Project Salamanca Cost Summary

Well with everything wrapping up I have totalled the cost of my experience and here it is.

Keeping in mind that the tools cost a significant amount of the total cost, the building of my next projects will be considerably cheaper.

The Suppliers I have used during this project were;
(I am including these suppliers here for thoroughness not as an endorsement)

Foam: http://www.foamular.com.au/
Consumables: http://www.bunnings.com.au/
Cloth / Dye / Craft Paints: http://www.spotlight.com.au/
Hotwire / Airbrush / Paints / Foliage & Flock: http://hobbyrama.com.au/

On to the next project...

Step Eight: Finishing Touches

Added the final touches to the first board last night.  I was not happy with the cloth on the back of the boards, it seemed a non-permanent solution the way I had it, drawing pins holding the cloth in place were not solid enough.

I picked up some rubber "grip liner" 1m by 2m roll from the cheapy shop down the road.  Below shows a small strip of the rubber, glued to the blue foam as a test, beside which is the drawing pins that I was using.

I started by placing the board on it face, using foam cut offs to keep the terrain protected.  I should have done this before I painted the board just to be sure I had it all secured.

Next I poured from the bottle of PVA a liberal amount of glue to cover the edge (cloth) and the centre of the board.  focusing on points evenly spaced apart (4 rows of 4 points), with pools of glue which I spread out with my finger to thin out.  Once I placed the rubber down I pushed drawing pins into these positions to help fix the rubber to the foam and provide added strength when all is dried.

Once the glue is dry I will trim the rubber so it sits under the edge and allows for the boards to met even flush.

My big concern is that the rubber mat will add uneven height across the three boards so that they do not sit at even levels when side by side.  I will let you know what I find.

Step Cost = $24.50 ($12 PVA Glue, $12.95 Rubber Mat)

Total Cost = $453.35

Time Taken ~2 Hours (17 Hours Total)

Battle of Quartre Bras

Quatre Bras (fought on the 8th June 2014)

As usual Dayle and I planned a battle for B.I.G games day. As usual, we threw the scenario together with moments to spare with Dayle starting work on it the night before we played.

The order of battle quickly grabbed from Wikipedia and several slide rule calculations later we determined that we could cover this with 15mm figures, a good idea given we are still struggling to get the ranges right in our 6mm games.

With a bit of research, Dayle determined an order of reinforcement arrivals and we worked on 30min turns for timeline management.

As always we are using a “built on” rules set in Neil Thomas’s “Napoleonic Wargaming”. The main changes we have made are to lessen the domination of our Artillery units so we can field more batteries. For those that are familiar with these rules, we have modified Artillery ranges and firepower to 24cm short range with 1-3 shots, 48cm long with 1 shot. Other changes are with the saving throws for infantry vs. Cavalry so as to encourage the formation of squares and lessen the effectiveness of Line formations in the face of Cavalry charges.

Setup (13:00)

We start at 1pm, 16th June 1815, the Dutch Belgium 2nd Division has the two ridgelines dominating the centre of the field. With overwhelming French forces advancing on them I planned to do what I could to slow the advance until help arrived, 5 nervous turns later….

You can’t see the ridges to well form this shots.

Turn 1 (13:00)

The French opening moves are as expected, however unwelcome  My major concern was the 2nd Cavalry Division would move on my right flank, but heading to my left means I can bottle neck him at the river crossing, a relief but with only one Infantry brigade to hold it, I may need to use the horse battery, detracting from the much needed fire support for the 1st Brig.

At least the French artillery have not yet deployed… Small mercies

Just to let the French know the 2nd Netherlands Division wasn't going anywhere a solid volley of fire rained down on the advancing Light troops in the centre.

Turn 2 (13:30)

French Infantry are forming into lines, effective at bring fire to bear which from experience with these rules the most effective way to dislodge Infantry in towns, but reduces movement and thus works well into my plans.

Seeing that my right will have time to respond, I decide to commit some of the reinforcements, yet to arrive, to protect that approach and move my 2nd Brig. 2nd Netherlands Division to hold the left, sending them racing to the river crossing to protect my artillery positions.

