Although most of us prefer to resolve a campaign- derived siege by calculation rather than fight it out on the tabletop, some will take the time to set up a siege scenario in miniature. A basic requirement for this action is a fortification to be besieged. The major problem is the limited availability of such items commercially and their prohibitive high cost when they can be found. For the do-it-yourselfer, however, there are inexpensive options available if combined with a little imagination. At right, THE "RAW" MATERIALS (left to right): 1/2 inch thick sheet styro foam from record container, 2 foam forms from a portable radio package, hand held beer cooler, styrofoam cup, egg carton, popsicle sticks, magazine for clippings and a plastic strawberry basket. For the medieval Marnon Campaign and other siege scenarios, I've constructed castles made entirely of materials normally relegated to the trash bin. The only cost involved was that of paint and glue. Although this article may not lead to an exact reproduction of my efforts, it should serve as foundation for each gamer's own ideas. No attempt was made to reconstruct medieval military architecture or follow any prescribed method of construction. Only major features were considered for an expedient finished castle of reasonably authentic appearance and utility for use on the table-top. To this end, modular sections were combined to assemble a variety of configurations. At right, SOME COMPLETED MODULES (left to right): corner walls with allures and a round tower made from sheet foam, a beer can cooler and wood scraps; low wall section cut from an egg carton; castle gate with ramp and a square tower of styrofoam and popsicle sticks. TOOLS AND MATERIALS The materials list includes various styrofoam forms found in the packaging of boxed household items and appliances such as radios, calculators, cameras, etc. These were used for curtain walls, bastions, barbican gates and similar major components. Beer can coolers and styrofoam cups were fashioned into round towers and popsicle sticks made good looking flooring, allures, drawbridges, doors and gates. Corrugated card board (also from packaging containers) was used for roofing, stairways, shutters and other details as well as the base on which the whole was mounted. At a small additional cost, lichen and pom-poms (from a yard of fringe material) helped in landscaping and egg carton shapes were used for low walls and ground level parapets. Small pieces of wood, discarded from other projects, served to brace and strengthen critical areas of the walls and buildings. Materials used are easy to work with and tools required are already present in most households -- scissors, X-Acto blade, felt tip pen, scale and artist's brush. I used Elmer's White Glue and Bond's "Tacky" throughout, as they are suitable for styrofoam. Most other adhesives will attack and dissolve the foam. If contact cement is used, it must be water based or it will react violently with the foam. The same is true of paints unless specifically intended for styrofoam, like those available at craft stores for Christmas decorations. Spray paint is good for the overall base coat of stone/masonry grey, but details must be brush painted. Additional details were drawn with felt tip pen. PROCEDURE The first requirement of any building project is a visualization of the finished product. To help visualize a 13th century castle, a short study of several books on the subject gave me a general idea of which styrofoam shapes would yield which portions or features of the castles pictured. After taking notes to that effect, it was a simple matter to cut those shapes to conform to the scale and features desired. The next step was to determine how to combine different modules in order to utilize them to best advantage when building a variety of different fortifications. This step took a little more planning. It was decided that several sections of curtain wall, with and without allures, would be needed for larger castles along with numerous towers, both round and square. At least two gates, one with barbican towers, would certainly be present in most large fortifications. A drawbridge and a central keep are also major features and several free standing small buildings for within the castle walls would complete the module selection. Each was measured and sized to alternate with others in as many combinations as possible. This approach yielded at least a dozen different forts ranging from a simple tower to a large, concentric-walled castle of major proportions (see diagrams). After the basic spray paint, details were added using cutaway foam scraps as well as wood and cardboard already described. Courtyards and baileys within the walls were painted green and brown and a felt tip pen was used to delineate mortar joints. Toothpick railings and popsicle flooring were stained. Windows, doorways and crenelations were cut in the styrofoam with X-Acto blade and backed with cardboard, suitably decorated with clippings from magazines. Even a portcullis was fashioned from a plastic strawberry pint basket. After topping towers with appropriate paper flags, some aforementioned landscaping and assembly of the major components, you are ready for your first siege. BOOK REFERENCES Knightly, C.; Strongholds of the Realm (Thames & Hudson, 1976) Warner, P.; The Medieval Castle (Arthur Baker, 1971) Wise, T.; Forts and Castles (Almark, 1972) Wise, T.; Medieval Warfare (Hastings House, 1976) Wise, T.; The Wars of the Crusades (Osprey, 1978) Platt, C.; The Atlas of Medieval Man (St. Martin's, 1980) Gies, J. & F.; Life in a Medieval Castle (T.Y. Crowell, 1974) Roberts, P.; Great Castles (Hamlyn, 1981) Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. IV No. 5 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1983 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com