The different types of terrain soldiers encounter on a battlefield can alter their movement and other capabilities for good or ill. For instance, obstacles may slow troops down but can also provide useful cover.

There are two types of terrain that affect soldiers movement across the battlefield. The first are area obstacles, which are normally features such as woods, marsh, rough ground etcetera. The second are linear objects such as walls, hedges and fences. Different races react in different ways to area obstacles. While humans lose half a move when they pass into or through woods, wood elves lose only a quarter of a move.

Where ever possible in FANTASY WARLORD we have reflected the different races abilities in their movement. The effect terrain has on each race, is detailed on the Profile Sheets. The movement modifiers terrain causes are always expressed as fractions and represent the amount of movement a unit loses in passing through that terrain. The special way in which the modifiers apply, actually gives commanders a great deal of flexibility, when it comes to movement.

Example: A regiment of Scarlet Empire archers, operating in open order, equipped with leather armour, and organised in a line of two ranks, begin phase six 1 cm from a dried-up river bed. The river bed counts as broken ground and is 5 cm wide. The soldiers have a normal move of 20 cm. They move the 1 cm and have 19 cm left, which should be enough to cross the broken ground and move on further still. So how does the commander work out the move?

The soldiers movement is halved moving across broken ground, which is the same as saying it uses up twice the usual movement to cover the same space. Thus to move 5 cm across broken ground, will cost the soldiers 10 cm of their movement. But this calculation does not allow for the fact the terrain effect continues to apply until the last rank has cleared it. So, the commander must also add in the depth of the unit's multibase, which in this case is 4 cm, because they are in a line of two ranks. Thus to move across and clear the broken ground costs the unit 5 cm + 4 cm = 9 cm x 2 = 18 cm. The unit clears the river bed and can then advance a further 1 cm across the clear terrain. (20cms -1 cm -18 cm = 1 cm).

Example: A Regiment of unarmoured wood elves, in close order and formed in a line one rank deep, begin phase six 3 cm from a ford. There normal move is 24 cm and the ford will cost them 1/4 more to traverse than clear terrain. They advance to the ford using 3 cm of their move and leaving 21 cm still to go. The ford is 8 cm wide and the depth of the elf unit is 2 cm, which equals a total of 10 cm to clear the obstacle. A 1/4 of 10 is 2.5 which means it actually costs the elves 12.5 cm of their allowance to clear the ford, even though they only move forward 10 cm. 12.5 cm + 3 cm = 15.5 cm of their allowance and leaves them with a further 8.5 cm to move over the clear terrain beyond the ford.

Players should note that movement modifiers are cumulative. If a regiment of humans in mail and plate wished to move up a steep, wooded hillside their movement rate would be reduced from 18 cm to 9 cm by the steep hill and then from 9 cm to 4.5 cm by the woods. You will note in this example, that the modifier effects the balance of the movement rate and not the original rate every time. If this were not case the humans would never be able to move up the steep, wooded hillside.

Linear obstacles are treated in the same way as area obstacles. The unit of unarmoured orcs in the diagram on the next page, are 2 cm from a wall. There normal move is 20 cm. They advance the two cm to the wall and then halve the remaining 18 cm of move to cross it — so they advance 9 cm beyond the wall.

Just as troops suffer a reduced movement rate when their rear ranks are still inside an area obstacle, so too does a unit which has troops on either side of a linear obstacle. In short a unit is not considered to have crossed a linear obstacle until every figure has successfully left it behind. When a unit is leaving an area of terrain which affects movement, they may not return to their normal movement rate, until the last figure of the unit has cleared the obstacle.

To enter or leave a building via a gateway incurs no movement penalties, though a unit may have to change formation to do this successfully. If a figure wishes to enter or leave a building via a ground floor window or small door, it must begin the turn within 5 cm of the building and be given the order Break Formation, which consumes an entire move.