Re: SG2 terrain

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tomb" <tomb@dreammechanics.com>
> Brian said:
>
> I have played in about 5 SG games and all of them had a _lot_ of
> terrain. I would estimate that 75%+ of the board was in forest or
hills
> of some type.
>
> This seems a little overkill for most areas in the world that I have
> been in. Most areas (except national parks, forests, etc.) have less
> than 25% of their area covered by plant terrain.

For a playing-table sized area, you could have almost any degree of
cover,
even in urban areas. I live in Hamburg (pop.1.8 million). Natural and
artificial ground cover varies widely. from large open plazas or parks
to
very close-in parks or urbabinzed areas, often within a few hundred
meters
from each other.

Just across the road is a (admittedly small) swampy wood, a nature
preserve
full of toppled trees, swampy ponds and a small river that in these
rainy
days is three times it's noraml size. Prime alligator country, I would
say,
except that the climate is too cold for alligators. any patch of that
could
be regarded as 100 % vegation covered. On the other hand, most of the
vegetation is large trees with little undergrowth. You get cover from
the
trees, but between these you have quite long lines of sight. This, by
the
way is an effect you have in many old forests, big trees with little
undergrowth - seen it in Australia and even the jungles of Guatemala.

For urbanized spots, you don't have just buildings or vegetation. Walls,
fences, parked cars, advertisement boards, telfone booths etc.etc. can
provide a lot of cover of all types.

As to natural terrain, you can have all kinds on a world. Table-top flat
saltpans, featureless, but slightly rolling desert or steppe,
scrub-covered
desert, savanna with scattered trees, ... Woods, jungles, hilly woods,
mountainous jungles, ...you name it.

Greetings