"Priority terrain" Topic

Rules, figures & terrain are the three ingredients of a wargame. Of the three, figures often have a disproportionate importance: but not for every game.

Clearly there's no wargame where terrain isn't important to a degree but in some games, it's absolutely vital.

I mean in a naval game, the sea, with perhaps a bit of coastline are all that's needed. A battlefield, largely flat, might have a BUA, a waterway & a few woods & suffice for a generic SYW game.

However, if gaming the Boxer attack on the Peking Legations, Stalingrad or Mirkwood the actual terrain grows in importance to match & even surpass the importance of the figures.

What terrain have you created that became the star of your game?

the escape club (uk) made this a few years back in 20mm

the Stalingrad elevator

One of my 'stars' was my 3D Dungeon.

Well documented below.

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Terrain is a big part of most of my games. One I haven't posted yet is the Night At A Museum scenario:

"A battlefield, largely flat" is something of a misnomer. Battlefields are very rarely flat. Tables are flat and many gamers stick with that and over time it seems gamers have decided battlefields are flat. I've been on dozens of battlefields from various wars and not one of them was anything close to flat. So, not posting pictures, I'd say my plywood 'wedding cake' hills are stars in many of my games. Best event was the player who confidently marched up one side of a hill expecting to march down the other – only to find the far side too steep to descend, that's the hazards of failing to scout either with his figures or his eyes. Now that is fog of war.

Terrain is the most important thing if the rules are at least decent. They will give the battlefield, and the game, its look from any distance. Even with badly painted figures a game can look really good with awesome terrain.

There was a game at Historicon about 10 years ago that had some pretty mediocre figures but the best terrain at the show and it looked better than anything else.

+1 to Pictors
Currently gaming modern Afghanistan and focusing on Kandahar so terrain is the star of the show.
Especially the grape fields and huts.

Good looking, and preferably abundant terrain makes it all more convincing and the whole gaming experience more enjoyable -it is a visual hobby after all!

I appreciate well modeled terrain as much as anyone. But I am lazy. And I have always hated trying to store things. So my approach to terrain is more practical than elaborate. I do have buildings and a few essential items like bridges and fortifications. My hills and woods tend to be utilitarian. Center pieces, terrain boards, and full 3D "in scale" and all that is beyond my patience (if not my pocketbook).

Miniatures, on the other hand, have to at least possess "the look". Detail is secondary. But from arm's reach they have to be in the right color pallet. And not ugly figures! I'm fairly easy to please, or tolerant, of "oh hum" figures. But downright ugly poses and proportions will ruin the visual appeal of the game for me.

Rules, however, are top priority. Without a pleasing feel and potential outcome, or rather process by which a plausible outcome is achieved, I do not have any reason to paint/collect armies in the first place. So rules have always been the area where I have spent the vast majority of my time and thought….

I made Sherwood Castle for my Robin Hood game but have not actually fought inside it yet. Still it made a good display piece.

I made a Castle from foamboard for a medieval assault and it absolutely made the game. Unfortunately I no longer have it as I gave it as a gift to a friend. He begged me for that castle for a long time and when I moved it was his. I hope he is taking good care of it.

Terrain features pretty heavily in my gaming, but I'd say the Interior Boards rate high:

If a side benefit to this thread was the posting of pictures of outstanding terrain, then it was a thread worth posting.

Any more?