Squigger's Way - How to represent forests on the table

One of the many reasons for loving this hobby is the sheer visual splendour of
it - the massed ranks of troops, the rolling hills, the green, grassy plains,
the forests and copses.  It can sometimes become difficult to draw a line
between wargaming and modelling...

Of course, one of the problems of all this is the issue of practicality.  Yes
you want to have your battlefield look as good and as realistic as possible,
but at the same time you are going to have to be able to easily and efficiently
use that lovely scenery for a wargame.  You have to come to a compromise
between appearance and utility - it's no good having an utterly realistic
battlefield if you cannot place your miniatures on it and then move them about
satisfactorily.

There are many things to consider, but the most problematic is trees.  With
almost all other bits of scenery or terrain, the models are simply moved 
around or over.  With trees, you have to move your models through.  And there
lies the problem.

Woods on the table have to look like woods.  You have to know where they are
and how far they extend.  And, unless you are playing with rules which forbid
movement through them at all, you have to be able to place models within the
woods, amongst the trees.  So, how do you go about all this?

Here are the methods that I have come across.  I have used most of the them
myself, and they all seem to work quite well in their own ways - it all 
depends on just what you are prepared to put up with.

Fixed Diorama:

This is where you have the trees actually attached to the table itself.  Your
table may be a single piece, in which case your battlefield will be 
unchanging - this is not usually regarded as a good thing anyway - or it may
be modular, made up of several interchangeable pieces.  Whatever the case,
this method usually looks the best, but can be a right bugger to play on.  The
reason for this is quite simple - the trees really are fixed.  You can't move
them aside to place or pick up the models, and if they have been put close
together it can be impossible to put models there at all.  If your battles
don't usually involve much movement through trees, or you can come up with an
adequate system for working out where everyone is without actually being there,
then go for it.  I would keep well clear of such things.  They are more for
the modeller than the gamer.

Diorama With Trees On Pins:

Much the same as above, and involving just as much dedication to modelling (and
a heap of skill), but instead of the trees being permanently fixed, you have 
them pinned into holes drilled into appropriate bits of the battlefield.  I 
consider this to be probably the best method of all - you get a damned good
looking tabletop, and you can shuffle the trees about wherever you like.
Not only does this greatly improve access to wooded areas for placing models
(you simply pick up the trees to put down the models, and then put the trees
back in their holes when you've finished), but it also allows for much greater
variety in your battlefields.  The only drawback that I can see is that you
have to put up with lots of holes in your scenery - but as they are less than
a millimetre wide, I'm sure that this is no great imposition.  I really wish
that I had the space for modular terrain like this...

Solid Sections Of Forest:

Here you permanently affix your trees to a small base, the size of your forest.
This allows you to place a section of woods wherever you like, but again it
can be difficult to move models about if the trees can't be moved.  This sort
of thing is fairly good for battlefields which are flat, but you will have to
make two sets of forests - one for low ground, and one for hills (because the
base would include the hill).  Looks good on a flat table, but isn't all that
practical (but is great for storage and setting up - just one piece, with no
mucking about).

Loose Trees:

Just as it says - you have a collection of trees lying around, and simply
place them on your table as and where needed.  Unlimited in scope, but you run
into problems trying to keep them upright.  This is especially so on a flocked
table - on a smooth table you can use some sort of temporary adhesive (Blu-Tac,
plasticine) to attach the trees fairly well, but this will not work on a flocked
surface - either the adhesive cannot grip properly, or it grips all too well
and rips away the flock.  And on something like a blanket or sheet of felt,
adhesives are both useless and messy.  It does however have the advantage of
being completely dynamic - if a tree is in the way, just pick it up and plonk
it down somewhere else.  Failing having modular terrain with pinned trees, this
is the next best option - very practical, and can still look very good.  This
is how I do it at home.

Markers:

This is at the far end of the scale from a diorama when it comes to appearance -
you might not even use trees at all, and just go for an abstract representation.
Basically you use something to show where the forest is, and the models simply
go on top of it.  I have used flannels, with and without a single tree placed
in the middle to label it as a wood.  I have recently come across the idea of
using a shoelace to mark out the boundaries of the wood (which, while not 
looking anything like a forest does solve both the problem of how to fit models
in and the problem of deciding just where the edge of the forest is).  True,
this method can be bluntly described as ugly, but it works.  I know that some
use bits of card or thin wood painted a different shade of green from the table
itself - some even paint it so as to look like the tops of trees.  This is
possibly the best sort of marker.  I don't really like using markers, having
been spoiled by owning proper model trees, but it is effective if done well.
Of course, you don't have to leave out the trees - the best option for using
markers will involve something to mark the area of the forest out (a nice
painted template would be best) covered with trees.  During the course of play
you can move and remove the trees as necessary, and not loose any of the shape
or size of the wooded section.


Once you've sorted out how you are going to represent your woods, and decided
what kind of compromise you are willing to make in the way of appearance or
playability, you still need to work out what materials you will use.  If you
are going for a diorama or markers, then it's fairly obvious what you will
use - but what about the options in between?

There are a number of options.  You can make your own trees, you can buy some
model trees, or you can use something like lichen.  I prefer to buy model 
trees.  Making trees isn't as easy as it sounds.  You will notice that most of 
the trees made in WD articles are for 40k - this is because jungle trees (or
mutant stuff warped by chaos) is a lot easier to make than a nice, thick 
oak or pine.  Model trees can be expensive, though, so if you are none too keen
on spending money on sych things, go for the lichen.  You end up with a much
more abstract forest (unless you raise the lichen on some sort of stand), but
it is very easy to move about, and can look good when used with smaller scale
miniatures, such as for Warmaster.

Model trees have two slight drawbacks - they come with wide bases which can
force your forest to be much wider than you want (because when you put them
back around the models, you can't put them down right next to a model), and
they shed.  A lot.  So much that if you play inside you might want to get the
vacuum cleaner out afterward - but if you play with a flocked table then you
should be used to this :)

If you do go for some sort of fixed or semi-fixed system, make sure that your
woods are very much open.  Leave plenty of space for models.  Your forests don't
have to be closely clumped to look good - and if you want a dark, forbidding
look, just use very darkly coloured trees.