2mm terrain test for Leipzig

[Forwardmarchstudio]

Hi all,

Here are some shots of my recent 2mm terrain experiment.  I'm rather pleased with how this turned out.  I'll be using this terrain system to put on a large Leipzig scenario, hopefully in the near future. 

Check out my blog for larger versions of these pictures:  https://forwardmarchminiatures.blogspot.com

All of the figures here are from my 3m printed range, which can be purchased at: www.forwarcmarchstudios.com













These figures represent just PART of the French troops in the Southern sector of Leipzig.  My final project will include every battalion, squadron, and battery, as well as a stand for every corps and division commander who was present (brigade commanders are not really possible with this many units!).  To my knowledge, it will be the first game to do the entire battle in a non-abstract manner at this scale.

[lethallee61]

That looks absolutely fantastic. The town and forests in particular are very effective. 

It has the look of one of the maps in an Osprey Campaign book.

[Forwardmarchstudio]

Thanks!  One of the nicest comments I've gotten so far!  As far as I'm concerned, with the micro-scales the terrain is 90% of the end result.

I have an older blog than the one I posted above:  https://1809in3mm.blogspot.com.  That blog was about my 3mm collection, but also about my years-long struggle to come up with terrain for micro-scale figures.  I finally figured it out with this current set-up.  As with most creative endeavors, the solution to the problem was simple, tidy, fast, and cheap. 

The bottom layer of the terrain is made out of plexiglas from poster frames.  These are about $16 for a 36" x 24" frame.  I then took a $1.00 foam brush and painted $.0.70 craft paints on one side of the plexiglas to create the fields.  All four panels took about 30 minutes to create.  I let them dry (included in the 30 minutes) and then placed all four panels paint-side-down on a piece of raw canvas.  When you paint acrylic on plexiglas the paint won't lose its vividness when it dries, when seen through the plexiglas.  I then used markers to draw the roads, rivers and elevation lines onto the topside of the plexiglas; that is, the side opposite the painted side.  I can erase the panels whenever I want to play another battle.  This also takes very little times.  Finally, the foliage and buildings are added on top.  All of the buildings are from my model range, and, if printed at home on an FDM printer, are cheap-as-chips.  Some of the buildings in this picture are FDM, some are Shapeways SLS, and some are resin casts that I made myself. 

I'll be posting some more pictures tomorrow with the Austrians included, as well as two more panels.

[Sangennaru]

Very, VERY nice table! The use of turfs for trees is really something!

I ventured into 2mm terrain a while ago for a steampunk naval game we made, and i did print my own houses as well.
http://thelazyforger.com/works/naval-scale-town-houses/

I suggest to try to do some rocky formations too, they work great in that scale!
http://thelazyforger.com/works/naval-scale-islands/

Cheers
Jack

[Forwardmarchstudio]

Thanks, and nice looking buildings!
I'll keep those crags in mind when I get around to making a castle.  It'll need something to perch on...

[Sangennaru]

Thanks, and nice looking buildings!
I'll keep those crags in mind when I get around to making a castle.  It'll need something to perch on...

It's quite simple to do, and if you'll manage to fit a bunch of houses below the castle between the rocky formations it could seriously rock!

[Pendrake]

It does look amazing.

• Is it a total of three plexi panels? For a playing area 6x3 feet...
• Are the roads drawn in with Dry Erase markers?

I have messed with 24x48 polystyrene panels for terrain purposes in the past. Those are from fluorescent lighting fixtures. They usually have a textured side. In one shot, the low angle one, the reflections make it look like the fields are flooded or it has just rained heavily.  The notion of water raises more questions:

• How would you approach doing a body of water with this system? Say a harbour, inlet, or even large ponds?
• What scale of ships would you consider correct for 2mm? 1:900?

My current thinking about ship scales and corresponding soldier sizes is:
1:1200 ship ...|... 1.5mm crew/soldiers
1: 900 ship ...|... 2mm crew/soldiers
1: 720 ship ...|... 2.5mm crew/soldiers
1: 600 ship ...|... 3mm crew/soldiers

[Forwardmarchstudio]

Hi Pendrake,

I'm about to get to bed here, but in short:

It's four plexiglas panels.  Each one is 36" x 24". They're from poster frames. You can buy them in the US at Michael's or Hobby Lobby for about $12 a piece if you catch a BOGO sale (which is about every other week).

The roads, rivers and elevation lines are drawn with permanent markers, which can be easily erased with dry-erase markers.  This keeps them from getting messed up during play.  Although dry erase would probably work just as well if you were careful.  The other huge advantage of using the plexiglas is that you can annotate terrain, such as marking off where a stream is fordable, and by what troop types.  You can also write down the defensive value of a BUA next to it, and how many troops can garrison a given village or town.  Being able to put terrain information directly onto the terrain is very useful.

As far as larger bodies of water go... personally, I don't do naval stuff, so I would just color in the lake with a marker.  If you wanted to do a lot of naval stuff, I would paint white onto the plexiglass and place it over top of a dark blue backing paper.  That *should* create a neat deep water look.  I actually paint a lot of abstracts for my apartment using this method, and there is a lot to be considered; you could add white first, using a mottled pattern to indicate breakers, let that dry, they plant a dark blue glaze over top of the white.  When the blue dries and you flip the plexiglas over the white will still be white and everything that isn't will be blue.

I think 1:900 is 2mm, right?  1:600 is 3mm. 

[Vanvlak]

That's so incredibly stunning, looks like an aerial view of the battle!

[DintheDin]

That's so incredibly stunning, looks like an aerial view of the battle!

A so meticulous job, well studied and well executed! And the result is beyond any imagination! Congrats!

[Forwardmarchstudio]

And it's extremely cheap and portable!

[Inkpaduta]

Excellent. Once upon a time I thought about doing Leipzig in 2mm.
One day...one day.

[grant]

Stunning 

[fred]

Very impressive - the terrain looks excellent, very realistic.

[Forwardmarchstudio]

Thanks! 
I'm working on getting the allies ready now.  I'm mostly done with the French on the Southern front.  I still need Ney, Marmon and the Poles up North.  I'll probably have to do a final order before I finish up, but I'm getting there.