Knowledge Bomb: Terrain Rules? or Terrain RULES!!!!

What’s up all? It’s Meeker this time with the next installment of Knowledge Bomb. Today we’re going to take a look at ruins and how they’re just a wee bit odd.

The first thing to note is that there are only certain unit types that can move around on the upper levels of ruins. (This is found at the top of page 83).

Only infantry, jetbikes, monstrous creatures, and walkers are allowed to move around above ground floor. Soooooo your multi-ton Dreadnaught is capable of climbing to the roof but Dark Eldar Beast Packs have to sit and watch from the ground.

This can be advantageous if you have some small scoring units trying to hide from some beasts and cavalry (because Rough Riders are such a popular choice…oh wait).

Now I’ve judged a lot of events, and a frequent issue is terrain. Opponents tend to forget discussing terrain. Bottom of turn two and argument comes up where one person wants that cliff to be difficult while the other wants it to be dangerous or impassable.

As a judge, the only answer I can give is, “did you discuss it before the battle?” Apparently the same is true for ruins. Almost everyone in my gaming area (and most areas I’ve visited) assumes that units can just blast their way through ruins with a difficult terrain test.

As explained on the bottom of page 83, you and your opponent should decide before the battle if troops can move through walls. The same (and probably more importantly) is true for moving up and down levels. Simply put, this has huge implications and a smart player will know how to use this to their advantage.

Next time we’ll talk about assaulting in ruin and why you can have an assault where the two units aren’t even in base-to-base.