Advice wanted: traditional or modular terrain?

First of all, I've been absent a loooong time but it's really great to see this forum is still active Seems you just can't stop Mordheimers

Now, me and my friends are getting back into Mordheim (thanks, Age of Sigmar!) and ofcourse I'm feeling an itch to make some terrain again. But I was wondering: should I just make traditional terrain, aka smaller pieces that are easy to move around and allow for a wide variety of setups? or, should I try modular terrain: larger pieces that each contain a lot of structures an can make the board seem more like a whole?

I'm really intrigued by doing the modular pieces. Anyone here have any experience with this? Advice will be much appreciated.

(I was thinking about pieces 1 square foot which could individually be replaced and turned around. Ofcourse ideally there would be a variety of pieces to keep things fresh)

It really depends on what you're after. Modular allows for some amazing scenery with density, details and added stability, so you don't accidentally shunt a house 1½ inches in the wrong direction (Big, clumsy hands...).

Smaller bits are better in terms of versatility, and if you add in some platforms that fit under your houses at various elevations, you're suddenly looking at a lot of extra possibilities.

It also depends on your personal storage capacity. Modular tiles tend to take up more room and can be more of a challenge to transport. I play at the LGS so all of my terrain must be easy to store, light and transportable. It should also be sturdy, but you can't have everything.

Good advice. Say I went with the modular terrain, any tips on constructing the bases?

I could be wrong, but though many people say they are going the 1x1 modular route, few post photos of the completed project... Of course, this doesn't mean that they gave it up as a bad job, but that's what I conclude from the lack of evidence to the contrary.

Good luck Grasshopper!

As for a basing material, well how deep do you want your base?  Do you want to texture or carve it? Or are you going to add a textured material?

I started out with modular 1x1' boards, but was dissapointed with the variety in options and setups. So with dread and a heavy hart I went and cut all the elements off their boards and since use them as seperate items, which creates much more diversity and options, both in density and angles, and makes for a nicer board and playability.

My scenery thread has some pictures of the modular bits in the first pages, later on you can compare that with the seperate pieces and it's layouts.