If your a newcomer to wargaming, in need of a few low cost ideas or simply would rather spend your money on figures than shell out for expensive terrain items, then here is a little inspiration which may be of use. However, if you're a stickler for realism, have money to burn, or if you've just won the pools or national lottery then I'd give this feature a miss, it isn't for you I'm afraid.

Terrain

Roads/Rivers

Search your local DIY stores for odd, unwanted rolls of wallpaper (these can be picked up for just a few pence). Untextured (flat) wallpaper is best for rivers and can be cut (with scissors) to virtually any shape or length. Painted on the reverse side in gloss blue/green, almost any shape of river course can be produced. River confluence's, streams, canals etc. are a "piece of cake", and once made can be used over and over again.

Similarly, any width, shape and length of road can be cut from old rolls of wallpaper. Slightly textured wallpaper (not the heavily patterned stuff) is best for simulating roads (the texture giving an impression of a cobbled or tarmac surfaces). Again, paint on the reverse side (this time with black(tarmac) or a drab colour) and any type of road or junction, cross-road, town square etc. can be constructed to order, and in any scale.

To store wallpaper roads and rivers either

1. slip a paper clip over the end of the paper, and then hang the clip over a convenient hook or
2. use a metal coat hanger to drape the wallpaper roads and rivers over. Both ways prevent the paper from becoming creased or ripped.

One practical benefit of using wallpaper roads and rivers is that they can be made to tuck smoothly over terrain hills, even the stepped contoured type (commercially bought road and river sections are generally too rigid to compete with this trick).

Hedgerows/Vines

The best way I've found of reproducing straight hedgerows comes from an idea sent by John Bennett (I think?) and published in an earlier edition of LW. It works brilliantly, thanks John.

First, purchase a pack of green coloured pan scourers (most supermarkets sell them in the UK for less than £ 1). They look as if they are made from a tough shredded plastic tightly woven together into flat 12cms. squares, each about 1cm. thick. There are 5 or 6 scourers in each pack, so one or two packs should make ALL the hedges you should ever need.

To construct hedges or vines, merely cut the scourers to the height you want your hedgerows to be (say, the height of one of your infantry figs.) then stick them down onto a suitably painted green coloured card using Evo-stick. When dry you'll have 15cms. long hedgerows. From one pack of scourers, I personally produced 40+ hedges.

Walls (6mm and 15mm)

These are made from old, dud match-sticks, covered in paper and stuck onto thin card. Once you've collected sufficient match-sticks, "dead head" (remove the burnt bits) each of them with a sharp knife and glue the match-sticks together along their length - two matches high for 6mm scale, three matches high for 15mm scale. Paper, printed with patterns of stone, brick, flint etc. can be bought from most model shops for just a few pence, cover the glued match-sticks with this paper (I tend to use "flint" patterning because it gives a rough textured look).

Then, when covered and dry, stick the "wall" onto thin green coloured/painted card as a base. (NOTE: let the "wall" be longer than it's card base by about 1cm at each end. If the card base is cut to the same length as the "wall" you will have difficulty butting the "walls" together at right-angles on the wargames table). The finished "walls" measure about 9cm in length.

White Plastic Card

Here's a hint to save money if you're about to buy white plastic card from a model shop - simply, don't. Well, not until you've checked out the contents of your refrigerator that is. Because margarine tubs are made from white plastic similar to the material available in hobby shops, and the larger size tubs provide a serviceable source of the stuff. Once you've emptied the tubs of their contents, cut them up and discard all the curved surfaces and corners.

You're left with the sides, bottom and top, all useful pieces of flat white plastic card just ready for use. As has been mentioned before in LW (some years ago though), I model these salvaged pieces of card into 15mm and 6mm scale buildings, and have saved a fortune into the bargain.

Storage of 6mm and 2mm Figs.

Now you've salvaged a few pounds, perhaps you wouldn't mind spending a few to keep your smaller scale armies securely stored and in an orderly fashion. Gaming in 6mm scale (or 2mm scale), storage of such small figures is always a problem, even if you're fortuitous enough to have a wargames room. Of course, you can always use matchboxes, but these can become crushed or lost unless they can be safely stored away in another cupboard or fastened together in some way.

It was a obstacle I overcame by storing all my 6mm scale army units in a "screw/nail storage cabinet" purchased for less than £ 15 at a local DIY store (it can also be bought from the "Argos" chain-store). Manufactured to hold almost any small DIY object, things like nails, screws, wall-plugs, nuts, bolts etc. it has 43 transparent plastic drawers (which can be further sub-divided into smaller compartments) slotted into a metal frame which can be easily fitted to a wall or stood upon a shelf.

I personally store nearly 200 - 6mm scale infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments (yes, regiments, not figures) in a cabinet measuring no more than 20 inches x 12 inches x 6 inches living permanently beneath my wargames table. All of them safe and easy to retrieve when required above ground.

Well, I hope these ideas have given you something to think about. If members have any trouble understanding my explanations above, but would still like to try them out nevertheless, they can always drop me a line (with a SAE) for a more detailed description.

[Recent scenario called for lots and lots of tents, needless to say more than I had. Solution: I raided the kitchen, bathroom, etc and lifted (forgive the pun) tops off furniture polish, air freshners, etc. They are multi-coloured and looked great. Only problem was in deciding which top belong to which can when finished. I now shop with "tops" in mind and have built up a very useful, and cheap (Steve) collection of 15mm tents. Bottoms of 2ltr soft drink bottles make excellent 25mm tents. Kenn]