Today we bring you what is quite possibly the fastest and cheapest way ever for making cliffs, rocks and caverns for wargaming using pieces of foam rubber.


Supplies

• Foam Rubber - This can be purchased at craft stores, bought in a roll as a mattress pad, or salvaged from old furniture.
• Paint - Housepaint, craft paint or pray paint will work. Spray paint is the fastest and most recommended method. For this project I used the following spray paints: cheap flat black, Krylon Multicolor Textured Brown Umber, Krylon Camoflauge Khaki.
• Hobby knife - Optional, used for for making the initial cuts in the foam. An electric carving knife will make the initial cuts even faster.
• Permanent marker - Optional, if you want to number the bottom of the rocks for storage. 

How To Make Your Rock Sections
1. Acquire foam - Foam rubber can be found in many sources. The most expensive option would be to purchase it from a craft store, but the advantage is that it can be bought in exactly the preferred thickness. It is available quite cheaply at stores like Target or Wal-Mart as a mattress or mattress pad. You can even salvage it from old furniture (if it doesn't smell too bad). The foam I'm using was taken from a mattress pad that I found in my grandma's basement, hence the wrinkles in the foam from being tied in a roll for 20 years!

2. Plan your arrangement - Though these will be sturdy enough to be just tossed into a bag, it's far more efficient to fit them to the size of a given box. Below you can see where I have cut out a piece the size of an old 40k box and divided and numbered the sections. I copied the same numbered layout design onto the box itself so that each piece can be placed easily for storage.


3. Separate the sections of foam - You can tear them apart by hand or with a hobby knife but I prefer to use a reciprocating electric carving knife that I found at a resale shop. It greatly speeds up the process and gives very accurate cuts. Below are some sections that have been cut apart with an electric knife.



4. Roughen up the edges - This part is all done by hand. With a bit of practice, you'll get good at tearing out strips, bits and sections to create the look of layered rock. I also tear off the corners around most top edges and tear a lot of inner loops out of the sides to make "C" and "L" shaped rocks. This makes good cover and hiding places, and also creates caves when other rocks are placed on top. This is the most time consuming step, but goes quite quickly when seated in front of the TV!



5. Add cracks and nooks - This is a step that will really bring some realism to the rocks. Tear out cracks across the top of the rocks. Make them a bit deeper than you might think Then make cracks along the side of the rocks where the cracks meet the edge. If you want to make a few small caves in the side of the rock, that's fine too.

6. Apply base color - I started with a black base color, as it makes it easier to create the impression of shadows, but you can start with a different color if you wish. Foam rubber doesn't melt the way foam insulation does, so you can use spray paint. I recommend the cheap $1 flat black spray paint that is available at most hardware and big-box stores. Completely spray the top, bottom, sides and all nooks and cracks. When finished, you can re-number the bottom of the rocks with silver metallic marker. The rock pictured below will need a bit more paint.


7. Apply main color - You can do this right away, but if you let the base color dry, you can use less paint for the main color. I used Krylon Multicolor Textured spray paint in the Burnt Umber color. This gives a nice rocky look, but at $5 a can, the cost can add up. It sprays really fast, too. I apply this to the top and sides from above. Don't worry about completely covering the sides or cracks, as the black undercoat showing through will make a nice shadow effect.

8. Apply highlight color - I used a Krylon Camoflage Khaki spray. Lightly dust the model, spraying sideways along edges. Do not spray directly onto the model! Note the difference in the picture below between the rock in the upper right, which has not received the side highlights, and the two on the left, which have.



9. Allow to dry - And you're done! The rocks below received an additional light dusting overall of Khaki to lighten them a bit more.



Alternate Techniques
Lighter rock tops - For a lighter top surface color that looks more like sand, don't apply the black layer to the top (still apply it to the cracks and nooks on top) of the rock. You can then spray the main color directly to the top. You could also apply a mid-coat of light tan or white. A mid-coat adds a step, but the result will be a base that is not so porous, and you can use less of the main color.

Even cheaper paint - This project took about 3 cans of textured brown spray paint. You can make the whole project even cheaper by using brush-on house paint or craft paint for the main color, rather than the textured brown spray paint. I still recommend using black spray for the base, as it is very cheap, covers evenly and takes very little time to apply. If you are using this method, let the black base color dry before applying the main color or the foam will suck up the brushed-on paint like a sponge. You can brush on the highlights too, but I only used one highlight can for all the rocks pictured in this tutorial, so there isn't much savings to be had.

Alternate texture - If you want a rougher sandy surface and/or are not using textured spray paint, you can sprinkle fine sand right onto the wet base coat (before applying the main coat) or mix it into the main coat before applying.

