Fantasy Battleground is a 14 page PDF. The first page is a cover splash page, as is the last page. The majority of the product is made up of images, eight squares by eight squres, with information on where the image takes place in the overall illustration on the bottom. The illustratons are color heavy, so go draft or laser print or be prepared to pay.
There are no bookmarks and no instructions outside of what is printed on the image page. One thing that would be handy to have here, is like 0one and some other maps publishers do, is to make an overall image so that the reader can see what the total effect will be like when assembling.
The battleground includes flags, wagons, weapons, grasslands, small fires, barrels and other bits that you might see from a finished batle. The art is solid, having a soft look but due to the nature of the illustrations being 2-D images, miniatues may look slightly off in comparission. For example, some of the barrels would be absolutely huge compared to standard 28mm figures. The flags go three or four squres. With miniatures the flags would take up one square. It's like a 3/4 view which doesn't necessarily work with flat maps.
One potential problem for some is that the images are very specific in how they play out. While someone with more imagination and time could find it useful, the way the images line up means that the images are going to form one larger picture and aren't meant to be used like some dungeon tiles might be where there is potential of shuffling the tiles around.
The product's relatively low cost, the quality of the art, and it's size, 3 top, 3 second, 3 middle, and 3 bottom, insures that if you're playing a game that requires some large scale size, like 4e, that you should be covered. There are several pieces that could be counted as difficult terrain, there are small woods to take cover in, and there are wagons to use for a quick retreat. The variety allows for some deeper strategies if your players enjoy that aspect of the game.
Fantasy Battleground will be a solid product for those looking for another outdoor encounter where the action just finished.
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