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After playing Frag for a while, we decided we'd like a bit more flexibility in the maps that were available to us. So one week when trying out Jeremehovah's Aliens Vs Predator Frag variant we used Games Workshop's Space Hulk map tiles rather than one of the pre-printed maps. The experiment turned out extremely well. Not only did the tiles work, but they allowed us to alter the maps slightly as the night went on making each game different.

The one limitation inherent to using the Space Hulk tiles is that they are very tightly enclosed, with no real options for open spaces or outdoor sections. With that in mind I decided to try my hand at creating some custom map tiles.

With flexibility being important, I originally designed a large number of 3 by 3 tiles, each with a different layout - wall sections, corridors, junctions, rooms, outdoor tiles etc. Whilst this would provide a huge variety of playable maps, I eventually decided that it would also lead to a very large number of tiles being required, along with a large amount of time spent setting up any new map.

Finally I decided on a compromise, taking the 3 by 3 tiles that I'd designed and using them to create a smaller number of varied 9 by 6 tiles. Each of the tiles had the exits located at fixed positions on each tile side, so that any tile could link with any other tile.

To go with the tiles I created a few stand up doors, some open and some with lock indicators on either one or both sides. These could then be positioned in any doorway or along any corridor.

The map tiles (and the doors) were all made by printing the designs onto normal paper and then spray mounting them onto card. To increase number of tiles available for map design, without increasing the amount of card I'd need, I eventually made each tile double-sided.

The system has worked well and we've now used it for a number of games - not just Frag.

Map Tiles
Shown below are thumbnail images of all the tiles that have been created so far. On request, I've also now inlcuded links to larger, printable versions of the tiles - I'm not an artist, so these aren't the most decorative map tiles you'll ever see, but they work and they can be used to make an awful lot of different maps. Download & print them, or just use them for a bit of inspiration and create your own. It's not difficult to do and you can tailor things to your own gaming group's playing preferences.

Also included with the downloads are doors for use in any normal doorway or corridor, large closed & half-closed doors for use with the hangar, plus some blanking plates which can be used to seal off any doorway or corridor.

Downloads
All Map Tiles (Xara format) This ZIP file contains all the map tiles shown below, plus Doors and Blanking Plates, in their original vector format. This is the best format in which to recreate the tiles, but you'll require Xara-X, the package in which they were drawn, to use them.
All Map Tiles (WMF format) This ZIP file contains all the map tiles shown below, plus Doors and Blanking Plates, in a simplified vector format. The files are small and scale well for printing, but lose a lot of detail over the Xara or JPG versions.
Map Tiles 1 - 10 (JPG) This ZIP file contains the first 10 map tiles in JPG format.
Map Tiles 11 - 20 (JPG) This ZIP file contains the second 10 map tiles in JPG format.
Map Tiles 21 - 30 (JPG) This ZIP file contains the third 10 map tiles in JPG format.
Map Tiles 31 - 40 (JPG) This ZIP file contains the fourth 10 map tiles in JPG format.
Hangar Tiles and Doors (JPG) This ZIP file contains the Hangar map tiles, Doors and Blanking plates in JPG format.

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Garage/Hangar Tiles
For one particular game one of our group asked if it would be possible to have a large hangar, spanning several tiles. So the tiles shown below were created. The tiles can be linked together in 4 different ways, to make an 18 by 12 hangar/garage which has a large door on either the long or short side and an optional office/workshop space in the back corner. Additonally they can also be used to make an 18 by 12 room, with small doors on all sides and the office/workshop space in one corner.
Hangar 1 Hangar 2 Hangar 3 Hangar 4
Hangar 5 Hangar 6 Hangar 7 Hangar 8


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