How To: Warhammer Terrain

Here's a quick tutorial on how to make some easy terrain for Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, or any other Fantasy, futuristic or historical genre of table top gaming. Here is our terrain piece with some Warhammer 40k figures to show scale.

We started with a leftover piece of polystyrene from a large disassembled project and some hardboard cut to the same approximate shape.

Overlap the hardboard past the edges of your foam.

Here is a smaller version...

adding old stone ruins to the top.

Apply hobby or craft glue to the bottom and press the polystyrene firmly on to the hardboard.

We then used coarse drywall screws to hold everything together. If you decide to use this step. carve a bit of the hardboard away so the screw head sets in the board. You wouldn't want to scratch your playing surface.

Our screws were long enough to go through the base and up into the ruin to help secure it on top.

Next we applied liberal amounts of craft glue along the base edges were foam meets base...

and poured coarse ballast onto the glue. Press it in to get maximum coverage.

Using any paint for a base coat, mix in some ballast...

and apply with a larger brush.

The mixed in ballast will give you a nice texture.

We sprayed the whole thing with a black base coat.

Now the real painting begins. We started with a Raw Umber and Charcoal Gray. Use a smaller brush, this is a half inch flat brush which is great for dry-brushing techniques.

On the flat bare surfaces and along the outer edges we applied Chocolate and Burnt Sienna.

The ruins got a coat of Pewter Gray...

and then a dry brush of Slate Gray.

A final light dry-brush of Granite was added to bring out any highlights and add a final contrast to the darker base colors.

Then we stippled on some Olive Green where we plan on adding foliage.

For our dry leaves and grass we use a mixture of herbs and spices mixed with Coarse Turf from Woodland Scenics.

Add in the crevices where blown leaves and old plants would gather.

Here is another example of filling a crevice in the rock.

Don't forget about along the edges of the base.

And there you have it! Ready for the gaming table. You could use lighter and greener colors with more traditional green flocking, These pieces were more cut to facilitate a rocky terrain area.

As we mentioned these can be used for almost any game system and scale. For Fantasy and Dark Age games like Saga add a cairn or load stone to the  base.

For World War II or Napoleonic era games like Bolt Action or Black Powder add barricades or sandbags.

Until next time,
Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow