My favorite form of cover is definitely trenches. Recently I finished a small display board for my army that uses trenches. Eventually I plan to make an entire board of trenches, but that's gunna be another article (with lots of pictures and how to's). Now as far as how to make your trenches effective on the board, lets take a minute to go back to world war one. Basically, a zigzag was favored over a straight line, as that creates pockets, where some of the men are in close quarters, while others might still have a good ways to go, not to mention this looks more interesting than straight lines all the time. Also the trenches weren't all horizontal, some were vertical and led to the other lines. Now how does all this translate into gaming terms?
Well first off, you are gunna want to make some decisions about your trenches. Will they have firing steps where your men are concealed until they step up on one and can now fire out of the trench? Will there be other emplacements in the rear for the machine guns to fire over the heads of the men in the trenches? will you build up a slope to act as difficult terrain so approaching enemies will have a few inches of difficult terrain before they are at your throat? Each one of those elements has a major effect on your trenches gameplay, and takes a lot of effort to construct. Now I recommend all of those, but that's just me. Having a zigzag pattern is also very important, so that at the very least you can create pockets - there I go again with these pockets, why are they so important? basically, when a unit goes into close combat with another, neither side can shoot through it. Think ork boyz and lootas. The boyz get stuck in with your grunts, and now the lootas can't shoot anyone behind them. With the zigzag pattern, not everyone in your gunline will be in close combat at the same time, so not only is it confusing for your enemy, but now you can counter assault, fire another volley, or even just get the heck outta Dodge, the choice is now yours.
As far as connecting trenches go, consider building them at a slant, so that enemy troops have further to travel before they are in your next line, possibly giving you a round of shooting before they start bashing more heads.
Time to start talkin bout bunkers and battery nests! Bunkers are the anchors of a defense system, as such, you should put them in the most strategic places possible. For example, four across the entire trench, evenly spaced of course, should be sufficient. Maybe two more in the next line spaced so they can still see the thick of the battle. Now Bunkers can house officers, or heavy weapons squads, the choice is yours. Both have benefits, I prefer to spread the love, and use the two on the edges for autocannons and heavy bolters, and the two in the middle for junior officers, so the officers can give orders to all the men in the middle, and some on the sides, and the heavy weapons long range can use their long range effectively. Now any trenches worth their salt have battery nests, a place where the big guns can all get together and beat the shit outta stuff. While I would love to have the earthshaker cannon forgeworld makes *drools* the basalisk from GW is half the price, and is actually more effective DAMN YOU THIN WALLET! so yeah, I run with basalisks. Place them somewhere towards the edge of the line, and just let them go to town. Also mortars will need a fine place, however I find the rear middle to be the best spot mahself.
In closing I must say that trenches represent not simply terrain! *points finger upward* but an entirely different battlefield, built solely for war, and nothing more! as such, any Imperial Guard army benefits from such a design! Not only does it fit their lore and fluff more, but provides a better way of gaming on the table! Gone are the days of guardsmen simply being mowed down! And in their place, I suggest a table where every guardsmen has a coversave! And all models be treated equal!
....yeah....
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