Making a Trench Warfare Table for Warhammer and Historical games

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In this video I am making a realistic trench table for tabletop wargames. Based on historical records of world war 1, I go in depth into the features of common trenches and how to build them using inexpensive materials at home. Its a fun DIY project if you are into Warhammer, Bolt Action, Horus Heresy or any other game that could conceivably take place on a trench warfare battlefield.
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MATERIALS
Corrugated Paper Sheets 8.5”x11”
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Bamboo Skewers
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Army Painter Razor Wire
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Acrylic Latex Caulk
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Powdered Grout
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Aluminum foil
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Insulation foam (NOTE: this is cheaper and in bigger sheets at Home Depot)
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Coffee Stir sticks
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Expanded PVC Board sheets
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Gorilla Glue Construction Adhesive
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Paasche Airbrush
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Paasche Airbrush Compressor
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I get a commission from the amazon affiliate link, but they cost the same to you.

[@jonh101]

One misconception is that trench warfare is outdated, trench warfare is still very much real and effective because the best defense even today is being surrounded by the earth

[@freezie4511]

I think when people say it's outdated, they're thinking more about the tactics used back then but are just rounding it all up as "trench warfare"

[@kelvinsantiago7061]

I mean we still have and use both revolvers and 1911 pistols which are considered outdated designs so trenches makes perfect sense!.

[@christiankoppang8296]

Trenches are the crab of war, eventually a war will move on or devolve to trench warfare, examples include the Iran Iraq war and current Russia- Ukraine war bot being full of awful trench warfare that would look just like WW I

[@CMTechnica]

@@kelvinsantiago7061the 1911 isn’t outdated, it’s the bullet. .45 ACP is notoriously poor at defeating armor and has a relatively low projectile velocity compared to similar rounds. The push for 9mm was because of several factors, not because the 1911 is outdated. Shit, the 2011 is a thing

[@kelvinsantiago7061]

@@CMTechnica I'm not a gun nut so thank you for clearing that misinformation up it's good to learn.

[@feralchild339]

As a french guy, i really appreciate the respect you put on the subject. Sometimes these wars and battles are used only as "fun scenarios" for games while they are truly places of tragedy. Love your approach of bringing factual informations to the hobby !

[@ThatPianoNoob]

I mean from an entertainment perspective these wars were kinda worth it at this point. As a German, you're welcome.

[@Djidiouf]

As a French too and living in Australia, I find that in North America and Australia, there's still a glorification of the army and how soldiers are somehow heroes who protected denizens. Inhabitants of US, Canada and Anzac have in general a very different point of view of war as it didn't happen on their soil at all. And NA and Anzac soldiers who were going into war were not forcibly drafted (generally none in ww1 and only a very few number in ww2). That makes a huge difference compared to countries like France and Germany and the rest of Europe. Glorification in those countries is strong and remembrance for the fallen is somehow turned towards the glory of their sacrifice. It shows, imo, a lack of exposure on how war affected everything and everyone in the countries where it happened. And when you expose yourself to it, to the horror of it, the atrocities committed non stop by everyone, considering soldiers as heroes become just impossible. That's quite terrible and a hard to swallow pill for Aussies as they linked it to how they become a nation. But that's the hard truth. Anyway, that was my 2 cents. Love everyone ❤

[@footrot17]

As a french what?

[@Djidiouf]

@@footrot17 'as a French person', sorry for our bad English, it's a common mistake we do! Cheers!

[@feralchild339]

@@Djidiouf I agree with you mate, I understand the fascination for these conflitcs (I was myself fascinated for a time) but it's easy to lost track of the reality and put too much distance between yourself and what it really was. That's where the glorification path starts in questionable ways. The older a war has been, the easier it becomes for us to only think about it in terms of stats, human power, strategies, but at the end of the day it's really human lives that disapeared in often atrocious ways. Some people will feel I'm too melodramatic about it, but imo that's why i prefer fantasy/sci fi settings for gaming as anything close to reality feels really inapropriate for me. If i'm uncomfortable with WW settings because it happened close from home and my family, i understand it can be disturbing for other people on other conflicts close to them so i don't play games about them too.

[@chadcaszatt3744]

This is probably your best video to date. I really appreciate the historical research you've done to create this amazing table.

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

Thanks chad! I wanted to make it as accurate as i could be while still making it fun to play o

[@savagex466-qt1io]

@@EricsHobbyWorkshop Good job bud good job

[@Red-Devil-Dog]

@@EricsHobbyWorkshop you did that well. I love This idea so much. It’s not entirely restricted to 40k use either!

