Terrain Dilemma - Advice Needed

[Hu Rhu]

Hi Guys,

I am about to embark on a project involving the Plains Wars of the 1870's.  Typical Cavalry versus the Sioux stuff but I have a small dilemma.  Obviously the orginal wars were fought over the short grass prairie which looked a bit like this:







However I am a great fan of John Ford's films set in this sort of terrain.








The game will be set on a 6' x 4' table and whilst the rolling prairie is easy to make, it might end up looking a little samey.  The Death Valley Terrain is obviously eye catching but might be a little overwhelming on a 6' x 4' table.  Also it will take up a lot of room leaving less to fight over.

Which leaves me with a quandry.  Your thoughts and advice would be very welcome.

[Vanvlak]

Half and half? Having the actual short grass prairie at one end transforming into the Death Valley at the other? A change from the open prairie to a monumental desert setting, only part of which is seen.

[DivisMal]

Since I am also abig John Ford-fan, for me the Death Valley approach is the only one true to the Wild West!

[has.been]

Take a leaf out of the railway modeller's book of tricks, i.e. build the cliff/towers in low relief. This would provide a dramatic back drop while only impinging into the table by a few inches. With a bit of planning two such bits placed back to back could act like a 'room divider' further into the playing area. It would be a good idea to build some scree/boulder outcrops that fit the foot of the taller cliff/towers to provide:-
a) flexibility for different games;
b)easier to store (in smaller units);
c)somewhere for 'B' troop to hold up until 'De Duke' rides to the rescue OR
d)it is where the 'pesky Indians' launch the ambush from.

These are just part of my plans to do Pony Wars in 6mm. The problem is that the figures are in a small bag.....
somewhere in my lead mountain, and I don't know where (Boo Hoo)

[Malamute]

Since I am also abig John Ford-fan, for me the Death Valley approach is the only one true to the Wild West!

This. 

However do the buttes along one edge as a backdrop. The rest can be rocky outcrops, ledges,  dried up river beds etc.

[Harry Faversham]

The Dook, leading a Troop of Cavalry after the Redskins, can only ever have one backdrop...





Monument Valley

 

[OSHIROmodels]

Bigger table 

cheers

James

[traveller]

This. 

However do the buttes along one edge as a backdrop. The rest can be rocky outcrops, ledges,  dried up river beds etc.

I'll second that, cliffs along the sides with some openings to create a valley type of terrain

[dbsubashi]

You might try Major General Tremorden Rederring's approach...

[Cory]

Do some googling of the badlands and the bighorn canyon. There is plenty of terrain close to both in the plains.

When we did plains wars we had a series of bluffs and cliffs about 6 to 10" high that went along a board edge. The coulees at the bottom would then be starting or exit points.

[NickNascati]

Yep, the Major General's approach would be a good way to handle the dilemma. By the way, it isn't Death Valley, it's Monument Valley.

[FifteensAway]

While I am a fan of John Ford's westerns, I also recognize that they don't look at all like history - or even close.  The Monument Valley (which is in Utah, Death Valley is in California and doesn't look the same - well, some of the Monument Valley is in Arizona but I believe Ford was based in and filming in Utah) would not have been able to support the Lakota people and definitely would not have been home to large herds of buffalo.  So, I'd go with the actual terrain.

And it doesn't have to look "samey" at all.  Sure, there are large tracts of that short grass prairie but even your photo shows a pretty diverse look.  So, I'll suggest going with the terrain where the action actually happened, just give it some variety as another poster suggested.  Maybe take a look at the Black Hills.  There is a famous photograph showing Custer's supply train moving through the Black Hills and they sure look vastly different than the terrain near Little Big Horn - and very vertical, the camera must have been hundreds of feet higher than the train.

Perhaps Ford filmed where he did because there were probably still Lakota veterans of the battle alive and maybe he was a bit worried about his own scalp, so to speak.  Or maybe it was a simple budget issue - or maybe there just weren't good highways at the time to get to the real sites.

Again, my vote is for the actual terrain.

[hentzau]

You might try Major General Tremorden Rederring's approach...

Man, what a great website.  I sure do miss the Major General.  Wonder whatever happened to him?

[airbornegrove26]

This might help a bit, as I was inspired by both types of landscapes when working on my 6x4 fantasy western table. 

[DivisMal]

While I am a fan of John Ford's westerns, I also recognize that they don't look at all like history - or even close.  The Monument Valley (which is in Utah, Death Valley is in California and doesn't look the same - well, some of the Monument Valley is in Arizona but I believe Ford was based in and filming in Utah) would not have been able to support the Lakota people and definitely would not have been home to large herds of buffalo.  So, I'd go with the actual terrain.

Nooo! That can't be true! I saw it on TV!!!