MAKING A BASE FOR YOUR FOREST

The easiest way to make a forest is to simply gather up all your trees into a group and agree with your opponent that this area is a glade or forest. All well and good, but problems invariably arise. At which point do troops begin to take a movement penalty? How many inches into the forest is a matter of great concern to Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 players, because it will determine whether line of sight can be drawn and if models may fire in or out. This becomes all too difficult to determine without some line of demarcation. After all, trees can be moved, small outlines of sand or lichen will be bumped as squads and units race into positions. A forest with a base is a good looking, well organised, and wargame-friendly answer.

Some players will glue their trees onto the basic base to make a forest, and this looks great. However, such a terrain piece can become very fiddly when it comes to a wargame. It is hard to manoeuvre models where they ought to go under the confines of the boughs. Our suggestion is to not glue the trees to the base, but rather just group them on top of the base. The forest, including the edges, is clearly defined for wargaming purposes and the individual trees may be moved to accommodate large units or even close combat should it arise. And besides all that, a base with loose trees can make the table look better, too.

Step One	Step Two	Step Three	Fight!
Cover hardboard (Masonite) in sand and prime it black (much like a large miniature base).	Drybrush with Citadel Colour paints and flock the base with static grass.	Once the base is finished, you can place your trees on it as you see fit.	A unit of Skinks uses the foliage to its advantage when faced with Goblin death!

PUTTING YOUR TREES ON BASES

Of course, if you aren't going to glue all your trees down, then you'll need to find some ways to put them on bases. Anything will do, so long as it doesn't easily tip over or look bulky and unrealistic. Here are some examples of what we've done.

40K Round Base	Epic Titan Base	Small Flying Base	Large Flying Base

Next: Selecting the Right Trees for You.
Previous: Introduction.