Rock spires - If you don't need flat tops for miniatures to stand on, you can make rock spires by leaving only one side flat for the bottom and tearing off all the flat foam sides. In the pic below, only the rock on the left is resting on it's base and the taller spire on the right is resting on it's side. Great for spooky, craggy rock formations and allows you to make rocks that are taller than the thickness of the foam.



In-Game Pictures
Here's some pictures from a recent game. Check out this battle report for more photos.





-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Last week we gathered in my basement for what will probably be the penultimate session of our Song of Blades & Heroes campaign. Having scouted a deserted village near the Iron Fortress in a previous session, Karl and Mike sent their warbands into the grim, lightless depths below the ruined castle.

In game terms, co-gamemaster Tim and I set up an intricate maze of tunnels, passageways and caverns, then populated them with fierce monsters -- and then covered the whole thing with paper to hide it from the players. Here's how it looked when Karl and Mike arrived for the game. They'll enter the dungeon in the foreground.


Karl's warband was composed of animals led by a beastmaster. It's a fun group that he's used to great effect over the course of the campaign. In combat, you don't want to mess with them. Here they are cautiously entering the dungeon.


They immediately encountered a hallway strewn with spiderwebs and guarded by a some giant spiders. The animals made short work of these nuisances.



Treasure hoards were scattered around this dungeon layout. Much to his chagrin, Karl found that his animals were unable to pick up the treasure -- owing, perhaps, to their overall lack of opposable thumbs. We pretty much used the dungeon & treasure rules as written in Song of Gold & Darkness. After he discovered a few choice bits of loot, he decided to retreat with his animal warband and re-enter the dungeon with his elven warband. Here they are:





Here's a shot about a third of the way through the game, as we had uncovered most of the under-castle area and were just about to venture into the caverns beyond.


The caves, of course, were packed with more dangerous critters, including these pink mi-goes! It's hard to tell in this photo, but Tim had painted his mi-goes with shimmery pink paint on their wings. They literally looked like iridescent brain-hungry insects!



Shortly afterward, the players advanced further into the caverns, which allowed us to pull back all of the paper covering the layout. Here's the whole setup. It measures about 6 feet by 3 feet on two folding tables. Half the table is dungeon, the other half is caverns.


Karl made the cavern pieces in like 30 minutes by plucking apart an old foam mattress, then spraying it with a variety of earth-toned spray paints. They're cheap, flexible and totally modular! Tim cast the dungeon walls out of Hirst molds, and they are just fantastic. We've used them many times in the past and they are just awesome beyond words.

But back to the carnage at hand! All sorts of dragons and demons were lurking in the dim caverns. After their initial successes in the dungeon, Karl and Mike ran into some pretty potent adversaries.


Ultimately they decided to turn back before "clearing" the caverns. Karl had lost several figures (including his elven leader!) and we were nearing the end of the evening. Tim's red dragon had taken several hits but was basically just more pissed off.

Also, the players had uncovered several neat bits of treasure, including some magic items. So an orderly retreat was in order.


Good thing, too, because see this blue guy back there? He was Tim's ghostly giant necromancy, and he was SO READY to create zombies out of the fallen heroes. He's teamed up with the red dragon and the carrion crawler and they are just so excited to make life miserable for these upstart adventurers.


But we called the game before things could go sideways for the heroes. In retrospect, Tim and I agreed that we didn't put nearly enough monsters in the dungeon. Though the pictures may suggest a hard slog, the players actually had a bit of a cakewalk up until they met the giant necromancer & co. I'm sure we'll run a game like this in the future, and I predict it'll be a bit more deadly for the players.

Our next game will probably be our last. Summer is winding down, and for all the fun we've had playing Song of Blades & Heroes, we're itching to move on to something new. Sci-fi, maybe. Post-apocalyptic humans versus terminator robots? Or zombies? Or maybe a Tomorrow's War campaign? What do you think we should play next?

-- Patrick, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

His weary defenders had to divide their attention between Jon's dark elves and my undead, which were carrying an array of seige equipment to assault the walls. Here they are:


And here's the leader of Jon's warband: a dark elf warrior mounted on a huge, beautifully painted manticore!


The game began, and Jon and I mobilized our forces to assault the walls. With 9 models on the board, my warband was more of a horde, whereas Jon -- with just 4 models in his team -- was more of an elite squad. In addition to his manticore rider, he had a dark elf sneak, a dark elf chariot and a minotaur berserker.

After a few turns of moving and some shooting from the walls of the fort, Mike decided to sally forth and confront the undead invaders. It helped that he had a cleric on his team, which was lethal vs. undead, so his few guys were able to really break up my advancing siege troops. Here's how it looked when his guys came out to confront my zombies.


