Obstacles for Warhammer Fantasy
This article was first published in issue 3 (July 2022) of the Herohammer Fanzine as: "Modelling Workshop: Defended Obstacle!" (p. 28-31).
These rules combined make linear obstacles really useful for a defending army, but at the same time they can really slow down an army on the offensive. In order to cross an obstacle a model must give up half of its movement, and a unit continues to suffer this penalty as long as any model is still crossing over (p. 19). This means that a large unit can potentially spend several turns trying to get over a hedge! While the unit is divided by an obstacle it cannot turn, wheel, or change formation. If the obstacle is located in difficult terrain, for example a stone wall inside a wood, then the unit must first half its movement (for being in difficult terrain) and then half it again when crossing the obstacle. If we take the example above, a Movement 4 model would move 2” through the wood and then be forced to give up 1” to cross the stone wall. Needless to say, this is not a situation you would want to find yourself in!
There are some creatures in the game that can ignore the movement penalties of obstacles, such as the plethora of ethereal units in Warhammer Armies: Undead. Models that can fly are able to move straight over all kinds of terrain and thus they ignore obstacles altogether. Flyers also have the added advantage of not requiring 6’s to hit troops behind a defended obstacle (p. 72). If you find yourself facing a lot of defended obstacles it would therefore be a good idea to include some flyers in your army. Chariots, on the other hand, would not be a good choice as they suffer a nasty D6 S6 hits if they move over any obstacles or difficult terrain (p. 75)!
The humble wooden fence is a wargaming classic, so I just had to build a few pieces! I would imagine fences like these can be found throughout the Old World, from Bretonnia to Kislev.
I began by cutting four pieces of balsa wood for the posts, around 20 mm long. I then took strips of balsa wood and glued them to the posts. I decided to add a damaged plank for some variety. I sprayed the fence black and painted it with a bone colour, followed by a black wash. This gave a sort of weather-beaten look. The base was painted brown and flocked green.
I assume hedges would be a pretty common sight in the Old World, primarily in areas with a lot of fields and pastures. I did not want my hedges to look like neatly trimmed garden hedges, so instead I aimed for a wilder and more unkempt look.
Hedges can be made with a lot of different materials such as pan scourers, moss or clump foliage. In this example I will use two different materials to create two variations of bushes: lichen and a scouring pad. I began by cutting or tearing out patches of the material and trimming them so that they would fit on my bases. I then sprayed them with brown paint. Once dry I sprayed the bushes with clear varnish (to create a tacky layer) and sprinkled them with various shades of flock. I used a dark green flock for the lichen and a lighter green for the scouring pad. When the varnish had dried, I glued the bushes to the already flocked bases.
Wherever stone is plentiful there’s bound to be some stone walls around! I imagine there would be a lot of areas in Bretonnia or the Empire with rocky soil, so a few stone walls would not look out of place on a battlefield in either of these realms.
Stone walls can be made in a variety of ways, but I decided to make mine out of XPS foam since it is lightweight and easy to work with. I used my hot wire cutter to make small pieces of foam that looked roughly like stones. I based the look of my walls on an old set of walls from GW, so I also needed some pillars to put on the ends of the sections. When I was happy with the amount of XPS stones I chucked it all in a jar along with a few sharp-edged stones and shook it vigorously! This adds texture to the foam and roughens up the edges a bit. After that it was just a matter of gluing down the stones and building up the layers. Once the glue had dried, I sealed the foam with a layer of ModPodge (you could also use watered down PVA). When the seal had dried, I sprayed the wall black. I painted most of the stones grey, with some being picked out in a darker or lighter shade for a bit of variety. I followed up with a black wash and a bone color drybrush. The base was then painted brown and flocked green.
Orcs aren’t exactly renowned for their architectural skills, but if they were to build some fortifications, they would probably use whatever materials they had laying around. In this case lots of wood!
Gates allow troops to move through the obstacle unhindered, and they will count as unlocked unless otherwise agreed (p. 19). If there are a lot of obstacles on the table gates have the potential to become important objectives to take or defend, since they allow for quicker movement. They can also become deadly bottlenecks and troops bunching up to move through them can find themselves a prime target for missile troops and war machines. This raises some interesting tactical challenges as well: do you aim for the gates to advance faster, but risk marching into a trap? Or do you ignore them and attempt to cross elsewhere?
In this article I will take a closer look at linear obstacles and how they work in Warhammer Fantasy 5th edition. Also included are some ideas on how to build a few different types of obstacles for your gaming table.
Linear obstacles such as fences, hedges, walls and barricades can provide both benefits and major drawbacks in your games of Warhammer Fantasy. For a defending unit the ability to only be hit on 6’s until they lose a round of combat is huge (see the “Defended obstacle” rule on page 35 of the 5th edition rulebook)! Obstacles such as hedges and walls block line of sight over level ground, but models standing right next to an obstacle can be seen and shot at (and shoot back!) (p. 25). A model that stands behind an obstacle benefits from being in cover from shooting attacks. This can either be a -1 to hit for soft cover such as hedges or a -2 for hard cover such as walls (p. 27).
Linear obstacles such as fences, hedges, walls and barricades can provide both benefits and major drawbacks in your games of Warhammer Fantasy. For a defending unit the ability to only be hit on 6’s until they lose a round of combat is huge (see the “Defended obstacle” rule on page 35 of the 5th edition rulebook)! Obstacles such as hedges and walls block line of sight over level ground, but models standing right next to an obstacle can be seen and shot at (and shoot back!) (p. 25). A model that stands behind an obstacle benefits from being in cover from shooting attacks. This can either be a -1 to hit for soft cover such as hedges or a -2 for hard cover such as walls (p. 27).
