Roads and Linear terrain

A place to ask specific rules questions about TRIUMPH!
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CoachB
Levy
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Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:28 pm
Location: San Antonio Texas

Roads and Linear terrain

Post by CoachB » Thu Aug 26, 2021 8:13 pm

The rules mention how roads work, but when and how are the placed on the tabletop? Are they a terrain feature because they are not in anybody's terrain selection.

Prepared defenses, create a linear terrain feature acting like difficult terrain. So how does that work exactly? My unit is in touch the the barrier, and enemy is in touch on the other side. Are we in melee? Do we both take difficult terrain modifiers if they apply?

My unit is in touch with the barrier. An enemy archer moves up to shooting range, does my unit get plus modifiers? Does the archer get negative modifiers? Or does the archer not allowed to shoot since drawing lines cannot contact my base?

Thanks for the help.
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Rod
Grand Master WGC
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Re: Roads and Linear terrain

Post by Rod » Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:58 pm

Roads only impact the ability to move through difficult terrain. They are not a terrain piece per say.

14.4 any terrain piece may contain an integral road....

So basically you can model a road through a village for example, the road would allow troops to move along it in column as open terrain movement or stands that normally could not move in rough terrain to move along the road. However, combat would still be as if in difficult terrain, this is covered on page 27.

You can model road on the battlefield, but they only impact the game as this path through difficult terrain.

Linear obstacles act like difficult terrain so they should be modeled so that troops can be on top of them like a woods with movable trees. They follow the rules for difficult terrain, i.e. if any part of the combat edge is in on the linear terrain the combat takes place in difficult terrain with all penalties. If a stand loses in the difficult terrain the results are based on difficult terrain. Archers do not have a penalty for fighting in difficult terrain so if they want their frond edge at or on the obstacle.

I hope that helps.
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David Kuijt
Grand Master WGC
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Re: Roads and Linear terrain

Post by David Kuijt » Fri Aug 27, 2021 4:10 am

Prepared defenses represent pits, caltrops, spikes, Flemish flooded canals, the flooded fields at Kephisos, stuff like that. It isn't magic -- it's just difficult terrain. No special rules are required, it's just difficult terrain. If you station your archers with their front edge in them, they will be very difficult for French Knights at Agincourt to overcome -- because they are difficult terrain. Knights in difficult terrain are shattered, and fight at -1. No special rules required.

Whereas enemy light foot will go "so what?" Because the spikes of the English at Agincourt were not a wall -- they would impede enemy mounted coming through quickly, but brigans and the like would not be at any risk fighting through them.
DK
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