Toys as Terrain

Was browsing K-Mart (Wal-Mart to Americans?) and came across this $15 bucket of cheap plastic dinos. Since my 2-year-old is fascinated with dinos, and I have some in mind for a Jurassic World style game, I grabbed them.... not realising how much terrain is inside.

I've used fishtank-style plastic plants before, but never have come across them so cheaply and in such quantity.

I quickly drybrushed some brown over them to make them a bit less "plasticky"

Obviously they would look better on a jungle themed board.  You could certainly tart the bases up a lot more if you felt inclined (which I don't). 

You see, the reason I must use a sand table is because my co-inhabitor of the "man cave" insists on being exactly like daddy...

Little Miss was deeply impressed with daddy's sand table and was delighted to have her own - "thank you thank you thank you" - it also keeps her quiet for hours (and less likely to "help" me) when I'm in the shed.

Disturbingly, she now refers the gaming room as "her" shed as opposed to "daddy's shed" (the garage)... I may be evicted from my own man cave! Yikes!

On the upside, she is now showing an interest in tanks "this one shoots at this one - guns pew pew!" which is highly encouraging. A ready-made opponent - albeit one who insists on bandaging up the wounded miniatures after a game....

Anyway, pardon the rather self-indulgent post, and be encouraged to go scrounging your local toy shops - you never know what ready-made terrain you might find...