With cannon ranged in my batteries open fire at long to support the flanks.

Lights in the woods cause minor casualties on the approaching Infantry, paying little mind to the flanking troops.

All the while the 1st Brigade continues to land the hits on the advancing Infantry.

Turn 3 (14:00)

First of a correction, British troops cannot form Attack Columns, so I change my 2nd Brig to column of route, only to form line by the end of the turn.

Doing the math I see the 2nd Brig will not make it to block the crossing so form line with them so that I can fire on the approaching Cavalry as they cross. I didn’t want the cavalry to be deterred as I knew that in 2 more turns I would have the cavalry support to take out one or both of these cavalry, so I didn’t form square, yet…. Then the horse artillery on the ridge behind them sounded a solid warning shot through the chest of a lead Cuirassier, good day sir!

My good shooting seemed to continue with 1st Brig scoring full hits, devastating the French brigade before them, with a failed morale roll, even a reroll!!! 2 stands down. A cheer went up at the sight of so many French backpacks in view. It wasn’t to last long as the French guns replied the insult with a barrage on the troops unable to find cover in time, casualties were light but a wakeup call to all.

The lights in the wood were starting to feel the heat, they needed to get into a better position and soon… managing to return fire with less effect than desired and they prepared to move.

Turn 4 (14:30)

Devastating fire comes in from two sides crippling the Light Brigade and seriously jeopardizing the right flank. With them gone the flank will open up, so they slip through the woods towards the centre to limit the fire they are taking.

2nd Brig form square, needing an entire turn to perform the maneuver we needed to do it now, I need to hold this position so Luitenant-Generaal Baron Perponcher takes up position within the square. This gives a bonus +1 to morale rolls, effectively making them Elite troops. The Cavalry are crossing the stream…

Exchange of fire from the farm continues, 1st Brigade is still looking strong. I hope the 5th will get here on time.

Turn 5 (15:00)

Reinforcements arrive moving to repeal the French cavalry, 1st Brigade 5th Division sent to hold the right flank for when the lights loose the woods.

The Dutch Jäger were in serious trouble, retreating further into the woods to take on a more harassing role, they are set upon by the 4th Light Regiment from the 9th Division which had been charged with taking the woods. Losing another stand, leaving them 1.

Picton positioned his cavalry to mutually support each other by opening the flank of the enemy if either was charged. The infantry and artillery was sent to hold the centre.

Under a hail of artillery and musket fire the 1st Dutch Brigade had to pull back or be overrun. With the arrival of Jerome’s 6th Division the farm would now fall, but their mission was accomplished, holding up 3 Brigades of Infantry and 2 batteries for two and a half hours.

Turn 6 (15:30)

A flurry of action on the left wing with the 6th Chesseurs charging the 3rd Dutch Light Cavalry Brigade, counter charged in the flank by the Brunswick Hussars. The Lancer brigade dips there spear tips at the Dutch square to see if they can break it.

Very heavy casualties to all parties with the only brigade to come out of the hand to hand fighting ok is the Dutch square. The game mechanics give a full 4 stand brigade in square, charged by cavalry a 2+ saving roll for any hand to hand hit. The lancers with 4 dice per stand (the best hand to hand unit) seemed to be the best way to see if cavalry could break a full square in these rule. Defensive fire had scored a full 4 hits taking a stand from their numbers, morale still in check they still kept coming. An amazing 11 hits from 12 dice had things looking very bad for the Dutch. With a 2+ save though it was bound to get better. 11 hits turned to 1 as the ranks moved to support each other. The Lancers withdrew after taking 1 hit from hand to hand, losing due to the defender being in square.

The allied cavalry were not performing as I had hoped, the Chesseurs had repealed both light cavalries with only minor hits to their own ranks. This would be a process of working them down and would probable cost most if not all of both cavalry brigades…. My only cavalry.

Dutch Jäger slipped onto the French Lights flank and frantically fired in an attempt to hold them back a few more minutes. Each man knew there was little chance of getting way with the river at their backs.

With the Cavalry battle the highlight of this turn, the 1st Dutch Brigade slipped from the farm and made their way rapidly back to the Allied lines, with luck the French had not cut off their retreat yet.

