Just as important as the natural terrain of the battlefield are the man-made (or ore-made) struc- tures on it: houses, farms, fences, bridges, roads, and castles. Most arm- ies try to find battlefields that are clear of large structures, since villages and such just get in the way of a good cav- alry charge. But sometimes, as in a chance meeting between two forces, armies must take whatever ground they get. Sometimes the village, road, or bridge may be what the fight is all about.
Several manufacturers market medi- eval bridges and buildings in both 15mm and 25mm scales. These aren't too expensive (compared to your army of miniatures) and they look very nice on the game table. Look in the minia- tures section of your local hobby shop. TSR, Inc. also has available 3-D fold- up buildings in 25mm scale, sold in the
Cities of Mystery package. All of the
buildings in the rules diagrams in this book were made from this kit (some were heavily modified). These are less expensive than molded buildings, are printed in full color, and give you the added bonuses of being fun to put to- gether and easy to store.
If you'd rather make your own struc- tures from scratch, here are some basic guidelines to follow.
Buildings. Make buildings out of thin
cardboard or matte board, balsa wood, foam core sheets, or toy building blocks. The first four items can be found at any art supply store. If you (or someone in your family) don't have some building blocks, check at the local toy store.
Buildings made from cardboard don't need to be elaborate. Four walls and a roof are all that's really necessary. Take your time when coloring them, and even these simple constructions will look nice in the game. You can color them with markers, pencils, or the paints you use on your miniatures. Use bright colors, and outline impor- tant features in black.
Primitive huts are even easier to make. Peat pots are small, rough, card- board cups used for starting plants. You can buy them at greenhouses or in dime stores. Turn a peat pot upside down, cut out a doorway, and you have a fine hut. Very small paper cups printed with a rough pattern or painted brown will suffice, but they don't look as authentic as peat pots.
If you want thatched buildings, cover the roofs and/or walls with bur- lap. A spray adhesive is best for stick- ing the burlap onto the building, although most glues will work. Spray adhesive is sold in art supply stores, and is useful for gluing together any sort of paper or cloth sheets.
As with model trees, you don't need a model house for each building in a vil-
lage. In the game
scale, each model house can represent a cluster of farmhouse and several outbuildings and sheds, for ex- ample. Five or six buildings can repre- sent an entire small village.
Walls. You can scratch-build very
authentic-looking rock walls by gluing together small rocks or dry beans, or by sticking together small lumps of model- ing clay. Long, square strips of wood can be painted with rock patterns. Many companies also manufacture miniature stone walls specifically for use with military miniatures. Whatever you decide to use, look for (or build) walls that are wide enough for a minia- ture figure to stand on. This makes it easy to indicate which troops are cross- ing the wall.
Roads. Gray or brown construction
paper, masking tape, or a trail of kitty litter or aquarium gravel all make excel- lent roads. Remember that road build- ing was pretty much a neglected science in the Middle Ages. Unless your fantasy campaign takes place in a very advanced culture or among the rem- nants of a fallen civilization, most roads will be nothing but rutted dirt tracks in the dry season and impassable mires in the rainy season.
Bridges. Again, you can buy prefab-
ricated bridges from a hobby store or
you can make your own. A long, thin candy box or pencil box with the ends cut off is a good place to start.
Castles. An entire chapter could be
written on castle building alone. Cas- tles come in such a variety of sizes and shapes, particularly in a fantasy world, that nothing more than general guide- lines are possible here.
When building a castle, keep in mind that its purpose is defense. Also keep in mind that defending a castle from pow- erful monsters, dragon riders, and wiz- ards requires a different type of architecture than prevailed in medieval Europe. The exact construction will vary according to the amount of magic in your game. You'll have to experiment a bit to find out what works.
The best way to start a castle is with a tower. A half-gallon milk carton or a thick mailing tube, appropriately painted and adorned with gates, arrow slits, and crenellations, becomes a tower stronghold in less than an hour. Add a few shoeboxes and paper-towel tubes connected by cardboard walls, and the tower becomes a castle. Unless you intend to run a full-scale siege, keep the castle small and simple. Think of it as an outpost.
For people who want to spend the money, many toy stores sell building blocks designed specifically for build- ing castles. These are very attractive, can be used to make almost an infinite variety of castles, and are lots of fun to play with between battles. Their big drawback is cost; expect to pay $40 to $80 for a medium to large set.
Wrapping Up
Miniature figures actually represent two hobbies in one; first, collecting, painting, and display- ing them, and second, playing games with toy soldiers. Don't let the first overshadow the second, or vice versa. Leaning too far in one direction takes away some of the fun, and leaning too far in the other direction takes away some of the challenge.
AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD _ MV Notes Range / / AR Hits ML/CD MV Notes Range / /
The top two lines of each form are for the unit's name and any im- portant general information (which figure commands the unit, now to tell this unit apart from other units of similar or identical fig- ures, etc.). AR, Hits, ML/CD, and MV go in the appropriate
blanks. The box at right is for weapons, described either by AD alone or by type and AD (inserting range figures for a missile weapon). The "Notes" lines are for jotting down incidental infor- mation (Irregular only, Chaotic, Cause Horror, etc.).