Hopefully Kraxis' Fortify tile command will work, and the ability to make a certain tile have certain bonus characteristics should mean it is possible to implement different terrain abilities, although I'm not sure if there will be different tile costs for moving in tactical (based on what we've heard, or not, I would say probably not).

I think it would be possible though, and well worth doing!  If a tile can be made to have special stats (Kraxis Fortify) then any tile can, even if it has to be a special spell cast on all relevant tiles of the different types at the start of a combat.  I for one would love if Stardock took advantage of being able to add stats (and possibly even add negative stats) to certain tiles in tactical combat!

Am I crazy, or does this mechanic already exist with a "mud" spell (I am not on my game PC and forget its name) which limits movement in a 3x3 tile radius for certain turns?

If we have this mechanic already, wouldn't it be easy to mod other effects into the game, even if Stardock doesn't include them?

Best, Bendiwolf

From all the development comments, Brad (Frogboy) is working hard on improving AI.  And battlefield AI isn't anywhere near as difficult as strategic growth/conducting a war AI.  The battles need a bit of work, but the rules set is pretty damn good already, in my opinion. 

Age of Wonders 2 had a great system imo. There were no arbitrary +/- bonuses/penalties to individual hexes but high ground, choke points and zone of control with attacks of opportunity meant that terrain could be relevant in a battle.