bobs to fill some things out. The parking lots invite cars–I intend to paint around 10 or so. As I look at it, I also think about what might be useful–for instance, small barriers around the parking lots. That would provide cover and help set the scene.

Then I zoom in a bit and try to think of what scatter really works. Here for the “Bigger house” I would probably lay out some benches and greenery. If I think of it as an apartment building, perhaps a vending machine might work. I’ll continue to mull this as I review my existing scenery and think about what I want to print exclusively for this setting. Another obvious choice often present in these settings would be a playground–but I admit I find that a little macabre.

As another example, we can zoom in on the parking lot. As I look it right now, I realize there’s a pretty big kill zone here–across the road behind the bus station. Imagine someone in the big house shooting all the way across. That could be fine, but I might want to add more high walls. Right now the board has around 4ish feet of high walls, as an estimate–I could stand to print another 2 feet just fine. Alternatively, I might put together multiple layouts to help build that estimate. I could readily see 8 feet being necessary for a more industrial setup.

I also look at those pink spaces now and I struggle a bit to think of what to put there. This is where I might decide I need an eighth full sized building (not counting the checkpoints). Probably something short and one story, so it stores well. I’d also want to look at making this map without the reliance on large wooded area. That’s where I’d want to think through how I might bring a ton of scatter together to set a larger, 1×1′ scene.

And there you go. That’s how I think through terrain sets and boards. I just throw it in Excel with rough footprints and do my best to think through what it might look like if I rearrange or maneuver the pieces or blend them with other sets. For instance, I have a modern Arabic set that has pieces that could definitely fit into a Soviet style. I should look at how those might blend. Done right, I can maximize what one bin is capable of doing by mixing with contents of other bins. Well planned terrain brings about many different options over time, in my mind. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve chosen to maximize for in this makeshift MCDA.

Alright, I’ve delayed enough. I have a leak and I’m testing sources, so writing this article out has proven to me that both my shower and the dish washer aren’t the causes. Onto the next one before my house starts to look like it belongs on a post-apocalyptic terrain board.