Setting up the terrain of a battlefield is easy if you are working from a map but in the majority of my solo games this is not the case and I have to devise the terrain. So I came up with Terrain Cards. Equipment required: D12 x 1, D6 x 1, 12 x A4 or A5 pieces of paper or card. Items of terrain.

I decided on 12 different pieces of terrain as follows:

CARD DESCRIPTION

1 Plain. [Can be undulating]
2 Plain with a settlement.
3 Plain with a settlement and a hill.
4 Plain with a settlement, a hill, and a wood.
5 Plain with a settlement, a hill, a wood and a river.
6 Plain with two hills.
7 Plain with two hills and a forest.
8 Plain with two hills, a forest and a river.
9 Plain with a ridge and a settlement.
10 Plain with a ridge, settlement and wooded hill.
11 Plain with a ridge, wooded hill and a river.
12 Plain with two ridges and a river.

I next divided my Terrain Cards into six segments to coincide with my 2' x 2' terrain squares used on my 6' x 4' table. Each segment was numbered as shown. Starting with card #2 I drew the terrain features on the cards, as shown on Card #7. Now just by throwing a D12 I would discover which terrain I needed to fight over. Eventually I needed more variation so using a D6 I decided an 'odd' throw would indicate further terrain was available and I produced a list accordingly:

D12 throw DESCRIPTION

1 Single building.
2 Two buildings.
3 Small wood [3" x 3"].
4 Large wood [9" x 9"].
5 Small forest [3" x 3"]
6 Large forest [9" x 9"].
7 Swamp [Irregular shape covering and area 6" x 3"]
8 Broken ground- brush rocks etc. Area as per No. 7.
9 Hill.
10 Bridge with stream.
11 Small settlement, must be adjacent to edge of board.
12 City, must be adjacent to edge of board.

A D6 throw shows which segment the additional terrain is placed in. I only allow one additional piece of terrain, per game.

Note: "Woods" are classified as Open and "Forests" as Dense. Hills and ridges are classified by a D6 throw: 1,2,3,4 - Gentle slope. 5 - two contours but gentle slope. 6 - Steep slope. "Settlements" can be any group of buildings which would tie in with the battle, from a village to a city.

Summary. A D12 throw indicates which Terrain Card. A D6 throw indicates additional Terrain and a D12 details type, a D6 shows where. Instant battlefield terrain. Random element is which way you fight either traditionally across or lengthways, which is ideal for mounted troops/armies. Have fun.

Not to scale!