I had hoped to get these done sooner (that is, before other people recently posted their much, MUCH better looking terrain) but figured I'd post them here as another testament that it doesn't take much effort or expense to make the game look better, in this case using 3D terrain versus the cardboard terrain tokens they give you.
The main ingredients are foamcore and foamular. Foamcore can be easily gotten at a dollar store... it's the posterboard stuff that has roughly 1/4 thick inch foam in between the sheets of paper. First thing you want to do is remove the paper and the best way I've found from the internet is to simply run a hot shower and soak the board in it. The water will soften up the paper and loosen the adhesive. Once it's good and wet you should see some bubbles or pockets where the paper starts to separate from the foam. It should tear away easily after that. Any residue that's left will wipe away with a damp sponge or simply rub off.
The foamcore can be cut with an X-Acto or similar knife but you'll want to make sure it's a nice sharp blade or the foam will rip and tear. Switch to a new blade if your cuts start coming out rough. I just traced the outline of the terrain templates and cut them out. For the swamp I also cut out a piece of cardboard backing from a pad of legal paper. It's got a nice weight to it and is easy to work with.
The other main ingredient is foamular, the pink stuff I used for the rocky outcrops and stone terrace. You can get it at hardware shops in varying sizes and thickness. I picked up a 3x3' panel, 1" thick at Home Depot for $5 and that's a ton more than you'll need. 1" thick was good enough for me for the terrace but I wanted the rocks taller so I cut out their shapes twice each, glued them on top of each other and then cut them down to the boulder-like shapes. Foamular will cut with hobby/craft knives very well too but it's got more heft to it than the foamcore. However, I used a "hot wire knife". You don't need one, and some people swear that you shouldn't use them, but it cuts foamcore and foamular like a lightsaber and I like the rough, jagged kind of cuts it can put in the foam.
For the terrace, I wanted to put in something like the ruined stone temple shown on the template but didn't want anything too fancy or would get in the way of placing trays up there. You're kind of limited in space for the terrace and forest as the templates are barely larger than the 6 trays they can hold. I had wanted a gentler slope to the terrace, and maybe put some crumbling columns up there but there's no room and I wanted "functional" terrain that could hold the trays. So instead I etched in a stonework pattern on top using whatever that tool is called. My wife had it in with her cosmetics. I think it's something for decorating nails? It's just a metal ball on a stick but it works great. Experiment a little to find just the right amount of pressure. You want to make an impression but not so much that you rip the surface of the foam. I noticed (too late) that the piece of foamular I was using had a straight line marked on the surface that wouldn't look good so I decided I'd leave that as grass that's been overgrowing the terrace. I use the same technique for the crumbling walls.
I painted the "stones" on the terrace gray, along with parts of the rocky outcrops. My spikes are a piece of dowel rod, ends cut down to look roughly cut, then I drilled holes along them and pushed toothpicks through. I stained them with the same brown shade I use for my miniatures, leaving the cut down, "exposed" areas plain. Quite deadly to advancing troops and +5 vs. fingertips when handling so watch out!
Here's the final results! I'm still looking around for some good trees to add to the forest but they'll just be placed on top as again, there's little room for anything else if/when 6 trays occupy the template. Added some green goopy color to the swamps along with a few stones and tall grass, but you can still easily fit 2 trays in there.
