Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
The basing system has been designed so that fantasy armies Mark Sims
used for other rule systems can be fielded without any need to Stone 2011
rebase figures.
Throughout the rules you’ll find lots of examples that help to Throughout the rules you will find additional information in
explain and clarify the game mechanics. These examples play boxes such as this.
an important part in showing how the rules work and if you are
planning on fighting a battle but do not have time to read the Designers notes tend to explain why a specific rule has
entire book skimming the examples would be handy. been written in a certain way, how it can impact the game
and what options there are for amendments or variants.
The design concept pits units against each other rather than Examples can sometimes be added here to expand on
individual figures and this is reflected in the ‘mass battle’ feel those given in the main text. You’ll also find background
that the rules have. After all 100 Goblins fighting against 80 ‘fluff’ that I felt like adding or just things that come to mind
Dwarfs is hardly an epic battle so using individual figures as I write the rules.
and skirmish game mechanics as the basis for a mass battle
system makes little sense.
There are almost certainly going to be some contradictions, typos and mistakes throughout these rules, please let me know when
you find some!
There is a Legions of Battle section on the Crusader Publishing forum and I hope to use that to cover the changes and additions
that are needed.
THANKS!
www.crusaderpublishing.com
Finally, while this rule set has been made available as a free
PDF the exclusive copyright remains with Mark Sims, please do Thank you to Ronnie and Josh
not reproduce or redistribute in any way. at Mantic Games who kindly
sent me all of the figure images
used in these rules.
www.manticgames.com
1
Geting Started
Rules When playing Legions of Battle you can only use official
figures from the Legions of Battle Miniature Range...........
There are three levels to the Legions of Battle rules. The first just kidding.
is the basic rules, these apply in the vast majority of cases and
you could play a quite satisfactory game using just this section.
There have been a huge amount of excellent figures
produced by lots of different manufacturers over the last
The basic rules cover movement, combat, firing and morale. 25 years. It really would be a shame if someone designed
For your first game it may be a good idea to play through a a set of rules where you couldn’t use them because they
simple game using only the basic rules. Characters, magic, were out of date!
monsters, special skills and abilities can be added later.
The design and points system at the back of this book
The second part is the advanced rules which add more detail to should allow you to use pretty much any of the figures you
the units plus characters, traits, monsters, magic and so on. happen to own.
As well as this set of rules you’ll need some figures to play Some of the rules are bound to clash, some really
with. Because of the stand based game mechanics it does not awkward situations are not going to be covered or you’re
matter the scale of these but all of the examples in this book just not going to be able to find the damned rule that ‘you
use 28mm figure bases sizes as that is what I happen to own! know is here somewhere!’.
The rules suit 15mm very well and 40mm frontage stand sizes
are pretty standard for this scale of ancient and fantasy armies. The tiebreaker rule is there to keep the game moving,
there will be plenty of time to devise house rules after the
Individual figures will make up stands, these stands will make figures are back in their boxes.
up units and these units will make up armies. A points system
lets you fight balanced games and is used to calculate the
relative worth of one stand, character or unit compared to
another.
2
Troop Statistics
Types of Units If a unit has no missile attack then both of these values will be
left blank. Sometimes a stand will have ‘Special’ as its missile
weapon description, this is most often the case with War
There are three distinct types of units in Legions of Battle -
Machines.
Characters, Multi Stand Units and Single Stand Units. Each
of these will have its own specific rules but on the whole they
follow the standard game rules given here. Mt - Might, the value used to determine if an attack that hits
is able to cause damage to the target. From a low value of 1
to a high of 12. This might is the value used in hand to hand
attacks and using some thrown weapons. Missile weapons will
have their own Might depending on the type of weapon used.
Notes - This is a line below the stats that will list the weapons,
armour and traits that the stand has.
▲ 60mm by 80mm stands showing Upgrades will show what increases or options may be taken for
Chariot, Giant and War Machine. this troop type and will also show any additional points cost per
stand.
The total points cost of the unit and the number of wounds it
The Stat Line has will be determined by the size of the unit and any upgrades
it may have.
Unit Name - The name of the unit and the number of stands
that make up the unit, either 1, 4 or 6 for units or ‘C’ for
character.
Points per stand - This is the value per stand with just the stats,
equipment and abilities listed without any of the upgrades.
Zero rated Stats
Mv - Movement Value in inches. Where there are two numbers
the first refers to the usual ground movement, the second in In some cases a unit may have a zero rated statistic. In the
brackets to any special movement. Flying (F), Aquatic (A) or case of missile skill and attacks it simply means that unit does
Underground (U). no have any available. With other statistics a zero rating can
mean various things.
Cs (A) - Combat Skill from the worst value of 1 up to the best
value of 12. The number in brackets is the amount of attacks Zero rated movement means that the unit may not be moved
that each stand has in close combat from 1 to 6. though it may reform. Other than that it follows all of the usual
rules that apply to its other stats and abilities.
Ms (A) - Missile skill is the starting number on a D6 required to
hit a target. From the worst value of 6+ to the best of 1+. The Zero rated attacks means that the unit may not make any close
number in brackets is the amount of missile attacks that each combat attacks. It can still be attacked in the same manner as
stand may make, from 1 to 3. usual.
3
Zero rated combat skill means that the unit may not make any Weapons
attacks in close combat and in addition it will automatically be
hit by any enemy that attacks it - no die roll is required.
Like armour, weapons are added to the basic statistics of
troops, some weapons will add special abilities to a stand,
Zero rated Might means that the stand has no chance to wound others simply allow it to make an attack in close combat. All
the enemy in close combat though special attacks can cause weapons are detailed on the stat line but not all of them will
effects other than wounds. add any special rules or abilities.
Zero rated Protection means that any hit applied against the For example a human ranger has a bow and sword as his
unit will automatically cause a wound with no die roll required. weapons. The bow will have a specific range and effectiveness
but the sword is just listed as a ‘hand weapon’ that has no
Wounds may not be zero rated - without any wounds at all specific rule associated with it.
a stand would not exist! Even inanimate objects such as
buildings, doors or walls will have a number of wounds. Unlike armour the weapon details and effects are not added
directly to the stats of the stand. Instead it is up to the players
Training and Leadership may be zero rated. Any T&L roll will to keep track of the various weapons and the bonuses or
always fail and any break test roll against this units T&L will penalties that may apply. For example Great Weapons add +1
always succeed. A T&L of zero does not stop the unit using the to the wound roll but this is not indicated on the stat line, rather
T&L of nearby characters as usual. it is shown by the ‘Great Weapons’ entry in the notes section.
Command Stands
4
Single stand units (SSU) are, not surprisingly given the name,
FRONT made up of just one stand. This could represent a single
Dragon, a war Machine and crew or a host of ghosts.
FLank Flank Each multi stand unit starts the battle with 4 stands or 6
stands. A mass or horde of troops is simply represented
Rear by having lots of units!
Units will always count as having some sort of command stand Each unit has a number of wounds and when that number is
but the statistics for them are exactly the same as for the rest equalled it is removed from the table. Throughout the battle
of the stands. A command stand is generally placed in the front units will slowly become weaker as they lose casualties
centre of the unit. until they become unsteady and then break and flee or are
destroyed entirely. Stands are not physically removed from the
In a game sense every unit is always assumed to have a unit as casualties are taken.
command stand included and they have no special rules
applied to them. They do look nice though. Characters act independently and are not formed into units.
NO REBASING REQUIRED!
Forming Units
Each multi stand unit is made up of four or six stands. The
army lists and design chapters determine whether a unit can
be created with 4 or 6 stands. It is mostly left to the players
to decide but some certain units may be restricted. It is these
units that form the ‘blocks’ that you control on the battlefield.
5
Setting up
Deployment There are lots of different ways that a game can be set up
- from a stand up fight to specific scenarios or simply using
Unless a specific scenario states otherwise the basic all of the scenery and figures you have.
deployment rules for the game are as follows.
There are obvious ways that you can change these
Both sides will set up the battlefield terrain according to the deployment rules. A few simple suggestions include
rules later in this chapter and then roll randomly to see on hidden deployment using a screen, sketch maps, cards or
which side of the table they deploy. random unit arrival. There are plenty of scenario ideas you
can use, from fantasy films or literature to historical battles
Both players then roll randomly to determine who places the or campaigns.
first unit or character. They then place one unit or character
anywhere in its deployment zone. The other player then does Basically you don’t just have to settle for lining your troops
the same by deploying any one of his units or characters in his up and charging at each other every time you play.
deployment zone. The first player then deploys another unit
and or character so on until both sides have deployed all of
their troops. edges or middle. They must still be deployed more than 12”
away from any enemy unit.
Each character, multi stand or single stand unit counts as one
piece for placement purposes. Number of Turns
In all of these cases there must be enough space to fully Rather than having a set number of turns there is a chance that
deploy the unit or character. You are not allowed to change the battle will end after a certain number of turns have passed.
the position, facing or formation of something once it has been This has the advantage of ensuring that neither side can know
deployed unless a specific rule or trait states otherwise. exactly when things will come to an end and avoid ‘last turn
tactics’.
Some troops may not have to be deployed on table because of
special traits or abilities, in this case the owning player states At the end of the sixth turn roll 1D6, if the score is one then
that they do not have to be placed on table but this will count the game ends immediately, if not it carries on into the seventh
as a unit deployment. turn. At the end of the seventh turn roll a D6, if the score is one
to five the game ends, if not then it carries on into an eighth
Light Troops Deployment turn. The game will end at the end of the eighth turn, there is
no die roll required.
Light troops can be set up anywhere within your deployment
area regardless of how close this is to the edge of the table Terrain Placement
3" 3"
↕
away from each other.
12"
Except for light troops nobody may
be set up within 3” of the side or rear
↕
edges of the table. There is nothing to
stop them entering these positions after
12" the game has started but ‘edge hogging’
should be avoided at deployment.
3" 3"
their own half of the table so long as it
is more than 12” away from any enemy
↕ troops - including enemy light troops.
3"
6
Terrain (2D6)
2* River or stream plus one bridge or ford per area. Roll 1D6 1-2 = impassable river, 3-6 = stream.
3* Village of D3+1 houses plus a road from this village to a random board edge.
4* Steep hill with 1D3 sides as impassable terrain. Roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large
5 D3 Fields bounded by hedges, fences or walls.
6 Wood, roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large
7 Gentle hill, roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large
8 Rough ground, scrub, rocks. Roll 1D6 1-3 = blocks Line of Sight, 4-6 does not block LOS.
9 Marsh, bog, fen or swamp, roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large
10* Building and field bounded by hedges, fences, walls. Farm, Church, Witches House etc.
11* Monument, standing stones, shrine. May have Arcane properties.
12* Fort or tower plus road to random board edge. Roll 1D6, 1-4 on a Medium Hill, 5-6 a large hill.
* Each of these terrain features should only occur once on the battlefield. Re-roll if they come up twice.
Terrain is placed by both players before determining on which that area. Apart from rivers and roads the terrain piece must fit
side of the table they will deploy their forces. entirely within its sector. There are no restrictions with regard
to proximity to the edge of the table or other terrain pieces.
These rules use a random terrain placement system. To
do this you will need to divide the table into sectors. For an It is only once all terrain has been rolled for and placed that the
average 6 foot by 4 foot table this would be six 2 foot squares, players should roll to see which side they deploy their troops.
the size is not particularly important but it will determine the This restricts the ability to place bad terrain in your opponents
maximum number of terrain pieces your table will have. deployment area on purpose.
For each sector roll 1D6 - if the total is 1-4 then that area will
hold one piece of terrain - you should then roll on the terrain The terrain table should really just be used as a guideline.
table to see what is actually there. If it brings up something that doesn’t look right, you don’t
have the scenery for or you just think will make a crap game
Players should take it in turns to roll for sectors - the player then feel free to ignore it completely!
rolling the dice gets to place the terrain piece if there is one in
Having said that a game with really ‘awkward’ terrain can be
a nice change and present both sides with a challenge.
The road or river will then traverse the battlefield from its start
to its end position by passing through the least number of
terrain sectors. How it does this exactly is entirely up to the
player involved.
The road or river can pass through areas that already have
some other terrain feature and do not prohibit the placement of
terrain into areas that have not yet been rolled for. In addition
the initial starting area can also have a standard terrain feature
as well, effectively the stream or river is an ‘extra’.
7
If this is the case then the terrain piece will automatically be
placed in a certain location as determined by the scenario
or player agreement. There will be no roll to see if additional
terrain is placed in this area. Rivers and roads can still pass
A B C through locations that have compulsory terrain placed in them.
Terrain Attributes
All players should know the properties and location of the
terrain on the tabletop unless a scenario states otherwise. The
side of the table that the terrain is located or the player that
D E F placed it has no impact on the knowledge that both sides have.
The players then need to decide where the stream will flow
from and where to. Area A has 2 sides that it could ‘enter’
the board so simply roll a D6 with 1-3 one side, 4-6 the other.
In this case it enters from the top as we look at the diagram
above.
To decide where it will exit the board the players allocate the
numbers 1 to 5 to areas B to F respectively and simply roll a
D6. The result is a 4 so the stream will flow from A to E and
there is only one edge that it may exit from in area ‘E’.
The player that initially rolled the ‘2’ for the stream may decide
which area it passes through on its way from A to E. This could
either be through section B or D but it must take the path with
the least number of areas so could not go a meandering route
via C and F for example.
It is worth noting that ‘A’ has another roll made for it to see if it
contains terrain features in addition to the river.
Restricted terrain
On the terrain table some of the numbers are followed by an
asterisk. This means that there should only be one instance
of that terrain type on the battlefield and the number should be
re-rolled if it has already occurred.
Compulsory Terrain
Some scenarios may call for a compulsory terrain piece.
Rescuing a Princess from a tower generally means you need
some sort of tower.
