Timeline Miniatures 28mm ruined buildings review

When I started gaming WW2 I naturally used my 1/72 or 1/76 scale figures on my Märklin model train layout. This was a very long time ago and I used my own homebrew rules that had grown out of simple play. I then discovered "proper" wargaming in the way of Warhammer and was instantly drawn in. Years later when I returned to WW2 gaming I naturally chose 20mm and 6mm as my preferred scale, but secretly I yearned for the magnificent Wargames Foundry figures (I even bought a few) but I realised that terrain would be a big problem, and by terrain I mean buildings.

Two ruins were my choice to test out the range, there are unbombed versions of the same buildings available.

Back then during the late 90's the only 28mm buildings available were the expensive Grand Manner models in resin easily setting you back 50-80 pounds for a house. Not so much now, with the advent of CAD engineering, 3D printing and computer programmed laser engraver and cutters everything is different. There has been a number of small (and large) companies providing laser cut MDF terrain springing up here and there the last couple of years. Timeline Miniatures appears to be the latest in a market that is not yet saturated.

The small ruin opened up. The loose pieces are the left over squares from the window and not used.

Timeline falls into the "Cheap but useful" end of the spectrum, offering a small but diverse range of historical and fantasy buildings in 28, 20 and 15mm scales as well as a few gaming accessories. A lot of their stuff were out of stock but I found two 28mm ruins that would fit a Normandy battlefield. There are also unruined variants of the same buildings available so you can either swap them out with ruins when they get destroyed or just make a bigger farm with some damaged houses.

The parts for the small ruin, a base, two sheets of walls, a window sheet and a debris sheet.

As you can see from the sprues these kits are far from the level of detail that 4Ground uses and they are also unpainted. On the other hand it took me less than an hour to assemble the smaller ruin while a 4Ground hayloft in 20mm took me about five evenings to assemble! While this kit is simple the few details like exposed brickwork and floor tiles here and there are sufficient to add character. The buildings will need painting of course, but as many people like painting their buildings anyway it's no big drawback.

First the inner walls are glued in place.

The instructions provided are simple to follow and most things are obvious where they should go. The fit is good, snug even, so you should pay some mind to the order in which you add different parts.

Overview of the finished ruin. On the left is the debris sprue also included.

A couple of nice touches are the inclusion of a debris sheet and the opening in the walls for the fireplace. A lot of buildings seem to forget that the chimneys should lead somewhere, and the debris will be useful when tarting up the ruin with rubble. One drawback in my mind is the lack of doors, it would have been nice if at least one door was included. Even if the building is a ruin some of the doors would remain although they might be blown off their hinges.

Size comparison with Perry plastic Africa Korps figures

Scalewise the buildings should go well with most 28mm scale figures, although particularly heroic ranges like Warhammer figures would probably be too big.

Size comparison with an Italeri 1:56 scale sherman. 

The base plate is roughly 15 x 10 cm which would make the house around 7,5 x 5 meters in real life. It's a bit small but it is supposed to be just that; a small farm house. The other house is a bit larger. It is nevertheless big enough to provide hull down position to tanks and fully conceal smaller vehicles like a kübelwagen or a bren gun carrier.

"Peekaboo!"

At only £6 the small ruin is a steal! The larger ruin costs £12 but has a larger base, removable partial upper floor and half a roof so is totally worth it. The drawback as ever is the weight and postage to Europe is a whopping £10 flat rate if you order less than £40 worth. (UK postage is only £2, go figure.) So get a couple of mates together and order several houses at once. I received an email the morning after I placed the order that my stuff had been sent, and a week later they impacted my mailbox.

To summarise I give the Timeline Miniatures buildings 5 out of 5 because of their low cost.