OldHammer 40K – GW Had Some Crazy Old Terrain Rules
Terrain rules has been a constant thorn in the side of most 40K editions. Here’s some of the craziest rules I’ve played through.
There are eras of terrain rules balance as we have had lately in 10th Edition, and then there are times where whoever rolled first to pick the best piece of terrain wins the game. 40K is such a weird hobby, where the tabletop can be just as important as the miniatures themselves. I have played so long I have played on everything from completely narrative boards all the way to the revenge of L’s that took over tournament tabletops. Let’s talk about some of the craziest old terrain stories I have played through over the 4K editions.
Player Placed Terrain – 6th Edition – 8th Edition Warhammer 40k
For a while right after the rollout of true Los (see below) events needed some time to get their terrain up to standards that GW was wanting. This meant a push for player placed terrain to try and cover up the need to have more of the tabletop covered. Initially the player placed terrain had an issue where there really wasn’t a balance between both sets of pieces for the players to pick from. I remember a few games where the roll off to grab the giant walled piece that was 3 stories high was really how the game was won. There were many a time where it would take me forever to get over there, thru the wall, and even getting a chance to kill anything behind it holding an objective.
Cover Saves Basically Were Invulnerable Saves 4th Edition – 5th Edition of 40K
Do you remember when Cover saves became an important part of the game. There was a time when Orks just had a 4+ cover save all the time and trying to kill 20 models with the shooting profiles we had back in the day (less bullets, no rerolls, less damage) meant that the game really was about everyone having a 4+ pseudo invulnerable save. I would hide my Autocannon dreadnought behind the Razorback to give the dreadnought cover and then watch as I rolled the Grey Knight psychic spell to remove shaken results all game as my little mini murder machines killed the enemy with psychically charged bullets.
True Line of Sight Nonsense – 6th Edition Onward
Let me tell you that when GW rolled out True-LoS in 6th Edition players LOST THEIR MINDS! Before the timeframe of having area terrain from the last two editions the game really emphasized true line of sight. This meant anything with a window or a gap that someone could see through could see your model no matter how much was shown. It was a frustrating time as GW terrain really hadn’t gotten up to speed with the new rules and we had tons of gothic ruined buildings with windows. Heck any tree could easily be seen through so they were pointless on the table top. This was when the real push for MDF walls and “Ls” became a thing and the whole rule of the bottom floor of any building having all the windows covered with imagination. I understand the idea of immersion with the game but true line of site meant hurting your back and trying to look through tiny plastic holes and hoping you see the enemy in a viable way.
Today’s 10th Edition Terrain Rules
Today’s 10th Edition game is a bit better with laser pointers helping figure out if you can see someone due to the new terrain area pieces and just the overall balanced nature of the tabletop. I do like it and think it’s the best thing we got going for the game. It has balanced a lot of things and while it doesn’t always work (look at my fat based models with small movement ranges) it is the best we have had in a while.
Do you think 10th Edition finally got terrain rules ironed out?
