Making Pine Forests

There is something about having large trees as terrain pieces that really lifts the look of a table. In the real world, trees tower over houses and other buildings. They often dominate a skyline. If I can achieve something of that with a game table then I think it goes a long way to giving it a more natural look. Sometimes, it doesn't even require that many tall trees.

On other occasions, it can require a lot of trees, especially if playing in the Far East.

So, when it came to starting a Chain of Command campaign set in the Hurtgen Forest, I needed to give serious consideration to how I wanted to represent those pine forests. 

I never planned to achieve a look this dense, but I wanted to at least capture something of the visual aspect. After all, it is such a distinctive feature of contemporary photographs from the battle. 

A few years ago I created several bases of pine trees for the Bloody Bucket campaign, which is set in the Ardennes. Pine trees are a feature of many European landscapes, be it areas like the Ardennes and Hurtgen Forest, or further east in Prussia and western Russia. It's not as if I wouldn't find a use for them in other settings.

Originally, I bought a box of relatively cheap trees of varying heights from a seller on eBay.

I lightened their colour and based them in groups of two and three.

They served their purpose well enough for our Bloody Bucket games.

That was all great, until someone at our club (yes Mac, I'm looking at you) turned up with pine trees with much longer trunks. What a difference it seemed to make. They had the extra height, which I think is so effective, but more importantly, they really looked the part. That's the look I wanted for the Hurtgen Forest games, so down the rabbit hole I jumped.

There's nothing out of the ordinary here in terms of their construction. It really is just a matter of adding a top piece of pine foliage to a straight piece to represent the trunk and then putting them on a base. I decided I would do this with the existing trees I had, but I would also need to order more. 

The thing about trees is that, in most cases, they are scale agnostic. A tall tree for a 20mm figure.....

....is a not so tall tree, for a 28mm figure.

As always, storage is an issue and so I figured this into my plans. Construction is straightforward enough, given the trees arrive ready made.

I find the tree colour a bit dark and I like to break up the single colour tone with a highlight. I do that using my airbrush and lightly spray Yellow Green. I spray at an angle, always pointing the airbrush down when spraying from above. The idea is to only cover the lighter, upper surface of the foliage. 

 

I'm adding only a single colour, but it does a great job of giving some tonal variation to each tree.

The trunks were made from different thickness of wood dowel, bought in bags from a local craft store.

I cut them to size using The Chopper, my trusty cutting tool that is perfect for terrain jobs like this.

To make the most efficient use of storage space, the trees won't be permanently attached to the bases. Those bases were made from MDF, cut in random shapes and with their edges chamfered for a more natural look. 

To make a simple plug to attach the tree base I used pieces of round toothpick. I used a pin vise to drill a suitably sized hole in the end of each piece of dowel and in the MDF base where each tree would be located.

I did this at both ends because that is also how the tree foliage will be attached.

I have a ready supply of toothpicks on hand for many jobs, I find them very useful.

It's then just a matter of using PVA glue to attach a small length of the toothpick into the end of the dowel.

The wood dowel is a little too perfectly round for my liking and so I roughed them up a bit with a craft knife.

In particular, I slightly tapered the ends, where the foliage will be inserted.

Next, they were all painted with a brown acrylic paint.

When dry they were washed with Citadel's Agrax Earthshade, but to be honest, any dark brown wash would do. 

At this point the natural wood grain of the dowel shows up, as does the work done with the craft knife.

The final stage is to glue in the top foliage and give the trunks a gentle dry brush with a pale grey colour.

The bases were textured with sand and then flocked, in the same way as I do all my basing, so that figures and other pieces of terrain can also sit comfortably together - be they in 20mm or 28mm.

Despite the extra box of trees, I found creating a convincing forest on a 6x4 table was still a challenge. I needed to pad it out with various other trees from my collection to achieve a convincing density. While I don't think I quite captured the appearance of the photographs, I think it gave a good impression.

I felt it worked particularly well from a figure's perspective and was suitably atmospheric. As it turned out, and this was something quite unintentional, these taller trees actually helps with figure placement, so they have proven functional as well. That's a good result in my book!

