Buildings provide interesting terrain features on a the battlefield. Not only are they attractive but buildings provide interesting terrain features on they can also be important from a tactical point of view. Towers might overlook the battlefield providing an excellent vantage point for archers, Wizards or war machines. Troops deployed in buildings will be hard to winkle out and are able to defend their position against a much more numerous enemy. However, a good General knows that it is not always profitable to occupy buildings just because they are there, as it is easy to waste vital time taking a village that the enemy then ignores or circumvents. Players must weigh the tactical considerations for themselves, and decide whether or not a particular building has any tactical value. One way is to simply treat buildings as difficult terrain.

It is not possible for units of troops to enter buildings, courtyards, or small walled fortifications in a conventional formation. In order to do so they automatically break into a skirmish formation (see the Skirmishers section). Although only specified types of troops can skirmish on the battlefield, any troops can skirmish in and around buildings.

Models may enter a building in their Movement phase by moving through an unguarded door or window which is judged to be large enough to accommodate them. A unit of troops may be divided between several buildings, or a building and the surrounding area. Models can leave a building through an unguarded door or window in the same way, but are not allowed to enter and leave the same building in a single turn.

The number of models it is possible to place inside a building will depend upon its size. If the model building has roofs and floors that can be removed, then the models can be placed physically inside, which simplifies matters considerably. However, most buildings do not offer this kind of facility, so players must decide before the game how many models the building can contain. Obviously, models that are too large to fit into the building cannot do so - a Dragon or Troll is simply too large to fit into a cottage!

Unless your buildings have removable roofs and floors you will need to keep a separate record of where models occupy a building. This can be done in any suitable manner, for example by writing down how many models are inside on a scrap of paper and placing the piece of paper under or beside the building. Point out to your opponent where troops are moving into buildings to avoid any confusion later on.

Except where buildings are really huge, you will not need to move troops about inside. Models inside the building are assumed to be wherever you wish, and can shoot from any windows, doors or other openings as opportunity permits. However, if a building is very large, roughly speaking more than 6" along any side, then this can lead to unreasonable situations. If a building were 24" long for example, it would be ridiculous to allow a model to romp from one end to the other in a single turn. Should you wish to employ such grandiose buildings then you must be prepared to either make them in such a way that models can be placed inside, or record movement within them by means of graph paper charts or maps, noting down where models are each turn.

Models that are inside buildings can shoot from arrow slits, windows, doors or other openings. Up to two models may shoot from a single opening. Models on flat roofs, parapets, balconies or suchlike can also shoot. Troops occupying a building do not all have to shoot at the same target but shoot as individuals choosing permissible targets as you wish.

Models which have shot from windows or other openings in their own turn can be seen and shot at by the enemy in their turn. Models inside buildings benefit from the advantage of being behind hard cover (-2 to hit) as well as being in skirmish formation (a further -1 to hit).

A unit that wishes to attack an enemy-held building must adopt a skirmish formation in order to move through doors or windows. This is automatically accomplished as soon as the charge is declared. Attackers can move straight through any unguarded doors or ground floor windows but must stop if there is a defender guarding the entrance.

Up td two models per side can fight across a window or doorway. The defenders benefit from the rule for fighting across defended obstacles, so the attackers will need 6s to hit regardless of their Weapon Skill characteristic (WS) until they win a round of combat.

When both sides have troops inside a building, and assuming that models cannot physically be placed inside the building model itself, it will be necessary to resort to a map or ground plan. Quickly draw out a rough ground plan of the building noting the position of windows and doors. Place the ground plan as near to the gaming table as possible. The defender places his models onto the ground plan and attackers are transferred over as they move into the building. Further movement and combat can then be resolved on the plan, and models transferred back to the gaming table as they leave the building.

Buildings are very tough but not so tough that they cannot be destroyed by large machines or monsters. To represent this, buildings are given a Toughness value and a number of Wounds in the same way as other constructions such as war machines and chariots. As it is not strictly appropriate to talk about 'Wounds' in this context we refer to them as Damage points instead - remember that Damage points and Wounds are exactly the same thing.

If a building is very large it would be inappropriate to destroy it all at once. You might prefer to divide it up into several portions and consider each separately. Eg, a Lord's manor house could have a main hall and two wings. This would conveniently divide into three parts for the purposes of recording damage.

The chart below lists types of buildings and suggests Toughness values and Damage points for them. As many garners make their own buildings you may prefer to tailor each building's values to its appearance.

If a building sustains its full quota of Damage points it collapses. Models inside a collapsing building must make their basic armour saving roll or they are trapped and slain. Models which pass their armour save may be moved outside the building.

We have included values for a variety of buildings as well as heavy doors and fortress gates, as you may wish to experiment with games where defenders shut the doors of their tower or castle whilst defenders attempt to batter down the defenses (see also the Siege rules in the Appendix section). Ordinary domestic doors are not considered to offer any significant defence.