It almost feels weird to write this. I’ve been playing miniature wargames as my amin hobby for nearly a decade now and there’s been one terrain board I’ve always wanted to make but never got around to: the shipping crate board.

You know the one. It’s the common shootout board in a multiplayer game, where you climb over shipping containers and through catwalks, taking shots down tight alleyways that reward shotguns and SMGs. Snipers might be able to pick a lane but it’s really the home of the fast moving in-your-face player who intends to shoot first and count kills later.

I say this feels weird because, well, it’s not a complicated board. Get a bunch of containers—notoriously easy to print—and start stacking. Really, this isn’t that hard. As a person with a 3D printer I could have readily just printed forty of the darn things and made a whole 4×4 with ease. It’s also not hard to paint. Shipping containers are spray painted one color. Do a dark version of that color, dry brush up, and you could call it a day!

So it’s weird it’s taken so darn long for me to get to this. I’m planning a shipping container board for Halo: Flashpoint. As it turns out, there’s a few things to consider:

1. Just shipping containers is boring. You need ways to traverse them.
2. Just shipping containers is actually crazy dangerous, which will discourage movement. You need low walls to protect people.
3. You also just need some scatter so as to avoid it being a boring looking board.

Graciously, Flashpoint has an absolute hero among its fans who has made some excellent terrain to print off for free. Everything I’ll use for this board except for the bridge comes from:

https://makerworld.com/en/@heniganryan

Let’s get started.

First, we’re using his shipping containers modeled after containers from Halo. They come in 2×1 and 1×1 cube sizes. Perfect for filling out a board. To think this through, I did my usual method: I grabbed an Excel and created a set of columns that are 2.5 width, which makes them into cubes. Then, I set about color coding them:

I made a few mock maps and counted how many containers I used between the rectangular and square varieties. After doing so, I determined 10 rectangular and 6 square containers would cover just about every configuration I could think up. More isn’t necessarily bad, so I think I ended up with 12 and 7, just to give more options in how I build out.

The next issue is that when you look at these maps, you notice there’s more going on than just containers. To help fill out, I’m printing a bunch of scatter off Ryan’s page: the spool, the New Mombasa road blocks, and so on. He has some great options, down to in-universe barricades and everything. For the sides of the crates, I found a random low wall file in my files folder. Unfortunately, I don’t know its source, but the idea was simple: small, low walls that will sit on the edge of the shipping containers without falling over easily. I achieved it by printing these small walls that are about a centimeter in thickness.

I also wanted bridges that would fit the vibe but provide a touch of cover. After looking around, I found what I think is a reasonably clever solution:

This is a piece of a model railway girder bridge. I reshaped it to my liking so it would span one cube length and sit just enough on both ends to stay in place (so about 4″ in length). I raised the edges enough that they would provide cover from the side. I’ve got about 8 of these printed, so now we combine that with the shipping containers and we’ve got a map with proper layers.

I’ve actually already primed everything up, so I’m hoping to bust out a brand new board over the weekend. I did a few practice setups with the printed pieces before priming them and I’m confident it will work out quite well. I’m really quite hyped.

Again, it feels silly, but I’ve always wanted this map. Flashpoint plays on a 2×2′ board, so it just became an easy, small way to do this. My debate now is if I want to really make the creates look “in universe” with a stencil. I’m back and forth on the idea. A set of crates is really helpful for any setting, but stamping “UNSC” on the sides will really decrease their applicability across settings. We’ll see. But for now, I’m hoping by next week I’ve got shiny new crates to show off.

Because goodness knows I need actual content. My current class has kicked my butt so hard I haven’t painted in weeks!