8
Turn Order
The game mechanics of Legions of Battle generally involve
one player being active while the other reacts. Both sides will The turn order for Legions of Battle allows the players to
carry out the same phase before moving on to the next. For carry out actions at roughly the same time. Some phases
example, both sides have their magic phase, then both will are simultaneous while others require one side to act
carry out charges and so on. while the other reacts. This results in a minimum amount
of time spent hanging about waiting for other people to do
Some phases of the turn are carried out at the same time and stuff.
others are carried out in sequence with one side finishing all of
their actions before the other side takes their turn. Each phase
should be completed in its entirety before moving onto the next. Magic Phase
Full details of these phases will be given in the relevant The side that won the initiative may cast spells with any eligible
chapters of the rules. Mage. They may also use their Mana in an attempt to dispel
certain spell effects currently in play.
The Legions of Battle rules try to avoid having to record too
much information about units, their status and what they Once the initiative winner has used all of his Mages then the
have done in previous phases. Some things will need to be other side gets to cast their spells and attempt to dispel magic
remembered such as a unit that has moved will suffer firing effects currently in play.
penalties and it is up to players to decide how they do this.
As spells are cast or dispelled Mages use up their available
In many ways the methods that you use will depend on the supply of Mana. There are various types, realms and levels
number of units each player has to control. If you only have of power for spells, items, Mages and innate magical abilities.
a few units it is no problem to remember who has done what, These are dealt with starting on page 40.
if you happen to be controlling a huge army it may be worth
marking units in some way. Counters are provided on page Charge Phase
58 and are also available to download from the Crusader
Publishing web site. The side that won the initiative declares all units that are
charging and what their targets are. Some troops must
Initiative Phase declare charges because of traits or abilities, apart from being
compulsory these charges are carried out in exactly the same
Both sides will have a number of initiative cards numbered manner as usual.
from one to eight that they play randomly each turn. The
numbers are compared and the side with the highest will gain These charges are then carried out in full in the order that the
the initiative this turn, in case of ties both sides roll D6 with charging player wishes. The reactions of the targets are noted
the highest winning. As cards are used they are discarded, with options to stand and shoot, evade, hold or counter charge.
meaning that there is a certain degree of balance to the Those units that are trying to evade will roll now and any
chances of either side gaining the initiative each turn. evade movement is carried out at this point. Targets that elect
to stand and shoot will actually fire in their own move & Fire
phase of the turn.
Turn Order
Initiative Phase Determine initiative, both sides draw initiative cards. D6 roll off for ties.
Initiative winner casts spells and makes dispell attempts.
Magic Phase
Initiative loser casts spells and makes dispell attempts.
Initiative winner declares charges, targets declare reactions. Carry out charge & reaction.
Charge Phase
Initiative loser declares charges, targets declare reactions. Carry out charge & reaction.
Initiative winner compulsory movement, then normal movement, then firing.
Move & Fire Phase
Initiative loser compulsory movement, then normal movement, then firing.
Both sides, simultaneous. Initiative winner chooses order in which melee is fought, apply
Combat Phase
results and reforms one by one.
End Turn Phase Both sides, simultaneous. Roll for game end from turn 6 onwards.
9
The side that lost the initiative now declares charges with any Combat Phase
of their units that have not just reacted to a charge. Some
troops must declare compulsory charges but these are carried
All of the charge movement, evade reactions and defensive
out in exactly the same way as normal charges.
fire will have been carried out by now and both sides will know
which units are in contact and must fight a melee.
These charges and the reactions of their targets are then
carried out in the same way as they were for the initiative
Once enemy units or characters are in close combat they may
winner.
not break off, split up or change formation in any way. During
the combat phase all troops that are in melee will attempt to hit,
Reactions can include Hold, Defensive Fire, Evade or Counter wound and kill their opponents.
Charge. Certain troop types will have more options than
others, for example not all troops can choose to evade from a
Units that have been destroyed will be removed as the combat
charge and defensive fire is only available to those with missile
is carried out. All of the results of the various combats are
weapons.
applied in this phase, combats that are drawn or do not end
in one side or the other being destroyed will continue into the
Move & Fire Phase combat rounds of subsequent turns.
The Move and Fire phase has the initiative winner moving all of In some cases the order in which the melee combats are
their troops and then firing with those that are able. After that carried out may be important. If this is the case the player who
is complete the initiative loser will move all of their troops and won the initiative will decide the order in which to do them.
then fire with those that are able.
Once the initiative winner has completed all of their moving and
firing it is the initiative losers turn to do the same. Once both
sides have moved and fired the phase ends.
10
Initiative
Initiative is important in Legions of Battle because it determines does the Human player. As this is a tie both sides roll 1D6, the
which side casts spells, moves, declares charges and fires Orc player gets 4 and the Human 2 which means the Orcs will
first in any given phase. There are both advantages and go first. The cards are discarded leaving both players with 6
disadvantages to winning the initiative. The side that wins cards remaining in their hand for the next turn.
the initiative on any given turn may not pass this over to
their opponent, they must act as the initiative winner for the The initiative winner must act first during the turn, they do not
remainder of the turn whether they want to or not! have the option to decline and force the other player to act first.
Each side will have a set of initiative cards numbered from one If a scenario or battle is going to last more than 8 turns you’ll
through to eight. Each turn they randomly choose one of these need to either add some more cards or use an alternative to
cards as their sides initiative score. When both sides have the cards - numbered counters drawn from a cup work just as
drawn a card the numbers are compared and the highest gains well.
the initiative for that turn. In case of a tie both sides will roll D6
and the highest has the initiative, there are no modifiers to this
roll.
Each card may only be used once per battle and once drawn
it is discarded. Both sides will still have the same chance of
On turn two the players will draw again but will only have 7 Unless all players agree otherwise the standard rules
cards remaining to pick from. The Orc players draws a ‘4’ as apply but you are welcome to try other systems.
11
Movement
The movement statistic shows how far in inches a unit or
character can move. Different situations, terrain or the
proximity of the enemy may increase or decrease this amount. B
Movement distances
Normal MV A
Double (outside 6”) MV x 2
Charge MV x 2
E
Evade MV x 2
Rough Going MV x 1 *
Crossing Obstacle MV x 1 * C D
Retire 1/2 MV ** A unit of cavalry has an MV of 10” and is doubling giving
* No doubling allowed unless light troops. it a total movement allowance of 20” so long as it remains
more than 6” away from any enemy troops.
** Directly backwards along flank lines only.
They start at ‘A’ and wheel forward 4” to ‘B’, from there
they move 6” to C and then wheel again another 4” to ‘D’.
Normal Movement Finally they use their last 6” to move to their final position
‘E’
Normal movement includes any forward movement and
wheels. A unit may spend any amount of its movement on
wheeling any number of times. Doubling
Troops may not move forwards and backwards in the same Double Movement is for troops that are over 6” away from any
move, they must choose to do either one or the other. All enemy including single stand units and characters. So long as
stands within a unit must remain in base to base contact and the moving unit starts, ends and remains more than 6” away
retain their formation throughout the move. If there is not from the enemy it may move at double its listed MV.
enough space for a unit to pass through a gap it must go round
or reform first. A doubling unit may not fire missile weapons later in this phase,
even if they did not double their entire movement allowance.
Wheeling A doubling unit may retire, they will double their MV for
doubling and then halve it again for retiring - effectively being
A multi stand unit, single stand unit or character may wheel as left with their MV as the distance they may retire. They must
many times as they like during their movement except when still follow all of the standard rules for doubling and retiring.
retiring (see later).
Doubling is not allowed through rough going or over obstacles
A wheel is performed by keeping either the front left or the front unless the unit is classed as light troops. This applies to single
right corner of the unit in place while the remainder of the unit or multi stand units as well as characters.
pivots on that point.
12
A reform is carried out on the centre front of the unit. A change
of facing is carried out on the centre point of the unit. This is
◄ A unit of Lesser important as there must be space to accommodate the new
Lizardmen have a MV of formation, this is not an order to shift the position of units.
6. If they choose to retire
they can move directly
3” backwards upto 3”. They
may not combine this retire
movement with any kind of
forward movement.
A D A D
B C B C
Reform A B C D E F
If a unit wants to change formation or facing then it must
Reform. A unit that reforms may not move other than the
movement that is required to change to the new facing or A E F A E F
formation. Effectively this means that troops use all of their
movement allowance to reform unless it is a free reform (see B C D B C D
later) or they have the ‘Drilled’ ability (page 29).
A Reform allows changing formation and/or changing facing Examples of units that have changed facing. Each stand
as well. These are two separate actions but they may both be remains in place while the facing of that stand is changed.
carried out during any reform action. A unit that wants to do
both can change facing first and then reform or it can reform
first and then change facing. A unit may not use a reform to come into contact with the
enemy, if the reform movement itself would result in melee
combat then it may not be carried out.
◄ A 4 stand unit changing
formation from line to Troops that have reformed may fire but will count as having
A B D moved. Characters and light troops get to freely reform at the
C column. B & C remain in
start and end of their movement, this does not stop them from
place while stands A & D
move to the back rank. firing but they still suffer the movement penalty for firing, see
page 19 for further details.
Changing from column to
A D line would simply reverse Characters may carry out a free reform at the start and end of
the process. B stays still their movement. If they reform but do not move any further
B C and A is moved alongside it, they will still count as having moved for purposes of missile fire
the same applies to C & D. modifiers and restrictions. As a character is only a single stand
a ‘reform’ obviously only applies to change of facing rather than
formation.
A B C D E F Light troops have their own rules with regard to reforming and
movement, see page 34 for full details.
A E F A B F Charge
OR A charge is declared by a unit that wants to close to engage
B C D C D E an enemy in hand to hand combat. It must have a valid target
to declare a charge - this means there must be an enemy in
▲ A 6 stand line changes to a column by three of its stand range, Line of Sight and valid charge arc.
remaining in place and the other three moving to the back
rank. Which three stands remain in place is up to the Charge arcs are 45 degrees either side of straight ahead,
player. exactly the same as the firing arcs. The charger must be able
to see some portion of the target otherwise it is not a valid
Changing from column to line reverses this process with a charge target.
player deciding which side the back stand will deploy to.
13
The target of a charge has the option to Hold, Stand and Fire, A unit of Elf Rangers (T&L 9, MV 8) are charged from 9” away
Counter Charge or in some cases Evade. by a unit of Orc Boar Riders (MV 9). The Elf player makes a
T&L test, if they pass they may immediately face away from the
The charging player must declare all units that are attempting charge and evade their full 16” away, if they fail they must hold
to charge and then may carry them out one by one in any order in their current position.
they like. This means that they could declare a charge with
a unit that is currently blocked but could do so once another If the evade fails then the chargers are moved into contact
charge has been carried out. This is generally the case when immediately, the evading unit gets no chance to move, fire
one friendly unit is in front of another and the owning player defensively, counter charge or reform.
wants them both to charge.
If the target unit managed to evade then the charger now has 2
No matter what the order that the chargers are being moved options open to it.
in a unit must have some part of the target within line of sight
when a charge is declared. Halt on the spot. It can halt its charge on the spot where the
evading troops fled from. If this is the case the unit counts as
having conducted a failed charge, it may not move any further
during this charge and may not move or fire in the next phase.
3 It is the Red players
2 charge phase. The Continue its charge. It can continue to charge against another
character may not target to the full extent of its charge movement if there are valid
1 declare a charge
because it does not
targets still within its charge reach and arc. It can also continue
its charge movement even if there are no other valid targets
have a valid LOS to within reach.
any target.
It is possible for the charging troops to contact other enemy
units or even the original target of their charge if that targets
evade movement was not enough to outdistance the chargers
A B
movement.
C
Red units 1 and 2 may both declare charges even though A unit of Goblin Wolf
unit 2’s charge is currently blocked by unit 1. As the Red Riders (MV 10) are
player can move his chargers in any order he simply charging against a Unit
declares that 1 will charge against enemy unit A, this of Human Slingers with
charge movement is carried out and then that leaves unit 10” the ‘Feigned Flight’
2 open to charge against unit B. ability (T&L 6, MV 5)
from 3” away. The
Should it subsequently be discovered that unit 2 cannot Humans decide to
contact its target B because A is still blocking it for evade and attempt a
example (as would almost certainly be the case here), T&L test. They require
3” a 6 or less on 2D6 and
then it would count as a failed charge. The unit would be
moved as far as possible and then halted, it would not score 4 so they manage
be able to move or fire in the next phase as it counts as to evade the initial
having charged. charge.
A unit that has been charged may have the option to evade.
Light Troops, troops with the Feigned Flight ability and all
characters may opt to evade as a reaction to a charge.
Rough Going
The chance of the unit being able to evade before it is
Rough going counts as any terrain that could slow movement
contacted by the chargers depends on its T&L. It must pass a
such as woods, swamps, rocky ground, building areas etc. Any
T&L test if it decides to attempt to evade from a charge.
rough ground stops troops from using double movement.
If the test is passed the unit may immediately face away and
Certain types of rough ground may also have special effects,
move its full evade speed directly away from the charging
such as woods making mounted troops unsteady or swamps
enemy unit.
not affecting troops that have the ‘Aquatic’ movement ability,
14
specific details can be found in ‘The Battlefield’ chapter of the
rules on page 47. A unit of human archers has an MV of 6”. To advance
they need to cross a hedge so they are not allowed to use
Units may reform, wheel, charge, evade or retire through rough double movement.
going. While any part of a stand occupies or passes through
rough ground the unit, single stand unit or character may not With the example on the left the unit is simply moved
use double movement. Some special traits and abilities may forward its 6” movement distance, as it has not doubled it
override these rules, see pages 29-32 for details. may still fire if it would be able to do so normally.
6”
A
0.5”
B A
A Impassable Terrain
No troops may enter terrain that is impassable to them under
A unit of 4 stands of Dwarfs has a MV of 5 and advances
any circumstances. They may still cross if they have a specific
directly ahead and this takes part of the unit through woods
movement trait such as flying or aquatic movement.
which count as rough going. This means that it cannot use
‘double’ movement.
