Terrain Bases Are Hot This Week: Template Your 40K Tables Fast

If your group has been chatting about terrain bases and printable templates this week, you are not alone. 40K 11th rewards tables that set up fast, look great, and play clean. Adding simple base boards or cut templates under your ruins is an easy win for both home nights and club events.

Why terrain bases are suddenly everywhere

A terrain base is just a flat footprint that your ruin or feature sits on. It fixes the outline, keeps scatter from drifting, and makes intent crystal clear. In practice that means fewer mid‑game debates about true line of sight and who is in or out of area terrain. It also speeds the pre‑game. You place the bases first, then drop your scenery on top. Done.

• Consistent footprints: the same ruin plays the same every time, across tables.
• Faster setup: two players can lay a whole board in minutes by placing bases first.
• Cleaner rules play: edges and entry points are obvious, so movement stays smooth.
• Better wear resistance: ruins take less handling when they ride on a base or template.

Make fast templates in an hour

You can make a full set on a weeknight. Trace your existing terrain pieces, add straightened edges where you want clean lanes, and cut the shapes from 2 to 3 mm card, thin MDF, or plasticard. Label each template on the underside so it always pairs with the same ruin. If you prefer digital, print outlines on A3 and mount them to foamcore. Seal the surface with a quick layer of Mod Podge or PVA so spray primer will not soak in unevenly.

1. Choose six to eight main footprints for your centerfield ruins.
2. Add four small L shapes for corner occluders and fire lanes.
3. Add two to four long strips that act as walls or barricade lines.
4. Finish with two irregular ovals for craters or rough ground.

That mix gives you a standard, balanced board that you can re‑arrange without losing clarity. If you want ready‑to‑go ruins to ride on those templates, our 28mm Building Ruins and modular 28mm Wall Ruins 6 Pcs drop right on and look the part.

Edge rules: paint and texture that sell the footprint

Templates should be obvious at a glance without shouting over your board. Use two or three grades of texture to telegraph what the piece does. A fine grit inside the line reads as rubble field. A smoother outer ring reads as open ground. Mark entrances with small stone chips or plank offcuts, not bright paint lines. Keep the palette tied to your ruins so the base and scenery feel like one piece.

• Prime dark grey, then dusty drybrush up to a pale stone on the inside area.
• Use a cooler tone on the outside ring so the boundary reads without stripes.
• Add three or four chips of cork to show broken walls where models can enter.
• Drop in a scatter piece or two to anchor the story.

Great examples that pair well with footprint templates include our Rubble Barricades for quick cover lines and the chunky 28mm Craters 4 Pack for rough ground pods.

Terrain packs that love templates

Some kits naturally fit templated play because they have bold, readable silhouettes and broken lines for models to move through. If your club is refreshing its 11th boards this month, consider mixing a few multi‑part ruins with low scatter so you can build lanes and staging areas without clogging movement.

• Ruined Inn: a tall anchor that reads from across the table.
• Ruined Church: arches and naves create clean fire lanes.
• Lost City Building Set 2: modular chunks that drop onto L and T templates.
• Ruined Watchtower: vertical interest with a compact footprint.

For fast perimeter lines, the 28mm Wall Ruins 6 Pcs are perfect for straight or angled strips. When you want a central showpiece that still plays clean, the Ruined Sanctuary brings drama without weird edges.

Match your bases to your scenery

Keep your texture scale in sync. Coarse ballast looks right with heavy masonry like the Ruined Blacksmith, while finer grit suits lighter kits. Seal with matte varnish to protect the work. Our prints ship unpainted and ready to prime. That gives you freedom to match your club’s palette exactly.

Pack a whole table in one crate

Templates stack flat. Store them with a rubber band and a note that lists the matching terrain. Toss a handful of scatter in a pouch and you can set a full board in minutes. A simple loadout might be two anchors, four mediums, two walls, two craters, and three to four barricades. That keeps movement lanes open while still giving real cover and interesting angles for shooting.

Ready to template your table and refresh your scenery in one go? Explore our ruins and scatter, then build your footprint set around them. Start with a couple of anchors like the Basilica Ruins, add flexible pieces like the 28mm Building Ruins, and round things out with Rubble Barricades or 28mm Craters.

Want more options for your club or event pack? Browse the full range at our catalogue and build a template kit that fits your meta.