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Just curious how everybody measures how much terrain is enough or "too much"...whats a good balance? it seems most of my games are just smothered in terrain and end in a lop sided crap chute (depending on deployment)

40k has always worked best with plenty of terrain. A good rule of thumb is to cover at least 25% of the table surface.

If you're not sure about eyeballing that, divide your table into quarters, fill one quarter up as full as you can with terrain, and then spread that terrain out to cover the whole board.



It's also good to make sure that you have a decent mix of different types of terrain. You should have at least a couple of chunky terrain pieces that completely block LOS to pretty much everything, and a mix of smaller terrain pieces and difficult terrain.

currently there is more terrain then open space in my games..and its really effecting things

The best bet is to have at least a third of the table covered in terrain. Like previously stated, divide into quarters, fill one with lots of terrain, and disperse. Also, a nice mix of terrain is great, such as forests, ruins, and LOS blocking buildings. If you're having trouble with too little space, I would first make sure you are playing on a proper table. Second, either get a larger table, or remove 1/3 to 1/2 of your current terrain.

 insaniak wrote:
divide your table into quarters, fill one quarter up as full as you can with terrain, and then spread that terrain out to cover the whole board.

I do like that method, nice and easy and fair!

*Stolen*

 jreilly89 wrote:
The best bet is to have at least a third of the table covered in terrain. Like previously stated, divide into quarters, fill one with lots of terrain, and disperse. Also, a nice mix of terrain is great, such as forests, ruins, and LOS blocking buildings. If you're having trouble with too little space, I would first make sure you are playing on a proper table. Second, either get a larger table, or remove 1/3 to 1/2 of your current terrain.

Although I'm all for 1/3 or more of the table being terrain, the OP appears to play Guard. Which explains a lot.

25% terrain usually works, with the caveat that some should be large BLOS terrain and some should be terrain like forests.

clively wrote:

 jreilly89 wrote:
The best bet is to have at least a third of the table covered in terrain. Like previously stated, divide into quarters, fill one with lots of terrain, and disperse. Also, a nice mix of terrain is great, such as forests, ruins, and LOS blocking buildings. If you're having trouble with too little space, I would first make sure you are playing on a proper table. Second, either get a larger table, or remove 1/3 to 1/2 of your current terrain.

Although I'm all for 1/3 or more of the table being terrain, the OP appears to play Guard. Which explains a lot.

I've seen Guard play this way and they've still done fine. I think it comes down to picking a good mix of small and large terrain, as well as placement.

Also realize that some pieces of "terrain" really shouldn't be counted as terrain.

Those crashed Aquila lander pieces are ok for some nice variety, but they're really not a piece of real terrain in my opinion. Terrain is supposed to give cover and/or block LoS. Little bits of rubble don't do that. I'd leave stuff like that out of your calculation for the 25%.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Also realize that some pieces of "terrain" really shouldn't be counted as terrain.

Those crashed Aquila lander pieces are ok for some nice variety, but they're really not a piece of real terrain in my opinion. Terrain is supposed to give cover and/or block LoS. Little bits of rubble don't do that. I'd leave stuff like that out of your calculation for the 25%.

If they call it a ruin they get a cover save even if they are not 25% obscured, so it would be okay to count it if it grants a cover save like a ruin.

 DeathReaper wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Also realize that some pieces of "terrain" really shouldn't be counted as terrain.

Those crashed Aquila lander pieces are ok for some nice variety, but they're really not a piece of real terrain in my opinion. Terrain is supposed to give cover and/or block LoS. Little bits of rubble don't do that. I'd leave stuff like that out of your calculation for the 25%.

If they call it a ruin they get a cover save even if they are not 25% obscured, so it would be okay to count it if it grants a cover save like a ruin.

Agreed. Most of my opponents and I call the terrain beforehand to avoid any confusion, as "ruins" can be anything really