Where compulsory movement would force a unit to move over
impassable terrain they are simply blocked by it in the same
The unit moves forward 1” to the edge of the wood and then
manner as they are for friendly units.
travels 3.5” through woodland and has 1/2“ of movement
left at the other side. This is not enough to clear the woods
completely, the back of the left most stand is still within the
woods. This means that the dwarf unit will not be able to
use double movement next turn either, even though it only
has a small part of the rough ground to pass through.
Obstacles
A unit that has to pass over an obstacle may not use double
movement, other than this it is free to move as usual though
some obstacles may cause further effects to certain troops
types. For further details see The Battlefield chapter (page 47).
15
Shooting
Shooting takes place after a player has moved all of his troops Scenery, friendly or enemy units, magical effects or visibility
in the Move and Fire phase. The initiative winner moves all of restrictions can all block line of sight to a target. Some rules,
their troops and then they will fire with any of their troops that such as indirect fire war machines do not count enemy or
have missile weapons and a valid target. friendly troops as an obstacle for LOS. These cases are dealt
with in the relevant parts of the rules on page 35.
Once all of the initiative winners movement and firing is
complete it is the initiative losers turn to move their troops.
Once this movement is complete they can fire with troops that
are armed with missile weapons and have a valid target. A
This means that firing is not simultaneous, casualties caused
are applied immediately.
Missile armed troops may shoot at targets so long as they are To be able to fire at a
within both range and line of sight (LOS). Each stand will have target a stand must
a number of missile attacks listed on its stat line, this can be be able to hit at least
from one to three. If there is no number listed then that stand part of the target unit.
may not make any missile attacks. In this case only 3 of
the 4 stands in unit B
War Machines fire in this phase at the same time as other would be able to shoot
troops though they may use slightly different rules for at unit A.
calculating hits and wounds caused. See page 35 for details. B
Firing Arc
Arc of fire calculations are made per stand rather than by the
Hills and LOS
whole unit. This could mean that a unit can only fire with some
Troops on hills may have the ability to fire over friends,
of its stands. Each stand has a 45 degree firing arc to its front
enemies or obstructions. There will be an amount of ’dead
no matter what the type of troops or the base size.
ground’ where the target cannot be shot at.
Unless stated otherwise in If there is at least 4” space between the obstruction and the
special rules, traits or abilities target then it may be fired at, otherwise that target is blocked
the fire arc is always 45 degrees for LOS purposes.
either side of straight ahead no
matter what type of stand or unit. Range
The range to the target is calculated per stand, this may result
in some of the stands being in different range brackets or some
within range while others are out. If this is the case split the fire
into two groups of to hit rolls with different modifiers.
Roll to Hit
To hit their target the firing troops roll a D6 for each attack and
need to score equal to or greater than the missile skill value
shown on their stat line. Modifiers may apply to these rolls and
this will affect the chances hitting.
Line of Sight The firing unit or stand, the target, the number of missile
attacks and any appropriate modifiers or abilities should all be
To fire at a target there must be a valid line of sight (LOS). This
declared before any die rolls are made.
is calculated per stand firing, to be able to fire the stand must
be able to trace a LOS to any point of the target.
All modifiers are cumulative unless stated otherwise.
16
Firing To Hit Modifiers Roll to Wound
Firer When it has been determined whether the shot hits or not the
player will roll to see if the hits cause wounds on the target.
Has moved -1 To do this the firing weapons Might is compared to the targets
Is unsteady -1 Protection.
Target The Might of the firing troops themselves is only taken into
Is at long range -1 account when using some thrown weapons. Otherwise the
Might of the missile weapon itself will determine the chance of
Is a medium / small target * -1 / -2 a hit causing a wound. See the Missile weapon Table on the
Has light / heavy cover * -1 / -2 following page.
• If the target is small a -2 modifier applies or if medium a • If you have greater than your opponents value but not
-1 modifier applies instead. A small or medium target only double then you need to roll 3+ on a D6.
applies to certain character types and never to multi or
single stand units, see pages 31 and 36 for full details. • If the values are equal then you need 4+ on a D6.
• If the target is in light cover the to hit roll is modified by • If you have less than your opponents value but more than
-1 point. Should the target be in heavy cover the cover half then you need 5+ on a D6.
modifier increases to a -2 to the die roll instead of -1.
• If you have half or less your opponents value then you
No matter what the starting skill or the modifiers that are need to roll a 6+ on a D6 to wound your opponent.
applied a roll of 1 will always miss and a roll of 6 will always hit
unless advanced or special rules state otherwise. There may The amount of wounds that are caused are then marked off
be some instances where an attack automatically hits and in against the target unit. There are no saving rolls for the target
that case there is no die roll made. These cases will be clearly though some special traits, such as regeneration, may allow
stated in the item or trait description. troops to ignore some wounds.
The Goblins will roll 8D6 and any result of 6 will be a hit The Goblin player rolls 3D6 (one D6 for each hit) and
on the Elf unit ‘A’. The actual die rolls result in 3 hits on the results are 3,5,6 for 2 wounds on the Elf unit. These
the target. wounds are applied immediately.
17
Splitting fire Defensive Fire
A missile armed unit may split its fire at up to 2 targets if they This is carried out when a unit armed with missile weapons is
are within range and line of sight. It always has this option, charged and chooses the ‘Stand and Shoot’ reaction.
even if it has one unit entirely within its arc of fire and range.
The fire is carried out during the move & fire phase at the same
It may not split fire at more than 2 enemy units, even if this time as all of the other firing from this player. If the chargers
means that some stands may not fire at any target. are destroyed by this fire then they are removed before
initiating close combat.
An individual stand, whether part of a unit or not, may never
split its fire, this means that a single stand unit or character The angle of the charge may well mean that not all of the
must always fire at a single target. defending stands can get to fire. The defenders will be able
to fire if they could shoot at the chargers at any point during
The player owning the unit must declare where all of its missile the charge movement when they were in range, arc and line
attacks are being directed before any dice are rolled by that of sight. Players should be sure to make a mental note of who
firing unit. The targets must be valid at this stage of the firing can fire while carrying out charges.
phase, you cannot declare fire at a target that you think will
become valid, due to destroying another unit blocking your line A unit in combat may not fire missile weapons, even if there are
of sight for example. stands that have clear line of sight to targets other than the one
they are fighting against. For firing purposes the entire unit is
deemed to be in close combat if any part of it is in contact with
the enemy.
The Vermin archer unit can
Vermin
split its fire against 2 of the
three targets so long as they
Casualties
have the range and LOS. Each stand in Legions of Battle has a number of wounds,
multiplying this by the number of stands within the unit will
The character can fire at any determine how many wounds the entire unit has.
of the targets regardless of
what the unit does. As units accumulate wounds they will become less effective.
When a multi stand or single stand unit has taken half or more
A of its total wounds it will count as ‘Unsteady’ and will suffer
penalties for melee and missile fire. Any wounds taken can
C be marked by the use of wound counters or noted on the army
B roster sheet.
18
Full rules for applying casualties, making targets unsteady or Where more than one unit, single stand unit or character is
destroying them entirely are given in the next chapter. These firing these are activated one unit at a time and the effects of
same game mechanics will apply to melee, missile fire and that units fire is calculated before moving on to the next unit,
magic. single stand unit or character.
This means that fire from a unit could destroy a target, reveal
Moving and Firing another target that was previously screened, kill a character
and so on and these effects are applied before any other unit
Even the slightest movement counts when considering the begins its firing.
move and fire modifiers, this includes the free reform that light
troops and characters are entitled to. Some weapons do not
allow a unit to fire after they have moved, these are Heavy
Crossbows and Handguns which are marked * on the missile Crossbows B
Crossbows A
weapons table.
Declaring targets
As has already been mentioned in the ‘splitting fire’ section all
stands from the same unit must declare their targets before
any dice are rolled. This does not mean that all units have to
declare their targets before any missile fire is carried out.
19
Casualties
Each stand in Legions of Battle has a number of wounds, of wounds. See the character rules on page 36 and the single
multiplying this by the number of stands within the unit will stand unit (SSU) rules on page 33.
determine how many wounds the entire unit has.
A Dwarf Huscarl unit has 4 stands, each of which has 5 During the Goblin players move and fire phase these
wounds, therefore the unit has 20 wounds in total. When Goblins will still shoot with their usual number of attacks
it has been reduced to only 10 wounds or less remaining it per stand, still apply all of the standard firing rules but
will be counted as ‘Unsteady’. will suffer an additional -1 on their to hit roll for being
Unsteady.
If the unit were to somehow have wounds healed so that it
recovered to having 11 or more wounds remaining it would
lose its Unsteady status.
20
Close Combat
In close combat enemy units, single stand units and characters
that are in base to base contact will attack each other. Each Unit A is charging against the front of the
stand will have a number of attacks and the relative sizes, FRONT target. Unit B and C are charging the flank
formations and positions of the units will determine how these A and unit D is charging the rear.
stands fight. Each side will roll to hit and then convert these
hits into wounds, as wounds are taken they are marked against Flank
the enemy and may cause the target to become ‘Unsteady’.
The side that wins the combat will then roll to see if they can
break the enemy by rolling against the losers T&L, this is called C
a ‘Break Test’.
Wheeling in to conform to the enemy after a charge can Both sides will fight with any stands that are physically in
bring up lots of awkward situations, this is especially the contact, including corner to corner. In addition one stand
case with long line formations. on either flank may be added as an overlap that can fight in
combat the same as those that are physically in contact.
The Legions of Battle game mechanics try to pit units
against each other rather than individual figures or stands. A unit that is fighting to flank or rear uses the number of stands
As such you may need to ‘assume’ troops are in contact that are facing the enemy to determine who may fight, their
if the physical representation of your stands or scenery opponent will use this amount plus the usual overlap of one or
does not let the bases actually touch. two stands if applicable.
For example a 4 stand line could fight to the front or rear with 4
stands, however, if it was fighting to its flank it would only fight
with the one stand.
21
In the top example the column Unit A is fighting to front and
A contacts three of the enemy flank. Stand C can attack blue
stands. The column will fight unit B or C, the choice is up to
with two stands, its entire the owning player. Stand D
must fight unit C and stand A
front rank, while the line fights
B A
B with four stands, the three in must fight unit B.
contact plus an overlap.
A B Unit A gets no support attacks
In the middle example the because it is attacked in the
column contacts two enemy C D flank so stand B has no effect.
stands and would fight with
both. The line would fight with Unit B would fight with 3
the two stands in contact plus stands, unit C would fight with
one more as an overlap. C 2 stands which would both
benefit from support attacks.
In the bottom example only
B A one of the column stands is
in contact with the line. The
column would fight with two
Fighting on two fronts
stands, the one in contact plus
an overlap while the line would If a stand is in a position where it can fight against two or more
also fight with two stands. enemy units then it must choose which one to fight against. A
stand may not split its attacks in any way, any one stand may
In each of the 3 cases the rear only fight in one direction. The choice of where to attack must
rank of the columns would get be made before any dice are rolled.
support attacks.
There can be an advantage to With simultaneous attacks it is possible that two units could
‘clipping’ a target but players destroy each other in combat. This represents the destruction
should avoid doing this on of the unit as a fighting force rather than every single fighter on
purpose. both sides being killed at exactly the same time!
Light troops do not get to benefit from the support rule. If any
unit is being attacked in flank or rear, is attacking or occupying
buildings or is attacking obstacles then it cannot gain support
attacks.
22
Roll To Hit Among its other traits The Terrible Swift Sword adds +4 CS to
the wielder. If they started with a CS of 6 it would be increased
to 10 but if they started with a CS of 10 it could only be
Units and characters will roll a D6 for each attack to see if they
increased to a maximum CS of 12.
hit the enemy. This is done by comparing the Combat Skill of
the attacker and that of the defender to find a starting to hit
number and then applying any combat modifiers that either Combat To HIT Modifiers
side may have.
The combat modifiers table shows the modifiers that can be
For each attack the player needs to roll a D6 and get equal applied to the basic to hit chance. Modifiers will increase or
to or greater than their modified to hit number. A roll of 6 will decrease the chance of a hit being scored. A roll of 6 will
always hit and a roll of 1 will always miss no matter what always hit and a roll of 1 will always miss no matter what the
modifiers are applied. final modified to hit number happens to be.
The starting to hit numbers depend on the relative Combat Each plus from the combat modifier table will increase the
Skills of the combatants and the to hit table shows how you will chance of hitting while each minus will decrease the chance.
calculate this. These rules follow the same basic mechanics as Where the modifier has *, ** or *** next to it there are additional
for wounding targets with shooting so they should be fairly easy effects applied to the combat.
to get the hang of.
• If you have double or more your opponents value you Combat modifiers Effect
need to roll a 2+ on a D6 to score a hit. Opponent is Unsteady +1
• If you have greater than your opponents value but not Opponent is Uphill -1
double then you need to roll 3+ on a D6 to hit. Opponent is Defending Obstacle * -1
• If the values are equal then you need 4+ on a D6 to hit. Opponent is Defending Building * -2
You are Unsteady -1
• If you have less than your opponents value but more than
half then you need 5+ on a D6 to hit. You Charged into Combat ** +1
You are Attacking in Flank *** +1
• If you have half or less your opponents value then you
need to roll a 6+ on a D6 to hit your opponent. You are Attacking in Rear *** +2
CS is greater than enemy CS 3+ ** The charge bonus does not apply if the charge is directed
CS is equal to enemy CS 4+ against units behind obstacles or in buildings.
CS is less than enemy CS 5+ *** If you are attacking an enemy in the flank or rear then they
CS is half or less enemy CS 6+ cannot get any supporting attacks against any opponent.
The starting to hit chances for one side will also tell you
what the chances are for your opponent. Suppose you
have double or more your opponents CS it follows that
they must have half or less of yours. This means you can
immediately tell that your chance is going to be 2+ to hit
while theirs is going to be 6 to hit. Think of it as a set of
scales, as one side gets lower the other gets higher.
23
Great Weapons or units with Lances that have charged will be
Dark Elves able to add a +1 modifier to their roll to wound. For full details
see the relevant entries in the traits and weapons chapter on
page 32.
