Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Normandy Firefight Terrain Ideas?


One of the things that's been bothering me about the Normandy Firefight thing is exactly how to go about the terrain side of the equation. If I'm going to spend time and effort on the figures then at the very least, I should produce some decent terrain for them to fight over. I really like the idea of 1/35th scale skirmish gaming but the terrain is a bit of a challenge, to say the least.

I don't think that I can afford to construct some bespoke terrain as it would need to be 4' x 4' and I have nowhere to store such a large piece of real estate. I thought about a model railway style chicken wire and wooden frame approach to this but I don't think that it would be flexible enough to warrant constructing something permanent, unless I can make it apaptable to different scenarios.

However, I have a cunning plan, which revolves around cheap stretched canvas frames that you can find in The Works and other discount craft shops. I reckon that I can produce some modular terrain using one of the larger sizes of deep canvas frame, with surface texture rendered in a PVA / Polyfilla / sand mixture, using layers of polystyrene tile sheet to bulk out the contours.

It's one idea that I can follow up unless I can devise something better...?

7 comments:

  1. I've been playing with same idea but then choose not to do it as the canvas frames look square but are actually not exactly square so they don't match nice.

    Just my 2 cent

    regards

    ReplyDelete
  2. The other issue I found is that the middle can sag without extra support.

    I did have a fair amount of success with thin cake boards and artists boards. The first are silver in colour while the others are white but out of the two the cake boards fit together better.

    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jim,
    If you paste this : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polystyrene-Sheets-600mm-x-600mm-x-25mm-boxed-25s-/261006887860?pt=UK_Packaging_Materials&hash=item3cc5390bb4#ht_500wt_1202 into your browser it should take you to someone on ebay who sells 600mm x 600mm x 25mm square polystyrene sheets. These may be of some use?
    All the best,
    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've heard people having the same problem with canvas frames, particularly the sagging in the middle. I've thought about using loft insulation sheets, perhaps three in a row. You could then cut and sand into them, but they still remain light enough to sling back into the loft.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great idea, you might want to reinforce the underside of the canvas with a bit of balsa wood or something in the middle. Otherwise with loading the centre bit might tear. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

    ReplyDelete
  6. A very good idea to explore, I'll keep a close track of your findings

    ReplyDelete

Labels

Bag The Hun (852) Books (502) AK47 (499) Ironclads (492) Wings at War (416) Pre-Dreadnoughts (243) Back of Beyond (242) Coastal Warfare (225) Napoleonic Naval (200) Britain's Small Wars (199) Bolt Action (175) Victory at Sea (171) What a Tanker (171) Knights of the Sky (165) Target Locked On (163) MiG Alley (160) Chain of Command (149) Old West (147) Find Fix and Strike (138) Bag The MiG (126) Naval Thunder (120) Sandbox Skirmish (119) Naval Command (118) Air War Over Khalkhin Gol (117) Pirates (116) Indo China / Vietnam (114) Fistful of Lead (109) 15mm Sci-Fi / Near Future (95) Darkest Africa (91) VBCW (89) Strength and Honour (86) Continuation War (82) Ancients (81) Shows (79) ACW (77) The Football War (76) Corsairs and Cavaliers (71) Boardgames (67) France's Small Wars (67) Shipwreck! (66) BKC (65) Rapid Fire (63) Saurian Safari (62) Cruel Seas (60) Saga (60) Air War C21 (59) Journals (58) The Men Who Would Be Kings (58) Nimitz (55) Flashpoint Alto Cenepa (53) IABSM (53) International Naval Wargaming Day (53) Gladiators (51) Flashpoint Taiwan (50) Finest Hour (49) Red Actions! (47) Fortifications (46) Scramble for Britain (45) Flashpoint Baltic (42) Duel of Aces (41) War of the Pacific (40) Cold War (39) Flames above the Falklands (39) Thud Ridge (37) SCW (36) Desert Spitfires (35) Death in the Dark Continent (34) One Hour Wargames (34) RCW (34) Algernon Pulls It Off (32) Atlantic Wall (31) English Civil War / Anglo Dutch War Naval (31) Lion Rampant (31) Post Apocalypse (31) Iron Cow (30) Bag the Springbok (29) Mexican Revolution (28) Normandy Firefight (28) Full Thrust (27) Dreadnoughts (26) It Rolls For Ivan (26) 2mm English Civil War (25) Bulldogs Away! (24) Samurai (24) Jet Knights of the Sky (23) 28mm English Civil War (22) Imaginations (22) Achtung Kommando! (21) Arctic Eagles (21) Flashpoint PVO (21) Ancient Naval (20) PITS (20) Galactic Heroes (19) Steamer Wars (19) Strontium Dog (19) Iron Cross (18) Winter War (18) Aeronef (15) Aircraft (15) Imperial Commander (15) Rate of Fire (15) Zulus! (15) Aliens (14) Dragon Rampant (14) Black Ops (13) CY6 Jet Age (13) Congo (13) Mad for War (13) Impetus (12) Wars of Insurgency (12) Flashpoint Fleet Air Arm (11) Gaslands (11) 633 Squadron (10) Franco Thai Air War (10) Get the Goeben! (10) Jungle Green (10) Sharp Practice (10) 28mm Future Wars (9) Bohica (9) Dux Britanniarum (9) Fire in the Sky (9) HYW (9) Merry Xmas Mr Sankara (9) Adventures in Jimland (8) Bombers over Germany (8) Cry Havoc (8) French Indian Wars (8) Renaissance Naval (8) Star Wars Legion (8) Sword and Spear (8) Through The Mud and Blood (8) Air War Angola (7) Frostgrave (7) Target for Tonight (7) A Mighty Fortress (6) AirWar:1918 (6) Five Parsecs From Home (6) French Resistance (6) Check Your Six! (5) Five Men at Kursk (5) Fivecore Skirmish (5) Maurice (5) Seven Days to the River Rhine (5) Three Musketeers (5) What a Cowboy (5) Wings Over Suez (5) Arab Revolt (4) Corvette Command (4) In Her Majesty's Name (4) Infamy Infamy (4) Medieval Naval (4) Never Mind The Billhooks (4) Battletech (3) Gangsters (3) HOTT (3) Hind Commander (3) Lord of the Sea (3) Luft 46 (3) Mourir Pour l'Indochine (3) Sturmovik Commander (3) Whispering Death (3) Blood Red Skies (2) Chincha Islands War (2) Crom (2) Disposable Heroes (2) Fire and Steel (2) Fivecore Company Command (2) Iron Stars (2) Judge Dredd (2) Lethal Skies (2) NUTS! (2) No Go Zone (2) Pulp! (2) Starfighters! (2) War in El Dorado (2) A Billion Suns (1) Air War 1940 (1) Battlegroup (1) Black Powder (1) Convoy (1) Dropzone Commander (1) Falklands War (1) Harpoon (1) If The Lord Spares Us (1) Indo-Pakistan War (1) Lacquered Coffins (1) Load and Return (1) MiG Hunters (1) Missile Threat (1) Missiles at Sea (1) Naval Wargames Society (1) Norway 1940 (1) Oi Navarcoi! (1) Sea Wars Fleet Actions (1) Si Vis Pacem (1) Spanish American War (1) Sunray is Down (1) Ultracombat Normandy (1) Wars of the Roses (1) Xenos Rampant (1)