Modular 3D hex terrain-system project: Open WarHex

[GarageBay9]

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:976743

Hey folks...

Wanted to drop by to get the word out about a project of mine I just uploaded to Thingiverse.  I own a plastic filament 3D printer and have access to other 3D printing, CNC mills, and plastic injection equipment at my job, so combined with 10 years of 3D modeling and art background, I found myself in kind of a unique position when my son and I dusted off my old BT stuff earlier this year and got back into it after many many years.

Long story short, I love the look of fully detailed terrain layouts, but the hexless rules feel cumbersome for me and Alpha Strike is slightly oversimplified for my tastes.  HeroScape terrain has a lot of potential, but going on 5 years out of print, it's more than I want to spend for the size of terrain library I'd like to have.  So my solution was... make my own modular hex system for detailed 3D terrain layouts, and design it so I can make it in volume.

I also included what I feel is a nifty feature, a modular ring that fits in the edge gutter of each hex.  You can build trees, smoke, fire, walls, whatever you want onto a module ring, and it fits onto any hex in the layout.  Plus, it's designed so that generally, there's still enough room in the center for the miniature to occupy the hex.  Presto - a light woods hex that looks filled with light woods, but a Mech can still stand in the middle of the trees.  (I should probably see if I need to patent that...)

Then I figured, "why just me?".  So I decided to make it an open source project, similar to OpenForge, which has turned out some fantastic stuff.  After some bantering back and forth with my 11-year-old son, we hit on the name Open WarHex for the banner of the project.  Anyone who wants to design compatible parts is welcome to contribute them to Thingiverse and use that name.  I'm not selling this; it's an open project, similar to Linux, or RepRap.

Currently single hexes, double hexes, seven hex circles, and the modular scenery base for the hex gutter - explained below - are available for download as .stl files.

Open WarHex: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:976743





Open WarHex is my personal project to make a modular, scenic terrain system for my tabletop gaming. I have a thermoplastic filament 3D printer and access to plastic injection molding equipment, and these are designed to be buildable both as additive 3D prints, and subtractive machined molds used for plastic injection in ABS.

UPDATE - 8/21 - Version 2! Pins on module ring eliminated by using self-centering contours on main hex. Gutter increased to 0.2". This provides more room for scenery details and more part strength. Per-tile height (minus central hex platform) reduced to .75". Three hex and twelve hex parts added. All parts have been revised to new specs, so please update any local copies.

The Open WarHex is a 1.35" (nominal 1.5") hex with a .2" gutter, for a full diameter of 1.75". Height per layer is .75" The gutter allows for seamless and secure vertical stacking. The gutter also features a self-centering contour for a secondary modular ring base that complex scenery additions such as forest lines or smoke walls can be built on. This allows the hex to be surrounded with modular, movable scenery or details, but leaves ample room in the center for a miniature to still occupy the hex itself.

These terrain pieces can create an awesome, three-dimensional, visually striking tabletop battlefield - especially with some finishing work, such as painting and flocking.

Current pieces include plain single and double hexes and the modular scenery ring. Triple hexes and twelve hex flat areas will be included soon. Compatible scenery parts such as flame hex markers, smoke columns, and other modules will be added over time. Specialty hexes such as roads, water, rough terrain, and others may also be added based on interest.

Anyone that wishes to make compatible hex or scenery parts is welcome to do so, under the Open WarHex banner.

I play tabletop BattleTech, but this terrain system is usable for a wide variety of tabletop games.

Feedback is appreciated! Please leave suggestions, experiences, critical failure analysis, gripes, squawks, wishlists, and any other input you feel could help improve and expand Open WarHex!

Please help me spread the word on this system so more people can try it, add to it, and improve it.  And if you have a 3D printer or have access to one, give it a shot yourself!  I'm hungry for feedback.  I want this to hopefully evolve into something BT players everywhere can always go find and grab for their games and their collection.   :)

[Cache]

Nice concept, expecially the tree 'rings'.  Since you mentioned Heroscape, is this in any way compatible?