Humans
Dark Elves
A unit of CS 5 Dark Elves (blue) armed with great
weapons and defending a hill are charged by a unit of CS
4 Human Spearmen (red).
Humans
The starting to hit number for the Humans is calculated as Continuing the example from above, both sides fight with
5+, this is because their CS is lower that of the Dark Elves 3 stands each. The Humans managed to get 5 hits while
but not half or less. The starting to hit number for the Dark the Dark Elves did 6. Both units have a Might of 4 but the
Elves is 3+ because their CS is greater than that of the Humans have a Protection of 6 while the Dark Elves are
Humans but not double or more. unarmoured and only have a PR of 4.
Calculating the Human to hit chance first. Their opponents The 5 hits that the Humans caused will be converted to
are uphill giving a -1 to hit modifier but charging into wounds on a D6 roll of 4 or more, this is because their
combat adds a +1 modifier. The chance to score a hit is Might (4) is equal to the Dark Elf Protection value (4). The
thus 5 (starting chance) -1 (opponent uphill) +1 (charged actual rolls are 2,4,4,5,6 for 4 wounds.
into combat) for a final to hit number of 5 or more on a D6.
The 6 hits caused by the Dark Elves will have a starting
The Dark Elf to hit number has no modifiers, being uphill to wound chance of 5 or more, this is because their Might
makes it harder for the opponent to hit rather than making of 4 is less than the Human Protection of 6 but not half or
it easier for the Dark Elves to hit. This means that the final less.
to hit number for the Dark Elf unit is 3 or more on a D6.
However, the Dark Elves are armed with great weapons
which adds +1 to the wound roll so they will need D6 rolls
of 4+ to wound the Human spearmen. Their rolls are
The Combat system uses the same mechanics to calculate 1,3,3,4,6,6 for 3 wounds in total.
the chance to wound a target as the shooting system.
Relative might and protection are compared with each other
and the starting score needed on 1D6 is shown.
If the Might or Protection is modified in any way it may never be
greater than 12 or less than 1. For stands with zero rated stats
see page 3.
24
all of the troops are killed, run down or captured but just as This die roll is modified by the amount that the combat was
likely that many are broken, routed and fleeing. Either way, won by, the greater the victory the more chance the enemy will
regardless of the number of wounds it has remaining, the have of being broken.
troops cease to be an effective combat unit and are simply
removed from the table. In some cases there may be no roll required - this could be
because the enemy is unbreakable or has been completely
If a unit loses its last wound in melee it is removed before any destroyed by the wounds inflicted. Likewise an advanced or
break tests are rolled but as attacks are simultaneous it will still special rule may state that a break test ignores some modifiers,
have a chance to fight. adds others or has a set chance of succeeding. These cases
are all dealt with in the advanced or special rules which means
that they would supersede the basic rules given here.
25
If the modified roll is equal to or less than the losers T&L then The winner rolls a separate Break Test against each losing unit
the combat will continue next round. The enemy has not been using the usual Break Test rules. One roll is made per losing
broken and may continue to fight on. unit no matter how many units or characters may have been
on the winning side. The winner will get to choose which unit
If the modified roll is greater than the T&L of the enemy then is making the Break Test roll if it is going to make a difference,
the loser is broken and immediately removed from the table. because of an item, ability or trait for example.
The unit has been destroyed as an effective fighting force and
the remaining troops are run through, captured or scattered.
Unit A has lost the combat by 2 points. The
It is worth noting that troops with the ‘Unbreakable’ trait do not B player controlling units B and C can decide
have a Break Test die roll made against them so there is no which he would like to use to apply the
chance of a ‘12’ being rolled. Break Test. The die roll will be modified by 2
points whichever unit he uses and only one
roll will be made even though the winning
Dark Elves side has 2 units.
A
Humans
In the Dark Elf vs Human example we have been using C
the Humans caused 4 wounds and the Dark Elves only
3. This means that the Humans have won this round of Unless there are any special effects, traits or abilities
the combat by 1 point and will attempt to break the Dark that modify the Break Test it does not usually matter
Elves, they roll 2D6 and add one to the result. which unit is used.
The Dark Elves have a T&L of 8 so if the modified total If unit C happened to have a trait or ability that increased
is 8 or less the combat will be continued next turn, a the chance of breaking an opponent then it would make
modified result of 9 or more will break the unit and the sense for the Blue player to say that they are using unit
Dark Elves will immediately be removed from the table. C to apply the test rather than unit B.
The actual roll is a ‘7’ which is modified by +1 to 8, not As an aside, if unit A had won the melee by 2 points
enough to exceed the T&L of the losing unit. The Melee then it would apply break tests against B and C, each
will continue in the combat round of the next turn. separate roll would have a +2 modifier applied to it.
Multiple Opponents Special abilities, traits, magical items or spell effects should
only be applied to the specific units that benefit or suffer those
Units fighting multiple opponents should split the attacks of effects. Having one unbreakable unit on your side does not
their stands according to the enemy stands that they are in make any other units in the same combat unbreakable for
contact with. In cases where a stand is in contact with more example.
than one enemy it may choose where to allocate its attacks.
No individual stand may split its attacks, all of the attacks from The winner can decide in which order to apply Break Tests.
any one stand must be carried out against one target.
If there are multiple units on one side or the other then the total
number of wounds caused is used to determine which side has
won. This combat results modifier applies to all of the losing
units in that melee. There can be cases where large multi unit
combats can get quite complicated but no matter how many
stands, character or units are involved there will only be one
winning side.
26
High Elves High Elves
27
T&L TESTS
The Training and Leadership (T&L) of a unit or character will If a Character is within 1” of a unit that is in combat then
determine what they will do when the situation around them that unit may use the T&L of the character for its Break Test
starts to turn bad. Morale due to casualties within a unit is calculations. It does not matter whether the character is itself
factored into the wounds that it has suffered. Other situations in combat or not.
may call for T&L tests using the T&L value of units and
characters. If a character is within 1” of a friendly unit then that unit may
use the characters stats for T&L tests whether the character is
Morale results are factored into the losses that a unit takes in combat or not.
from combat, magic or missile fire. Our stands and units
represent more than just the few figures that happen to be on
the bases. When a unit takes losses this can represent dead, Terror T&L
stunned, wounded, stragglers, shirkers, cowards, confusion,
disorder or panic! The opponent is forced to take morale tests when charging
troops that cause terror. For full details see the Terror trait on
In Close Combat a Break Test is carried out using the T&L of page 31.
the unit and is covered fully in the Close Combat rules. While
this uses the same stat (T&L) as T&L Tests a Break Test is Warband T&L
different.
The T&L test that a Warband has to take to reform or change
A Break Test is rolled against you by your opponent when they face (see page 13) uses all of the standard modifiers and rules.
beat you in combat, a T&L Test is rolled by you to avoid certain A character will be able to assist this T&L test when they are
bad effects or pass certain tests. within 1” of the unit.
The spell description will state how the targets T&L is used and
whether any test counts as a T&L test or a Break Test.
Modifying T&L
The T&L of a unit may be modified by certain items, spells or
events. If this is the case then the T&L of the unit changes and
this will affect both T&L tests and Break Tests.
If a trait, item or spell specifies that it affects just the T&L Tests
of a unit then it would have no effect against a Break Test.
Likewise if the trait or ability states that it only affects Break
Tests then it would not modify a T&L test.
28
Traits & Weapons
Various units or characters may have special skills and when they are fired upon, this means that missile fire against
abilities, some of which can give advantages or disadvantages them suffers a -1 to hit modifier.
throughout the battle. Traits are advanced rules and this
means that they will supersede the basic rules given earlier. The crew are an integral part of the stand and may not move or
act independently of the item that they are crewing.
The effects of traits are cumulative and if multiple bonuses
apply then they should be stacked, if two traits allow extra
wound rolls for instance then both extra rolls should be taken. Drilled (+10)
Some traits have variable values, these are marked with a ‘?’ A drilled unit is allowed a free change of facing action at the
after the trait name. Shock can be +1 or +2 for example and start of its movement. This follows all of the standard rules
these will cost different points for different levels. and if used it will count as movement for firing purposes.
Where a trait has ‘?’ as its value the points costs will change Note that unlike the free change of face for characters and light
according to how ‘powerful’ that trait is. A poisoned attack that troops the drilled unit may only change face for free once per
does extra wounds on a D6 roll of 3+ is going to cost more than movement phase and it must be at the start of its movement.
one that does extra wounds on a roll of 5+.
Ethereal (+10)
Traits cost
Ethereal creatures can move through or over terrain features
Trait Value 6+ 10 pts as though they were not there. They may double through
rough going or when crossing linear obstacles because they
Trait Value 5+ 15 pts effectively ignore these obstacles for movement.
Trait Value 4+ 20 pts
They may cross over terrain that would otherwise be
Trait Value 3+ 25 pts impassable such as a river, lake, crevasse and so on. Specific
Trait Value 2+ 30 pts terrain features may need special rules and these should be
dealt with on a case by case basis.
Cowardly (0)
The unit must pass a T&L test before they can charge against
the front of any enemy. It does not have to make a test if it is
charging an enemy in the flank or rear.
If the test is failed the unit may not charge against this or
any other target this phase but is free to act as normal in the
subsequent move and fire phase.
Crew (0)
Crew of a war machine or weapon will count as light troops
29
Fanatic (+10) the riders values.
A Fanatic unit does not suffer the unsteady effect when it Phalanx (+15)
is reduced to half wounds or less. This unit will fight at full
effectiveness until it has been destroyed or broken. When in column the rear ranks support attacks are increased
by +1 each. If rear rank support cannot be given for any
As characters and single stand units do not suffer the unsteady reason then there are no extra attacks added.
effects at half wounds then they would gain no benefit from
having this trait. For example a unit of 4 stands of Kingdom Pikemen are in
column and have the ‘Phalanx’ ability. Each stand has 4
Fearless (+5) attacks listed and this would usually give the back ranks 2
support attacks per stand. Because of the Phalanx ability they
Fearless units and characters may ignore all of the effects of would each give 3 support attacks per stand instead.
Terror.
See page 22 for the full support attacks rules.
Feigned Flight (+10) In addition while in column any enemy charge directed at the
front of the Phalanx does not apply any charging bonuses,
The unit may elect to try to evade a charge in the same manner this includes the +1 from charging and special traits such as
as characters and light troops. The evade rules are given in Trample and Shock.
full in the movement chapter on page 14.
To be given the Phalanx trait the unit must be armed with Pikes
or Spears. See the Weapon entries on page 32. The Phalanx
Flying (+15) bonuses only apply while the unit is in column, not line.
See the swimming and flying rules on page 39.
Poisoned attacks (?)
Hatred (0) When the number of wounds have been calculated roll those
D6 that have wounded again to see if there are any additional
The unit must declare a charge against any hated enemy that
wound effects from the poison.
is within charge range at the start of the charge phase. They
do not have to charge the closest hated enemy but they must
The chance that there is another wound caused depends on
charge a hated enemy in preference to one that they do not
the potency of the poison. Where this trait is given to a unit or
hate.
stand it will be shown as ‘Poisoned Attacks #+’ where # is the
chance on a D6 that an additional wound will be applied to the
If there is no charge declared the unit is free to move and fire
target.
as usual in the upcoming move and fire phase.
For each subsequent roll that comes up equal to or greater
Horde than this number an additional wounds has been caused.
The units within a horde gain courage and inspiration from A Giant Spider has the ‘Poisoned Attacks 5+’ trait. For each
the friends around them. Each friendly unit within 1” that also wound that it causes a further D6 is rolled and on a score of 5
has the ‘Horde’ trait will add +1 to the T&L of the unit for Break or more an additional wound will be applied to the target.
Tests. However, this bonus does not apply to T&L tests, they
are carried out in the usual manner without any bonus applied
for nearby friendly hordes.
Regeneration (?)
Any wounds caused on the target may not be permanent.
This bonus is only applied while the friendly horde is within 1”
Once the number of wounds have been calculated the player
and may stack with other abilities or bonuses. The multiple unit
with regeneration rolls 1D6 for each wound that has been
example on page 27 includes details of how the Horde trait can
caused.
affect a Break Test.
Where this trait is given it will be shown as ‘Regeneration
Light Troops (0) #+’ where # is the chance on a D6 that a wound will be
regenerated.
Light units have a variety of different abilities and restrictions,
full details for this troop type are given on page 34. The regeneration roll is made after the total number of wounds
have been calculate but before any wounds are applied, any
units are removed or any combat resolution is calculated.
Mounted Troops (Varies)
A unit of Trolls have the ‘Regeneration 3+’ trait. For each
Troops that are mounted will have the stats for the mount wound they take they should roll a D6, on a result of 3 or more
added to that of the rider, this also means that the points cost the wound is immediately regenerated and has no effect.
of the mounts will be determined by how much they increase
30
A wound that is not ‘saved’ is not rolled for again on Small (0)
subsequent turns, once it has been determined that the wound
has not been regenerated its effects remain. This trait only applies to characters. When a character is fired
upon there will be a modifier to the to hit roll depending on
Shock 1 or 2 (+15 or +30) the size of the character. Any character based on less than
a 40mm base width frontage is counted as being small. Any
The turn that they charge into melee the unit will gain an character based on a base frontage of greater than 50mm
additional +# combat modifier to its to hit die roll. This trait has counts as a large target. Anything in between is a medium
variable levels of effectiveness where # is the combat modifier target. For firing at characters rules see page 36.
that is applied during a charge.
Terror (+20)
A unit of Dwarf Tusk Riders has the ‘Shock +2’ trait. This
means that when they charge into combat they will gain an Any troops wanting to charge against a unit that causes Terror
additional +2 to hit combat modifier. must first pass a T&L test. The charging unit may elect to use
the T&L of a friendly character within 1”.
Stakes (+10)
If the test is failed the unit may not charge against this or
The unit places sharpened stakes in front of its position at any other target this phase but is free to act as normal in the
deployment. The unit will count as defending an obstacle subsequent move and fire phase.
against any attack from its front. This bonus applies throughout
the combat regardless of whether the unit wins or loses a Trample 1 or 2 (+15 or +30)
particular round.
