Is My Terrain OK?

Terrain is very important to Kings of War. It shapes the table and provides players with complications to overcome and opportunities to take advantage of. It makes sense then that it’s a frequent topic of discussion, both among newer players trying to figure out how to arrange their tables appropriately and veteran players critiquing the terrain at various tournaments. In this article I’m going to talk a bit about sizes, numbers, and arrangement of terrain pieces based on my experience making terrain pieces and terrain maps for competitive events. You are, of course, free to play on tables as full or empty as you like, I’m just aiming to describe a kind of ‘average’ or ‘balanced’ baseline.

What Could Go Wrong?

Before I go into what you should do, I’m going to talk a little bit about the negative impacts that too much or too little terrain can have on game play. If these sound familiar, you might want to try making some adjustments to your table, keeping in mind that it’s a balancing act.

If your table is too open, meaning either your terrain pieces are too small or there are too few of them, then the first thing you’ll likely notice is that shooting is very effective. This is one of those never ending debates in the Kings of War community. Shooting is a valid part of the game, and you want armies based around shooting to be competitive, but you don’t want them to be able to just stand back and shoot, and never need to move or engage in order to win. Another thing you might notice is that alpha strike armies are very effective. Speed is already a big advantage in Kings of War, and armies based around engaging as fast as possible get a boost when their opponent can’t use terrain to hinder charges, protect flanks, or block line of sight.

If your table is too crowded, meaning either your terrain pieces are too large or there are too many of them, grind and trash armies can get a boost. If your strategy is based on counter punching and outlasting your opponent, then having plenty of terrain where you can camp and still score scenario points is a big help. Pathfinder and Strider are already very powerful and popular abilities. As the amount of terrain increases, armies that have more access to Pathfinder and Strider units get even more effective. Other armies will have a progressively harder time moving and positioning their units as the amount of terrain increases, especially units with larger footprints.

Size Matters

One of the most commonly discussed terrain topics is how large or small the pieces should be. At minimum, the majority of an infantry horde should fit in/on each piece of difficult terrain and hill. Around 8 inches on a side is a good sweet spot. I’d try to avoid going over 10 inches or under 6 on a side, and if one side is over 8 inches then I’d try to keep the other side to 8 inches or less. Those general dimensions work for blocking terrain as well. Obstacles should be between 6 and 8 inches long, and no more than an inch wide.

How Many?

The size and number of pieces are kind of linked, ie. if your pieces are smaller you can use more of them, and if they are bigger then you should use less. Again, talking about an ‘average’ table, 10 pieces of terrain (2 blocking, 2 tall difficult, 2 short or flat difficult, 2 hills, 2 obstacles) in the sizes ranges I mentioned above works well. If you have a couple of larger pieces, try balancing it out with a couple of smaller pieces. I don’t think I’d use more than 12 pieces or less than 8.

What Goes Where?

Once you’ve got your terrain picked out, next you have to decide how to arrange it on the table. The easiest way is to use an existing terrain map, such as one of the Epic Dwarf maps. But maybe you want to play with a little more or less terrain, or you want to make unique maps for an event you are running, or maybe you just want to mix it up.

There are a few general guidelines that you should stick to. Mostly, avoid putting hills or blocking terrain in deployment zones or right on the deployment zone line. Difficult terrain in the deployment zone is less of a problem, but should be kept to a minimum. It’s ok to have two pieces of terrain touching, so long as they aren’t both blocking terrain.

For a general purpose map, ie. one that you’d want to work for any scenario, you should avoid putting blocking terrain within 3 inches of the center line or 12 inches of the center of the table. If you are making maps for specific scenarios, then you should also consider the specific setup or victory conditions for the scenario. For example, if you are making a terrain map for Raze, then you should avoid putting blocking terrain within 3 inches of the center of the table or the “6 inches from the center line” lines where players are required to place the Objectives.

There are different methods for having the players arrange the terrain themselves before they begin deploying or setting up the scenario. I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about those, but there are ways to avoid common pitfalls. Put some restrictions on where and how close to each other the terrain pieces can be placed so you don’t end up with situations like a wall of terrain across the middle of the table or all the terrain pushed out to the tables edges.

I hope you’ll find these guidelines useful. Keep in mind that it’s a balancing act, and it’s ok to skew the terrain one way or another to keep the game interesting or to fit a custom or narrative scenario. So long as you are aware of the potential impacts it will have on the game play and everyone is on board, then it’s all in good fun.