Wargaming · 2026
3D printed terrain for wargames
Can you 3D print terrain for a wargaming table?
Yes, and terrain is one of the things 3D printing does best: ruins, buildings, barricades, containers and woods are printed in FDM, which is cheap and stands up to use on the table, with small details in resin. A small barricade costs about €10 (€6–€17); a 15 cm ruin takes about 4 hours of machine time. Fabrishare is a maker network: post your files for free and get quotes with price and lead time within 24–48 hours.
How much material and how many hours does each piece take?
Estimates from the Fabrishare calculator for typical 28–32 mm scale pieces printed in FDM. For larger pieces, each maker sets the price in their offer.
| Piece | Approximate size | Material | Weight | Machine time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barricade or stack of crates | 6 × 2 × 2.5 cm | FDM | about 6 g | under 1 h (€6–€17) |
| Shipping container | 10 × 5 × 5 cm | FDM | about 35 g | about 2 h |
| Single-storey ruin | 15 × 10 × 12 cm | FDM | about 70 g | about 4 h |
| Two-storey building | 20 × 20 × 25 cm | FDM | about 240 g | about 14 h |
| Skulls, signs, bits | A few millimetres | Resin | A few grams | One resin batch |
With terrain, hours matter more than material: a two-storey building keeps a printer busy for more than half a day. That's why large pieces have no ballpark price: each maker gives you theirs after seeing the files. One trick that saves a lot: nobody looks closely at the layers on a ruin, so it can be printed with thicker layers, which is much faster.
What terrain gets printed
Tabletop is among the most requested work: miniatures and figures made up 28 of the 110 requests registered on Fabrishare between May and October 2026. Terrain takes up most of the table, and it's where 3D printing pays off most compared with buying kits.
Ruins and buildings
The backbone of almost any sci-fi or fantasy table. Best with removable floors, so you can put miniatures inside and store them stacked.
Miniature printing serviceBunkers and barricades
Low cover to block line of sight. Small, cheap pieces, perfect to order in a batch.
Small batch 3D printingContainers and crates
Shipping containers, barrels, ammo crates. Simple shapes that print very well in FDM and paint quickly.
Resin vs FDMWoods and trees
Forest bases with loose trees you lift out to move miniatures. Trunks in FDM; canopies sometimes in another material.
Hills, rivers and roads
Modular pieces that fit together so you can change the table every game. Flat and wide, so they print in few layers.
Boards and tiles
Tiles for skirmish tables or dungeons, with textured floors. They work as well for wargames as for RPGs.
Miniatures for your RPG groupPrimed or painted
Most people order it unpainted or primed; some makers deliver it painted to tabletop standard and quote that separately.
Miniature and figure painting serviceFor display, not for play?
A closed scene with figures and a base is a diorama, and it has its own guide.
Scale dioramas and scenes
What scale should the terrain be?
Terrain has to match your miniatures. Always state the scale in the project: an STL can be printed at any size, and a door a base won't fit through is useless.
28–32 mm, the scale most people play
It's the scale of Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, Kill Team, One Page Rules, Infinity and Bolt Action, among others. Most terrain files on sale are already designed for it.
In practice: doors and gaps must let a 25–32 mm base through, and between floors there must be room for a miniature and a hand to pick it up. If the files are a different scale, ask the maker to rescale them to match your figures.
15 mm and smaller scales
For large battle games at 15 mm, or 6–10 mm, terrain is smaller and cheaper, but detail is lost sooner. Here resin pays off for small, detailed buildings, and FDM for hills and woods.
How much terrain does a table need?