The unit will get +# attacks per stand on the first turn when
If the unit moves at all, including facing changes, compulsory it charges into combat. This trait has different levels where
moves or reforming the stakes are removed and cannot be # is the number of additional attacks each stand gets when
replaced during the course of the battle. charging into combat.
Charges against this units flank or rear and all other rules, An Orc chariot stand has the ‘Trample +2’ trait. This means
traits, combat modifiers and bonuses apply as normal. that on the turn that it charges into combat it will gain 2 more
attacks than normally shown on its stat line. These extra
Steadfast (+10) attacks will benefit from or suffer the same combat modifiers
and have all the same rules and restrictions as their other
So long as the unit elects to ‘Hold’ when it is charged from attacks.
the front the opponent will not gain the +1 combat modifier for
charging into combat. Unbreakable (+30)
Any other attacker bonuses such as Shock or Trample will This unit or character cannot be broken in melee. When an
apply as usual. This trait has no effect on charges directed Unbreakable unit is beaten in combat the winner does not get
against the steadfast units flank or rear. to roll the 2D6 break test, there is no chance of breaking the
unit.
Stubborn (+15)
Undead (+35)
When the enemy rolls to break the unit they must roll greater
than the unmodified T&L of the target. The amount that the Undead have the Fearless and Unbreakable traits. This makes
melee was won by has no impact on the Break Test. A natural them very hard to get rid of, luckily the vast majority of undead
roll of ‘12’ will still automatically break the losing unit. have terrible combat stats. Being dead will do that to you.
The unit may use either the T&L of nearby characters within 1”
for Break Tests or their own T&L, they may not combine both. Warband (0)
When a Warband wants to reform there is a chance that they
Swarm (0) will not be able to carry out the manoeuvre. Any unit must first
pass a T&L test to be able to reform. If the T&L test is failed
A swarm of creatures, insects, rats and so on. Characters the unit may not choose to do any other movement this phase
may not influence a swarm unless their description specifically though they will still count as having moved for firing purposes.
states that they may do so. This means that a swarm may not
use the characters T&L for its Break tests or T&L tests.
The Warband rule has been made harsh on purpose.
A swarm is subject to the Warband rule with regard to These troops are not trained to manoeuvre and easily get
reforming and also has the Fearless and Stubborn traits. disorganised when asked to perform difficult formation
changes. Their best tactic is to form up facing the enemy
Target Size Large/Medium/ and charge!
31
The Warband may use the T&L of a friendly character within 1” Weapon - Hand Weapon (0)
as usual.
Hand weapons impart no particular ability or trait to troops, they
Note that this only applies to reform attempts, changes of face simply allow a unit to make standard hand to hand attacks.
may be carried out without the T&L test. Hand weapons are still listed on the stat line of the unit or
character, they take just one hand to use allowing the other
War machine (0) hand (hands?) free for second weapons, shields and so on.
A war machine may not move and fire, this includes facing Weapon - hvy Crossbow (+5)
changes or reforms. A war machine may never be given the
Light Troops trait. A unit or character armed with Heavy Crossbows may not
move and fire in the same phase. Any movement at all will
Weapon - Breath Weapon (0) prohibit firing, this includes facing changes (whether free or
not) and failed attempts to Reform.
Breath weapons can be used both as missile fire and while in
base to base combat with the enemy. When used as missile Note that this penalty only applies to Heavy, not Light,
fire it follows all of the usual rules for War Machines. This Crossbows
means that there will be no rolls to hit, instead the number
of hits are calculated randomly and then these are rolled to Weapon - Lance (+5)
convert into wounds.
Lance adds +1 to the to wound roll when the unit charges, this
The range, number of hits and strength of breath weapons may applies to all of the attacks that a unit makes, including support
vary and these values are determined at the unit design stage. or Trample attacks.
As with war machines the points cost is determined by these
statistics and the type and effects of breath weapons can vary
greatly. Weapon - PIKE (+5)
So long as the stand is not already engaged in combat Breath So long as the unit is charged from the front and its response
Weapons may be used to ‘fire’ defensively at a charger. is to Hold the enemy +1 combat modifier for charging does not
apply. All other bonuses and penalties apply as usual.
Weapon - Dual weapons (+10) A unit must be armed with pikes or spears in order to have the
‘Phalanx’ ability.
When using multiple weapons the stand will gain +1 extra
attack. For troops that only have 2 arms this trait may not be
used with Great Weapons or with a shield. Weapon - Spear (+5)
If you have a creature that has lots of arms then it is possible So long as the unit is charged from the front and its response
to use this trait with Great Weapons or weapons and a shield. is to Hold the enemy +1 combat modifier for charging does not
No matter the number of weapons they happen to be wielding apply. All other bonuses and penalties apply as usual.
the bonus will not increase the attack stat by more than +1.
A unit must be armed with spears or pikes to be given the
It is possible to have multiple missile weapons as well, whether ‘Phalanx’ ability.
this applies really will depend on the creature!
32
Single Stand Units
Single stand units (SSU) is the game term given to a unit that T&L of a character within 1” in the same way as a multi stand
is only made up of one stand. This may be a single figure such unit.
as a giant, multiple figures such as a host of spirits or a war
machine and its crew. An SSU should not be confused with a
character, while they share some of the same rules and game
mechanics they are different types of ‘units’.
Single stand units have some of their own specific rules but on
the whole they will follow the same rules as multi stand units
and characters. Unless stated otherwise here a Single Stand
Unit (SSU) will follow all of the standard rules.
SSU movement
The same movement rules apply to single stand units as they
do to multi stand units. They do not count as characters so will SSU and Unsteady
not get to benefit from the free facing chance at the start and
end of movement. This means that they must still wheel, about Unlike multi stand units an SSU does not become unsteady
face and so on as part of their movement. Their charge arcs, when it is reduced to half or less its starting number of wounds.
march restrictions, evade options all remain the same as for This means that an SSU does not need to be marked as
other multi stand units. unsteady and will fight at full effect until it is destroyed or
broken.
This is an important rule as it stops SSU from being overly
flexible, players will still need to take account of charge arcs, Any other instances of unsteady can still apply to an SSU (from
facings, wheel distances and so on. a spell for example) and all of the standard rules would apply in
that case.
Single stand units can benefit from the ‘Light Troops’ trait and,
as with any other unit, this would allow them the usual free
facing change at the start and end of movement, evade options Character within 1”
and so on. A single stand unit that has the light troops ability
will be very manoeuvrable. A character that is within 1” of a single stand unit may influence
it in the same manner as it would a multi stand unit.
SSU firing
SSU Base Size
A single stand unit has the same firing restrictions as all other
troops. They must be within range, LOS and have the target in An SSU has to have a minimum bases size, if it is smaller than
their forward firing arc. They may reform and fire and, as the 40mm wide then it has to be designed as a character instead.
rules state that you cannot split attacks from a single stand,
they must direct all of their attacks against one target.
SSU Light Troops
SSU combat SSU can be given any of the appropriate special abilities and
traits in the same way that characters and multi stand units
An SSU will follow all of the usual combat rules. No matter its can. This means that an SSU can be allocated the ‘Light
size the SSU will count as one stand in combat, it can apply its Troops’ trait and it would gain all of the associated abilities.
attacks only against one target but may choose which target if
it is in contact with more than one enemy. This could be useful to represent an SSU that you think should
be flexible enough to freely change face at the start and end
An SSU has flanks and rear, must charge into combat and so of its movement and also evade chargers without having to
on. The physical size of the stand will determine which enemy it introduce any special rules.
is in contact with and also how many of the enemy may attack
back, the usual overlap rules apply.
Basically for movement, T&L, traits, attacks, wounds,
combat, overlaps, unsteady and pretty much most other
SSU T&L and Break tests things you should treat a single stand unit as you would a
multi stand unit, except that its smaller - obviously!
An SSU will take T&L and Break Tests in just the same way as
any multi stand unit or character. They can benefit from the
33
Light Troops
Some units have their troops deployed in loose formations and fewer actual troops. For example, whereas a normal stand
that allow greater flexibility and movement. They are unlikely could start with 4 wounds, 4 combat attacks and 2 missile
to be able to stand up to a formed unit in close combat and attacks a light stand could have just 2 wounds, 2 combat
they generally try to use missile fire or flank and rear attacks to attacks and 1 missile attack.
weaken and destroy enemy troops.
Light troops use many of the same rules as formed troops but
Light Troops Evade
there are also some additional abilities and restrictions.
Light troops may always opt to evade a charging enemy. Full
evade rules are given on page 14. They may always attempt
The stands in the unit must remain in base to base contact.
to evade from a charge.
Their stat line will reflect the lesser number of troops and more
open formation but other than that they may still engage in
melee as would any other unit. The fewer attacks and wounds Light Troops and
per stand will put these units at a disadvantage in combat.
Characters
Light units may be foot or mounted and can be characters,
multi stand or single stand units. Characters may influence light troops in just the same way as
they can any other unit. There are no special rules with regard
Light Troops have flanks and rears just like other units and their to light troops and characters.
firing is restricted to the same 45 degree frontal arc unless any
special rules state otherwise. Light troops must still remain in Light Troops Support
either line or column.
Light troops may not benefit from rear rank support no matter
Light troops Movement what formation they happen to be in.
Light troops may freely change their facing at the start and end Light troops deployment
of their own movement so long as they do not charge.
Light troops may have more options open to them at
This only applies to a change of facing, not to reform, if a unit deployment and a scenario can show areas where only Light
wants to change from line to column it must use a reform order Troops may deploy. Light troops can always set up in the main
as would any other unit. army deployment area and if there are no ‘extra’ deployment
areas shown then they are restricted to the normal deployment
Rough Going & Obstacles the same as all other units and characters.
Light troops are not penalised by rough going or obstacles. Light troops figures
They may freely double through rough going or over obstacles
and do not suffer movement penalties for this. They are still Stands made up of light troops may have less figures per base
stopped from entering impassable terrain. or the same as normal. If the latter then the opponent should
be informed that a unit is light troops.
Passage of Lines
Light troops may freely pass through other friendly units during Light troops are far more flexible than standard close order
their movement. They may not charge through friendly troops units. They are particularly effective at denying enemy
and they may not end their movement on top of friends or double moves, grabbing terrain features, harrying enemy
astride them. If they are going to perform a passage of lines flanks and rears or screening your more valuable troops.
they must be able to completely clear the unit they are passing
through. Light troops may double through friendly units. It is worth remembering that these are still units of
hundreds of troops that have to be commanded and
Likewise formed units (as opposed to light units) may freely controlled. With this in mind light troops must still abide by
pass through light troops without any movement penalty. They many of the standard rules that apply to formed units.
may not charge through and must be able to completely clear
the troops that are being moved through.
34
War Machines
War machines can be bolt throwers, cannons, catapults or Indirect Fire
other bizarre contraptions. They do not follow the same rules
as other missile weapons with regard to hitting their target but
Some weapons have the ability to shoot over the heads of
other than that they use many of the same game mechanics.
intervening troops and obstacles. These are noted on the war
Machines table as (I) for indirect firing weapons.
War machines will often be single stand units. The machine
and its crew count as a single stand for all game purposes.
These weapons do not need a clear line of sight to the target,
Most, but not all, war machines will have the trait ‘Crew’ and
instead they can fire even if they cannot see what they are
‘War Machine’, for details see the Traits & Weapons chapter.
shooting at. The target must still be within the 45 degree
forward arc of the firing stand.
As with normal missile fire most war machines will need to
have the target within range and line of sight. Some weapons
do not have to worry about a clear line of sight to their targets Minimum range
but they are dealt with later in this chapter.
Some weapons have a minimum as well as a maximum range
When it has been determined that the war machine can target that they can fire. To be a valid target the enemy must be
a specific unit or character there is no roll to hit. Instead the between the minimum and maximum range listed.
firing player will simply roll to see how many attacks are carried
out on the target. There is a catch however, the number of A Goblin Light catapult has 2 Dwarf units to its front, one is 25”
attacks can be zero, in which case you can assume that the away, the other only 5”. The catapult would not be able to fire
shot missed its target. at the unit that is 5” away as it is closer than the minimum 9”
range for this weapon.
There are 2 range bands for War Machines, Close and Long,
some may only have a long and no close range.
War machines can cause multiple casualties to their targets. The Orc unit is 23” away
The number is determined by the range band that the weapon Orcs and means it is within close
is firing at. Each range band will show what dice are rolled for range. The Heavy Bolt
the number of hits, this can be D3-1, D6-1, D6-2 or 2D6-2. As Thrower rolls a D6 and gets
you can see there is always a chance that the score will be 6, this results in 5 Might 7
zero and so no attacks are made. hits. All 5 of these 5 hits are
allocated to the orc unit.
A Light cannon has a close range of 20” and a long range of The character could not be targeted,
40”. If the target is within 20” the cannon will roll 1D6-1 for the because line of sight is blocked by the orc
number of Might 8 attacks that hit the target, if the unit is at 23” unit.
long range the cannon will roll 1D3-1 to see how many attacks
hit the target.
Supposing the range to the target was 36”
this would put it at long range from the bolt
thrower. Instead of D6-1 hits on the target
the player would roll D3-1 hits.
35
Characters
Characters are individual stands that can move about the Firing at a character modifies the to hit number depending on
battlefield independently of units. The base size of characters the size of the target. See page 31 for details of large, medium
can be as small as 20mm by 20mm upto large 60mm by 80mm or small targets.
behemoths. Characters should not be confused with single
stand units who have their own separate rules (page 33). If the character is small there is a - 2 to hit modifier, medium
-1 to hit modifier and for large characters there is no additional
Characters within 1” of friendly single stand or multi stand effect.
units can influence those units by allowing them to use the
characters T&L statistic value for Break and T&L tests instead
of the units own listed T&L. Targeting an individual is far more difficult than a unit.
