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New gaming store opened in my area that doesn't really support warhammer 40k. Although the there are a few players in my general area. I've been trying to setup a table to play on and was looking for some cheaper terrain pieces we could use at the store, I.e. Trees, hills, and maybe some ruins. GK's prices seem a bit high for there terrain pieces though. Any suggestions?

Aquarium Ornaments are awesome. You can get pretty detailed/elaborate terrain pieces for reasonable prices. They generally have wide selections too.

I use them mostly for my terrain, if I'm not making my own that is.

If you don't mind your terrain looking a bit shoddy, styrofoam (partially torn into pieces) can make for great ruins and rubble.

Marshall's has AMAZING plastic plants and find some green styrofoam and ta-da, instant alien forest terrain. Grab a bushel of plastic plants and make sure they have the spear connectors and glue isn't even needed for that. You can cover half a table in plants for about $20.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TNYHAXY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1CW6LUXGL3VG6&coliid=I1GXLXF3QCKSRU is a recent find of mine. They have a couple more options but I haven't picked any up yet so I have no idea how durable they are. Maybe someone else is familiar with 'Seus Corp Ltd.' 3D printed terrain?

Pegasus Hobby also has very popular prepainted stuff for $20~ a pop. Gets expensive fast but otherwise you're looking at wooden laser cut pieces. There's more than a few places that make em but sadly I don't know any stateside off the top of my head...

You can make some awesome tiered mesas from regular cardboard. Just take corrugated cardboard, then cut out a generic hill shape. Use the first piece as a template for the second piece, making the layers irregular. (Minor irregularities for a steep hill, or much larger deviations to give the hill shelves and steps.) Then mix some sand and Elmers glue and paint the edges of the cardboard with it. Spray the whole thing brown or red, then dry brush it with a slightly lighter shade. Voila: cheap, easy hills.

For accents for ruins and temples, hobby stores sell plastic columns (Grecian and roman styles) in the baking aisle.

Yard sales or hobby stores often have ceramic, plastic, or foam forms in the shape of human body parts that are used to store and display jewelry, glasses, or wigs. These can make great large statuary if you spray paint them with some stone texture spray paints.

The aquarium terrain is another good option.

it might be an idea to talk with the store owner and see what they have in mind in terms of terrain and wargaming.

It could be that they would be open to letting the local players create and design their own. Possibly even providing raw materials if it is all used at and for the shop and your able to provide a detailed "need list and a sketch of what is planned.

Possibly have a tournament where players each bring and donate pieces as part of the entry fee?

Possibly have a painting competition where instead of models, scenery is the end result?

How about some sort of escalation league located on a certain planet with a specialized location where each time the points values are raised, the players also need to supply and donate a scenery piece that matches the locale. For example, it is set in a war torn city and each time, the players bring a home made ruined building or city themed piece.

Brainstorm with your local players and the shop owner and see what you can come up with.

 EVIL INC wrote:
it might be an idea to talk with the store owner and see what they have in mind in terms of terrain and wargaming.

It could be that they would be open to letting the local players create and design their own. Possibly even providing raw materials if it is all used at and for the shop and your able to provide a detailed "need list and a sketch of what is planned.

Possibly have a tournament where players each bring and donate pieces as part of the entry fee?

Possibly have a painting competition where instead of models, scenery is the end result?

How about some sort of escalation league located on a certain planet with a specialized location where each time the points values are raised, the players also need to supply and donate a scenery piece that matches the locale. For example, it is set in a war torn city and each time, the players bring a home made ruined building or city themed piece.

Brainstorm with your local players and the shop owner and see what you can come up with.

Everything about this! Don't try to foot it yourself, get the community involved. Building a table's worth of buildings, ruins, and other terrain can be daunting(especially if you are like me and also always have a few modeling projects on the go). Doing up one for an event isn't so bad, and that way you will also get a nice variation. You can put together a single decent foam board ruin with little time and effort, and it's also pretty cheap.

The terrain tutor channel on YouTube is my go to guy for making badass terrain from foam core. I took an hour and 20 minutes, start to finish, with a lunch break, and made an awesome couple of pieces for my quicky games at lunch. Total cost in materials, $1.25!
Also, look up DM Scotty on YouTube/Facebook. His whole thing is cheap and easy terrain from stuff around the house. If everyone is looking at the same tutorials, and using the same materials, then the whole table will come together better