What's going on with the Warhammer 40k terrain line?

[lhg033]

Back in the day I liked the old cardstock and bulkhead terrain. I did scrtach build some stuff if the mood took me now and then (any polystyrene that came into the house was mine for this! Dry brushed scouring pad hedges, guitar wire 'razorwire' etc)

 

Pretty sure I should still have the original Imperial Bastion,  Storm of Vengence and Gorkamorka terrain somewhere in a family members loft or garage.
 

[Brother Lunkhead]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:44 AM, Stitch5000 said:

You sweet, innocent child. :D 

 

Aaahhh... The good old days of scratch building terrain ... or the bad old days depending on whether or not you like doing such things But to be fair many of our fraters here have only known this era where quality professionally built terrain is available from many sources.

 

I like to build large, themed gaming tables (cityscapes, deserts, jungles, etc.) that sometimes require a lot of these prebuilt pieces. I'm especially fond of GWs gothic city/factorium ruins and associated nick-nacks (lamp poles, pipes, and such). Knowing full well that my gaming budget would never allow me to buy all of the pieces I needed, or even if I could over time, they would be out of production before I could get them all So before building I'd make molds of parts I knew would be needed in abundance for any particular project (I still do this). This was all before 3d printing became affordable of course, but it's still a viable solution if you don't have one of those newfangled gadgets. It's simple and not very time consuming. You can hind mold kits in just about any art/craft store or online.

 

Too bad GW doesn't publish any more scratch build articles in WD. There's still a place for it and with the liberal use of their own terrain pieces, it just might encourage more use beyond just building a few terrain pieces and slapping them down on the game table

Edited August 2, 2023 by Brother Lunkhead

[Rain]

26 minutes ago, Brother Lunkhead said:

Too bad GW doesn't publish any more scratch build articles in WD. There's still a place for it and with the liberal use of their own terrain pieces, it just might encourage more use beyond just building a few terrain pieces and slapping them down on the game table

 

GW's model design barely allow for arm swaps anymore, nevermind encouraging scratch building of anything 

[Brother Lunkhead]

24 minutes ago, Rain said:

 

GW's model design barely allow for arm swaps anymore, nevermind encouraging scratch building of anything 

Respectfully, I disagree. The building pieces can be cut up into segments quite nicely and used in many different building and ruin designs. Current smaller bunker and fortification designs are a bit more challenging, but I've still been able to get a lot of use out of these as well.

[Brother Lunkhead]

Forgive the double post, but I want to clarify something. Brother Rain is quite right that kit bashing and even simple swap outs for minis is not what it used to be

It can still be done, but it requires a lot more crafting and time than it did with the OG minis. But that's really a conversation for another thread.

 

One idea I'd like to get across is that scratch building terrain is still very viable and the manufactured pieces that GW sells are an excellent source for expanding this part of the hobby. If GW encouraged this aspect, they might just increase terrain sales as well, and increased sales would encourage increased production.

 

 

[Rain]

Fair enough. I do not have my own terrain table at home; tolerating my display cabinet full of toy soldiers is as far as the wife will go. A full table would be a bridge way too far. I'm just bitter that Eightbound are so difficult to field in groups of more than 3 without their very dynamic poses looking copy and pasted across models 

 

But, as you say, that's a bit off topic.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

3 hours ago, Brother Lunkhead said:

Forgive the double post, but I want to clarify something. Brother Rain is quite right that kit bashing and even simple swap outs for minis is not what it used to be

It can still be done, but it requires a lot more crafting and time than it did with the OG minis. But that's really a conversation for another thread.

 

One idea I'd like to get across is that scratch building terrain is still very viable and the manufactured pieces that GW sells are an excellent source for expanding this part of the hobby. If GW encouraged this aspect, they might just increase terrain sales as well, and increased sales would encourage increased production.

 

 

Hell GW could sell their own brand of materials and probably make lots of money

[Brother Lunkhead]

59 minutes ago, Rain said:

I do not have my own terrain table at home; tolerating my display cabinet full of toy soldiers is as far as the wife will go. A full table would be a bridge way too far.

I completely sympathize. My terrain tabletops are all segmented for stacking and the table is easily disassembled. She Who Must Be Obeyed insists that it be so after gameplay, or I catch eightfold different kinds of hell

[Helias_Tancred]

On 8/3/2023 at 1:43 PM, Rain said:

Fair enough. I do not have my own terrain table at home; tolerating my display cabinet full of toy soldiers is as far as the wife will go. A full table would be a bridge way too far.

