One of the challenges of build city terrain on the tabletop, is the layering effect at the round level. Normally, you will see a couple of buildings sitting on the table with a road going through it. What is often needed, it actual city blocks and sidewalks.
In this vein, I am always looking for sidewalk and city block squares to add this effect to my tables. Some building manufacturers include this with their buildings, but most do not. So, the solution is to buy such terrain squares to fill the void.
In this article, I have some latex squares that fit the bill for 15 and 20mm gaming. These mats can be found from different companies and are all about the same. They tend to be molded in grey latex and are very flexible. They have the advantage on being light, but heavy enough to sit well on the table. You just need to cut them to size and lay them out, then plop your buildings on top!
To make them look right, they need a little painting. However, you need to be a little careful on what paints you use or they will peal. The easy solution is to use a latex bases paint and hit them with a wash. On mine, I use the Woodland Scenics latex terrain washes. I covered these with thinned black. This works, as the paint dries with elasticity, so no chipping or pealing. I then hit the bases with a dry brush with a light latex grey and leaved it at that. DO NOT spray these with sealer, as those are all enamel based and will dry hard. This may result in the pieces either to wrinkle up and not laying flat or the pealing as noted earlier.
So, if your looking to add some layering to your towns, get some sidewalks!
- Manteuffel