Terrain and Gaming

[Argel-tal]

Hey guys,

 

Quick post about terrain. How do you guys deploy terrain? as per the rule book or agreed upon terrain placement by both players?

I have been having issues where said other player does not want much LOS blocking terrain when we play,,,, and as such he is getting 50% of his units in my deployment zone by turn 2 (he as an extremely assaulty army). To me that seems ridiculous for units that are on foot, and extremely frustrating for a mobile guard army! Any advice as to what terrain you use picture or otherwise would be fantastic.

 

Cheers,

[KhorneFlakes]

When we play games we each take turns placing terrain then agree to move items to enhance the game tactics, storyline and to avoid advantages. Gentleman's agreement.

[Argel-tal]

On average how many ruins/forests etc do you place down on a normal table? do you differentiate much each game?

[Sviar]

In my LGC we use the the 6:th edition rules when it comes to terrain placement. In this way there are never any arguments concerning the terrain. 

[Quixus]

Are the 7th Ed rules different?

[WarriorFish]

We usually get a third party to set up an interesting battle field (1/4 table of terrain as is usual) and then maybe shuffle things a bit and when both teams agree the game starts :)

[Nuclear Fridge]

...I have been having issues where said other player does not want much LOS blocking terrain when we play,,,, and as such he is getting 50% of his units in my deployment zone by turn 2 (he as an extremely assaulty army).

 

Sounds like he wants it all his own way. I used to moderate battles at a game store where one kid was a Tau fanatic... and as such insisted on hanging right back on his table edge and wanting his half of the table totally empty of terrain so that he could shoot the living **** out of his opponent. It was boring to watch.

 

I'd say that if you can't come to a 50-50 agreement on placement and amount of terrain, just don't play the guy. Maybe it'd make him re-think his attitude...

[Argel-tal]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks for the input!! Said opponent is normally fun to play, but lately he has hyper competitive which gets old real quick!!! Nuclear Fridge you are right those games have been boring I'd love to play a narrative game, but oh well.

 

Cheers,

[WarriorFish]

Talking can solve almost anything as long as you're polite and reasonable - next time chat to your opponent about it and see if you can reach a better compromise. Ultimately it ends with you as you either accept the table and start the game or you don't!

[Kontakt]

in the games I play, I usually set the terrain up in an interesting way, and then we roll to see who picks what side. Sometimes, I have accidentally set it up so that my opponent gets an advantage (usually i play templars against guard) by leaving large open areas on one side of the board. The setup is as close to a mirror as possible from either deployment zone. Lately, I have always been using empty deployment zones, because it encourages units to move into the middle of the table. 

[David Ravel]

We tend to place our terrain following two rules :

 

- Fluff (i.e. it must look like something)

- 1 LOS blocker in each corner and one in the middle

 

The first rule always precede the second one. We want our table to be cool to look at. 

[march10k]

We would like to gather enough terrain to do the 25% thing, then take turns placing pieces with a 6" buffer between pieces (no buffer to the table edge), before choosing sides or knowing the shape of the deployment zone. Unfortunately, when the store has seven games starting simultaneously, that becomes difficult, so we just make sure we achieve something approaching symetry. Doesn't always work out perfectly, though. In a recent 1k unbound cheese challenge, I happened to get the only ruin, then got the stealth:ruins warlord trait while trying to get the trait for +1 to seize the intiative....and promptly parked my cover-ignoring broadsides in the ruin, where they had a 2++ (when going to ground) against my opponent's three doom scythes when they came by to insta-kill the squad with their death rays. The random allocation of terrain and a lucky roll on the warlord traits table (not even the trait I wanted) won me the game.

[Argel-tal]

Haha sounds interesting march10k! I like all those options, especially the fluff way of building terrain to look like something and the pieces of LOS blocking terrain in the middle and corners.

 

Thanks all,

[Emperors Immortals]

We take turns placing, and then roll to see which side we get.

[Lord Xcapobl]

We don't hassle much. Usually I just put down all manner of terrain on the table, in any way I like. This way I can simply set up a theme, like a forested area, or a ruined city. Then the opponent gets the right (not the roll) to choose his deployment zone.

