Dwarven Forge Terrain

[Grumpy Gnome]

Thanks Bloggard, I am sure my wife will be pleased to hear that.

Robh, according to 5he comments on Mythical Lairs it did not end well.

Evidence would suggest Itar is not a bad person and just got overwhelmed by a bigger success than he expected... like many Kickstarter projects. 7th Sea 2nd Edition comes immediately to mind.

I am surprised to hear about that with D&L 1. Glad to hear Archon Studios helped you with it.

Since our Hagglethorn Hollow pledge is in my wife’s account... and she is much less vocal than me.. we have no visible presence there in the comments but we read every single one. We have been tracking things with QML and ShipQuest. Given the latest comments we might see deliveries in the EU before the States... which really surprises me. I can not help but wonder what has gone wrong with QML in the States.

Communication with TT has been unacceptably abysmal. Ike and Johnny may be great guys but they do not seem able to respond to overwhelming customer feedback about communication. It makes it hard for me to trust them. My wife is more forgiving. But I want to be careful not to slag them off because the delays may be fairly innocent... so for now my judgement of them is reserved.

I am confused on how VAT is being handled on Kickstarter rewards. So my wife and I are prepared to get hit with VAT on HH but we may get pleasantly surprised.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion of DF, I have low opinions of some folks, but I would like to see evidence before judging anyone myself. So far Stefan and DF has displayed only above board behavior from what I have seen. Perhaps not all of the DF fan base but almost all fan bases have some problematic members.

[Grumpy Gnome]

The Dwarven Forge forums can be a bit of a challenge to navigate but one subforum worth having a look at if you want to see how DF is so much more than just dungeon tiles.

https://www.dwarvenforge.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13

Especially when you consider the non-factory paint schemes some folks do.

Whilst many folks complain about the increasing prices each Kickstarter, DF has grown more complicated and more diverse in application.

The reason I keep beating this drum is that in the past I found myself influenced by the commonly voiced criticisms of DF without appreciating the positive points that I now see.

[Bloggard]

great stuff in those forum threads for sure.

DF's stuff has a 'playful' quality which increasingly appeals to me. But out of reach for me - very glad it exists tho'.

[Grumpy Gnome]

I think the DF aesthetic is at its best when it is whimsical. It helps with scaling issues.

[Grumpy Gnome]

This thread in particular, not only for his original build but what he does using “ruins” components during his takedown of the build.

It is a cathedral... but oh so much more.

https://www.dwarvenforge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=11866

[Grumpy Gnome]

So, my original plan was to use our old GW Citadel grass mat (golf course green grass)... but it just is not working for us.

We love the DF Dreadhollow Forest 1x1 terrain trays (neoprene with a layer of sheet metal to allow magnetized terrain to stick) but it is not cost effective to cover a 6x4 table that way.

https://shop.dwarvenforge.com/collections/wilderness-painted/products/6-a141-t_12x12-forest-terrain-tray-pack?variant=31983817162855

A neoprene 6x4 gaming mat makes sense to us as a foundation... but which one?

We are leaning towards Deep Cut.... but the double sided Monster Fight Club mat has its appeal. You can see in the attached photos a Deep Cut Studio dice tray under a DF forest tile and next to a DF forest terrain tray. The DF terrain tray looks crisper, and slightly more vibrant than the Deep Cut... at least in person to the naked eye compared to how it looks in the photo.

The other picture is the forest tile sitting on the reverse side of the DF terrain tile... a much brighter pattern.

Does anyone here have both the Deep Cut and Monster Fight Club mats that can compare them for us?

Or perhaps suggest another mat the compliments the DF terrain?

[Grumpy Gnome]

I forgot to mention we have been painting some dungeon tiles from scratch, without the tackiness issues some others talk about. Brush on Vallejo acrylic primer rather than aerosol being a key point.

We were going to avoid getting into DF dungeons and just use the more cost effective Dungeons and Lasers but our mate Tom gave us too tempting an offer with his old DF dungeon pieces...

For now we are trying to match the dungeon pieces to the factory paint we have on our castle pieces.

As for gaming mats my wife and I like the MFC grass side but not the desert side... not for desert anyway. My wife thinks the desert side might work for negative space dirt roads but may be too busy for a full, open table.... causing the minis to get “lost”.

And she wants to use a magnetic whiteboard under the mat to creat a 6x4 terrain tray.... so a double sided neoprene mat may be too slippery.

So a Deep Cut plains and a Deep Cut savanna mat are back in the lead.

But we still welcome input... we will not be making a decision and purchase until next week.

[Citizen Sade]

FWIW, I’m very happy with all my Deep Cut mousepad mats. I went muddy fields rather than savannah for my grassy one though.

£90 for a 6x4 MFC mat seems quite expensive to me. Especially if you don’t think you’ll get much use out of one side of it.

[Grumpy Gnome]

My wife and I noticed that muddy fields seems to be about he most popular Deep Cut mat. However we thought the plants and mud on it might be counter productive with the DF tiles and terrain trays.

We thought the plains mat might offer a better option as a foundation piece with just grass and small stones as well as offering a lighter, more open field look compared to the DF forest.

But we do wonder if we are missing something considering how popular muddy fields is.

And the savanna we want to use for any arid environments.

[Grumpy Gnome]

We have gotten our hands on more Dwarven Forge terrain and our opinion of it has only gotten better. We love this stuff.

If you are curious to read more details about why…

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/06/18/dwarven-forged-part-3-june-restock-loot-haul-and-review/

One question that keeps coming up from DF staff is what else can they make thatbpeiole would want. Is there something DF does not make that you want?

And, given their next Kickstarter will focus on city buildings…

Is there something about their buildings that you do not like? Something you wished they did different?

[Dolnikan]

That looks very interesting indeed! And if they focus on buidings, I think I might also give them a try. One day I'll have that table!