Gothic Ruins terrain set by Gamemat.eu – review – International Tabletop Gaming Club Berlin e.V.

This post is about the Gothic Ruin Set by gamemat.eu; I ordered it a few weeks ago and was blown away by the quality and value of the whole kit.

I know that when buying a kit from a non-GW (or your chosen “big” manufacturer of minis and terrain) there’s always some hesitation: Will this be good quality? Won’t the new pieces stand out when using my minis next to them? Would I be able to use it in several game systems?

That’s why I decided to write this blog post with this comparison in mind; hopefully the measurements and photos provided can give you a some good insight into the kit and help you make a wise decision 🙂

I added some tiny bits and bobs of models here and there to breathe some life into the ruins – hope they evoke some small stories for you, as they did for me!

Before we start, every ruin piece shares the same characteristics, that is:

they’re made from resin
they’re pre-painted; I asked gamemat.eu and they told me it’s simple base colour (I’d say it’s anthracite) and drybrush (chalk-ish white)
they’re not varnished but I was told you can varnish them as you’d do with minis
the measurements (in italics) come from producer’s website
ultra-precise weighing (kitchen-grade) made by yours truly

Centre piece aka The Cathedral (1x)

1x centre piece Ruin A (LxWxH) in cm 30x20x25 in inches 11.8×7.9×9.9
Weight: 2212g

The biggest piece in the collection; this monstrosity packs a whooping 2kg of weight, with 3 stories, each able to house bigger minis. If you’re looking for your usual “big LoS blocking structure in the middle” then this one will fill the role perfectly!

“The Cathedral” has tons of charm in it; from three different kinds of window frames and different arcs to the corners being adorned by ruined columns and a picturesque tower to top it off (it has a small crack at the top, I plan to plant a magnet there for a banner!).

You can fill up some of the window slits on the ground level with window fillers (visible in some photos). I’m not a big fan of how they stand out a bit from the rest of the building, though.

Large piece aka The Abbeys (2x)

2x large pieces of Ruin B (LxWxH) in cm 20x17x20 in inches 7.9×6.7×7.9
Weight: 1130g

These two L-shaped pieces compliment The Cathedral quite nicely. I think the only bits that really stands out here are the big ground floor openings (which can be filled up by two window fillers) and limited views from the top floor. While I admire the attention to style here, I’m not sure if the top floor would be that usable in games.

Mid piece aka The Gloomy Tower (2x)

2x mid-size pieces of Ruin C (LxWxH) in cm 15x15x18 in inches 6x6x7
Weight: 557g

These pieces I find particularly useful for more than tabletop wargames; Wanto spice up your RPG, add a tiny bit of fancyness to a board game, or get a diorama going? Use The Gloomy Tower!

Small corner piece aka The Ruined Bastions (4x)

4x small-size piece of Ruin D (LxWxH) in cm 12x12x10 in inches 4.7×4.7×4
Weight: 364g

These pieces fit nicely to create something akin to a ruined, hollowed out square fort/tower. Although they’re not as imposing as The Catherdal, I grew to like them because of the size and verticality of them connected together.

Small wall piece aka The Little Walls (5x)

5x wall piece. All 12cm long, highest point is 6cm, can create a continuous line. In inches: 4.7 x 2.4
Weight: varies; 45-95g

I’m planning to use these in my board games, actually! I was a bit afraid that they won’t work as small line of sight blockers, but they do work perfectly as obstacles and can be used to create ruined building foundations easily 🙂 The only issue here is that they’re quite light and can get toppled easier than the other ruins; I’m not sure if I’ll see much mileage from the smallest piece, but that’s just nitpicking.

Should I get it?

Definitely! I loved how bulky and sturdy the pieces are and how both grim(dark) and realistic they look; not to mention they’re pleasing to the eye 🙂

But to be more concrete as to why:

they’re solid (so far!); I rolled over them with my office chair a fair number of times or bumped them off of a piece of furniture and I see no visible damages even without varnish
they’re universal; you can run them in grimdark sci-fi, fantasy, historic games (IMO both WW2 setting and medieval games would work), RPGs and board games
they’re heavy; it’s hard to lift some of these with 1 hand, let alone move them by accident; I really don’t see you moving these when removing minis that died or moving your units
they’re not that expensive (compared to GW terrain for example)
they come pre-painted, meaning you can focus on painting your minis and playing; and if you feel like it, you can always upgrade them with e.g. tiny posters, skulls or plants; I plan to “Nurgleify” mine with greenstuff 🙂

And that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed my review! Next up: Mierce Miniature’s Darklands Banebeasts (I do want to paint them first, though!).

The folks from gamemat were kind enough to give us a discount code: “TTBERLIN” – use it for 10% off at their store.

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