10mm SYW terrain and buildings

[alexmac207]

Now that I have sent off my figures to be painted, I need to turn my attention to creating terrain for my SYW battlefield.
I was wondering what people are using for buildings for 10mm figures. I have read that using 6mm actually works better.
I'm interested in what everyone is using and which manufacturers you would recommend to me.

In another thread, I found how I was going to do the hills (thanks Leman).
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,11169.105.html

What about trees? 10mm or 6mm scale?

My goal is to create a table as beautiful as this one

[FierceKitty]

Absolutely. All right-thinking rococo gamers agree that 6mm terrain with 10mm figures gives the ideal compromise between the claims of appearance, playability, and "footprint" (not making Rossbach look bigger than Vienna!). Have a look at Leven for affordable and attractive buildings; also Timeline.

[petercooman]

If you are interested in the fields in the picture, they are from hotz mats, and very affordable! I have some myself.

Quite a long wait if you order from him, but it's definately worth it!


http://www.hotzmats.com/fields_main_page.html

[Westmarcher]

Succinctly put, FK. This subject has come up numerous times on the forum. Unless you are playing skirmish games (where your miniatures represent one or only a few real life men), I'm one of many wargamers who are happy to shift down one scale level. Shifting down one scale level (e.g., 6mm buildings with 10mm figures, 20mm buildings with 28mm figures) is a piece of optical trickery you can normally get away with (more so if you avoid using single storey buildings). This allows you to put more miniature buildings on the table (always good) and gives a better impression that you are attacking an actual village and not a house, an actual town and not a hamlet. There also appears to be a greater choice in 6mm than 10mm.  To be fair, it is also a factor that I used to have a large 6mm collection before I sold it off but still have the buildings! I now have collections in 10mm and 15mm and, if there was a better choice in 10mm, I might be tempted to sell off my 6mm and 15mm buildings and convert all of my buildings to 10mm.  

Trees are also a matter of individual preference. I tend to go for varying tree heights that are at least slightly higher than a mounted lancer or standard bearer but not too high that you are continuously knocking them over when playing. Curiously, even "must have terrain in scale with figures" fanatics seem to turn a blind eye to the scale heights of trees.  The average height of a mature oak tree is approx.100ft. This means in 10mm scale, a model oak tree should be about 160mm high (6.4 inches)! I have never seen 160mm miniature trees alongside 10mm figures.* You will very rarely see a 6 inch high tree with 10mm figures or an 18 inch tree with 28mm figures, even in skirmish games. And oak trees are by no means the tallest - e.g., a European Beech tree can grow to 160ft.  


*although Peter Cooman might do this(?) (but this may be for skirmish level?). Peter .....

[petercooman]

*although Peter Cooman might do this(?) (but this may be for skirmish level?). Peter .....

I use quite bigger trees,i think they look good.

[Westmarcher]

Thought it was yourself, Peter. Thanks for posting. They do look OK - but not as high as I was thinking of, if matching scale of figure with the tree. Yours are not too high on the table and when compared with the miniatures. Cheers.   

[petercooman]

'welcome.

Well the trick for me to get it right, is getting several sizes. like in real life, trees differ greatly in size, and look best on the tabletop when representing this difference!

[Steve J]

The Leven Miniatures buildings are really very nice and work perfectly with 10mm figures. For me a mix of different height trees work well.

[Ithoriel]

The Leven Miniatures buildings are really very nice and work perfectly with 10mm figures. For me a mix of different height trees work well.

"First platoon will provide covering fire while second platoon clear the Wendy houses!"

[Leman]

Now here's the ting Alex, if you are playing massive battles go down a scale. However, I have found with my SYW armies that the scenarios from HOW look good with 10mm figures on half size battlefields (for HOW - my units are 100mm frontage) with !0mm buildings. For 10mm buildings I would recommend Supreme Littleness (see also his fantasy farm), Timecast and Total Battle Miniatures (see the church with domed tower). In 6mm Leven, Irregular, Timecast and TBM again.

Here's a photo with 10mm buildings:




Now one with 6mm buildings:

[Glorfindel]

An interesting discussion.

The only thing I would add to this is a careful consideration of forests / swamps /
villages etc so that the way you represent them works with the rules you use.

My preference is for the area to be clearly defined and then drop a clump of
terrain on top to define its type.   This has the added advantage of being easily
moved out of the way when the troops arrive.   

You can see this here :





These are quite small areas of terrain but you get the idea.   Clearly, you can change
the size of the base area / clump terrain to suit your taste.


Phil

[alexmac207]

Now here's the ting Alex, if you are playing massive battles go down a scale. However, I have found with my SYW armies that the scenarios from HOW look good with 10mm figures on half size battlefields (for HOW - my units are 100mm frontage) with !0mm buildings

My units have the same frontages for HoW. I am not sure if the battles I want to play are massive. The one I have plans for the moment are
Reichenberg and Lobositz.





Thanks for the manufacturer suggestions.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Good pair of maps, should be fun!

[Zippee]

good maps,
the first one looks like your village sectors are about 3" square, the second more like 4" perhaps a bit more.

it all really depends on whether you prefer a couple of 10mm buildings or 4-5 6mm ones. In either case they aren't really going to look like an actual village but the 6mm ones at least might look like a farmstead

the biggest deciding factor is what else you game in what scale and at what level of abstraction - if you play something like IABSM at 6mm then go 6mm for utility for example.

as for trees, you can never have too many trees, they're like destroyers, you just need loads. Unlike destroyers its good to have them in lots of different sizes. Trees are big - take a look outside, they are likely really big! Best bet is to start with a heap of cheap 6mm and 10mm trees (I use  the Noch N scale deciduous bags - 25 to a pack as my bulk tree type, I get mine from Timecast, who do decidedly nice buildings and other table clutter too) and then add larger and/or more detailed (expensive) trees as you go.

[alexmac207]

I think 6mm will be my choice for village building. I think leman's tables look gorgeous in either scale. I'm thinking of possibly doing Napoleonics in 6mm so I could find use for the buildings.
Thank you for for suggesting Noch N-scale trees. I did a search on eBay and found some gorgeous N-scale vines.


Vineyards were part of the terrain at Lobositz. The Prussians had to battle the Grenzers that were defending there.