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Written by Raf
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Wednesday, 13 October 2010 |
Page 1 of 7 Thereis always a suggestion to use terrain to your advantage. With the newrules out, I want to throw some ideas out on how to do that. Eachtype of terrain will be discussed, with discussion by category. A fewideas on tactics and a few on setting up terrain are included.
HillsHillsare generally treated as open ground. This makes them our friends.Cavalry can move up and down most hills and not have to takedangerous terrain tests. Thecrossbar on a trebuchet is about two inches up; it is a fairly largemodel. If there are low hills (say 1 1/2 inches high), then you canplace a trebuchet behind the hill and gain hard cover. You will stillhave line of sight. Abouncing cannonball will stop when it hit terrain that it cannot gothrough. A hill is such a piece of terrain. Units behind a hillshould be safe from most cannon fire. Multi-layer hills look likesteps and are even more interesting, because there are more placesfor the cannonballs to catch. Thereare also three special types of hill terrain in the book. Anvil ofVaul is very powerful. Units within six inches gain flaming andmagical attacks. Nearby bowmen and trebuchet will be able to affectethereal creatures. Attacks will also negate regeneration, making thelore of life less useful. Scree Hills are a mixed bag. They aretreated as dangerous terrain for all units moving through them. Theyare good places to put units vulnerable to attack, like bowmen. Theother type of hill is the Temple of Skulls. This allows one characterto risk fate worship a chaos god. Being fickle, the character cangain a stat bonus or be killed. Flavor wise, I suppose the characterwould be slain by members of the unit... Useful enough on a cheappaladin, but not so good on a wizard or lord - the risk is just toomuch. Sowhere do you place hills? Generally, place hills in a deploymentarea. If your opponent is running a gunline, then you may want toplace hills in the center of the board to disrupt his lines of fire.Also, if your opponent is running ethereal creatures (i.e. VampireCounts) or trolls (regeneration) consider placing an Anvil of Vaultowards a combat area (especially in the watchtower scenario).
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Last Updated ( Friday, 24 December 2010 )
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Discuss (10 posts)
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Terrain Analysis
Aug 10 2010 22:48
There is suggestion to use terrain to your advantage. With the new rules out, I want to throw some ideas out on HOW to do that.
Hills:
Hills are generally treated as open ground. This makes them our friends. Cavalry can move up and down most hills and not have to take dangerous terrain tests.
The crossbar on a trebuchet is about two inches up; it is a fairly large model. If there are low hills (say 1 1/2 inches high), then you can place a trebuchet behind the hill and gain hard cover. You will still have line of sight.
A bouncing cannonball will stop when it hit terrain that it cannot go through. A hill is such a piece of terrain. Units behind a hill should be safe from most cannon fire. Multi-layer hills look like steps and are even more interesting, because there are more places for the cannonballs to catch.
There are also three special types of hill terrain in the book. Anvil of Vaul is very powerful. Units within six inches gain flaming and magical attacks. Nearby bowmen and trebuchet will be able to affect ethereal creatures. Attacks will also negate regeneration, making the lore of life less useful. Scree Hills are a mixed bag. They are treated as dangerous terrain for all units moving through them. They are good places to put units vulnerable to attack, like bowmen. The other type of hill is the Temple of Skulls. This allows one character to risk fate worship a chaos god. Being fickle, the character can gain a stat bonus or be killed. Flavor wise, I suppose the character would be slain by members of the unit... Useful enough on a cheap paladin, but not so good on a wizard or lord - the risk is just too much.
So where do you place hills? Generally, place hills in a deployment area. If your opponent is running a gunline, then you may want to place hills in the center of the board to disrupt his lines of fire. Also, if your opponent is running ethereal creatures (i.e. Vampire Counts) or trolls (regeneration) consider placing an anvil of vaul towards a combat area (especially in the watchtower scenario).
