Building the Grand Barony of Hochland - Terrain log by Tag.

Hey all! As our group wants to play an Empire in Flames campaign, we decided it would be cool to focus it around the Empire province of Hochland. The dense forested landscapes were very appealing to us so we decided to go for that . In between painting and building miniatures, it's also time to focus on some terrain . In this thread I will share our progress in the coming weeks. I have to say I'm pretty new at building terrain so I have to learn alot and it might take a bit on the longer side haha, nevertheless it's great fun building terrain!

Anyway, here is the 'first' (actually I made alot which ended in the trash because they were not what we were looking for... ) and sorry for the mess.. it's hard to take proper pictures of bigger pieces...


I'm pretty happy how it turned out! I worked with sand that I pre coloured with pigment, so I didn't have to paint it after glueing it down with PVA. It's also pretty sturdy after sealing it with PvA, so that way I don't have to varnish it to protect it. I really had a bad time varnishing terrain, as the sandy texture made the Matt varnish turn out either glossy or frosted. After trying different types of varnish from expensive GW spray cans to interior lacquers, I did some more research and found out that the matting agent in varnishes doesn't react very well on sandy textures due to it not being a flat surface... Anyway this works just fine

Also as a kind of reference, we're going for these looks:


Will post as soon as we made some more !

Your pre-coloured sand worked out well. I like the irregularity of the hill too- it looks very natural.

Hey, thats a pretty decent hill!!!

Its quite difficult to make nature-themed terrain, like having it look natural, but give minis some space to stand on it. U found a way.

For sealing. Spraycans+sand never worked out for me.

I did'nt glued allot sand by now.
But when I did, i used a mix of Water and Woodglue(PVA?). Put sand on there, and then do it again: Another layer of Water-PVA and sand.

And for Sealing: I prime by hand with a mix of Paint and PVA. I guess a layer of Water+PVA should also work, if u dont want to paint the sand. IF u blow away all the non-glued sand before.
I usually just put PVA on the place and go with a pencil wit allot of water over it.

And I just thought about making trees the last weeks, the florist-wire thing is quite time consuming, looking good but, taking time...

IngoisT"tm" as a quite nice entry in his WIP about using real branches for trees. And "Boulder Creek Railroad" is a youtube channel for Railroad-Modelling his skill in making nature things is fantastic and inspiring, but he also uses sometimes esay methods.

Sorry for the long post. Im in the hope to see more nature-style terrain!!!

Good luck to u.

Thanks guys! Glad you all think it looks kinda natural because I was having doubts it did! I used cork for building the hills and added two layers of filler to make it more sturdy.

And PJB, thanks for the long post as it is filled with handy tips Everything is welcome at this time as I'm still learning how to build terrain.

I will definitely check them out! I also found the channel of Black magic craft really usefull. He made a video about making decent looking trees out of the Christmas decorations ones that are actually pretty cheap to get

LOOKIN' GOOD! The Hill is a FINE start to your Hochland board.
Since you didn't paint it, there isn't much of a need for a protective coat. Here in Texas the dust is a prime reason to spray. Testor's DullCote & Krylon Matte are far superior to GW's stuff...be sure to shake for at least two minutes & apply with a sweeping motion.
Have FUN with it all!

Thanks DeafNala! Yeah I heard about the Dullcote from Testor's... lots of fellow hobbyists consider that one the best! For mini's I do use brush on varnish from Vallejo tho. That seems to make the chance it's going to frost alot smaller, haha!

Well just a quick update, sorry for the bad picture but I was pretty hyped to share it! Will take some better ones as soon as I have decent daylight in my house again, haha! But I managed to finish a building for our Hochland board!


I actually made the house a year ago but did some minor adjustments like the shields and had to rebase it because I messed it up a couple of times with other basing materials. I used plywood as a base but I'm experiencing some minor warping as you might see on the picture. Any tips on that? I added a layer of pure PVA on the bottomside and let that dry before doing anything else. After that I added the house and the basing material on the topside. Might consider moving over to MDF tho...

I can't help you with the warping but your house looks super fine to me. The shields you added make a big difference and the stones on the ground floor turned out especially nice imo. The upper floor is maybe a little clean for a ruined city if I might say so but that's up to you of course. I would like to see some pics from the backside once you come to make some more.

Thanks Grimscull! You're right, some burn stains or something would be cool! I have to find out how to do it properly but that might make it better! Will make some pictures tomorrow as soon as I can

Hey this looks pretty descent!!! Froum is alive!!! hurray!!!!

Not sure if I get it correct, but wrapping, like the water/glue makes the wood change its shape? Im not sure if MDF will react the same. I just heard about something that carpenters use "Gegenzupapier" in German, google translates with "backing paper".  I try to avoid basing on wood-plates. As I always had a problem matching colors, never could be friends with the look, having obviously another layer of earth. So I tried to make the base always as a part of the terrain piece. Like a XPS thing with some "stonework" on it. But its quite tricky and not everything is possible. Also stability wise its not the best choice. I don't have a final answer by now... Its also quite limiting...

