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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hairfoot" data-source="post: 2854714" data-attributes="member: 23732">I go in for quite a wargame-y style of D&D.  I like the tactics and strategy of overland manoeuvres and miniatures combat.  Trouble is, combat and strategy always seem to be abstract until the PCs close to within a couple of hundred feet of their objective.  Too often it seems like it's all set up around a set piece - usually a building I have a decent model or floorplan for.Because a lot of action gets glossed over on the way to the BBEG, I'm finding that characters aren't getting a chance to shine, because their specialities are nerfed by PCs with other talents.  Mostly I'm finding that clanking fighters cancel any sort of subtlety.Example:  party of 3rd level PCs is sent to retrieve a hostage from hobgoblin raiders, who have fortified an abandoned mill 8 miles distant from the PC base camp.The challenges I'd like to throw at the players are:1. negotiating 8 miles of wilderness with the chance of random encounters or crossing paths with hobgoblin scouts.2. Getting the minis on the table once the PCs are within a mile of the mill, and having them negotiate the intervening terrain, and avoid or neutralise traps and sentries.3. Figuring out a way in, and letting the casters and warriors handle an assault or assist with an infiltration.Problems are:(1) Not so hard.  Encounter rolls and some placement/movement of hob scouts on the overland map.  Some survival/geography rolls to improve the approach.(2) Biggest challenge for me.  This is where I'd like to see the rangers/scouts/barbarians using their abilities to discreetly blaze a trail without the casters and tanks drawing attention or, if it goes awry, having a running skirmish over a distance (when was the last time a range increment was relevant?).(3) This is what it's been leading up to, but now it's all about raw damage output.  Combat spells are at a premium, and the rogues become flankers or bystanders.  Because it's been abstract until the enemies are pouring in, there's little incentive to be cunning with illusions or stealth buffs along the way.The major difficulty I'm experiencing is laying out maps for the approach.  I haven't found any terrain tiles which can handle that sort of distance, and I can't figure out how to create random terrain effectively.Actually, now that I come to the end of the post, it's really a question about mapping. Still, how do you handle it?</blockquote>

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