Welcome back to the Learning to Play series! I got several questions after posting my Latari list (that you can read about here and see played here) asking what terrain I planned to take with my list and how this impacted my list building. As of right now, I am still trying to figure out exactly what terrain I want to include with my the list, but I do have a general idea about what I want the terrain to do for my list, so I thought I would go ahead and share my thoughts on this and the various terrain I am considering. First however, I will be referencing most of the terrain by name. If you are not familiar with specific terrain features, the Runewars wiki has proved to be quite a valuable resource, and you can find all of the terrain, as well as the related FAQ and other important rules related to terrain, here. So, with that all being said, let's jump into it!
As a general rule, when trying to decide what terrain pieces to bring with a list, it is important to first know what you hope to get out of the terrain you bring. Are you taking it for a benefit when near that piece of terrain? Are you hoping to place your Archers in the terrain and shoot out from it the whole game? Are you just using it to block your opponent or trying to not block yourself? Because of the way terrain works in this game, I think it is important to have a basic understanding of what you want the terrain to do for you before you start trying to pick individual pieces of terrain to include in your list. So, let's take a look at my list again, and what I want from the terrain based on how I hope to play the list.
"Impacts All Around" (200pts)
Aliana of Summersong
- Packleaders Spear
- Ambush Predator
2x Leonx Riders (2x2)
- Bull Pennon
Deepwood Archers (3x2)
- Maegan Cyndewin
- Support Aymhelin Scion
2x Aymhelin Scion (1x1)
- Vicious Roots
Based on the list I have, I am hoping to bring terrain that helps protect the Archers for as long as possible while allowing Aliana and the Leonx Riders to get around the flanks of my opponent. Because Latari tends to be the most mobile faction, I can dance around the terrain a little easier than other factions can, and I want to use this to my advantage. Also, because Uthuk is the current boogeyman in the game, I want to be sure I include terrain that can stop them from barreling across the table and potentially slow them down.
With these considerations in mind, I am going to exclude all 6 capacity terrain right off the bat. First, it is too inconsistent. Because I would only be able to include a single 6 capacity terrain piece in my list, at best, I have a 50% chance of seeing it. I want to be able to have a plan in mind for my list that works no matter what terrain I bring to the table, and as such, a 50% chance of having a huge piece of terrain versus not is too much variation for what I want. Second, I want to be able to dance around the terrain, and a 6 capacity terrain piece allows too many units to fit into it. This means the terrain piece is no longer blocking my opponent's path, but instead is just a minor hindrance. Thus smaller terrain will be better for blocking large unit's paths all together and is, therefore, better suited for my list.
Additionally, as a practical note, I will not be including more than 2 pieces of any single terrain feature or any terrain that comes in other factions' boxes. I currently don't plan to buy boxes just for the terrain, so unless I am able to borrow terrain from other locals, I will be sticking to what I already have access to or can easily acquire.
So, after excluding all 6 capacity terrain and terrain from other factions' boxes, I am left with the following terrain pieces to choose from:
- Crumbling Wall / Swamp
- Latari Memorial / Dimoran Fissure
- Rocky Outcrop / Spikes
- Sacred Font / Fae-Infested Glade
- Wildroot Patch / Thorn-choked Circle
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So let's bring this all together. With options should I consider while also trying to maintain consistency within the list?
Option 1:
2x Sacred Font / Fae-Infested Glade
2x Latari Memorial / Dimoran Fissure
This option would allow me some reasonable consistency knowing I am getting 1 of 2 terrain features each game (you will notice this may be a pattern in the other options as well). I already spoke about the Latari Memorial above, but the free inspiration is always helpful while my list is built in such a way to minimize the downside of Dimoran Fissure. Additionally, the Sacred Font is only capacity 2 so very few units will be able to fit within it while having a nice added benefit when on the defensive side. Additionally, this is a better capacity 2 terrain piece than the Crumbling Wall as it has better benefits for entering it if I want to jump Aliana or a Scion into it, while also having more penalizing effects on the dangerous side than the Swamp does which might discourage some smaller enemy units from entering into it. However, with my plan being to prevent models from getting to me, and Uthuk being the current boogeyman, this terrain allows the likes of Ravos to enter it and possibly perform a free rally which seems to be a big downside. Additionally, it would require me purchasing a second Maegan box which is unlikely to happen.
Option 2:
2x Latari Memorial / Dimoran Fissure
2x Rocky Outcrop / Spikes
This option provides the most consistency as none of the options allow models to enter the terrain while they are all also relatively the same size. Therefore, I know exactly what to expect from my deck at least in terms of size and shape of the terrain even if the effects may differ. I feel the Rocky Outcrop/Spikes are fairly straight forward and the Latari Memorial/Dimoran Fissure is still a great piece as discussed above. The downside to this option is that, while it is very consistent, all the terrain is also very small. That means that there is less area of the board that is blocked off to larger units and more space for units to just march straight across the board.
See, this is what we don't want. Our opponent running at us full speed with nothing to stop them.
Option 3:
2x Latari Memorial / Dimoran Fissure
2x Stronghold / Temple Ruins
This option contradicts one of my previous rules by including 2 pieces of terrain that are only included in the Lord Hawthorne box. However, if I am able to borrow these from local players, I believe this can be a really strong option. The main reason for this is that if you have never compared the size of various terrain features, the Stronghold/Temple Ruins is the same size as your normal 6 capacity terrain while only being capacity 2. This is important because I am looking for terrain that can block my opponent while not allowing them to put large blocks of units into the terrain. Although the 2 capacity Stronghold would still allow smaller units (like Ravos) in them, the cost/benefit of this terrain piece is much better due to the amount of space it occupies on the board. These are then paired with the Latari Memorial/Dimoran Fissure for the same reasons I have included 2 in each of the above options.
Conclusion:
If you haven't noticed, I am a very big fan of the Latari Memorial/Dimoran Fissure. I think running 2 of them is probably a given for me at this point for all the reasons listed above, and if I owned more starters, I may even be tempted to include more of these in my list. While the easiest of the 3 options to run is Option 2 (I own all of the necessary terrain already), I am a little hesitant due to how small all of the terrain is. While I can never guarantee that a larger piece of terrain will come out with the other options, it seems like it would be nice to at least have the option. Based on this, I think I will begin testing my list with Option 3 under the assumption that I will be able to borrow the two Strongholds from local players to see if it works out as well as I hope it will. I plan to try and get a couple games in with this in the near future and provide feedback on both the list and the terrain in a future article.
Also, if you would like to hear more about terrain from guys who know a lot more than I do about Runewars, even if their knowledge of terrain seems to be questionable (joking of course), check out the Initiative One podcast, Episode 11. Until next time, may the Morale deck always flip in your favor!
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