Heavily forested or jungle terrain is one of the most common terrain types on habitable planets in the galaxy and the Imperial Guard is often called upon to fight in it. This section contains rules for fighting in jungle terrain. They can be used for any game and do not exclusively have to be used for battles involving Deathworld Veterans. With a little adjustment these rules work for any type of heavily forested battlefield, as well as alien environments such as Craftworld forest domes, sulphate mineral forests or the famous Great Petrified Forest of Brandon's Landing.
Most games are fought on clear, open battlefields. In jungle battles the majority of the ground is covered with jungle. It isn't necessary to cover the whole table with jungle terrain. All you have to do is place a few trees and pieces of terrain to represent areas of dense jungle.
The important thing to show is where the jungle stops. This can be done in a number of ways: you can use lichen to mark the boundary or you can mark the jungle edge with pebbles, string or chalk marks. Alternatively, you can show which areas are covered with jungle by laying down pieces of green cloth or paper. See the section Collecting and Modelling a Catachans Army for more ideas.
Whatever method you decide to use, you should aim to cover between 50% and 90% of the table in jungle. The remainder of the terrain will be made up of clearings, settlements, paths, streams and rivers, as well as any other more exotic features you decide to come up with. We've included a Jungle Terrain Generator below which you can use if you wish, or you may prefer to use some of the other (less random) methods described on page 124 of the Warhammer 40,000 rules.
Jungle Terrain Generator (Roll 2D6)
Roll once on the Terrain Generator for each 12" along your table's longest edge. The feature generated can be placed anywhere on the table. Take it in turns to roll on the Generator and place a terrain feature.
2 — Dangerous Terrain
Roll 1D6 on the chart below. Refer to the Deathworld Terrain Generator on p.128 of the Warhammer 40,000 rule-book for details. Features can be up to 12" in diameter.
| D6 | Terrain |
|---|---|
| 1 | Marshes |
| 2 | Thermotropic Vines |
| 3 | Venus Mantrap |
| 4 | Spitting Cactus / Strangle Vines |
| 5 | Carnivore Lair |
| 6 | Boiling Mud / Tar Pits |
3 — Settlement
A small group of 2-4 buildings that can have up to 12" of adjoining walls or fences. D3 trails run from the settlement.
4 — Stream
A stream is placed so that it flows onto the battlefield from one table edge and flows out from another edge. The stream must have at least one ford positioned across its length which can be crossed as though it were normal ground, with a trail running in both directions from it.
5 — Clearing
A clearing 12" in diameter. D3 trails run from it. Alternatively, instead of placing a clearing you can add a 6" area clear of jungle around an existing settlement.
6 — Hill
The hill is covered in jungle. See the next page for rules on how hills affect a game fought in jungle terrain.
7 — Clearing
A clearing 12" in diameter. D3 trails run from it. Alternatively, instead of placing a clearing you can add a 6" area clear of jungle around an existing settlement.
8 — Barren Hill
The hill is devoid of vegetation and so is clear of jungle. See the next page for rules on how hills affect a game fought in jungle terrain.
9 — Clearing
A clearing 12" in diameter. D3 trails run from it. Alternatively, instead of placing a clearing you can add a 6" area clear of jungle around an existing settlement.
10 — Road
The road is about 4" wide and must be placed so that it enters the battlefield from one table edge and either leaves from another table edge or ends at a settlement or clearing. If a stream or ravine has been placed on the battlefield then the road can cross it via a bridge or ford.
11 — Ravine
The ravine must start from a table edge. It can be from between 12" to 24" long and between 1" to 6" wide. The ravine counts as impassable terrain. Halfway along it there is a single fallen tree that can be used as a bridge. This counts as difficult terrain. Roll 1D6 for each model that crosses it: on a roll of 1 they fall to their doom and are removed from play. A trail runs in both directions from the crossing.
12 — Overgrown Ruins
These ruins may be the remains of a lost civilisation, an abandoned Imperial firebase or whatever you can think of. The ruined area can have up to 12" of adjoining dilapidated walls or fences. It counts as difficult terrain to move through this area.
Jungle Trails
After all features have been placed you need to link them with trails. The Terrain Generator tells you which ones have trails running from them. Take it in turn to pick a terrain feature and to place any trails running from it. Trails are 2" wide and count as clear terrain. They run from the feature to a table edge or to another terrain feature, or to another trail. Each trail should be 12"–36" long and must run to a different location.
Trails are covered by the jungle canopy so can't be seen into by models on hills. Models on the same level as a trail can trace a line of sight along it (ie, you can see along a trail but not down into it). After you have placed all features and trails, the rest of the table is assumed to be covered in jungle.