Terrain without the fuss?
Basically, an article discussing some of the current pre-colored MDF terrain sets and pros and cons
Warsenal
Warsenal is definitely a well known brand in the community around the Infinity wargame by Corvus Belli. Known for producing fantastic quality kits, Warsenal has a line of color printed products, rendered in a high saturation techno-futuristic style. They're on the pricier end, and the community seems split on if they're a luxury or just overpriced, but they're definitely striking.
Perfect for futuristic sci-fi settings where cover is important, and given how important terrain is and how important having a beautiful battleground to fight over is to Infinity players, Warsenal's carved out a solid niche for themselves.
TTCombat
TTCombat has been producing MDF terrain for absolutely ages, and is known for being an affordable quality option. They threw their hat into the ring about a year ago with the launch of their Chroma line, initially with a very retro looking set of bunkers styled after 2nd edition Warhammer 40k White Dwarf terrain, but lately have begun also releasing content for their Carnevale wargame.
The Streets of Venice line is perfect for rendering 18th century venice, and makes for a great gaming table for Carnevale, however I feel it's also strangely suited for the Quarantined Zone in Malifaux, or a niche retro-future capital planet in Infinity where the local administration has gone for an old time aesthetic.
One downside to TTCombat is that (as far as I know) they exclusively use 3mm thick MDF for their kits, without using thinner MDF for detailing. This can lead to everything having a particularly "chunky" aesthetic, though also helps with long term durability. Definitely worth investigating to see if their kits work for you.
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Microart Studio
Microart gets the distinction of two separate entries in this list, as they're producing a sci-fi line suitable for the far future and a line suitable for WW2 and other historic settings.
First up, their sci-fi line looks to be another good contender for Infinity or any other 28mm sci-fi futuristic setting where cover and vertical movement play a part. I do feel that Warsenal slightly edge them out in looks, though recent kits like the Al Madinat range have broken away from the boxy look and are rendering curved and curious playing pieces that make for great centrepieces.
Microart studios WW2 range
Next up is Microart's WW2 offerings, which are notable for being available in both 28mm and 15mm versions. A set of their fences will go together in an hour or so, and immediately liven up a Chain of Command board, while a couple of kits can make a convincing section of a French or Dutch village for Bolt Action. Very reasonably priced, and with easy detailed instructions, I recommend these highly.
Warcradle Scenics
Last up is a bit of an odd duck in this list, but I couldn't leave out Warcradle. Their kits are a bit unique, in that instead of being laser cut and then printed, each sheet of MDF is sprayed a single color and then the components are cut from that. Each piece on a single sheet is the same uniform color, with a bit of shading determined by how the spray was applied.
This does make the designs less detailed, but also gives them a simple uniform aesthetic that makes the terrain fade into the background somewhat, giving a backdrop for your minis to stand out better. Additionally, their kits are fantastic at avoiding the "everything's a box" look that some MDF kits can fall into, with buildings slumping, skewing, and twisting in convincing decrepit fashion.
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What do you think though? Have we missed some of the latest and greatest pre-painted terrain out there? Do you have a particular favorite we should have covered?
