Hey Guys,
through sure weight of sheer bullying I got my buddy Brandon Vallee, American tournament player and all round good human, to put together a post for the Shack..This is a particularly topical discussion because of Shack Attack 1, our very first tournament, being on this weekend....So over to Brandon to talk about good terrain and good tournaments
Terrain Placement and 6th
Edition
Hey Everyone, Brandon here to shed some light of what I think makes good terrain in a tournament setting
I am writing up this piece in light of
a few tournaments I have recently played in. The premise of this article is written in a tournament
minded individual. The way terrain
is set, how fortifications are handled, and the quality of terrain has varied
greatly in all three of those events.
The need for consistency is essential in order match up results to not
be determined by the terrain, but rather the skill of the player.
Key Definitions
Line of Sight Blocking: These pieces come in various shapes
and sizes and the sole purpose is to block line of sight. What they are capable of blocking
depends on the size of the piece.
Non Line of Sight Blocking: These pieces also come in various
shapes and sizes, however it is close to impossible to be completely
obscured. Their purpose is to
provide cover to advancing units.
Extremely Large pieces of terrain:
These should simply not be used in a tournament. Yeah they may look cool, but they
simply on are not practical for small, fast pace games of 40k. Anything larger
than 15” by 15” should be placed in this category. The one exception to this rule is if the vast majority of
the terrain can be played upon with relative ease (i.e. a base with scattered
ruins to hide behind but most of the piece is covered in rubble).
Large pieces of terrain: These pieces should include both LoSB
and NLoSB terrain. If the terrain
is designed to block line of sight, it should be able to block out the view of
the largest of models. A land
raider is primary measure of this.
Therefore, if it can completely hide a land raider at multiple angles,
it is a large piece of terrain. As
far as dimensions are concerned, the terrain piece is somewhere between 15” by
15” and 9” by 9”.
Medium pieces of terrain: These pieces should include both LoSB
and NLoSB terrain. If the terrain
is designed to block line of sight, it should be able to block out the view of
the average sized tank models. A
Rhino or Devilfish is the primary measure of objective. In regards to dimensions, this
terrain piece should be between 9” by 9” and 6” by 6”.
Small pieces of terrain: These pieces should include both LoSB
and NLoSB terrain. If the terrain
is designed to block line of sight, it should be able to block out the view of
a standard infantry model. A
tactical marine should be the measure of this. In regards to dimensions, the terrain pieces is less than 6”
by 6”.
Impassible terrain: This terrain can be in any shape or
size, or may even be one segment of
a larger terrain piece.
Generally speaking, impassible terrain is defined by being
unplayable. In a tournament,
impassible terrain is ok, as it adds extra dimensions to the game, but the
trick is to not go overboard, and for the pieces to not being gigantic. Anything larger than a medium sized
piece of terrain that is impassible should not be used.
Terrain
Setup
Preset Terrain is about establishing
balance in all games of 40k. While
it is not possible to ensure every table is balanced, this is a
recommendations.
Preset Terrain coverage should be done
in an “X” formation on the board, utilizing Large and Medium sized terrain
pieces at the center and the points of the “X”. A large line of sight blocking piece should be placed in the
middle of the “X”. The reason for
this is to prevent shooting oriented armies from blasting the opposing army off
the table. It forces them to make
decisions on deployment and positioning of key units. In regards to the points of the “X” I recommend alternating
terrain and line of sight blocking options. This way both sides are even.
In the gaps of the “X”, this where
small terrain elements come into play.
These pieces allow for cover of advancing forces while not being
completely obscured. Therefore,
depending on the collection there should be roughly 2-3 large pieces of
terrain, 2-3 medium pieces of terrain, and 3-4 small pieces of terrain.
There are two ways to set
fortifications on preset terrain.
First is deploying the fortification within the gaps of the set terrain,
leaving a few inches between pieces and if it can’t be placed it too bad. Second is completely removing a terrain
piece from the game in order to deploy the fortification. This judgment call
should be made depending on how fortifications are viewed in your area.
Player set terrain is about letting
opponents set the terrain in an order which benefits them the most. If the same style and quantity of
terrain is given (2-3 large, 2-3 medium, 3-4 small) then there should be some
coverage on the table. However
there is a risk of shooting armies or deep striking armies lining the board
edges with terrain to leave massive terrain gaps. In order to prevent this from occurring, perhaps
prohibitions on placement should
be developed. Such as:
· No terrain within 6 inches of another
piece
· No terrain within 6 inches of the table
edge
· Only “x” number of terrain pieces can
be placed in your deployment zone
· Alternating terrain set up
Fortifications should be set up before
terrain placement. If one player
has a fortification and the other doesn’t, the player who does not have one
should be the one setting the first piece of terrain. If both players have fortifications, then roll off to see
who places it first.
Special
Terrain
There has been plenty of discussion
based on the whether or not mysterious terrain or bunkers should be utilized in
tournament gaming. Personally, I
think the rules are pretty cool and add extra dimensions to the game. However, I can see what people don’t
want those rules to have an impact on the game, because of maintaining
balance. Therefore, the use of
these rules should depend on the climate and mood of the
tournament.