The most common table sizes and a rough idea of how much terrain each one uses. These are guidelines: every game and every group has its own habits.
| Table | Size | Used for | Rough amount of terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small skirmish | 22 × 30 in (56 × 76 cm) | Kill Team and low model-count games | Lots of terrain close together: a very dense table |
| Small game | 44 × 30 in (112 × 76 cm) | Short games of Warhammer 40,000 | About 6–8 pieces |
| Standard game | 44 × 60 in (112 × 152 cm) | Warhammer 40,000 at 2,000 points | About 12 terrain areas on tournament tables |
| Square table | 4 × 4 ft (120 × 120 cm) | Infinity and many skirmish games | About 8 buildings or blocks of different heights |
| Classic table | 6 × 4 ft (180 × 120 cm) | Bolt Action and historical wargames | Roughly a quarter of the surface |
If you're building a whole table, order it in one project: the maker plans all the printing at once, which usually works out better on price and lead time than ordering piece by piece. Say which game it's for, the table size, and whether you already have some of the terrain.
FDM or resin for terrain?
FDM for the big pieces
Buildings, ruins, containers and hills in FDM: much cheaper for large parts, takes knocks and drops on the table, and is light. PLA is more than enough for terrain that lives indoors; only if the table will sit in the sun or in a car in summer is PETG worth it.
Layers show far less than you'd think once primed and painted, and on a ruin they add texture.
Resin for the detail
Skulls, signs, terminals, chains, bits and small parts glued onto the larger terrain. In resin they come out finely detailed; on large pieces resin is expensive and brittle.
What's worth asking for
A few details make terrain more practical:
- Magnet holes, to join floors and modular pieces without gluing.
- Removable floors and stackable pieces, to play inside and store compactly.
- Thicker layers on large pieces: faster and cheaper.
- Filament colour: grey or black makes priming easier.
The file and its licence
There's a huge amount of printable terrain: on MyMiniFactory, Cults3D or Patreon, many designers sell their files with a commercial or «merchant» licence, which lets a maker print them for you and charge for it. There's also plenty of free terrain, but often under a non-commercial licence: since the maker charges for printing, that licence doesn't allow it.
Check the licence before posting the project. And what's never ordered is a copy of a manufacturer's terrain kits: generic terrain (ruins, containers, barricades, woods) is printed from files that allow it.
How to order your terrain
- 1Post your project for free with the files (or links to them), your miniatures' scale and how many pieces you want.
- 2Say which game and table size, whether you want it unpainted or primed, and whether it needs magnets.
- 3Within 24–48 hours you get quotes with price and lead time. Choose one, and the maker prints it and ships it to you.
Questions about wargame terrain
How much does it cost to 3D print wargame terrain?
A small piece such as a barricade costs about €10 (€6–€17), excluding VAT and shipping. Larger pieces depend mainly on machine time: a 15 cm ruin takes about 4 h and a two-storey building about 14 h. Each maker gives you their price after seeing the files.
Which material is best for terrain?
FDM, almost always in PLA: cheap, light and tough enough for knocks on the table. Resin is kept for small details. If the terrain will sit in the sun or in heat, PETG rather than PLA.
What scale is Warhammer 40,000 terrain printed at?
28–32 mm, the same as most miniature wargames. Doors and gaps must let 25–32 mm bases through. State it in the project so the maker prints at your figures' scale.
How much terrain do I need for a 44 × 60 inch table?
Warhammer 40,000 tournament tables use about 12 terrain areas, a mix of large ruins and smaller pieces. For home games, 6 to 12 pieces of different heights give you a playable table, and you can add more over time.
Can I print a miniatures manufacturer's terrain?
No: copying a manufacturer's kits isn't done. What you can do is print generic terrain (ruins, containers, barricades, woods) from designers who sell their files under a licence that allows printing for others.
Does it arrive painted?
Most people order it unpainted, to paint themselves, or primed and ready to paint. Some makers paint: ask in the project and they'll quote it separately.
How long does a full table take?
Quotes arrive within 24–48 hours. Printing depends on how many pieces there are: a full table adds up to dozens of machine hours (a single large building is about 14 h). Each maker states their lead time; for a tournament or a set date, order early.
Do I need to have the files?
The simplest way is to buy or download them yourself and attach or link them in the project. If you're after something specific you can't find, some makers design, and the design is quoted separately.