"Vietnam terain" Topic

I having built up enough NVA and diggers to get a game in, i am in a bit of a quandary, set up the table and used different coloured felt sheets cut randomly and in different colours to represent open areas deep jungle, tall grass etc. the net result was something that looked a little akin to a golf course.

possible solutions would be appreciated,

cheers
jon

Nothing wrong with felt to define types of terrain (and with that clear edge, easy enough to know when you are in or out of the terrain feature). However, these things always look better with more three dimensional terrain items.

Lots of choices, but the scale you are gaming in might dictate that.

I'd just do searches for Vietnam games to see what people do….

Here is a game of mine from back in 2011, and it doesn't even have really good terrain, but it worked just fine…

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Chalfant

the game was played in 10mm. reasonably happy with the mechanics, possibly being a little pedantic with the aesthetics as you state we knew exactly who was in what terrain.

our board was not too dissimilar to that in the link we possibly had more variation in terrain, which may not be accurate.

jon

In 10mm, I would use clump foliage over the felt pieces to denote vegetation…. even to the point of allowing it to overflow the edges of the felt pieces (ignoring the overflow for sighting or movement purposes…. it would look a little less abrupt without interfering with the game). Mix in small trees with the clumps. The overflow of terrain, with random pieces scattered about the board (but not affecting movement or sighting) help make the table look a little better.

Tall grass in 10mm, not sure, but maybe teddy bear fur from a fabric shop painted green?

Chalfant

Hmmm, and in depth project…

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cheers off to the teddy bear factory to see if they have off cuts.

jon

Just don't buy loads of palm trees and do use masses of rice paddies

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I saw some nice results with "teddy bear fur" cut to the desired length to represent elephant grass and similar.

thanks PhD that is more to ponder, i have some paddies and hooches, so i just need more paddies.
i have limited "palm trees" to banana plantations. havent got round to rivers yet, was thinking of using the "blue" ones but from the pictures it just wont look right.

cheers
jon

Happy to help. Go with "mud" colored rivers

Don't forget the rubber plantations!

Some ideas from my 10mm Vietnam games:

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Here is my take on Vietnam from a couple of weeks back. On the blog is my how-to.

TMP link

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Lost Pict

It's actually fairly easy to build rice paddies

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When I think of Vietnam I think of rust colored clay soil and dust.

At one of UK conventions there was a Vietnam demo game where the gamers had make a large area of tall glass out of a shaggy synthetic fibre rug & highlighted areas with green paint, it Looked almost perfect.

I second the teddy bear fur idea. I need to get some myself for my Vietnam gaming, to tell you the truth.

I hate to sound like a shill – and I'll state that I'm not affiliated with these guys – but google "Cigar Box Battle Mats."

These are mats – they're sort of like a blanket – printed with terrain features. You can use them "as is" or drop terrain models on them.

I own two. "Europe" and "Nashville." Despite the names, I use both for 15mm Vietnam. Just call the area that look like fields "rice paddies" and you're set.