m220121a War of the Ring Terrain

8/9/2019 m220121a War of the Ring Terrain

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Modelling Workshopyour indispensable

uide to getting themost out of yourmodels and terrain.n this instalment we

ake a look at terrainn War of The Ring.

WAROF

THERING

TERRAIN

MODELLING

WORKSHOP

The battlefields of the War of The Ringwere many and varied, ranging fromcraggy mountain passes and swampy

riverbanks to ancient forest clearings andeverything in between. A battlefield israrely a featureless plain there will bestreams, rivers, copses of bushes and trees,and rocky piles to be fought over. Thatdoesnt even include the many buildings,both ruined and intact, that are scatteredacross Middle-earths varied landscape.

Needless to say, terrain is an important

facet of the War of The Ring game. It givesyour forces a tactical element tomanoeuvre and fight around but moreimportant than that it greatly enhancesyour game. If you have a nicely paintedarmy then youll want to field them onmore than just a featureless tabletop.

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Terrain can play a pivotal role in any battle, not onlyprovoking tactical considerations but adding a sense that thegame is taking place somewhere in Middle-earth. Here we

look at some of the great terrain built for War of The Ring.

This Rohan house increases the Defence of any of its occupiers by 2. Itsimportant to discuss what each piece of terrain counts as, and the effect it hason the game before starting play, to avoid arguments as you go along!

There are three types of scenery inWar of The Ring: difficult, impassableand defensible terrain. Difficult terrainrepresents areas that are treacherous tocross or slow going for large groups oftroops. Impassable terrain is simplyimpossible to move through. The thirdcategory is defensible terrain; these arescenery pieces that formations can occupyfor a tactical advantage.

Below you can see the terrain set-upfor a typical game of War of The Ring,

including all three of the aforementionedtypes of scenery.

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Using fences to create afield or paddock makes

for a simple but effectivedefensible terrain feature.This field is unlikely to havea Capacity and Defence

bonus of more than 1.

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FIELDS OF BATTLE


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This watchtower was made out of balsa wood, and is perfect asdefensible terrain. It has a Capacity of 2, meaning that twocompanies can occupy it, but only one can fight and shoot fromit, as described in the War of The Ring terrain rules.

Woods and forests are defensible terrain infantry can occupy them and usethem as a defendable redoubt against the foe. An occupying formation gains abonus to their Defence, as well as a 360 degree arc of fire, making themextremely hard to shift.

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For ease of play during thegame, these rocky outcrops

were classed as impassableterrain. Formations will have tomanoeuvre around them insteadof crossing over them.

5 These steep cliffs count asdifficult terrain, slowingtroops down and making anymovement over them count asdouble. They could just as easilyrepresent impassable terrain,making the approach routes allthe more vital.

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OSGILIATHThis once-proud city, and the river it controls, is pivotal to the defence of Gondor.The Witch-king has ordered that Osgiliath on both sides of the river be taken sothat his army can march on Minas Tirith the battle for the bridge has begun.

This ambitious Osgiliath board really uses terrain tocharacterise the game. The battlefield has beendeliberately restricted in certain places to channel thefights into exciting and tense combats. The River Anduinflows across the board, cutting the battlefield in two.Formations can only cross in certain places, although theNazgl on their flying terrors are not so restricted.

By using the terrain in this way, a number of differenttactical options suddenly become available. Manoeuvringaround the side of the enemy isnt quite as straightforward,as companies can use the buildings to shield their flanks.However, the buildings provide excellent strongpoints,allowing for defending units to set up devious ambushes.

The buildings on the Gondor side of the river are still relatively intact.

The stone buildings of the city gave all occupied companies +3 to theirDefence. The Capacity was decided on a case-by-case basis depending on thesize of the terrain piece and number of floors. In general, the larger buildingswere given a Capacity of 4, and the smaller and ruined ones had a Capacityof 2. Neither cavalry nor siege engines could occupy any of the buildings.

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The bridge allows formations that are two infantry companies wideto cross, and is frequently the scene of desperate fighting.

Ruined BuildingsOur model-making experts mainlycreated the buildings of Osgiliathout of foam card, available fromall good modelling shops. Thinbits of card cut from cerealpackets were used as exterior

brickwork and roof slates. Thedome was made from a smallChristmas pudding container!

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The Sundered Bridge

The RiverAnduin

The Guardtower

The Towerof Stars

The Forsaken Palace

The KingsBarracks

The road to Minas MorgulThe road to Minas Tirith

Ferrycrossings

The scenario map of the Battle of Osgiliath, showing the key objectives that must be held to hold thecity the Sundered Bridge, the Guardtower, the Tower of Stars, the Kings Barracks and the ForsakenPalace. It also shows the ferry crossings, which enable formations to cross the river.

The deep, fast flowing River Anduinwas classed as impassable terrain.

Formations could cross the river at theferry points. It took an entire turn for the

whole formation to traverse leaving themvulnerable to attack.

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HELMS DEEPThe people of Rohan have retreated to their ancient fastness, but the Orcs ofIsengard have followed and now they lay siege to the bastion. All is not lost, asa relief force rushes into the valley to aid their countrymen.

The

Hornb

urg

The DeepingStream

The CausewayRamp

TheDeeping

Wall

The Goodforces must setup within 12"of Helms Deep.

The Evil forcesmay set upanywhere, butnot within 6"of the enemy.

The Relief Forcemay set upanywhere, in this

shaded area.

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The deployment map for the Battle for Helms Deepscenario, showing the areas of the fortress.

The uncollapsed sections of the Deeping Wall were given thesame Capacity and Defence values as the Hornburg sections.1

Our Helms Deep was created with two 8' by 4' greenboards pushed together. The scenario as shown herebegins as Thoden and Aragorn sally across the causewaywhile Gandalf rides at the head of the Rohirrim, chargingdown the slopes of the Deeping-Coomb. The DeepingWall has already been breached but the forces of Sarumanare now on the back foot.

The Helms Deep set-up is a great example of how afortress can be represented in War of The Ring, by simplydividing the different sections into separate defensibleterrain features or areas of difficult and impassable terrain.Each tower and section of wall counts as a differentdefensible feature, which can be occupied by defendersand laid siege to by the defenders. The terrain rules mightnot cover every eventuality, but a discussion of whatcounts as what before the game starts helps ensure thateveryone has a clear idea of how it all works.

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The Deeping Stream was represented by a river that was already incorporatedinto the table. For gaming purposes it was classed as difficult terrain so movementwas doubled when moving over it.

The causeway was custom built, designed to be wide enoughso cavalry companies could ride down it.

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To give the Hornburg height, it was placed on a rockyplateau that was made out of hardcore polystyrene,

painted and then dressed with modelling lichen.

The Hornburg itself was made from the originalTwo Towers fortification set. Each wall section

was classed as a piece of defensible terrain with aCapacity of 2 and a +3 Defence bonus.

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m220121a War of the Ring Terrain