Warhammer 40K: 9th Edition Terrain Rules Update
This is pretty big. Games Workshop is talking shop about the new Terrain Rules for 9th Edition. Changes are on the way.
Terrain is a pretty important aspect of Warhammer 40,000. It change how an army performs drastically depending on how much or how little terrain is on the table. Now, with a new edition, GW is changing up some of the rules for how terrain functions in Warhammer yet again. Let’s take a look at those changes ahead.
“All terrain types now fit into one of four categories – Hill, Obstacles, Area Terrain and Buildings. How units interact with them depends not just on the nature of the terrain itself, but on the unit’s own size and what type of unit they are.”
This is the first big change. Terrain has been re-categorized into one of four categories. Hills, for example, are considered as part of the battlefield and are open ground. That means they offer no form of protection. Obstacles can provide protection to Infantry, Beasts, and Swarm units if the Obstacle is between them and the firing unit. And there is more, too.
Terrain Traits
“When setting up a battlefield, you and your opponent(s) decide which terrain traits will be applied to each piece of scenery. The traits are designed to be stackable, so a single terrain piece can actually be given as many different traits as you wish.”
There are other keywords and traits for terrain too: Scalable, Breachable, Unstable – these were just a few that we’ve seen mentioned so far. Another trait that’s going to be important to learn is the new Obscuring trait:
You’ll be able to hide from Imperial Knights and they won’t be able to fire back. Same with Aircraft. This is quite literally a game changer. While you’ll be able to still fire at units inside the terrain, you’ll no longer be able to fire on units on the opposite sides. That’s HUGE. GW said it best:
“…the days of drawing line of sight through a gap in the wall and three consecutive windows to a unit on the opposite side of a huge building are over!”
These awesome looking buildings just got 1000% more interesting!
Here’s a look at a few more common traits, too:
The Core Rulebook will have more handy guidelines for the terrain traits and terrain features you’re already playing with. And, at the end of the terrain section, there are lots of example battlefields that will be shown so that players will have a better idea of terrain selection and positioning. These will form the basic guidelines for terrain density for 9th edition!
A Quick Word On Battlefield Sizes
Last week, Games Workshop announced the new minimum battlefield sizes. In that article and again in today’s article they did want to reiterate that those are indeed MINIMUMS. You CAN still play on your current 6’x4′ tables (or larger tables for that matter) as those are minimums.
“The minimum size battlefield guidelines for Combat Patrol, Incursion, Strike Force and Onslaught battles are just that – minimum sizes. They’ve been specifically designed to make the game more accessible and compact at smaller sizes (and fit on most dining room tables), but they can just as easily be played on larger battlefields as you see fit. The minimum sizes also ensure that armies in bigger games won’t be cramped on a battlefield that’s too small for them, so will still have plenty of room to manoeuvre.”
Having said that, based on the pictures provided and the new terrain rules, those minimums and “ideal number and mixture of terrain features” might become the new standards for a lot of the major tournaments. There are pros and cons for the change. But the pros do see to outweigh the cons…at least for now. Personally, I’m still waiting until we get more details about the entire ruleset – but between the smaller sizes and changes to the terrain rules I’m thinking my footslogging armies (like Tyranids) might have a chance.
It’s a lot to digest. What do you think of the new rules for Terrain?
