WFB: Importance of a Well Dressed Table

 There is nothing worse when playing Warhammer than looking at the table and wondering where all the terrain is. Or why there is nothing but terrain on the table. A well dressed table is crucial to playing a proper game of Warhammer.

I game a lot at home or in home game rooms. In our local town there are no hobby stores that have game space. Worse is that as a tournament organizer I have to be acutely aware of terrain and the effects on the game.

For the longest time I never really understood just how crucial terrain could be. Playing a dominantly cavalry army I always hoped for less terrain so my movement wasn't impeded but now...now I pray for rivers and forests, buildings and impassable rocks that I can use to impede my opponents. Also, fun fact about me: I like to envision what the battlefield, the armies and the generals would be like if it was real.


The Battlefield Terrain section of the 8th Ed rulebook starts on Page 116 and the opening paragraph always catches my attention because it says "A Warhammer battle can take place anywhere...." So what I say is stop arguing about whether or not a table has too much terrain and look out into real life. The likelihood of finding a patch of ground with a small forest, a hill, a rock and a small lake evenly spread across the space is unlikely. More likely you'll find dense forest covering large sections, outcroppings of rocks in groups, buildings with fences between them or open fields fenced for containing herds.

On our tables you'll typically find at least one piece of each type of terrain (open, impassable, mysterious and dangerous). I am a fan of building a scene. Like I said we play a lot at home so we have accumulated a lot of terrain, so when I set a table, or when my husband does, there's usually a small village, pathways leading in and out, fences and ruined wall sections, forested areas, foothills and hills and a few rock outcroppings.

Page 142 of the 8th Ed rulebook make it really easy to decide what and how much terrain too. "Place at least D6+4 pieces of terrain" the writers direct and then include a nifty "Random Terrain Chart". I admit that until recently I didn't really even know this chart existed. I'd glanced at it but it had never actually used it. Using it made the table really neat. Instead of our typical smattering of terrain we had what I looked at and balked as being too much terrain and holy did it play a big roll in the game.

If you listen to my friends over at Chumphammer you often hear Pete talk about using impassable terrain as a central piece to his strategy against most opponents, and the reality is impassable terrain is not the only type of terrain that can be used as part of someone's strategy. I won't even attempt to tell you the "best" ways to tactically use terrain because I am not a strong tactics person, but if you consider each terrain piece and read the 8th Ed book you can find that even the Mysterious terrain has a role it can play if you know how. Knowing how means not being afraid to use it.

As a tournament organizer I have watched at other events and noticed in most cases that they either rule that there is no mysterious terrain or they leave it up to the players to decide if they are going to use it or not. At home it is not even a question, but then I am a fan of out of the box Warhammer. It certainly hurts like hell when a Blood Forest attacks me or I get stuck in a Light River or when my opponent gets the benefits of an Arcane Ruin but that is part of the game.

Some people haven't accumulated as much terrain as we have so are sometimes at odds with what to use on the table or how to obtain or make terrain without incurring a lot of cost. When we first started gaming at home we used everything from actual rocks to piles of books; we used knickknacks, cereal bowls and candle holders. Yes terrain like the GW kits and the terrain Rob Metzner who owns Tabletop Scenery in Vancouver, BC look much better but sometimes its more of an expense thing and you have to make do with what you got.

If you're of a mind to make your own terrain it is relatively easy to do and there are a lot of You Tube videos and instruction. Recently my youngest brother decided he wanted to learn how: he watched a bunch of videos, read some articles, called me to clarify a few things as he had never made terrain before, and got to work. He's not done yet but the progress picture he texted me the other night looks fabulous. The key thing to remember is to get all the tools you need, don't rush, draw it out ahead of time and if it doesn't work quite right the first time try again.

I have seen guys go to the dollar stores and buy fish tank accessories: everything from sunken pirate Gale Force 9, to building their own out of kids toy blocks. My preference is the GW kits but I have some of the others too.

ships to castles and greenery, I have seen guys buy the Battlefield in a Box sets from

There's just something satisfying about looking at the game set up, seeing two nicely painted armies facing off amongst a series of terrain pieces that have been crafted and painted. It makes the game more interesting, the scene more realistic and you must admit it is just nice to look at.