Turn 7 (16:00)

Well this turn was a bad round for the allies with the destruction of Dutch Jäger and Light Cavalry. The French cavalry having charged the Dutch opened their rear to the Brunswick Lights which made each hit count, sending the French off with a sting in their tail, 2 stands lighter, now down to a single Heavy Cavalry stand.

The Lancers regroup while the horse artillery soften up the Dutch squares for the next charge. Now down to 3 stands now the Lancers might get through.

The 5th Division hurried to plug the holes in the line on the second ridge. The Dutch 1st Brigade would hold the right side of the line, until relieved. I was confident I would be in position and able to get the fire on the approaching enemy, a very important part of this rule set is to be in position on an advancing enemy, as you can’t move and fire in the same turn (unless Light).

The French had taken the farm and the woods had fallen too. I needed to get the French Cavalry out of my left and sure up the line. I still had the Brunswick Corp and the 1st Division Guard on the way. I have enough artillery in the right positions and the allied fire hitting on 3+ to the French 4+ works in my favor, but only if I can repeal the Cavalry.

Turn 8 (16:30)

With the arrival of the Kellerman’s Cavalry the pressure was on to sure up the left flank.

The Lancers take another shot at the Dutch square, defensive fire cripples the attack and hand to hand and bad morale finish the job, the brave lancers rout.

The Brunswick Lights finish of the Chesseurs, finally liberating the left. Picton forms up his troops guarding Quatre Bras into lines and advance on the river crossing, taking command of the lead brigade. Time is of the essence as even with 3 brigades of Infantry and some light cavalry, I was not confident in holding back the French cavalry unless I could fight them while they crossed the river.

The brigade from the 5th Division deployed in line on the high ground with artillery moving up the road to support them on the right, it was clear more cavalry were on its way to the right so I would need to deploy some if not all of the Brunswick Corp to support them.

Turn 9 (17:00)

The race is on now for the hold of the left. The Dutch 2nd Brigade break from squares to form line and but some fire on the French troops across the river. The Allied centre started to put some fire on the advancing French, with the 5th Division Light Brigade moving to meet them at the river edge, opening the ridge to fire over them.

It was clear that the French planed a push on the right flank, so to sure it up an infantry brigade and horse artillery was ordered to hold the right. The remainder of the Brunswick Corp was deployed to support the Left. Hindsight I should have put the lights on the right, to protect the wood approach from the French lights.

I think Dayle was not happy with the Cavalry Brigade moving up the centre, but with the approach on both flanks looking like it would clog up quickly in narrow approaches there was little choice, best keep them ready to counter attack an allied push up the middle.

Both Artillery batteries from the Brunswick Corp would deploy in the defence of Quatre Bras, aimed at the left.

Turn 10 (17:30)

Racing forward the Brunswick Lights threaten the river crossing in hope to hold until Picton arrives. The brave Dutch 2nd moves to support them.

With artillery now on the right flank in high ground, the infantry from the 5th division would advance down the hill in line, firing on the Lights in the woods and allowing the cannon to tear them apart, as lights cannot charge close order troops in the open.

I still open fire the troops in the centre so if my dice hold out I should be able to make a bit of a mess there.

1st Division have arrived and the guard will move on the centre, next stop Paris.

Conclusion

Although Dayle did not admit it, it was a complete Allied Victory!!!!!

But seriously, this was a great scenario in its simplicity and put together well by Dayle. We didn’t get to finish the full 13 turns, but I doubt the Allies would regain the farm in that time either. This scenario was a great evolving battle, with the Anglo-Dutch starting outnumbered and eventually building up to over whelm the French.

All up the battle played from 10:30 to around 15:00 in actual time. We did chat a bit and took the time to show a friend how to play, so we think we could knock this out in about 4-5 hours for the full 13 turns.



