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Any suggestions for what to use to get decent looking area terrain like green bit the trees are on in this photo?:



I'd like something better looking than the felt we typically use but without actually need to do terrain building.

I was thinking of getting a pvc battle mat and seeing if I could cut it into smaller shapes. Anyone done anything similar?

The felt with removable trees tends to be the most practical solution, easy to understand, easy to store, easy to put models in.

Maybe add some moss or flocking on the base?

A DIY alternative to cutting up a game mat would be making a canvas and caulk mat and cutting that up, I suppose.

You could go fabric shopping and find some patterns? Cut them and use them like the felt. Different kinds of camouflage, or floral prints?

I know they make iron-on transfers you can run though your printer. Find some floor plans, nature pics, maps, etc and print them on some canvas or sturdy fabric.

I’ve always used scraps of paper, or some painted cardboard shapes for area terrain. Nothing fancy.

At the fancier end of it, 3D printer?



There are also commercially available 2D forest type terrain pieces

https://playmats.eu/neoprene-2d-terrain-set-forrest

Woodland Scenics Grass Mats glued to cardstock or cardboard and cut to size.

Link to mats: https://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/item/1RGVM-GG

Not sure where exactly you’d source it from? But if you favour mats for your board, could clear acrylic plastic cut to shape not serve here?

Noticeable to be obvious, without clashing with the underlying mat?

You don't need to cut a mat, any shop with wargaming mats should have area terrain mats of different shapes, sizes and printed patterns. For example:

https://playmaty.pl/zestaw-gumowych-terenow-2d-las?_gl=1*1mf0swh*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTg0OTgzMjMzNy4xNzIwNzE5NTY0*_ga_7D8TJ2LJFQ*MTcyMDcxOTYzNC4xLjEuMTcyMDcxOTY2Mi4wLjAuMA..*_ga_GRGDK2FGQF*MTcyMDcxOTU2My4xLjEuMTcyMDcxOTY2My4wLjAuMA..

Thanks for the ideas, I'll look into them.

I'm wanting to make min/max the size of player placed terrain since my faction gets a lot better in it.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Not sure where exactly you’d source it from? But if you favour mats for your board, could clear acrylic plastic cut to shape not serve here?

Noticeable to be obvious, without clashing with the underlying mat?

Funny you mentioned that. I have 3 acrylic sheets that cracked in shipment for my Wyrmwood gaming table. They sent replacements, but I still have these mostly intact 2'x3' sheets. I have no means to cut them, though.

Ideas? They're either 1/4" or 1/8" thick, I think.

Acrylic is pretty tough. A jigsaw is probably needed, with some finishing sanding. The edges may end up being pretty opaque, but having a more obvious edge may be beneficial.

 kronk wrote:
Woodland Scenics Grass Mats glued to cardstock or cardboard and cut to size.

Link to mats: https://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/item/1RGVM-GG

This is literally what I do with most area terrain. I use "For Sale" signs from Walmart and spray glue. The signs are about $1 and you can make a number of sizable terrain markers from each.

I use these mats that I purchased through other means before when I want to use trees in a city/industrial. https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1164315007/rubber-zones-for-warmachinehordes-grass

But for forest outlines on grass mats there's nothing better electrostatic glued grass area bases. I bought some from a shop in Poland and wow they feel great and look awesome. https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Terrains4GamesStudio

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

for your board, could clear acrylic plastic cut to shape not serve here?

Noticeable to be obvious, without clashing with the underlying mat?

I'd argue that the ground under forested trees nearly always looks different than the ground outside the forest so it should be different than the game mat.

I've got several varieties of area terrain templates that I put freestanding trees on. Hardboard with basing and flock is one, but my current favorite is templates made from a cut up Guild Ball box set game board. They and the modeled examples both are a bit drier and less green which makes sense as the plants aren't usually as lush under tree cover.

 Flinty wrote:
Acrylic is pretty tough. A jigsaw is probably needed, with some finishing sanding. The edges may end up being pretty opaque, but having a more obvious edge may be beneficial.

If you know what you are doing, you can also "flame" the edges (it both cleans them up and sort-of gives them a polish) after sanding them. It's how prop-makers get the edges smoother on their acrylic pieces.

CDs make excellent bases - a trick I wasn't aware of til quite recently.

This is how I did ours: https://skinflintgames.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/terrain-talk-pt-15-next-gen-trees/

I recommend what the above said with trees/shrubs on a base, then use shaped felt as the intended area terrain, you can add some various size rocks to integrate the surroundings. You can also look for craters for battlefield debris, add water effect in it for a pond with some dried moss.

https://imgur.com/a/40k-area-terrain-obstacles-deathworld-forest-KLhm6Or

Nope, you want individual trees (or boulders for rocky ground etc) with small, scenic bases at most, so that you can move them around when models enter the area terrain.

Otherwise you will end up removing the entire decoration the moment first model enters the terrain and will be left with just the 2D representation for the entire game, the carefully modelled forest staying on the shelf.

felt works well

I have some none felt ones here, 2mm grey card cut to various shapes, painted brown - the key is to paint both sides with the same number of layers which seriously helps stop the warping.

then a light coat of glue, preferably non-shrinking, and a bit of sand/grit. paint that brown again and drybrush to taste.

didn't take long, very cheap, easy to store flat. the trees that sit on top were from eBay, stick to small weighted bases painted in the same way - stored in a box, put a few down and its a wood, leave them off and its rough ground.