[@vanillaicecream2385]

Lest we forget

[@kirkgeier417]

Yeah I love his Egypt and Bretonnian ones as well that are packed with so much historial goodness

[@echsecutioner]

"War is hell. Never forget. We owe the dead that much." Holy shit man, I didn't expect to find rhetorical gold on a terrain building video...

[@somethingsmart4196]

It is about trench warfare -I am sorry if it came across as consisting

[@kenl.6340]

I'm so happy to see a hobby/craft video where the Steel Legion can be fielded and given some love. They are my favorite faction in the Imperial Guard and they look absolutely beautiful on this field Excellent work

[@CMTechnica]

Steel legion is what got me into 40k with the guard to begin with

[@ConjuredCraft]

Putting this in my back pocket for "Trench Crusade", nicely done Eric!

[@Astronomical_Cinematics]

As a follower and Historical Content creator of WWI & II, I appreciate you for acknowledging the atrocious outcomes of The Great War, you've highlighted one of the bloodiest battles that had the deadliest outcomes & significance of the Somme and I also highly praise you for paying the respect of the fallen and veterans of that period. Thank you for showcasing for how terrible that war truly was!

[@ragozzinehq]

I really like the care you took in laying out both the woodworking tips (2x2 aren't 2" by 2") and the historic overview of (the horrific) trench warfare. Great balance here and nice job on the finished result!

[@KatelynCollins225]

I'm glad you included the war is hell part. Often people forget that real people, people with hopes, dreams, thoughts and minds, years of expierences, secrets and personalites, relationships, love stories and stories of trauma, friends and family, are the ones who died. thousands upon thousands of people, each with years worth of stories to tell; die. It is important to remember that war is not a joke. It can be fun to recreate, but we have to remember that it is real, and terrible.

[@mr.x6313]

A terrible good, unfortunately; a necessary evil. When the wolves are at the gate, there must be warriors to drive them back.

[@SherlockSpiner]

Thank you for taking a moment to acknowledge the importance of remembering the tragedy’s of the Great War. It’s one thing I strive to talk about in order to keep the memories of those men alive so to see you do this is a very nice thing to see. Remember the fallen, Respect the living, and never forget. Wonderful build sir, an incredible piece of playable history.

[@Miscast]

10/10 mud

[@leanderschuster3196]

WOW look at mister big shot here painting terrain with GW rattle cans The money changed you man jk

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

Lmao. Yeah pretty extravagant move ill admit. I dont use the grey and silver spray for anything else so i dont feel too bad about it

[@Wildonion1]

Interesting historical details, excellent building tips, and a kickass final product! Can't wait for the next one in the series--and getting to see the result of all three sections. As always, thanks for showing how building is an iterative process and how we are always making small mistakes and learning, even when we have as much experience as you do.

[@Storehouse-805]

Me and my best friend are getting into the Astra Militarum! I'm using Cadians, and he is using Krieg so this would be super fun to play on!

[@thejaxter6993]

Outstanding work as always, I’m blown away by the amount of detail and effort you’ve put into this

[@capnskustomworks]

That’s looking amazingly realistic so far, I can’t wait to see how the rest goes! As someone living in the US, and whose ancestors were largely military, I think you’ve got the right viewpoint. Knowledge and understanding of our history is so necessary to grow as humanity, not glorification. That miniature scene created by the soldiers in the photograph was very striking to me as well, it’s all too easy to grow numb to the fact that those are all real people.

[@hyperbene7711]

You knocked it out of the park (again) with this video. Creativity, entertainment and historical accuracy - it just doesn't get any better than that (oh yeah, and a playable table, too)

[@commonisekaihero4745]

I've been to several battle field locations across Europe and I'm happy to see you throwing some education into your build, especially about the Somme. It was a brutal battle for sure

[@CaptainValian]

Dude, I am reading Gaunt's Ghosts Straight SIlver where they are stuck on a world, Aexe Cardinal - Sabbat worlds, and they still using trench warfare. This is really good. I would suggest bodies on the wire and corpses crushed into the mud. Possibly pools of condensed gases? Oh and more mud and grim. Just suggestions.

[@WellBattle6]

So glad you included the firing steps, that’s probably the one detail that’s most likely to get forgotten when recreating them. Never seen sheet metal covered grenade sumps before, so I learned something new!

[@SarhcBannitoot]

This would be such a good jumping off point to also make a downtown DC board for Fallout Wasteland Warfare. Imagine taking these trenches and lining them with mocs of the Smithsonian, Washington Monument, and Capital building!

