Modular Terrain

Now that I'm relatively locked-in on the bears' dimensions, it's time to work on some terrain.  I'd like to keep the style relatively generic so that it can be adaptable to wherever the bears might find themselves fighting.  (Bonus points if it can be used for humans later)  To that end, I've settled on a slate tile look with very simple doors/windows and stucco/flat walls.  

As with most of what I've designed, I try to use a core catalog of parts and re-arrange them to make different outcomes.  To make the bear project successful I'll need, a variant or two of small cottage houses, a few variants of larger houses, a church, some storehouses/barns, and maybe a few dedicated commercial buildings.  

Basic Cottage Variant 1

Basic Cottage Variant 2

biggest design constraint for terrain is determining if/how units on the board can interact with it.  I'm assuming that the games my daughter and I will play will be largely narrative based so bears will likely need to search houses for honey/treasure or hide from enemy patrols.  I've designed a basic building that the bears can fit in with a removable roof.  The underside of the roof has supports that keep it centered between the gabled ends.  I hope that the gabled ends of the building are rigid enough to survive play.  If not, I'll likely end up redesigning the roof such that it incudes the gabled ends.

Grenadiers Take Cover Inside the Cottage

The most challenging terrain designs are going to be the organic shapes needed for forests.  I could solve this problem by having the trees be removable from their stumps.  When a bear unit needs to occupy the forest, the human player would remove the canopy from the terrain piece and place their bears on the stump field.  This is probably the easiest to design but is somewhat immersion breaking.  The other option I'm considering is making lines of trees to mark the outside of the forest.  The downside there is that the forest would need to be 2x2 grid spaces to completely enclose bears. After I'm satisfied with a few different buildings, I'll make a decision on the forests.  

Terrain Yet to Start

Forest

Large Buildings

Fences: Linear cover away from buildings

Fields?: Slows movement & conceals some bears?

Field Works?

Rocky Outcroppings: Linear cover away from buildings

Hills?: Might avoid.  Tends to complicate rules.

Cliffs?: Might avoid.  Tends to complicate rules.

Terrain Work-In-Progress

Small Buildings