You see, I've just come into possession of a load of strips of cardboard given to me by one of the normals (you know how it happens, normal says :'I thought you could use these for your monsters', you say: 'thanks, actually they're models of.....doesn't matter') and I thought, wow, I could make modular terrain with these.
But not just any modular terrain, sections of sewers or underground tunnels to fight warhammer battles in!
As I was getting carried away I had a quick google to see if there were any tried and tested house rules, but after a couple of dodgy links and lots of 40k tunnelfighting campaign stuff I gave up and thought I'd ask you lot, out there in the Blogosphere.
To start with, I want small battles, 500-ish points, possibly using the 'border patrol' rules as a loose framework. This is to keep it small and easier to manage, also there aren't many instances where a grand army will do battle underground (obviously a themed skaven vs dwarfs 3,000 pointer would be an awesome undergound battle!), but without being reduced to Mordheim sized games. I want mainly familiar rules and I'd like to keep the magic phase etc (maybe a restriction on being a level 1 wizard though!)
I'm also thinking a tunnel network spread out over a 4'x4' table, with tunnels both 5 and 10 men wide with interlinking tunnels that only lone characters and skirmishers can travel down.
Also different types of tunnel, for example a rickety, ramshackle, unsafe goblin tunnel will make you walk faster to get away from the danger and allow you an extra D6" movement, but on a roll of a 1 there is a cave-in and you take D3 wounds. Another idea is for sewers or waterlogged tunnels/underground streams count as moving through cover (like in 40k). And a whole host of underground mysterious terrain could be present.
Obviously, the walls of tunnels will block line of sight, and I was also thinking of a rule limiting line of sight distance because of the dark (and therefore a longer sight range for creatures with good night-vision like dwarfs and skaven). But even though you can't see opponents you can still hear the noises they make echoing around, and creatures like beastmen or skaven can probably smell you/sense you regardless of sight so maybe an Initiative test can be used for charging around corners?
Simply, I'd like to use the warhammer rules as fully as possible so the game is easy to pick up and play, but with some obvious rules changes to account for the underground fighting. I'm also liking the idea of a few new 'Universal Special Rules' that can be granted to different races/units without making them too overpowered.
So I'd really appreciate your ideas and input, what do you think? Any experience of tunnel fighting? Any suggestions?
adios for now,
Neil