30. Modular wooden fort I.

Back in business! After a short break, last weekend I got back, and finally started doing something. I decided, that I will work through my open projects (hopefully all of them...). The first step was not painting (at least for now), but building terrain. A little time ago I started to build a modular wooden fortress. I had two reasons for it. The first one was that I started to write siege rules for Oathmark, and I need to have something to try them out. The other one was, as I saw a youtube video on the TWS channel, which show a very quick way to build wooden fortifications. I basically built the same with some modifications.

First step was planning (as always), I had to decide the main dimensions. My insulation foam (XPS, extruded polystyrene, but it can be made of the cheaper EPS, expanded polystyrene also) is 30mm thick, so the embankment, where the miniatures will stand, will have that height (by the way, in my siege rules, there will be different walls, depending on their height, material, and number of ranks, that has place on them). The battlement is an additional 20mm and (because of the serrated form) 30mm higher. The width and depth was also not a big question. It will be a pretty small wall (the smallest one according to my rules), so it is enough if a single row of Oathmark unit has place on it. The width is at least 5x25mm, so I went with 130mm to have a bit space.

As for the depth, I made 30mm at the top, with a moderate slope (45-50mm at the bottom), so the cross-section looks like this:

Now, that the dimensions for a single wall section are set, lets jump into planning the parts! What is needed?

• Straight walls
• Inner corners
• Outer corners
• Tower
• Gate
• Damaged wall section (to represent destroyed walls for a brake in)

How many of them is needed? It’s a harder question… Whats the goal? To make a closed fortress, or just to make walls for using in a corner, or a side of the table? I would say, lets go with a closed fortress, with some half wall sections (for more options), which has a tower, and an inner corner too. I must say, that’s not what I made, but it’s an improved list and design, If I would start over, I would go with these... Here a quick sketch about it (Powerpoint is a pretty nice tool to make quick plans):

The list will show most of the possibilities, and you can adapt the list to your own needs (as said, thats not what I made, but I wish I would):

• 6 straight long (130mm) walls
• 4 straight short (65mm) walls
• 1 inner corner
• 4 outer corners (65x65mm)
• 1 tower (130x130mm, fitting for the siege rules and a 5x4 Oathmark unit)
• 1 gate (130mm)
• 2 damaged wall ends (1 left, 1 right, smaller then 65mm, not on the plans)

Now every data is known, let’s make it real! The building is actually pretty simple:

• For the straight wall sections cut a piece of foam width the cross section above in the required length (130mm and 65mm)
• For the inner corner cut a triangle shape, which has the same cross section from the side views as the walls
• The outer corners will need a 65x65mm piece, where a corner will be shaved to fit the form of the wall cross-sections
• The tower needs a 130mmx130mm square base
• The gate needs 2 very short pieces of the same shape as the walls
• And at last, the damaged sections will need the same piece, as the walls, but destroy once the left side, and once the right side

At the end, its likely to have to correct a form a bit. One chosen wall-section will be the master, and every other parts has to set next to both sides of it, and be carved to a form so, that they fit to each other. This way, every section should fit to every other section.

Now, that foam is cut, base is needed. I use 3mm thick PVC foam board (“Hartschaumplatte”), a pretty light, strong, cheap, easy to cut, not warping material, the only disadvantage of it is, that PVA glue doesn’t get a strong bond with it. But you can use MDF or thick cardboard to, but then you have to take care of the warping! So I cut appropriate sizes for all the sections. And when I say appropriate, I mean that it should be a bit bigger then the parts for it in the front an in the back, but not on the connecting sides. Here comes the glue! I used PVA, because the surface is enough, even on the PVC board to bond it, but construction glue would be a better choice. Her is a must to be cautious, that again, every section should ft every section. That means, that the overhang (or gap) between the front of the wall and the edge of the board should have always the same size!

And for the tower, there shouldn’t be any overhangs, because the walls will be set next to it. After its glued, the edges of the PVC board can be beveled a bit, to fit more seamlessly to the gaming table.

Now comes the most boring part: cutting barbecue sticks in 50 and 60mm pieces. A lot… The sticks what I bought have 3mm diameter, that means, that for a 130mm long wall section, approximately 44 pieces are needed. For 6 long, 4 short, a 4 outer corners 528… But god news are, that it goes very quick with pilers (Nippers? Pinchers? Sorry, I don’t know the appropriate term). You may say, that 3mm is too thin, because for 28mm scale (1/56) it means a real 168mm, and maybe 5mm would be better, but:

1. Barbecue sticks are cheap, available, and that thin.
2. Thicker than 3mm is much-much harder, or impossible to cut with pilers (or whatever), so a saw would be needed, which is a lot slower.

After its cut, I glued it with PVA glue to the outer sides of the walls and corners in a groups of 3 sticks (because that size fits the miniatures the best) to make the form of the battlement:

After they are made, I also glued some random pieces of coffee stir sticks to the back as reinforcement.

Now I have to make a brake, post getting too long… Here is a little teaser of the finished project (which is again, not completely the same design as above), and I will continue with the tower next week!