Everything You Need to Know About Terrain in Oak & Iron

Terrain Overview

Oak & Iron features four different types of terrain: Shoals, Rocks, Islands, and Landmasses. Fog Banks aren’t terrain, but they are included in the rulebook in the same category. Each type has a slightly different effect on the ships as they move across the game board.

Shoals

Scientifically, a shoal is a natural submerged sandbar or ridge that rises from the seabed. For the purposes of Oak & Iron, they are a bit more loosely defined. They represent a variety of features: submerged rocks, reefs, debris, or sandbars that aren’t clearly visible from the surface, etc. Regardless of their type, for game purposes, they are shallow areas with potential consequences for moving through them.

Oak & Iron Game Rule: If at any point of a ship’s move a part of the ship’s base moves over an area of shoal Terrain, the ship must check to see if it has struck bottom. Complete the move, then roll a number of dice equal to its printed Fortitude value. If any skull results are rolled, the ship has struck the bottom and takes an Aground token.

Shoal Terrain Tips

• Shoals are particularly dangerous to larger ships that have high Fortitude scores. If your opponent is fielding heavy ships, you definitely want to consider taking Shoals. The Fortitude of ships of the line is 3 or 4 , that means they have a 33%-41.3% of running aground. 
• When moving your ships across shoals, do your best to cross completely in a single round. The Aground check is made every round your base even moves over a shoal, not just the first time.
• If you place shoals fully in your zones during deployment. You get the option to move them up to Musket distance. This allows you to place them nearer each other. Move them just far enough apart that a ship can’t sail between them. This lets you use smaller shoals to expand their effectiveness at disabling your opponents.
• If you have large ships and there are lots of shoals, take Local Guide as a deployment bonus if possible. Local Guides give you a -1 Die to your Aground check.
• The Dutch are known for creating lightweight shallow draft ships. So don’t forget you get a Faction bonus against shoals. Faction ability rules: “Roll 1 fewer dice (to a minimum of 1) when testing to Run Aground.”

Chances of Running Aground on a Shoal:

Rocks

Oak & Iron Game Rule: A ship may not move through this type of Terrain. If a ship makes contact with Rocks, it is treated as a Collision (pg. 24).

• Rocks are a type of terrain halfway between Shoals and Islands. Unlike, Shoals, Rocks are objects that represent impassable objects on the board. A ship may not move through this type of Terrain. In fact, if a ship makes contact with Rocks, it is treated as a Collision and potentially suffers damage. Additionally, it automatically runs Aground and has its speed set to Anchored.
• You can’t move through Rocks, but you can shoot across them. They do not block Line of Sight for attacks.
• If your opponent is known for wanting to board and engage in close combat attacks, take Rocks. They are an excellent option to force an opponent to sail around them to close on you. In the meantime, you can continue to shoot at the incoming ships because they don’t block line of sight.
• When placing rocks on the board, set them up in your deployment zone. Then reposition them into in long lines parallel to your likely ship movement path. Moving them just close enough to each other that a ship can’t sail between them gives you a safety barrier preventing opponents from charging in close, but allows you attack while they close.

Islands

Oak & Iron Game Rule: A ship may not move through this type of Terrain. Areas of land are treated the same as Rocks except that they block Line of Sight and a ship may take a Landing Party Crew Action to go ashore on them.

Unlike Rocks, Islands are objects that represent impassible objects on the board but also block line of sight. If a ship comes in contact with an island it potentially takes damage, is considered Aground, and immediately has its speed reduced to Anchored.

Keeping your enemy between your ships and islands can limit your opponent’s options and force them into a position favorable for you. Behind unable to turn towards the islands they will have limited options of moving forward to get free or turning toward you and engaging in close combat

Landmasses

Currently, there are no distinguishing feature differences between an Island and a Landmass for tules. Future rules for landmasses have been teased by Firelock Games for release in 2022.

Fog

While technically not “terrain” it falls in that category for how it’s selected and placed on the board as part of the game.

Oak & Iron Game Rules: Ships shooting into or through a fog bank treat the distance to their target as one range farther (e.g., two ships at Pistol Shot from each other are treated as if they were at Musket Shot instead). If this would cause the distance to be greater than Cannon Shot, the distance is still treated as Cannon Shot, but only results count as successful hits.

• Fog is great for small ship or boarding-focused builds.
• Fog Banks are printed on the backs of Islands and Landmasses. The size of the Fog Bank is irrelevant as ANY of them can be selected.

Ice

 Ice is a new terrain type developed by TimberAndSail.com that represents small icebergs or ice flows that are large enough to restrict movement and potentially do damage a ship’s hull.  You can read more about the rules for ice in our “Battle of Hudson’s Bay” scenario.

Placing Terrain during the Pre-Game Deployment

• If you want to be able to fight in the open make sure you focus on selecting th cards with the fewest pieces of terrain like “Open Sea”, “Offshore” or “Isolated Islands” where you can choose “0” terrain pieces.
• Terrain is moveable during deployment depending on where it’s placed:
  • Pieces fully within your own deployment zone cannot be moved. So, if your opponent picked a lot of terrain and you don’t want it, pick the biggest pieces first and place them as far in the corner or back of the board and as out of the way as possible.
  • If you want terrain to be locked in the middle of the board and unmovable, place it just as close to the dividing lines, but fully within your zone or theirs so it’s stuck.
  • Placing terrain fully in your opponent’s deployment zone just over Musket distance from the edge of your enemy’s deployment zone can give them fits as it is unable to be moved far enough away to get it 100% out of the way.
• If you have a fleet of more nimble ships with the “Small” attribute, selecting Shoals and Rocks are a great option for keeping your opponent at Cannon range. Since neither terrain type blocks line-of-sight, it allows you to circle the terrain while engaging your opponent in a game of cat and mouse hopefully leading to your enemy potentially running aground.
• After the initial deployment, pieces can be moved closer than Musket range apart. You can use this to create tight channels that are narrower than the width of a ship, thereby making really “large” pieces of terrain.

General Tips for interacting with Terrain

• Keep the position of nearby rocks, islands, and landmasses in mind for 1-2 turns ahead to avoid potential collisions. If you are moving at a Speed 4-5, you only get a 30-degree turn radius. Without a Seamanship action or Yare, you may need two full turns to avoid a head-on collision.
• To avoid unintentional Collisions, try to keep greater than 1 Yard Arm distance away from Rocks, Islands, and Landmasses. This keeps opponents from ramming your ship and bumping you into the terrain and forcing you to run aground.
• If your scenario calls for the need for a Landing Party, pay attention to the scenario rules. You typically don’t have to be right on the edge of the island. Keep your distance from the actual terrain to avoid a collision. Typically, you can deploy your Landing Party up to Pistol range away. Additionally, your Landing Party can be placed anywhere on the Island or Landmass. Landing on the side furthest from your opponent can keep you from taking shots on your ship while anchored.
• If you have ships geared towards boarding rather than ranged combat, use islands to block line of sight as you approach. .