Easy Caribbean Board

How-to guide for making a Caribbean themed Wargaming table.

When it comes to wargaming tables, there is not much in the way of readily available Caribbean-themed or 16th/17th century pirate-themed terrain or play mats on the market so I decided that I was going to make my own to be used with my upcoming game called Skull and Brimstone. However, after attending Adepticon 2017, Nick and I found this AMAZING game called Blood & Plunder by Firelock Games that this will work perfectly for as well.

Blood & Plunder is a historical pirate game set in the Golden Age of Piracy. If you haven’t checked it out, please do so here: http://www.firelockgames.com/

They are a team of great folks making an amazing game that keeps growing and growing.

If you are looking for Skull and Brimstone (a fantasy pirate game), you will have to wait a little bit. I am currently in the talks with some publishers to help it get released but I am looking for playtesters if you are interested. For playtesting, email me at hammerfistgs@gmail.com.

Ok. I have babbled on long enough. Let’s make a table!

This is going to be very short and simple so there is not much for a drawn-out post.

Step One: Gather your paints.

Most of this is spray paint but you will need a few craft paints as well for this. Other tools needed are a sponge, a paint brush used for miniatures (size 2 works just fine), and some acrylic floor shine.

The paints are Rust-Oleum Satin Lagoon, Rust-Oleum Satin Oasis, black spray paint, Rust-Oleum Satin Nutmeg, and Rust-Oleum Satin Cinnamon (not pictured). For the regular paints it is Apple Barrel New Shampoo and Apple Barrel Burnt Umber. The picture below it is the floor shine product used in the later step.

Step Two: Tone down your board.
Take your table pieces, in this case thin plywood, and tone it down with random patterns of black, nutmeg, and cinnamon until you cover a good portion of the board. Let it dry.

Step Three: Spray the Lagoon Color.
Keep your spray even and consistent. You want to cover any exposed wood and leave only a small hint of the tones you laid down to show through. Let it dry. You may need to repeat this step a few times until you are happy with it.

Step Four: Spray the Oasis Color.
This is a quick and random layer of Oasis blue that will help highlight the board. I did this by erratically waving the spray can about for a few seconds in each burst. It is important to keep the can moving so you do not lay down a totally opaque spot on the board. Let it dry completely.

Step Five: Paint in details.
For this step I used a small mix of green and brown to create what could look like water vegetation or schools of fish. Simply mix the paint to your liking and then add small swoops to the board in whichever patterns you like until you are happy. Once they are laid down with the green/brown mix, go over it again with just the green, laying the green over the swoops you put down. Let it dry.

Step Six: Apply the acrylic wash.
This step is going to be 5 parts acrylic floor wax to 1 part green paint. You should have a milky consistency like this:

Using the sponge, apply the wash to the board. to get a variance, after applying the first coat of the wash, go over it again with more wash in a broad, sweeping motion with your whole arm.

This may take a few coats to get the consistency you like. You do not need to let the coats dry in between. Just give the coats a few moments in between to cure a bit.