by Felix Flauta/ malfred

The standard terrain definitions in Prime and Primal are pretty bland and get old fairly quickly. On top of that, there's a tendency for terrain to be setup as "mirror-matching", with similar terrain on either side of the table to keep any one player from becoming hosed by terrain, or "terrain hosed."

With the release of Privateer Press's League system, new terrain features were added to the game. While none of these are "official rules" that you'll find in a rulebook, it's a good starting point for adding variety to pickup games. And, of course, they're rules used for the specific league seasons they were introduced in.

If you have images of the various terrain types, feel free to include them in the article.

Buildings, Fortifications, and Structures

1. Barricade: Barricade templates represent regions of the battlefield fortified with sharpened iron beams. Barricades provide cover (+4 DEF). No model may charge or slam through a barricade. Medium- and large-based models treat barricades as obstructions.

   Barricades were introduced in League Season 2 2007 as [need dimensions here]

2. Cobblestone Pavement: Cobblestone pavement is a man-made construction.

   Cobblestone Pavements were introduced in League Season 1 2008 (Occupied Llael) as large parts of the maps. A league map might show that an entire strip of the game board 4" wide was pavement, preventing the use of Dig In abilities and Burrow abilities.

3. Trenches: Trenches are earthwork fortifications represented by templates. Unlike other terrain features, trenches need not required be placed at least 3" apart, and a trench may touch another trench. Models completely within the trench template have cover (+4 DEF) when targeted with a ranged or magic attack by a model not completely inside the trench template. Models completely inside a trench template do not suffer blast damage from attacks unless the center of the AOE is within the trench template. When drawing line of sight to a model not completely within the Trench template, ignore intervening models completely within the template.

   Trenches were introduced in League Season 2 2007 as [need dimensions here]

Forests

1. Bare Tree Forests -- Forests of deciduous trees in late fall do not provide the same protection from prying eyes that forests normally provide. Bare tree forests are rough terrain. A model must be completely within (instead of simply within) the area of the bare tree forest to claim +2 DEF from concealment. Models can draw line of sight through up to 5" (instead of 3") of bare tree forest, but anything more obstructs line of sight.

   Bare tree forests were introduced in League Season 1 2007 as 8" diameter templates.

Linear Obstacles

1. Fieldstone Wall: A fieldstone wall is a linear obstacle that can be slammed by heavy warjacks and heavy warbeasts. When a fieldstone wall is slammed, turn the slamming model so that it contacts the fieldstone wall and its front arc is parallel to the wall. All models within 2" of the slamming model in its front arc suffer an unboostable POW 8 damage roll. Then the 2" wide slammed section of the wall becomes rough terrain.

   Fieldstone walls were introduced in League Season 1 2008 (Occupied Llael) as 1"x6" linear obstacles.

2. Hay Bale Linear Obstacles -- Hay bale linear obstacles follow the standard rules for linear obstacles but are removed from play under certain conditions. Players may not target hay bale linear obstacles with attacks (as with all linear obstacles), but if a hay bale is caught in a Spray or AOE, remove it from play after resolving the attack. If a hay bale suffers a collateral damage roll of POW 10 or greater, remove it from play after resolving the attack. Heavy warjacks may charge, slam, or trample through hay bales without penalty. Remove the hay bale from play after resolving the charge, slam, or trample attack.

   Hay Bales were introduced in League Season 1 2007 as 1"x6" linear obstacles

3. Hedge Row: Hedge rows are linear obstacles that provide concealment.

   Hedge rows were introduced in League Season 1 2008 (Occupied Llael) as 1"x6" linear obstacles.

Rough Terrain

1. Blast Crater--A blast crater is rough terrain that provides cover to models within 1" of its edge.

   Blast Craters were introduced in League Season 1 2008 (Occupied Llael) as 4" diameter templates.

2. Bramble Patches -- Bramble patches are rough terrain. Warrior models may not run, charge, or slam while within bramble patches even if they have the Pathfinder ability. Warrior models that contact a bramble patch while running, charging, or slamming immediately stop.

   Bramble patches were introduced in League Season 1 2007 as 6" diameter templates.

3. Wheat Field: Wheat fields are rough terrain for small- and medium-based warrior models. Small-based models gain concealment when completely within a wheat field.

   Wheat fields were introduced in League Season 1 2008 (Occupied Llael) as 6"x8" rectangular templates.

4. Leaf Piles -- Leaf piles are rough terrain. A small-based model completely within the area of a leaf pile may forfeit its action to become hidden in the leaves for one round. While hidden in leaves, models cannot be targeted by ranged or magic attacks.

   Leaf piles were introduced in League Season 1 2007 as 4" diameter templates.

Sources

1. 2007 Season 1 Dispatch
2. 2007 Season 2 (Summer) Dispatch
3. 2008 Season 1 (Occupied Llael) Dispatch