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Exactly a year ago I made my first Trench Crusade gaming board. The Silesian Trenchline was a project of passion combining a lifetime of previous terrain making experiences with a wide array of expectations towards the game of Trench Crusade – I did not yet played at the time.
It is 2026 now and I’ve been playing Trench Crusade extensively for the past twelve months, both at home and at various events. I have tested my wargaming mantle against some of the best Trench Crusade competitive gamers in Poland, emerging that much more experienced in terms of knowledge of the flow of the game. Even though the previous gaming board is considered very playable, it is not without some key issues that grew on me over time. I have adjusted some features and added a few extras. At the end of the day I still felt it was time to ‘update’ the whole set. Thus here we are – the Silesian Trenchline 2.0 project begun on Monday 9th of February 2026.
This time around the main focus was to:
– Prioritize gameplay features over looks,
– Copy the core, well tested and Organized Play viable, board layout,
– Increase stackability (less occupied space when fully compacted),
– Maximize looks within the limits set by the above directives,
The project began in earnest on Monday afternoon, when all the necessary material got delivered at my doorstep. 2″ thick XPS foam, corrugated paper, wooden coffee sticks, PVA glue, lots of Cyanoacrylate glue and other stuff plus some 3D printed bitz and pieces I produced throughout the previous Weekend.
I copied the exact layout of the previous board by outlining each piece on a fresh XPS foam board, then cutting the XPS along the lines with an exacto knife. The next step was to fit the shapes onto a board to see if they require any adjustments. A few dimensions did get tuned slightly. I then followed up with the standard side decoration – a mix of corrugated paper and hundreds (actually over a thousand) wooden coffee sticks of varied shapes, all mounted firmly with PVA glue.
I made sure to glue coffee sticks so that they created a ragged top edge, but stuck out on the underside, to then cut them off along the natural line of the XPS foam, once dry.
In order to improve visuals in a way that will not impact gameplay comfort, I have built a few shrines and ammo caches that I then mounted inside some of the trench walls.
With all the scenery pieces prepared I have arranged a game with my buddy to see how the updated board performs in ‘real combat’. The test was a success. We both felt this was exactly how a top competitive one-off game should feel. The board was approved and ready to get painted.
The painting process was nothing new. I followed the same color scheme as before, except for the texture. This time I used AK Interactive Dark Earth, rather than a DIY mix of fine sand with brown paint and PVA glue. It saved me a lot of time. On Friday 13th of February I was done with the project – for the time being…
The board is very playable, although compared to the previous set of the Silesian Trenchline, it looks somewhat empty. I have purposely resigned from angling the side walls and adding sandbags – for smoother gaming experience, but now feel that the new board is way less fotogenic than the last one was. Because of that I am working on adding a few removable obstacles that should bring back some of that fine color to the entire thing. What do you think – how much worse does it look by comparison? How much more playable do you think it is now?
Stay tuned for updates as projects such as this are never really finished.
PS: The amazing ruined trench bottom game mat is “No Mans Land” from Playmats.eu that I helped to develop.
I hope you’ve found this article interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
One of the key aspects of the Trench Crusade gameplay is taking risks in order to get an edge over the enemy force. Today I will show you an easy way to make your own sections of Dangerous Terrain – a handy feature that can be added to your trenchy gaming boards. Furthermore, below you will find a set of home-brewed rules to spice things up for both you and your opponent!
Some notes:
Useful items:
Core Features:
I cut a 3mm thick plasticard into strips of approximately 4×1″ to create bases for the scenery. There’s no requirement to use plasticard for this – personally I like how simple it is to work with this particular material. Next I applied fast drying PVA glue in the middle of each strip and glued a few cut and/or snapped wooden sticks on top trying to create a ravaged, war-thorn pattern. Finally I applied Cyanoacrylate glue on top of PVA glue and added a few 3D printed mines.
TIP: If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, you can use small size buttons or even small coins.
Texture and Volume:
I then applied Cyanoacrylate glue on top and around the core shape made of PVA glue and all the extras. Next I covered everything in K&K Hobby Village Debris, which is a nice mix of fine sand and gravel.
Base Finish:
The next step was to use a hobby knife to cut off any excess plasticard from around the hardened texture, so that the scenery looked more irregular.
Barbed Wire:
I rolled K&K Hobby Barbed Wire around the back of an old brush to shape it, then glued it on top of every scenery piece, mounted in a zigzag pattern between each wooden stick.
Afterwards I’ve painted each piece the same way as the rest of the Silesian Trenchline – Trench Crusade Scenery Set. You can read about the process in Basing: Trench Bases step-by-step tutorial. The end result:
RULES:
In order to spice things up in a (hopefully) balanced way I have created this set of rules that you are free to use in your games of Trench Crusade.
After determining who has the Initiative, but before setting up the first model, players set up two 4x1x0,4″ sections of Dangerous Terrain. Starting with the player who has the Initiative, both players alternate setting up one section anywhere on the Battlefield but not inside the enemy Deployment Zone and more than 3″ from any Objectives, until both players set up two Sections of Dangerous Terrain this way. Players then proceed with setting up their models as per scenario describtion.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it interesting. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
When it comes to spicing up your miniatures naval games, there’s nothing better than nice looking scenery. This is especially true for games full of finely detailed miniatures, such as Kings of War: Armada. Today I would like to take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating and painting an alternative scenery for Armada – the Sargasso. These can be used as either Sandbanks proxy, or as something completely new, as you see fit.
Some notes:
High end materials right from the get go. I do prefer my scenery to be durable and high quality, thus I went with laser cut translucent acrylics. That being said, there’s nothing preventing you from using a cheaper and more accessible material, such as clear plastic – maybe food packaging leftovers, or miniatures blister package? As long as it’s clear and sturdy enough you should be fine with any substitutes.