[@uzzle5441]

Love the video and progress so far! Can't wait to see the next two sections completed! I also love the detail you have gone to with your research which goes above and beyond any other board build I have seen.

[@samwurtz4429]

Your videos have perfect timing! I’ve been listening to the Hardcore History series on WWI and have not been able to stop thinking about it the past few days. I’ve been planning a Steel Legion army to channel my interest and then you drop this video to add to the inspiration. Great work as always!

[@noaht2125]

As a future Death Korps of Krieg player, this is 1000% the type of table I want to make. Thank you for the knowledge and inspiration!

[@jumlord5888]

Im so glad I finally got into painting warhammer now.. Seems like there a so many amazing hobby videos recently like this that keep my excitement at 40000%

[@Fagerlund_]

I totally hear what you're saying about no grass, but I still think very sparse patches of burnt/brown grass could add some nice variety that'll make it even better to look at!

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

I also need it to be able to stand in as alien worlds for 40k and horus hersy though. Ill think about it

[@Fagerlund_]

For sure, but I figure even weird planets would have some kind of vegetation. And I'm thinking less is definitely more in this case, like the crater that you'll fill with water, presumably people will run less in that and it'll have been there long enough to fill with water so some tiny patches on the slope or something like that. Right next to a sandbag where a foot is unlikely to have stepped? That kind of thing. I guess you could also just add some patches of rubble to break up the chocolate cake (aka mud cake) sections, that should work just as well. And in both cases I definitely think you should go back over the grass or rubble with more mud to really tie it in again. It's already looking great, but if you have time for it the extra little detail never hurts!

[@otherwisedm7027]

Incredible! The care and detail and empathy you put into this is just fantastic

[@megapizzadragon2397]

I used to cut those stirring sticks with clippers. Like you said it hurts your hands. I started using a pair of pliers to get straight breaks. Alot easier on the hands.

[@legionnaire5947]

Really appreciated the respect and research you gave the Great War even while making a game board. You’re a real one, man!

[@benjaminjack867]

This is such a badass build! Part 1 looks great as-is; excited to see the rest come together!

[@ubermoose5694]

This is fantastic! Ive been wanting to build a table like this for a while. I love the way you went about it. Beautifully done! Can't wait for the next parts of this series!

[@Bobdd0]

Fantastic research, sand fantastic communication on how you did what you do. I always appreciate how clear you are with what you think went well and want wrong and how to change it up from there!

[@Pablo-pe2rv]

What a great scenery tutorial and cautious reminder about the horrors of real war. Every single video of yours is a gem. ❤

[@SgtMaj22]

Lest we Forget... Awesome video, looks like a great board.

[@v0dka885]

a neat little detail you could do for modular trenches (if you make them) is have a body or arm sticking out like its someone who was buried there and they stumbled across their body. This was a horror tale my grandfather told me when his dad served in the Lancashire Fusiliers as a sgt. major in the First World War. Edit: My grandfathers uncle served on the Somme and was tragically killed in the battle

[@Terrafeyed]

This was a beautiful video. Also love the use of actual trench building methods which just gives the layout that believable and immersive look

[@battlebrothers_40k]

absolutley killer. My brother and I have a bunch of drop-pods we set into craters which would look great sandwiched between two trench sections like this. Killer work love your channel!

[@Lastwhitelf]

Great work! Reminds me the nightmarish trenches of "1917" and "All Quiet on the Western Front"

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

Thats no coincidence! I used them as references

[@garyholland6290]

Love the respect you showed here fro the range in fighting strategy and this that died in the transition.

[@MemphisRaines436]

Any plans, specifically a timeline, for parts 2 and 3?

[@miles_1199]

I love the build, And the respect you put into the history of it and small design features of the project really add to the video!

[@artsoulnorth]

I really appreciate the way you pay your respects to real life events, and educate your audience about relevant history, while you create.

[@secondeditionwargaming]

This is shaping up to be one of the best trench gaming boards I've seen! Excellent work!

[@lucienlamont8799]

This is literally one of the coolest projects I've ever seen. Oustanding work as always!

[@michaeljdauben]

That board is phenomenal!!! It's easily one of the best I've seen in 40 years of miniature wargaming. 👏

[@drewbakka5265]

>when you shoot and eat your majors beloved messenger pidgeon

[@Brain_Freeze420]

Flanders pigeon MURDERER! HE KILLED MY SPECKLED JIM

[@mremu4358]

Ok now I wanna see a movie where some guy was hungry and shoots the bird, realizes it was a messenger for something extraordinarily important, delivers it himself to the original destination just in time to save the day, and when someone asks him what did he learn from this mistake he will simply state that he'll never eat pigeons again since he's never had to work and sacrifice so much time when he could have just stole someone else's mre instead and taken a fat nap afterwards. He was also conscripted to join against his own will and doesn't wanna die, yet he continuously manages to be well decorated for Valor and bravery even though he clearly isn't hiding the fact that he's a piece of sh!t.

