I work in the tech industry, so I think I'm supposed to be really excited about 3d printing but I have to admit that actually, I'm not very. It's a cool technology and all, and maybe some day I will be excited about it, but since it started I've never seen a great use case for it (I know, I know, you can print parts to things that you'd have to otherwise make a trip to a hardware store for, and I don't care). At best, it seems like a mild convenience. And appropriately, my most recent purchase for the tabletop has been some scatter terrain printed by somebody 100 kilometres away for my convenience.
What's scatter terrain?
Scatter terrain is the wargaming version of dollhouse furniture. It's more than just furnishings, though, and can be any kind of "set dressing" for a tabletop dungeon or battlefield. Because the stuff you use for scatter terrain are physical objects, your little toy soldiers have to negotiate their ways around or over them, and in some systems they can interact with them. In most wargames I play, my miniature [plastic] people can loot coffins and treasure chests and footlockers and dumpsters and wardrobes and so on, and they can shoot barrels to cause an explosion (yes, I stole that trope from video games) and so on. Whatever level of interaction you intend for your scatter terrain, the point is that scatter terrain pieces are small items that get scattered around your wargame battlefield as obstacles or opportunities for your player pieces.
Stuff that works
I'd already gotten some scatter terrain from Titan Terran, made out of MDF. It's served me well in sci fi and modern settings, and a few crates even work well in fantasy and historical settings. I decided I also wanted some generic scatter terrain that wasn't too specific to any given time period or universe.
The thing about living in New Zealand is that it's really really far away from literally everything. The likelihood of niche game supplies ending up on the calm shores of Aotearoa is pretty slim. Many of the hobby shops I do have nearby (if an hour away can be called nearby) have some supplies for model trains, which is cool but not what I'm looking for. The Warhammer store is also an hour away, but I don't it has Sigmar or Middle-earth scatter terrain (it has some Warcry terrain, but not small items of detritus like I'm looking for).
So I looked on Trademe (that's New Zealand's Ebay) and found some guy with a 3d printer and a license to print models from a few different designers. Specifically:
I didn't know at the time of purchase that the models were 3d printed, to be honest. It said they were, in the description, but all I read was the size and the price.
- Gravestones: Useful in literally any setting as both objective markers, lootable locations, and obstacles.
- Sarcophagi: Specifically for use on my Balin's Tomb board, but also good for fantasy and historic settings. Some even work as generic crates in any setting.
- Statues: I got some "dwarf king" statues to serve as pillars on my Balin's Tomb board, but they'll work equally as well in fantasy and 40k.
- Wardrobes: I didn't love any of the treasure chests I saw available, but I figured a few chest of drawers and wardrobes wouldn't be out of place in any given warzone or zombie apocalypse. I got a few literally just to qualify for free shipping.
The results were, well, good enough. All of them looked 3d printed, with the usual tell-tale striations.
You can see the layers in the pile of skulls in the photo, and the built-in terrain features on the base look like what an alien would think the Earth looks like after studying topographic surveys but not the corresponding photos. But you know what? It's scatter terrain, and it just doesn't matter. I slapped some paint onto the pieces and I've been incorporating them into my games for months, and never once did the quirks of set dressing affect my enjoyment of the game.
The guy printing the pieces sold them as a sort of lucky-dip mix, with a few items from Fat Dragon and a few from Ill-Gotten Games, and so on. Some of the sarcophagi were great as generic loot boxes or as fantasy tombs, while others looked exactly like a tomb.
Would maybe buy again
If I had the choice between 3d printed scatter terrain, resin scatter terrain, MDF, and standard plastic, I'd pick standard plastic every time. The reality is that I don't have that choice, and even if I did I'm not sure they'd be at the same price point. Scatter terrain doesn't feel essential, so it's hard to justify taking too much time out of your day or money out of your wallet to get it. Here's my ranking:
- Normal plastic is best
- MDF and 3d printed work well enough
- Resin probably looks great but it's going to snap apart when you drop it and you'll spend a day trying to get it glue back together, and then it'll break again anyway
Physical gaming
Tabletop gaming is flexible, and that's one of the many things I love about it. I don't think all game boards need to be 3d. You don't miss when it's not there, but I admit it's enjoyable to have around.
Photos licensed Creative Commons cc0.