Battle Brush Studios has a tutorial on making a dark ages / medieval village.
modeling
Modeling A Bombed Out Building
Here’s a tutorial / demonstration on making a nice looking bombed out building.
Modeling Dirt Roads, Tracks and Paths
Here’s a nice instructional video on modeling dirt roads, paths and tracks for your wargames table.
Building Rocky Desert Hills
The 1000 Foot General blog has a good tutorial on building rocky desert hills that are suitable for a wide variety of settings.
Casting Toy Soldiers In Pewter
The Toy Soldiers Forever blog has a video on proper techniques for casting your own toy soldiers from pewter. He also suggests some cheap sources of the metal.