[@HavasiP]

One your best videos. The historical background of your choices gives your build a whole new dimension. Impressive!

[@Vasili456]

With the Steel Legion this board remind me of the first few levels of the PS1 Fire Warrior game.

[@PatrickSamphire]

Very nice. I'm going to be making some trenches soon, and it's good to see how you did it. Last time I made sandbags, I found it a bit quicker to roll out a snake of air dry clay, squash it slightly with cloth (to imprint texture) then chop it into sections. Saves forming each individually.

[@optimusWII]

This looks great! I've been on a bolt action kick lately and now I really want to try some of these techniques

[@deadbonez7471]

Thanks you for this video, I’m looking forward to the next two sections of board. I really appreciate the effort you put into explaining both the history and the board

[@stephanecotnoir6334]

As a world war fan, you gave a new perspective to boardgaming, you video is totally awsome and makes me want to build one.... your historical references makes your video even better to watch and learn, keep on the great work..

[@mirsh2541]

Very nice. Always had a soft spot for trench terrain, but currently don't have the space for a full board with proper inlaid trenches, so I have to make due with berm trenches just sitting on top of my terrain mat. Some day I'll build something like this as well.

[@tmk1785]

I did a very similar thing about 4 years ago and is great fun to build and play!! 20/20 hind sight I would have done some things differently but still turned out awesome!! look forward to the rest of the build

[@wokehammer40k]

Really awesome vid! Appreciated all the bits of history and attention to detail! I'd be interested to hear how you'd approach a modular trench set up. I've seen a few attempts online and have been thinking of trying my hand. Cant wait to see the full thing!

[@dereksimonds2212]

Perfect timing, was just planning a trench board at 22x30" for kill team!

[@connormarsland9697]

This is incredible. I've had a similar idea for a board, but instead of WW1-era trenchworks, have Last of the Mohican-style siege works and a star fort for use in blackpowder and Fantasy games. I'll definitely be using this vid as a guide for it.

[@celticperspective5183]

Literally just finished a WW2 miniature diorama, definitely using some of the techniques here on my next one!

[@WarLordHellSpawn]

love this table, cant wait to see it completed

[@matthewwilkinson4781]

Thanks for the video Eric! I love it! I want to make my own trench at some point. Thanks for putting in a WW1 tribute in the middle of the vid very moving. I was touched by it. Major props for that.

[@josray2557]

This was actually so educational I wish I had seen it before I started my last project. I'm a comic artist and we have trenches show up in a book. Though it is very sci fi the same principles could have been applied and visually looked a lot more interesting. This is an awesome build Eric.

[@samurai_faith]

Outstanding work as always. Your research and love for the hobby are shown here in great detail, you are a true artisan.

[@countsnowyofgwainn3996]

I love the history of the Great war "to end all wars" and I have made 1piece of trench but I plan on making more in the future for a huge wargaming table. Thank you for making this video man

[@76Boomer]

Amazing work. Really good balance of historical accuracy and practicality.

[@Fredericco1]

Awesome build. Few days back i finished my own trenches. Much more smaller and not that good looking. This video gives me some new ideas, thanks.

[@SpaceHippy]

Ohh, the words of wisdom about six minutes in hit HARD. You're the finest example of who should be playing tabletop war games.

[@njkf]

Awesome stuff and I love the historical twist - MORE!

[@immortalgamer3960]

This is great, I've been wanting to build something like this for ages, and this looks almost exactly how I imagined. One of my favourite builds of yours for sure! :D

[@ezechielveloth6724]

As always nice job ! Little advice tho : for the barbed wire, you can get "sealing wire" wich is exactly the same as the army painter's BUT you can get it by the 100s of meters in length for far less money, a must have if you wanna make WW1 type things

[@wittlegoblin]

Already looking amazing, can't wait to see the final result!

[@majikmindstorm]

Can’t wait for the next episode. This board is shaping up really nicely 👍🏻

[@ferrik1675]

bruh the miniature house is going to bring a tear to my eye. really showing of how these dudes were just people at the end of the day, and they were trying to keep their humanity in the depths of that hell they were going through.

[@felipealbu]

Amazing job! Excellent research and construction. The sad and cruelty of the war is well represented. I'm waiting for the parts 2 and 3.

