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  4. Trench Lines - Plastic Terrain

Trench Lines - Plastic Terrain

  • JTam

    It occured to me in this thread:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/50203/ww1-rules-and-miniatures-box-set

    That plastic trench line terrain would be pretty cool.  Plastic trench terrain would directly support WGA's most unique line (WW1).  Plastic trenches would also be useful and popular for just about any 20th century war gaming and sci-fi gaming.

    Inspiration can be taken from GW's "Wall of Martyrs."

    Although with slightly less skulls.  

    GW's "Wall of Martyrs" is partially built from bodies.  It would sadly not be unrealistic for a WW1 trenchline to have bits of skeletons and fresher bodies sticking out of the mud.  A generic leg with hobnail boot sticking out would work for all theaters.  (Trenches often changed hands and one could find a mix of dead in and about the trench).

    The plastic trenches should be modular and capable of being built in different configurations.

    Thoughts?

     

     

  • Grumpy Gnome

    I think there is a market for this but it needs to be cost effective. Plenty of different terrain material options out there, resin, foam, plaster but cost effective modular plastic kits that are generic enough for multiple settings... seems a very marketable item.

     

    In addition to the trenches, bunkers and heavy weapon positions would be nice. And perhaps later specific accessory sets to help theme the trenches to suit the various particular settings.

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • JTam

    @Grumpy Gnome 

    I guess it all comes down to cost as you said.  

    There are nice options already out there in not plastic.  But they get spendy QUICK.

    Additional sprues/accessories to help theme the trenches is a great idea.  

  • Grumpy Gnome

    We got lucky and won some Ziterdes foam terrain trenches for a fraction of what they cost new. I would really struggle to justify their normal retail price with our budget.

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • JTam

    @Grumpy Gnome 

    That is nice stuff:

    Congrats.

  • Grumpy Gnome

    The factory paint is not as good as in those photos so I have some work ahead of me.

     

    Ziterdes foam trenches

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • BVD

    Actually, that isn't a bad idea, though I am not sure historical trenches can be done as a cheap plastic kit as your still going to be paying $32-$35 a kit🤔 (thats a good price 25-40 infantry but for good trenchline it might end up costing in the same ballpark as the some of the current options you both mentioned), probably the cheap but good option at the end of the day is still going be craft sticks and sculpting clay.

     

  • Yronimos Whateley

    I can't help thinking that most of such trenches would be easy for even beginners to craft using traditional model railroading terrain-crafting techniques.  BUT...

    Maybe something that might be right there in Wargames Atlantic's general wheelhouse might instead be textured or detailed bits to build into such projects... boxes of things like...

    • plank platforms/walkways/walls
    • scaffolding
    • door-frames and doors
    • small sections of sandbag walls, straight or built into machine-gun nests
    • battlefield bits like gabions, barrels, ammo boxes, tables, stools, ladders, flag-posts....
    • frames and stakes and other components for barbed wire and other fencing
    • maybe also bodies, as suggested by JTam (though on the other hand I bet that's just as much a way to put all those pesky leftover arms and heads from other projects to use, and a box of Wargames Atlantic classic fantasy skeletons could supply a planet's worth of grimdark bones and skulls to decorate with....)
    • ...maybe sections of brick, stone, reinforced concrete, and plate steel walls as well, to build pill-boxes and sci-fi trenches from....

     

    You supply your own foam, plaster, recycling, and whatever else it is terrain sets get crafted from, and Wargames Atlantic supplies the detailed bits that would require more advanced scratch-building?

     

     

  • JTam

    If the notoriously overpriced GW can sell this much trench line for $49.00.

    Or this for this:

    I have high hopes WGA could deliver an awesome product at half the price point.

  • JTam

    So the trenches could be the height of WW1 "Taj Mahal" trenches - reveted with floor boards.  Or more hasty all dirt trenches.

    I kind of favor the all dirt trenches.  They can represent shell blasted WW1 trenches or the generally more hasty WW2 trenches.  

    The bottoms of the trenches would have to be 32mm across?  40mm?  What size bases are Terminators on these days?

