20.

0 Battlefield Terrain

Depending on player’s armies, just as a General would, you will want to consider the Battlefield Terrain
that your army will be in to engage their enemy. Generals’ worth their salt generally tried to pick a
battleground suited to the strengths and weaknesses of the army. After players have decided which side of
the playing table each army shall occupy, terrain is selected. (This rule is intended for use in point games
that do not represent a historical battle. In pre-designed scenarios or historical battles, the terrain is always
dictated by the scenario designer).

To incorporate this, the following rules apply:

There are four different overall battle-area terrain possibilities:

1. Open
2. Gently Rolling
3. Rough
4. Dense

Open - One terrain feature for each two square meters of battle area.
Gently Rolling - One terrain feature for each square meter of battle area.
Rough - Two terrain features for each square meter of battle area
Dense - Three terrain features for each square meter of battle area

Each Army Commander chooses one of the options below (1 through 5) as his choice for the terrain on the
battle and then cross index on the chart to determine what the final battlefield terrain will be:

Side A

1 2 3 4 5
1 0 1 1 1 2
2 1 1 1 2 2
Side B 3 1 1 2 2 3
4 1 2 2 3 3
5 2 2 3 3 4

Once it has been determined how many terrain features there will be per each square meter on the
battlefield, army commanders choose features from the following list:

A hill: not to exceed 600 meters in diameter.

A stream: All streams or rivers must enter the battle area from table edge and exit off a different
table edge.
A pond, swamp, or muddy section of land: not to exceed 300 meters in diameter. (Ponds are
considered impassable terrain for all troops).
One Bridge: (represents a series of bridges large enough for one move stand width to cross).
A wall or fence: up to 600 meters in length.
A small village: (3 buildings or structures) placed in an area not to exceed 300 meters in diameter.
Forest: not to exceed 600 meters in diameter.
A section of rough terrain: not to exceed 600 meters in diameter. Rough Terrain consists of
terrain difficulties, “E, F, G, H, I, or J”. Roll one six-sided die to determine what the specific
effect of the ‘difficult terrain’ will be:

1 = E; 2 = F; 3 = G; 4 = H; 5 = I; and 6 = J

© Copyright 2005 Greg R. Pitts Chapter 20 1

11/14/2005
 A road: Roads crossing a stream or river are considered to have a bridge across the water. Roads
that are built through other types of terrain such as through a forest or swamp, or up a hill, negate
movement penalties from that terrain feature for units traveling on the road. Roads must enter
from one tableside and exit a different table edge.

Each army commander rolls one 20-sided die to determine who gets to choose first. High die then selects a
terrain feature and places it down on the playing area. Then his opponent does likewise until all terrain
features for the battle area have been selected and placed. Commanders may place the terrain anywhere on
the board at their discretion in accordance with the following:

Streams must be deployed either on the right or left flank of the person’s army that is placing down the
stream. It may not be placed across the battle field (i.e. between the two opposing armies) unless agreed to
by both army commanders. The stream must be placed within 600 meters of the edge of the battle area but
may be placed so as to ‘skirt’ terrain features already placed such as a hill. A bridge may not be selected
unless a stream has been deployed. A marsh may not be deployed until a stream has been deployed. A
marsh must be deployed with one side abutting the stream. Hills and Rough Terrain that are deployed must
have one edge abutting with the edge of the playing area. (Seldom in antiquity did commanders fight a
battle by choice with a natural obstacle in the middle of the field).

When initially determining the number of square meters of battle area round any fractions down. A battle
area of 3 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep would have four (4) square meters of battle area (3 x 1.5 = 4.5).

If your total playing area is a total of 2.1 meters, it would be considered 2 square meters for the purpose of
this rule.

© Copyright 2005 Greg R. Pitts Chapter 20 2

11/14/2005