Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So a friend of mine mentioned he had a Tomb Citadel, which is a very nice Model that falls within the Realm of Battle Tile-set of Models.

For those who are unaware, these are large Model designed to take up roughly a third to a quarter of the Battle-Field and decorated with parts resembling Buildings, thick Walls and other types of Fortifications. They contain Rules informing us that each section of the Battle-Tile, such as the Power Crucible for example, operate independently during the game and have profiles for each part so they can do so. Their composition reads very similar to most Unit's Datasheets, but with words like 'This Unit' or 'single Model Unit' replaced with 'Realm of the Battle Tile-set. All in all, as someone who is interested in Terrain pieces and wish for more unique Faction based Terrain, this is a very nice Model. However, the existence of Battle-Tiles and a recent thread about the the inability to Move/Deploy Models on top of other Models got me thinking: How do these actually work from a Rule as Written perspective?

Can assist me finding a Rule stating Models can Deploy/Move onto Battle-Tiles, or Buildings in general, as quick searches, new Rulebook and inability to use Frequently Asked Questions?

Now, before I go further in this midnight ramble, lets just put it out there: Battle-tiles are clearly meant to be Deployed/Moved over, this one has as specific Rule granting an invulnerability for Models standing on it for a final nail. I really am just hoping I overlooked something somewhere that says 'Models can stand on Battle-Tiles' outright so this entire problem can go back to being a figment of my imagination. The closest I have been able to come is the fact Buildings are mentioned once in the Terrain section of the book, making them arguably scenery and thus 'climbable' as per the Rules, but that causes a few other problems to creep in... Buildings that are able to move do exist, for one. I am hoping that they are simply not climbable by default, and some other Rule grants permission for Battle-Tiles that I am simply overlooking.


Bonus rant:
The core of the problem is the fact the only reference to 'Buildings,' and I think anything with Keyword: Building would apply, is found in the section of the book literally stating "Oh, how quaint, the Players want Rules for Terrain... how about you go and make your own Rules for how they work, peasants!' To make it even worse, the recommendation found for Buildings is to treat them as "Impassable Terrain." Even if the Rule-book told us what Impassable Terrain actually was, "oh look, they are back for even more... begone with you I say," such a Rule would likely be like previous editions which out-right forbid Deployment/Movement through Impassable Terrain without specific Special Rules. This would make it impossible for Models without FLY, which is the 8th edition equivalent special Rule, to step on Battle-Tiles entirely as they have the Building keyword.

I mean, at this point I am wondering if I should simply re-branding all the Buildings-type Terrain pieces I come across as 'Hills...'
We don't want to call them Buildings because, by what little we have been given, that makes them Impassable
We want to put Models on those Battlements, cause that looks Koooool....
At least people people will stop trying to say they have permission to move through the entire thing as it contains 'walls' if we call them "hills"

I was under the assumption that battle tiles were the table, not terrain to put on top of it

Yeah I agree with crown axe, it doesn't go on the table, it is the table. It doesn't count as a model, it is terrain the same as woods or hills that models can obviously walk through / on. You don't need a specific permission to put models on a battle tile because you have permission to put models on the board.

Well, the tile isn't a single model.

It is a single piece that has 4 "Models" on it: ziggurat, crucible, and 2 emplacements; those models are not terrain, but the rest of the tile is-ish.

I understand this logic, it just does not answer the problems I am facing when it comes to Battle-Tiles and purchasable Buildings in general:

Where does it tell me the thing I have purchased for my Army is not actually a Model, but is in fact a piece of the board itself?
-- Common sense would states that, but I am finding it hard to actually find where that is a Written definition.
Why would it then need a Rule informing us that each "Model" acts independently of each other?
-- It is likely just reminder text, but such a Rule would be required to stop it from being a single... if over-sized... Model
Why are we putting Models in quotation marks to begin with?
-- In previous Editions, we had to bend over backwards to prove that Buildings where not Models in order to get the Rules to function properly... are we back to that point?

This is what I am trying to underline with this topic:-
What allows Models to Deploy/Move over Battle-Tiles, in particular that building looking part of the Tile, that other purchasable buildings lack?

Remember:
Design notes often found on a purchasable Buildings inform us we might find it useful to place Models onto the Battlements in order to remember which Models are Embarked in the Building sections of the Model. That could become very confusing if we have permission to move other Models onto those Battlements as part of the game, mixing who is inside and who is on-top. In addition, previous editions had specific Rules informing us how we go about placing Models onto Battlements. This edition... informs us that they are nothing more then part of the Building itself, with how they constantly address putting units on Battlements only as a reminder of who is embarked.

To cloud the matters even further other 'multiple-section' pieces of Terrain exist, even using the same ' X consists of 3 Y and 2 Z' format that Battle-Tiles do, with the exception of not calling it a Battle-Tile. Within these Datasheets can be instructions informing us that the sections must be placed End-to-End with other Models that make up the terrain piece in question. While this might just be another case of Game-Workshop calling a non-Model entity a Model, such a Rule would make it impossible to actually field... unless these sections are indeed Models. Thus, simply informing us that X consists of Y, doesn't eliminate the problem as we are still required to treat each section as a Model in your Army. Thus, there is no way for you to stand on parts of the Battle-Tile that are clearly designed for Models to be positioned, with Rules that specifically grant benefits to Models positioned so.

Follow up question:
If it is not a Model in the Army, how does that interact with Rules that grant permission for a Model to do something, for example... fire a weapon?
-- Previous editions had pages dedicated to that phenomenon, Rules designed to treat the Building into a 'Model' within a lot of specific situations....