40k: Terrain as the 3rd Player
Pimpcron discusses terrain as the “third player” in 40k. It can be a lot more interesting than just tossing some pieces on the table.
Hey kids! This is your old pal Pimpcron, and this is a song about a whale! No, this is an article about how terrain affects the game of 40k. (Please tell me if you get that reference in the comments.)
Well some of us call it Coverhammer for a reason. Ruins give a 4+ cover save regardless of the 25% obstruction rule, difficult terrain gives a 5+ cover save and ignores the same rule. Anything from Flyers to Skimmers get a 4+ cover for Jinking. This game gives a lot of cover, but is it a bad thing?
I’ve always preferred a battle board chock full of terrain versus one that is barren; and I see the latter much more often than the former. I’m not sure what causes people to field sparse battlefields (besides budget). We spent so much time assembling and painting our armies to look realistic, and then fight in a flat, open field with maybe a small clump of trees for cover. Being that this is a major part of our hobby and our game, we should take the time to give it some attention.
Help Tell a Story
I always like to set up the terrain in as realistic of a way as possible. The reason being that I think the game is much more enjoyable if you give your terrain character. Why are we fighting here? What usually happens here before we got there? Is it a small village that has been destroyed by the war going on? Does it contain a grove of trees, a power station or a river? Any place that your troops will be fighting in (that contains buildings) had a life, ecosystem, and economy before they came and blasted everything. If you have the terrain to do the trick, you should shoot for telling that story in the best way possible. It will really help both players get into the game. Check out my other article Adding Spice To Your Gaming to help get yourself immersed into your games.
Cause You To Make Choices
One of my favorite things to do when placing terrain is place a giant, line of sight blocking piece right in the middle of the board. Or possibly two giant ones spaced somewhere in the middle. This forces the players to make choices as to which side they go around it or if they bother with trying to go over it. And if you force you players to make more decisions, there is more room for strategy instead of just a cut and paste battle plan.
So if you look across the table and your opponent has a gold grill in his mouth, it’s a pretty safe bet that he makes poor choices. You’ve got this game “on lock” as I imagine he’d say.
Yo, what’s your front armor value dawg?
I can’t tell you how many times my little Guardsmen have out-ran a Monstrous enemy by using terrain as a defensive feature to keep distance. Act like you’re going one way, he tries to anticipate, and you run the other way making a Zoidberg “Whoop whoop whoop whoop!” It may be a Benny-Hill kind of funny, but it gets the job done.
The Boards that are barren offer very few choices in movement and fewer hard choices to make regarding line of sight and target priority. If nothing blocks your line of sight, shooty armies develop a very point-and-click strategy which is not only boring, but way too easy to beat melee armies with.
Helps Balance the Game
Okay, this board is nearing “Terrain as the ONLY Player”.
Now I’m back to the Coverhammer thing. In a way, I think lots of cover helps balance the game by nullifying low AP stuff. Now obviously if there is too much terrain and cover, low AP stuff would just be pointless to bring. But the nice thing about plenty of cover saves is that it makes the game much more tactical. It becomes more of a cat and mouse game of ducking, outflanking, timing shots correctly, etc. That’s probably why the game Infinity nearly bans any straight lines of sight. My general rule of thumb is about 10-12 inches between terrain so that both players have to choose each turn to stay in safety or run out and hope to roll high enough to get to the other side.
Being that terrain placement and density can play such a huge role in how our game plays out, I very confidently call it the Third Player. So next time you’re setting up the board, don’t just throw stuff down, take some time and make a scene.
So how much terrain do you use?
Want to witness my slow descent into madness first-hand? Check me out at my blog www.diceforthedicegod.com