BUUUT nice house, next to the hill will be getting closer to a stylish gaming table.

Beautiful house, and a very finely shaped hill - I like it a lot! How did you make it? I should be building some more hills for my Warhammer/Kings of War gaming board.

Regarding bases, I've used some cheap furniture board material for all my bases - the kind of thin, bad quality boards you attach to the backside og IKEA-bookshelves, probably made out of compressed wood leftovers. It's relatively easy to cut through with poultry shears or heavy duty scissors. Last year I made a modular river, and after undercoating everything and leaving it on the balcony to dry in the sun, a massive shower passed by while I was out of the house, soaking everything completely. And - nothing happened at all; it's still in perfect shape, didn't warp one millimeter. Probably also due to the outdoors wood glue used for basing the river.

Thanks PJB and Ellegaard! Appreciate it! And yes! the forum seems to be alive and let's keep it this way, it's nice to have a place where we can show our creations and build something of a small community!

Thanks for the tip PJB! I will look into backing paper and stuff! The warping is pretty minimal tho, but still, want to find how to fix it from happening haha

And also thanks for your tips Ellegaard! I know what you mean, that seems pretty decent material aswell, I can get it at some of the stores here so I will try that out The hills are actually made out of cork coasters, which are really cheap and easy to come by here! I find that they are pretty sturdy after you add a layer or two of plaster and after some PVA and sand they become really durable. Is also nice that they are like a centimer thick, so you can layer them up nicely and create spaces to place your miniatures on!



Hope this helps

Sorry again for the double post, but had some time to make better pictures of the house and of the other hills I finished !


And also I made some more hills! Nothing to fancy, but pretty good for scatter pieces I guess I really imagine the forest landscapes of Hochland to be filled with hills and trees, so I guess I can't have enough of those smaller hills, haha


Well, off to build some more! Currently working on another building so hope to have that one finished anytime soon!

LOOKIN' GOOD! The building is a BEAUTY; the start of what should be a fine gaming table. VERY NICELY DONE!
My bases are made from the same insulation foam that I use to make my buildings.

I like the way you painted the plaster; the dry brushing really brings out the course texture.

Thanks Deadnala & Codsticker, Appreciate it! The insulation foam seems like a great option, sadly it´s pretty expensive from I know around here... Still have to find a proper shop that sells it for good prices, than I would like to make my buidlings out of that aswell

Nice terrain, & a cool project! The hills look really good, & about as natural as terrain can look while still being usable for gaming. The house looks really good too; a bit of weathering, & maybe some burn-marks, would complete it & make it look more realistically ruined, but it's really good terrain already!

Thanks Rhydderch! Glad you like them! I was thinking of using some Mordant Earth texture paint for burn marks / chipped paint and stuff, seems pretty cool for that! I saw somebody use it to paint burned wood and it looked really cool... sad that I can't find it anymore tho

Hmm, not sure if Mordant Earth has been discontinued by GW, or just unavailable for the Emergency. Probably another texture paint would do the same job though. I also found that using a really hot fan-heater or hair-dryer helped get a good cracked texture on that sort of paint.

Instead of using the very expensive GW texture pots the same effect can be obtained using the concentrated paint tint tubes sold by hardware stores (as used for mixing custom colours for home decor) and diluting it with a 2 -1 ratio of PVA glue to water.
Fine sand, flock or dried used tea leaves can be added to give different textures as well as the cracking effect.

Make the mix and apply a thin but even coat over the surface and let dry. A warmer environment (under a lamp or such not in the oven) will speed the drying and enhance the crack effect, as will using more PVA and less water in the original mix.

Hey, thats looking like a very nice start!!!! Makes me hopeful to see more.

And there is some knowledge to make own texture paints, interessti9ng, I will give a try to robhs advice.

I never tried to make texture paints, but the more I go into making things I recognize that GW is selling sometimes stuff at ridiculous price. The paints a really good for Minis, no doubt, but for secenerey normal paints a really enough.

I do some weathering washes for my buildings with some watered down colors. Like dark brown, dark green, grey, black etc. or just a mix out of left overs on the paint-sheet. Or just but some paint on somewhere and going with a heavy watered brush over there. Results are fine, not like the same density of a pricy ink, but still some effect.

Best whites, hope u get on soon.

If I google Mordant Earth, I find quite a few stores that still sell this, though the price seems rather high. Looks like Agrellan Earth and Martian Ironearth (red tone) are similar to Mordant Earth and are still sold by GW (though not on their homepage just now, for obvious reasons).

Thanks for the tips guys I will try some of it out soon I'm currently trying out MDF bases to see if they warp or not, haha! Will post some progress as soon as I get it done

Generally MDF bases for buildings this size don't warp. All mine are on 4 mm or 6 mm MDF and they are fine. the only time I have had warping issues is on larger, rectangular pieces. To be certain if you can clamp them down to a table top while they cure (5-7 days) that would be insurance.

Thanks for the tip Codsticker! Good to know I now have some hills on 4mm MDF and am waiting for them to dry!