User Guide

PLANET
CHAPTER 3
45
HOW TERRAIN AFFECTS MOVEMENT
A unit’s current movement points are displayed in the status view. As the unit
moves, this number decreases as movement points are used up.
Certain terrain types impede normal movement (these penalties have no effect
if moving across the square on a road or mag tube).
Rocky and forest squares each cost two movement points to cross, while sea fun-
gus squares drain three movement points (however, these squares can always be
entered by any unit having at least one full movement point remaining).
Trying to enter a land fungus square (successfully or not) always ends your
unit’s movement, unless the unit is a mind worm boil, or your faction pos-
sesses the Xenoempathy Dome Secret Project.
Rivers are important in planning movement over undeveloped terrain, because
of their ability to triple a unit’s normal move.
Terrain has no effect on the movement of air units.
HOW TERRAIN AFFECTS COMBAT
Terrain can, in specific situations, provide crucial advantages in combat to
savvy commanders and deadly pitfalls to the unwary.
The important tactical ability of xenofungus to provide concealment has
already been discussed (Flora, p. 39).
Artillery units (see Artillery Combat, p. 100) get an offensive bonus of +25%
per level of altitude from which they are attacking.
Mobile units in smooth or rolling terrain get a +25% offensive bonus, reflect-
ing their ability to make the most of their agility.
Any unit in rocky terrain gets a +50% defensive bonus.
Any unit in xenofungus gets a +50% defensive bonus, unless it is being attacked
by a native life-form (either human-spawned or “wild”) in which case the unit
gets no defensive bonus, but the native life-form gets a +50% combat bonus.