Brittle landtiles, 2017

[CanScape]

So I cracked another 7 hexer the other day, and wondering why certain landtiles seem to like to crack more than others. It's plastic, it ages, I get that, but the DnD tiles seem not only much more resilient, but easier to fit together as well. Has anybody else noticed this? I'm very, very careful about taking apart maps these days, far more than before. So goes the land tiles, so goes Heroscape. I've read the articles about UV, heat, all that...but good ol' age is going to become a factor at some point. Just wonder if the guys at Hasbro were able to improve the 'recipe' so to speak about the plastic with the later sets. I haven't been able to check out the Marro tiles yet, but even with the original land tiles, I can see differences in colour that I'm sure have more to do with different plastic types than aging (some darker browns on the edges of the tiles than others).

[flameslayer93]

I don't know. The DnD stuff came it 2010 (I think?) so it is younger than RotV stuff. Age is a factor these days though.

[happyjosiah]

Yep, I think it's just age. Really sad. I've always viewed this as an heirloom game, but the reality is even Heroscape has a shelf life. All is dust.

[Dad_Scaper]

Yeah, it makes me sad. I haven't had problems with D&D tiles, yet, but I expect it's only a matter of time. I've been able to hot glue *most* of the broken ones back together to my own satisfaction, but obviously it's not the same. And some were shattered.

[bmon]

I've seen this a little bit with my own tiles, but all of my stuff is second hand. I assumed my brittle ones were a matter of lack of care by the previous owner.

Those that have experienced brittle tiles:

1) What do you store them in?
2) Where do you store them?
3) How long do they sit out for when you play?

I keep mine in opaque bins, in my cool dark basement storage room. I do let my maps sit out for a month or two at a time to play multiple times and make full use of setup/tear down times. However, reports like these have me at least consider throwing a sheet over the setups while they sit out. My gaming table is in the basement where there isn't a lot of sunlight, but there still is some.

I agree some of it is just old age, but I like to believe the worst of it is avoidable. Just want to implement best practice...

[Dad_Scaper]

Mine have always been stored in a cool dark space. Always. Years ago, sometimes I'd leave a map set up for a week or two, at most. But that was years ago.

[wriggz]

I'm hoping by the time it becomes a problem (I think the only time I used the bulk of my collection was building Helm's deep) I will have a 3D printer. For most of my games I'm maybe using 10% at most of my collection - especially since I started using the AotP sheets for bases. I doubt it will ever really be a problem in my lifetime, but I understand the concerns for people with smaller collections.

Sometimes I wonder what will happen to my collection when I'm gone. With a complete collection of multiple heroscape sets, not to mention a couple hundred C3V, C3G and personal customs it is a staggering number of mini's and terrain. I can't really imagine my kid having the same passion to keep it all, not to mention he will likely be older when I pass on. Hopefully it avoids a landfill and someone ends up enjoying it.

[CanScape]

For those that wanted to know, they're stored in plastic bins (the Sterilite ones from Walmart, stacked rolling tower) and maps aren't out longer than a 24 hour period. Basement, and the only heat they've been subjected to would have been in a moving truck...which is high heat, but still in bins with paper wadding within their moving boxes. And they were all subjected to that same heat, yet only some tiles are showing the weaknesses. I haven't had one crack in a while, so the Gawds of Luck must be with me!

[Pumpkin_King]

I’ve been lucky. Very few breakages so far in my stuff.

[TREX]

Broke two 24 hexes yesterday night on a free for all four player game at takedown. They cracked super easy and there wasnt anything I could do. The map had only been up for 2 hrs total. We literally did setup, played, and then takedown. Sad really.

[Dad_Scaper]

Aww. Especially because it was 24 hexers. What I've done is use terrain to keep the shape properly set and apply hot glue or Gorilla Glue to the bottom. It's worked so far, but it's still a shame to see them go.