Trying a different approach to woods on the tabletop

Having recently completed my French and Indian War mini-campaign and not yet having set up a new campaign, I thought I would post about how in some recent games I have been trying out a different approach to visually representing woods on the tabletop and the house rules I needed to apply.

My usual go-to method has been to use cut-out felt cloth to mark the area of the woods, with a few model trees added for visual effect. However, this often turns into a balancing act between placing enough trees to give the impression of a wooded area which is visually appealing, without adding so many trees that they interfered with unit placement and require constant repositioning of trees as units moved through the terrain.

My usual go-to approach of using felt cloth to show the wooded areas with a few trees added for visual effect.

Trees getting moved around to accommodate units in the woods.

Sometimes, instead of using felt cloth, I will use green wool to define the boundaries of the woods, especially when there are large areas of woodland in a game. However, this can become problematic, as unit bases have a tendency to catch on the wool when they are being moved.

Green wool being used to define the boundaries of a wooded area.

There are times when the rules I am using do not permit units to enter woods (One-Hour Wargames Medieval rules being one such ruleset) and in these cases, I will clump the trees together as I find this to be more visually appealing on the tabletop.

In my medieval games no units can enter woods so I can clump trees together, my preferred way to visually represent wooded areas.

This got me thinking about how I could continue to represent wooded areas as clumps of trees, while using some house rules for units that are allowed to take cover in woods. 

The house rules I started to use treat any unit with a base touching one of the trees in the wood as being in cover. While the clump of trees itself blocks line of sight, so any units positioned behind it are out of view and cannot be targeted. My reasoning is that woods are generally denser toward their centre with understory and ground vegetation. While the edges, where troops typically operate, are more open with less undergrowth, but still suitable for providing cover.

British troops and 6 Pounder in cover at the edges of the wood.

The infantry and 6 pounder are both in cover, but can be observed by the advancing German tank. The Bren Gun carrier remains out of sight.

Where the rules allow certain units, such as light infantry, to move through the woods. These types of units can move through a clump of trees and emerge on the far side, provided they have sufficient movement allowance. If not, then they are unable to pass through. This can create interesting opportunities for ambushes where troops can suddenly appear along the edge of a wood.

German infantry in hiding behind the woods.

German infantry emerge at the edge of the woods and can still claim cover.

Where there is a need for a larger wooded area or forest, this can be represented by multiple clumps of trees, with the spaces between them suggesting paths or areas of lighter vegetation that troops can move through more easily.

A column march through the woods.

So far in my recent games this approach seems to be working out. Giving the visual appeal I am looking for without hindering the games. In my WW2 games I have extended this approach to buildings and towns.

German units take cover in the town.

My search online did not show many alternative options, mostly the results were about how to make more realistic trees. If you know of any other options, feel free to share them in the comments.