     

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  • AR

    maybe just the inner face and sandbagged top edge of the trench designed to fit a single layer of EPS insulation  trenches

  • AR

    I scratchbuilt the entire thing and having sections that I could just attached to the insulation board would have speeded things up a lot

  • JTam

    @Anton Ryzbak 

    Fantastic work.  That is an awesome looking board that would be amazing to play on. 

    Do you have any pictures of games being played on/miniatures on the table?  Did you make a tutorial?  Or do you recommend a tutorial or terrain book?

    And having the trench kit consist of a "center" section you can embed is a great idea.

    ....

    Or maybe have the outer "raised" trench walls as additional pieces.  That way one can build it as:

    1. A "raised," plunk it down on a flat board piece of terrain, or...

    2.  Embed the center portion in insulation / foam material as you did for a more realistic effect. 

  • FR

    Hi... you can use silicon molds from HirstArts zu create a big trench battlefield:

    https://hirstarts.com/sandbag/sandbag.html

    You can use it more than 1000 times (I used a brick-mold) and I have the SciFi-molds to create my own -  very - big SpaceHulk...

     

     

     

  • JTam

    @Frank Reischmann 

    Very cool.  That's a good option.  Thank You!

    Any pics of your trenches or space hulk?

  • FR

    Hi JTam, 

    no trenches, sorry... but poor pictures of my SpaceHulk... today it has more colors, but I have no pictures jet...

     

     

    And I have created a few dioramas for my 28mm battletech modells: 

     

    Today I have no time for hobby (to much work) but I use to complete it... in a few years... 😇

     

     

     

  • Grumpy Gnome

    Great work@Frank Reischmann!

    Folks can do great things with Hirst Arts or even just carving up foam... but it takes time. I certainly recall the days of making terrain out of soup cans and grab tanks out of deodorant bottles back in the 80’s.

    The advantage of professionally made plastic kits is the savings in time for the hobbyist. Less time spent casting or sculpting, the more time there is for painting and playing.

     

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • JTam

    @Frank Reischmann 

    Awesome terrain!  Like the weathering.  Pretending you could ever break free from work, what games do you play on it?

    The Battletech diorama is awesome too.

  • JTam

    @Grumpy Gnome 

    You hit the nail on the head.  The beauty of a plastic trench kit is you glue a few big pieces together.  Paint it two colors.  Sprinkle a little earth or chalk powder on it and your done.  Playing games.  

    I would have bought the Wall of Martyrs a long time ago if it wasn't so 40K centric.  I would definitely pick up a WGA trench kit as I can game with it from the Ametican Civil War to the 40th Millennium.  

  • AR

    @JTam Sorry, no pictures of games (I'm always too busy gamemastering to get any) but you can find a step-by-step of the process of building the terrain on my blog under the heading Adventures in Blueboard and Foamcore. 

    Prefabricated walls, sandbag top edges and floorboards would have greatly speeded up construction.

  • JTam

    @Anton Ryzbak 

    Fantastic!  Great tutorials.  Thank You.

  • JTam

    @Anton Ryzbak 

    I can't believe you modeled the firing step as well.  Amazing.

    The tutorial is really useful.  

    I never would have thought of matte-board for the floor boards.  The same with the coffee cup corrugated cardboard.  

    Impressed by your research.  The modeled fire step.  The layout of the trench plan.  The haphazard use of revements by the Germans.  Great stuff.

    I was going to ask which game system you were using/game mastering but I think I found the answer:

  • IV

    I also recommend these Iron Clad Miniatures trenches.  By my calculations you can get around 4ft of trenches for less than £100, and I'm very pleased with mine.

    Possibly a bit shallow and better fit for 20mm than 28mm,  but works well as a first line fire trench.

    Great customer service too, overall a great little company 🙂

  • JTam

    @Ian Valentine 

    Nice intell.  Thanks!

    I wonder if they have a Stateside distributor?

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  • JTam

    The April issue of Wargames Illustrated had an article on this incredible trench scratch build:

    #lifegoals

  • JTam

    Sneak Peak from 12 AUG 22:

    Perhaps WGA IS getting into the terrain business.

  • JTam

    https://youtu.be/5gTE8VhOx2U

     

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