An evenly terrained field which does no unduly effect
the outcome of a battle is not only difficult to achieve but
unrealistic. Many wargamers, when fighting a fictional
conflict or a non-campaign engagement tend to balance the
terrain features in order that the battle can be decided in
favour of the man with the best tactical skill rather than the
one fortunate enough to be the defender of an unassailable position.
Though this system may work to everyone's satisfaction at first it soon becomes repetitious and in time boring. I have found in both solo campaigns and in dual player actions that a random terrain not only adds to the realism of the conflict but can severely tax the tactical knowhow of the opponents. How best to use unfavourable terrain to one's advantage adds a spice to the game which would be absent on a well balanced field. In order to effectively combat boring repetition I have developed a system whereby each and every hattle is fought on randomly placed and invariably different terrain. Even if the forces involved are identical in composition from one battle to the next, the engagement will be totally different in tactics, concept and (often) outcome if the terrain is constantly changed.
In my campaigns I use a hex-gridded map each hex representing a war game table. Though whatever method you use to determine contact points and table terrain will be satisfactory. For ease of example I shall explain my system with the hex method.
Once contact has been established in a campaign and the play area determined, the first step is to transpose the strategically indicated features such as roads, rivers and streams, towns or shorelines onto a piece of graph paper. (I use quad 10-1" with each square representing one square inch on the table.) Once this has been done the tactical features can be placed to conform as shown in the diagram.
In the event that the game is not a part of a campaign but a single action, roads and rivers can be placed by dividing the two sides of the table into six equal parts and rolling a die for each side to determine where the river or road will enter the field and rolling again to find where it will exit. Bridges or fords may then be placed if the river and road intersect.
Now that the main strategic features have been placed we can locate the tactical features such as forests, hills, swamps and farms. To accomplish this I divide the table into one foot square sections (using the graph paper for I have found it is much easier to transpose the terrain from paper to table than vice. versa). Now, using a standard deck of cards, jokers included, I shuffle them and deal them out, one at a time, placing one card for each square foot of the table. Thus a standard 4' x 8, table would require 32 cards. Next, I turn the cards over, one by one, consult the table below for the meaning of each card and draw the terrain feature indicated on the graph paper. When you are finished you will have a totally random and natural looking field.
| TERRAIN CARDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Card | Black | Red |
| A | Hill | Grass |
| 2 | Hill | Grass |
| 3 | Hill | Grass |
| 4 | Hvy Woods | Grass |
| 5 | Hvy Woods | Grass |
| 6 | Hvy Woods | Grass |
| 7 | Lt. Woods | Grass |
| 8 | Lt. Woods | Grass |
| 9 | Lt. Woods | Grass |
| 10 | Marsh | Grass |
| J | Farm | Grass |
| Q | Grass | Grass |
| K | Grass | Grass |
| Joker | Hill w/Lt Woods | Hill w/Lt Woods |
In the course of placement some minor problems may arise. For example, it is possible, though unlikely to draw as many as eight different hill cards, hopefully you will have at least eight different hills. To determine which of the eight to place, number the hills and draw an additional card from the remaining deck, disregarding those from 9-K. Heavy woods should cover the entire square foot area while light woods cover half of that.
Other options can be developed as well. If your campaign is being fought in the deserts of North Africa then it is unlikely that large forested areas will abound. Therefore, for major desert areas only 7's and 9's indicate trees. All woods, farms, grass and marsh cards indicate desert. For major forest areas, add K's and Q's to the list as heavy forests. For major mountain areas; add K's and Q's to the list as hills.
If a farm card is drawn and the hex already contains buildings (a "strategically" placed town) you might wish to draw again for a different terrain feature. If you wish to retain the farm then draw a second card to determine if the square foot area surrounding it is fenced. (Red Card - yes; Black card - no.)
If red then:
- A-5 = wooden fence,
6-9 = stone fence
10-K = hedges.
A bridge type may also be chosen in a like manner by drawing a red card for a wooden bridge and a black card for stone. If you wish, this system can be taken a step further by numbering your buildings (if a town is present) and drawing cards for the type and position of these.
It has been my experience that games table constructed in this manner add a great deal of interest and excitement to the game.
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