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 10 2010 23:25
Obstacles
Cavalry do not like obstacles. Although horses can walk through obstacles, faster movement creates a dangerous terrain test. Charging an enemy behind a defended obstacles also causes a difficult terrain test. There are different types of obstacles, and each provides special bonuses in combat.
All obstacles provide some cover, be it hard or soft. All obstacles are destroyed by cannonballs. The great thing is they also stop the cannonball in its tracks. Infantry should defend obstacles whenever possible. To do this, move the infantry into base contact with the obstacle. Bowmen stakes are deployed in base contact with the unit. The only drawback to this, is that chargers will only need reach the obstacle to get into combat (saving about one inch of movement).
Blazing barricades cause a hit on an enemy that gets into base contact. Warning: outside models of a lance formation are treated as being in base contact with the enemy! I would rule that this includes being in base contact with a blazing barricade. Although not specified, I would agree with my opponent that these are flaming attacks when placing the terrain. Try placing these in an innocuous area and keep them out of the way...
Several obstacles cause the attacker to receive a -1 to hit when charging. Fences, Walls, and Blessed Bulwarks are progressively more useful to our troops defending them. The archers free stakes are treated as fences, which are soft cover. The others have hard cover. Blessed Bulwarks are essentially walls that halve the initiative of Forces of Destruction in base contact.
A ghost fence is odd, and grants fear to the defender. Like all obstacles, this is only effective during the first round of combat. Fear is much less effective than in prior editions, but may have some use.
Knights do not like attacking troops behind an obstacle. In addition, obstacles are cover. Fire trebuchets at troops that entrench behind obstacles. Attack spells are also a good idea. Move knights to attack from the same side of the obstacle OR avoid attacking entirely. Hitting a lone wizard/general MAY be a reasonable exception if the points are worth it; losses from dangerous terrain tests may NOT be worth it.
If your opponent has cannons, try placing archers with stakes in front of the trebuchet. That way, a stray cannonball may hit nothing more than your throwaway stakes. After that, you can move your archers forward if you like. You may also want to deploy archers after his cannons to find a way to shield your knights from attack. Feel free to sacrifice peasants to save your knights!
ADDED after edit:
Deploying obstacles will really depend on your foe. Against gunlines, place them along board edges to minimize their effects. Use obstacles in the middle to slow down faster armies (chariots, wolfriders, chaos knights). Place obstacles near deployment areas to protect against better infantry: ogres, saurus, chaos warriors, high elves.
Basically, compare your shooting to their shooting and your movement to their movement. If you can outshoot your opponent, sit back and force them to come to you: use the obstacles to slow them down for extra rounds of shooting. If you have to get to them, then place obstacles out of the way. If you have to defend an area, place obstacles around it for better defense.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 10 2010 23:54
Thanks Raf, that was a really good sum up of 8th edition terrain.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 21 2010 22:54
Well, I must say this topic contains very useful information. But I'm afraid that the trick with the cover is a troubling one. I mean, how high the hill has to be to give hard cover? 1 1/2 inch or maybe higher? That's a slippery question so our judges on tournaments have set rules that simplified the problem of TLoS. But anyway thanks for the tip.
May the Lady guide your lance...
Zythaar of Mousillon
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 21 2010 23:36
Forests
The single most common type of terrain is probably the forest, also known as woods or woodlands. These appear more often in tournaments than they should, as do hills. This is primarily due to the simplicity of making them.
The effects of a basic forest are many. If you deploy a war machine in the woods, it becomes immobile. This is not a big deal for us, as Bretonnian trebuchets are already immobile. Any unit inside a forest has soft cover, very nice if you do not have stakes to hide behind. Many model types (cavalry, chariots, etc.) treat woods as dangerous terrain if they march, charge, pursue, etc. through woods. Flyers take a dangerous terrain test if they take off or land in the woods. Skirmishers are stubborn in the woods: this includes LONE CHARACTERS ON FOOT! If you need to hide a paladin with the Virtue of Empathy, you can do it. Shooting out of a woods does not incur a penalty, but shooting into or through them provides soft cover to the target.
