The Swamplands - Rangers of Shadow Deep

After finishing the Broken Stairs board it was time to move on to the "Swamplands", a 2x2 board with 8" of deep water. I used a piece of matboard, so that it was flat and could tuck under the stairs slightly.

It was easy to do- a layer of clear Plasti-Dip to seal it; brown and black spray paint with some flock sprinkled on, followed by painting with acrylic craft paint and a little more flock on top. Last, a coat of polyurethane to seal it up and make it look glossy, and a second coat of poly on the deep water.

View from opposite edge- the party prepares to move into the deep water. The raptor, Ladyhawke, inhales noxious fumes and passes out. Lewinna carefully places the ailing bird into her pack.

Vicious fight at the water's edge- the knight flounders in deep water. Lewinna prepares to cast a spell of Transference but the knight makes it out in time.

Gabriella pulls a treasure chest from the muck.

The wardog is felled by a gruesome swipe by the zombie. It recovers later, but develops psychological scars. Ingrid, the recruit, also takes a grimy claw to the face and is taken out... she loses an eye as a result.

Sadly, Ladyhawk does not recover, and Lewinna takes a moment to mourn her friend.

Easy Briar and Brambles Terrain

This is an older build I neglected to post. I needed a bunch of briar and bramble terrain for a Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario, and wanted to make something that figures could move into or through. 

I settled on making flat 'area bases' using Hardboard (Masonite) cut to ovals and irregular bean shapes, and textured them with sand and wood filler. They were then painted with craft paint- dark brown, drybrush medium brown, and final light drybrush with a light brown. 

The brambles are made with one of my favorite materials, the green furnace filter that I use for all sorts of things. I teased and cut it apart to form loose briar like forms and spray painted the patches brown and gray.

The next step is gluing on flocking material- I use Woodland Scenics. I went with a variety this time. 

The final step is a liberal spraying of "Plasti-Dip" Clear, to seal it all up and keep the flock on the brambles.

I don't glue the bramble patches on- they're just set on top so that they can be moved around to accommodate miniatures, yet the 'difficult ground' area is marked.