 

I used to have that same problem. Then I got rid of her. Problem(s) solved :)

 

No one puts Eilio Tiberius's favorite hobby in a corner!

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Eilio Tiberius

[KenaiPhoneix]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:53 AM, JayJapanB said:

Cardboard.

 

 

I wish they would put more online tutorials of how made terrains (maybe even some blue prints). I know that would "hurt" their sales... but come on. That would be easy and fun post to made that will not only make people look with better eyes GW but also help people to practice some skills

[Dark Shepherd]

This came up up with the great Baneblade shortage early in 8th :) but the bigger/heavier sprues have or had to take up disproportiinately more production resources

 

So especially if theyre prioritising the top sellers then the terrain gets squeezed out

[Bouargh]

On 7/26/2023 at 8:26 AM, Eilio Tiberius said:

... because the line sorta sucks right now. Not only is it missing building ruins that have multiple floors, but also pipes are gone, etc. If you were new getting into 40k, you really couldn't rely on the company that makes the miniatures and rules to also provide terrain for your games. It never used to be like this.

 

 

Indeed, most of the terrain has now disappeared. What remains can be sumarized to:

- Sector Fronteris/Nachmund, and it is a little bit "flat"

- Boarding action, but it is reserved to contextual games

- unsold box in warehouses : i) some sector mechanicus stuff (but without much of any kind of coherency left) and ii) specific features for Factions (Hammerfall bunker, Noctilith Crown...)

 

Necromunda does not have much more. Or it cost you a kidney (Hab modules anyone?).

 

But seeing the "season concept" introduced in 9th and for KT, if it is maintained, I may eventually believe this range reduction could indicate a potential new wave of terrain release with the next "season". Or may be am I wishing it aloud?

Terrain is part of the attractivness of the game in terms of aesthetic, so getting it off the range might look like being odd (?).

[Redcomet]

It has been many years since gw’s terrain range was stable. Kits have been disappearing suddenly for a long time. Terrain sales must either fall off a cliff after a while, or gw doesn’t make a lot money from them. I think 3d printing and cheap(er) MDF/HDF has put a dent in their sales. 

[Orion]

Is it due to Chinese manufacturing contracts?

Wasn't there a turning point where they started outsourcing terrain and bases to China?

It would also explain why they seem very seasonal or short run.

 

Either way I really hope overseas manufacturing is not a trend that continues. 

[legoman]

This thread reminded me of the book How to Make Wargames Terrain, which I secured on ebay today for £8! Can't wait to read it again.

[Firedrake Cordova]

2 hours ago, JayJapanB said:

Wasn't there a turning point where they started outsourcing terrain and bases to China?

I can't remember when, but yes. Certainly, my Sector Mechanicus bases and Ray Dranfield Sector Mechanicus/Imperialis sets are marked as such, so there could be contention for production slots with a third party. However, I don't have any kits purchased in the last couple of years, so I don't know if it's still the case.

 

1 hour ago, legoman said:

This thread reminded me of the book How to Make Wargames Terrain, which I secured on ebay today for £8! Can't wait to read it again.

Congratulations - that might actually be less than I paid for mine new about 20 years ago!  It's definitely a good read  

Edited August 19, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[Beef]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:13 PM, legoman said:

This thread reminded me of the book How to Make Wargames Terrain, which I secured on ebay today for £8! Can't wait to read it again.

 

Which one the 1996 or the 2002 version

[Jukkiz]

On 8/19/2023 at 6:29 PM, JayJapanB said:

Is it due to Chinese manufacturing contracts?

Wasn't there a turning point where they started outsourcing terrain and bases to China?

It would also explain why they seem very seasonal or short run.

 

Either way I really hope overseas manufacturing is not a trend that continues. 

i do believe it´s the chinas laws with non-domestic companies being sniffed constantly from papers and documents. Those that work with them seem to always say, "it´s like working in warp."

They did wonder why none of the companies don´t seem to want to move in china no more, but it is lingering issue of China forcing snoopy laws upon them.

On other hand. 4th ED core rulebook had guide and templates of making nice bunker for your forces.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Jukkiz