[GarageBay9]

Thanks!  Glad you like it.   ;D

It will stack vertically with HeroScape, but is twice as tall and does not have the interlocking edges (which are patented).  I made some deliberate design choices that split off from HeroScape for a couple of reasons:

- It made the design easier to make injection molds of eventually, given my level of "engineering" skill.
- I wanted the gutter area HeroScape uses for their interlocking edges for my own nefarious purposes, which ended up being the modular ring.
- Once a terrain layout is put together, I really don't find it shifting much even with occasional bumps and pokes, so I didn't feel having everything latched together was truly crucial.
- I don't want to get a cease and desist from Hasbro - even though this project isn't a commercial venture and the digital files will always be available for free, I don't trust their lawyers to not misinterpret it (or more likely, fail to grasp the difference).

In some quick experimenting, it looks like they don't have enough clearance to have HeroScape tiles go next to them; the tabs on HS tiles protrude into the adjoining hexes (to fit the corresponding grooves), so there's about 1/16" of crash there that keeps it from working.  I used that space for my modular scenery ring instead, on the top of the hex.

The upside there is that for the cost of ABS and how simple these are, I could probably make myself an entire terrain library worth of hex pieces for less than $50 worth of raw plastic.  The paint and flock to finish them would literally cost more, if I bought commercial flock from Woodland Scenics or similar.

[GarageBay9]

Added Depth 1, Depth 2, and Depth 3 hex pieces tonight before I closed down the house for the evening.  :)

These are meant to be used without hexes above them, although Depth 1 and Depth 2 will still stack (Depth 3 will not, it has a flat base). The central hex area is recessed instead of raised, to help the miniature feel submerged. All three will accept a scenery module ring.

[john blackwell]

It's a fabulous design.  I would never want to rain on such a superb project, but this does high-light a challenge I faced developing my terrain for Heroscape.  Have you considered how to do forests on consecutive hexes or a clearing within a forest?  This one gave me fits for a while.  I came up with the simplest idea I could, but there is likely something better.

How have you addressed it?

JB

[vidar]

Do you have CAD files? I really like base but was thinking of other things I could model on top, like buildings and bridges.

[ScrapYardArmory]

I'd love to see these printed with some IWM 'Mechs for scale.

Looks very interesting.

[GarageBay9]

It's a fabulous design.  I would never want to rain on such a superb project, but this does high-light a challenge I faced developing my terrain for Heroscape.  Have you considered how to do forests on consecutive hexes or a clearing within a forest?  This one gave me fits for a while.  I came up with the simplest idea I could, but there is likely something better.

How have you addressed it?

JB

I actually stumbled across your old thread - http://bg.battletech.com/forums/terrain/and-so-it-begins-%28update-322%29/ - which pointed me towards HS originally and then off on this tangent.  I liked the way you tackled woods overlays, with the triangular tiles:



I could tell that was kind of a compromise solution because of the shape of the Heroscape tiles, though.  I still think it looks good!

I got the idea for my solution from looking at some nicely designed packaging for a toy somewhere, where the front plastic had a low building printed on it to depict a "close" building, then the figurine, and then skyscrapers on the back of the interior of the box.  I really liked the layered effect it created, and what struck me most is that it gave a sufficiently visually satisfying sense of "surroundedness" even though it was just a thin layer of detail.  That's what steered me to the idea of having a "ring" of scenery that surrounded each hex but didn't actually occupy it, so the miniature could stand in the middle and LOOK like it was in a forest without actually having to crunch through a forest.  It'd even be possible to make small plugs of trees that occupy that center hex when a mini isn't in there, if you really wanted to go whole hog.  But to get that effect, I had to diverge from the HeroScape tile that had been my starting point.  I love the way your flocked tiles look but their geometry wasn't going to work for what I was chasing.

HeroScape is a 1.75" circumscribed hex with a (roughly) .125" gutter that has areas on each edge as narrow as .05" and as wide as .2", for the interlocking edges.  That gutter is also very shallow; less than .1".  The central hex surface is also huge compared to a standard CBT hex base - I took calipers to my minis, and the Ral Partha hex bases I have are only 1.35" corner to corner (circumscribed).  That gave me a lot of room to work with.

