Desert forests and orchards

[Volcano Man]

Interesting. Thanks all. Not convinced, myself. A small well with a few trees/bushes is too insignificant to map, in this game, where a 'forest' or 'orchard' hex affects cover etc over an entire hex of 1km. So if that's what it means I think a more realistic map would have left them out. But hey.....I'm keen to try a H2H game anyway.

Well, in the end it all comes down to who made the map and how they interpreted the source map. I can tell you, the guy that made the map is very good at it, and if it is an orchard or forest then it is because that terrain type appeared on the source map and this is unmistakable (these places are usually clearly marked, and are not placed on the game map unless it is substantial).  Also, you have to keep in mind that terrain in one theater is NOT the same as terrain in the other theaters. The PDT data is very different. So a "forest" in the desert is much lower protection bonus and usually allows much faster movement.

And if you don't think forests exist in the desert then you only have to look at pictures of places in Iraq. Anywhere you have the slightest amount of water you will also have trees, and those trees can be pretty thick. I guess the stereotypical "desert" is just sand though, but that is really only places like middle Sahara.

Here is a Wikipedia image of a typical oasis:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...oggar8.jpg

...so, yes, Oasis areas can get pretty vegetated. 

But I think that main thing to keep in mind is that the combat and movement effects are completely different in the desert and the terrain types are simply classes of terrain.