Across the table, Jon managed to position his guys for an all-out charge into the fort's main gate. With a crash and a roar, the gates splintered and his forces smashed into the stout armored defenders of the fort.


Yes, we totally quoted Gandalf from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King at this moment: "You are soldiers of Gondor! No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!"



The battle turned into a bloody stalemate as Mike's footmen stymied the advance of the dark elf chariot. Seeking to turn the tide, Jon sent his manticore rider swooping over the walls to engage the enemy leader. Mike committed two more figures (a giant owl and a young dragon) to the fray as the manticore attacked.


Alas, shortly thereafter we reached 8 turns and ended the game. We called it a minor victory for Mike's defenders because they had managed to keep most of the invaders out of the keep. It wasn't a major victory for him, though, because Jon's bold manticore rider took the fight to the enemy inside the fort.

On my side of the battlefield, Mike's warriors scattered my zombies and set fire to the siege equipment, effectively ending any plans I had for battering down the walls. Here my liche lord hisses in rage as his battering ram goes up in smoke.


By this point we had played just two games. Before the night was over, however, we ultimately played five games. And it's here that my notes get a bit fuzzy. I know Tim and I set up a game in the Mistfallow Steppe, which saw his terror birds storming across the map to assault my undead. One of those pics is at the very top of the post, and another is right here.

The last couple of photos I have are from a game pitting Jon's dark elves against Karl's wood elves. As I recall, this was the last game we played that night. Jon's elves were few in number, but damn they looked good when they smashed into Karl's elves!



Oh yeah, that's one pissed-off minotaur!

The final photo of the night was from the same game -- Karl's wood elf queen, Lady Meliter of the Upper Forest, flew up to the top of a medieval building. It looked cool, so we snapped a photo.


We've been pleased to read all of the comments and questions that readers have submitted about our campaign. If you have a question about our scenarios or the miniatures we use, just post a comment and we'll get back to you. Also, if you want to say hello at GenCon, leave a comment and I'll try to coordinate something!

-- Patrick, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

A few weeks ago we were talking about maybe having a swap meet, where the club folks get together an hour or so before our regular game night, bring a box of minis or bits or projects you'll never get around to, and swap with other players in an attempt to go home with more useful stuff.

Well, we pulled it off! Last week, actually, before a marathon campaign game session (more on that in a later post). Jon, Karl, Tim and Mike met at Pat's house and the swap meet went down. Figures were traded. Deals were struck. Pledges were made! (Example: "You can dig through my Mechwarrior clix box sometime later in exchange for this knight and that demon, OK?")

As you can see from the photo above, a fun time was had by all.
Look for one more post from Chicago Skirmish Wargames this week, then we're off to GenCon. Well, one of us, anyway -- your faithful webmaster Pat. If you enjoy this blog and might want to say "Hi" at GenCon, leave a comment and we'll try to coordinate something. Game on!

We got together for the fourth session of our Song of Blades & Heroes fantasy campaign. Mike, Jon and Tim gathered at my place for a couple of games. I had prepared a scenario for my undead, which saw them defending their newly won watchtower (discovered on the borders of the Velathys Marsh after session #2 a few weeks back) against Tim's tribesmen.


The game opened with Tim sending his tribesmen in a headlong charge across the battlefield. My undead warriors were clustered around the base of the watchtower, which was itself surrounded by some ruined walls and trees.



While Morse held the center, Jack tried for a flanking move, spurring his steed around the crumbling stone walls to take the invaders by surprise. Jack proved to be a potent piece in this battle. He had impressive combat scores and the terror special ability, which proved decisive later in the game.


As the battle got underway, Tim's gigantic bird cavalry unit charged my wraith. It was a hard-fought duel, but the wraith soon fell to the bird's incessant pecking and scratching.


By about halfway through the game, Tim managed to mobilize his coatl. Naturally, it chose the least dangerous foe for its initial attack -- my poor zombie. Here they are, facing off on the edge of a small swamp. Spoiler alert: The coatl won.


Jack managed to push through the tribesmen's flank and crash into the rear of their main skirmish force. Right about the same time that he did this, though, I foolishly killed one of Tim's werewolves. The human figure was replaced with this slavering beast!


With a series of lucky rolls, I managed to kill the werewolf. By that point, I had just a few figures left, and Tim began positioning himself for the victory (set the watchtower afire). He sent several warriors running to the base of the tower, whereupon they began attempting to set it alight with their torches.

In the meantime, as I tried to deal with these enemies at my gate, Tim's coatl landed on the roof of the watchtower and picked a fight with my undead taskmaster (sort of a zombie leader). He was on the roof because he had been wounded in a previous game, rendering him almost useless in a fight!