So I ditched the interlocking edges - as much to stay away from that patent as to serve my own purposes - and made a consistent .2" gutter around a 1.35" circumscribed hex.  That gave me a 1.75" hex that I could drop a solid ring around, and build whatever I wanted onto that ring.  The geometry of the gutter is also designed to retain the ring from sliding, and to be self-centering, so it naturally stays in place.  It also meant I could put multiple rings next to each other, because the ring bases themselves don't protrude into surrounding hexes.  The volume of the tree canopies might a little, but those can usually be wiggled or slightly squished to fit, or the ring can be rotated a hex side until things seem to fit.

That way you can put as many scenery rings with light / heavy woods on them next to each other as you want.  Any hex in the midst of that which doesn't have a gutter ring is clear, and if you want to go whole hog, you can make central plugs of woods that sit on the exposed hex area inside the ring when a unit isn't occupying it.

Not sure if all of that precisely answered your question, but that's what my thought process was / is.   :)

Do you have CAD files? I really like base but was thinking of other things I could model on top, like buildings and bridges.

All the .stl files are downloadable from the link at the top, which goes to the Thingiverse page for this project.  I model in 3dsmax, but .stl is a very wide standard and lots of different programs should be able to open it or interpret it.  Can't wait to see what you make! :D  Remember to upload and tag them as Open WarHex compatible!

I'd love to see these printed with some IWM 'Mechs for scale.

Looks very interesting.

As soon as I have a cohesive set of prototypes that are visually presentable and not just plain black ABS or uncolored gypsum powder, you bet I'm going to post pictures.   O0

[john blackwell]

It took me a bit, and I went back to your image to process it.  So the ring actually only reaches halfway between elevated hexes so you can place rings on adjacent hexes if you wish.

Fantastic!  It solves one problem I couldn't solve, how to place trees around a hex without covering the original hex surface.  Marvelous! 

I am looking forward to seeing some finished tiles.

Bravo!
JB

[GarageBay9]

It took me a bit, and I went back to your image to process it.  So the ring actually only reaches halfway between elevated hexes so you can place rings on adjacent hexes if you wish.

Fantastic!  It solves one problem I couldn't solve, how to place trees around a hex without covering the original hex surface.  Marvelous! 

I am looking forward to seeing some finished tiles.

Bravo!
JB

Thanks! :D  Believe it or not, it's a real morale booster that the person whose work semi-inspired this project likes it so much.

I've got a zcorp printed prototype right now that isn't painted or finished, but does show what the seven hex circle looks like next to minis.  I'll try to get pictures up later (have a Jeep to wrench on quick first).  I also made a minor tweak to the module ring to improve the fit tolerance between it and the hexes - it may or may not end up being necessary long term, we'll see what we get in ABS from my FDM printer.

[GarageBay9]

Small update...

Have some FDM 3D printed prototypes of individual hexes.  I also have some of the multi-hex pieces printed; I'll get pictures of those later.

Here are some single hexes, with and without the modular scenery ring, and a Depth 1 hex (less than the full height of the standard hex, and recessed center to make the mini look partially submerged).  Surface finish quality on these is nowhere close to what an injection molded version would look like, but it does show scale, and the nice clean fit of the scenery rings.   :)

Left is standard single hex with ring, right is standard single hex without ring, bottom left is scenery ring itself, bottom right is Depth 1 hex (recessed center)

[GarageBay9]

Ok - I have a good sized number of prototypes 3D printed on my printer, so time for pictures!



Sample layout with all the different pieces used, for demonstration. (Colors are simply filament differences and aren't representational of different terrain types or anything)




Sample layout shown with PlasTech miniature for scale.




Close-up of sample layout showing modular scenery rings in place on various hexes. In this case, white and black rings were deliberately put on contrasting hexes simply for ease of visibility in the photo, since I'm using my potato phone camera.




Sample layout with PlasTech miniature shown for scale.




