Cornfields. How to get started, please?

[Argonor]

Dude, I'm all needy 

[Argonor]

Flag Dude makes a variety of crops including tobacco plants. You may be able to get some iceas from teh photos.
http://www.flagdude.com/product.do?product_id=17

Also these (pics, not models): http://www.google.dk/search?q=tobacco+plants&hl=da&client=firefox-a&hs=qp5&rls=org.mozilla:da:official&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-VNZTrL7FYbusgbmtvy8Cg&ved=0CD4QsAQ&biw=1414&bih=797

[FramFramson]

Today I went looking for simple coconut matting doormats, thinking I might try and make some wheat fields. You know the kind, like this:



You'd think they'd be cheap and widely available. I mean, when I was younger EVERYBODY had these for their doormat - and lots of folks still do! Turns out I can't find any anywhere in Toronto.      

Okay, strictly speaking that's not true. I did find some at one hardware place, but get this: they were $100!  

Sometimes I feel like I live in crazyland.

[Argonor]

Okay, strictly speaking that's not true. I did find some at one hardware place, but get this: they were $100!  

I'll have a look around - maybe here's a commodity that may be exported - we have SO many bazars and other 'oriental shops' that may have cheap mats for sale, you never know... 

[FramFramson]

Well, I haven't checked every store in town I'm sure, so I may well find some later (Home Despot did have some too, but they'd been dyed black! ).

[Dolmot]

Oh how I know the feeling. I'm absolutely sure a year or two ago every bargain store in the town was selling plain doormats for 5e. I even have solid proof of a few places. However, this year when I really needed one, I visited about 15 different stores - supermarkets, junk shops, hardware, furniture, garden, even actual mat stores, you name it. Nothing! Well, something, but each and every one was dyed or printed throughout so that you couldn't find an inch of natural coulour there. On the second, desperate round if found a checkered one. Pros: it had six different colours, all fairly nice for different crops. Cons: the squares were about 10 cm across. I chopped it up so now my fields consist of smallish squares with visible edges. Handy for storage but not perfectly pretty.

What was wrong with plain doormats? All those fancy printed ones make me wonder what people are doing with them. Using them as doormats!? Madness, I say.

[Argonor]

I just found one, 100cm by 50cm (but they custom cut), 24mm thick = DKK 162.50 divide by 5.2 = $31,25 (but an online store, so postage would be added, and the stuff is not THAT light).

So it must be possible!

[Barry S]

I've found IKEA here in Australia stocks rubberbacked dormats which may fit the purpose and for a reasonable price. They are approximately 15mm high. Not sure if their range is standard worldwide but they may be worth looking at.

After reading an article in an old issue of Wargames Illustrated I was looking for a particular type of rubber backed doormat. I couldn't find anywhere locally in Australia that carried them, however while travelling through the UK on a backpacking trip, I found one in Bangor (Wales) and knew if I didn't buy it then I would never see one again. My wife just shook her head, gave me 'the look' and told me I was to carry it. God knows what Customs must have thought. They probably didn't bother to ask after finding the rubber chicken...

Cheers,

Barry

[warrenpeace]

Schogun already mentioned the JTT cornstalks in 1 inch and 2 inch sizes. But I spotted a better price with some reviews on modeltrainstuff.com here:

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/JTT-Scenery-Products-HO-BU-1011-Corn-Stalks-1-36-p/jtt-bu1011.htm

[FramFramson]

Well, sad to say it was WalMart that had to save the day this time around. Still, better that than no wheatfields at all!

My next question: Any suggestions on what I might do to the surface in 30mm gaming? There's a subtle row pattern, but the tops are basically perfectly even and the density and colour are uniform.

[FramFramson]

Sorry for the minor thread hijack, but I'm going to pose a few questions.

So, as mentioned, I found some coconut matting. It was a bit short (very roughly 16mm or ¾"), but just about everywhere I looked it was shorter stuff. Seeing as I was lucky to find any that didn't have patterns all over it, I decided to try and make the fields anyway.

I cut some bases to use for my crops



Then I pulled out the mat and cut a rough chunk.



I had an idea to try and make up for the short height. I would raise the centre and lower the outer edges. This way most of the field would be of the correct height, but the "platform" (a chunk of foamcore) raising the centre would be hidden by the edges.

To get this, I traced the base plate over a paper and roughed in a concentric contour. Then I put it over the mat and cut in.



Then I glued it down. The centre looked awkwardly raised (there was a very noticeable "step"), so I trimmed it as best I could to make it seem like a more natural progression.



Then I put the rough form out with some figures to see how it looked (the fellow in the middle is "hiding" in the grass). The final would basically look like this, only the edges would look properly like dirt (which will hide the rubber mat backing).



Looking at the mockup, I really wasn't sure if I was 100% okay with it. The mat was cheap enough, so it was time for more experiments!

I went back to my idea of strips. I decided to cut a few to see how they looked.



Then I placed them out as I might in a game (they would still be based on MDF board with a dirt edge to hide the mat).



Now I'm really torn and I don't know which version I like better. I did a pros and cons list.

1st version

Pros.
- I'm able to get the height I need.
- Looks a bit more like a proper dense wheatfield.
- Figures can hide properly in the field.

Cons
- It's almost too perfectly dense and even.

2nd version

Pros
- Much more variable in terms of area that can be covered.
- Expanded gameplay options with a vastly larger number of configurations.
- Looks a little more natural in terms of irregularity.

Cons
- Barely looks like a wheatfield anymore. It's far too short and far too widely spaced. Almost looks like dying hedgerows (maybe I can use these to make hedgerows later!).
- Figures can't really hide in the field anymore, only around them. The strips lose any tall grass functionality and become more like low walls.

So I don't know. There are gameplay pros and cons and aesthetic pros and cons. Figured I'd bounce it off you folks to get more opinions.

Any thoughts?

[muckypup]

ok, close up your field & make up a marker for any figures `in the field` differant colours if you like for differant figs even a matchstick glued to small base would do

[FramFramson]

Of all the variables to consider, figures being on top of the first field doesn't really bug me too much.

[Argonor]

figures being on top of the first field doesn't really bug me too much.

It does me...    I'll get some mat and try out my idea with the bases... I could also do some with down-trodden crops to leave in place when a unit has passed 

[FramFramson]

Well, one of the good ideas someone had was to do a "rim" of wheat-mat and then cut out the centre in hexes. Then you could just pop out the hexes when you wanted to put a figure in the field.

The problem with that that I discovered is that this stuff sticks and tangles like cyclopean velcro. So popping hexes in and out became an exercise in ripping and tearing.