Warriors in the Old North Scenario 4: Raid on a Wagon train

We return to 6th century Britain and our campaign using Dux Britanniarum. The campaign season is drawing to a close and so far the Britons have successfully beaten off two of three Saxon raids. In the previous game they prevented the raiding warband from making off with a herd of cattle, plundered from local farmsteads.

Not that this has deterred Eahlbeard, the Saxon lord. He's intent on making the most of what remains of the fighting weather. He receives word that Cadwallon, the British lord, is escorting a wagon train of valuable supplies to one of his fortifications. 

Eahlbeard is quick to act. He gathers a warband and heads into the neighbouring British province in search of plunder. Cadwallon, accompanied by part of his warband, must escort the wagons across the table and into the safety of the fortification.  

There, the remainder of his warband are waiting -  a group of slingers and two groups of British levy, under the command of the noble Malvin. 

Should the Saxons suddenly make an appearance, Cadwallon, with his force divided, could find himself in a difficult position. 

The Britons' force morale starts at eight, which puts them in much better spirits than the Saxons, who start with only five. That said, the Britons may face the more difficult task.

The wagon train and escort begin to make their way up the table, before discovering there are Saxons lurking in the woods to their left. 

Eahlbeard, with his companions and a group of warriors, lead the way. They are followed closely by Hrothgar, a Saxon noble, leading more warriors.

Cadwallon, at the head of his companions and a group of warriors, moves on ahead of the wagons.

Meanwhile, Hrothgar's Saxon warriors move slowly in the woods. 

The British slingers sally forth from the fortification to seek out and harass the Saxons. 

They are followed by Malvin, who leads the levy out to join them. 

Wary of the threat the Saxons present and the limitations of his own force, he has the men form a shieldwall.

Eahlbeard is eager to get to grips with the Britons and leads his men forward through the woods.

That brings him quickly into a position from where he can try to intercept the wagon train.

Broethr, a noble accompanying Cadwallon's force, moves ahead quickly with a group of levy and warriors.

The Britons want to ensure they put themselves between the waiting Saxons and the wagon train.

In the next turn, the remaining Saxons - a group of archers and two groups of warriors under the command of the noble Maethelweald - follow in the footsteps of Eahlbeard and arrive in the woods.

Broethr moves his levy and warriors forward to face Eahlbeard. 

They too form up into a shieldwall.

Maethelweald moves his newly arrived band to the edge of the woods. 

That puts them alongside Eahlbeard and ready to face the Britons.

Hrothgar moves his warriors out of the woods.

It's not clear what the Saxons have in mind, but they cannot afford to ignore the levy waiting outside the fortification.

However, for now at least, their main interest seems to be the escort party for the wagon train.

Cadwallon moves his men forward and anchors their flank on the marsh. 

With the Saxons so close, he also has his men form a shieldwall.

The stage looks set for a confrontation. Both sides staring at each other, waiting to see who will blink first. 

For as long as the Britons stand between the Saxons and the wagons, then the pressure is on the raiders to make the first move. But will the shieldwalls stand firm in the face of an aggressive Saxon charge?

The slingers move close to Hrothgar and his warriors and unleash a volley of missiles. 

Despite the range, they manage three hits, but the warriors survive unscathed. 

Meanwhile, the Saxon archers seek out similar targets and move around the marsh.

For now, their presence is more annoying than dangerous, but, much like the British slingers, they cannot be ignored.

Malvin moves the levy shieldwall forward slowly. He is not seeking confrontation, but wants to give the Saxons reason to keep one eye over their shoulder

Eahlbeard decides to move out of the forest toward the British.

His men move further and faster than he expects and that brings them directly into contact with Broethr's command. 

The first clash between Saxon and Britons takes place. 

The Saxons play the Aggressive Charge card. The Britons counter, by playing Shieldwall Braced. With that, fighting erupts.

The shieldwall proves resilient and the Britons suffer shock, but no casualties. The Saxons, on the other hand, suffer greviously. Two of the companions and two of the warriors are killed. Eahlbeard himself is hit and only play of the Armour Bright card saves him from taking a wound. 

Those losses see the initial Saxon charge thrown back and their formation falls apart. 