These rules combined make linear obstacles really useful for a defending army, but at the same time they can really slow down an army on the offensive. In order to cross an obstacle a model must give up half of its movement, and a unit continues to suffer this penalty as long as any model is still crossing over (p. 19). This means that a large unit can potentially spend several turns trying to get over a hedge! While the unit is divided by an obstacle it cannot turn, wheel, or change formation. If the obstacle is located in difficult terrain, for example a stone wall inside a wood, then the unit must first half its movement (for being in difficult terrain) and then half it again when crossing the obstacle. If we take the example above, a Movement 4 model would move 2” through the wood and then be forced to give up 1” to cross the stone wall. Needless to say, this is not a situation you would want to find yourself in!
There are some creatures in the game that can ignore the movement penalties of obstacles, such as the plethora of ethereal units in Warhammer Armies: Undead. Models that can fly are able to move straight over all kinds of terrain and thus they ignore obstacles altogether. Flyers also have the added advantage of not requiring 6’s to hit troops behind a defended obstacle (p. 72). If you find yourself facing a lot of defended obstacles it would therefore be a good idea to include some flyers in your army. Chariots, on the other hand, would not be a good choice as they suffer a nasty D6 S6 hits if they move over any obstacles or difficult terrain (p. 75)!
Building obstacles
Below I will provide some ideas on how to build four types of obstacles for your gaming table. I will also suggest some rules for how they could work in the game.Basing your obstacles
I started out by cutting out 1” wide and 6” long strips of 3 mm thick PVC foam board (also known as “expanded PVC foam sheet”). Based on a suggestion in WD197 I decided to cut the edges of the bases at a 45-degree angle, so that it’s easier to create corners (for example if you want to put a square fence around a house or orchard). The next step was to bevel the edges with a sharp knife.
Wooden Fence
Materials: Balsa wood strips, PVC foamThe humble wooden fence is a wargaming classic, so I just had to build a few pieces! I would imagine fences like these can be found throughout the Old World, from Bretonnia to Kislev.
I began by cutting four pieces of balsa wood for the posts, around 20 mm long. I then took strips of balsa wood and glued them to the posts. I decided to add a damaged plank for some variety. I sprayed the fence black and painted it with a bone colour, followed by a black wash. This gave a sort of weather-beaten look. The base was painted brown and flocked green.
In the game
Wooden fences are obstacles, but since they provide little in the way of substantial protection, I would not count them as soft or hard cover. Nor should they block line of sight.Hedge
Materials: Lichen, Scouring pad, PVC foamI assume hedges would be a pretty common sight in the Old World, primarily in areas with a lot of fields and pastures. I did not want my hedges to look like neatly trimmed garden hedges, so instead I aimed for a wilder and more unkempt look.
Hedges can be made with a lot of different materials such as pan scourers, moss or clump foliage. In this example I will use two different materials to create two variations of bushes: lichen and a scouring pad. I began by cutting or tearing out patches of the material and trimming them so that they would fit on my bases. I then sprayed them with brown paint. Once dry I sprayed the bushes with clear varnish (to create a tacky layer) and sprinkled them with various shades of flock. I used a dark green flock for the lichen and a lighter green for the scouring pad. When the varnish had dried, I glued the bushes to the already flocked bases.
In the game
Hedges are quite clearly defined in the rules, so I would regard them as obstacles with the soft cover rule (-1 to hit).Stone Wall
Materials: XPS foam, PVC foamWherever stone is plentiful there’s bound to be some stone walls around! I imagine there would be a lot of areas in Bretonnia or the Empire with rocky soil, so a few stone walls would not look out of place on a battlefield in either of these realms.
In the game
Stone walls provide good protection for anyone standing behind them, so they count as obstacles with the hard cover rule (-2 to hit).
Wooden Palisade
Materials: Balsa wood, various bitz, PVC foamOrcs aren’t exactly renowned for their architectural skills, but if they were to build some fortifications, they would probably use whatever materials they had laying around. In this case lots of wood!
As with any terrain piece made for Orcs, this one was a lot of fun to build! The main part of the obstacle consists of sharpened tree trunks buried in the ground, and these were made from balsa wood (you could also make them from whatever dead twigs or branches you can find outdoors). I also took some square and rectangular shaped balsa wood and made rough planks and beams that I imagined the Orcs had repurposed and added to the palisade. An old wooden wheel sculpted in clay completed the piece. A build like this is the perfect excuse to raid your bitz box!
Once I was happy with the look, I undercoated it black. I started by painting everything with a bone colour, and then I went back and painted the bark areas on the trunks with a greyish brown. I washed everything with black, and once that had dried, I applied a heavy drybrush of the bone colour on the wood parts. I then went back and did a lighter drybrush on the bark parts. The final detail was the metal parts of the old wheel, and I tried giving it a rusted look using brown wash over the silver paint. The base was then painted brown and flocked green.
Once I was happy with the look, I undercoated it black. I started by painting everything with a bone colour, and then I went back and painted the bark areas on the trunks with a greyish brown. I washed everything with black, and once that had dried, I applied a heavy drybrush of the bone colour on the wood parts. I then went back and did a lighter drybrush on the bark parts. The final detail was the metal parts of the old wheel, and I tried giving it a rusted look using brown wash over the silver paint. The base was then painted brown and flocked green.
In the game
Since the palisade is rather sturdy, I would count it as an obstacle with the hard cover rule (-2 to hit). If you are feeling a bit adventurous you could give the defending troops the ability to strike first when charged due to the sharpened wood slowing the attackers down. This would of course make it extremely difficult to shift a unit occupying these obstacles!Further ideas
If you want to limit the impact that obstacles have on movement, you could make a few pieces with gates. In the example below I have added a wooden gate to a hedge.
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