Has moving your new horde of chainrasps given you repetitive strain injury? Thought movement trays were a relic from the World that Was? Not so! The answer comes in the form of skirmish trays. Cheap and cheerful, made from laser cut MDF, these will not only speed up your movement phase no end but give you some extra real estate for basing.

I’m going to show you how to quickly and easily upgrade your movement trays. Since my Death army uses a swampy theme for its bases, I’m going to extend this across the movement trays.

What You Need

• Movement trays
• PVA glue
• An old paintbrush
• Sand
• Paint
• Static grass/tufts/appropriate decoration

Step 1: Preparation

In this tutorial, I use Element Games trays but I’ve also had good results with those from War Bases. The War Bases trays are slightly larger with separation between each base while the Element Games trays are a tighter fit. I can recommend both so ultimately, it’s down to preference. The Element Games trays also come in 2 parts which you simply glue together using PVA and leave to dry. Use the old paintbrush to apply the glue in all stages.

Step 2: Add Sand

I use coarse sand from B&Q. It’s cheap and gets the job done – you just need something that will provide texture. Coat the top and rim of the base in PVA glue and let it sit in the sand. It’s worth taking care at this point that you don’t have sand overhanging the interior or you’ll struggle to get bases in and out of the tray. Leave it to dry.

Step 3: Painting

This is where you put your own stamp on the bases. If your bases are deserts, paint them yellow. Since mine are swampy, I’m going with murky greens and browns using the tutorial I posted here.

Step 4: Finishing Touches

It really is this easy. Once the paint is down, add some details that give your basing a little more interest. For my swampy bases, I use static grass (Summer Static Grass from 4ground), various tufts and the occasional puddle made with Vallejo Still Water. There’s not much room on the Element Games trays but the War Bases ones let you go to town.