The Joy of Nice Terrain

Okay, I think I spewed enough cynicism for the week. Let’s see what we can do from a positive point of view.


One of GW’s real winners over the past few years has been the release of their terrain. They constantly surprise me with the releases they make – and personally I find them some of their best value.

From a Fantasy point of view the kits they released have really improved the aesthetics of the game. At home I use a Realm of Battle Gameboard and find it a fantastic piece of kit. I was lucky enough to source it offshore (so knocked about 20% off the cost) but even at full price I think it is a worthwhile purchase if you want your games to look good. Recently a local was selling his and three of us bought it at a good price breaking it up to give us two extra tiles each.

I have one of their Citadel hills and that provides the extra variation. For woods I use the Citadel Woods, these plastic kits are excellent value, functional and look great. Two of these fit most requirements.

Finally the other must-have kit is the Fortified Manor. This gives you the Tower and the Chapel plus all the walls/fences you need to decorate the bases.

What Would You Rather Play On?

THIS?



OR THIS?

In terms of investment this runs to around NZ$900. Eyes may pop at that expense but think about how much you spend on building and painting your army. To me the army is only half of the equation the playing environment being the second part.

In the past terrain had to be largely scratchbuilt and never reached the heights of your army in terms of presentation but with the new Citadel kits there is no excuse (besides cost).

I know prefer to play games at home rather than the local club because of the quality of terrain. Indeed if I do go down I’ll generally take a crate of my own stuff as a piece of felt with plastic farmyard tree or stepped polystyrene hill just doesn’t do it for me anymore.

GW could have quite easily stopped at that point but in the past year have made even more offerings. The Ruined Tower, Wizard’s Tower and Garden of Morr are all fantastic models and provide even greater variation. I’m a sucker for these kits and have one of each ready to build. As I do I’ll post pictures.