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I've come to the conclusion I'm trying too hard with my terrain building. I'm overly ambitious and not getting much done.

A fellow hobbyist on our narrative campaign site, The Corvus Cluster, has been focusing on small, easy-to-finish pieces. I didn't pay much mind, until I realized he's gotten dozens of pieces completed in the past year.

If you're a terrain guy, take a look--does thinking small mean you're thinking smart?

https://thecorvuscluster.com

--TheGM

Im thinking getting the scale and concept right first before hotgluing a bunch of foam core is way more important. though its easier to build smaller scatter terrain as it can for the most part fit in most settings like pipes and ruins.

You got plan bigger things for playablity and for people to be able to use.

as for is it smarter? probably. you can knock out a bunch of nice looking pieces and for the most part you can chuck a bunch on the table for a nice game.

but bigger pieces serve a huge roll for BLOS which is super important imho.

so ymmv

Does thinking small mean you're thinking smart? Maybe. Sometimes. It depends entirely on your priorities.

Scatter terrain is great for adding density and ambiance to a table. In skirmish-scale games, it's likely half or more of the cover you'll claim (and need to claim). In platoon/company scale games, it's mostly about visual 'flavor.'

Small pieces are certainly easier/faster to pump out, but blocking line of sight is, as mentioned, crucial in many rulesets. If you're in a gaming group and someone has the scatter covered, by all means focus on the big centerpieces. If you're flying solo... best to mix it up.

Having a vision for a given table helps, immensely. A blocked-out structure is playable, even if it takes you months to finish detailing it. In the end, you haven't sacrificed any game-time and will still end up with something to be proud of.

TLDR: Just build stuff. "Finished" and "playable" are not the same thing. As a 'planner' by nature, I'll vouch for the idea that 'done well enough' is generally preferable to 'immaculate, but 5 months late.'


[edit:] Well... I should have read the post on the blog before posting. I mostly just (independently, at least) parroted ideas you've already put forth. Whoops.