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Hey everybody.

I am currently obsessed with updating my store's 40K terrain. The terrain that we use for trees right now simply do not cut it. First off, they are big and they are glued in place which makes it a pain when you are trying to move models around inside of the area terrain. I am a pretty big stickler when it comes to how the rules work in the game and we are just now understanding how area terrain works with "true LOS." The idea that I have is that we need some pieces of area terrain (can either be cloth, foam that has been cut out into sections, etc.) that then has several trees placed on top it. My idea is that the trees do not need be glued in place. Instead, the area terrain needs to have some marks on them that designate that a tree is to be placed at this location on the terrain piece. This allows the players to move the trees when moving infantry around the area terrain and then placing the trees back where they are supposed to be when working out "true LOS."

My problem is that I am really not liking the GW trees (the big plastic kit that has 3 trees that come with it). I have seen some forum posts about old style GW trees but I have no idea where to find these. I have seen some pictures of them and they look very similar to Hobby Lobby trees.

I am curious what YOU guys use as trees. Did you custom make your own? Did you buy some from a local retail store? Did you go ahead and use the GW trees? And how did you use the trees when it comes to area terrain? Did the rules of the game (i.e., true LOS) come into consideration when creating area terrain?

Any thoughts/comments/links would be appreciated! Thanks.

For my home table, I used crayola model magic clay as a base, clips of plastic drinking straws as "stumps" and then clippings of plastic decorative plants with brown floral tape for the trees. That way the tress can be easily removed for storage or movement purposes, but still look reasonably good when assembled. If I wanted I could go a little further to make it look a little nicer and more detailed, but for quick, cheap, with a decent end result, this worked pretty well.





Known issues: The Model Magic clay worked extremely well initially, but after several months of further curing, some other terrain made with the same base has warped a little. So it seems to work better on smaller pieces then larger ones.
The straws don't take paint really well, so use a good primer or otherwise do something to keep the paint from chipping off.

Personally I really rather like the GW trees. They're a nice thick tree that works well for TLoS with a well defined and detailed base to put them on. I glued mine down on the basis I didn't trust the people at the FLGS to not lose the trees, and figure if a model can't fit inside the forest, then it shouldn't be in the forest in the first place. Six foot thick trees don't magically part ways so your tank can drive by.

I like the GW trees, but only as dead or winter trees, as I hate the leaves.

I saw a tutorial on this site where the guy shows you how to make area terrain with trees. He said he used some old-style GW trees. Anybody know where to find those?

That's a little vague. GW have had slightly wacky palm trees which came with the 3rd ed 40k box and fairly standard trees similar to the ones you'll find at hobby stores.

I recommend the plug method that Ghostofman demonstrates.
Hardboard would be my base suggestion. It's very durable, relatively easy to cut to shape with a jigsaw and won't warp.

If I had a shop and wanted to build an area of trees I would be tempted to scratch build the area and magnetise the trees into it.

I would start by taking a clean tabletop of sheet of wood and covering it in something like clingfilm to protect it then using blue tak putting a couple (depending on how many trees you want) of magnets down making sure they're all the same way up (make sure you have spread some lubricant around the flat area as you don't want to break the fibreglass taking it off the table) then cover the area with fibre glass and resin to form the base next take small lengths of rod or even biro boddies cut down and glue them above the magnets a little more fibreglass to cement them in place and you have hopefully an uneven textured woodland type area of forest floor you could try putting some stuff between the layers of fibrglass to mark out tree roots and stuff then when you decide on the trees your going to use magnetise the bottom of teir trunk and you have easily removable trees.

trees are hard to scratch build well the best method I have seen used was using breaa etched pieces that were attatched to a metal rod armature painted brown then spread glue on the branches and dipped in a kind of chopped up horse hair or bristles then re-apply the glue and dip in flock.

The 'old GW trees', reffered to are: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod1095513&_requestid=1024968 these are still available. They're quite pricy but are really good looking.

Otherwise, custom built bamboo skewer trees, with clump foliage on top make good looking asain style forests. look in the how to make wargames terrain (by GW) book for them. hope this helps, anyways.


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Also for the base, try MDF, Painted and flocked in your chosen scheme, with small earth disk magnets placed where your want the trees. Base the trees themselves, on round cavalry bases, with magnets glued to the underside.

I use scale model trees from a model railway store.

In bags of 100 (cost me around $50AUD).
Cheaper than GW's plastic dead sticks, cheaper than their rebadged old tree stock.

Look the business, too. They come in different sizes, and you can mix and match them to get areas of old growth/new growth.

As for the making of forests/woods. I mount several trees on bases and drill corresponding holes in the wooded base (6mm mdf) to fit. These are removable to facilitate movement of trays for WHFB or just convenience in 40k.

Especially easy to obtain during Christmas season, look for christmas town trees, or as was previously stated, get the model railway trees from your local hobby shops. Very cheap, quite good looking solution. I've also seen some great dead trees made from wire frame + plaster&paint in the articles section.

http://www.youtube.com/user/thekamloopian This guy is a mean terrain maker and he has a lot of tutorial with making any sort of trees: conifers, palms, oak, you name it.