Urban Design

When constructing buildings for terrain in warhammer, there are a few things to consider: unit mobility, LOS blocking, and fortifications. that's just the in game stuff too, let alone stuff like storage, construction method, all sorts of things, but today I'm sticking with in game.

Unit mobility is one of the biggest flaws I see with buildings out there today. Suuuure that ten story starscraper looks cool... but who cares if units can occupy it, if it takes all game long just to move through it! I don't give a damn if your terrain looks great, if I can't use it, I ignore it... not really I love evocative terrain. Anywho, that said, three stories is the absolute max I would give a building, I would say two in a collection of terrain. Two story buildings are better for the sake of interesting gameplay, and one stories are the mainstay and should be very vast in number.

Next up LOS blocking. If a ruin is 6 inches in length between the shooter and the target, then guess what? no shooting for you good sir. And if the shooter is two inches into his own terrain, the enemy also gets a coversave. These are things to think about during construction, and it goes hand to hand with unit mobility. See, if your building is 6X6 and we'll say that the squad starts 3 inches out of the building, then they have to roll 2d6 already to get in it. Then they have to roll 1 d6 to run, that leaves them on average, still well within the terrain, so yeah, now they get a coversave, but if they want to fire at maximum range, the enemy gets one too. LOS is more commonly thought of with walls, not ruins, and that is important too. Make sure your buildings have enough windows to shoot out of, but not so many as to it might as well not be there.

Lastly, and my favorite, is fortifications. Nothing says Imperial Guard like sandbags, barbed wire, communications lines, trenches, pungi sticks, and snare mines, and let your buildings wear that badge of honor with pride! not only will it scream, I AM A HUMAN AND PROUD, but it'll also be the difference between your men growing up to be veterans, or dying fresh off their homeworld. See, sandbags, could in theory, if your opponent is nice enough, yield a 3+ save, on top of the regular cover provided by the building. The barbed wire, yeah, that's dangerous terrain buddy. Pungi sticks, that's dangerous terrain, and pinning, as the men try to aid their impaled friend. Snare mines, they're defensive grenades. So what I'm saying is, it's like free stuff... its on the battlefield, for the taking, and no one is using it. SO TAKE IT.