Help support TMP


"Why is modular terrain not that popular?" Topic


6 Posts

All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.

Please don't make fun of others' membernames.

For more information, see the TMP FAQ.


Back to the Terrain and Scenics Message Board


Areas of Interest

General

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Link


Featured Ruleset

OverShadow Battle Game


Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star 


Featured Profile Article

Gen Con So Cal 2004

Our Man in Southern California, Wyatt the Odd Supporting Member of TMP, takes press pass in hand and reports from the Gen Con So Cal convention.


Current Poll


Featured Book Review


51 hits since 10 Oct 2026
©1994-2026 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?

UshCha10 Oct 2026 8:06 a.m. PST

No modular rivers and roads are quite common but they have to be modular as they cannot be done as separate items but that seems to be it. Additionally they are not sized or set up to integrate with hills as in the main (there are some recent exceptions) not able to drape over any sort of hill: not are they sized to integrate with a hill system. Hexon II does have some integration possibilities but there system does not cover their slopes.

I guess you could call buildings with detachable levels modular but I would not, as usually they only build into one fixed configuration. Buildings that can be grouped in to different floor plans seem very rare, I have a few (sort of) but even for me they are not that common. I guess in general my approach to building size:- limits it extensively.

TMP link

Do many folk have genuinely modular buildings.

Modular terrain board did rise to fame for a while at least in the UK but they died ot after a while as being 2ft square limited possibilities without a massive collection.


In the US there was Geohex in small and large hex versions but that have all but died out from production. I believe there is some manufacture of the large hex but it seems not to have stayed in the mainstream, certainly not in the UK

There has been some attempts to bring in 3D print systems but again and i am happy to be corrected have not become popular.

Individual hills still seem to be the thing and they are not modular they are individual items.

The only modular system that I am aware of is Kallitra's Hexon II (no commercial connection to me). However I do admit to being a fanatic devotee, having abandoned my own system for theirs. While in the UL it has some following it is not that large, but is a viable serious player. However I am not personally aware of another system of equal popularity.

The rise of the battle mat seems to indicate hills are not a real priority to many gamers. While the odd very low hill may be pushed under a mat, steep hills 2" or higher are an absolute nNo No. The fact that (as far as I am aware) no battle mat supplier does even stand alone hills covered in the style of their mats indicates they are not in demand.

Is that why modular hills are not popular as hills in general are a low priority to many folk?

The dreaded company who shall not be named bu may have the initials GW did a modular terrain hill but it disappeared fairly quickly and was of limited scope.

Just to kill the Sm..t A.. Comments we do provide a limited section of Fold flat hills but they are our worst sellers of all our stuff, despite being modular.

Personal logo Yellow Admiral Supporting Member of TMP10 Oct 2026 8:31 a.m. PST

Modular terrain boards are never quite as custoizable as desired, unless they are also a fiddly PITA to set up. "Modular" either means a few large pieces of fixed size and configuration that go together quickly but are never quite the right layout, or lots of smaller pieces that are time consuming to set up and tear down.

I made a few generations of the former, and they're all gone now. They just weren't useful enough to justify the storage and transport problems.

Hexon is the latter. I love my Hexon set, but it is best for games of 6'x4' or smaller, or as modular coastlines in naval games. It takes me ages to set up and tear down big 6'x10'-12' tables.

The Nigerian Lead Minister10 Oct 2026 8:50 a.m. PST

I have a lot of GHQs terrain maker with 4" hexes. It looks great, but it takes so long to set up and tear down that it never gets used.

Personal logo Yellow Admiral Supporting Member of TMP10 Oct 2026 8:55 a.m. PST

I have to partially disagree about battle mats and hills. Hills under fleece is my standard hill configuration, and there are plenty of fleece battle mats in the world. I have a (ever-growing) collection of modular carved XPS foam hills for this purpose, in 1/2" and 1" heights, and I regularly construct ridgelines of 2 layers (2"), occasionally 3 layers. The fleece conforms to the contours.

To be sure, there are plenty of battle mats made of cloth that won't confirm to anything. I have a bunch, but they're for aerial gaming, where it isn't an issue.

Personal logo doc mcb Supporting Member of TMP10 Oct 2026 8:57 a.m. PST

I had a lot of Geohex at one point and ended up gluing it together into a few large useful pieces.

Andrew LA10 Oct 2026 9:11 a.m. PST

Storage and cost are a big problem with modular terrain boards. A nice game mat with hills underneath work perfectly well and have minimal storage costs and are a lot cheaper

Sorry - only verified members can post on the forums.