Advanced Terrain Review

For those of you that may have not heard of Advanced Terrain they are a small start up that had a hugely successful kick-starter project last year. At the most basic level their products are affordable, pre-painted rubber terrain for your gaming table. The ingenuity of their product is really in the use of rubber to make super durable terrain. In fact, they have a video on their site of a car tire running over a terrain piece and after it bounces back to shape, it is as good as new.

After researching it a bit I enthusiastically backed the kick-starter project last fall and have been chomping at the bit ever since for the terrain to arrive. Well, I am happy to report that is has arrived and it is as good as advertised. For my backing level I received a set of the Conseptum Walls and Domus Ruins both painted in aged brownstone. I will be doing a more extensive review after I've had a chance to play with it on the table but for now here are my initial thoughts.  Suffice it to say if you are in the market for some pre-painted terrain you really ought to check this stuff out. 

Design

The masters were constructed using Hirst Art molds and the pieces have the look of a broken down cathedral. I really like the aesthetic but I realize that it's a personal preference and some folks may not care for it. One thing that I really appreciate is that they have consciously kept the terrain universal so it may be used for fantasy or sci-fi games. For example, there are no bullet holes or shields on the pieces that would push the terrain to be used with 40K or Fantasy. Seeing the two sets they've come out with so far I'm really excited for what the future holds.

Paint

The terrain is available unpainted or painted in your choice of two colors, Grimdark Gray and Aged Brownstone. I opted for the latter to give it a different look from the rest of my terrain collection. After looking at the pieces up close, I am very impressed that they took the time to use three different base colors. This gives the terrain an interesting color pallet that makes it stand out from some of the other pre-painted offerings on the market. The terrain's basic color is sandstone with blue roof tiles and gold inlays in the floor. Each color was applied and highlighted using a combination of dry brushing and washes. Overall, I am very satisfied with the paint job.

Durability

While I have not driven the car over it yet I have bent the pieces, dropped them in the floor and generally treated them as rough as possible. I even let my 3 year old have at them to build her "castle". We will see long term how they fare but it does appear that they will survive the worst we gamers can throw at it.