Road and Rail

Some terrain squares may have road and / or rail service. These are shown as blue (road) and red (rail) lines traversing the square. Road and rail lines allow units to move through these terrain squares without incurring speed penalties.

Example

The three units on the right (A, B, and C) all intend to move north across the mountain ridge. They all have movement values of 15 limiting the distance they are able to travel.

Unit A does not have access to any road or rail service and will move:

• 1st square north (hill) at a cost of 3 movement points (2 for traveling through grasslands + 1 for moving uphill) [see note]
• 2nd square north at a cost of 4 movement points (3 for traveling through hilly terrain + 1 for moving uphill)
• 3rd square north at a cost of 4 movement points (5 for traveling through mountain terrain - 1 for moving downhill)
• 4th square north at a cost of 2 movement points (3 for traveling through hilly terrain - 1 for moving downhill)

So unit A will need 13 movement points to bridge the mountain range, thus consuming most of the points for that turn.

Units B and C have road and rail service so terrain penalties do not apply (but elevation changes do). If road and rail moves are calculated with 1 point, both units will reach the northern grassland squares with only 4 points spent allowing them to continue on in the same turn.

Note 1: Movement cost regarding terrain type will always be counted by examining the square where the unit begins movement, not the target square)

Note 2: Movement cost for terrain, road and rail may vary from one scenario to the next so the player will need to check the scenario notes to see which values apply.

Comment: If you consider this carefully, you will note that is even possible to move down a hill ending up with more net movement points. Moving down a steep mountain on a road or rail would cost 1 movement point but the unit would also gain points by moving downhill, allowing the unit at the foot of the hill to travel farther then if they had started at the bottom. This could be very useful either in launching surprise attacks or retreating recon units which were positioned on mountain squares.