Firstly you have to be able to pick out who you want to fire
It does not matter whether the character has moved, doubled, at in the chaotic mess of battle and then point that target
evaded, its type or base size. A unit can use the T&L of one out to an entire unit of missile troops.
friendly character so long as they are within 1” of each other.
While someone riding on a huge dragon may well be
an ‘easy’ target to spot the flexibility of movement that
Character movement a character enjoys must also be taken into account.
Where your figure actually ends its movement is simply a
Characters mostly move according to the same basic rules ‘snapshot’ of time.
as other units. The exception is that they are allowed a free
facing change at the start and end of their movement. This The modifiers imposed for firing at characters take into
is simply an ability that a character is given to reflect their account the time taken to be able to spot and direct
increased flexibility. This free facing change does still count as the fire of a unit or war machine as well as the size and
movement with regard to firing penalties and missile weapon manoeuvrability of the target.
restrictions.
Firing at Characters
All arc, range and line of sight restrictions apply as usual.
36
It is worth reiterating that a T&L test is different to a Break Test
A unit of 4 stands of Trolls are in even though they both use the same statistic. More details can
combat with a column of 4 stands be found on page 28.
of Dwarfs and a Dwarf character
on a Boar. All of the Troll stands
have enemy in contact so this will
determine who their stands must B
The Vermin unit has
attack. 3 Troll stands fight against Vermin just lost a combat
the Dwarf unit while the other A against the Goblin unit
fights against the character.
while character ‘A’ has
just drawn combat with
In this case stand A must fight
the other Goblin unit.
A against the Dwarf unit while stand
Both of the Vermin
B has the option to fight the unit or
characters are within 1”
B the character. Stand C must fight
against the character because it Goblins of the Vermin unit.
is in contact, it could not act as an
C overlap against the unit. Stand
The Vermin unit has a T&L of 7 and the characters are
both within 1” of the losing unit so the Vermin player may
D acts as an overlap against the
D character.
use either characters T&L rather than that of the unit to
resolve the Break Test.
characters unaffected
Characters and T&L tests Characters may never influence other characters, only multi
stand units and single stand units. It does not matter if the
When a unit has to carry out a T&L test it may use the T&L T&L is higher, the other character is a superior or has far better
value of a friendly character within 1” rather than its own. This traits or abilities. A character may not influence the Break Tests
test can be to reform, pass a Terror test, as a reaction to Spells, or T&L tests of another character in any way.
use abilities or any other reason that a T&L test is required.
37
A B
Goblins C
Three Goblin units with T&L 6 and the Warband trait want
to change facing so that they are all facing towards the
left. Because they are warbands they must pass a T&L
test before they can do so. The mounted character has
a T&L of 8 and is currently in combat with an enemy unit
while the foot character has a T&L of 7.
Vermin In the situation opposite two Goblin units and a mounted character are fighting against a
Vermin unit and a character on foot.
A B C D
The Vermin character (on foot) is only in contact with Goblin unit A and he must use
A B all of his attacks against this unit. The vermin unit has its stands in contact with three
opponents and must allocate who its stands are to fight against. The Vermin player
C D currently has the initiative and so it is they who must allocate where their stands will
attack first.
A Goblins B
Vermin stand A is in contact with both the Goblin character and Goblin unit A, this means it may attack either. It is perfectly
OK for this stand attack the Goblin character and ignore the unit even though more of its base frontage is actually in
contact with the unit, the ‘amount’ of contact is unimportant. Stand B is only in contact with the character and so must
attack him while stands C and D are only in contact with Goblin unit B and so that is who they must attack.
Goblin unit A is in contact with 2 opponents, the Vermin character and the unit. The attacks from stand A and the
supporting attacks from stand C must all be made against the Vermin character. Stand B of this unit is in contact with both
the Vermin unit and character and so may choose which to attack, whatever its choice the supporting attacks from stand D
must be made against the same target. The Goblin character and Goblin unit B must make all of their attacks against the
Vermin unit.
38
FlyIng & Aquatic
Flying Movement Flying Missile Fire
The ability to fly over the battlefield allows units and characters All missile fire is carried out in the same manner as usual
to bypass impassable terrain, enemy and friendly units. There whether it is firing at the flying creatures as targets or fire from
are a number of ways that creatures can fly and a variety of the flyers themselves.
methods used - from wings to magic.
As the firing comes after movement and the flyers ‘land’ at the
Rather than design a set of fantasy airborne combat rules the end of their move there are no additional modifiers or rules
flying trait has been kept simply as a means of moving around required for firing at flying creatures.
the battlefield. The uses it can be put to should confer their
own advantages, being able to fly over the enemy and then
attack them in the rear is a pretty good ability in itself! Ground movement
All flying creatures , no matter their size or type, have a flying Flying creatures will have a ground movement speed as well
MV of 12”. This can be used in the same way as normal MV as a flight speed. The MV listed on the stat line is used for
- to charge, evade, double and so on. Simply use the usual the ground movement of the unit or character. All of the usual
moving game mechanics unless the rules on this page state ground movement rules apply.
otherwise.
Where a unit has the choice of either ground movement or
Flying troops effectively take off from the point where they start flying movement the player must declare which they are using
their flying and land where they end it. This means that they before the unit is moved.
can pass over any enemy or friendly stands and impassable
terrain but cannot land on them. While flying they are not It may seem that flying movement will always be better than
reduced to half speed for crossing obstacles and do not halve ground but magical items, spells, special terrain, specific
their speed through rough going. scenario rules and so on can all stop flyers from actually taking
off.
If the unit is doubling they do still need to keep more than 6”
away from all enemy stands. In this case height does not Aquatic movement
count so you cant simply say you are flying 7” above a unit and
double over it! When troops are listed with the aquatic movement trait it
means that they may cross water obstacles. No matter how
Flying characters are still allowed their usual free change of they actually cross they will follow the same game mechanics,
face at the start and end of their movement. Light troops will it does not matter if they swim, float or walk.
be able to perform their free reform at the start and end of their
movement. All other flying creatures will need to keep to the Aquatic troops do not suffer the rough ground effect for water
usual facing and reforming rules. based obstacles such as streams, swamps or marsh. They
may double through this type of terrain so long as they are
Flying Combat further away than 6” from any enemy as usual.
The flying trait itself does not impart any special combat Aquatic troops may cross impassable water obstacles. When
abilities. All of the standard combat rules, including break moving through impassable water terrain they have an MV of
tests, apply as normal. 6” and use this value to charge, evade, double and so on. If
combining water and ground movement in the same turn they
There is one rule that is implemented slightly differently - a will use the slowest of the two.
flying unit does not need line of sight to its target at the start
of its charge - it can effectively fly over intervening units as Other than these exceptions troops will move, charge, double
part of its charge. It must still keep to all of the other charge and evade as usual with regard to movement.
restrictions with regard to facing, charge arc and distance.
Special Movement Evade
In game terms a flying unit is able to gain an advantageous
position far more easily than one on foot. Light flying stands Flying or aquatic creatures can evade using their special
and characters can simply fly over a target and use their free movement type so long as they would normally be allowed an
reform or about face at the end of their movement and be in a evade attempt. This means that they would still need to be
position to charge into the rear next turn. characters, light troops or have the Feigned Flight trait.
39
Battle Magic
Mages in battle Other actions, abilities, multiple casting attempts and so on can
only be carried out if a specific trait, spell or items says so in its
description.
A Mage is a character figure that can cast spells. They may
also have other traits, do not need to be humanoid, may ride
magical beasts or even be magical beasts. Where the rules Planes of Magic
refer to a Mage they simply mean a character that has the
ability to cast spells. Magic is split into three Planes. The Heavens, The Earth and
The Underworld. Each plane has its own unique properties as
Battle Magic is a special art that involves spell and counter far as magic is concerned, scholars have broken these down
spell with Mages attempting to bend magical energy ‘Mana’ to into various ‘Realms’ of magical power.
their will. This requires massive amounts of concentration, the
more powerful the spell the more Mana required and only the The Heavens - Spirit, Air, Light, Life
greatest Mages can attempt the hardest spells.
The Earth - Water, Earth, Fire, Order
In game terms a Mage will have levels from one through to five.
The higher the level the more knowledge the Mage has, this The Underworld - Beast, Chaos, Darkness, Death.
allows them to attempt more powerful spells. The maximum
amount of Mana that a Mage may have is directly related to These are simply names that has been given to the Realms but
their level but it is perfectly possible for a low level Mage to they do give some indication as to the properties and abilities
have more Mana than a high one. that each of the realms manifests.
The magic phase is split into two sections, in the first the side All Mages must select a Plane that they study - this is generally
with the initiative has their Mages cast spells or attempt to decided by the race or nation that they belong to and may be
dispel effects currently in play. Once the initiative winner has part of army lists or racial traits.
used all of their Mages the roles are reversed with the initiative
loser becoming ‘active’ and casting their spells or dispelling Few wizards are able to master the intricacies of more than
effects in play. one or two Realms and none posses the knowledge required to
access more than one Plane of magic.
A Mage may either attempt to cast a spell or attempt to dispel
an enemy spell effect that is already in play. They may not do Within that Plane of Magic the Mage may choose to specialise
both, a Mage can only carry out one action in his portion of the in two of the four Realms - attempting to master more than that
magic phase. has proved impossible for even the most gifted Mages.
Mage levels
“Magical power is all around us but only a very few have
the knowledge to tap into these forces. As they are A mage can be one of five levels from 1 being the weakest
commonly referred to as ‘Streams of Magic’ we can explain up to 5 the most powerful. These levels will determine the
magical ability by using and expanding upon this handy maximum Mana that can be used when casting or dispelling.
water metaphor.
The maximum Mana that a mage can use in the casting of a
If Magic forms streams then Mages are... buckets. We spell or a dispel attempt is his Level +1.
collect and carry the magical power ‘Mana’ until it is time to
‘empty’ the bucket by casting a spell or enchantment.
Mana
This Magical energy can be present in the air itself - like
Mana is the amount of magical power that a Mage possesses
raindrops. It can concentrate in places of power - like
and may use to cast spells or dispel spell effects throughout
wells. It can make up the Streams of Magic themselves -
the battle.
like...er... streams I suppose.
There is a limit to the amount of Mana that any one Mage can
The ability to collect and store this magical energy depends
have and in game terms you’ll find that there are limits to the
on the skill of the Mage in question - effectively how big
amount that can actually be used throughout a battle. It is
their bucket is. Even if faced by a vast ocean you can only
also worth considering the points value invested in a hugely
carry as much water as you can hold in your bucket.”
powerful Mage that could become a casualty early on and
leave you at a disadvantage.
Extract from the unedited (and as yet unreleased) version
of ‘Magic for Dummies’ by Alcibiades the Fat Bastard.
Each point of Mana allows the Mage to use 1D6 to either put
40
towards casting a spell of their own or towards dispelling spell dispelling an enemy spell effect directly relates to the number
effects that are currently in play. of D6 that they will be able to roll in the attempt. Each point of
Mana gives one D6 although some traits, abilities or items may
As this Mana is used it is lost for the remainder of the battle. alter this amount or adjust the scores and rolls.
Mages have limited amounts of power, though some spells,
items or traits can grant, increase or renew Mana throughout
the battle.
This value means that a Mage could use their maximum Mana
every turn of an 8 turn game. In effect this rarely happens
but Mana may sometimes be used for things other than spell
casting.
Unless one side has a massive advantage in Mages and • 1st Level Spell 4+
Mana you’ll find that magic has an important role to play • 2nd Level Spell 8+
but is not enough to win you the battle on its own. • 3rd Level Spell 12+
• 4th Level Spell 16+
• 5th Level Spell 20+
The Demon Keshin is a level 2 Mage and the player has
designed this character with 20 points of Mana. His maximum A Mage will roll a number of Mana Dice (D6) equal to the
Mana would be (Level 2 + 1) x 8 = 24. Without any additional amount of Mana that they expend attempting to cast a
traits or abilities the most he would be able to use in any one particular spell. The maximum Mana that can be used is the
casting or dispel attempt would be 3 points (his level +1). level of the Mage casting the spell plus one.
Spells Pai Lung is a powerful 4th Level Chin Mage with 38 points of
Mana available and he wishes to cast a second level spell.
He can choose to use from 1 to 5 Mana and will roll the
There are 5 levels of spells and any Mage may attempt
corresponding number of D6 in an attempt to equal or exceed
to cast any level of spell no matter what their own level of
the difficulty level (8+) of the spell.
knowledge, a second level mage may attempt to cast a 4th or
5th level spell for example. Their chance of casting the spell
successfully will depend on the amount of Mana that they There is no lower limit to the number of Mana points that can
expend on it. This amount of Mana is limited by their Mage be used to attempt to cast a spell. It is perfectly OK to only
level, in this way it is easier for higher level Mages to cast more use 3 Mana and so roll 3D6 to attempt to cast a 4th level spell
powerful spells but they must expend more Mana to do so. for example. Obviously this drastically reduces the chances of
these spells being cast successfully.
Mages do not need to pre-select the spells that they will be
able to cast throughout the battle, they have access to all of Keshin, a 2nd Level Mage attempts to cast a 4th Level spell.
the spells from both of their chosen Realms. The same spell He could use up to 3 Mana (his level + 1) and would need to
may be cast more than once but only one spell can be cast per score 16+ on 3D6. The level of the Mage does not restrict the
Mage per Magic Phase unless a trait, item or ability dictates level of the spells that they may attempt to cast.
otherwise.
While there is an upper limit to the amount of Mana to be used
The amount of Mana that a Mage expends on casting a spell or there is no lower limit. While it may look impossible to cast a
second level spell by using only one Mana (you’d need 8+ on
41
1D6) some traits, items or abilities can modify or add to the than the basic difficulty level of the spell. The score that the
casting die rolls. original casting wizard achieved or where the spell came from
has no impact on the score needed to dispel it.
If the amount rolled is less than the difficulty level then the spell
has failed. If the roll is equal to or greater than the casting cost
then the spell has been cast successfully. Either way the Mana
is used and is removed from the amount that the Mage has
available.