These are a small addition to the core Open WarHex system, and are Depth 1, Depth 2, and Depth 3 hexes (Depth 3 is the shortest). They are recessed below the normal hex height to give a visual sense of submersion to the miniature. I am sourcing some translucent blue filament or plastic to try printing these with - should look awesome.




Close-up of a single hex with a modular scenery ring in place.




The main pieces of Open WarHex:
- Single Hex
- Double Hex
- Triple Hex
- Seven Hex circle
- Twelve hex field
- Modular scenery ring

Also shown, in mid lower right:
- Depth 1 hex
- Depth 2 hex
- Depth 3 hex



Single hex




Double and Triple hexes




Seven hex circle




Twelve hex field




All pieces with PlasTech miniature shown for scale.



Close-up of the single hex with modular scenery ring and miniature in place, showing room for miniature in center and remaining room available to build scenery onto the modular ring.




Close-up of modular scenery rings in adjacent hexes to show placement compatibility.




Demonstrating stackability.


Progress continues...

[Elbows]

While it's neat, what are the plans for production?  3D printing a table's worth would be hugely expensive (unless you have the materials/machinery yourself).  I also see a lot of issues in every thread with terrain placement.  Why not simply increase the size of the hexes by 50%?  It would of course increase the table space needed, but would solve a TON of problems.

While your mech fits in the center, it's a Catapult with no arms, and not the crazy huge miniatures that have been coming out lately.  Even trees on the scenery ring would become problematic with a lot of mechs.

If a system like this was cheap as chips and was simple hard plastic I think there'd be a lot of merit to the idea. 

[worktroll]

Two thoughts:

1) I'd remove the "slope" from the raised hex centres - the layering just looks a bit bleh.
2) I assume that the hex pieces are hollow underneath, in order to minimise plastic consumption? If so, are there any possibilities to use an upside-down normal hex to represent L1 or L2 water?

And I have to echo Elbows; 1.5" or 2" hexes would be infinitely better for playing on, but of course increase the volume - a 2" hex would use 4 times the plastic as a 1.25" hex, even allowing both to be hollow inside.

Do you have any idea on the production cost per hex in terms of plastic consumption, not counting your time, or the electricity?

Also, PMing you a link - there are people out there kickstarting projects where the deliverables are .STL files, not actual product.

W.

[GarageBay9]

Elbows, don't want you to feel like I skipped your post, so I rolled answers to your post into some of my answers to worktroll here...

Two thoughts:

1) I'd remove the "slope" from the raised hex centres - the layering just looks a bit bleh.

The slope is designed to make the scenery rings self-center when placed around a hex, and to keep stacked hexes from shifting.  I'll experiment with different contours, but I'm hesitant to remove them completely since they're primarily functional.  If I land on a less obtrusive solution, I'll probably go that way.  My original design had a thinner, narrower ring with locating pins, but when I got it 3D printed it was so thin and the pins were so small that I immediately scrapped that design and started over.  I'm only attached to the functional end result, not that specific appearance.

I just found out I'm getting laid off in about a week (yay.  :-[) so experimentation time will be sparse, but I will try a thinner ring in ABS with a lower center hex area.

2) I assume that the hex pieces are hollow underneath, in order to minimise plastic consumption? If so, are there any possibilities to use an upside-down normal hex to represent L1 or L2 water?

Actually... I have dedicated hex pieces for that!  O0  Yes, the main modules are hollow underneath, mainly for stacking and printing concerns on my single-extruder printer.  I made dedicated reduced-height single hexes, with recessed instead of raised central hex areas, for Depth 1, 2, and 3 water.

And I have to echo Elbows; 1.5" or 2" hexes would be infinitely better for playing on, but of course increase the volume - a 2" hex would use 4 times the plastic as a 1.25" hex, even allowing both to be hollow inside.

The limiting factor is actually the build volume of my personal printer which I use for my prototypes (280mm diameter cylinder), and engineering concerns for the flow dynamics of injection molds.  The more square inches the part footprint of a mold takes up, the more tons of injection pressure you need for a good injection stroke - about 3 to 5 tons per square inch.  More tons equals more expense for an injector that can keep up.  1.5" or 2" hexes would start pushing the twelve hex field piece, which is the upper limiting factor, close to the size of an 8.5x11 piece of paper, and that's potentially in the neighborhood of needing a 500 ton press  :o.  I was planning on 20 tons, using a converted shop press and pneumatic bottle jack.

