Warhammer 40,000 – Battlezone: Fronteris – Battlefield

The final piece from the Nachmund bundle is the Fronteris Battlefield for Warhammer 40,000.

At a price of 45 EUR or 35 GBP (~42 EUR) RRP, you receive two double sided battlefields made from card board. Each is measuring 30" by 22.4" (76cm x 56.8cm) and 1.5mm thick. These are the new measurements for Warhammer 40,000 games, not the classic 4 by 6 feet anymore.

The smallest surface these can be fold into is still about double the size from the other boards, that were produced with Killzone. Once unfolded they cover four time their size.

The print is clean and the surface has a flat, non-glossy finish. Details are sharp, compared to some of the Blood Bowl designs that I saw on the themed pitches by Games Workshop, this is not overly post-processed and is taken from real models instead of digital art.

Here you can see it next to one of the smaller fields, that were part of the Killzones or Speed Freeks. Once of the four sides is slightly more reddish, a discolouration or off-colour which can happen during printing. But that is not a big problem. A bit more irritating is the rather random looking design of the ruins or base plates. As you can see, the middle picture covers a road that ends nowhere and is not picked up on one of the other designs either.

As part of the Nachmund bundle, it can be seen here in combination with the three Fronteris terrain kits and provides a surface for an entry level game of Warhammer 40k.

Conclusion

This really doesn't speak to me. For multiple reasons. First off, all these card boards started out as a cheap replacement for gaming mats. Something aimed at new players, and especially those with not that much room. So, with the purpose of Kill Team, they make sense. Especially as they were a free goodie, that you'd receive with your terrain and provide you with something quick and easy to counter Friday-Night-Magic events or other trading card games played in FLGS.

But now, they are priced 45 EUR for a single set. Each one is around 75 x 55 cm, so the two in this kit will provide ~110 by 75 cm, far from a decent generic 180 on 120 cm / 6 by 4' table or even 120 on 120 / 4 by 4'. Yet, that size is enough for a regular sized Warhammer table of 44 by 30 inch for 2.000 points. A bit crowded for other non-skirmish settings. 45 EUR is entry level for many gaming mats and the card board does not provide a real advantage storing either. You fold these, you roll the others. And for stability purposes, you need a stable underground for both, as the card board may reach over the tables edge, but God-forbid you place miniatures or something on there, let alone an elbow.

Games Workshop isn't even consistent on their pricing here. Blood Bowl pitches of a similar size come with more content (as you have the dug outs along with the pitch) and are cheaper (yet moved up from 30 EUR to 40 EUR), and certainly produced in a lower number than their main-game battlefields.

So, sorry for not having more love for this product. But as mentioned above, the price isn't doing them any good. The design is nothing special and lacks certain logic (for example the Killzones would connect design wise and create a larger themed board) and for stability, with 1.5mm they are not really above average, nor creating something that would extend your tables surface. For that price I can only recommend a smaller game mat instead of these, as you can already get 44 by 30" mouse pads (size of two of these boards / one set) for the same budget.

Warhammer 40,000 is a brand by Games Workshop

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.