Colonial Caribbean terrain has arrived →

WW2 Soviet miniatures: the Russian range →

Why True Scale matters →
Range note

Customer Showcase: Russian and Austrian Villages on the Wargaming Table

Customer David Case shares his painted Russian, ruined Russian and Austrian village terrain, with historical ideas for using the buildings on the wargaming table.

Published Updated 4 min read
Austrian VillageCustomer ShowcaseNapoleonic TerrainRussian VillageWargaming Terrain
David Case’s painted Russian Village and Russian Church terrain

In brief

Customer David Case shares his painted Russian, ruined Russian and Austrian village terrain, with historical ideas for using the buildings on the wargaming table.

One of the best ways to see historical wargaming terrain is after it has been painted, based and placed into an actual battlefield.

Battle Honours 3D customer David Case recently sent us a collection of photographs showing several of the buildings he has bought from us over the last few years. His collection includes our Russian Village, Russian Ruined Village, Russian Village Church and Austrian Village ranges.

As David put it, the buildings are “well liked down the club”, and his photographs show how much character these models gain once they are painted and brought together as part of a complete battlefield.

David Case’s painted Russian Village and Russian Church terrain

Building a Russian Village for the 1812 Campaign

David has both our standard Russian Village Set and Russian Ruined Village Set, giving him the option to represent the same type of settlement before, during or after heavy fighting.

That combination is particularly useful for games based around Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. Villages, roads and river crossings repeatedly became objectives, defensive positions and reference points as the French army pushed deeper into Russia and then retreated. At Borodino, settlements such as Borodino and Semenovskoe sat directly within the battlefield, showing how villages could become part of the fighting rather than simply scenery around it.

David Case’s painted Russian Ruined Village terrain beside an intact Russian Church

An intact village can represent a settlement before the battle begins, while damaged houses and barns can show the effects of artillery, fire and close fighting as troops contest the same ground.

The Russian Village Church gives the settlement a strong visual centre and can work naturally as an objective, rallying point or recognisable landmark around which a larger village can be built.

David Case’s painted Russian Village Church

The Russian range is not limited to 1812. The buildings can also suit a wider range of Eastern European settings, including the Great Northern War, Crimean War and Russian Civil War where the architecture fits the scenario.

Showing the Damage of War

Having both intact and ruined versions opens up something that is difficult to achieve with a single terrain set: showing a battlefield changing.

A village can begin the game intact, with troops occupying houses and defending roads through the settlement, before ruined buildings are substituted as the fighting develops. It also lets you build scenarios around a settlement that has already been fought over, abandoned or damaged during an earlier stage of a campaign.

For players who want an even stronger centrepiece for a devastated settlement, the Russian Ruined Church can be combined with the ruined houses and barn.

David’s Austrian Village

David has also built and painted our Austrian Village Set, including the Austrian Granary and the different houses supplied within the range.

David Case’s painted Austrian Village terrain

Central European villages were repeatedly caught up in the campaigns against Napoleon. Austria fought major campaigns against France in 1805 and 1809, including Austerlitz, Aspern-Essling and Wagram. Villages around these battlefields could provide cover, anchor defensive lines, control roads and become objectives that infantry had to take or hold.

Painted Austrian village building from David Case’s collection

Painted Austrian village house from David Case’s collection

The Austrian set works well for this because the buildings are deliberately varied rather than being repeated copies of one house. Different footprints and rooflines allow them to be arranged as a village street, a dispersed rural settlement or several separate farmsteads.

David Case’s painted Austrian village buildings on the wargaming table

Painted Austrian village building from Battle Honours 3D

The Austrian Granary adds another type of building to the settlement and helps create the impression of a working agricultural community rather than simply a row of houses.

David Case’s painted Austrian Granary

Painted Austrian Village terrain from David Case’s collection

Painted Austrian village building from David Case’s collection

Terrain That Becomes Part of the Battle

This is ultimately what we want our building ranges to do. A village should not simply fill an empty part of the table. It should create tactical decisions.

Do you defend the houses? Push through the main road? Use the church as a landmark? Fight through a settlement already reduced to ruins? Anchor a flank on a farmstead?

David’s collection shows what happens when individual buildings are gradually added together into a larger battlefield. The result is a settlement that looks convincing but also gives players somewhere meaningful to fight over.

Thanks to David for sending the photographs across and allowing us to share what he has created.

Models featured in this article

Want your collection featured?

Have you painted or built a battlefield using Battle Honours 3D models?

Send us your photos and a few details about what you used. We’re always interested in seeing how customers bring our figures, buildings and terrain to life, and we may feature your work in a future customer showcase, product page or social post.