A Wargamer’s Guide To Making Tabletop Terrain is an A4 softback book consisting of 88 pages. This is a collection of articles on terrain building previously published in either Battlegames or Miniature Wargames magazines, presented in one collection with many additional photographs included.
What follows is a transcript of the audio for the video above.
The introduction to this useful book contains just the right amount of humour to keep you interested and amused. The eponymous ‘Wargames Widow’ has managed to seemingly psychoanalyze every wargamer in the world through the method of observing a certain Mr. Sutherland AKA Her husband. Despite this, she has allowed herself to be drawn into the bizarre world of supporting her wargamer by helping to produce various pieces of terrain for tabletop use. Some of the best or most interesting aspects of the book are outlined below.
In Coasting Along Part 1 and 2, there are some topical ideas for creating coastline terrain for use with naval miniatures. The article and photographs take the reader through each stage, from creating a baseboard up to adding the texture to the coastal features themselves. All is designed to be achieved fairly quickly and the techniques used are easy to follow.
In Roofs to Roads, this simplicity of approach is exemplified by the use of a roll or three of roof felt to create a series of road sections. Using the basic techniques shown it is possible to create several different types of road, from rural to the urban, whilst discussing the relative merits of this material as opposed to others, such as MDF and resin.
The Fencing Champion section enables the afore-mentioned roads to be further enhanced through the creation of fences from different eras. After a lovely gift of a bag of 5,000 matchsticks, the Wargames Widow sets about showing how to turn them into the ‘snake rail’ fencing typically found in North America. There are also instructions on creating ‘straight rail’ fencing for many other locations.
Lastly, in ‘Shocking’, the Widow offers a way to make your own ‘tufts’, used regularly for basing and model making. By following the approach presented, you can save yourself a bit of money, whilst creating exactly what you are after for your miniatures.
Overall, this is a useful book for any wargame. A particularly pertinent point is the fact that all of the terrain is made from commercially available materials from any decent hobby or hardware store. Even the average garden centre or pet shop may be useful, and the tools used are straight out of the tool shed or kitchen drawer. Perhaps some of the pages are a little ‘text heavy’ at times, but the ever-present humour makes up for the lengthy descriptions. Well worth a look, especially for those seeking a project or two during the winter months.
