Extra Large Rocky Hill – Sandstone does exactly what it says on the tin, as long as you regard 14” (36cm) x 8” (21cm) as extra large, which, I guess, for 15mm Flames of War figures it is. This is a nicely made solid piece of typical desert terrain. I say solidly made, I think it’s made of dense, expanded polysterene foam like wall insulation and when I got mine out of the box one of the thinner edges broke slightly. It did glue back together fine, so that’s alright. It sits on a piece of black felt.
It looks great and the painting is spot on. Sandstone is a sedimentary rock and as such it is formed in flat layers on the sea bed. Whilst these layers can get pushed up and distorted through subsequent earth upheavals there should always be a discernible strata like effect to its appearance. I was a railway modeller for many years and I was often disappointed on otherwise impeccable layouts seeing stony hills that were just grey or brown blobs with no proper structure. That is not the case here as we have clear strata.
The flatness, of course, has the additional benefit that you can site figures, guns and even vehicles on it. The picture shows some German SdKfw 251 half-tracks lying in wait (or hiding from) some British Valentine tanks all from the Battlefront Miniatures range and not included with the Hill.
In terms of setting the scene for a battle it is versatile and immediately provides some cover and elevation for ranged weapons. I will be getting another of these as I feel a couple of them will set a backdrop of a range of low hills. It also helps that it is reasonably priced.