A Viking Great Hall for SAGA or Dark Age Wargames - Part One

A couple weeks ago we showed you the idea we had on how to build a Viking Great Hall to be used in SAGA or any Dark Age Wargames you prefer. We've made a little headway on the project and wanted to show what we have so far.

We had started with a cardboard mock up and decided to use the cardboard on the rooftops and front and back of the building. To sturdy up the upper walls we'll use luan and an interior support of foamcore. Why luan? Why not. Our reasoning was to make the removable roof sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear. Secondly it has a nice texture already, so no facing will need to be added.

So to hold the luan in place we cut two foamcore pieces to match the front and back of the building. They only go from the the upper floor level to the roof peak. We notched the area where the luan would rest.

Here are the pieces so far. The roof assembly will rest on the upper floor when in place. We wound up notching the upper balcony doorways from the foam so the doors would still be able to open when the roof is on.

Using a hot glue gun we attached the luan front and back and on both sides of the foamcore. Next we attached the roof panels, again using hot glue to withstand the usage. REMEMBER to dry fit everything before gluing your pieces together. It really stinks if you glue the second half on and find everything out of whack because one side is an inch longer.

 Next we cut the ground floor walls from foamcore and notched the ends to support the front and back walls.

Don't forget to cut out any windows or doors you plan on using before assembling the structure. For now we left one side of the cardboard doors attached to act as a hinge.

After the cuts were made we hot glued the walls together.

At this stage find a way to ensure the building is square. An easy way is to push it up aganst a wall and then lay a thick book on either end to form the right angles you want.

Now to add the balcony. We cut 1" by 1.5" rectangles from foamcore and then cut them diagonally. We cut a total of 20 triangles.

One for front and back and one every 2 inches. Make sure to measure the thickness of the floor and place your supports accordingly.

The floor was cut from black foamcore and will be lined with some wood material, maybe balsa or craft sticks.

With the roof firmly together we decided to add one gable on either side above a secondary entrances. Start with two triangles and score the center line to fold them.

You'll need to work out the angles depending upon the pitch of your roof.

Measure the center line for the gable and measure out equal distances for the lower points. This will also give you the measurement for the triangle face piece to fit inside.

Here it is after the assembly. Now to apply the facing.

We'll be using the same technique as the Viking Trading Post we built back in May. Using craft sticks, tape several together. Place as many as you feel comfortable working with. We need just over 18" of wall so that's a lot of sticks.

We used a triangle to get our baseline drawn on and then scored the sticks with a utility knife. We did use a metal ruler to keep our line straight. Our walls are 2.5" tall but to accommodate the slope on the roof we cut the pieces slightly shorter.

We then snapped off the ends with a small pair of pliers.

For the front wall of the viking great hall we need to cut some angled pieces. Once again we drew on our baseline and then transferred the angle of the roof onto it. Going down the middle will give us twice the number of boards.

Place the angled pieces along the roof line and cut filler boards as needed. Here are the sticks being put into place. We left a small gap under the top doors for the balcony boards to be put inserted. We placed sticks over the main door but will need to cut the archway.

To do that we simply turned the hall over and traced the archway onto the craft sticks. We did the same for the upper doors.

Here is the assembled and covered hall. We had several small spaces to be filled, especially around the doorways. You can now easily see the gap for where the balcony will fit.

It'll sit on the beams holding up the hall roof.

So, that's where the Viking Great Hall is currently. Should be able to get the interior worked on this week. Let us know if you have any questions and stay tuned for part two!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow