Going into MKIV, we announced our intention to create terrain for WARMACHINE battlefields. And while it’s easy enough to create something you can put models behind or on top of or inside, what intrigues us about terrain is finding ways to let models interact with it beyond just sitting next to or on top or inside it. We also want to create terrain that supports scenarios, that we can write scenarios around, or that can be the focus of or an objective in a scenario.

Our first foray into this terrain effort, as well as our first Black Anchor Heavy Industries model for MKIV, is the Guard Tower. We chose this piece because we felt a small fortification like this can be used in a wide variety of situations and scenarios; it brings some verticality to the battlefield, offering cover as well as a height advantage to occupants on the upper floor.

We designed the Guard Tower to accommodate a unit of five small bases on the ground floor as well as on the top story or three medium bases on either floor as well. For those medium-based units of five, you’ll have to split them between floors, but we’ve got you covered in the rules so you don’t have to worry about models being too far from each other.

Once assembled, the Guard Tower has three parts that can be removed during play to allow access to occupying models. There’s the roof, the wooden structure with the top floor, and the stone wall foundation. There’s a door for access on one side, and a ladder that runs from the ground to the upper floor to illustrate how your troops climb up and down.

Rather than trying to create universal rules that govern all terrain, our approach to the Guard Tower, as well as to any future terrain, is to treat it more like an individual model (even though it’s not a “model” in game terms) by giving it a dedicated set of rules that covers the ways models interact with it. The rules are intended to make interacting with the terrain piece an easy, seamless experience rather than something fiddly that might make you avoid putting a unit or a solo inside of it. At the same time, the Guard Tower needs to provide an attractive reason for you to want to occupy it without creating a situation that might stall the game. If you’re looking at the rules thinking, “I would never put my warcaster in that deathtrap!” then we will have succeeded in one of our primary goals. No warcaster worth their medals would hole up in a Guard Tower, and we don’t want to give anyone a reason to think that would be a good idea. So, keep your warcaster in the fray where they belong! Snipers, on the other hand, will enjoy the view of the battlefield from this elevated vantage point, as well as the increased range it offers their shots.

It’s important to remember that the Guard Tower, by default, is a neutral terrain feature. It’s not part of your army, and any player can occupy it. We have scenarios planned in the future that will use the Guard Tower in a variety of ways, and some of those scenarios may dictate control by one player at the beginning of the game. We’ll also be featuring the Guard Tower as a key terrain element and theme in our upcoming signature event at AdeptiCon: the Battle of Blackroot, where players will take on the role of Invaders trying to destroy an important line of Guard Towers or the Defenders trying to protect them as the Orgoth march to recapture their ancient fortress city of Khardov.

The rules as they exist right now are printed below. We’re still playtesting them over the next week, and once finalized, they’ll be going into the app. Feel free to share your own thoughts on them with us at feedback@privateerpress.com.

The Guard Tower is available exclusively from Privateer Press as part of our Black Anchor Heavy Industries line. If you’re keen to put a Guard Tower on your tabletop sooner rather than later, they’re available to order now and will start shipping next week!

Available now:

https://store.privateerpress.com/games/warmachine-mkiv/terrain/

Guard Tower Terrain Rules

The Guard Tower is an obstruction terrain feature that can be targeted with attacks and destroyed but is not considered to be a model and is not friendly to either player. The Guard Tower is placed on the table like any other terrain feature.

The Guard Tower has the following special rules:

• Destroyable: The Guard Tower can be targeted by attacks. It has DEF 5, ARM 20, and 40 damage boxes. The Guard Tower is automatically hit by melee attacks. If the Guard Tower is destroyed, remove it from the table.
• Habitable: Small- and medium-based warrior models can enter the Guard Tower through a door on the lower level. A model/unit ending its Normal Movement within 1” of the door can choose to enter the Guard Tower.

Models entering the Guard Tower can be placed on either the lower or upper levels. Models in a unit in the Guard Tower can placed on either floor or on both. There can be up to five small-based models or three medium-based models on each floor. There must be room for a model’s base for it to be placed on either floor. If there is not room for all the models in a unit to be placed within the Guard Tower, the unit cannot move into the Guard Tower.

If the Guard Tower is destroyed, any models in the Guard Tower are also destroyed.

• Movement Inside the Guard Tower: Models/units can use their Normal Movement to be placed on the top floor if they were previously on the lower floor or to be placed on the lower floor if they were previously on the top floor. Units using their Normal Movement to be placed are considered to have moved. Models cannot otherwise move or be placed while in the Guard Tower.
• Exiting the Guard Tower: A model/unit can use their Normal Movement to advance from the Guard Tower. Measure the model/units movement from the door of the Guard Tower.
• Barring the Door: If a player has models in the Guard Tower, their opponent cannot enter the Guard Tower.
• Defensive Position: While inside the Guard Tower, models gain Resistance: Blast and cannot be knocked down or moved by a slam or push.
• Combat from the Tower: Models in the Guard Tower cannot make melee attacks, special actions, or use feats. Models outside the Guard Tower cannot target models inside it with melee attacks.

When a model inside the Guard Tower makes a ranged or arcane attack targeting a model outside the Guard Tower, measure the range from the base of the tower closest to the model being targeted. Additionally, attacks being made by models on the top floor gain +4 RNG.

When a model outside the Tower targets a model inside the Tower with a ranged or arcane attack, measure the range to the base of the tower closest to the attacking model.

Models inside the Tower always have cover.

If a model inside the Tower is directly hit by an AOE attack, instead of resolving the attack as normal, all other models on the same floor as the target are hit and suffer blast damage from the attack regardless of the size of the AOE.

A model inside the Guard Tower cannot target another model inside the Guard Tower with an attack for any reason.

• Elevation: The upper level of the Guard Tower is considered to be elevated terrain.
• Confined Control Range: While in the Guard Tower, a model suffers –6 to their Control Range.

Also added to the online store today: https://store.privateerpress.com/games/warmachine-mkiv