Order of Battle

Allied

British Commander (William of Orange)

Orders: To hold the crossroads at Quatre bras

British 1^st Corp (William of Orange)

1^st Div

2 x Gd Brig

1 x foot arty

1 x horse arty

3^rd Div

2 x Line Brig

1 x light Brig

2 x foot arty

2^nd Netherlands  (Perponcher)

2 x line Brig (1st and 2nd Brig)

1 x light Brig

1 x foot arty

1 x horse arty

Reserve

5^th Div (Picton)

3 x Brig (8^th, 9^th, 3^rd Hanoverian)

Brunswick Corp (Duke of Brunswick)

1 x Line Brig

1 x Light Brig

1 x Horse Arty

1 x Foot Arty

Anglo-Allied Cavalry Corp

2 x Brig light cavalry (Brunswick 2^nd Hussars, Dutch 3^rd light Dragoon/Hussars)

2^nd Corp Arty

1 x horse arty

2 foot arty

ORDER of MARCH

 Turn 1: (1.00pm) Deploy 2^nd Netherlands forward of or on line Gemioncourt-Piermont- Busso forest on ridge. 

Turn 2: (1.30pm)

Turn 3: (2.00pm)

Turn 4: (2.30pm)

Turn 5: (3.00pm)

Deploy: At Quartre Bras
5th British Infantry Division (Picton)

Anglo-Allied Cavalry Corp
3rd Dutch Light Cavalry Brigade (Baron van Merlen)
Brunswick 2^nd Hussars light cavalry Brig

Turn 6: (3.30pm)

Deploy Brunswick Corp (Duke of Brunswick)  at Quatre Bras

Turn 7: (4.00pm)

Turn 8: (4.30pm)

Turn 9: (5.00pm)

Deploy:

Brit 3^rd Div (Sir Colin Halket) at Quatre Bras + corp arty

Turn 10: (5.30pm)

Deploy:

Brit 1^st Division (Cooke)

Turn 11: (6.00pm)

Turn 12: (6.30pm)

Turn 13: (7.00pm)     END

French 

French Commander (Ney)

Orders: occupy the crossroads at Quartre Bras by 15^th June, it is now 2.00pm on the 16^th June.

2^nd Corp (Reille)

5^th Div (Bachelu)

2 x line regiments

1 x light regt

1 x foot bty

6^th Div (Jerome)

2 x line regiments

1 x light regt

1 x foot bty

9^th Div (Foy)

2 x line regiments

1 x light regt

1 x foot bty

2^nd Cavalry (Pire)

1 x 6^th Chesseurs

1 x Lancers

1 x horse battery

Corp Artillery

2 x foot battery

3^rd Cavalry Corp (François Étienne de Kellermann, Comte de Valmy)

11^th Cavalry Div

1 x Brig Dragoons (light)

1 x brig Curassiers

1 x horse artillery

Imperial Guard Light Cavalry Division

2 x Brig Lancers (equivalent)

2 x Chesseurs (equivalent)

1^st  Corps (D’erlon)

1st Infantry Division (General de Brigade Joachim-Jerome Quiot)

4 x line regiments

1 x foot bty

2nd Infantry Division (Francois-Xavier)

3 x line regiments

1 x light regt

1 x foot bty

3rd Infantry Division, (Pierre-Louis Binet)

4 x line regiments

1 x foot bty

4th Infantry Division, (Joseph-Francois, comte Durutte)

4 x line regiments

1 x foot bty

1st Cavalry Division (Charles-Claude, baron Jacquinot)

7th Hussars
3rd Chasseurs à Cheval
3rd Lanciers
4th Lanciers

1^st Corps Artillery (Jean-Charles Desales)

5 x  foot artillery batteries

1 x horse artillery battery (a total of 46 guns)

5 companies of the 1st Engineer Regiment (General de Brigade Marie-Theodore-Urbain, baron Garbe).

MARCHING ORDER

Turn 1: (1.00pm)

Deploy on table

Bachelu 5^th div and Foy 9^th inf divisions left and right of road

Pires 2^nd cavalry division wide on right

Desnouettes Imperial light cavalry division wide on the left in front of Bossu woods

Turn 2: (1.30 pm)

Turn 3: (2.00pm) Open attack, order general assault, arty barrage

Turn 4: (2.30pm)

Turn 3: (3.00pm)

Deploy

6^th div (Jerome)

Turn 4: (3.30pm)

Turn 5: (4.00pm)

Turn 6: (4.30pm)

Turn 7: (5.00pm)

Deploy 

3^rd corp (Kellerman)

Turn 8: (5.30pm)

Roll for d’Erlon’s 1^st corp (d'Erlon is expected to arrive at this time, if the French look in real bad shape, have him arrive)

Turn 9: (6.00pm)

Turn 10: (6.30pm)

Turn 11: (7.00pm)

Step Seven: Towns and Roads

On the home straight now with only Towns and Roads needing attention.

