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Hi all this might be a old topic but I think maybe it's worth talking about.

Making terrain out of lego. What's the concensus? The way I figure it, its not cheaper than buying terrain, but it's more transportable and you can constantly make all kinds of different things. If I wanna make a huge tower of defense, then I could. If I did it with real terrain, then I'm stuck with a piece that will not get used alot. Scale is pretty much whatever you make it.

So what about you all?

It might be efficient and fun in some respects, but I think it would look too cartoony. It depends on what kinds of games you have I suppose.

Now, are we talking straight Lego builds? Or using Legos as a base (e.g. building stuff and adding green stuff/gap-filler/paint)? I suppose with the second option that it would destroy the reconstructability....

As for the first route, I have used the Halo Meg-Bloks line as terrain pieces for an all Halo (10th Anniversary) HeroClix game. It looked fantastic! (but arguably, there's a very cartoony aesthetic to the overall game so the Bloks weren't offensive to the battlefield).

No argument that it would look cartoony. No way around that. But, is that really a big deal? If you want for space and money, it seems like a good route to go. If its for home use on your personal table. I would never suggest using it in a local game store. If you're a professional then you need the good stuff.

I'm gonna eventually try it and see. I worry about the looks as well though.

For games at home and fun games it would make a good place holder until you buy/make proper terrain.
But then a decently thick book can sub for a hill, pieces of felt (blue, green, brown; available for a buck a sheet) can fill in for forests, water, and craters/rubble. Upside down plastic cups make OK impassable LOS blocking features. Pencils, utensils, and other long bits can simulate hedges, low walls, etc.
Use what you got until you get a good idea of what your looking to have, then buy it or make it.

There's also the whole destructible terrain features too

The first multi story ruin on my home table, as well as a bridge, was lego. It looks reasonable, if a little cartoony and functions just fine. Now I stick more toward slightly cheaper and pretty permanent terrain, but if you want to stick with legos I won't hold it against you.

I was using my old stash from when I was a kid, waaay back when legos were cheap enough to be happy meal toys. Now days I would say to check the off brand building blocks before going for legos, ever since the Lego company's patent expired and they had to focus more on licensed models (Star Wars, Harry Potter, ect) to sell their blocks specifically the price has skyrocketed.


Also... does it bother anyone that the first lego sets targeting girls (the paradise cove resort hotel sets) poolside scenes was populated with a bunch of mini figs in thongs?

Ghostofman wrote:
poolside scenes was populated with a bunch of mini figs in thongs?

/fapfapfapfapfapfap

Just kidding! Yeah it's kind of messed up. Sexy lego company! I'm gonna dig out my old legos from my childhood and see what kind of multi-colored, hemorrhaging eye cancer of a building I can fashion together.

So long as you use natural colours like browns and greys, and also use flat tiles on top of walls to hide the little 'pegs', it will look ok, not even obviously Lego at a casual glance. Angled bricks, commonly used to make roofs, can be useful, again so long as you add the flat tiles on top.(The Lego website shop has a section called Pick-a-Brick where you can buy individual bricks in bulk.)

But simply making stuff out of random primary-coloured bricks will look garishly loud, even for a Slaanesh army

Now I'm mad I gave away my legos 15 years ago. $ince I wouldnt be playing with them I could have built all kinds of terrain. All you need to do is glue them together and use green stuff like dude said, and then spray paint them up.