However, the Empire factions use Death magic, while the Kingdoms use Life Magic so the OP is sort of right the appearance of the land does change to reflect this.

Also as of the latest patch there is some sort of bonus to being on your own turf or penalty for being one someone elses in battle I beleive.

I hope econundrum is right. A kingdom sovereign/unit should be penalized while walking in empire lands (and vice versa).

Wow, you too?  Seriously guys it's, "land effects", not "land affects".

Ehm...

"Affect

Is that the extent of it?

I would expect bonuses / penalties in other areas as well, such as morale.

Probably a work in progress. The defense rating itself was added just in the last patch too.

It's for the actual environment. I will, as a Kingdom player, gain the benefit inside hostile kingdom territory. I will also gain the benefit from any grassland that is not inside any territory.

In reverse, I will suffer the penalties inside Empire territory, or any fallen environment that is not inside any territory.

Great, no wonder I haven't noticed anything, I was messing with my race to be in the snow. *sigh* Then again, not like I need the bonus.

There are spells that change the environment. However, I am not 100% sure as to how they work with this mechanic.

In fact I think only "Bonechilling winter" changes the environment, and not the terrain. That would remove any bonuses for anyone in the tile. edit: Bonechilling winter is the internal name for Forsake Land. Edit2: Freeze Settlement also removes the bonus.

(

The difference between environment and terrain is this: environment is the top layer, terrain is the bottom layer. So for example, you can have the terrain Hills with kingdom environment or fallen environment (or arctic or desert or "barren" which is default).

)