Getting Started with Terrain

[Clint]

Dwarven Forge Wilderness

https://dwarvenforge.com/a/search/all-p ... Wilderness

So, this one is a bit different in that everything currently in the shop comes from sub-biomes that were added to different Kickstarters. Then, their most recent Kickstarter 7: Wildlands, basically expanded on those offerings, and is currently in the process of being delivered to backers (I have received some of my order). KS7 stuff is projected to be in the Dwarven Forge shop in early summer. NOTE: Updated to add in some of the Wildlands stuff, though availability in the shop is limited.

Making the decision to go with fully modular wilderness tiles is a tough call for most collectors. The thing with modular tiles is that you cannot get away from visible seams between them. In dungeons, that's no big deal, as they more or less blend in with the cracks and crevices already in the setting. This is broadly true of caverns, and less so in cities. In a forest setting, in particular, a lot of players prefer to go with a battle mat plus scatter terrain. This sacrifices some of the detail and 3D realism of fully modular tiles, but gets rid of seams and is far more affordable. I do both, sometimes combining them. But there is no doubt that these are Dwarven Forge's most complicated and intricately sculpted terrain, and I do find them intensely satisfying to use.

Somewhat like City Builder System, Dwarven Forge Wilderness can currently be considered in the context of three sub-biomes: mountains, forests, and swamps. All of them are excellent. All of them are expensive, but especially anything involving trees.

1. Mountains: The basic Erinthor mountain set was originally designed for creating rugged bases on which to build Dwarven Forge castles and as a result tends to be sort of blocky. The original stuff is okay on its own, but really benefits from the addition of the new Wildlands pieces that add more organic shapes.

2. Forest: This began with the Dreadhollow biome that was added to the Caverns Deep expansion. It is based on fully modular, highly detailed forest tiles that include stumps onto which you can affix modular trees. Wildlands added new tiles and a lot more styles of trees. In my opinion, these are the most beautiful modular terrain available today, and modular plastic trees are highly useful in a ton of settings.

3. Swamps: This is a new biome added for Wildlands and it basically builds on the "banks" options for Dreadhollow forest and adds swamp-appropriate vegetation. This is a quasi-scatter terrain set as you do need a battle mat to go with the modular tiles. Again, it looks beautiful.

Floating Ruins 2.jpg (729.47 KiB) Viewed 2512 times

Hag Swamp Battle 4.jpg (1.18 MiB) Viewed 2512 times

WL Tower 1.jpg (1.03 MiB) Viewed 2512 times

Where to Start: Getting started with mountains is relatively easy:
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... -unpainted

For forests, you can just start with scatter terrain, perhaps with terrain trays:
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... ng-painted
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... -tray-pack

Try out a small modular area:
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... ck-painted
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... ck-painted
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... ck-painted

Or go all in:
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... -unpainted

Swamps:
https://dwarvenforge.com/collections/al ... -unpainted

Bottom Line: This is probably the most expensive modular terrain that you can buy. The sculpts are absolute works of art, but building out a 2'x2' set will cost upwards of $500 if you buy unpainted, and basically double that if you buy painted. I love mine, but only recommend modular wilderness tiles if you are passionate about terrain and have deep pockets.

Painted/Unpainted: Both.
Price: 1/5 (painted) or 2/5 (unpainted). This is not for novice painters. Sculpts are intricately detailed and should be approached like painting a miniature, with many steps and layering. The factory painting is very good.
Quality: 5/5. Even by Dwarven Forge standards, these are exceptional.
Ease of Use: 4/5. The tiles are large and everything is magnetized, though friction is more than enough to hold pieces together. Erinthor mountains are a bit trickier just because you are automatically building with elevation, which is an inherently more time-consuming process.
Durability: 5/5. Basically indestructible, unless you throw them in a kiln or something.
Availability: 2/5. Right now, a fair bit is in the shop, and Wildlands stuff will be arriving in the next few months. But, as always with Dwarven Forge, it's a bit of a crapshoot.
Range: 4/5. You can make all your standard fantasy RPG-type temperate settings. But "wilderness" is a vast category, and I would love to see expansions that add more desert, tropical, or wintry options.
Storage: 3/5. Heavy and a few pieces are chunky, but so durable that you can chuck 'em in bins.

