Introduction
Terrain is an integral part of tabletop miniatures games. In Blood and Plunder Terrain is very important for game play. It impacts the game from the very first round. I think it is also something that makes our hobby special, and will definitely be the first thing people say “Oh Wow!” to for a game they see in the wild.
Blood and Plunder has a few advantages in this area. Firstly, the setting and architecture are beautiful and not widely used in other games. Secondly the ships used for Blood and Plunder sea combat act as miniatures and terrain at the same time. Great looking terrain and a fully painted and rigged ship on the table can be very eye catching.
I didn’t start writing this article to wax philosophical on terrain though. This is a more practical article on terrain. Hopefully I can answer a few questions on the subject such as, how it is used? How much should I have? How do I place it? And where do I get it?
What is Terrain?
Terrain is a representation of real world objects and vegetation on the tabletop that serves two purposes in my opinion. First is an aesthetically pleasing game. Whether you want an accurate representation of a Boucanier encampment on Hispaniola, or the most plastic pirate town you can conceive. Everyone wants their game table to look its best.
Second and probably most important is game play and tactical variability. I like the choices that come up based on the environment that terrain can create. Also most of us like to have a varied experience over multiple games. When I make terrain and implement it on the tabletop I want to maximize those two angles. That’s why most of the terrain in this article is in modular form and not static. Although, I think if someone is making or using a static terrain board, most of the concepts here will still apply.
Types of Terrain
Terrain can be broken down into two main categories. First is object terrain such as buildings, walls, barrels, carts, junk and so on. This type of terrain gives cover to models obscured by it. Structures and large objects can block line of sight completely. Models will need to climb or take a movement penalty to move through this type of terrain depending on its height.
The other major category is area terrain. This includes forests, scrub, farmed fields, shallow water or anything that can be considered an area of rough terrain. This is regardless if it gives cover or not. If the area terrain is a forest, or a field that has high vegetation then that terrain will give cover to a unit. If not I usually say no cover is given. I use a rule of thumb that the vegetation or blocking terrain must come up to the model’s waist for it to give cover. If you have a piece of area terrain that doesn’t give cover, like standing water or rocky or sandy ground, then the only effect it would have is the -1 penalty to movement.
How Much Should I Use?
Since we have a good grasp of defining terrain the next step would be to know how much we need. The Blood & Plunder rule book recommends that 33% (or 1/3rd) of the play area should be some kind of terrain. I think this is a good rule of thumb and should be considered a minimum. In my opinion you can take that number up to 50% for the best results. If you get near or go over 50%, it might get too crowded on your table and you’ll be reaching for the Scouts rule more often.
A good majority of your terrain should give cover, and should be decently playable. What I mean by “playable” is terrain that is not difficult to physically move models through, and is not physically difficult to have models stand on. Blood and Plunder is not a dexterity game, and models constantly falling over is not great for paint jobs. Variety is also preferable where the scenario allows. A mix of buildings and town object terrain and forest/farm area terrain is better than all of one type.
Arranging Terrain on the Table.
Arranging terrain on the tabletop is an art. I sometimes struggle with keeping in mind game play when I am creating my Caribbean town or north Florida forest. The following are things I try to keep in mind while placing terrain.
- Breaking up long sight lines and choke points, aka clear and obvious advantageous positions. Terrain can sometimes give one side a massive advantage. While this may be accurate to history I personally like to keep game play and tactics the major deciding factor in my games outcomes.
- Another thing to keep in mind is keeping terrain nice and tight. My rule is to try to keep terrain 8 inches or less away from each other. This allows units to move between cover more easily and keeps the fighting in close for more action in game play. Melee units have more freedom of movement without needing to cross large open areas and ranged units can engage at closer range. This is especially relevant when setting up a demo game. Demos need to be more to the point, snappy, and exciting. So having 6/7 shoot skill muskets exchanging shots from cover over 12 inches away isn’t going to thrill people.
- Also keep in mind “table balance”. Ask yourself if the opposite table edges and corners are roughly equal in type and quantity of terrain. Nobody likes to feel they are at a disadvantage after the attacker/defender rolls because they get forced to deploy on the board edged with no cover and nothing but plowed fields.
Recommendations.
So we’ve covered the “what?” “why?” and “how?” Now we need to get into the “where do I get terrain for Blood and Plunder?” I’ll work my way down to the more budget options.
If you want a deeper dive into suggested Terrain for Blood and Plunder you can find it here.
Pricey options for Blood & Plunder Terrain
Miniature Building Authority has a good looking line of buildings in the Spanish style. The great thing is if you want to spend no time crafting or painting they are table ready right out of the box.
Woodland Scenics has a wide variety of good looking trees and depending on what you spend you can get them as realistic or as basic as you’d like.
Crescent Root produces beautiful Spanish style buildings that come prepainted, but they are not cheap and they usually having a waiting list.
If you are looking for some ready made area terrain these neoprene mats work well for forest, swamps or ponds. Just add trees and you are good to go!
If you don’t already have a 3d printer for a larger upfront cost you can print yourself some nice buildings for your tabletop. Like this offering from my fellow Blood and Pigment member Jason Klotz. If you already have a 3D printer this could go in a cheaper category.
Cheaper options for Blood & Plunder Terrain
Amazon has lots of options for plastic trees. If you are looking for something that looks presentable that doesn’t break the bank this is what you need.
For buildings if you don’t want to fork over quite as much for resin cast pre-painted stuff there are some good laser cut MDF kits from Things from the Basement.
Cast resin buildings from places like Brigade Games are also fantastic and require little to no crafting. Some painting may be required for the the best results.
DIY Terrain for Blood & Plunder
We have a few tutorials on the blog on how to make your own terrain for cheap. Here is a sampling.
- How to make your own sugar cane
- Recommendations on palm trees and how to base them.
- How to make some simple wooden piers
The Plunder Den is a YouTube channel that breaks down how to make terrain for various Firelock published games using basic craft materials.
Other content creators also have tutorials on how to make some great stuff. This church from Dead Man’s Chest Blog was one of the first terrain projects back in the day when I started Blood and Plunder.
Final Thoughts
I think if you want the Blood and Plunder community to grow at your game store or your local area having good looking terrain and knowing how to best implement will give you the best shot at success. It’s important to keep your tables fun to play and give enough terrain on the table to allow the game to shine. Hopefully my tips and recommendations will help you along on your journey to the perfect table.
Article by Garrett Swader
Regarding Things From the Basement: in addition to their Spanish style stuff, their Historic American Buildings line is excellent and one of the very few sources I’ve found for colonial North American structures (though they are a bit later in the BnP timeline – 18th c)