The Army Painter Battlefields Basing Set with PVA Glue, Tufts and Grass Review (2026)

What it is

This is The Army Painter's Battlefields Basing Set, an all-in-one modelling kit sold with basing glue and a mix of ground materials meant to take a miniature base from bare plastic to a finished, textured scene. It is aimed at both tabletop wargamers building army bases and hobbyists working on dioramas and terrain, where matching materials across every model in a collection matters for a consistent look. Because it bundles several material types rather than one, it works well as a first purchase for someone who has never based a miniature before and does not know which individual products to buy.

Key features

According to the manufacturer, the set includes a free 50ml bottle of Battlefields Basing Glue, 35 pieces of Swamp Tuft in varying sizes, plus Brown Battleground, Battlefield Rocks, Summer Undergrowth, Battlefield Field Grass and Battlefield Snow, along with a printed technique painting guide. That is a broader spread of materials than the glue-tufts-grass description suggests, and it means a single set can produce bases with texture, greenery and a light snow effect rather than just flat grass tufts. The basing glue itself is a non-toxic, water-soluble PVA formula that can be thinned with water to adjust its viscosity for different materials.

Build and materials

The glue is described by the manufacturer as a non-toxic PVA (polyvinyl acetate) adhesive built specifically for gluing rocks, sand, grass and other basing material to a base or terrain piece, rather than a generic craft glue. The tufts and grass elements are pre-formed static grass clumps that you glue directly onto the base rather than loose flock that needs to be applied and trimmed by hand, which speeds up the basing process considerably. Because this is a curated bundle rather than a bulk pack, quantities of each individual material are modest, which is the natural trade-off for getting several material types in one box.

How it compares

Against other basing material sets aimed at the same market, this one stands out for including ready-mixed glue in the box, since several competing kits assume you already own basing glue and only supply the texture materials. Kits built around a single material, such as slate stone or cork rubble alone, offer more volume of that one material for the price but require separate purchases to cover glue, grass and variety. For a first basing set this bundle's mix of rock, ground texture, grass and snow gives more visual variety out of the box than a single-material kit can, at the cost of smaller individual quantities per material than a dedicated bulk pack would provide.

Who should buy it

This suits a wargamer or hobbyist starting an army from scratch who wants one purchase that covers glue and a range of basing textures rather than shopping for each material separately. It is also useful for painters wanting to add a snow or swamp theme to a handful of models without committing to a large bag of any single material. Painters who already have a favorite basing glue and simply need more grass tufts or ground texture in bulk may get better value from single-material refill packs instead of this bundled starter set. Anyone building a themed display board or diorama will also appreciate having snow, rock and grass on hand in one box rather than three separate orders.

Frequently asked questions