Lizardmen Terrain for Warhammer Fantasy

Introduction

Ever since I first saw the glorious terrain in the Warhammer Fantasy 5th edition Battle Book back in 1996 I wanted to create fantastical battlefields and enchanted realms of my own. I think terrain is an important part of the hobby, and there's nothing quite like having a gaming board full of themed terrain pieces to match the narrative of your battle!

During the summer of 2024 I spent a lot of time working on terrain themed around battles in Lustria, home of the Lizardmen. This vast continent is infamous for its deep jungles and foetid swamps infested by various deadly creatures, both big and small! Having painted a small army of Lizardmen in the previous Call of the Crown painting challenge I was keen on building some terrain to go with the army.

In this article, I’ll take you through the materials and methods I used for the project, followed by a detailed look at each terrain piece.

So, grab your insect repellent, don your tropical helmet and put on your sunglasses as we travel to far-off Lustria!

Building

There are of course many materials you can use to build structures for your wargaming table, but I haven't found anything that can beat the humble XPS insulation board! In my case I picked up a big sheet of the blue variant (1185x585x50mm) from my local hardware store for about 9€. A sheet this size will be enough for quite a few terrain pieces! The material is quite sturdy, while still lightweight. It’s also easy to cut and takes paint really well.

Cutting

A fine-toothed saw or sharp knife works for cutting XPS insulation board, but it can’t really compare to a hot wire cutter. I’m fortunate enough to have a Proxxon Thermocut 230/E, but there's probably cheaper alternatives out there. A hot wire cutter will produce clean cuts and leaves no crumbs like a saw might do. I can't recommend one enough if you're planning on building a lot of terrain!

Glueing

When it comes to glueing XPS insulation board together I’ve used standard PVA glue which seems to work well. I would not recommend using a hot glue gun since this could melt the foam.

Basing

For basing I haven't found anything better than PVC foam board (also known as “expanded PVC foam sheet”). I use the 3mm thick variant for all my terrain bases. This material is light and easy to cut. It doesn't absorb water, so it won't warp easily. Larger pieces can warp as the glue dries, but in my experience it’s generally not an issue. After cutting out the shape I need, I bevel the edges using a sharp knife. I have previously also used MDF (medium-density fibreboard) for terrain bases, and it generally works just as well. To prevent warping from moisture, I always seal the MDF with an oil-based paint before use. MDF is slightly heavier than PVC foam board but it is often easier to find at your local hardware store.

Texturing

I've seen a lot of instances where sand is recommended for texturing stone walls or rocks, but I think it's too coarse in most cases. I tend to use tile grout (unsanded) instead, as this material is a lot finer and thus suits the 28mm scale better. I textured all the structures in this article by applying a layer of thinned down PVA glue followed by tile grout through a sieve. Once the glue had dried I sealed the grout in place with a black primer. Be careful not to use a spray that melts the foam! I used a black spray from Liquitex that worked fine.

Painting

All the stone was painted in the same way across all the terrain pieces. I started by undercoating with a black spray from Liquitex, followed by a dark grey basecoat (cheap wall paint). This was followed by an overall wash of a brown colour to give the stone a weathered look. I then took a medium grey wall paint and gave the entire model a heavy drybrush. In the final step I used a cream colour to apply a light drybrush to all the edges.

Vines

The structures all have various amounts of clump foliage glued on in order to simulate jungle vines growing on them. The vines were made out of the small bits of clump foliage peeled off the larger pieces I used when creating the bamboo trees (see below). I used super glue when sticking on the vines so I didn’t have to worry about bits falling off when placing the next piece of foliage. Once I was happy with the amount of vines I applied a drybrush of a yellow ochre colour to provide some highlights.

The Snake Statues

The snake statues were based on the ones made by the GW model makers that appeared in the 2005 Warhammer Fantasy 6th edition Lustria supplement. I decided to make two standing statues and two that had fallen over. The main part of the statues were made from a rectangular piece of insulation foam with grooves cut into the front and back to form a stylised snake shape. Once I had made four statues I broke apart two of them and arranged the pieces to simulate them having toppled over. The eyes were made by drilling small holes and glueing red plastic crystals in place. The models from the book had small alcoves carved into them that were filled with skulls, and naturally I had to do the same on mine! I looted my bitz box for various skulls (human and orc) and glued them in place before painting them all in one go. I imagine the Lizardmen would place the heads of defeated enemies in these alcoves as offerings to Sotek (and to serve as a warning to would-be invaders). The coloured pattern around the alcoves were painted with red and yellow mixed with grey to make the colours a bit more muted.