I picked up a acrylic paint tube from Spotlight again, J. Burrows Acrylic Paint "Sand" which looked very cream coloured to be to good for roads but I tested it on a piece of cotton first and when dried it turned a nice brown colour that lifts the roads off from the base colours but not to dominating the field.

You decide.  Take note of the path running along the river to the chapel on the hill to the left.

Calvarrasa de Artiba

Yes that is a bridge across the river, cut from a 10mm square balsa rod and shaped with a Ozito Rotary Tool from Bunnings.  Best purchase I ever made, buildings can be made in minutes and look great.  Roof over hangs the walls like they would in real life.  The chapel even has carved recesses for the windows.

Adding on the last of the buildings I use a bit of clump foliage that I have had stored away for ages to scatter about the town ships to give a bit of colour.  Lastly I used Foliage from Woodland Scenics, Early Fall Mix.  This gives me the yellow fields for wheat, two blends so I could mix it up.

And once this is all together we are left with this.

I have built up the towns a little more since these last shots were taken and they now look like this.

Chapel Calvarrasa de Arriba

Las Torres on the Right

Arapiles

Farm near Aldea Tejada

I have yet to decide if I want to put Miranda de Azan in the southwestern corner, I don't want it to be a hold up for battle on that particular section.  I do need to place something down for Azan but might just see how the board plays out first.

Step Cost = $19.50 ($7.50 Acrylic Paint, $12.00 Woodland Scenic Foliage)

Total Cost = $428.85

Time Taken ~4 Hours (15 Hours Total)

Some candid snaps

Time to put out some troops and see how the board looks and feels.

British Lights defend the Chapel

British Divisions formed up behind the ridge line

Facing the French Lines

The steepest part of the board can still handle a stand of troops

Spanish Settlement

Just to see what it looks like with 28mm figures (Dutch Belgium Infantry - Painted by Peter Cross)

Step Six: Forest and Rivers

So now we are ready to work on the forest plan.  For this I am looking at using cushion foam from old chair covers.  I cut the same that I want and then using a pair of tweezers to pluck pock marks in the top of the foam.  Make sure that the base that will lay on the table is the flat smooth side of the foam, let the top be the rough and untrimmed side as it will help keep it looking more natural.

I then 50%/50% some brown acrylic craft paint ($7.50 from Spotlight) with water in a jar.  Cramming the foam into the jar and then shake.  Take out the foam and hand wring the paint back into the jar then set the foam aside to dry.

Now that its dried a light brownish colour its ready for flocking.  I use some of the contact adhesive spray to coat the top of the foam.  Placing the glue coated foam on a clean sheet of news paper so I can recover the flock not glued, I shake green flock over the foam.  Given a few minutes I shake the excess flock off the foam and then respray adhesive again sealing the flock on the foam.

While not fantastic its something.  I am not a fan of the tacky nature the trees have and that they fail to turn hard or stay soft enough to hold their form.  For now it will suffice, but I am working on other ways to do it better.

Lastly I give the river a nice bright blue paint, now I planned on using an clear resin and not using blue for the river but with a whole lot of earthy tones I opted to try and give it a bit of *Pop*.

Step Five: Preparing and Painting

With all three boards covered and pinned I was ready to prep them for airbrushing.

More shopping, Bunnings for some Timber Mate putty (one container is more than you will ever need) and Hobbyrama to grab paints, thinner and an airbrush.

Just a bit poorer but happy that I have 90% of what I need to spend on this project spent now I was happy to get into the last big phase.

I grabbed a NEO/IWATA Airbrush-G for $99.95 which has a double action trigger.  Do your research first before buying the wrong thing.

I grabbed Tamiya paints and thinner as I was comfortable with using them.

