The close-to-home location of Born to Game opened a few weeks ago, and I’ve already visited a few times to browse and have picked up a few minis and dice there. They’ve got a gaming room where they’re setting up recurring weekly sessions of a number of games, and one of the owners told me they’re going to try to offer the sessions for free for as long as they can.
In pursuit of my recent fascination with dungeon crafting, I’ve been trying to identify local sources for some of the items I’m likely to be using. We’ve got a couple of the big craft chains (and of course Walmart) in the area, but some of the more specialized items – such as terrain products like trees and flocking – are missing or limited in selection from those sources. But there’s another widespread hobby involving terrain building: model trains! While some gaming supply companies sell terrain bits, they’re often pricey or in small quantity compared to train stuff.
I’ve been thinking about making a fairly big generic flat grassy terrain board and then creating an assortment of terrain pieces that can be placed on it to add features and texture. I was considering getting some grass flocking and/or one of those grass-textured mats, and I could have ordered them online, but I really wanted to be able to see the colors & textures in person first. So with a quick Google search I discovered there’s a model train store hidden in an industrial park out on Elkton Road in Newark. Just Trains had a wall of terrain-crafting supplies right inside the front door! I picked up a piece of mat and a couple of shakers of different colored grasses; as my terrain projects progress I’ll probably visit again.