Battlefields in Miniature (Book Review)

[Brother Tyler]

By Paul Davies
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Pages: 287
ISBN: 9781526743794
Published: 5th November 2018

While the availability of manufactured terrain and gaming boards/mats has increased significantly in the last few years, there's something aesthetically pleasing about custom built terrain. For those of you that participate in events such as Armies on Parade, custom built terrain (or an army display board) is practically a must. While Games Workshop has created a wide range of thematic terrain pieces, these can always be augmented with custom built additions. Battlefields in Miniature: Making Realistic and Effective Terrain for Wargames is an excellent manual for helping hobbyists.

The author, Paul Davies, is an experienced and highly respected hobbyist who has written numerous articles about custom terrain for Wargames Illustrated magazine.

The book covers terrain from a general standpoint, including such subjects as tools, materials, and myriad types of terrain. The terrain examples shown in the book tend to apply across a range of wargaming genres, and even include terrain built for different types of games such as WWI aerial battles (could be applied to Aeronautica Imperialis) and naval warfare (basing concepts might work for Battlefleet Gothic). The concepts are general in nature and can easily be applied to diverse terrain types that might be encountered in the Warhammer 40,000 setting.

I have one criticism of the book. Though the book has plenty of pictures to demonstrate the techniques and concepts the author employs, images are frequently on different pages from the text describing them. The text mitigates this by referring to pictures by number, but I often switch between the text and the picture multiple times as I review material (I'm a visual learner ).

Aside from that, the author presented a number of ideas that I'd never considered before, but which I'll be certain to employ in my own terrain construction. I was especially motivated to work on some interior terrain for Space Hulk/Zone Mortalis/Necromunda settings while reading the book.

I received my copy a few weeks ago and finished it in a few days. This book isn't necessarily for all wargames hobbyists, but for those of you that have a desire to make your own terrain, this book will be a fitting addition to your library. Personally, I'm very pleased with it. The

[Marshal Rohr]

Definitely worth a purchase! Thanks.

[Evil Eye]

As someone who adores the old "How to Make Wargames Terrain" book GW did ages ago, this looks amazing. I think I need it!