Forests do NOT block line of sight now. Nor do they slow movement, except for a few units that treat forests as impassible terrain (e.g. war machines). It does make sense to move through them, even charging if you need the cover.
The other aspect of forests is the likelihood that they have grown amok. All forests are mysterious terrain. This means you will NOT know special properties until you enter. One of them has good effects: the abyssal wood means your unit in the forest causes fear. The others can be bad. Spell casting in or at a blood forest will make the forest attack any unit inside. In addition, the forest will then walk away like a herd of angry ents. The fungal forests are okay for goblins, as they become stubborn ... it reminds them of home. Any unit in a fungal forest becomes stupid ... like I said, it reminds goblins of home. Venom Thicket causes dangerous terrain test for ANY unit moving through, although Strider rule still applies. It also adds poison to melee attacks. This can be very useful if running against Epidemius, Nurgle's tallyman. The last form of forest is the wildwood. It sometimes attacks any unit inside, not the nastiest of problems.
The next topic is where to place the forest. It also implies, what should be deployed inside it. This is entirely dependent on what forces you have, what the enemy has, and what the other terrain options are. Since forests provide cover, consider placing it towards the middle of the board if you have a lot of knights. This can cut down on enemy shooting. They are also good against a chariot heavy army. Forests obscure targets, so place trebuchet behind them for cover saves. Move ranked archers away from woods. Place skirmished archers inside the woods, as it makes them stubborn.
Note that the Fast Cavalry Vanguard move does NOT cause a dangerous terrain test. You can place mounted yeomen in a forest for cover, and they will be able to move out if needed. If they stay within, then your mounted yeomen can shoot out without penalty for cover. If your fast cav are 13 inches away from handgunners, they are in long range with cover. This will really cut down on the effectiveness of enemy shooting. With a 8" base move, fast cav will only need to roll 5" or better on the first turn charge to get in: and the stand and shoot becomes negligible in effect. Just a thought about deploying against gunlines.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 21 2010 23:59
Swamps
Wetlands, marshes, and bogs are also called swamps. The military designates a specific difference: a marsh has no trees and a swamp has trees. Marshlands are dangerous terrain tests for ALL units except skirmishers (or strider) with cavalry, chariots, and monstrous cavalry failing the test more often!
There are three types of marshland. Unlike Forests, you roll what they do when you deploy_ no mysteries here. The Earthblood Mere is good to sit skirmishers in, as they get a regeneration save. Khemrian Quicksand is even more dangerous, as monstrous cavalry, monster, or monstrous infantry are removed in whole models without saves of ANY kind. The Mist Wreathed swamps are vicious, as Fimir will pull 1d6 models down at the end of the movement phase unless they pass an initiative test.
Swamps do NOT provide cover saves, but they do slow down/hurt attackers. If facing monstrous stuff, consider placing swamps in the middle of the board. Try to force the enemy to move through them. Earthblood Meres and Khemri Quicksand are very good places to deploy missile troops. Bowmen and trebuchet are vulnerable to close combat, and opponents moving in swamps can die just getting there. The archer stakes will also provide cover saves, providing extremely good protection. Mist Wreathed Swamps are very bad to deploy trebuchet in: they will fail their initiative test and be destroyed on turn one!
Swamps are a very powerful piece of terrain, and you REALLY have to use them if you run any missile troops. If you run just cavalry, toss them in a corner that you will never approach.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 22 2010 00:55
Buildings
Buildings are an important feature on a battlefield. They are very complicated. In addition, about four pages of rules cover them.
Buildings are defensive structures. Holding them is always a good idea. Only one unit can garrison any building.
For every floor, five men can fire. Line of sight is 360 degrees, and range is measured from the edge of the building. Most buildings have two or three floors. I suggest every two inches of a building represent one floor; this is based on Mordheim terrain.
