It seems to be all about the terrain in 9th Edition 40k rules wise as GW just revealed their latest game update with Dense Cover.
Warhammer Community, supplemented by commentary from the GW team on WarhammerTV’s Twitch Stream, showcased a new terrain feature rule that we can all get behind. But before we jump into what’s just be talked about, here is everything else we’ve seen on terrain so far.
Previous Terrain Rules We Saw Earlier
When setting up a battlefield, you and your opponent(s) decide which terrain traits will be applied to each piece of scenery. The traits are designed to be stackable, so a single terrain piece can actually be given as many different traits as you wish. For example, you may decide to count a bunker as both Light Cover AND Heavy Cover, offering the benefits of cover at every range.
Interestingly enough, cover has an effect on melee combat now. Light Cover hasn’t changed from standing in ruins in 8th Edition. However, if you have a unit that survives a charge while standing in Heavy Cover, then the next round of combat will have units receive +1 to their armor saves in melee. It makes sense if there’s so much debris and rubble that the warriors can hardly swing a blade properly. Definitely cool.
Terrain Can Have Different Traits Picked
Whether you’re playing a Matched Play or Narrative game, you and your opponent will be able to pick out certain traits that different terrain pieces will have. This will make for much more dynamic games. Especially for terrain fans that make all kinds of cool things like alien jungle boards, etc.
For Obscuring terrain, anything that’s over 5″ tall will block all LOS except for a few certain circumstances. Anything with 18 wounds or more as well as aircraft models can be seen. If you move into the terrain, you can also be targeted, which is interesting to think about. If you have a LOS-blocking building in the middle of the board and move your units inside, you can now technically be shot at. As long as they are on the other side, however, they are fine.
Another important point to note is that, even though Obscuring terrain blocks line of sight from one side to the other, a unit that’s INSIDE the terrain can still be freely targeted (though they will receive the benefit of cover if the terrain also has the Light Cover trait) and can give fire in return. However, the days of drawing line of sight through a gap in the wall and three consecutive windows to a unit on the opposite side of a huge building are over!
Stu Black mentioned there being different Categories of terrain which will have a table in the book of recommended traits to use for fair games. We can see how it’ll be laid out for things like Ruins and Armored Containers. Going back to the days of 7th Edition, there are going to be a few keywords we just have to know.
GW Expands 9th Edition 40k Terrain Rules With Dense Cover
Stepping into the Dense Cover rule that was just talked about, getting a -1 to hit on your units will be conditional. If you’ve got units standing close enough to a terrain feature that’s at least 3″ in height, they’ll be -1 to hit. What’s really brutal is that vehicles will be able to make use of terrain on the same level as Infantry. The only caveat is that your opponent can’t be able to draw a 1mm thick line to any part of the model’s base/hull to get the -1 to hit bonus. As you’d expect, models that are within the terrain feature don’t calculate the -1 to hit to their shots because they’re so close to the terrain, which makes sense.
After seeing this, depending on how popular the Dense Cover rule is on the tabletop, the Raven Guard Chapter Tactic might have been nerfed slightly(as GW mentioned earlier that modifiers to hit max out at -1/+1. However, the winner might be smaller vehicles (or monsters if you play Tyranids) that are able to hug buildings as they move up the board.
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What do you think about dense cover terrain rules giving a -1 to hit modifier now in 40k? Is terrain’s impact on the game looking more and more promising?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
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Bio: Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4.
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