The
HOTT Tactical Manual
Terrain
Alan Saunders writes:
Do you carefuly choose the type of terrain you use, or do you just stick to the
old faithfuls, woods and gentle hills? Woods are a good default bad going, but
can be a liability in terms of command and control bacause they block line of
sight. If you need to control your army over a large area then it's worth
considering 'flat' bad going, such as brush, bogs or rocky ground. However,
woods are a good choice if the enemy army is heavy on aerials.
Even with an army of Riders it is worth considering a couple of areas of bad going that you can use to anchor a flank on. This allows you to beef up the other flank. A well placed piece of terrain on one flank can be equivalent to another element in the army in the right circumstances.
Interesting terrain I have used from time to time:
Marsh. Counts as bad going but doesn't block line of sight. However, it
counts as a water feature as well, so you can deploy water lurkers in it as
well as ordinary lurkers. If it is connected up to a reiver you could claim it
as running water for the purposes of dsrupting magic.
Crags. These are some big cork pieces I have (the stuff you get for model
railways). I count them as impassable to ground troops. Aerials can cross them
but not end their move over them. They are actually quite useful if you have an
aerial based army, as you get more manuever room than your opponent - watch out
for recoils though. For a really nasty effect you could make them very high
crags - mountains even - and make them impassable to aerials as well. An
interesting and strange alternative would be to assume that they are riddled
with caves, so they are impassable to aerials, block line of sight, but ground
elements can move through them, treating them as bad going.
If I'm not sure of how I want to play the battle, or don't want to take risks with the terrain, then I slap bad going in two opposite corners, with gentle hills in the two other quarters. Set up correctly you can ensure that whichever edge you have to play there will be bad going on one flank and a hill you can use as well.
Set up your terrain so that if one edge is particularly attractive to the attacker, and likely, therefore, to be the edge they select, the opposite edge is good for you.
If you have lots of aerials, don’t place woods or built up areas. Conversely, if your opponent has lots of aerials, do place woods and built up areas, but not so many that your own army is hampered by them. Remember that they make command and control more difficult. Low hills can restrict command and control by reducing visibility, whilst not restricting movement, but make sure that they don’t just allow your opponent the chance to sit on them and defend. Unless your plan is to tempt them to a static defence, of course.
An opponent with a Magician is never going to thank you for placing at least one river. But avoid water features if the opposing army has a water lurker.
The version 2.0 requirement that there must be two pieces of bad going within 600p of the centre of the board makes for a more restricted table generally, but imaginative placement can still allow a defender that dislikes bad going to have plenty of space to play in.
Jeff Bolton writes:
First, you must be very aware of the rules for placing terrain. Essentially,
three of the quarters must contain terrain, with TWO of those quarters
containing Bad Going or Impassable terrain or water. Finally, most of the game
area (read 51 percent) has to be good going. This means that one small piece of
terrain, properly placed can satisfy the requirements for Bad/Impassable
terrain. Or, you can turn the game area into a quagmire of bad going with some
clear areas in it.
Like many aspects of HOTTs, there are several ways to use terrain. All too often, my favorite use is to shoot myself in the foot. (Like the time I went momentarily brain dead, totally crowded the board with bad going - mainly forests - and then, during deployment, remember that I was fielding an army completely composed of Mounted and Aerials.)
However, when my brain is clicking along (a very annoying habit), I know that there are two basic uses of terrain: TACTICAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL.
Tactical: I ask myself two questions when setting out terrain. How can I
enhance the capabilities of my army? How can I mess up the capabilities of my
opponent? For example, if my army is strong in Shooters and my opponent is
strong in Mounted and Aerials, I will put down a
The psychological role of terrain is a little more esoteric. First, you have
to know your opponent. Second, you have to know your opponent's army. And,
finally, you have to know that you can handle the terrain that you're throwing
out there. (Caveat: I do NOT do this thing against a new player.
"Baby-killing" and cheap victories are no fun.) My favored
mind-messing terrain is water. Very few players seem capable of handling it
very well. Another way of messing up your opponent is to put out a
When using my Cossacks or similar armies (all Mounted and Aerials - maybe with a Magician), I become a terrain minimalist. I need roaming room. Just FYI, I also prefer a 4x4 foot playing area for these armies. OTOH, when I play my Post-Arthurian Partially-Christian Partially-Pagan Celtic Anglo Saxon Jute Pict Frisian Irish Dane Gallo-Roman Sundry Riff-Raff (Including a Locationally-Disenfranchised Hun or Two) as Led by The King (Formerly Known as Prince) Valiant and Other Survivors of the Round Table Army, aka PAPCPPCASJPFIDGRSRR(IALDHOT)ALBTK(FKAP)VAOSOTRT Army, or similar armies (Could there be more than one?), I really don't care what amount of terrain is placed. In fact, the PAPCPPCASJPFIDGRSRR(IALDHOT)ALBTK(FKAP)VAOSOTRT Army and such seem to work better in a channeled or crowded environment.
The answer to this is to set some terrain in the diagonally facing corners of the game area. Again, you have to analyze the situation before you do this. Mostly, I do like to make it possible for my Stronghold to be covered by terrain.
Parting shot: Because of the method of selecting deployment base edge, selecting and placing terrain holds a lot of potential for hurting both sides. Sometimes, the best you can do is to place terrain in such a way that its effects on the game are reasonably neutral. But, sometimes, it's fun to mess with EVERYONE's minds.