Eahlbeard had not intended to make contact so quickly. Conversely, the Britons had not expected to repulse a charge quite so easily. A very surprising outcome.

This would be a good opportunity for the wagon train to pick up speed and move forward. However, the drivers appear unnerved and edge forward cautiously. 

The Saxon archers then make a threatening move around the marsh, to place themselves in position behind the shieldwall. Now, they have gone from being annoying, to being dangerous.

Eahlbeard is determined to press home his attack and directs his men back towards the Britons. He decides to focus on their weak point and attack the levy. He uses the Goad card to have his companions stand off from the British warriors, while he leads the warriors against the levy. 

The British, quite literally, have another card up their sleeve. To the Saxon's surprise, they play a second Shieldwall Braced card. It reduces the number of hits, but while they don't suffer any casualties, they cannot escape taking a lot of shock. The Saxons, don't suffer any shock, but they do lose another man. 

The shock means the levy are unable to hold their ground. They break off from the shieldwall and fall back. 

Maethelweald attempts to lead his men out of the woods, but they find the going extremely difficult and barely move. On the contrary, the wagon drivers have no problem picking up speed. They move around behind the levy, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Saxons.

Hrothgar, ignores the levy shieldwall behind him and brings his men up to join Eahlbeard. Broethr and his warriors are in danger of being overwhelmed.

While killing Saxons may help his cause, his principle task today is to protect the wagon train. He rallies shock and falls back to join the levy.

That restores a degree of protection to the wagons. I doubt the levy will stand if contacted again, but for now at least, they are there.

Cadwallon debates whether to attack the nearby Saxons, but, like Broethr, he remembers the key aim of their mission is to protect the wagons. He also moves back.

The Britons may have been forced backwards, but, for now at least, the wagons have protection.

The Saxons appear to have the upper hand. However, while they may not have suffered a great deal of shock, the number of men killed has made their force more brittle.

The slingers continue advancing on the Saxons and pelting them with missiles, but it fails to have any impact. 

It's at this point Malvin realises he cannot stand idly by with his levy and watch the fight unfold. He leads his men towards the Saxons as fast as they will move. He runs a risk in breaking apart the shieldwall like this, but speed is of the essence. 

That threatens the Saxons with an attack from the rear and may draw their attention away from the wagon train.

The Saxon archers have lost their opportunity to shoot on Cadwallon's shieldwall from the rear. Nonetheless, they target the nearest group of British warriors, but their arrows fail to find their mark.

Eahlbeard considers his options. The levy behind him are no longer in formation and make for a very tempting target. However, before he can order his warriors to strike, the British play the Step Forth card, which allows Malvin to activate and interrupt. 

He forms a shieldwall with his men and presents the Saxons with a more formidable target.

When Eahlbeard acts, he has a change of heart. Sensing the levy shieldwall may be a distraction, he sends the warriors and his companions to attack Broethr near the wagon train.

He directs Hrothgar and his warriors to deal with the levy. 

This may prove a tougher fight than tackling Malvin's levy, but it puts the Saxons much closer to their key objective - the wagon train.

Broethr's men take heavy losses, losing four men and suffering shock. In return they manage to inflict only three shock on the Saxons. What remains of Broethr's command falls back, suffering more shock as it does so. That's enough for them to lose their amphora and break. British force morale drops to seven. 

That was an unexpectedly quick collapse. It leaves a gap in the Briton's line and the wagon train is easy prey.

The levy, already teetering on the verge of breaking, lose three men. With additional shock, they too lose their amphora and break. British force morale drops again, to six. 

The Saxons emerge virtually unscathed. A small price to pay for driving two groups of Britons from the field. 

Now that leaves the wagon train horribly exposed. Do they try to fall back behind Cadwallon's men, or should they attempt to make a run for the fortification?

In the end, the best policy seems to be to continue moving away from the Saxons.

Finally, Maethelweald is able to lead his warriors out of the woods and towards Cadwallon. The situation is looking grim and the Britons are in real danger of being overwhelmed by the Saxons.

Broethr leaves his broken warriors and heads off to join Cadwallon.

Cadwallon decides the best form of defence is attack. Making use of the cards Carpe Diem, Audacia and Hero of the Age he leads his companions and warriors to attack Eahlbeard's command.  