[Clint]

Anyone able to do a review of Dungeons and Lasers modular tiles, of Warlock Tiles Caverns, or WT Streets and Town Square? I don't have any of those.

[Clint]

Updating this thread and prepping a guide to D&L: Encounters. Would still love to get a write-up on their dungeons tiles system from someone who uses it! Or any other terrain not covered here.

[Clint]

Also, if anyone wants to add their own review of something that I've already covered, go for it! The more points of view, the better!

[Clint]

Dungeons & Lasers: Encounters

https://archon-studio.com/shop/21-dunge ... ry=21&n=37

Archon Studios is a Polish company that does miniatures and terrain for a variety of games. Under their Dungeons & Lasers sub-brand, they are fairly established with a modular terrain line that includes dungeons, sewers, and buildings. I don't own enough of that line to review it, though everything that I hear is positive. However, I did back their recent Kickstarter for wilderness terrain, and having assembled and painted most of it, I'm in a position to offer thoughts. Also, I'm reviewing this line of terrain a bit early, because if you click on the link above, it's not quite available from their shop yet. That should change soon as they are almost done delivering the Kickstarter (note: 9 months from the launch of the Kickstarter to delivery is exceptional in the terrain world; this is clearly a well-organized company).

Dungeons & Lasers: Encounters is a scatter terrain system designed to cover two main biomes, "Elven Woods" and "Swamps of Doom," along with a complimentary set of ruins, "Land of Giants." Assorted stretch goal offerings included additional terrain that will likely be available from their shop, and Archon also did a number of creature models to go with the campaign. Because this is designed as scatter terrain, D&L: Encounters also includes two large game mats, one for forest floors, and one for swamps.

1. The Elven Woods: This set includes 6 trees (3 leafy and 3 conifer), 12 rocky hummocks covered with various vegetation, and a few other accessories (tents, etc.). The quality is very good, with fairly detailed sculpts. The trees are somewhat modular, which is especially handy for storing the leafy ones with their spread out canopy, and the hummocks stack together neatly. There is enough here to do lots of different forest configurations, though extra trees would be useful on larger builds (say, 2'x2' or larger).

2. Swamps of Doom: This set includes 6 spooky, barren trees, 6 swampy hummocks, 6 different docks pieces, a small boat, and a few other accessories (fishing stuff, etc.). Also, a giant dead fish, which is an oddly specific piece of terrain. Again good quality, though I don't like these hummocks as much as the forest ones, and the trees are once again the stars of the show. This set will let you do a variety of swamp builds up to about 2'x2'.

3. Land of Giants: It's a nice set of ruins, designed to be fairly modular, which is great for storage (this is a strength of the entire Encounters line).

Elven Trees.jpg (473.44 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

(note: hummock at bottom is from Dwarven Forge, for reference)

Hummocks.jpg (703.47 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Swamp Trees.jpg (431.8 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Swamp Hummocks.jpg (457.49 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Docks.jpg (320.07 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Ruins.jpg (455.26 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Where to Start: Archon is about to launch another campaign where each of these sets will be available again, though 69 euros is much higher than the original kickstarter price: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ar ... n=e4fa4ebb

So assuming that will also be the shop price, which seems about right, go with what you need. I think the Elven Woods offers a particularly useful set of terrain for a lot of scenarios, so that would be my first pick, along with their forest floor mat.

Bottom Line: This is a very viable option for getting into wilderness terrain if you don't mind assembling and painting (see below). It's extremely cost effective and looks very good - not Dwarven Forge good, but at a fraction of the price. With it in hand, I feel very comfortable recommending Dungeons & Lasers: Encounters.

