Slitherine

Hi, a question for RBS or for anyone else who understands the impact of terrain on hand to hand fighting...

I'm currently fighting a battle where my heavy cavalry and infantry have caught enemy heavy cavalry and infantry crossing a "deep stream". The enemy units are "in" the stream, and mine are hitting them from open firm ground. I *thought* this would give my troops an advantage, but it seems not. Does this mean that regular/heavy units that go into combat against troops in bad terrain also count as if they're in bad terrain themselves? If so, I'm a bit perplexed - because how then would it *ever* be possible to gain a terrain advantage against regular troops caught crossing streams, marsh etc.?

Thanks for any light you can shed!

From the manual:

14.5. Close Combat on the Edge
of Terrain
If troops inside a terrain feature are in close combat with troops
outside, then the troops outside will suffer the disorder penalties
as if inside the terrain if they are attacking into it, but not if the
enemy is attacking out of it. Either way the combat will not count
as if “in open terrain”.

So if you attack into the deep stream square from an open terrain square, both units will be disordered, but if the troops in the deep stream square attack out of it, they will be disordered but you won't.

Obviously different games have different ways of implementing the effects of streams, but look at it this way: you defend a stream by standing on the bank and fighting the enemy as they emerge, you don't defend it by leaping into the stream with them.

Thanks Richard, that's a very clear explanation and it makes sense.

And thanks for not just replying with "RTFM"!!!

Cheers,
Bombax.

I had trouble with this game mechanic in the beginning too, as streams are usually represented as hex side features. In this game they are grid features not grid-side. One of the drawbacks of grids imho is that although bocage etc. looks good on a grid side, streams following a grid side would look pretty bad in game!

TheGrayMouser wrote:I had trouble with this game mechanic in the beginning too, as streams are usually represented as hex side features. In this game they are grid features not grid-side. One of the drawbacks of grids imho is that although bocage etc. looks good on a grid side, streams following a grid side would look pretty bad in game!

Which, of course, is why we made them go through the middle of the squares, and had to make the game logic fit with that.