Mountain vs Rough terrain

[xhoel]

What is the definition in game terms of mountain and rough terrain? How did the devs distinguish between them when determining hexes?

I am asking since in game the three Czech mountain ranges (Ore Mountains, Bohemian Forest and Sudeten Mountains) are not classified as mountains but as rough terrain.



Now in real life, all three locations exceed the minimum height requirement to classify them as a mountain (1.000 feet):

-Sudetes, highest elevation 5.259 feet.
-Bohemian Forest, 2.625-4.593 feet.
-Ore Mountains, highest elevation 4.081 feet.



In WitE 1 they were classified as mountains which seems correct to me both by definition and by their name so why were they reduced to rough? For comparison, Seelow heights which is a rough hex in game, ranges in elevation from 100 to 200 feet.

[Gunnulf]

It's definately going to be open to interpretation of course, but I'd tend to agree with the downgrade of most of these hexes to rough. I've done quite alot of trail running and skiing in the Czech 'mountains' and while as you say they have the altitude most areas are quite rolling hills and forests rather than true alpine terrain. There are some exceptions around the highest peaks like snezka, and the Bohemian Switzerland region is pretty impassible. Otherwise while rugged rough hills, they are mostly not what would pass for mountains in most countries (no disrespect to the Czech of course, they are beautiful regions in their own right). I'm sure others will have an opinion but that's my view from my experience on the grubs.

[Denniss]

Was probably a bit too low of elevation to be treated as full mountains.
May help for classification: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelgebirge

[xhoel]

Thanks for the answers.

I still am not convinced that every single one of these hexes should be downgraded to rough. For sure at least a few of them can be changed to mountains to reflect increased elevation.

[Joel Billings]

This was originally done by Jason Petho the cartographer for WitW, and IIRC he was basically using the 1k meter or 3k feet for guidance. I can't say though exactly how he decided these things. Some of what he did was adjusted over time as we got additional info, although this was mostly with the rails, forests and swamps.

[xhoel]

@Joel: In that case it does seem fitting to upgrade some of the hexes to mountain.