Painted/Unpainted: Unpainted and unassembled. Just as with Games Workshop, this is stiffer plastic that comes on sprues, so you are clipping, cleaning, gluing, and painting. It's quite a bit of work, so a great option if you enjoy modelling, but be prepared.
Price: 5/5 (depending on shipping). Roughly $75 USD for a good set of wilderness terrain is the best deal you will find, but these days you do have to take shipping and potentially customs into account, so that might be an issue.
Quality: 4/5. They look great - not as detailed as Dwarven Forge or Games Workshop terrain, but a bit better than Monster Fight Club, IMO.
Ease of Use: 4/5. Scatter terrain, though some individual pieces are sort of modular for ease of storage (trees, ruins). Just slap 'em on the table. Quite light, though, which can occasionally cause problems, so I might magnetize mine.
Durability: 3/5. This is stiffer plastic, glued together. Still fairly robust but things like tree limbs will be prone to snapping if treated carelessly.
Availability: 3/5. Currently, you would have to purchase through the upcoming Kickstarter linked above, though it should also soon be available through their online shop or some FLGS.
Range: 3/5. There's swamps, and there's woods, with rocky hills. Plus ruins and docks. But by combining pieces, you could come up with quite a few different settings (e.g. a rocky bluff, shoreline, etc.).
Storage: 3/5. Light, but the trees need to be treated with some caution. Easier to store than GW scatter.

[MyriadTabletop]

Dungeons & Lasers: Encounters

The swamp hammocks. Is that just contrast paint?

[Felony]

Price: 5/5 (depending on shipping). Roughly $75 USD for a good set of wilderness terrain is the best deal you will find, but these days you do have to take shipping and potentially customs into account, so that might be an issue.

IMHO, your rating for price is incorrect here. Most of the audience of this thread will not have access to D&L outdoor terrain sets at Kickstarter/Gamefound prices. Retail D&L can cost as much as $10 per sprue for mundane, mass market sets. That's not cheap at all.

You made this distinction for Reaper:

Price: 3/5 (regular) or 5/5 (Kickstarter).

I think the situation is the same or worse for D&L.

I would also consider taking off half a point or so for the amount of work that goes into cleaning D&L tiles. If I charged myself minimum wage for the time it takes me to clean up a single set of typical size, the effective price would often double if not triple. Archon Studio moved some of the costs of getting their product table-ready to the customer.

[Clint]

Dungeons & Lasers: Encounters

The swamp hammocks. Is that just contrast paint?

Nope - been awhile but I know I primed in black then I think I used seaweed or sludge green and lightened it up for a dry brush. I din't use contrast paints at all on the terrain.

[Clint]

Price: 5/5 (depending on shipping). Roughly $75 USD for a good set of wilderness terrain is the best deal you will find, but these days you do have to take shipping and potentially customs into account, so that might be an issue.

IMHO, your rating for price is incorrect here. Most of the audience of this thread will not have access to D&L outdoor terrain sets at Kickstarter/Gamefound prices. Retail D&L can cost as much as $10 per sprue for mundane, mass market sets. That's not cheap at all.

You made this distinction for Reaper:

Price: 3/5 (regular) or 5/5 (Kickstarter).

I think the situation is the same or worse for D&L.

I would also consider taking off half a point or so for the amount of work that goes into cleaning D&L tiles. If I charged myself minimum wage for the time it takes me to clean up a single set of typical size, the effective price would often double if not triple. Archon Studio moved some of the costs of getting their product table-ready to the customer.

As best as I could work out, that's the retail price, not the KS price, and I stand by it being 5/5 for wilderness terrain. You get a lot of terrain in each box.

The KS price was much less than half that - for $150 I got all that terrain, plus a ton of miniatures, plus a ton of accessory terrain pieces, plus a Tarrasque. The KS price was so good it breaks my scale. 10/5.

In general, I don't factor labour into the price very much because it is contextual. For example, I enjoy painting miniatures and terrain, and do a much better job than any factory, so for me unpainted/unassembled is a feature, not a flaw. And even when something is "painted," the quality is often very low (or not even paint, just coloured plastic), so I repaint it anyway - all my Warlock Tiles are repainted, for example.

[Clint]

Update: EnderToys

I wrote about these guys on page 1. They have been quietly making 3d printed terrain for years and have slowly expanded their range. For example, I just noticed this "orc arena" on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B829QW47/re ... DA563161C8

Looks pretty cool! Or check out this house:

https://www.amazon.ca/Perfectly-Printab ... 4b9bf7d0d6

Witch's Hovel:
https://www.amazon.ca/Compatible-Dungeo ... 07&sr=8-12

When I last purchased their stuff, 4-5 years ago, the print resolution was pretty low, but it was well made and certainly tabletop ready as a cheap alternative to Dwarven Forge or Warlock Tiles. Has anyone purchased from them recently? How is their stuff looking these days? I have to confess, that orc arena is kind of tempting!

