Legions Imperialis: Epic Terrain Rules Preview
Legions Imperialis is scaling the battlefield down to epic scale but that doesn’t mean the terrain won’t make an impact on your games!
Terrain in wargaming is an important part of the experience. It many ways it can function like a third partner or faction in the game. All the players will have to deal with it and knowing how to best exploit the terrain can really turn the tide. Today, we’re going to take a quick look at the terrain rules in Legions Imperialis and maybe even get inspired to stretch our hobby muscles, too.
Legions Imperialis Terrain Rules
One rule to remember while looking at the terrain is the rules for Cover Saves. This type of save is not modified by the Armor Penetration of a weapon which means even the biggest shots can fail to eliminate their target. It’s also a way to get some of your squishiest units some protection — don’t be afraid to duck into difficult terrain! Difficult and Obstructing Terrain also have a -1 to Hit modifier for attacks targeting Detachments within their area. Another handy way to stay alive.
Terrain can also be Dangerous Terrain. While you DO gain the benefits of that -1 to be hit, the Detachment is also going to suffer an AP 0 hit for each 1″ move through the terrain. This certainly has a trade off but could be worth the risk if you’ve got faith in your armor saves.
Buildings in Legions Imperialis are treated as “Structures” which have a different subset of rules. First up, Structures can be garrisoned by Infantry. This means the Infantry inside benefit from Cover Saves that can go as high as a 3+ in a Fortification. These Structures also make HITTING the garrisoned units difficult. That said, there is a downside to Structures in that they themselves can be targeted directly.
As you can imagine being in a building that’s just been destroyed isn’t exactly pleasant. Everyone inside the building as it was destroyed takes an AP -1 hit! Any models that fail that save are then destroyed instantly which can be pretty devastating.
Ideally when you’re setting up your games of Legions Imperialis you should have a good mix of all the terrain types. By mixing the various options you can create fun, thematic boards to face-off on. Will your boards have lots of LoS blocking options? Will you have super dense urban boards? Or perhaps you’re looking to have a super modular setup to accommodate whatever situation you find yourself wanting to play — that’s my hope at least!
What do you think of the terrain rules in Legions Imperialis?