Buildings also provide hard cover. Flaming attacks are extra effective, and can re-roll failed rolls to wound. Template weapons hit 1d6 models inside the building. Note: this is extremely solid defense against the Purple Sun of Xereus, Pit of Shades, AND miscasts by wizards. If you are facing magic heavy armies, buildings are nice sanctuaries for most spells. (Flames of the Phoenix is another matter entirely...) If possible, place your foot wizards inside a building.
Close Combat involving a building is also unusual. Ten models from either side fight. Step up is as normal. Combat results are purely based on wounds, although a musician will break ties. If the defender loses, they take a break test; if they pass, then they hunker down and keep the building. If the defender loses and fails, then the attackers garrison the building and the loses are pushed out. If the attacker loses, they just fall back one inch. In any case, combat ceases after one round!
Buildings are treated as impassible terrain, and all units other than the garrison must stay one inch away. The only exception is when a single unit is assaulting the building. You cannot charge out of a building, but may move out normally.
There are eight special types of buildings. These have extra rules for special features. The Acropolis of Heroes makes nearby units stubborn. The garrison is inspired, and gets +1 to hit in close combat! This can make big units of men at arms rather dangerous. The Dwarf Brewhouse also makes nearby units stubborn; the ale also makes them immune to psychology. Dwarves are Unbreakable, but dislike leaving the brewery. The Grail Chapel also makes Bretonnian units (only) stubborn. Forces of Order also get regeneration on a 6+. The haunted mansion attacks all units within six inches at the end of the shooting phase. Ghosts do 1d6 strength 1 hits WITH NO ARMOR SAVES! Keep your knights away; units inside the building also cause fear. The Nehekaran Sphinx is a strange building. At the end of your movement phase, you may riddle the Sphinx. Select a character within 6". If it passes an initiative test, the character gains devastating charge, heroic killing blow, or loremaster (Death Magic). If you fail, you take a wound (nor armor save). This is well worth risking a paladin or damsel on. Sigmarite Shrines force units belonging to the Forces of Destruction to re-roll successful ward saves. This is a great spot to fight demons! Tower of Blood gives units within six inches hatred. Forces of destruction ALSO gain frenzy. This is a BAD place to fight demons. The wizards tower is another building: it lets ONE wizard within 3" ransack the library for Loremaster ability on any one spell list they know.
Deploy buildings to maximize your advantages. Keep the tower of blood in a corner, but seize any and all other buildings that you can. Archers and a wizard will thrive inside a wizards tower. Men at arms are great inside an acropolis. The Sphinx is worth a risk to a hero level character. Having a wizard with the lore of life makes it worth risking a lord, as you can heal back a wound.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 22 2010 01:57
So let me let me get this straight.....
Obstacles stop cannon balls and are destroted by it....
So... Does this mean our Stakes that bowmen get (Which count as obstacle: Fence) stop cannonballs and are then destroyed?
On a side note... I was just thinking about this..... If the Bowmen unit (Which has not moved the entire game, is entirely wiped out.. does this remove the stakes? Or do they stay in play, because RAW would suggest that the stakes would stay in play until the unit has moved... and dieing to a man does not count as moving.. It also does not state that if a unit receives casualties, you must add or remove a stake base... only that you can add or remove a stake base with a character.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 22 2010 02:39
Yes, the fence is cleared (destroyed) by the cannonball. This also stops the cannonball.
The stakes should be considered destroyed if the bowmen die off. One is placed in front of each bowman, so once the bowmen are gone the obstacle is abandoned. (No one is left to hold the stakes in place, maybe?) Do not worry, bowmen are notorious for panicking away long before that would happen.
Page 2 lists the most important rule, which would apply.
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Re:Terrain Analysis
Aug 22 2010 03:23
Thanks Raf for the quick reply....
Oh... now for some peasantry deviousness in my next game.... well... not as much as my huge fortress of stakes and fences I wanted... but close enough.
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