 

As we usually play at my place, there is the added advantage that I can set up the battlefield beforehand. When everybody arrives, the table will be there, waiting, yet ready.

[march10k]

That's not a bad technique, you set up, he picks.  When I retire from the army in about seven years, I'll have my whole basement (perhaps with a separate entrance) dedicated to the hobby.  Workshop/studio with painting hood to prime my models indoors in a controlled environment and a large game room with 3-5 tables...probably 2-3 of them will be purpose-built thematic ones with permanent terrain, such as a ruined city and a forest separated by a moonscape, or opposing trenchlines, WWI style.  Perhaps an imperial shrine to defend/assault.  That would eliminate the need to transport my models, except to tournaments.

[Nuclear Fridge]

We want our table to be cool to look at. 

 

Exactly right! A bombed-out factory zone, an entrance gate into a hive's outer sector, or the loading bays of a spaceport field with stacks of cargo and freight. A "narrative" table makes the game so much more engaging. Simply dumping an assortment of random terrain and buildings onto the table is just... generic.

 

Reminds me of the old terrain-generating tables from earlier editions of 40K... the ash wastes table giving you areas of rubble, low dunes of ash, and the occasional derelict building.

[WarriorFish]

The hobby is what you make of it, a cool table is the perfect example of this :)

[Warhead01]

Edit:  I guess I didn't actually say anything about how we set up terrain.  We just put what we like down on the table and move it around until it's fair and remove what ever looks too crowed. But in most cases we try to make it look like some kind of place worth fighting over.Which is more or less shown in the last few pictures. We don't really care most of the time, that is we don't look for advantages through terrain besides we don't know which side of the board we will get or how we will deploy until the terrain is set up. I was showing of my new "supper sweet terrain" over the weekend. lol. So we just went crazy with it. I wish I could have taken it all, I have enough for about 3 tables now. lol. Again Best of luck sorting out your games.

 

Here few examples of how our tables look. These are from last weekend.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YDDxekaZSQQ/U7VuE07_t9I/AAAAAAAAEEc/_6zxCHYp0Lc/s1600/100_2388.JPG

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ke37OTmNOi0/U7VuPCpFe3I/AAAAAAAAEGM/mp8rpWItPlo/s1600/100_2402.JPG

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2k6AK3KhkeA/U7VuIWpVqAI/AAAAAAAAEFA/svfHBIXgTu4/s1600/100_2392.JPG

 

I let some gamers use my terrain at one of the shops in town on Monday and this is how they set up the table.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UsDyl3MqRT4/U7VuiTOKmcI/AAAAAAAAEGY/COc1rMA-aHg/s1600/100_2403.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qsVMcrp71Ww/U7VuilHHZ_I/AAAAAAAAEGc/cDLfQVzF-h8/s1600/100_2404.JPG

 

Really the more terrain the better the game.

Good luck.

[Argel-tal]

Thats some nice looking tables uberwolve! now im jealous :/

[Warhead01]

Baaaaah it's so easy even a bran damaged Ogryn can do it.  Don't let that part of the hobby intimidate you. 

You can make anything from anything. Just fins some stuff decide what you think you'd like it to be. Have a little fun with it.

Too easy, Good as done. 

[Thunderhawk3015]

As uberwolve said, the more terrain the better, makes for a more interesting/challenging game.  Watching xenos/traitors cry about blocked LOS and terrain in the way of assault is just a bonus. :D

[Warhead01]

Watching xenos/traitors cry about blocked LOS and terrain in the way of assault is just a bonus.

Making anyone cry about "blocked LOS and assault" is always a bonus!

Oh's no's we have to move! Or think! or play a game! Gasp! But the Meta never mentioned movement or terrain! I've been lied tooo by the interwebs! lol.

I've found though that a cooperative game can become very very interesting and down right competitive and still be fun and entertaining too!

Also, remember to discuss the terrain and how it all works before the game starts! Better a longer game then a bad one.