Warrior Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules
A Four Horsemen Enterprises Rules Set
 
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Easy Fields

 
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scott holder
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:51 pm    Post subject: Easy Fields

When at Cold Wars 2012, I saw some nifty plowed fields being used in the Warhammer WWI tourney. I asked the GM about them and all he could remember is that there was some guy in the flea market a couple of years back selling these little plowed field squares. They are cut up "welcome mats"

That was Friday. On Saturday, sure enough there was a guy in the flea market selling plowed field squares. NASAMW bought 4. But me and Rich Kroupa looked them over carefully so we could go home and source them far more cheaply.

Which I just did at Lowes. I can't find em on the Lowes website but this is the exact same product:

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/163111/Realspace-Tough-Rib-Floor-Mat-2/?cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Google-_-Chair_and_Floor_Mats-_-163111-%7Bcopy:IQ_PE%7D&mr:trackingCode=3A37DB1A-EC81-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

We think the guy in the flea market applied glue to the upraised "rows", then pressed the square onto green flocking, then clear coated it. I'm going to paint the rows green and see how it works. The material itself has enough relief that I think a heavy drybrush on each row then a finishing clear coat might do the trick.

scott

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:07 pm    Post subject:

A quick follow up:

Last night I did three fields as described above. I used a green, latex, interior paint for painting the rows. Lay it on heavy so it won't dry out before you finish completing painting the other rows.

Take your flocking and dump it out on some newepaper and spread it around. Then take your still-wet field and gently press it into the flocking. Gently because you want to limit the amount of flock that gets pressed between the furrows.

Then gently shake off the excess and give it a coat or two of clear. I'll have some photos later.

The historical geographer in me is questioning this entire approach. Shocked
I say that because the scale of our game and the typical medieval battlefield (I'm talking about medieval because it's the easiest period to find English source material) means what we're placing and its relative size doesn't translate well to historical landscapes.

Here's a nice little read on the subject:

http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/flyingpast/images/PDF_downloads/decoding%20the%20landscape/The%20Medieval%20Landscape.pdf

However, this meta topic is best discussed in another area of the forum. I just wanted everybody here to see how easy it is to provide something for the tabletop that looks good, is very transportable and easy (and cheap) to make.

scott

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Ed Kollmer
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:08 am    Post subject:

Yo
a friend of Matt's found this out also. Matt has cut up a couple of fields . I don't know what he did from there.
I like the idea of putting flocking for the green part.
Ed Kollmer
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:49 am    Post subject:

I did get something like that.
At Home Depot, they sell mats by "Trafficmaster", something like a foot and a half by 3 foot mat. They come dark (blackish) with grey threads. I cut them up....then drybrushed the high parts green, then a lighter green and finally a very light green...closer to white. they look decent, but I like the flocking idea...I may add that.
one big bonus...for those financially impaired as I, these mats are under $10 a piece, so with minimal time, I got 2-3 fields for my tables. A nice touch over all. The same company puts out a mat that looks a little closer to a wheat field...light brown/beigey color, but these are a solid 1/2 tall...so it really comes down to what you prefer. also a nice look though, same price.
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:42 pm    Post subject:

Painting obviously reduces a step or two and you never have to worry about "shedding".

But, I looked at mine before flocking and while they looked *okay*, they looked far better after flocking.

My wife looked at them and said "that must be really fertile soil" since it was black. Not midnight black but very dark nonetheless. I've seen plenty of plowed fields that were that dark tho.

Today I'm going to take a different approach: gonna buy a can of brown spraypaint and spray a couple, then lay a bead of white glue down on the upraised portions, then press into the flocking.

scott

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:36 pm    Post subject:

Let me know how it comes out. I have some more and if I can make it look slightly different, I think that could only help. I'll try one too.
I'll try to post pics of mine afterwards too. But overall I do like how they come out.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:59 pm    Post subject:

It didn't make the difference between black all that noticeable. But I bet a lighter shade of brown might make a differnece.

Nonetheless, it does speed up the process. I simply gave it a heavy coat of spray paint, then very lightly pressed it into the flock. I had to scrape out the stuff in the rows if I pressed too hard.

Once it dried, I gave it two coats of clear coat and that's it.

Nice effect, easy and cheap.

scott

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:02 pm    Post subject:

Here's a shot of one field done with spray paint.

The darker spots on the rows might not be as neat, tidy and OCD as some folks might like but look at any field and you'll see a lack of uniformity in many.

My glob paint down each row then press into the flock does produce a tidier effect.

scott

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