[@Apophis150]

Wow! That's absolutely gorgeous

[@justanotherhuumon]

I've done a decent amount of studying on WW1; albeit, I'm no expert, but I'd like to join the chorus in praise of your ability. Your attention to detail is awesome. I'm glad to see you're as invested in your research as much as your creations. Keep it up Eric. 🤘

[@BombatGeneral]

A great video. Love the historical discussions and importantly the reminders of the hellish reality of war beyond the tabletop.

[@chucklapine6782]

Fantastic work. Looking forward to part two.

[@nahhfam7678]

I found with my razor wire I did across the tusks of a chaos terminator based on the Retutn if the King creatures, what really sold the effect was wash wash on the wire, touches if rust, a little bit of blood and dangling cloth as seen in all quiet on western front as it looked as though it had been bitterly fought over already.

[@amoryburgess]

Really well done, one of the best looking 40K trench boards I’ve ever seen…I think it’s the depth and size of the trenches…pretty accurate size to what was in the Cadia Stands Hammer and Bolter animation.

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

Thanks! I think people often forget the firestep and want the trench to be shallow enough for minis to peek over which makes it overall too shallow

[@ItsAVolcano]

I remember one summer me and my brother took advantage of a recently pulled tree in our apartment buildings communal yard and made an elaborate trench system for all manners of tabletop games. We didn't want to mess around with metal and risk getting cut so we used popsicle stick duckboards and shored up the walls of the trenches with bamboo skewers and random yard debris.😊

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

What a nice memory, sounds like fun

[@DestinyMagus07]

The detail here is fantastic. Can't wait to see the other two boards! Semi-related, but this did get me thinking about how the various factions of 40k would design their fortifications and entrenchments. I can't imagine an Eldar or Necron digging trenches, it doesn't play to their strengths, but it'd be interesting to see the difference between how, say, Imperium, Orks and Tau go about making a place inhospitable.

[@roelhodzelmans1004]

Epic. Now you only need to add a music player in there playing Sabaton's Great War album. Too bad a football/soccer field won't fit 40k, but still maybe the cross works?

[@mattbecker4514]

Cool build as always, and I really appreciate the message you included with it. Nicely done.

[@admiralron3682]

Phenomenal work as always man. I'm moving in a month and will finally have a dedicated work space so I can build my own trench board.

[@micklesrealm]

Love the video and and an amazing build! I am definitely going to be replaying this in the near future when I build my own! I think one easy addition would be blowing out one of the trench lines as if a bomb hit it on the edge to really sell that it's deep into a conflict!

[@Robert-bm2jr]

This is a huge endeavor. Well done.

[@danesorensen1775]

You know what else has a really strong, vinegar-y smell? Diphosgene. And you did it outside in the rain for full immersion. 10/10 effort.

[@chillumaperios1873]

This is pure magic mate I can’t wait to see the board in its entirety 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@nordicson2835]

This is top notch. My sons and l watched quite a few war movies lately , a few WW1 movies , the boys pointed out the trench segment from SuckerPunch ... a real post apocalyptic feel to that.

[@oliviertardif2479]

Nice work buddy, can't wait for part 2!

[@nitroplayz8674]

sir your work is truly beautiful! Its historically accurate in every way. Absolutely incredible! Keep it up!

[@Gogking1414]

Can’t wait for part two and three. This was awesome.

[@kaneyoung7439]

Ever since seeing the trench tables in white dwarf back in the 90s i've always wanted to make one. I think doing an entire table as just the trench systems would be cool, makes for a lot of line of sight blocking and makes indirect fire weapons and close combat more important

[@kmykz]

Worthwile content! Building skills, well researched and explained details, food analogies as usual and besides all the fun: an important message. Hats off :)

[@Perkustin]

Good video, with the sandbags i would recommend making a push mould of one of those nice big walls before you stick it down, you cut and trim it and shuffle the orientation you could use it many times.

[@capt.mannerings8095]

As many have said really loved this video, not that others arent great but this was particularly good. Such a strong point about the grim reality of war so well handled too. Great video.

[@FOB777]

This is so awesome. A miniature version of this would be great for a diorama too. I am really looking forward to finally getting out of college and start making some money. I can't wait to engage with the hobby without as many financial handicaps

[@squeethemog213]

I really enjoy the educational aspect of these builds. It's fun to learn as you make this awesome work of wargaming goodness :D

[@grahambarber8772]

Thats amazing, looks really realistic

[@the10thmuffinman51]

Absolutely loved this video and the respect you’ve shown. As a suggestion maybe you could put a single poppy on the board as a symbol of remembrance.