Post by stonecutter on Jun 26, 2011 6:25:48 GMT -5
As many of us have lamented, one of the greatest disappointments of 8th edition is the removal of terrain effects on movement and LOS. The result has been a far lesser degree of tactics required in the game, rapid initiation of combat and a general inability to use manoeuvre to influence the game. At the same time, the mystical terrain rules causing 5 out of 6 pieces of terrain to have magical powers have been far too cumbersome to employ on a regular basis. However, given my experience at the Throne of Skulls tourney, I think that trying to incorporate some mystical terrain into our regular gaming would be beneficial in terms of making terrain and tactics more relevant than they currently are. Here are a few examples of how mystical terrain could accomplish this:
Mystical Monuments - impassable terrain. Regardless of which type of MM, the impassibility is the key. This allows the terrain to be used to prevent enemy units (and friendly) from charging and thus makes movement and placement near the MM very important. Toss in the additional effects such as MR2 or possibility of healing wounds or becoming unbreakable (wyrding well) and a MM can be a vital piece of ground to control.
Rivers - units in them cannot claim rank bonuses or be steadfast, nor can they be marched through and charging makes them dangerous terrain. This can make fording sites important to control and allow a method of tackling the horde of skaven slaves so that it doesn't take forever to break them. Magical powers are simply a bonus.
Woods - the venomous thicket is my personal favourite (requires a dangerous terrain check to enter but grants unit poison attacks in close combat). The ability to deny steadfast to ranked units is the most important effect of even non-magical woods while the hazardous ones make people think twice before entering them - again an opportunity to use the woods to protect a unit by keeping it between your own unit and your opponent.
These are just a few examples of where I think the new terrain rules can actually help bring more tactics back into the game. However, the randomness of the full rules is still far too cumbersome IMHO and thus I would like to suggest a compromise as follows:
1. Each player can select one type of mystical terrain based on what is on the board and then roll randomly to determine the precise mystical effect. All pieces of that terrain type then follow those rules.
2. Rivers are actually used on the board.
3. Players deploy terrain after they know which ones will have magical effects.
Since players will know ahead of time what each piece of terrain does (something not possible with the current rules), the terrain will immediately impact deployment of both the terrain itself and troops and may become very sought after if it has beneficial effects. This also limits the total additional rules required for each game to only 2 - far better than having to randomly roll d6 every time a unit approaches within 6" and then look up the result on a table. Overall, I think these changes will help spice up the game, make it more tactical and so I would invite comments/opinions on the recommended changes.
Mystical Monuments - impassable terrain. Regardless of which type of MM, the impassibility is the key. This allows the terrain to be used to prevent enemy units (and friendly) from charging and thus makes movement and placement near the MM very important. Toss in the additional effects such as MR2 or possibility of healing wounds or becoming unbreakable (wyrding well) and a MM can be a vital piece of ground to control.
Rivers - units in them cannot claim rank bonuses or be steadfast, nor can they be marched through and charging makes them dangerous terrain. This can make fording sites important to control and allow a method of tackling the horde of skaven slaves so that it doesn't take forever to break them. Magical powers are simply a bonus.
Woods - the venomous thicket is my personal favourite (requires a dangerous terrain check to enter but grants unit poison attacks in close combat). The ability to deny steadfast to ranked units is the most important effect of even non-magical woods while the hazardous ones make people think twice before entering them - again an opportunity to use the woods to protect a unit by keeping it between your own unit and your opponent.
These are just a few examples of where I think the new terrain rules can actually help bring more tactics back into the game. However, the randomness of the full rules is still far too cumbersome IMHO and thus I would like to suggest a compromise as follows:
1. Each player can select one type of mystical terrain based on what is on the board and then roll randomly to determine the precise mystical effect. All pieces of that terrain type then follow those rules.
2. Rivers are actually used on the board.
3. Players deploy terrain after they know which ones will have magical effects.
Since players will know ahead of time what each piece of terrain does (something not possible with the current rules), the terrain will immediately impact deployment of both the terrain itself and troops and may become very sought after if it has beneficial effects. This also limits the total additional rules required for each game to only 2 - far better than having to randomly roll d6 every time a unit approaches within 6" and then look up the result on a table. Overall, I think these changes will help spice up the game, make it more tactical and so I would invite comments/opinions on the recommended changes.
