How much terrain should be on a table? Well, there’s AMGs answer, and there’s… well. I guess that’s really it.
Except, I’m here to tell you: play with more terrain!
Really! I mean it. It’s super fun!
Official Terrain Density
First, let’s go through what we know. AMG has published guidelines detailing their expectations for what a table set for competitive play should look like:
With Earth’s Mightiest Core set, the core rules are vague on how much terrain to put on a table. But this chart is theoretically still the expected amount of terrain to drop on a table. That’s 9-19 pieces with the majority being between sizes two and three.
Just to get a visualization, I’ve taken photos of a few tables in my local group. I want to walk through these to give us a sense of what different amounts of terrain look like. Then I’ll make a case for using even more terrain than AMG recommends, evil laughter!
Here are a couple of examples of terrain that fits this on the low end.
Low End
Now, these are only ten pieces of terrain. AMG recommends at least twelve, but this is not far off. Also, when a tournament gets bigger than anticipated, terrain can get stretched a little thin. It happens. I hope we can all agree that it’s more fun to play with more terrain than this.
High End
These tables are a little closer to the recommended maximum number of terrain pieces of 20.
At 16 pieces, our cosmic-ish terrain is starting to look a little more like a regular table. I didn’t give it the best layout, but I was very careful to follow the placement rules: nothing within range three of the table edge and nothing within range two of another piece of terrain.
With 17 pieces of terrain, the board doesn’t look quite so naked any more. Still, it’s far from a recognizable NYC block.
In both cases, these tables work well. They create a balanced game and can be very fun. Still, we can do better.
Is There Another Option?
Full disclosure: I also play Infinity, which means that I am accustomed to seeing two or three times as many as many pieces of terrain on a table.
Also, when AMG puts out a model, the dioramas for their photos have some pretty dense urban environments. They know that it looks really good.
Too Much Terrain
So, yes. There is another option. Cover that table. Go big. Make a city block. Put a bunch of stuff on your table. Go for fashion over function.
This cosmic-ish table has 21 pieces of terrain, and I broke all of the rules. Two buildings are size five. A ton of stuff is placed next to each other or actually on top of each other.
When terrain is stacked, you’ll need to have a conversation with your opponent before the game starts to determine what happens with a building that has an attached piece of terrain and a console on top of it when Hulk throws it. We generally have the terrain drop directly, and usually fall over with the opponent angling the terrain piece.
This urban terrain setup has 24 pieces on the table, including three buildings of size five. A lot of terrain is bunched close together, closer than range two. Some of the terrain is within range three of the table edge. But, the table is starting to look a little bit more like an urban environment. At least suburban. To actually get an urban intersection in New York, we’d be trying to fit eight or more buildings in close proximity to each other. That might actually start to make it hard to reach models on the table. Let’s not be completely over the top? I suppose.
This is it, for me. This is what I want. With a whopping 26 pieces of terrain, putting models on this table feels like we’re reaching into an urban environment. It’s also been very fun to play on.
This setup also presents an interesting opportunity. We play that a model doesn’t have to slow down and its normal move action allows it to ‘hop’ between any of the large buildings without having to climb up the next one, but only if it starts the movement on top of one. Essentially, the four buildings on the far side of the photo count as one elevated surface for the purpose of movement. After all, how many superhero chase scenes have them leaping from one building to the next? A ton. So, we want to replicate it on the table.
This one might actually be getting toward too much terrain in my mind. Also, I don’t recommend bringing this much terrain to your next tournament. It’s a pain to transport, Also, if the people present aren’t expecting it, it could result in some negative play experiences.
Why?
Why do this? Why crowd your table? Why purchase so many extra pieces of terrain? There are at least a few reasons that come to mind for me.
Looks
Tactical considerations aside, it looks much cooler when Iron Man flies over a large building to fire repulsor blasts at his foes down below than it does to see his model hovering next to a car and a container. Creating slightly more cinematic environments to see the models you’ve worked so hard to paint is a reward all its own.
Push, Advance, Throw, and Place
In an empty space, all four of these types of movement are exactly the same. If there is no terrain around, a short throw, short advance, short push, and range two place are functionally identical.
If the table is littered with terrain, each one becomes wildly different.
Push stands to lose the most. If there is terrain in the way, pushes get cut short. So a model’s ability to push something is reduced. Is this a good thing? Not for models that can push enemies. It does add granularity to different types of movement, however.
Advances get shortened by large terrain. Again, this is a problem for anyone trying to advance an allied model over a large piece of terrain. Or even an enemy model.
Throw becomes more interesting. A table full of terrain means that you won’t be able to throw models as far, but it means that they’re going to take damage from being thrown. It loses some efficacy as a method of displacement, but is still better off than pushes on a table crowded with terrain.
Place is the only one that remains unaffected by terrain density. Which means that all four of these types of movement feel meaningfully different.
Considering there are four different kinds of movement, I am a fan of them feeling like they are four different effects.