[Kalcheus]

I'm still reading through the thread but I'm hoping some of the experts here can help point me in the right direction.

I'm looking for terrain pieces (prefab preferred, but not averse to assembling -- prepainted or unpainted is fine) for setting up "scenes" for displaying some minis. The goal isn't a playspace, but something to put on a shelf for display. For example, I have the Pride of Faerie Dragons and I'd like to display them on some overgrown ruins, so something in the 3"x5" (7.5cm x 12.5 cm) range would be idea, although I don't mind going a little larger.

Let me know if you have any good ideas for places I an acquire them (I am in the USA). 3d printed options are fine too if someone knows some reputable vendors online.

Thanks in advance

[Brophy]

I'm still reading through the thread but I'm hoping some of the experts here can help point me in the right direction.

I'm looking for terrain pieces (prefab preferred, but not averse to assembling -- prepainted or unpainted is fine) for setting up "scenes" for displaying some minis. The goal isn't a playspace, but something to put on a shelf for display. For example, I have the Pride of Faerie Dragons and I'd like to display them on some overgrown ruins, so something in the 3"x5" (7.5cm x 12.5 cm) range would be idea, although I don't mind going a little larger.

Let me know if you have any good ideas for places I an acquire them (I am in the USA). 3d printed options are fine too if someone knows some reputable vendors online.

Thanks in advance

My first thought is terrain from "The elven woods" Dungeons & Lasers box.

[Guyra]

I'm still reading through the thread but I'm hoping some of the experts here can help point me in the right direction.

I'm looking for terrain pieces (prefab preferred, but not averse to assembling -- prepainted or unpainted is fine) for setting up "scenes" for displaying some minis. The goal isn't a playspace, but something to put on a shelf for display. For example, I have the Pride of Faerie Dragons and I'd like to display them on some overgrown ruins, so something in the 3"x5" (7.5cm x 12.5 cm) range would be idea, although I don't mind going a little larger.

Let me know if you have any good ideas for places I an acquire them (I am in the USA). 3d printed options are fine too if someone knows some reputable vendors online.

Thanks in advance

The Elven Woods set is good, as are the other sets originally from D&L: Encounters. Some items require quite a bit of work(like the trees), while others barely any(like the hills/rocks/elevation pieces) outside of painting.

I'd also like to point you to urbanmatz.com and gamemat.eu, whom make terrain items similar to each other in resin. Lots of buildings and rock formations. No assembly needed, and it's all prepainted!

[Clint]

I'm still reading through the thread but I'm hoping some of the experts here can help point me in the right direction.

I'm looking for terrain pieces (prefab preferred, but not averse to assembling -- prepainted or unpainted is fine) for setting up "scenes" for displaying some minis. The goal isn't a playspace, but something to put on a shelf for display. For example, I have the Pride of Faerie Dragons and I'd like to display them on some overgrown ruins, so something in the 3"x5" (7.5cm x 12.5 cm) range would be idea, although I don't mind going a little larger.

Let me know if you have any good ideas for places I an acquire them (I am in the USA). 3d printed options are fine too if someone knows some reputable vendors online.

Thanks in advance

In addition to those great suggestions, Battlefield in a Box, which I cover on page 1 of this thread, has a pretty good range of high quality, pre-painted resin pieces, and they are very reasonably priced. They might have something that suits you, though you might have to add the overgrown bits yourself. Model shops have all sorts of vegetation bits you can add.

[Clint]

Added a "storage" rating, since that is a significant factor for many folks, including me!

Overall, of the major modular systems, I would say that storage is: Dungeons and Lasers > Warlock Tiles > Dwarven Forge. The Dungeons and Lasers modular sets (Dwarven Mines, etc.) are very light can be flat-packed, which is amazing (I imagine their caverns sets will go down to 4/5 for this category). Warlock Tiles also stack well and are almost as light. DF is heavy and not as stackable, though does have the advantage of being so durable that you don't have to worry much about how you store it.

Scatter terrain is generally a PITA to store.