Question about terrain density

[IamMoi]

So I noticed that in the rule book it suggests having a 3'x3' table about 1/3 covered by terrain. Just about every time I go to set-up a table for a game, someone comes up and says there's not enough terrain. And when I tell them the suggestion is about 1/3 covered they are surprised.

So what I want to know is this: how much terrain do people put on their tables and what kinds do you tend to use (forests, buildings, rivers, etc).

Also, for those who organize tournaments and other events, do you still use the same amount for set tables or do you increase/decrease the density of the terrain?

Thanks!

[Fenton Crack]

Well, remember that the rulebook suggests "twenty-five to fifty percent" and then says a general rule use "one third of the table." You can often push it closer to 50% and still have enough room to maneuver. When we use less terrain pieces of any substantial size and end with a board on the lower end of terrain, we "punch it up" a bit more with additional scatter terrain so models are not constantly trying to move up-field with zero cover.

It can be tricky to dial it in correctly, and admittedly the rules are pretty vague on how much to use. Sometimes it does not really matter, as both player have to deal with the same issues, but too much terrain puts shooty crews at a disadvantage, and not enough is a death sentence for a melee crew. In the end I feel a little too much is better than a little too few pieces of terrain.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Fenton Crack
spelling

[Bruglyother]

Our group plays closer to the 50% end of the spectrum. We make sure to include large, and small pieces. We also make sure to use some 0 ht terrain (such as rough fields, rivers, ponds, etc.) If you do not have a good mix of terrain types, going for the lower to mid range is not so bad as it is often hard to pull off 50% is all you have is GW buildings to work with. But if that is the case, it is also a good idea to improve your collection.

[dgraz]

to Bruglyother.

We like lots of small bits of scatter terrain.....Ht 1 stuff like rocks, crates or barrels......individual trees.......small (3"-4") groves of woods.....then maybe some smallish buildings (4"-6").....small (3"-4")Ht 1 hills that just give some cover, but aren't severe are nice too........3"-4" areas of Ht 0 severe terrain are nice to break up all the cover to help out shooty crews.

We always try to make sure that there is at least 3" between any pieces of impassable or severe terrain so models can fit through, but there are never any actual straight lines of approach.

[brib4169]

Part of bruglyother's group. During early beta we had pictures of a board 50% covered in terrain both before and after distributing it. Maybe we should dig out or retake those pictures.

[IamMoi]

Thanks for the input. Currently we have primarily GW scale terrain, but I have found that a lot of the ruins and graveyard items work well for Malifaux buildings. We also have a person who makes buildings for Infinity, which also scale well for Malifaux.

I'm getting ready for my first organized tournament today and I just wanted to make sure that I as not under-utilizing the terrain aspect of the game.

[DavicusPrime]

I'm an old 40K player too. And since the standard for that is 25% terrain on a 4' x 6' board , I've got plenty of terrain to populate a 3' x 3' board between 33% and 50%. All of my "wilderness" terrain pieces fit right in which was a couple dinner plate sized forests, several hills, rock formations and rocks and bushes scatter pieces. I've since added a 3 part bayou piece that fills about a quarter of the board by itself that includes a bridge, island and shack on a platform.

I added in some terraclips sets to the mix to bring in some victorian looking stuff to replace my old cities of death stuff and add some height differences, and I'll eventually start making some victorian style buildings of my own to add variety.

-DavicusPrime

[IamMoi]

Yeah, so far I've been sticking to the 1/3 of table guideline, largely because we have a lot of new players (including me) that are still figuring out the rules, both the general ones and how their crews work and I just feel like not having too much terrain to confuse them further...at least not yet

[Bruglyother]

Thanks for reminding me Brian. No real digging required.

50% coverage before spread!

After spread.

Pre-spread

Post spread.

I know we did these types of pictures with a few other setups, but these are the ones I have handy. You can see we use a good mix of terrain, which gives a nice variety once spread out.

[dgraz]

That's a solid 50%.........I don't think we go quite that far but we're certainly more than a third...........probably between 40-45%.

[IamMoi]

That's a great way of checking percentage of board covered, Bruglyother. I might have to start doing that.

[Dracomax]

Yeah, I've been doing what Bruglyother showed for a while. It makes it really easy to hit about 1/3 of the board every time, and to make sure you aren't under 25% or over 50%.

As for us, we generally use 2-3 pieces of stackable cliff terrain, 1-2 sever/Water terrain, 2-3 houses, 4-5 trees, and a lot of scatter terrain—barrels and crates on 30 mm bases, 2X1 bushes, 1-2" high walls, etc. Not every piece of terrain has gaps large enough for Large models to fit through, and sometimes things are too close for even 30mm models to fit through, but large enough to fire through. It depends on the mood and measurement of the person placing them. We Need to get a bit more difficult terrain and wilderness style terrain, and more trees/bushes/felt areas for forest terrain, but generally, there are a few good places for range to sit and fire from, and everyone is inconvenienced but not stopped by terrain.

The biggest issue is that there either tends to be no terrain in deployment zones, or it tends to be completely ignored.