I read some time ago the thoughts of one scenery maker who was of the opionion that scenery should never just be a lump that sits blocking LOS. I cna't remember who it was but they instilled in me the ernest belief that the figures should be interacting with the terrain not just edging round it. I'm also of the opinion that if your theme your scenery it, quite obviously, adds an extra narrative element to the games. I tend to approach my scenery making with these things in mind now.
I've had an idea to build some sort of church for some time and when I ended up owing the Silverfox a favour (thanks for the figs Fox!) it struck me that I could combine the urge to unleash this idea along with meeting the promise I had made to Da Fox.
The post I made on the 03/09/10 shows the basic design but I hadn't giving much thought to the roles each piece would fill as a piece of scenery. By roll I mean what impact each one would have upon the game. I came to the conclusion it is important to have some areas that give light cover and difficult terrain tests but not block LOS at all. Others should offer limited LOS blocking for troops but not vehicles and then others should be able to block LOS for both troops and vehicles.
I think the end result actually met these requirements and I think it will lead me to include this requirements in plans for any future sets. Plans? Oh yes.....we have plans!
As always, the pics don't do this justice. The look and feel of the terrain is superb.
ReplyDeleteYou are dead right about the interaction of the terrain and the models on the board. That stands for both 40k and FoW. You have captured that with the church nicely. That said LOS blocking terrain is important to give the board a tactical edge that allows the player to create a plan. Maneouver warfare for FoW is key, and to a lesser extent it is needed in 40k.