Terrain: Footprints

Footprints are a great tool for making area terrain work properly and still look great on the table. It also keeps you from having to rip up terrain if you suddenly need different shapes (I don’t play 40k but I’ve heard some things about the new edition ^^). In Armoured Clash, they’re perfect for denoting dense terrain.

 

Essentially, a footprint is just a thin piece of plasticard or cardboard that defines the borders of your area terrain. 2D Terrain is (sadly) the most practical option for gameplay, leaving your units free to move across it without issue. Of course, it usually doesn’t look great. But if you then place small 3D elements on top, that can be easily moved around or removed entirely as the situation dictates, you get the best of both worlds.

My Process:

I like 1.5mm, which gives a reasonably firm base that still cuts well and isn’t too tall. 1mm is also good, more flexible and easier to cut. I would not use 2mm, especially for curved shapes because cutting it can get tedious. A basic guide to working with plasticard can be found here.

As for other materials, cardboard and MDF would probably also work, but that is not the focus of this article. Keep in mind that cardboard might have problems with warping.

Sand and bevel: Sanding with a rough ish sandpaper helps the basing stick and I prefer a slight bevelled look. You can also do a quick chamfer on the corners by cutting off the tip and then sanding it into a curve.

Texture: I generally go over with artist’s structure paste. It’s a lot cheaper than game companies’ options and I haven’t had any problems with peeling (which has been a problem with glue + sand). You can also just do whatever you normally do for basing, but keep in mind that you don’t want a very rough surface, since your 3D terrain pieces will go on top. Also, terrain takes a lot more material than bases, so go for something cheap and plentiful. If there's not enough texture, you can sprinkle on sand or add craft glue and sand after it dries.

 

Paint: Basecoat in the color of your choice then drybrush. You can also stipple on other colors first to add some more texture.

Some Recipes:

Sand: Start with a pink or orange spray, then do a yellow drybrush, finishing off with a very light yellow lightly drybrushed.

Buildings by War Scenery, downscaled

Forest Floor: Brown spray, lighter brown drybrush, and finish with a light drybrush of a coffee color.

 

Trench Mud: Black spray, Brown drybrush, stipple a light green, finish off with a light drybrush in coffee.

 

3D Pieces: depending on scale there’s a lot of options of what to put on top. Trees and Ruins are of course a classic. Rocks (bark or xps foam) or patches of crafting moss also work fine. I personally love small buildings to denote a shantytown. Even Fog would make an interesting option, though I’m not happy with my attempts yet.

Closing

Let me know if anything is unclear. I hope it helps!

No AI.