A Mage may only use his own Mana to cast spells. There may
be cases where special skills, spells and traits allow ‘pooling’ of
dice but the basic rules are that a Mage can only use his own
Mana to cast his own spells.
A player must declare the Mage that is casting the spell, the
amount of mana that they are using and the target of that spell
before any rolls are made.
The Level 5 Mage Lailoken is attempting to cast Noble Resolve Mages and armour
(a 2nd Level spell) on a unit of Round Table Knights who are
engaged in combat. The player declares the spell, the target,
Mages have their ability to cast spells restricted when they
the Mage casting the spell and the amount of Mana that he is
carry encumbering equipment and armour. They tend to need
going to use - in this case 3 points.
to have their hands free and to be able to concentrate on what
they are doing otherwise the spell is more difficult to cast.
Lailoken marks off the use of 3 Mana on the army roster sheet
and rolls 3D6, one D6 for each point of Mana expended. The
Some Warrior Mages use magic to enhance their combat
scores are 2,5,5 for a total of 12 points, more than the 8 that he
ability. They still wield weapons, shields and armour but this
needed so the spell will succeed.
takes exceptional training.
A Mage that is in combat may not attempt to cast a spell
Normal Mages are restricted to the use of hand weapons and a
or dispel a spell effect. Some specific spell descriptions or
staff but they may be mounted. They cannot be equipped with
magical items may allow casting at these times, if that is the
great weapons, lances, shields, missile weapons or any type of
case it will be clearly stated in the item description.
armour.
Dispelling Spells Some magical items may ignore this rule, they can be used by
Mages if it specifically says so in the item description.
Instead of casting a spell as his action in the Magic Phase
a Mage may attempt to dispel an enemy spell effect that is For example ‘Salamander Armour’ counts as light armour,
currently in play. This can be a spell that has been cast in imparts the ‘Regeneration 5+’ trait and may be used by Mages.
previous turns or even one that an enemy Mage has just cast
earlier on in this Magic Phase.
Magic items
During a dispel attempt a Mage must use Mana and will roll
Some magic items may allow the casting of spells without
1D6 for each point of Mana that they expend. Their target is to
requiring the caster to be a Mage or using any Mana points. If
get equal to or greater than the difficulty level of the spell they
this is the case the item description will give full details.
are attempting to dispel.
Scrolls and potions may be used to cast spells throughout the
As with casting spells the maximum Mana that they can use is
battle. These are always one use items and once the spell is
their level plus one. A Mage may either attempt to cast a spell
cast, whether it fails or succeeds, it has been used.
or attempt to dispel a spell, they may not do both in their Magic
Phase.
Mages may not use their own Mana to enhance or increase
the chances of casting from an item, potion or scroll unless the
During his section of the Magic Phase a 3rd Level Orc Shaman
description states otherwise.
Ong-ni-Bak wants to dispel the Noble Resolve spell that has
just been cast on the Round Table Knights. As it is a second
Some items may add Mana to the Mage, add to the chance of
level spell he decides to use 2 Mana for the dispel attempt but
spells being cast, give re-rolls to casting attempts and so on.
he could have used up to 4 points (his Level+1). Rolling 2D6
he scores 9, this is greater than the 8+ (the casting cost of a
2nd level spell) so the Noble Resolve is dispelled. The actual Unless specifically stated otherwise casting or dispelling by use
casting roll of the spell (12 in this case) does not affect the of a magic item still counts as the single action that a Mage
chance that it is going to be dispelled so there is no need to may take in their portion of the Magic Phase.
keep track of ‘how well’ a spell was cast.
42
Spell Lists
Spell Descriptions Lasting Spell Effects
Each spell will have its level listed, the casting cost, its type, its Some spells will remain in play until a certain event happens,
name and then a description of how the spell works. the enemy dispel them or the owning player cancels the spell.
Range is measured from any part of the base of the casting Enemy spell effects that remain in play must be dispelled as
Mage to any part of the base of the target stand or unit or described in the rules earlier in the magic chapter. Friendly
the central point of an area effect spell. Range may be listed spell effects do not need to be dispelled and can simply be
as ‘unlimited’ in which case it can be cast anywhere on the cancelled by the owning player. The Mage that cast these
battlefield. spells does not need to act, be on the table or even still be
alive!
Magic does not have arcs of fire, any spell can be cast in any
direction so long as other restrictions about range and LOS are Cancelling a friendly spell takes no time, costs no Mana and
adhered to. Some spells will require an unobstructed line of does not count as an action for the Mage. However it can
sight to the target, others will not. only be cancelled during the owning players part of the Magic
Phase - when they would be casting their own or dispelling
enemy spells. This is the only time that friendly spells can be
cancelled, to do so the owning player simply declares which
spell is ending and its effects cease immediately.
AuRA spells
The highest level spells in each Realm are called ‘Auras’.
These are magical effects that remain in place and can affect
the whole battlefield. In addition to the effects described in its
description an Aura has other specific rules.
43
The Heavens
Spirit
Lvl 1 (4+ Magic Missile) Blast Range 24”, Might 4, D6 attacks.
Lvl 2 (8+) Noble resolve - Unit or character gains Steadfast trait. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Bless - unit or character gains a +1 melee modifier to hit. Remains in play until dispelled
Lvl 4 (16+) Ray of Hope - All friendly units within 12” of the Mage may re-roll all T&L and Break Tests. This turn only.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Legendary Aspect - All characters may increase their T&L to 11. Remains in play.
Air
Lvl 1 (4+ Magic Missile) Blast 18” Might 6, D3 attacks.
Lvl 2 (8+) Fly - one character gains the fly ability, this turn only.
Lvl 3 (12+) Storm - Target one enemy unit or character in LOS of Mage and not in combat. Missile fire at -2 to hit,
remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Tornado - Cast on one unit (not character) that is not in combat. Target immediately suffers D3 MT 8
Attacks May not fire any missile weapons, half MV value. This turn only
Lvl 5 (20+) Aura. Gale - target entire battlefield - all missile fire at -2 to hit modifier for all troops, both enemy and
friendly.
Light
Lvl 1 (4+) Fearless - unit gains the fearless trait. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Illusion - anyone wishing to fire at this target takes a -1 to hit modifier. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Blinding light target unit or character. Missile fire -1, -1 combat modifier. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Beacon of Light - All friendly units (not characters) gain +1 to their T&L stat (max 12) Remains in
play. Because this affects the T&L stat it will help both T&L tests as well as Break Tests.
Life
Lvl 1 (4+) Heal wounds - Heals a single wound on unit or character - cannot bring back from the dead or increase
beyond starting wounds.
Lvl 3 (12+) Regeneration - causes unit or character to gain the Regeneration 6+ trait. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Vigour - The hand to hand and missile attack stat increases by 1 point each. This may increase the
number of support attacks a stand will get. This spell may increase the attacks to more than the usual 6 hand to
hand or 3 missile. This turn only.
Lvl 5 - (20+ Aura) Wave of Life. Heals 1D3 wounds amongst the army. Maximum of 1 wound per unit or per
character each turn. Cannot bring back from the dead or increase beyond starting wounds. Unused healing is lost.
44
The Earth
Fire
Lvl 1 (4+ Magic Missile) Fireball 18” Might 6, D3 attacks.
Lvl 2 (8+) Flaming arrows - Missile fire Extra wound 6+ ‘Flame’ - roll for extra wounds as for traits. Remains in play
until dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Shield - protects Character, counts as having PR of 12. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Weapon - Character counts as having CS of 12. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Phoenix - All friendly characters gain the Regeneration 6+ trait.
Earth
Lvl 1 (4+) Unit or character gains Stubborn trait. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Units in combat gain +1 attack per stand, +1 to hit and +1 to kill - this turn only.
Lvl 4 (16+) Tremors - Unit has half MV, Missile fire at -1 and -1 combat modifier. May be cast at a unit or character
that is currently in combat. This turn only.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Here I stand - All units gain the steadfast trait.
Water
Lvl 1 (4+) Rot & Rust - Enemy unit or character suffer a -1 penalty to their to kill rolls. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Quagmire - giggidy. Unit has its movement allowance halved (round down) Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Mist and Fog - cast on a unit or character causes -3 to their shooting to hit roll but also imparts a -3 to hit
modifier when shooting at this unit.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Invigorate. All units (not characters) gain the shock trait.
Order
Lvl 1 (4+ Magic Missile) Blast Range 24”, Might 4, D6 attacks.
Lvl 3 (12+) Character T&L becomes 12. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Balance - In melee only - may add a +1 or +2 modifier to the to hit roll but must then take a -1 or -2
modifier to the to kill roll, or the other way round. Modifier must be chosen before any dice are rolled.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Banish Magic - all enemy spells have a further +1 modifier to their difficulty level to be cast and a -1
modifier for the value needed to dispel them.
45
The underworld
Chaos
Lvl 1 (4+ Magic Missile) Blast Range 24”, Might 4, D6 attacks.
Lvl 2 (8+) Confusion - Enemy unit or character is subject to Warband rule. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Warp - Lose 1D6 wounds but that units attacks will hit on a roll of 4+ regardless of modifiers. This turn
only.
Lvl 4 (16+) Gift of Chaos, this turn only. Roll 1D6 for the unit or character that is firing or fighting in melee. 1= -1 to
hit, 2 = -1 to kill, 3 = no effect, 4= +1 to hit, 5 = +1 to kill, 6 = +1 to hit and to kill.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Touch of Chaos - each mage on your side roll D6-2 and add this amount to the Mages Mana, this
may increase the amount that they started the battle with.
Beast
Lvl 1 (4+) Alacrity - increase MV by D6”. Remains in play until dispelled. Roll each turn just before moving the unit.
Lvl 3 (12+) Frenzy - gives the unit the frenzy trait. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Protection - Increase PR by 1.5 (round fractions down) Max of 12. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Shock & Awe - causes units (not character) to gain the shock +1 & trample + 1 traits. Remains in
play until dispelled. Does not stack if unit already has these traits.
Death
Lvl 1 (4+ Magic Missile) Range 18” Might 6, D3 attacks.
Lvl 2 (8+) It Lives! Can only be cast on a unit or character with the Undead trait - gains 1 wound. May not bring
back from the dead or increase above starting stats.
Lvl 3 (12+) Immortal - one character or unit gains the undead trait this turn.
Lvl 4 (16+) Life Leech - can take wounds from friendly or enemy unit or character and add to their own, does not
have to be an enemy unit. 24” range. Causes D3 wound on the target and adds those wounds to the Mage or a
friendly character within 1” of the Mage. Can take the character over their starting and maximum number of wounds.
Unit may take a T&L to resist - if pass then there is no effect.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Wave of Death - like healing only causes wounds instead. D3
Darkness
Lvl 1 (4+) Shadow. Target is harder to hit -1 to all missile attacks against this unit or character. Remains in play until
dispelled.
Lvl 3 (12+) Cowardly - causes target to gain the cowardly trait. 24” range. Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 4 (16+) Curse - make a unit or character take a -1 to hit in melee and missile fire cancels bless and vice - versa.
Remains in play until dispelled.
Lvl 5 (20+ Aura) Despair - All enemy units take a -1 modifier to their T&L Stat
46
The battlefield
Hills Neither side gains any support attacks in combat, the chargers
will not get to apply their charge bonus and in addition all
attackers get a -1 to hit combat modifier.
When attacking uphill troops will suffer a -1 to hit combat
modifier. To count this benefit more than half of the target unit
must be uphill of its opponent. The unit or units occupying the building have no formation.
Contact with the building will determine who fights in melee.
Troops occupying buildings have no flanks or rears. Only half
Streams & Rivers of the stands within the building may fire at targets outside but
they can fire from any facing.
These count as difficult terrain and will mean that no one,
except light troops and those with special movement traits, may
double through a stream or river.
Woods
Woods count as rough going when passed through by
Some streams or rivers can be declared impassable and only
movement. Visibility into, out of and inside woods is limited,
crossed at fords or bridges. Units that have the Aquatic (A) trait
into or out of a wood is 2” from the edge, inside a wood it is 4”.
may cross impassable water obstacles at their ‘aquatic’ speed
(see page 39) and may double through rivers or streams.
Impassable Terrain
Rough Ground Some terrain may not be moved through or over. This should
be determined at the start of the battle with some obvious
This can be marsh, swamp, rocky ground, soft sand or anything
features such as cliffs, bottomless ravines, stone monoliths or
that will slow the movement of the troops passing through it.
lakes counting as impassable.
Rough ground stops any multi stand, single stand unit or
Some terrain types may count as impassable unless a specific
character from doubling. If any part of any stand has to move
movement type is used - the lake mentioned above may be
through rough ground then the troops may not double in that
impassable to most troops but aquatic troops could swim it,
movement phase.
flying units could pass over it and so on.
If a special movement trait negates the rough ground penalties
(aquatic in swamps for example) then the troops may double
as usual.
While some battles have been fought on featureless plains
Light troops may also double through rough ground following there is usually some sort of terrain on the battlefield.
all of the standard movement restrictions.
The actual properties of terrain features can depend a lot
on the scenery you have available. A hedge can be low
Walls, Hedges & Fences and thin or a huge imposing thicket 6 feet high. How you
decide what effect this has on the game itself has to be up
These are obstacles to troops movement and like rough to both players involved.
ground above they will prohibit doubling movement if any part
of any stand has to cross or occupies and obstacle during its At the start of any battle it is worth pointing out various
movement. terrain features and making sure that all players know
exactly what their properties are. Having said that some
Light troops may double over obstacles so long as they follow terrain can be kept secret as part of a specific scenario.
the other restriction of remaining more than 6” away from any
enemy troops.
47
Victory & Defeat
There are two ways that a battle can be won, by destroying the A character, multi stand unit or single stand unit that is reduced
enemy army or by capturing objectives on the battlefield. In to half or less its starting number of wounds is worth 1/2 its
game terms the first method simply compares the points that points value.
each side has lost while the second requires rules for control
over the battlefield.
