Simple Battlefield Signposts

Scenery of the Day

Sometimes its the real simple things that make all the difference.

A couple of simple scenery tricks today that are quick and easy to do, and cost virtually nothing. I think they add a nice little touch of life to the gaming board.

Period signposts :

Woot ! you can make hundreds of these period signposts for around $2, and a small investment of your time.

Extremely simple to make. Last time I was down the art supplies shop, I got a packet of craft sticks for about $2. There is a lifetime supply in that packet.

The smaller matchstick things I have used for the post, and the wider sticks I have used for the signs.

The wide sticks are like miniature ice cream sticks - about 5mm wide, and 50mm long with rounded ends. I cut these in half, and then sand down the end to give it a point.

For a base, pull out the hacksaw and make some rough 20x20mm square bases. Dont have to be too accurate. Glue, paint, flock .. done. No further instructions needed.

Well OK - when painting the name, just take it slow and steady with the paintbrush. Or if you prefer, use a marker pen instead of paint if you want.

For colours - cheap craft paint .. burnt umber on the woodwork, ivory white for the face of the signpost. Then use a good paint (in this case Vallejo flat black) for the signwriting.

Also, with the bases, I drilled out a little hole with the dremel to mount the post in ... adds enough strength to make these little beasties very robust. And thats about it.

Finished product - thats 'Borodino' in Russian. Google translate is your friend when it comes to providing the Russian spelling and characters of important place names for battles.

End result .... I reckon it looks brilliant. Nothing wrong with placing paper printouts on the field to give built up areas a name, but I do think these signposts add just the right feel to the battlefield.

I have made up a number of them, including names of a few different capitols.

In game terms, I intend to use the extra capital signposts such as 'Berlin', 'Paris', 'Wien' (Vienna), 'Mockba' (Moskva .. Russian for Moscow) .... on the table edges, pointing off board to represent the general line of advance for off board troops from different nationalities.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Now go make some signposts !