I see most people aiming for an Endor/Tatooine/Scariff terrain build.

Is there a reason (as someone new to wargaming) why I should be looking to build terrain for those planets, as opposed to, say, Naboo, or a street on a more built-up/industrialized planet like Coruscant?

Would doing something like small park benches and trees, with a built up city building (multiple layers/ladders/a bridge) at one end of the table be a bad idea? If so, why?

It's recognizable from the movies, urban area's were not much used in the original trilogy, I suppose only Bespin. It's also little bit more difficult to do a city-based table, there is a lot more detail in a city compared to say a desert, which takes minimal effort to look decent.

In the case of Starwars its also extra tricky due to scale. I mean if you take for example this shot of coruscant:

How would you translate this into a functional gaming table? Also considering even an AT-ST would only be a small dot scale-wise. Of course you could zoom in and have your table be a single corridor/plaza/rooftop whatever, but how would you make that look like coruscant?

That is not to say more general urban area's can't be done, for inspiration you can look at WH40k tables which people have been building since the 80's:

Though as an (ex) 40k player I must add that the example is a bit too crowded with buildings. Some other nice examples of city-based tables are those for infinity:

Obvious pitfalls when building an urban themed table is having too many buildings (leaving your table in effect a lot smaller since so much area is covered by inaccessible buildings), having too tight spaces (obvious in the infinity tables, while they look amazing an AT-ST would probably only have access to about 30% of the above table) and too many fragile tall objects that your incompetent opponent who has apparently never learned to control his arm movement will inevitable knock over.

50 minutes ago, Kreen said:

I see most people aiming for an Endor/Tatooine/Scariff terrain build.

Is there a reason (as someone new to wargaming) why I should be looking to build terrain for those planets, as opposed to, say, Naboo, or a street on a more built-up/industrialized planet like Coruscant?

Would doing something like small park benches and trees, with a built up city building (multiple layers/ladders/a bridge) at one end of the table be a bad idea? If so, why?

I think it's mostly just hedging of bets right now. Mixed terrain is safe because the rules will undoubtedly support it and game play properly. Dense urban tables are a little more risky because we don't know 100% how they will play.

Can you occupy buildings? Can you destroy buildings? What can an AT-ST step over? Does moving up and down levels in ruins require a climb check, or is it just a movement penalty? How willll the various units actually perform when you talk house to house fighting? Will the game still run at a good speed or will it get bogged down?

Once questions like that are answered I think you'll get a more solid answer.

That said, had I time and money, a Theed inspired terrain set would totally be in the cards for me.

1 hour ago, Ghostofman said:

I think it's mostly just hedging of bets right now. Mixed terrain is safe because the rules will undoubtedly support it and game play properly. Dense urban tables are a little more risky because we don't know 100% how they will play.

Can you occupy buildings? Can you destroy buildings? What can an AT-ST step over? Does moving up and down levels in ruins require a climb check, or is it just a movement penalty? How willll the various units actually perform when you talk house to house fighting? Will the game still run at a good speed or will it get bogged down?

Once questions like that are answered I think you'll get a more solid answer.

That said, had I time and money, a Theed inspired terrain set would totally be in the cards for me.

Well put. I am holding off on going all out on a Death Star/Space Station interior until rules of combat have been explained as I intended on a multi level map. I also realize that the AT-ST and the T-47 would be useless but I am planning on a second exterior/interior mix table. Either based on the EA BattleFront Survival maps from Sullust or Rebel Depot.

Ok, thanks guys! That's some good advice, and I'll probably hold off on building anything until we get more rules then.

3 hours ago, Lord Tareq said:

That is not to say more general urban area's can't be done, for inspiration you can look at WH40k tables which people have been building since the 80's:

Though as an (ex) 40k player I must add that the example is a bit too crowded with buildings.

To be fair, 40k had an entire rules supplement covering urban combat.

Also one for Planetary invasion, another for Boarding actions...

If Legion is successful enough we could see that kind of expansions as well...

You could always do a couple ruined Theed style buildings on the outskirts of forest type terrain to satisfy your itch for structures on your battlefield.

I do like the idea of a Theed map, especially after playing the Beta for BattleFront 2. If I could make a table like that I would envision every single building being built so that it would look pristine and also look as if it was a war torn area. Sections of the buildings would be removable so the that it would look like you are advancing through the aftermath of a huge battle.

Do not give up hope. Honestly if I had my way I would have like 5 to 6 tables. The Death Star, Bespin (Carbon Freezing Chamber map from BattleFront) Tatooine Hangar Bay, Dagobah, Theed (battle damaged), Sullust (BattleFront inspired) and either a Scariff or Star Killer Base interior.

It's been a while since I played Battlefront II, so I'd have to reinstall to be sure, but I remember Theed as having a pretty decent amount of room. The roads were pretty wide and long, so vehicles wouldn't have much of an issue fitting on one, and there were some big courtyard-type areas in it too, with the typical terrain (trees, benches, whatever) for basic scenery. The little brick columns along the buildings would probably make for some light cover at least, if the troopers decided to use the sidewalks. (If it wasn't for the fact that someone might get stuck deploying over there, sticking the little gazebo island things with bridges back to the main road would be fun, just not sure how well an AT-ST would fit over there lol)


Come to think of it, that was the case in Star Wars Galaxies too- in addition to their specific architecture, Naboo really seemed to favor those wide, open spaces and roads in their cities. I think if you keep that in mind, it wouldn't be too hard to set up a Theed table or the like.

Just make friends with Doug Chiang. Maybe he'll let you play on one of the miniatures used on the films.

On 11/7/2017 at 6:33 PM, Lord Tareq said:

Obvious pitfalls when building an urban themed table is having too many buildings (leaving your table in effect a lot smaller since so much area is covered by inaccessible buildings), having too tight spaces (obvious in the infinity tables, while they look amazing an AT-ST would probably only have access to about 30% of the above table)

Some of that is mitigated by how much of Legion can ignore terrain.

The AT-RT, T-47, Luke, and Speeder Bikes can all happily hop over most of that table, and both sides' infantry can move pretty freely with Grappling Hooks. The AT-ST is tall enough that it can probably just shoot over most of it, too; depending on how LoS works. If you removed those 5 tall apartment buildings to open it up a bit, that seems like a very good table for Legion, based on my intuition on how the terrain rules will affect gameplay.

Where is the stuff from that Infinity Table from?

Im not familiar with the game will the scale be correct for Legion?

39 minutes ago, VAYASAN said:

Where is the stuff from that Infinity Table from?

Im not familiar with the game will the scale be correct for Legion?

I believe Infinity is 32mm, in which case the terrain should be the right size for Legion.

The buildings on the infinity table are not in scale with infinity (they are too small), so they won't be in scale with Legion either. Whether its 'close enough' is a matter of personal taste.

On 11/7/2017 at 11:33 PM, Lord Tareq said:

and too many fragile tall objects that your incompetent opponent who has apparently never learned to control his arm movement will inevitable knock over.

Savage.

On 11/8/2017 at 11:29 AM, Force Majeure said:

Just make friends with Doug Chiang. Maybe he'll let you play on one of the miniatures used on the films.

Hmmm, what scale is this? IA or Legion?

On 10/11/2017 at 0:51 AM, VAYASAN said:

Where is the stuff from that Infinity Table from?

From an Australian company called "Miniature Scenery".

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