Take out your mini rule book and turn to page 78 you might notice a section that you have avoided at all costs for no really good reason. The section in question is Buildings! I bet you forgot that they even exist in the 40k universe or maybe you thought they were exclusive to Planetfail. For some reason they are currently not an integral part of the game. The reason for buildings avoidance is they require some thought, as in assigning an armor value, carrying capacity, access and fire ports. There lies the problem: buildings act like immobile transports. God forbid a unit would go inside and use them for protection. I understand the trepidation it is scary, as an average concrete building is AV12 and the combat squad being ignored anyway tis hiding with there bolters!
People complain about missions and repetitive battles, part of it is terrain and to avoid a whole terrain type is pretty silly. Buildings can be used no differently then the forest you put on each side of the battlefield. Simply balance the buildings if you are concerned, like assigning a low AV so any unit to destroy them. Oftentimes I have set up buildings for people that do more harm then good for the player inside them. Confused players typically put a unit inside and never leave, not knowing the right or wrong time to leave. Since buildings are not moving you can also assault from them. just be aware that it is easy to surround a building causing an emergency disembark when it is wrecked, especially when it has one access point.
Since buildings act like transports, the rules are easier to understand unlike ruins or area terrain because you know how transports work. Buildings make fun objectives as well, adding a dynamic element instead of placing some arbitrary objective counter in the middle of nowhere. Buildings only really have two funky rules: templates are the only weapons that can affect units inside and if the building has a battlement, makes it open-top.
The other major obstacle to buildings use, is tournaments. I have not been to one tournament since 5th ed to have buildings. They are in the rule book for a reason; they are meant to be used. If tournament terrain is done right, then there should be no problem including buildings. It is vicious cycle especially if you play in a competitive environment. Why use buildings if you are never going to see them in a tournament anyway?
Then there is the bad taste Planetstrike left concerning buildings. The four pages in the basic rule book are enough, do not even think about using those optional rules in Planetstrike it will only fill your head with deepstriking nightmares. If you did give Planetstrike a try and now have 10 bastions collecting dust at least put them to some use. What about that Devastator Squad begging to be played, it could use a four walled home.
Also don’t you want to play with this beauty…
Questions for Comment:
- Does your local area use buildings?
- Why do you think buildings are not found in tournaments?
- What would you rather see, a building or a ruin and why?