Growing & Grooming

To break up the billard table flat green table and make it more realistic, the obvious scenery pieces are hills, hedges, roads, trees and bushes. Not many game tables I have observed, are dressed with fields of crops which is a surprise. They also provide cover, and provide opportunities for ambushes being set up. They can be generic, ranging from fantasy, through AVBCW, RCW and the AWI. Even Sci-Fi – remember the first episode of Star Trek Enterprise with a Klingon being chased through an American cornfield !

Simply corn field (or similar). A rubber backed coir floor mat. Obviously too large for most gaming tables so it needed carving up.

To carve it up I bought some cheap disposable set of knives as the rubber will quickly blunt the blades. Obviously use a metal rule, not plastic or wood, as any slip of the blade will simply gouge the ruler. All of the kit I used (mat, blades, ruler) were bought from a DIY store (B&Q in this case), which are a cornucopia for gamers and artists with a modicum of imagination. Its also a heck of a lot cheaper than going to specialist art and modelling shops sadly as you can buy in bulk.

Based on other examples I had seen, and in published media, I chooped it up into two squares. In order to make it useable, and so troops can move through the field, I then needed to carve out sections that can be removed to allow deployment of figures on to the table without hovering above this supposed crop !

So I cut out the overall edge of the field – about an inch wide to ensure “structural” integrity”. Its also worth pointing out that at this point you start to realise there’s a lot of mess being made. Always cut on a mat or thick newspaper to avoid damaging your table surface, and newspaper suitabley spread also means you can catch all the shed matting fibres which get everywhere.

And then carved up the internal area into four pieces. But found that you need to trim the internal sections as the matting “spreads” and you need a little bit of extra room. The offcuts are on the right. I kept the offcuts as these will be used for some new scenery pieces I have in mind…

One field I drybrushed, but it didn’t work out well, so would recommend you leave the matting as is.

The next step will be to mount the perimeter section onto some roofing felt that has been painted and highlighted – there’s pictures of this in various games with new crops sown so I’m not going to add another picture.

Yes, I groomed the thatch of the new building, using an old toothbrush (suitably soaked clean) and it looks better. I suspect I will be using the watered down PVA idea, coupled with a “haircut”.

Old toothbrushes also get used for a wide range of purposes, including when you are paint stripping old figures bought on evil-bay !