Terrain books

[Khadrin Stonetooth]

Hello people

I am planning to give a shot at making a modular terrain table next year. According to your experience, what would be the must have books (either in english or in french) for a beginner terrain maker, maybe with step by step chapters and the like. And I almost forgot, I am more a fantasy/medieval boy.

Thanks

Khadrin

[shandy]

I still like the old Games Workshop 'How to Make Wargames Terrain' book. It covers fantasy and sci-fi and is full of intersting ideas. However, the aesthetics are a bit old school, which I personally like very much, but it's not the same level as some things you see on shows today. The projects are, however, feasible and can be done without investing huge amounts of money and time.
It's still available second hand, e.g. here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Wargames-Terrain-David-Cross/dp/1841544558, or, if you google a bit, you might stumble across a pdf…

For a newer approach, have a look at 'Battlefields in Miniature' by Paul Davies (here's my review: https://wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/review-battlefields-in-miniature/). It's a bit pricey but full of useful information.

[Elbows]

Also...poke around and find some blogs by guys who make killer terrain.  A lot of those blogs include handy step-by-step stuff.  Also, YouTube is your friend. 

[Pijlie]

I would not spend my money on any book and save it for materials. Instead, I would look up the old Terragenesis website. You can spend days there getting new ideas.

[grant]

I too would not waste money on books. I would just check out cool blogs and such. Get inspired and get it done.

That's what I need to do, too.

[Khadrin Stonetooth]

Thanks all for the speedy answers. I agree that the money for the books could be saved to get some material or tools. If it is not too much of a bother, could you maybe point me to some of those killer terrain blogs ? I've checked some and so far even though the terrain displayed is great, I didn't see a lot of DIY step by step description. Keep in mind that I am a total terrain virgin 

[baldlea]

Here's one I would recommend:

shedwars.blogspot.co.uk

[gnomehome]

Although I buy the occasional terrain building book myself, you can find some tutorials on the following site.

http://tutofig.com/scenery-terrain/

Good luck with your projects !

[Captain Blood]

If you search for terrain here on Lead Adventure, and particularly in the Workbench area, you will come across many and various wonderful terrain projects, often with step by step builds, which will give you more and better techniques, tips and ways of working, than any of the currently available books.

That said... For my money, although they were kind of amateurishly written, in terms of what they included, inspiration and practical guidance, the ill fated and short lived series of Touching History terrain making books (well, glorified magazines really) were the best out there. Think you can still pick them up on eBay. There were three or four of them.

[shandy]

For my money, although they were kind of amateurishly written, in terms of what they included, inspiration and practical guidance, the ill fated and short lived series of Touching History terrain making books (well, glorified magazines really) were the best out there. Think you can still pick them up on eBay. There were three or four of them.

You can still get them as pdfs from Karawansaray:
http://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/shop/digital-content/touching-history.html

Great booklets, very inspirational!

[Pijlie]

Here are some DIYs from my blog:

http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl/search/label/scratchbuilt

[horridperson]

I'd recommend Terrain Modelling by Richard Windrow as a great primer for building all sorts of different terrain.  I'd also suggest Shep Paine's Diorama Building.  Neither specifically address building for wargaming but Windrow's suggestions are for the most part durable enough to make the grade.  I'd recommend the second book not just for building techniques but for discourse on the theory of building models for presentation.  Telling stories and setting the scene for your games should be the ambition of anyone who is serious about terrain building.  Paine was a storyteller; His insights are fascinating and helpful.

[eilif]

I'm a fan of both the early (red) and later (blue) Games Workshop books titled "How to Make Wargames Terrain".  The blue one may be a bit more useful, but there's some good stuff in the red book too.  OOP, but should be available on ebay, amazon, etc.

For websites, I've been following Sean Patten's Necromundicon, now part of www.ironhands.com
Most of the how-to's and info is in the "Necromundicon" section, but there's some amazing stuff buried in the Star Wars, Votoms and other sections of the website.

It's kind of my bible for how to make futuristic terrain with junk and toys, but it's got great info to share on medieval Mordheim cities, cliffs and other stuff. 

[pistolpete]

i second the suggestion of youtube. there's several 'terrain guy' how to sections that do step by step guides.  there's also a website  with hippo in the name that has super simple projects.   the biggest challenge from my experience is when to stop researching and get to work. best of luck.

[Andym]

I would suggest maybe starting a thread along the lines of "help: making a medieval castle" for example. I'm sure tons of people would love to lend their help, me included.