Terrain / Basing

Terrain transforms a game. Two armies on a bare table is just pushing models around. Two armies fighting through ruined buildings and rocky outcrops is a story. And terrain is the most forgiving thing in the hobby to paint.

You'll build and finish terrain pieces or matching bases using drybrush-heavy techniques that look great and forgive mistakes.

Theme and Construction

Pick one theme and commit. Desert wasteland, gothic ruins, alien jungle, dungeon flagstone. Mixing themes on the same table looks like a yard sale.

XPS foam (insulation board from the hardware store, about $10 for a large sheet) is the workhorse material. Cut with a hobby knife, carve brick patterns with a ballpoint pen. Cork sheet ($5) breaks into great rocky outcrops. A hill is stacked foam circles with beveled edges. Ruins are foam walls on MDF bases. Don't overthink it. Functional terrain doesn't need to be architecturally accurate.

For army bases, MDF rounds in bulk from eBay or Litko give a consistent platform. Texture paste (Vallejo Dark Earth, Citadel Astrogranite, or spackle mixed with sand) spread with a palette knife gives instant ground texture. Basing 50 army bases at once? PVA, dip in sand, tap off excess, dry overnight.

Priming and Drybrushing

Prime with cheap rattle cans. Terrain eats primer, so use $4 Rust-Oleum flat black instead of $15 Citadel spray. Two cans prime a full table. For XPS foam, seal with watered-down PVA first to prevent solvent-based sprays from melting it.

Drybrushing is where terrain painting shines. Start with a dark basecoat (Mechanicus Standard Grey for stone, Dryad Bark for dirt), then drybrush progressively lighter:

1. Heavy drybrush with mid-tone (Dawnstone or Mournfang Brown)
2. Medium drybrush lighter (Administratum Grey or Zandri Dust)
3. Light drybrush on edges (Longbeard Grey or Screaming Skull)

Three passes, 5 minutes per piece. Texture catches paint on raised areas while basecoat stays in recesses. Use a big cheap brush. A 1-inch flat from the hardware store works perfectly. Never use your detail brushes for drybrushing.

Foliage and Effects

Army Painter tufts, Woodland Scenics clump foliage, static grass, and flock add life. Apply with PVA or super glue. For water effects, Woodland Scenics Realistic Water or Vallejo Still Water works. For snow, PVA mixed with baking soda or Citadel Valhallan Blizzard. Pigment powders from AK Interactive add dust and soot.

Sealing

Terrain gets handled constantly. Seal with matte varnish spray or brush-on polyurethane. High-traffic pieces need two coats minimum. A final spray of diluted PVA (50/50 with water) locks down flock and tufts. Let it dry overnight before playing.

Common Mistakes

• Melting foam with solvent spray. Seal XPS with PVA before priming, or use water-based primers only.
• Over-detailing terrain. Terrain is a backdrop. Clean drybrushing and a few accent details are enough.
• Mismatched terrain and bases. Coordinate your basing scheme with your terrain theme so models look like they belong on the table.
• Skipping the seal coat. Unsealed terrain sheds flock, chips, and shows fingerprints. Five minutes of varnish saves hours of repair.
• Building too tall. Mix heights for good gameplay: LOS-blocking ruins, half-walls, and low scatter.

Good terrain makes every game better and every army look more impressive. It's the best return on time in the whole hobby.