diff --git a/environments/.stackhpc/terraform/main.tf b/environments/.stackhpc/terraform/main.tf
index 4284ec132..d14896dd1 100644
--- a/environments/.stackhpc/terraform/main.tf
+++ b/environments/.stackhpc/terraform/main.tf
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ variable "volume_backed_instances" {
     default = false
 }
 
+variable "root_volume_size" {
+    default = 15
+}
+
 variable "k3s_token" {
     type = string
 }
@@ -76,13 +80,16 @@ module "cluster" {
     k3s_token = var.k3s_token
 
     login_nodes = {
-        login-0: var.other_node_flavor
+        login-0 = {
+            flavor: var.other_node_flavor
+        }
     }
     compute = {
         standard: { # NB: can't call this default!
             nodes: ["compute-0", "compute-1"]
             flavor: var.other_node_flavor
         }
+        
         # Example of how to add another partition:
         # extra: {
         #     nodes: ["compute-2", "compute-3"]
@@ -91,6 +98,7 @@ module "cluster" {
     }
     
     volume_backed_instances = var.volume_backed_instances
+    root_volume_size = var.root_volume_size
     
     environment_root = var.environment_root
     # Can reduce volume size a lot for short-lived CI clusters:
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf
index eb2139eba..abc3494f0 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf
@@ -18,4 +18,7 @@ module "compute" {
   k3s_token = var.k3s_token
   k3s_server = [for n in openstack_compute_instance_v2.control["control"].network: n.fixed_ip_v4 if n.access_network][0]
   security_group_ids = [for o in data.openstack_networking_secgroup_v2.nonlogin: o.id]
+  baremetal_nodes = data.external.baremetal_nodes.result
+  volume_backed_instances = var.volume_backed_instances
+  root_volume_size =  var.root_volume_size
 }
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf
index e64a2162c..6ad510840 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ resource "openstack_compute_instance_v2" "compute" {
     k3s_server = var.k3s_server
   }
 
+  availability_zone = var.match_ironic_node ? "${var.availability_zone}::${var.baremetal_nodes[each.key]}" : null
+
   user_data = <<-EOF
     #cloud-config
     fqdn: ${var.cluster_name}-${each.key}.${var.cluster_name}.${var.cluster_domain_suffix}
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf
index 9d2c2e47c..98992322d 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
+# NB: Only variables which may be set directly on the compute group are
+# have descriptions here (and defaults if optional) - others are just passed in
+
 variable "nodes" {
     type = list(string)
-    description = "list of node names for partition"
+    description = "List of node names for this compute group"
 }
 
 variable "flavor" {
@@ -14,7 +17,6 @@ variable "cluster_name" {
 
 variable "cluster_domain_suffix" {
     type = string
-    default = "invalid"
 }
 
 variable "cluster_net_id" {
@@ -27,41 +29,35 @@ variable "cluster_subnet_id" {
 
 variable "key_pair" {
     type = string
-    description = "Name of an existing keypair in OpenStack"
 }
 
 variable "image_id" {
     type = string
-    description = "ID of image for the partition"
+    description = "ID of image for this compute node group"
 }
 
 variable "environment_root" {
     type = string
-    description = "Path to environment root, automatically set by activate script"
 }
 
 variable "vnic_type" {
     type = string
-    description = "VNIC type, see https://registry.terraform.io/providers/terraform-provider-openstack/openstack/latest/docs/resources/networking_port_v2#vnic_type"
+    description = "VNIC type for this compute group, see https://registry.terraform.io/providers/terraform-provider-openstack/openstack/latest/docs/resources/networking_port_v2#vnic_type"
     default = "normal"
 }
 
 variable "vnic_profile" {
     type = string
-    description = "VNIC binding profile as json string, see https://registry.terraform.io/providers/terraform-provider-openstack/openstack/latest/docs/resources/networking_port_v2#profile."
+    description = "VNIC binding profile for this compute group as json string, see https://registry.terraform.io/providers/terraform-provider-openstack/openstack/latest/docs/resources/networking_port_v2#profile."
     default = "{}"
 }
 
 variable "volume_backed_instances" {
-    description = "Whether to use volumes for root disks"
     type = bool
-    default = false
 }
 
 variable "root_volume_size" {
-    description = "Size of volume for root volumes if using volume backed instances, in Gb"
     type = number
-    default = 40
 }
 
 variable "security_group_ids" {
@@ -73,6 +69,22 @@ variable "k3s_token" {
 }
 
 variable "k3s_server" {
-    description = "Name/address of k3s server"
     type = string
 }
+
+variable "match_ironic_node" {
+    description = "Whether to launch instances on the Ironic node of the same name as this cluster node"
+    type = bool
+    default = false
+
+}
+
+variable availability_zone {
+    description = "Name of availability zone - ignored unless match_ironic_node is true"
+    type = string
+    default = "nova"
+}
+
+variable "baremetal_nodes" {
+    type = map(string)
+}
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/nodes.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/nodes.tf
index bfbd1c532..5b12f4354 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/nodes.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/nodes.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,24 @@
 locals {
   control_volumes = concat([openstack_blockstorage_volume_v3.state], var.home_volume_size > 0 ? [openstack_blockstorage_volume_v3.home][0] : [])
+  
+  login_node_defaults = {
+    availability_zone = "nova"
+    match_ironic_node = false
+  }
+  
+  login_nodes = {
+    for nodename, cfg in var.login_nodes:
+      nodename => merge(local.login_node_defaults, cfg)
+  }
+}
+
+data "external" "baremetal_nodes" {
+  # returns an empty map if cannot list baremetal nodes
+  program = ["bash", "-c", <<-EOT
+    openstack baremetal node list --limit 0 -f json 2>/dev/null | \
+    jq -r 'try map( { (.Name|tostring): .UUID } ) | add catch {}' || echo '{}'
+  EOT
+  ]
 }
 
 resource "openstack_networking_port_v2" "login" {
@@ -99,11 +118,11 @@ resource "openstack_compute_instance_v2" "control" {
 
 resource "openstack_compute_instance_v2" "login" {
 
-  for_each = var.login_nodes
+  for_each = local.login_nodes
   
   name = "${var.cluster_name}-${each.key}"
   image_id = var.cluster_image_id
-  flavor_name = each.value
+  flavor_name = each.value.flavor
   key_pair = var.key_pair
 
   dynamic "block_device" {
@@ -129,6 +148,8 @@ resource "openstack_compute_instance_v2" "login" {
     k3s_server = [for n in openstack_compute_instance_v2.control["control"].network: n.fixed_ip_v4 if n.access_network][0]
   }
 
+  availability_zone = each.value.match_ironic_node ? "${each.value.availability_zone}::${data.external.baremetal_nodes.result[each.key]}" : null
+
   user_data = <<-EOF
     #cloud-config
     fqdn: ${var.cluster_name}-${each.key}.${var.cluster_name}.${var.cluster_domain_suffix}
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf
index 0f5eefa18..5fa262128 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf
@@ -31,7 +31,14 @@ variable "control_node_flavor" {
 
 variable "login_nodes" {
   type = map
-  description = "Mapping defining login nodes: key -> (str) nodename suffix, value -> (str) flavor name"
+  description = <<-EOF
+    Mapping defining login nodes. Keys are the node name suffix. Values are a mapping as follows:
+        Required:
+            flavor: String flavor name
+        Optional:
+            match_ironic_node: Bool, whether to launch instances on the Ironic node of the same name as this cluster node
+            availability_zone: String, name of availability zone - ignored unless match_ironic_node is true
+    EOF
 }
 
 variable "cluster_image_id" {