Terrainfest 2025 – Crusading in the Trenches

So I knew straight away that I wanted this to be a 6x4ft board. I’m lucky enough to have a basement in my house that i can use for wargaming in, and in theory…i should be able to store it…but I’ll deal with that when i get to it……

I watched a bunch of videos by other creators on youtube, and one creator stood out to me above all others. Eric’s Hobby Workshop. He has a 3 part video series where he makes a large trench wargaming table, so I decided i would follow his video and base my table on his work.

First thing i needed to do was to build the base boards. I decided that three 2ft x 4ft boards would be best for me so I ordered the materials I needed from Wickes.

I made a frame from 9mm ply, and 38x63mm battens, cutting the battens down to size, then drawing a grid on the 9mm ply so i knew where to drill my fixing holes. Then clamping the external battens to the ply, i drilled my pilot holes so that i could screw them together

Once the two long edges had been fixed on each board, I then attached the short edges and the cross beams. until all 3 boards had been assembled. They were then given a quick sanding to remove any rough edges and splinters.

I now have my completed base boards for my 6ft x 4ft table. Next step is to cut the polystyrene sheets down to size

Big boring wall of text ahead….

So ive made a few bits of terrain here and there in the past, some trees, mdf buildings, the occasional hill. But I’ve never done a large scale project before, and i feel its time i did, and with Terrainfest beginning, and the cold weather drawing in, it seems like a perfect time start.

Now, the past few months I’ve really been struggling with motivation for my hobby, barely been able to pick up a paint brush or assemble a mini, in fact ive been struggling with motivation for anything. Short story is that I’ve been dealing with depression and anxiety even to the point where i had 5 weeks off work on sick leave. But no need to worry, I’ve sought help and its being dealt with and things are (slowly) starting to pick up.

But I’m still lacking motivation, and its not that I’m not wanting to do anything, in fact I’m able to get myself fairly excited about the prospect of doing something, but when i finally sit down….all that excitement and energy leaves. So i needed to think of something.

I used to be a big 40k player, but the last couple years ive completely lost my love of the game, i still enjoy the setting, but have had enough of the game, even to the point where I’ve now sold most of my 40k collection. However last weekend, i felt myself feeling the 40k itch again, specifically to do some Death Korp of Krieg, which I’ve always loved the style of. So i popped into my local GW, had a chat with the friendly staff, had a look at the models….and i left empty handed. When it came down to it…they weren’t what i actually wanted. I even went home, browsed online for Krieg style STLs for a while….then i remembered, Trench Crusade Exists.

So down the rabbit hole i went, and i loved everything i saw. Only that that remained was to choose my faction, and there was one that clearly stood out. New Antioch…or more specifically, the Red Brigade sub faction by Westfalia.

So i bought a bunch of files and got them printing. Whilst i waited, I imagined playing on large trench table, and that’s when my motivation returned with a vengeance. It’s something that i could do that’s still hobby related, but rather than sitting at a desk focusing on minute details, i could get my hands dirty and slap stuff together. So i began my research, and ordered my materials…. Welcome to my Terrainfest entry for 2025