I actually experimented quite a bit with using magnetic tape. I had thought about going the magnetic paint route or with a sheet of metal, but hadn't carried it any further than putting the tape on the part bases.

There's a thread around here somewhere discussing this.

Skunk

You wanna be alright you gotta walk tall
Long Beach Dub Allstars & Black Eyed Peas

Check out what games I’m working on and their status by visiting .

Alright, I got the tape. Haven't had time to cut anything yet. 1st issue: magnetic tape will only stick to itself at the half-way point and only in two directions. The other two fit flush, but have almost no attraction. SO, this means the pieces will have the tape and I will have to use...something...on the board. My first thought is washers, but I will have to experiment to see if that would work. Second possibility is to find specific polarity magnetic tape. Not sure it exists.

<edit>Found it...in rolls only. Time to start looking for...uh...smaller rolls.

Michael's was carrying magnetic tape in their stores, so if you have one near you Kane, you might want to check there. I don't remember how big the roll is, but I'm pretty sure it's not 100'!

Skunk

You wanna be alright you gotta walk tall
Long Beach Dub Allstars & Black Eyed Peas

Check out what games I’m working on and their status by visiting .

FWIW, I got a magnetic white board and used that to lay my tiles on when I went through this. You can see pics of what I did at:

http://haggard.dhorizon.org/gallery2/v/ ... 5/album60/

I also played around with gluing 7x7 tiles directly to the floppy magnetic sheets that you can get to print on or glue on. This works pretty well, but I think I need to use better glue, I used spray adhesive and it mostly stuck, but some of the corners would come up when pulling them off the white board.

Pictures of this technique can be found in this album:

http://haggard.dhorizon.org/gallery2/v/ ... ckensCove/

This could be a lower-buy-in solution. Found a product called FlexIRON or Rubber Steel. In the long run its the same price, but you can buy it by the foot from or in 5"x10" sheets from . Think I'll call the local hobby shop as they carry GF9 products. If not, its fairly cheap. For my plans, I would be using 1/2"x1/2" pieces, so this would go a LONG long way.

I went to the litko site and you are quite right. But a 20"X30" gameboard would require 600 squares. That is $60 bucks and that just covers the board. It would be another $60 at least for the pieces. Is that really inexpensive compared to velcro? I'll admit I haven't priced velcro yet, but even I, who isn't one to balk at a lot of what gaming costs, have some reservations about dropping $120 on a gameboard set up. I might still do it, but I'd definitely be wincing.

Okay, I bought some velcro dots 45 @ 4.99 at Wal-Mart.
I just looked at the www.custom-magnets.com site mentioned above and they have 50'X1" rolls for $12.50. If you went with 1" squares I think they would make nicer looking bases and you could get 600 squares which would cover a 20x30 board. I would go for that white background metal board and attach the magnets to the models.
If you decide to go the 1/2" route than you have to get a 100' roll and it costs $15.57.
The only unknown as far as I can tell is how well the magnets hold. does anyone know?
I'm not too concerned about the weight of the board as I don't think it would be prohibitive in any event. The bulkiness of the models would be my primary concern.

As a further savings it occurs to me that if you are going to mount a printed sheet to foam-core there is really no need to print it on card-stock. Perhaps there is a compelling reason not to. I don't know. Has anyone tried it that way?

I just went to order that 100' of magnetic tape for $15. It was $10 for the shipping! Maybe tomorrow...

Well, I forked over the $25 and got the 50' of 1" magnetic tape from [url]custom-magnets.com[/url] AND I picked up a couple of cheapo dri-erase/magnetic boards (the boards aren't magnets, just metal) that are 17"X23"(not ideal, but man-portable) for under $15 at Wal-Mart.

I went ahead and printed up one sheet of everything and just got done assembling it all. It works really well. I'll now try to determine a reasonable assortment of wall and floor sections and start building those. I can't wait to try them out!

I'm now eagerly awaiting the release of 4th edition D&D and I am eagerly assembling my chunky dungeon stuff to use with 4E. Let's just say I'm eager.

I'm so excited about this magnetic stuff that I am planning on making a masterboard out of sheet metal and putting hills and stuff on that. It is not as straight forward as it sounds, but I think it can be done... Its a hobby thing.

The wobbli-ness of the velcro solution is whats got me turned off it. I know it doesn't really affect gameplay, but I guess I'm a bit OCD. They wobble if I touch them and they never line up perfectly. I decided that the magnetic masterboard was probably a bad idea and am experimenting with a hidden tie system (like the Dwarven stuff, but underneath). Will see about posting pictures soon. I have a few tiles cut out, but no textures applied yet. Between jobs right now, so can't afford the mini-chunk set just yet. I suppose I could just print up ChunkyD floor tiles at 66% for now and just not do walls until I get mini-chunk.

I finally got around to making an alternative Masterboard using a 20"x30" section of foamcore covered in felt. I am much happier with this than the all Velcro solution. Plus, it is insanely economical. I purchased one yard of 72" felt for $2.99. Of course you still need several feet of the hook portion of Velcro (can you buy this separately?). I am planning on making another board this week.

Mark