The Road To Ruin

So Beasts of War recently put up a video on roads. It was shallow, but nonetheless brings up a great point. Why no roads homes? The long and short of it really is, for most I think, how do you make a road? and what do you do with it?

Lets start with how to make a road.
Materials:
a base (foamboard will do, I will be using tempered hard board myself.)
sand (any old sand will do, preferably store bought in this case, as it looks more like asphalt) glue (duh)
and a bit of black paint, water, and a brush to paint it on with.
styrofoam (the kind that comes in regular packaging with the open celled stuff)
small rocks
kitty litter (un-used....at least I hope so.... >.>)
and dirt from your yard

So what on earth do you do? cut the base into strips, approximately 5 inches across and about 12 inches long. Make 8 of these. 8 what am I ever going to do with 8? the more terrain you have, the better, and if you make it now, it will not only match more, but you will never get around to making the same terrain twice, trust me. So what you are gunna do to all your road surfaces is liberally add watered down glue. Then pour your sand over it, let it dry for at least 5 hours if you live in a very humid place. if not, just let it dry longer than you think you should. Next you're gunna want intersections probably, and maybe a few winding roads. If you're gunna do an intersection, I recommend liberally adding rubble. Just break off some styrofoam and cut it into any shape you want, and glue small rocks and kitty litter everywhere. instant rubble. Its important to do this after you add the sand. Next slop a ton of watered down glue onto your rubble and anywhere you want to add dusty effects. Then pour the dirt from your yard over it. This is very fine grain more than likely, and makes fantastic mud for world war one, or in this case dust. This dust will fill in the holes of the open celled styrofoam while also leaving the rubbly feel of it. after allowing time to dry (which can take very long sometimes) Remove excess dirt and whatnot that didn't stick to it. Next add a bit of water to your paint, it should be really watery but also hold the black color. Then paint on as much as you want, if you only add a bit, it will give your roads a worn and gray hue. If you add a lot, a more dark and more gritty look. Now why add the water at all? Put simply, it gives you more and it gets in all the little nooks and crannies without a problem. Side effects may include but are not limited to, WARPING. if you add way too much (something I am often guilty of) then your base could warp. However, I am not one to mind this awful much, its never really that big of a deal.

Alright, if you skipped that section shame on you, but I understand. Now how to use roads. My advice? stay off of them. It's a very easy place for things to go south, and I can't imagine a scenario where the road is heading where you want your vehicle to be going. That said, they make fantastic elements in a campaign, where they can really give some narrative to a battlefield, so use them even if no one has vehicles or if no one is going to use them. Now if your enemy is the type to use roads, there are many things you can do to ruin his day. First, don't shoot the lead vehicle until you're ready. It will get them off the roads and let them out of your control. If you have a unit with demolition charges, melta bombs or a powerfist, sneaking them into a ruin along the road is a good idea. Lastly while you are setting up the battlefield, have a stretch of road with plenty of ruins on each side. Then if possible hit the lead and rear vehicle. Then they are trapped. and risk immobilization in the ruins if they get off the road. It only takes a glancing hit, and odds are the vehicle is going to stand still for the rest of the turn, therefore they all will. Objective placement is also key here, if you keep your objectives just out of reach of the roads, then you will force your opponent's men in the transports to forgo a turn of shooting to run for the objective. So in short, don't use roads yourself, but do use them to know more about your enemy, and predict his moves. Good luck and happy tank hunting!