Here is an example of what I'm blathering on about below. I've included the 1/56th versions of von Moritz and von Ziethen for size comparison. Incidentally, some of the smaller Litko terrain bases might also be just the thing for command vignettes, which is, now that you mention it, another idea I've had banging 'round inside the ol' noggin lately.
During freer moments over the weekend, I plugged away at bases for 72 or so cake decoration trees, long in my possession and have featured occasionally in games over the years. I attached these to Litko terrain bases of various dimensions and then painted said bases in a Glidden latex (emulsion) color otherwise known as 'Deep Shaded Green.' The color seems only right for shaded forest, wood, copse, and thicket floors .
Due to a minor miscalculation on my part -- something that never, EVER happens in my universe I assure you. . . ahem -- I have yet to affix my two dozen or so Strelets (???) Russian evergreens to bases simply because I ran out of bases and must order more. Sigh. Still, you can see from the accompanying photograph what my thinking is with these various tree bases which are in the spirit of Charles Grant Sr., however with more random (much less straight) edges denoting wooded areas than was the case with his bases of two-three Merit trees as seen in The War Game and in the peripheries of various magazine photos way back when and once upon a time.
For some months this last winter, on a related note, I toyed seriously with the idea of adding grassy terrain cloths to cover my table and give it a more realistic look. Then I realized that doing so would require more realistic looking trees, buildings, and so forth. I must admit that I kind of like all of the stylized, scratch-built buildings I have amassed during the last ten years of so, and the cake decoration trees aren't that bad. In the end, I decided to remain with my stylized, old school look as an homage, of sorts, to departed wargaming greats like Charles Grant Sr., Young and Lawford, and, of course where the basing configuration of my units is concerned, Peter Gilder. It works for me.
Just a few larger bases of trees to assemble and paint this evening ater the Young Master's bedtime, and then it's onto a slew of Minden/Fife & Drum artillery limbers, horses, and riders for the rest of June and July. Tally ho!
-- Stokes
Comments
Jim
I use a green fabric to cover my gaming table, this has faded off somewhat over the years - however it looks fine with a range of trees including plastic ones. I employ a fifty shades of green approach for scenic items; static grass on some bases, the rest various greens - overall it works