Individual crumbling corners for creating ruined buildings are easily made from foamcore scraps. The corners can be used singly or together to provide a bit of picturesque cover without blocking movement. With one or two larger ones and several smaller ones, you can create ruined buildings of any size. In the picture below, the soldiers are in a two-room ruined building made with six corners.

Thanks to Grant Sigsworth, whose photos reminded David of the corners he had built many years ago, and had lost in the meantime. So he made a few new ones and took these photos.

Construction
Simply cut roughly triangular shapes from leftover pieces of foamcore board. For the ruined edges, cut halfway through the foam all along the edge, then turn the piece over and cut approximately the same shape halfway from the other side; then pull the pieces apart. This will give a more irregular shape than cutting all the way through. Cut a few notches and carve some random chunks out of the edges. Glue the two pieces together, rabbeting and distressing the corner as described on the Building Construction page.

Glue a few bits of rubble at the base of each wall. Kitty litter is good and very cheap (free if you already have the cat, or know someone who does); it comes in two sizes - small grains (scoopable litter) and large grains (traditional litter). Get both and mix them up. The next part is messy, so lay down a working surface of aluminum foil, with the edges curled up to stop flowing paint. Stick a piece of transparent tape or other thin material to the bottom of the wall where you want a large pile of rubble, then pile the rubble against the wall on this extension. Add a several drops of dishwashing detergent to a small jar of water and mix it up. Thin some dark yellow-brown acrylic craft paint about 50/50 with the treated water. The detergent will break down the surface tension of the water and make the paint flow all through the rubble pile binding it like glue. Drop the paint from an eyedropper onto the rubble pile. Or you can use a large soft artist's brush which is dripping with the thinned paint, being very careful not to disturb the rubble. If the paint does not flow through the pile, dip the tip of the brush into detergent and swish it around in the thinned paint. Try not to let the paint flow past the edge of the tape.

Don't overdo the rubble. Make your larger piles on the outside of the wall; on the inside, just glue a few grains at the base, since you will want to place figures fairly close to the wall there.When the paint is dry, use a sharp hobby knife and cut the tape back to the edge of the rubble pile. Paint the walls as described in the Building Construction page, but don't use too much of the light colors. After it dries, drybrush the wall and the rubble with a light cream color. You can glue a few pieces of balsa or other thin wood in the corner of the larger pieces to represent the remnants of the roof (and give the sentry a place to stand). That's all there is to it.

Oh, yes. Before you use them in a game, decide how you are going to play the ruined buildings. Is any figure within the perimeter in cover, or just the guys behind and touching the wall? Is the ruin rough terrain or can figures move across it at full speed. Passable to cavalry? Is there a melee bonus for defenders? Write it down and let the players know in advance, to avoid unpleasantness.

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