Dwarvenite Mines

[jchunick]

I don't think there's any need to have the rails embedded either. But I have both the resin mining tracks from Psom that are embedded in a bit of a raised mound, and just the track pieces from the Twisting Catacombs Kickstarter. Here is what they each look like:

all-mine-pieces-800x775.jpg (517.84 KiB) Viewed 3630 times

mine-track-twisting-catacombs-KS.jpg (91.21 KiB) Viewed 3630 times

I like both, but I would say that the Psom stuff is much easier to lay down and have it say where it's placed. I know that I'm going to have to figure out a system for the twisting catacombs track... maybe base the tracks like how they're done with the Psom ones.

[dice4hire]

I would also like to see a new floor, wall and corner with mining motif, but everything else being accessory packs. No need to have embedded rails or the like in the dwarvenite.

Mostly I am thinking ease of use and production. Mined tunnels should sell well but maybe not with too much stuff that is non-removeable.

[bernyleung]

I think the best way to do mines for sake of modularity would be a new base 4x4 cavern floor sculpts with a magnetic plate in it, and then a series of free-standing wall and accessory sculpts with a metal strip base that can stick on the surface. Free-standing cavern sculpt walls can be standard vertical or any type of angle. Free-standing floor accessories can include rubble, cart tracks, stalagmites/columns, etc. Mine carts themselves won't need metal/magnet inserts.

[jackattack]

I'm not asking for complete historical accuracy, but I'd rather not see the same mine system that's already been done twice.

I'd also like some thought to go into the design, rather than defaulting to the mine cart design from Temple of Doom.

And while I support making rails an accessory, the water-erosion Caverns DF makes now will never pass for a mine.

As I've pointed out, though, mines can be done with as few as three unique pieces, or as a full set but with fewer unique pieces than the current Caverns.

[Mobius]

I'm very interested mines; however, I'm not interested in buying a whole bunch of new cavern tiles.

I want a system of dwarvenite mine tracks to lay on top of my existing cavern tiles. That gives so much more flexibility over new tiles with the mine tracks sculpted into them.

For jackattack's first post: I don't think many people would want to re-create historically-accurate medieval mines as they're a bit boring. Most of us are envisioning "Dwarven Mines" which are closer to Industrial/Victorian era mines.

[jackattack]

If mines are just for flavor in/off a natural cavern, then the only thing we really need is a narrow mine passage dead end. They could add a narrow mine passage (with wooden beam support at one end) and a 45 degree mine passage turn for deeper veins.

If we want mines to have right turns and intersections, we also get open mine chambers. The narrow passage 90 degree turn piece is a cavern corner, the T intersection piece is a straight wall, and the X intersection is a floor piece.

As long as there are pieces for cavern chambers, they might as well have a worked/mine elevation piece, a worked/mine column, piles of broken stone, and a cart (with removable contents?).

[AnimeSensei]

I would love some cavern walls with large crystals (clear) or a ruins wall like we have with the CBS stone sets so a cavern wall could crumble or get blown up. Something that can be assembled and then destroyed.

[Oldent]

I envision something like the narrow cave passage dead end section as a work section.

A few narrow passage like sections.

Track/floor sections, T and Y and + and dead end.

Walls
I think cave and mountain walls combined with a few wood beam sections would work well for longer tunnels.A new worked rock elevation block would round things out.

Do not forget that mines are important in castle sieges.

[jackattack]

Too many mine discussions to link (more than I care to, anyway) but here are a few of my notes to get us started.

Mine walls are rough-hewn and unfinished, formed with pick-axes and chisels for the express purpose of getting metal or minerals out of the rock (or removing the rocks with the metal and minerals in them to be extracted elsewhere). Mine passages typically follow natural veins, and are expanded to provide room for work to happen or for carts to pass.

Metal ores often look like flecks in stone, or smears on the walls. Minerals (gems) often look like stones set in the rock.

Medieval "rails" started out as wooden poles, not iron tracks. Also, a cart run over the same stone often enough will produce two parallel grooves in the stone.

Walls that accept inserts (kind of like the RotA intersections, or the portcullis pieces) would allow us to swap out different inserts with different metals or minerals painted onto them, so the same set can be used as a gold mine one session, and an emerald mine the next.

Other thoughts?