Terrain Throws, Magneto, and Character Throws
A large amount of terrain can impact the efficacy of different models as well. The Hulk and the Immortal Hulk are already two of the most impactful models in the game. They don’t need the help of having extra size three and four terrain around the table. In cases like this, be wary of too much terrain on your table.
Magneto needs the help though; he’s a six threat model that is severely underutilized at competitive events, in part because of the possibility of a lack of terrain. He really needs a lot of terrain to get the damage output you expect from the Master of Magnetism. A denser table can make him relevant and feel closer to his six threat again. Even with dense tables, Magneto hasn’t completely dominated my garage meta. He’s good, and he feels like a six threat model, but he’s not showing up everywhere all of the time.
On a more general scale, having more terrain on the table can make models with terrain throws more effective. Having more terrain pieces can mean that more damage is done throughout a game which can shift what we feel is important (healing, damage reduction, bodyguards, and terrain throws). It is definitely valid to feel like these shifts aren’t good for the game. After all, AMG has created a game and set the expectations for what is balanced.
Flight and Wall Crawler
There are a handful of models that have the Flight or Wall Crawler super powers. Well, more than I can hold in my hands at once. I count 51 with Flight and 26 with Wall Crawler for close to a third of the current line up of models. That doesn’t even include the short movers who don’t slow down when they climb over large terrain pieces.
More terrain means that Flight and Wall Crawler are more useful. When there are buildings around that impede movement, being able to ignore those impediments can create an edge against an opponent, whether chasing something down or running away.
Do Web Warriors need this boost? No. They definitely don’t. Still, models that have Flight or Wall Crawler should be able to use it. In the first two tables I posted, they won’t. Well, they might get to once or twice in a game.
With three size five pieces of terrain on the table, Flight and Wall Crawler feel relevant. The extra mobility means that deployment matters a lot. It means that positioning throughout the game can mean the difference between taking attacks and not. And it means that Spider-Woman (long move with wallcrawler) and The Black Widow (long move without wallcrawler) interact with a dense table very differently.
Variety is the Spice of Life
That’s the phrase, right? Just like anything else, a change can make things interesting. If you’ve been playing on a table with only 12 pieces of terrain, try increasing it. If you’ve been playing on an Infinity table, maybe take some pieces of terrain off. Whatever your regular game night table setup is, changing it can change your perspective.
If there is a character that you have found to be absolute trash but someone else says is great, try changing the terrain density and layout. Maybe something about your table has made it hard to get a model into position or made one of their superpowers feel lackluster where others think it’s amazing. Changing your terrain layout may give you an entirely new experience.
Character Considerations
So. When you walk up to a table and you see it positively stacked with terrain, what should you do?
Get excited! Try something different. Bring Magneto. Bring Hulk or Beta Ray Bill. Heck, Prince Thor is a monster when he’s tossing models and terrain around.
You know who else shows up with a terrain packed table? Hulkbuster. If your opponent can throw terrain at you all game long, his leadership is phenomenal. No longer can your opponent knock a model down to one stamina remaining only to toss them into another model to finish it off. I’ve played Hulkbuster a few times on dense tables, and when my opponent has access to throws, his leadership can result in preventing upwards of ten damage across my team.
It’s also worth remembering that with a bunch of terrain, pushes are generally a little less effective. Unless you are running King T’Challa’s leadership. Some extra damage there is great. Just know that web warriors won’t be able to displace their opponents quote as far. Black Panther will have a harder time moving an opponent.
The various Pounce superpowers will all be a little harder to get damage out of. Considering Black Panther, Apex Predator, and Hero Thor are amongst the best in their respective weight classes, I think it’s probably okay.
Team Tactics Cards
Which team tactics cards are more useful with more terrain? Well, there are only a couple that come to mind.
Rocket Boots(?!)
I know, it’s currently rotated. Still adding flight for a round is great to get over stacked terrain. Is it worth the one-in-eight chance of ending up with a stun and stagger? I guess it depends on how risk averse you are.
Agents of S.M.A.S.H
One of my favorite cards from a comic fan’s standpoint…and from having watched some cartoons that I was definitely not too old for. Hulk and She-Hulk rarely make a team together, but throwing a size five building seems like a worthwhile endeavor. By worthwhile, I really just mean cool. It’s cool.
There are a few other cards, Death From Above, Do You Know Who I Am?, Pym Particles, Sovereign Strike, for example, that use terrain. Having more terrain on the table means more opportunities to use the cards. I feel like a broken record here at this point, but while this may not be for every competitive event, adding terrain is a fun way to shake up your roster building and local meta.
Conclusion
Just to repeat myself ad nauseam, live a little, try something different, and have fun playing this game. Personally, I think we should embrace putting more terrain on the table. Super heroes throwing cars and buildings is cool! Let’s make it happen more. Try not to get caught up in making sure the game is perfectly balanced as intended and enjoy yourself instead.
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