A mate lent me his compressor so that saved me $150 which I am grateful for.

First off I applied the putty to the river on board 3 with my finger, no need for anything harsher.

Now I was ready to paint.  I started with the Flat Earth XF-52 as I felt that this colour was the closest to the next shade up from my cloth colour.  I applied a light coating to 75% of the board, keeping the hills and forest areas clear.  (sorry I didn'g grab a photo of that stage)

After I was done there I applied a coat of Red Brown XF-64 to the rises of the hills and across the top in a rough pattern to help them stand out from the base level.

Flat Green XF-5 was then added to the areas that would have forest on or near.  I still had not settled on a foresting method yet but I did know where I was planning to have them.

The last step was to use Hull Red XF-9 on the areas that would be dry and high points of the board, the Greater and Lesser Arapiles.  On this step I think I got a bit carried away but its dry land so I saw it as being more rough and rockier in its terrain.

It looks much better at eye level.

Step Cost = $129.70 ($99.95 NEO/IWATA Airbrush-G, $15.80 ($3.95ea) 4xAcrylic Paint, $13.95 Thinner) 

Total Cost = $386.85

Time Taken ~2 Hours (13 Hours Total)

Step Four: Apply Cotton Layer

Well another trip to Spotlight was in order thanks to Bruce's advice.  Given that my goal was to finish the boards and not worry about getting them perfect first off, it seemed best to at least do it properly so I can learn from the experience.

So picked up some cotton cloth, Combed Cotton Jersey 112cm Width and 4m length @ $7.69/m

The cotton is white so I am going to dye it tan colour so I grabbed some "RIT - Tan Dye" at the same time.

Now the dying process was a eye opener.  I think I miss judged the amount of dye needed as all three sheets, while going in the in close order all seemed to come out slightly lighter than the previous.

Once I rinsed the cloth I spotted red dots where the dye had not dissolved fully in the water.  This would just need some creative painting when the time comes.

Using the contact adhesive again, we worded the cloth over the felt.  It was much easier to work it now the felt had softened the edges somewhat, the stretch in the cotton also helped.  When laying it I tried to keep it as relaxed as possible so that the elasticity in the cloth would be there when i needed it for the hard sections during the felt laying.

This is one of the 3 boards right after the cotton was applied.  I have tucked the cloth under the board by hand but later pinned it up with thumb tacks and dress pins only once the glue had set.

Step Cost = $51.70 (Cotton Cloth $30.76, Dye Powder $7.95, Contact Adhesive $12.99)

Total Cost = $257.15

Time Taken ~4 Hours (11 Hours Total)

The Debate, to cover or not to cover.

For the next few weeks I chewed on how to move ahead with my boards.  I decided to contact the person whom I had drawn my inspiration for the boards built this way from in the first place.  Bruce Weigle

I have confirmed with Bruce that he is happy for me to post our correspondence here, which he is.

First, thank you for you PDF guide for making fantastic gaming boards, love your work.

I have just completed the terraforming of a battlefield Salamanca, learnt heaps doing it but would like to finish it off.

I have added felt to the foam layer and are working out now if to cloth cover or paint the felt, wanting to keep the cost down, but also wanting to do it properly.

My question is more on paint, when I cloth the board, what colours would you use for a Arid environment like Spain. 

I am thinking Burnt Umber is a little to brown when I should be going Grey/Redish.

Thanks in advance

I've never done a Spanish terrain board (the ones whose pictures you saw all represented much more temperate climes), but can at least offer a couple of suggestions.   Maybe more than a couple :-)

I wouldn't recommend trying to paint felt.  Most of the felt available in the US these days (and perhaps elsewhere) is polyester, which doesn't dye or accept paint very well.  And, the fuzzy surface of felt isn't exactly optimum for 6mm figures in my humble opinion, although it could go well with larger scales. 

I always cover my felt layer with a second layer of 100% cotton double knit fabric -- i.e., T-shirt fabric.  It takes dye very well and paints much more readily than felt. 

