Terrain

Terrain is the type of hex tile that makes up the battlefield on which you fight. Different terrain has different limitations and movement costs, and there are currently 13 type of terrain. Terrain directly influences combat and gives attack and defence bonuses to certain types of troops. It is also important to note that when you click to attack a unit, or move to somewhere on the battlefield, the AI will choose the path of least movement costs to attack/move to a certain position. It is often worth 1 extra turn to get on the terrain you need rather than charge in and attack the enemy located in strong terrain giving them defense bonuses.

Terrain from Bronze Age to Industrial Age

Plains are the most common type of terrain in all randomly generated battlefield types, being the easiest terrain to cross through, costing 2 movement points. All heavy units will have defense bonuses on plains

Forests and bushes are quite rare and slightly slower to travel through but may be common in randomly generated battlefield maps. All light units have bonuses in Forests and Bushes.

Rocks and Hills are the two types of rough terrain, costing 4 movement points. Ranged and Artillery Units will gain an advantage over the melee classes if there are a lot of them in the battlefield, because this allows you to hit the enemy effectively without the enemy attacking your ranged units the following turn, as well as a good attack bonus as well.

Swamps are the roughest terrain of them all, costing 6 movement points, and no military unit class will gain bonuses when located on them.

Progressive Era to Contemporary Era Terrain and the 1.5 Battle Scaling

On the PE to CE map, there are 4 new terrain types: Trenches, Barbed Wire, Entrenchments and Broken Ground. The new 1.5 Battle Scaling also increases movement costs by 50% as well. The 1.5 Battle Map is triggered if just one unit above Progressive Era is used either on your army or the opponent's army. Range will also decrease by about 33% (rounded up).

Trenches cost 6 movement points to move onto, but fast and heavy cannot move onto them. Units such as the Conscript and Bazooka Team have defense bonuses on trenches, but becomes a useless piece of terrain later. They are often quite rare but they in some cases they are very common. They come in lines.

Barbed Wire costs 7.5 movement points to move onto, but fast units can move through them easier (only costing 6 movement points) and heavy units can also move through them easier (only costing 4.5 movement points). They are often common in Guild Expedition near to either side of your army or the opponent's army. No unit has bonuses on Barbed Wire, and fast units below the Progressive Era cannot move onto them. Like trenches, they come in lines.

Entrenchments cost 6 movement points to move onto, and many light and ranged units in these eras have bonuses on Entrenchments, but they are very rare and often do not appear in 50% of battles.

Broken Ground also costs 6 movement points to move onto, but no units have bonuses on these terrain and they are about as rare as Entrenchments.

Note that the Progressive Era Map onwards is often more rough than the old map, due to the introduction of these rougher terrain types.

Movement Table

NOTE: Flying units can move onto any hex tiles that units of that type cannot ordinarily travel. For example, attack helicopters are fast units that can move onto rock tiles.

Terrain	Movement Cost Pre-PE (PE onwards)	Light	Ranged	Fast	Heavy	Artillery
Plain	2 (3)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bush	3 (4.5)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Forest	3 (4.5)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hills	4 (6)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rock	4 (6)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Swamp	6 (9)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Trench	(6)	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Entrenchment	(6)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Barbed Wire	(7.5)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Broken Ground	(6)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Lake	(3)	Some	No	Some	Some	No
Rubble	(9)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
House	(9)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

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1. ↑ or Strike Teams or other specific units.