Rivers

River Rules


Now that I have terrain on the brain, I've been thinking a bit about river rules. 

• Rivers are Area Terrain, but they do not block line of sight for models behind it.
• Rivers are either Shallow or Deep.  Shallow Rivers are difficult terrain.  Deep Rivers are very difficult terrain.  If the River has fords or crossings, then those parts of the river are one step less difficult -- not difficult for Shallow Rivers and difficult for Deep Rivers.
• Models that are partially or completely in the river gain an Tall 2 Characteristic.  Tall 2 reduces the model's Cover Save by 2.  If they are already Tall, this does not stack -- take the higher value. Most Vehicles are already at least Tall 2.  

Geek Notes

Historically, troops had considerable difficulty crossing a river in combat. Infantry found themselves exposed to enemy guns, with nowhere to hide.  Vehicles of all sorts could require bridges or special equipment to cross -- even without the complications of resistance.

I've designed these rules to reflect some of these difficulties, without making river crossings completely and unplayablely difficult.  In most games, players will want to stick to shallow rivers and play deep rivers only when they have multiple bridges.