Video Index - Mountainblocks and Cavern Tiles

This page contains timestamped links and advice on what videos to reference when making any of my mountainblock and cavern tiles - all the stuff that lets you build height into your builds, as well as show various rocky areas....

It's designed to be easy to browse, be organised by builds, not individual videos (mostly), and include any advice I wish I could have added to the video, but YouTube wont let me :)

I'm gonna repeat that again just to be clear - these links are ALL TIMESTAMPED where appropriate. They'll dump you out just at the right point in the video I'm talking about :)

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Mountainblocks and Mountainblocks 2.0:

These videos are the core of this system, one that I use CONSTANTLY, and is probably one of the absolute core essentials (to me at least). The first two videos (Mountainblocks and Modular mountain fortress) are part one and two of the tutorial for the original, non-magnetic blocks.

I did also do a V1 magnetised version of these older blocks, but that is honestly best ignored. The 2.0 blocks are far superior, but here's the link for curiosity. I do not advise doing this now!

The 2.0 Mountainblocks are how I would make them from the start if you haven't started yet. Unlike the originals they are magnetic, incredibly stable, easy to make overhangs with on the fly with minimal effort, have less gaps between them, have better texture, can be made with 1" foam instead of 3" and even have modular facings which can be swapped out to make your grey mountain a sandstone desert canyon or…anything really.

I will note that in the video I say to use 6x4 magnets in the core blocks - this is only necessary if you want them to hold large-ish models on overhangs like I show with the hill giant in the video. If you're ok forgoing that capacity, you can get away with 6x2 magnets :)

I made (or plan to make, still not finished the sloped and triangle corners):

36 Square core blocks

12 angled core blocks

16 sloped core blocks

12 triangle core blocks

36 Square attachments (12 square flat, 6 square dip, 3 rectangle dip, 6 rectangle bulge)

12 angled attachments

16 sloped attachments

12 triangle attachments

4 sloped to square connection attachment

8 thin angled block facing cover ( for lining up with floor tiles)

8 chunky angled block facing cover

for the old MB I made:

30 Square

7 angled

15 sloped

12 triangle

I never had enough square or angled :)

Cavern tiles, stalagmites and cave bridges:

This video mainly shows my version of cave tiles, designed to work either without walls or alongside Mountainblocks to create multi layered terrain. Or even on top of each other and Mountainblocks to make multi layered terrain.

These days I wouldn't texture the sides of the tiles, or include chipboard - just have the 8 magnets around the outside exactly as shown in the getting started video and leave the sides smooth. Not including chipboard makes the pieces lighter and easier to use, and keeping the edges smooth makes them line up with each other better.

I would however make some matching edge pieces as I show in the water tiles video - this is now the method I use to make tile edges look more rounded, rough and natural…

You can also optionally carve a more detailed texture into the floor just like the 2.0 mountainblocks. It's something I considered upgrading in the future, but haven't had a chance to fully experiment with…

Anyway, the first link for this video is to the tiles themselves (ignoring the card tab and edge cutting), the second is to the pretty cool stalagmite method I developed - I built them into the tiles but you could do them as scatter terrain easily enough if that's your preference :)

Oh and there's a cool stalactite bridge. I'd do this with magnets these days to line up with floor tile magnets, and for the bridge, I'd use 6x4 ones like I do with the bridges in the kobold video. Speaking of…

I made:

3" tiles:

4 small stalagmites in corners

2 large stalagmites on half tiles

1 giant stalagmite

7 plaster rock tiles

6 arid earth rubble/crack tiles

12 plain tiles

6 1.5" plain tiles to avoid the grid look

10 concave corners

10 convex corners

Kobold tunnels, narrow bridges, Hidden ambush rooms, kobold height safety rope traps

This video popped up earlier in the core system expansions bit, because the rope bridges fit there, but they also fit here!

This video not only has a cool narrow tunnel system for areas too small for traditional cavern tiles, it also has Mountainblock ambush rooms, narrow bridges and a little bit of easy kobold trap/scatter terrain in the form of rockfalls and 'safety ropes'. Which are horribly unsafe for anyone but kobolds :D

If I did this build again I'd probably use magnetic rubber steel sheet, not magnetised sheet (fridge magnet material). It can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between these online, but if you ask the seller its easy to find out. The rubber steel sheet is NOT a magnet itself, and the fridge magnet stuff is. The reason I'd use this stuff is it has a stronger connection to the magnets. links to both types are in the equipment list :)

I'd also use smaller magnets in the tunnel pieces, 6x2 or possibly even 4x2. alongside the rubber steel sheet, 6x4 is a bit overkill.

For the mountainblock tunnel/room pieces, I'd include a small magnet in the middle of each 'wall' on the outside (and possibly one underneath), probably just a little 3x2, possibly a 4x2 for strength, to grab the mountainblocks on either side and hold them in place. Other than that they pretty much work as intended. I'd definitely use the new 2.0 texture for the interior of the walls though.

I made:

5 6"straight

5 6" slight curve

5 3" straight

5 3" slight curve

2 sloped inclines

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