Unfortunately, things go badly right from the start. His companions move into contact, but the warriors don't move fast enough and fail to join the fight.

Despite the play of cards, and reasonable odds, all Cadwallon can do is inflict two points of shock on the Saxons. The two sides remain engaged and another round is fought. Again, the Saxons suffer no casualties, but enough shock to see them fall back. 

Cadwallon stays in contact, but that was a disappointing outcome. This was an opportunity for the Britons to inflict enough casualties to see Eahlbeard's companions driven from the field, with the consequent blow to their force morale. Alas, it was not to be.

The slingers move towards the fight. Unfortunately, the two sides are now too closely engaged for there to be a suitable target. 

Instead, the slingers hurl their missiles at long range in the direction of Maethelweald's warriors, but they fail to hit.

Cadwallon is next to activate. The Saxon's interrupt with play of the Step Forth card and Eahlbeard activates instead. 

He rallies shock from his warriors. 

The Saxons then play the Carpe Diem card for a flank attack. Eahlbeard directs Maethelweald's warriors to charge the group of British warriors that failed to make contact with the Saxons in the last combat. 

They slam into the flank of Cadwallon's warriors. This could end very badly.

The Saxons then play the Audacia card for Eahlbeard. He leads the group of warriors to join the fight against Cadwallon. 

This is where the losses suffered by the Saxons earlier begins to tell. Cadwallon's men stand up heroically to the attack and suffer only a single point of shock, but, in return, they kill another of Eahlbeard's companions and inflict more shock. 

The companions' shock is now more than double the number of men.

They lose their amphora and break. The sight of which drops Saxon force morale to three.

A second round of combat ensues. 

More Saxons are struck down in the fight. The warriors lose two men and suffer shock. That's enough for them to also lose their amphora. They break and fall back, but Cadwallon's men, who have suffered only a few points of shock, don't pursue. 

The sight of more warriors leaving the field brings Saxon force morale down to two. While that's an encouraging sign for the Britons, the unexpected attack on their flank could change the situation rapidly. 

And so it transpires. The Saxon onslaught is deadly, killing five of the Britons. 

The survivors suffer shock, which increases as they fall back. Enough to see them break. No surprise this hits British force morale which drops to three. It seems the outcome of the game hangs in the balance.

That was a considerable degree of carnage. While there is no doubt the Britons are weakened, the Saxons have also suffered losses. More significantly, now their force morale is very low. Can Cadwallon finally act and turn the tables? Hrothgar's group of warriors are still at full strength and suffering no shock. However the withdrawal of Eahlbeard and his force has left their flank exposed. 

The British have a Carpe Diem card and now is the perfect time to play it. Cadwallon will launch a flank attack of his own. He turns his companions to their right and they plough into the flank of the nearby Saxon warriors. 

Unable to respond in this round, the Saxons suffer three points of shock and lose one man. Were it not for play of the Armour Bright card they would have seen Hrothgar wounded.

The Saxons turn to face the Britons for the next round. There are no more casualties, but both sides see their shock mount.  

They remain engaged in combat. It looks like the outcome of this struggle could well decide the fate of the wagon train.

Hrothgar is the next leader to activate, which means we immediately continue the combat. The Saxons continue to take losses and lose another man. To make matters worse, they fail to inflict any damage on the Britons. 

They are pushed back, but as both sides remain in contact, another round of combat is fought. The Britons continue to dominate the struggle. Another Saxon is killed, Hrothgar is wounded and the warriors suffer enough shock to see them lose their amphora and break.

They rout away from the Britons. The combined sight of a wounded noble and yet another group of broken warriors leaving the field is enough to bring Saxon force morale crashing down to zero. 

With the Saxons fleeing, the wagon train is safe, but this was a very close run affair. It looked for a moment as though the Britons were on the brink of collapse, only to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

Casualties for both sides ended up very similar, but the Britons have a pursuit card and so eke out a modest +2 victory. It's sufficient to add a Beggar's Bowl to Cadwallon's wealth. Perhaps more importantly, it will be some time before the Saxons are in any shape to raid again, which means they won't return before winter sets in.