Field of Glory Terrain

I’ve made customised Gullies and Area Terrain Templates, supplemented by commercial kit, to use in my Field of Glory (FoG) games.

FoG Terrain Types

FoG includes these terrain types:

Area Terrain	Linear Terrain
Using my Area Terrain Templates Open Area + Open Field + Enclosed Field + Broken Ground * Brush + * Plantation * Forest + * Vineyard * Marsh Soft Sand + Village + * Not using the Area Terrain Templates Gully Gentle Hill Steep Hill + Impassable	Road River Coast

+ Any of the area features can be Large in size but the marked items are mandatory in certain Territory Types so are more likely to be Large.

* The marked items can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

Area Terrain Templates

I’ve made my own Hardboard Terrain Templates to use for FoG. The same templates are used for most terrain types – I just put different items on top to represent the type of feature.

In FoG normal area pieces area at least 6 x 4 MU and fit within 12 MU circle. Large area pieces are at least 6 x 4 MU, fit within 16 MU circle, and outside 12 MU circle. An MU is either 25mm or 1 inch. Working with those restrictions I have built Minimum, Maximum, and Long Normal sized terrain templates, and Large templates.

Size/Shape	Description
Minimum	My Minimum templates are just big enough to fit a 6″ x 4″ rectangle inside. Allowing for rounded corners they come out about 7″ long.
Long	My Long templates are 12″ x 4″ i.e. a long and narrow as possible.
Maximum	My Maximum templates come in two shapes: some are roughly 12″ diameter circles; the others are variations on the largest rectangle that will fit within a 12″ allowing for rounded corners (mine are mostly about 10″ x 8″). The reason for having two varieties is because some features lend themselves to rectangular perimeters (e.g. Fields) and others lend themselves to more natural curves (e.g. Brush).
Large	Similarly my Large features also come in two shapes: 16″ Round and 14″ x 10″ Rectangular. For the rectangular features the diagonal dimension is most significant – this has to be 12″ or less for normal features and 16″ or less for large features.

For example:

Open Area

Open Areas just define empty space during terrain placement and are removed for the game. The photo is of a piece of Broken Ground but you get an idea of how big an Open Area can be.

Broken Ground

Broken ground is mostly open with some rocks or scrub. They can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

I’ve elected to represent separate Broken Ground features by an area template with no items on top … after all my templates are not very smooth so almost look the part when compared to Brush. That means for Minimum and Long features my Broken Ground will look the same as Open Fields. Given they’ve the same game effect I’m ok with that.

Open Field

Open Fields are, well, open. I’ve elected to use my normal templates without features on top on the grounds that they look sort of like ploughed fields. My one nod to modelling field characterists is that I tried to have rocks scattered around the edges to simulate the fact that farmers cleared rocks away from the planting area.

Enclosed Field

Enclosed Fields are those with significant ditches, walls or hedges. I’ve opted to use my rectangular templates with walls placed on top. I will, in time, change my walls from grey stone to brown stone which is more common in the Med.

Brush

Although called brush this type includes brush, rocks, marsh, and small gullies. Brush can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

Plantation

For Plantation think Orchard. They can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

Forest

Forests can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

Vineyard

Vineyards can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

I already had masses of Hedges for Crossfire so when Chris Harrod and I first needed a Vineyard in FoG we improved with a field feature with hedges lines on top. Seems to give the desired effect.

Marsh

My newer terrain templates are dry in look so I’ve used an older, greener, template for the Marsh. The Marsh sections on top are home made. Wood putty, rocks, twigs for logs, gloss varnish for water, paint and flock.

Village

Can be separate features or sit on top of a hill (either gentle or steep).

Gully

Gully literally means “depression” in FoG. However I’ve interpreted this as an area with one or more gullies. I treat the whole feature as a depression regardless of what is modelled on top.

Check out Making Gullies in the Modelling section.

Hills

I have commercial hills from both S&A Scenics (“Flocked Hills”) and The Scene UK (the particular type I’ve got doesn’t seem to be available now; if buying more I’d go for “Hard Backed Brown/Green”). S&A Scenics have rounded slopes all over. My hills from The Scene UK have sharply angled slopes with a flat bit on top. Both types are quite nice. Ironically the flock used on the The Scene UK hills is a perfect match to the green felt cloth I purchased from S&A Scenics.

Gentle Hill

Really all my hills are gentle given the angle of the slopes and height.

Steep Hill

As all my hills are Gentle I’m talking to The Scene UK about making some customised Steep Hills for FoG.

Impassable

Impassable can be either hills or lake. I’m talking to The Scene UK about making an Impassable Hill.

Soft Sand

I don’t have any Soft Sand features.

Linear Features

Road

I’ve resin Military Miniatures Roads painted by Gordon Roach. I’ve added a couple of home made items to round out the collection, notably a Y junction. Otherwise this set works fine for FoG so there is no need to make my own.

River

I’ve resin Military Miniatures Rivers painted by Gordon Roach. In both Stream (1″ width) and River (4″ width) configurations. These sets work fine for FoG, particularly the 4″ wide job, so there is no need to make my own.

Coast

At the moment I use a giant piece of blue felt Coasts. In truth I hardly ever table a Coast feature so I’m not inclined to upgrade at the moment.