So unexpectedly I had a scenery moment (or maybe a senior moment?). I had just invested in some stone walls even though I had intended to make my own.
And then I considered that I simply had no hedges. None – as an Ancients/Medieval come Early Modern gamer you only need them to hide ECW dragoons at Naseby I think……
Well as much as I like Last Valley and other off the shelf hedgerows I suddenly remembered a recent acquistion – Operation Warboard. In it Gavin and Bernard Lyall give you a lot of info on fighting WW2 battles and also putting together the game as a whole. No time to waste on scenery though – just a stick with some chopped washing up sponge does for trees.
So I thought as part of my Operation Highstreet I might try some homemade hedges. What did I have to lose.
I then did nothing. And then on a quick whizz through a corner shop I spotted a pack of 10 sponges for 100p or 10p each. Job done.
As it happens I have also been collecting tea – yes tea in tea bags. Now this particular minimalist technique I have not used since as a kid I used dried tea to save money for buying figures. I still have some D&D and Vikings figures with dried tea coated bases – imaginatively coloured brown tea colour – talk about tight fisted on spending!
Well this time I was pushing the boat out – no brown winter hedgerow here. It would be spring green this time.
Each sponge yielded two modular hedges – I reasoned this flexibility would help give variety.
I gave each a double dose of PVA glue – the first to fill up airgaps and the second to take the dried tea which I just rolled the sponges in, pressing carefully.
The dry brush of three coats going from blue green to a more yellow green worked for me. At every stage I let things dry out completely so not much time in each stage but the stages were spread out over a week.
And that is it. Very very quick if a bit brutal but in the spirit of Operation Warboard.
Now they just need to find a table top battle………………
The Wargaming Erratic 