The cotton upper layer on all my boards (except for snowy landscapes) is initially dyed a very pale tan before it's glued down over the felt with spray adhesive.  The fields and woods portions are then airbrushed on over that, the cardinal rule being: Apply paint in very light layers.  You can always go back and darken up your board with subsequent applications of paint, but you can never lighten any fields which turn out too dark.  A light hand when airbrushing the colors with a subtle mottling texture will generally give the best results.

As for colors -- I use the cheap acrylic  "hobby" paints generally found in craft stores, but have never done an arid environment so can offer no specific color suggestions.  I'd suggest that you take a look at the  Salamanca area on Google Earth to get a good idea of what the actual terrain looks like, then print out a sampling of the field colors you plan on duplicating.  Use this color sheet when you visit the hobby store to pick your most compatible paint shades. 

Once you've got a few likely colors (including white, for lightening) pin up a surplus piece of your pale tan-dyed fabric and experiment on it with toned-down colors; don't paint your game board until you've worked out (and documented) which colors and color combinations best match the color Google Earth view of the actual terrain.   

Oh -- keep in mind too that you'll never perfectly match color photos you've seen of the battlefield, because terrain viewed from ground level isn't the same shade as what it looks like from overhead.  Even the Google Earth view isn't an exact match, for various reasons.  So your best-guess approximation of the colors of Salamanca will no doubt be good enough; it's the tone and contrast that should concern you most.  Take it slowly, spray lightly and build up the colors gradually, and you'll do fine  :-)

Bruce Weigle

Thank you for your time Bruce, your advice has influenced my decision greatly.  I will finish the boards off with cotton.

I have given thought to paints, selecting tan with terracotta mix, darkening as needed for highlights, as most of the stone work ranges from the tan earthy tone to red limestone.

Foliage is my next perpetration action, looking at woodland scenically clump foliage range and pva gluing that to areas of wood.  Given it doesn't have a lot of woodland and it will dry maintaining a reasonably flat texture figures could be placed on it well.  Testing this on fell left a telltale ring of glue stain on the felt around the forest clump.  Do you find the same on cotton or does it hide it well enough, pva that is.  (Paint can help correct I suspect.)

This has been a lot of fun and I thank you for the time you have spent saving me a world of experimentation.

So it looks like I have more work to get on with.....

Step Three: Apply Felt Covering

I seem to be spending more time at Spotlight than any self respecting male should.  Having said that, its a model builders wonderland.  I had no problem finding the felt I was after but I was unable to find the Double Knitted cotton, settling for Broadcloth which ended up working just fine.

Acrylic Felt "Sand" 4 metres

Spotlight Product Info

I also picked up some spray on Contact Adhesive to glue it to the boards.

Once home, I laid some old towels down as the spray will go every where.  With wife's help we rolled up the felt once cut to approx 1.2m length to account for contours.  Then sprayed a section of the board then a segment about the same of the felt being careful not to get any glue on the face up side of the felt.

Then it was a matter of working it down over the terrain.  Here is all three boards with felt covering.

Step Cost = $42.95 ($29.96 for Felt,  $12.99 for Contact Adhesive)

Total Cost = $205.45

Time Taken ~2 Hours (7 Hours Total)

Step Two: Shape terrain layers

Now armed with a hot wire cutter I was able to make short work of this step, that is I was progressing well but far from quickly.

When cutting the layers you must give careful consideration to the scale your working with, you need to keep the grade of the slope at a level that figures can stand on and mark up.  This is why so many hills you see on the wargames tables are steps, its difficult to get this right.  To help I kept a couple of figures handy to test out on each slope.

Once done I placed the layers on the base boards with pins (OMG get lots of these you will need them, total life saves on your back!!!).

Done.

What I Learnt - Well I basically balls this up entirely.   Two points of cross over on the boards is not to much of a problem, but I later change it anyway.  It does mean that I am limited to alternative layouts.  So if you side by side the design, initial terrain layout and the final boards if looks like 3 different boards.

Also due to the two high points on the board being 50mm each above the base so two foam layers high, I did not build up enough around them, this made applying the felt and cloth more difficult than it needed to be.

Additional costs were only some pins and electricity.

Step Cost = $0

Total Cost = $162.5

Time taken ~4 hours. (5 Hours Total)