Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Colonial Adventures => Topic started by: Captain Blood on June 20, 2010, 11:21:40 PM
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Right then, you old colonial hands...
I'm embarking on another quite big terrain project - a set of boards for a certain S.African based scenario...
A wise fellow told me distinctive red dirt was a must, and it's tempting to think all gritty desert and rocky outcrops.
But looking at my wife's childhood photo album this afternoon, (she spent several years in Durban as a kid) all I can see is lush rolling grasslands - not too dissimilar to the South Downs ::)
In 'Zulu' on the other hand, I seem to recall it somewhere in between - fairly arid, but with lots of tall swaying grasses as well...
All very confusing.
So - give me a clue here:
Basic suggested groundwork colours / tones?
Mostly dirt-grit or mostly grassland?
And if grass, what colour best to go for? Green? Brown? Somewhere in between?
Much in the way of scrub / brush, and if so, like what?
Trees? Sparse or well hung?
All suggestions gratefully received (unless they're really stupid, obviously :))
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South Africa is very brown and yellow in the dry season, and greener than Ireland in the rainy one (apart from the bits that are actually desert). Take your pick.
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If sir would like to try our Isandlwana...
It comes in this nice green:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/kwazulu_natal_tours_isandlwana.jpg)
Or perhaps yellow is more your colour:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/IsandlwanaALMOS_428x269_to_468x312.jpg)
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South Africa is so big, and the terrain is so varied, it would be hard for anyone to say you had done it wrong, unless you are going for a specific place. And the soil isn't red everywhere.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/Lesotho20Pony20Trek.jpg)
Lesotho
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/photo_lg_swaziland-1.jpg)
Swaziland
(Yes, Lesotho and Swaziland aren't technically South Africa, but they are both thereabouts and both of them kind of "inside" it.)
Kalahari:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/kalahari.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/kalahari3.jpg)
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The soil around Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift is red brown, the grass will be lush green in the winter and dry burned yellow in the summer.
Zulu was filmed up in the Drakensberg mountains, a long way from the Drift.
I'd go with your usual brown colour, have plenty of rocky areas, and patches of long grass.
I think the Acacia style tress will give it the Africa look you are looking for.
When we next meet I'll show you my photos of Isandlwana and the Rorkes Drift and the local area. I spent a very nice holiday exploring Zululand.
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(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/kalahari3.jpg)
Lovely family photo of Mr. and Mrs *Click!* and the kids there...
I pine to visit South Africa but it looks like Australia seems to be next.
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as already said, it looks very different everywhere
a basic thing is indeed that the soil looks more on the reddish side in general, which is true for every arid and semi arid environment due to oxydization of iron after the rainy season
otherwise everything is green in the rainy season and gets quite dry for the rest of the Year.
for example, when I was in Botswana, the Kalahari looked green with tall bushes everywhere, though it is called a desert -
the yellow-ochre appearance comes from the dry vegetation.