"Trees suitable for 15/18mm" Topic

For my FIW project I reckon I will need a lot of trees.

I am planning to go cheap and cheerful from China, for reasons of economy.

Would TT gauge railway model trees be the most suitable for 18mm Blue Moon figures? Would OO/HO be too large?

I don't think the HO/OO trees are too large in many cases, since frequently some are under-scaled.

I go by height more, and scale less, for these, e.g. 3mm to a foot, or roughly 8' per inch. Then compare with the real heights of trees in the region your fighting in.

Before 19th century logging the appalachian trees were pretty big, go HO/OO

Would TT gauge railway model trees be the most suitable for 18mm Blue Moon figures? Would OO/HO be too large?

Most model trees are far too small. But if you had trees that were actually in scale then they would get in the way of actually playing the game.

Trees were enormous back then. In some cases 20 people are said to have been able to hold hands around the trunk of a tree.

Keep in mind you want a combination of a "tree filled space" and a playable space. I go with creating a "suggestion of forest" to get my tree filled space. I also use underbrush (lichen works for me – but other items as well). Even battles in "dense" woods are going to have a lot of openings for the action to unfold in. Otherwise their wouldn't be a battle, just a skirmish. And keep in mind there is a natural space between trees in nature, even crowded tress. What made travel difficult wasn't the standing trees but the deadfall. That stuff can be a real pain. I am a cross country, off trail hiker and I know whereof I speak. Though in the western states mostly evergreens out this way.

18 mm IS NOT HO! True 15 mm = 1/120 (TT), larger 15 mm (18MM) = 1/100, HO = 1/87. Though for trees only a minor difference because trees are so variable. I have some HO animals I will use with my Blue Moon 18 mm figures (for Mountain Men) but they are HUGE compared to the human 18 mm metal figures.

I keep fighting the battle to dispel the myth that 18 mm and HO are the same. They ABSOLUTELY are not! I've half a century of model railroading behind me and over 30,000 15 mm figures including a bunch of the larger 18 mm. Yes, some people 'cheat' certain items from HO to use in 15 mm – but if placed side-by-side you'd really see the difference. Only reason to buy HO is if you just can't find it in 15/18 mm.

Lastly, most people think of FIW as skirmish gaming – and that's fine – but it really was the battles that made the difference. Skirmishing had been going on for more than a century – it was the larger armies (comparatively) that brought the whole FIW era to a close. So go for battles!

When my daughter (TreeGirl) makes trees, she mounts them on 1" fender washers or pennies depending on size. Some of the larger ones (for 25mm) are mounted on 1.5" washers, but this allows you to place numerous trees in an area, and adjust the trees as needed to make room for the troops.

Many thanks for all the most helpful replies.

Happy Christmas to one and all.