In the game

I would treat the standing statues as line of sight-blocking impassable terrain providing hard cover. They’re not that wide, so only single characters or really small skirmishing units would be able to hide behind them with any real success. As for the fallen statues I would treat them as difficult terrain instead of impassable. They are pretty wide so it would be possible to hide most units behind them without any trouble.

The Spawning Pool

The spawning pool was inspired by the model in the 6th edition Lizardmen army book. The structure was pretty straightforward to build since it just consists of a rectangle of brick shapes with a layer of flagstones on top. Once the basic shape was in place I cut out four snake statues for the corners and stuck them on. At this stage you should make sure that there’s no gaps between the stones in the base. You could use some PVA glue and tile grout to seal any gaps (I made the mistake of skipping this step which led to a small bit of resin leakage). I textured and painted the entire model before adding the water effects. I also made sure to paint the bottom of the pool in a dark green colour in case it would be visible through the resin. The water was made from two-part epoxy resin coloured by a few drops of green contrast paint from GW. After pouring the resin I added a few lily pads cut from a plastic plant to make the pool a bit more interesting. As a final detail I added the Blot Toad model from the Terradon/Ripperdactyl set.

In the game 

The spawning pool could be used as a water feature (pond), and would count as difficult terrain for most units. These sites are sacred to the Lizardmen, so the pool would make for a suitable objective for invaders. The attacking force would seek to capture the pool and defile it, while the Lizardmen would fight hard to defend it!

The Shrine of Sotek

The shrine is mostly based on the model in the Lustria book, but whereas the GW Studio had a sacrificial altar in the centre of theirs, I instead decided to make a snake pit. The main body of the shrine was made from two identical halves with a circular hole cut in the middle. The two halves were then glued together and a piece of 3 mm thick XPS insulation board was added to the bottom of the pit. I then used a ball pen to score a flagstone pattern into the floor. The snake statues were made in a similar way to the larger ones described above, but on a smaller scale. The eyes were made by drilling a small indent and glueing on plastic pearls. The snakes in the pit were made out of green stuff and painted in various colours. I added a few plastic skulls to the pit to represent previous victims, as well as some leaf litter. The coloured pattern around the pit was painted in the same way as the ones on the snake statues.

In the game

The shrine consists of a raised platform, so I would use the rules for hills to represent it in the game. To make things interesting the snake pit could count as dangerous terrain for anyone moving across it! The shrine would obviously be important to the Lizardmen so it could be used as an objective to fight over. Maybe the Lizardmen have captured an important enemy character and are about to sacrifice him to Sotek? The enemy forces would have to free their companion before it is too late!

The Ziggurat

The ziggurat is a pretty simple build consisting of XPS insulation board cubes arranged in three layers to make a stepped structure. I added some steep steps to both of the long sides to provide access to the top of the ziggurat.To make the building a bit more interesting I added a small sacrificial altar to the top platform and splashed it with some blood effects for good measure!

In the game

Since the ziggurat is a rather tall structure it would serve well as a hill. It could be used as an objective to fight over, or maybe you could have a special rule which gives any wizard standing at the summit extra power cards or dice for spellcasting. This would represent the wizard tapping into the power of the Old Ones.

Ruined Buildings

These were based on the ruins in the Lustria supplement and quite easy to build. I started out by drawing an outline on the base for where the walls would be. I applied a thin layer of Milliput where the floor would be and used a texture roller to create the flagstone pattern. The walls were glued in place before the putty had dried so that any gaps in the floor could be filled in. The structures were painted as described above, but a terracotta colour was applied to the walls to create a bit of variety and to break up the grey.

In the game

The ruined buildings would count difficult terrain and/or obstacles depending on how intact the walls are. The ruins would provide hard cover for any troops occupying them.

Bamboo Trees

These jungle trees are described in the Lustria supplement and they’re pretty straightforward to make. The foliage was made from Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage glued to bamboo skewers painted in a dark green colour. For the undergrowth I used various plastic terrarium plants and for the jungle floor I used some leaf litter. The tree foliage was finished off with a light drybrush of a yellow ochre colour to create some highlights.

In the game

The jungles would count as difficult terrain (or maybe very difficult if you want to represent dense jungle!) and provide soft cover. If you’re feeling particularly devious you could also invent rules for dangerous creatures lurking in the undergrowth! Maybe any unit that enters the terrain would lose a member on a roll of ‘1’ or suffer D6 S3 hits or something similar.

Further ideas

I still have some ideas for future projects I want to add to my Lustrian terrain collection. A few swamps, a river and maybe a magical portal. A terrain builder’s work is never done it seems!