- Docs
- Warfare and terrain
- Terrain
Terrain
Six kinds of ground, each with an effect you can see.
Six kinds of ground#
| Ground | Effect |
|---|---|
| Open ground | Neutral; the best ground for cavalry and charges |
| Forest | Infantry moves slowly; cavalry very slowly and without charge or formation; siege and caravans cannot enter. Gives cover from missiles and blocks line of sight |
| Hill | Lets units see farther, helps defenders fighting uphill and makes downhill charges dangerous |
| Difficult ground | Mud, marsh and rough ground slow movement and disrupt formations |
| Road | Much faster movement for armies, caravans and reinforcements |
| Water | Blocks land units except at fords and bridges |
Forest here is open woodland you can walk through. Tree lines you harvest for wood still block movement.
In the development build#
- Movement. In woodland, infantry moves at 70 percent of its speed and cavalry at 45 percent; rams, trebuchets and caravans cannot enter it. In marsh, infantry moves at 60 percent, cavalry at 50 and siege at 40. At a ford, infantry wades at 65 percent and cavalry at 70. Units plan their routes with these speeds, so cavalry often rides around a wood that infantry walks through.
- Formations. Woodland, marsh and fords disrupt a formation. It re-forms once the soldiers are clear of that ground.
- Cover. A unit standing in woodland takes 70 percent of an arrow's damage.
- Hills. Hills rise in levels. Each level a unit stands on adds one tile to its sight. An attack on a unit standing higher than the attacker deals 80 percent of its damage. A hill's edge is shaded on the map.
- Building. Buildings stand only on flat, open ground: not in woodland, marsh or a ford, and not across a change of level. A group that includes siege or caravans forms up outside woodland it knows about.
On generated maps#
Every generated map is mirrored, so each player has the same ground: a hill a short walk from home, woodland copses between neighbouring corners, marsh along some lake shores, and a stream between neighbouring corners that you cross at its two fords.
Choosing where to fight#
Hold a hill against an army that must climb it. Hide troops in a forest for an ambush, or draw heavy cavalry into it. Keep your formation out of marsh. The HIGH GROUND and FORMATION DISRUPTED callouts show when terrain is affecting a fight.
Forests block line of sight. From outside you see a unit standing at a wood's edge, but not one deeper inside or behind the trees, and a unit you cannot see cannot be shot at, or build on. A unit at the edge sees out; inside, it sees only its close neighbours. You still see where a wood lies: ground behind the trees is shown as last seen, not as open view. Hills give a longer view.
See Roads, rivers and bridges for movement across the map.