Well, as it is nearing Halloween, and I just happened to finish this terrain piece (spending only a few minutes on it at a time, usually having only a couple of minutes between other more important activities) I thought I would put the fictional battle on hold [still on the table mind you] and present this piece.
At the Battle of Lundy's Lane in July 1814, the British held a position on a rise along said path which included an orchard, a log church, and accompanying cemetery. The British artillery took a position in or near the graveyard and was involved in hand-to-hand fighting which lasted well after dark. Thus for any re-creation of the battle one simply MUST have to have such a terrain piece!
I do not know the manufacturer of the tombstones but they were of metal and I do remember primering them way back in the summer! There is very little to no information on the size or look of the cemetery; whether indeed it had wood or stone fences or indeed any at all. An illustration in Lossing's book has it overgrown but that was half a century later so really no help there.
However, battle histories do not indicate it was a fortress or indeed much of an impediment and so I did not want an indication of high walls or fences for players/troops to fight over. Thus, I used some 15mm resin stone walls to give it a perimeter but no defensive capabilities. Again having no historical basis to abide to I simply used a scrap piece of hardboard (1/8" thickness as are all my bases) which I thought might do the trick.
I show a British artillery piece within as a kinda 'got lucky' indication because it was only after all the walls were glued, the headstones positioned, and the "dirt" in place, and the grass put on, that I remembered about the artillery deploying within. Thankfully two or three guns can be placed any point including between the headstones. Whew.
I did not put much on the way of additional ground cover as the British artillery bases will be placed within and did flat ground. However, rather a bit ghoulishly(?) I made two of the graves rather fresh by drybrushing a lighter colour on top of sightly built-up soil. While giving the headstones a wash these two pieces came off rather lighter in shade than all the others and so did not appear so weathered and thus more recently employed?
