Building terrain boards - Part Three

A little update on the terrain board project.

I've now got eight boards finished, which gives an 4' by 8' table - big enough for a game!

As you can see there are various winding paths, some fields, and some fences and trees which are fixed permanently to these boards. I've made some good plans for storage which will mean I don't need to be afraid to do boards with fixed features, I'll be able to store them - more on that when it happens!

Now there are actually only one or two ways this current set of boards can be fitted together so that the paths all meet up (assuming I'm wanting to use all eight). However, as SOON as I get some more done, the combinations will increase massively which each new board, as of course I won't need to use every one of them each time. And I can also set them up with some paths having 'dead ends', by simply having them lead up to one of my building bases.

The next stage will probably be four new river/stream boards, and one or two with villages/farms. Plus a wider road.

And here's a pic of the same setup, with added trees, hedges and buildings to fill it out.

German mercenaries

Another new unit! This time it's back to the Burgundian side, with some German mercenaries. These were recruited by towns on the Franco-Burgundian border after the death of Charles the Bold to help defend against the French, found plentiful employment fighting in the Franche-Comté region, and were eventually recruited in large numbers by Maximilian. Some of these 'Germans' would actually have been Swiss, even the very same soldiers who had dealt the Burgundians such punishing defeats so recently.

This isn't my first German unit - I've already dealt with some large units of pikemen and halberdiers in earlier posts. This is a smaller unit posed in a more stationary/defensive manner - with this basing layout it lets me get more character into the miniatures and how they are arrayed. Several of the figures here are among my very favourites and I've been looking forward to getting them based up for some time now.

As with my other German units, they are not wearing any uniform livery, and for a flag I've given them just a simple Burgundian cross.

And here's some shots of them alongside their Burgundian allies.

Building terrain boards - Part Two

The first four of the new terrain boards are complete!

I've got one river section, one with a roadway and two plain boards.

The river is in fact a small stream, and the roadway a narrow track - there will be wider rivers and roads sometime in the future. The next several boards will all feature the same track and stream and will be able to link together in a variety of cunning ways.

I'm very pleased with how they turned out. Compared to the old boards, the new improved construction method makes these ones very sturdy and level, with minimal visible joins. I've got the colour and texture of the grass and the roadways just how I wanted them, and my first ever water feature turned out well (I worried a lot about what colour I should paint it, and what sort of water product I should use).

The river board does have some trees and bushes attached - this will of course make them trickier to store (though the trees can be removed if need be), but it shouldn't be a problem. I can afford to have four or five boards like this (which is what I've got planned) that can be just stored on top of the permanent table, whilst all the 'flat' boards can be stacked carefully and stored underneath. Of course I have plenty of loose hedges and trees on bases which can be placed on top of the boards too.

Yet more French infantry

The next unit is finished, and yes it's more French heavy infantry. This time I did something a bit different and gave them a nice blue livery!

The usual mix of figures. As well as Perry, Steel Fist and some of the private commissions, there is one sculpt from Eureka and a 3D print from Warsteel. Plastic, metal and resin all in one unit.

Building terrain boards - Part One

I've started work building a new set of terrain boards. My original ones, some of which you will have seen on the previous post's battle report, were a learning experience, and now I've got the space I want to have a better go at them. I was very happy with the flat, plain boards I made, but the 'feature' boards (some ditches and a few other things) didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but I've learned a lot from the process.

The new boards will have a heavier, sturdier construction, and be built better with some new tools to make the joins between them as seamless as possible, and to keep the dreading warping as close to non-existent as I can. I won't go into too much detail, but the new ones are on both thicker MDF (12mm rather than 9mm) and also thicker foam (25mm rather than 20mm).

Here's some quick pics of the first few I've done. As you can see, they are made of an MDF board with a wooden frame - the river boards will have foam of the same thickness inside the frame, with the rivers and such cut into them. The non-river boards will not need foam, and are turned upside down, so that the MDF is the top layer. The close-up pic of the two types of boards side by side should show exactly what I mean.

And here's the first river board with the foam glued down. The next stage will be to apply filler, to fill in all the gaps and sculpt the river banks.

I have used some 50mm square MDF bases to plan out the boards and try out different configurations. There will be four river boards (well, a small stream technically), which will also feature narrow pathways, and various other boards with different configurations of paths and roads, including a 'village board' of some sort. To avoid things looking too grid-like, the stream and paths don't all enter at the same point on each edge, to allow for more realistic looking shapes. This does mean that not every stream or path edge will be able to join up with every other one, but will still allow for loads of different configurations, as the six examples below should demonstrate.

There will be other boards planned as well, including a wider river to be a more serious obstacle, with a bridge to cross it... but one thing at a time.

I don't know if I will log my progress making these boards in too much detail, but I will at least post some updates with pics as they happen! The next update (sometime over the next month or two hopefully) will see the first boards textured and painted.