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Since ive returned to the hobby after leaving just when 3rd Edition came out Ive noticed alot of peeps seem to buy terrain rahter then make it.

This strikes me as odd considering GW terrain is very expensive and its so easy and quick to make your own and 40k needs alot of it.

So do you make your own terrain or do you just buy prefab hills etc?

Im just asking as I am about to finish texturing my boards and once thats done I will have a great table for under $60 AUS with all the terrain I could ever need and it took me less then a day and frees up moneys to spend on more minis.

IMO a lot of the GW pre-made terrain is pretty damn good and for me, represents some of their best value kits. My issue is that I have almost zero creative and artistic flair; is the reason I bought a ROB board - its way better than anything I could ever produce by hand so therefore represents excellent value for money for me. The same holds true of premade terrain hence why I prefer to buy it.

That's not to say I cock a snook at anyone who makes their own stuff, far from it; I can recognise creativity as well as anyone but for me personally, I value playing games on a well painted and laid out board with good terrain so that's why I buy it.

Bit of both. If it's well made and the price is right then I'll buy it.

The GW 40K buildings, for example, are pretty reasonable and it would take an enormous amount of work to make your own buildings that good.

There's also the issue of durability - I expect scenery to last for years and years and a lot of the materials that are easy to work with are not especially strong.

As it stands right now I just buy my terrian, but I would like to get into constructing my own when I have the time (and room) for it.

Their general terrain is really good quality, and pretty decently priced.

The Realm of Battle Board is good quality, but hideously expensive. Not only that, but unless you coat it in static grass, models will slide and tuble around on it. I'd rather get a zuzzy mat, paint it myself, and get some good terrain for it.

Make yer own

Some terrain such as hills I really don't see how you can buy rather than make you lazy so and so's

There is some pretty darn good stuff out there though.
As ever it's different strokes for different courses
There is no wrong or right way.

GW terrain is, for the most part, their best values. I tend to buy terrain, I have a ton of Armorcast, old Crusader29, Forgeworld and GW Terrain. Also have made my own.

I prefer to build my own terrain, though, for the most part, as many others have said, it is their best value (except for the forest and the Realm of Battle, and the 40k ruin sets). Of course, hand making terrain is hard, but it pays off if you have the skills.

I either buy or commission mine. I am a fairly poor artist (Not for lack of trying, I just don't think that way something to do with left/right side of the brain). That and I don't really have time, class & such.

i make my own and what money i have i put into the models, one of the biggest reason why i make my own is because i learned the secret to foam board, hot glue, and miniwargaming tips and ideas all are very nice for da boyz!

I started back in this hobby by making my own. These days I buy it all as it saves me time and I have a few more pounds to spend.

I buy mine, but not from GW. An average hill costs me about $150-$300. On the other hand, I've found a practical use for my college textbooks.

I make most of them myself. I always wanna do it quick, and that results in 3 carton wals representing a ruin, wich I will never come around painting.

I sometimes buy terrain, but never from GW, like OP posted, it's way too expensive. I buy mine from a german company. They really produce some kick ass models. they also have a modest miniature departement.

I enjoy making my own, Its fun and really not that hard.

^
that depends on what you are about to build.

I've only recently began experimenting with making my own terrain. Have to say its fun and refreshing. Plus comes up with all sorts of set pieces that can cannibalize parts of my bits collections.

I love terrain and I know a lot of good terrain sources now, for Fantasy and 40k. Don't have the time and skill to make terrain of that quality on my own. For 40k, the CoD buildings and other GW terrain are a nice start, for Fantasy I had to look elsewhere.

I buy terrain coz I suck at making terrain. Plane and simple.

I make most of mine.
I've made buildings, hills, rivers and even ice-floes. All from white/blue foam, foamcard and mdf.

Hills are easy with foam (with or WITHOUT a hot-wire cutter).
Basic desert styled buildings are easy constructions from foamcard (texture with textured housepaint).

This is why I have 1 games table and 6 sets of terrain for it - as opposed to 1 RoB and perhaps 1 lot of terrain for it.

-Loki- wrote:Their general terrain is really good quality, and pretty decently priced.

The Realm of Battle Board is good quality, but hideously expensive. Not only that, but unless you coat it in static grass, models will slide and tuble around on it. I'd rather get a zuzzy mat, paint it myself, and get some good terrain for it.

A trick I used for my board with was to take some rough coat or stone effect spray paint, coat your board, then for me sprayed white to look like snow. It adds enough texture to the board so that models do not slide around.

I have have a mixture of both. The GW buildings look great put together and painted up, however since I enjoy playing city fight I need variation of buildings.

I have also built more interesting buildings such as a hospital and water treatment plant (in various stages of ruin of course). Foam board and plasticard are awesome.

My next project will be a ruined Cathedral.

The hardware store is great in that they have interesting bit and pieces and a good place to go for inspiration.

I build my own mountains and hills out of sealant form as I can get the size and shape I want and also cut them in a way that it is easy to stand models on with out falling over. They are also tough and durable.

Flooring is all moulded from a selection of moulds I got from hirst arts: http://www.hirstarts.com/molds/moldsfloor.html

Building terrain is just something I enjoy doing but due to the time involved its not everyones cup of tea.

Both....a good terrain color scheme helps tie bought and made terrain together..

I keep meaning to have a go at making terrain. But our games club has a lot of terrain free for use. I have bought several of the Battle Field in a Box sets though as they are great value with no assembly or painting required.

I buy the convenient pieces such as mats, hills and detailing parts, and I make the ones that no-one makes, like Tau buildings.

I would do more of my own terrain if I had the time and space.

I make my hills and some of my buildings, but I buy some of my buildings and barriers as well. those ork barriers are sweet.

I feel like there are varying levels of terrain here...

Stuff like boxes, barrels, and other "just there for cover" terrain can be made cheaply and easily via papercraft templates. It is hard for me to envision buying such things, unless I just flat out had no time.

Hills and trees aren't hard, but they are time-consuming enough to build that I could see buying them.

Good ruins, though, are rather harder to build and get right. It seems like most of the ruins at my FLGS are scenic, but forget to actually be good terrain for wargaming. Say what you will about the pricing for the GW stuff, but it actually looks like it serves its purpose... not even all that expensive from a good discounter, either.

If I wasn't poor I would.

Trees I buy in bags.
Last one was a "forest in a bag" it had 100 trees from 2" to 5" tall in it, and cost me around $50. 'Course, a mate of a brother-in-law runs a model railway store, so it's cheaper still.

I made around 12 stands of trees (suitable for WHFB or 40k) and still had trees left over. There were between 4 and 6 trees per piece, with lichen as shrubbery as well.