I started by applying some Citadel Militarum Green Contrast in a random pattern all over the base. I used a large, soft brush and applied few large drops of the paint, then added some more to link them.
Next I used a large, round brush to stipple Citadel Nurgle’s Rot paint on top of still wet Militarum Green. This was a bit tricky and I used a paper towel to clean the brush very often. The idea is to apply Nurgle’s Rot from the top by touching the previous layer, bot not smear nor mix the two paints too much.
Once the paint dried I decided to add more live to the mix. Using a large, round synthetic brush with a flat tip I stippled wet Vallejo Heavy Khaki paint all over the previous layer.
Next I applied a thick layer of AK Interactive Pacific Blue. I usually go with Atlantic Blue instead, but this time I aimed at a brighter, more translucent effect.
Finally I applied few lines of AK Interactive Water Foam texture. I then used a clean synthetic, flat tip brush to reduce volume and shape thin waves.
And that is basically all. Sargasso, Seaweed, alternative Sandbanks or some sort of awesome new Armada scenery is now complete.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
One of the most exciting parts of Warhammer hobby is playing games on awesome looking scenery sets. Still not all of us can afford high end scenery outright, as usually the miniatures comes first. Fortunately a top tier looking scenery is not that difficult and time consuming to make from scratch as it might seem. On top of that it’s much cheaper than most hobbyists can even imagine!
In this article I will present to you an easy way to make highly detailed rock formation perfect for anything Warhammer and many other miniatures wargames as can be seen in Crimson Crags Gallery.
Some notes:
The Basics:
When making miniatures scenery with looks in mind a detailed texture and interesting shapes are usually my go to. These can be difficult to come by and might require a purchase of existing sets, but not in case of rocky formations. Fortunately for our wallets nature have come up with the best source of awesome looking, house budget friendly miniature rocks – Tree Bark. Unless you’re living on the North Pole there should be some sort of trees around. Bark, being the main source of shapes and textures, can be used as the main bulk of miniature rocky scenery, providing an abundance of layers to surround focus points with. This is why for the purpose of this tutorial bark and related know-how will be my main focus.
Bark preparation:
Depending on where you live and weather bark might come wet and dirty. In my case it’s early Autumn, everything is moist and hand picked bark does not cut it without some preparation. Because of that I started by drying bark pieces for about twenty minutes in a stove set to 100* degrees Celsius. Once dry I then brushed any dirt and residue with a hard synthetic brush. This left bark dry, clean and ready to use.
Composition:
I then created few basic compositions, using a pre-cut piece of hard paper pipe to measure overhangs height. This allowed me to fit any additional elements I had in mind, but also kept all the scenery at a relatively similar height. Once composed I drilled horizontal holes through entire scenery piece and put toothpicks through to ‘save’ the composition shape.
Gluing:
Using PVA glue on bark can be lengthy whereas Cyanoacrylate requires multiple layers to build volume sufficient to hold dry bark pieces. Because of that I took the best of both worlds and glued the compositions firm with a mix of PVA and Cyanoacrylate glue. The mix not only dries much faster than solo PVA, but also leaves rough, textured layer outside. It’s perfect for this kind of scenery.
Sealing:
Dry bark tends to cheap and crumble a lot, not to mention it doesn’t take paint that well. To ensure durability and sturdiness of my gaming scenery I sealed the surface by applying a mix of PVA glue with a bit of water. This left the surface a bit smoother, glossy and much more durable.
Extra detail:
Focus points are an important part of gaming boards, adding life but also variety to otherwise simple scenery. With sealing done I moved to adding detail. Because this particular set was meant for Kill Team and Warhammer 40k I added some damaged Space Marines vehicle elements, but depending on the game and setting – anything will do the job just as well. Simply pick a theme and follow up with proper details as you see fit.
Basing:
In my opinion nothing ruins gaming scenery more than being wobbly. No matter how good it looks, it gotta be playable and lay flat on the board. I cut simple bases for the scenery out of a 2mm plasticard and glued them firmly under scenery pieces. Any flat, relatively sturdy material will do. I chose plasticard because it is very easy to work with and lightweight.
Filling gaps:
Once based I filled gaps with Hey Clay. This one might come as a surprise to some of you, Hey Clay being a toy for kids. It is similar to plasticine but very lightweight and dries up to a semi-hard state in a matter of few hours. I found it very easy to work with and perfect for this kind of job.
Initial textures:
Everything looked fine already but I wanted to add some variety on paper and HDF elements. For this purpose I stippled Citadel Typhus Corrosion on some of the flat areas. Any texture will do and this step can even be skipped completely depending on what kind of detail is being added.
Undercoat:
There are few ways to go about it. Usually when it comes do Styrofoam and wood I tend to undercoat manually with thick acrylic paints. In this case I had entire thing sealed with a mix of PVA glue and water, which allowed me to go with a spray can. I sprayed everything with a cheap matt black spray. I always undercoat miniatures with Citadel Chaos Black. With DiY scenery I found crude cheap sprays work very well, providing a thick, hard layer and adding a bit of additional protection from scratches.
Painting and Textures:
This one I will allow myself to skip, as there is plenty of tutorials and color recipes available on my blog already. Painting is more about personal tastes and available tools. One thing of note is AK Interactive Dark Earth texture. I used it on this particular scenery set and I really recommend this product to everyone. You can learn more about this godlike texture in this article here.
Anyhow – that’s it! Pretty neat looking rocky formations, in this case fit for both Kill Team and Warhammer 40,000, are done! I wasn’t saving on extra detail, but if I did, the entire set would cost me pocket change.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional warhammer 40k miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