I'd originally envisioned this as a hybrid system that brought the aesthetic 3D appeal of hexless terrain maps to the original hex-based system, but if the demand is there for larger-format hexes...  Well, shoot, cutting more geometry in 3dsmax doesn't cost me a thing except time.   :)

Do you have any idea on the production cost per hex in terms of plastic consumption, not counting your time, or the electricity?

I can get a readout of how much filament material each part takes and the print time of each during gcode generation, but I'm not comfortable even brushing past the subject of cost or price given board rule 10.  Sorry.

Also, PMing you a link - there are people out there kickstarting projects where the deliverables are .STL files, not actual product.

W.

Got it.  Thanks!  Will take a look in more detail.  I'd have to think a bit about how to make a kickstarter work with my desire to always keep the STL files open source.  I suppose beyond that, it'd need to be brainstormed in more depth on another site.

[GarageBay9]

RouseauWorks has posted a YouTube video review of Open WarHex!  I didn't even know this was happening until it popped up as an autocomplete in a different google search I was doing.  Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHQYE46uuRg

[MidfieldMarauder]

Hello!

I'm doing my first test print of the single hex right now. I think I scaled it too big, but we'll see. Heh heh. I'm still really new to 3D printing. (Like, day 3 new.)

Open WarHex looks like great stuff. Thank you for the work on it!

[GarageBay9]

Hello!

I'm doing my first test print of the single hex right now. I think I scaled it too big, but we'll see. Heh heh. I'm still really new to 3D printing. (Like, day 3 new.)

Open WarHex looks like great stuff. Thank you for the work on it!

Good luck with the print!  From my experience, every print is a new adventure until you figure out the file's quirks. :)  Thanks for giving my project a try - remember to post pictures of the end result on Thingiverse under the Open WarHex page!  I want to see how it turns out, and we can also help troubleshoot if it's being stubborn.

I print in Repetier Host, and there is a measuring tool that shows the bounding box dimensions of an object before slicing / gcode generation.  That should help you check scaling before committing to a print.  I'm not sure if other printing frontends (like Pronterface) have that same tool, but I'd be surprised if they don't.

[MidfieldMarauder]

Ended up having an issue with that printer, and it had to be returned.

I'm getting a new one that should be in some time next week. Hopefully, after not too much fiddling, I'll be able to re-start and resume my participation in Open WarHex.

[MidfieldMarauder]

Ok, new printer up and running (long story, just say that I made a good replacement choice).

Below are my first Open WarHex prints with the Wanhao Duplicator i3. I printed on Fast and sliced the image with Simplify3D. Hexes are printed in Matter Hackers PLA, Grey.

Going to set a much longer print to go tonight, so more hexes on the way!

[GarageBay9]

Those are some really nice looking prints, Marauder.  Seriously, those are gorgeous.  What kind of layer height and and mm/s traverse rate was that running at?

[MidfieldMarauder]

Had some time for a few more prints, so I thought I'd throw them up here. I plan to have a lot more in the coming weeks as I print out a collection.

Comments: I am still playing around with retraction speed and distance settings, which I believe is the cause of the slight imperfections in these hexes. For these prints I had the retraction distance set to 1.0mm and the speed set to 23.3mm/sec.

[GarageBay9]

Finally started restocking my hobby supplies with some flock and foliage - going to try and get some of my prototypes gussied up here shortly to show what they can look like finished.  :)

[GarageBay9]

New objects - Baseplates and multi-hex modular rings!

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1477149

Baseplates are intended to lay out the ground layer of a game map, to allow wider coverage if you don't want to print (or lug around) enough full-height parts for the first layer.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1477178

Multi-hex modular rings allow larger areas of 3D scenery types to be built and moved at once, for multiple hexes of woods, smoke, mines, you name it.