Where the two sides have different points values the smaller
gains a bonus equal to half the difference between the two.
When the victory points are totalled up at the end of the battle
add this value to the smaller sides total.
48
of the armies that are fighting the battle. Simply add the levels of victory or defeat can have an impact on your army if
points values of both armies together and then half it. Each you are using any campaign rules.
player then allocates this amount of points amongst the table
quarters. The level of victory or defeat can have an impact on your
troops if you are playing campaign rules. An army may well
Players can allocate points values to each quarter but each find it more difficult to recover from a Crushing Defeat, morale
must have at least 10% of the points and not more than 40% of can be affected and troops lose confidence in their leadership.
the points. On the other hand a victory can have the opposite effect.
Continuing the Dwarf and Orc example and looking at the table Victory Results
quarter diagram below. The Dwarf army is worth 3000 points
and deploys in quarters A and B while the Orc army is worth Double opponents points Smashing Victory
4000 points and deploys in the opposite half of the table. More than opponents points Victory
The combined total of the two armies is 7000 points, each Equal points to opponent Draw
player can now allocate 3500 points amongst the table Less than opponent Defeat
quarters, their own half of the table and the enemy half.
Half or less than opponent Crushing Defeat
In this example the players must allocate at least 350 points
(10%) to each quarter and not more than 1400 points (40%).
Specific Scenario Rules
The amount of points that a player allocates to a quarter is kept
secret until the end of the battle, only then are the points values Some scenarios may call for a completely different way of
revealed. calculating victory. It may be that an artifact has to be taken to
the place from whence it came and thrown into a volcano for
Determining who has control of an area at the end of the battle example. In this case regardless of troop losses or battlefield
is important as neither side gains any points for a contested control the victor is decided by whether the artifact is destroyed
area. or not.
To assume control over a battlefield quarter a player must have Some scenarios can ignore the table quarters points, the
one of their single stand units, multi stand units or characters casualties points or the army balance points. The possibilities
entirely within that quarter at the end of the battle. If the enemy are endless, so long as both players know the rules before a
can also claim the same then neither side has control, the battle starts.
quarter is contested and neither will gain any points for it.
If only one side has troops within that quarter at the end of
the battle then they will be able to add the points value of that
quarter to their total.
A unit may not control more than one quarter at the end of the
battle and if straddling two quarters will actually not control or
contest either of them.
Once these totals are added together both sides compare their
values, the ratio will show how well, or badly, your army has
fared in the encounter.
49
Points System
Every character, single stand and multi stand unit in Legions
of Battle will have a points value. These are determined by The points system is specifically designed so that you
calculating the cost of the statistics plus any special abilities or don’t have to rely on any ‘official’ army lists for your
equipment. games. You can use the rules to create pretty much
anything you like.
The points costs remain consistent throughout the game
system, rather than design troops with arbitrary points costs the If you want to go to the extent of making up new special
system allows you do create your own units as well as choose abilities or skills then there is some guesswork involved
options to upgrade or downgrade their abilities. in deciding what points that skill should cost. If in doubt
base it on the closest example you can find in this book
Lists and costs are already calculated for the stands, weapons, and you shouldn’t go too far wrong.
magic items and traits listed in the rules. This chapter allows
you to create your own troops, units and stands while keeping Yes - if you want to design your own troop types you
within the current points system. If you are not interested in are going to need a calculator! Luckily all of this work
designing your own troops you can quite happily skip these is already done for the army lists given in this book so if
rules. you are going to use the units ‘as is’ there isn’t anything
you need this chapter for.
Statistic costs
and while the rules are designed to be flexible increasing these
To find the points cost for a statistic simply cross reference its is not recommended. If you must then the points values have
type with its value. Some numbers are in brackets but this is a logical progression and are based on the 1-144 column which
simply to keep them consistent with the way that the stats are is the square of numbers 1 through to 12. If you’ve read this
displayed on the stat line. far I’m sure you can work it out.
A Dwarf Huscarl has a Combat Skill of 6. Finding the stat value armour & shield costs
‘6’ and the CS column shows that this is going to cost 36 points
per stand. Once you have worked out the value of the stat line you’ll need
to add costs for anything else that is not already accounted
The missile skill (MS) deserves a quick mention. The points for. This means that you will not need to add points for
listed are for the starting to hit number from 6+ (the lowest Armour or Shield for example as these are already included
points cost) to 1+ (the highest points cost). in the PR value. This means that to add armour or shield to a
stand costs more points the higher the starting value of the Pr
For example a Goblin archer has a missile skill of 4+, this statistic.
means that it has a points cost of 18.
For example a Goblin with a basic Pr of 3 costs 9 points,
Some stats have limits and if this is the case there is no points adding a shield would increase its Pr to 4 which would cost
value given. The stats have been restricted for play balance
50
16 points, an increase of 7 points. A Troll with a basic Pr of 8
would cost 64 points, if you add a shield its Pr increases to 9 To maintain play balance there have been some
which costs 81 points instead which is an increased cost of 17 restrictions placed on the stats that a stand may have. You
points. can increase these if you must but bear in mind that I have
tried to avoid a ‘power game’ system.
You will need to add such things as Spears, Lances, Missile
Weapons, Traits and Abilities. Each of these will have a set On that same note if you are designing new units or traits
points cost that is added to the value of each stand and unlike its best to avoid making up completely new rules. You may
armour and shields its cost will not vary. These costs can be have a unit of flying baboons that can shoot fireballs out
found starting on page 29. of their arses but to save the game getting bogged down
in endless details and special rules you are best off using
The points cost is calculated per stand no matter how many some of the current game mechanics to represent their
figures there are on a stand or how many stands in a unit. unique abilities.
Once you have the points cost per stand simply multiply this by
the number of stands within the unit, either 1, 4 or 6. When designing your own troops you will notice that some
traits and abilities as well as some stats are more cost
effective than others. It is worth bearing in mind that you
Missile weapons Cost should try to justify the abilities you are given your troops.
Missile weapons cost should be added to the basic cost of the For example, the Trample +1 trait adds one more attack
stand. The missile weapon tables in their respective chapters per stand during a charge and could be considered a
show the costs for all missile weapons on page 18 and War bargain at 10 points but should you really be giving it to
Machines on page 35. your Halfling Pony Riders?
If you are adding your own weapons the cost is based on the Just because the points system says you can do
close range of the weapon plus the points value of its Might, something it doesn’t mean that you should.
add these together and then divide by 2 rounded up. Where
the weapon can cause multiple hits this total is then multiplied
by the average of the close and long range maximum number Magic items Cost
of hits. Don’t worry - there is an example below and you’ll only
need to do this where you want to design your own weapons or The costs of Magical Items are included with the item
alter the statistics of those already given. description. Some may have various levels of ability or be
more effective when used by certain troops or races. If this
A longbow has a close range of 15 inches and a Might of 6. is the case they may have different points costs - all of these
The points cost for this is 15 (long range) plus 36 (the cost of 6 details will be given in the item description.
Might from the points cost table) for a total of 51. Divided by 2
gives a final cost of 26 for a longbow.
Mana cost
A light bolt thrower has a close range of 15” and a Might of 6.
The points cost is (15 + 36) divided by 2 = 26. The bolt thrower As has already been mentioned in the Battle Magic chapter
rolls D6-1 attacks at close range (maximum 5) and D3-1 at long each point of Mana available will cost 10 points and this should
range (max 2) so this total is multiplied by 3.5 (the average of 5 be added directly to the cost of the Mage stand.
plus 2). The final cost is worked out as 91 points for a light bolt
thrower.
If a weapon does not have a close range listed then use half
of its maximum range instead to calculate this part of the points
cost.
As with the points cost for the stands these calculations are
already worked out on the weapon tables, you do not need to
go through this every time you want to work out an army list!
What this system does is to ensure that when you design or
add your own weapons they will have a consistent points cost
throughout the game.
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DEsigning Army Lists
Legions of Battle can be used for any fantasy army, setting or Each army will be broken down into Common, Uncommon,
figure range that you like. There are some basic guidelines for Rare, and Heroes & Legends (H&L) categories.
the statistics that different races will start with. While this is not
set in stone it does help to keep the quality of troops relative • Common Min 25% Max 100%
to each other. These numbers should be used as guidelines • Uncommon Max 50%
for an ‘average’ troop of that race - obviously better or worse • Rare Max 25%
troops may have higher or lower starting statistics than those • H&L Max 25%
given here. This is not an exhaustive list, there are an endless
amount of variations that you can use. For example an army of 2000 points must have at least 500
points worth of common troops, may not have more than 1000
points worth of uncommon troops, no more than 500 points
Mounts worth of rare troops and no more than 500 points worth of
characters.
The mounts do not have points values of their own. Instead
they add to the statistics of their riders and so the total value of
the rider and its mount is calculated per stand. Armour PR Bonus
Light +1
Army Building Medium +2
Each army will have limits to the amount of characters or
Heavy +3
special units as well as minimum requirements for the most Shield +1
common troop types. These limits are dealt with by imposing
percentages of the points values that must be used for various
Light Barding +1
categories of troops. Heavy Barding +2
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Choosing troop categories the Rings’ setting but also in previous Ages of Middle Earth.
Large amounts of detailed information also available through
the Rolemaster supplements from Iron Crown Enterprises.
The category that a troop type is placed into will obviously
Also - plenty of nice figures.
determine the amount of those units that you will be able to
have. When designing the army list the common, uncommon
or rare categories should be tailored to the specific race or George RR Martin. Song of Ice and Fire series, most recently
nation that you are representing. adapted to the screen with the Game of Thrones series.
For example, an Orc army from the Northern Wildlands may Robert Adams. The Horseclans set in the future after a nuclear
have access to various war machines but they would be war has pushed civilisation to the brink and is at a ‘Medieval’
counted as ‘Rare’ choices. In contrast a Gnome army that level of technology.
is designed to represent the ‘Gnomish Guild of Artificers and
Engineers’ could count war engines as common choices. Harry Turtledove. The Videssos Novels pitch a magically
transported Roman Legion into a fantasy world fighting for a
‘Byzantine’ type empire. Not as bad as it sounds.
Choosing troop statistics
Raymond E. Feist. Midkemia and Kelewan are the basis for
Each unit, single stand unit or character must have a set the Riftwar series, standard fantasy fare but a good read non
of statistics plus any mounts, armour and weapons as their the less.
‘starting’ value. They can then have options given to them
in the notes section of the troop description. This allows Robert E Howard. Conan the Barbarian set in the Hyborean
everyone to see what the basic building block of that unit is and Age after Atlantis has fallen but before recorded history has
then account for any increase or decrease in stats or optional begun. Tony Bath’s Hyborea Campaign (look it up on the
traits or equipment. internet) does a lot of the work for you.
For example, the Dwarf Tusker unit should have a stat line Michael Moorcock. Elric of Melniboné is the main character
like that shown below, this is the basic, unmodified stat line, for this part of the Eternal Champion series set in the Young
equipment, abilities and points cost of a Dwarf Tusker. After Kingdoms. Plenty of scope for campaigns and battles and a
this has been designed you can add options for different stats, lot of material available through the ‘Stormbringer’ role playing
traits, abilities or equipment. series.
David Gemmel. The Drenai series charts the lives and battles
Dwarf Tuskers (4) **** Points per stand of characters such as Druss the Legend and Waylander the
MV Cs (A) Ms (A) Mt Pr Wd TL Slayer. I like these books.
8 6 (4) - (-) 6 9 4 8
There are also several game worlds that have been devised
Hand Weapon, Lance, Medium Armour, Shield, Trample (1) and have a lot of scope for designing your own armies to be
Shock (2), Mounted. able to fight mass battles. Some systems already have rules
and figures available for this level but others, such as D&D,
concentrate more on individuals and skirmishes rather than
epic battles.
Army Lists
Finally, there is history. The game system works without
As you can see by the fact that there are not 10 pages of army magic, without strange special traits and abilities. After all the
lists I have not designed any specific armies to go with the ‘shock’ trait can represent the charge of a fully armoured knight
Legions of Battle rules. These rules were designed to allow on a warhorse just as well as it can a dwarf riding a boar. The
you to fight using any troops that you like, in any setting and basing system used in Legions of Battle is pretty standard
with any races. While I may want to use them for a ‘generic’ and you shouldn’t have too much trouble organising an army
fantasy world with Orcs, Goblins and Dwarfs those lists without much effort.
wouldn’t help with designing a campaign set in the worlds of
Conan or Elric.
Figure Scale
There are a huge number of settings that can be chosen for
any fantasy battle or campaign, all that you need are the The game mechanics use the unit as the basis for combat,
figures and the imagination. Whether you base your battles within that unit the stand is the smallest element (apart from
on another game setting, works of fiction or simply something characters obviously) so really it does not matter what size the
of your own it will take some effort to design the army lists that figures are on that stand.
you’ll need. So, while I can write a set of game mechanics that
give you the chance to game in these worlds you are going to 20mm, 15mm or 10mm figures can be a much cheaper option
have to supply the imagination yourselves! than 28mm, even when you take into account the extra figures
that you need to fill a base. The visual effect of a ‘mass’ of
troops in a unit is also a bonus with smaller scale figures and
Fantasy Worlds makes it easier to visualise a unit as 3-400 troops as opposed
to just a dozen or so.
JRR Tolkien. A wealth of possibilities, not just in the ‘Lord of
53
Magic Items
Magical items are mainly used by characters but there are also Weapons
items that can be used by single stand or multi stand units,
each item category will let you know who can use them.
Weapons may only be given to characters, not single or multi
stand units. A character may have any number of magical
An items uses and effects will be set out in its description, the weapons but they can only use one at any one time. If they
amount of time that an effect lasts, the level of a spell that have a choice they must declare which weapon they are using
is to be cast, the phases in which it takes effect can all vary. at the same time as they declare where their attacks are going
Magical items are the most likely to cause contradictions and to be targeted.
exceptions to the basic, advanced and special rules so the tie
breaker rule should be used where problems do crop up.
Elf Bane - When used to attack Elves any hit from this weapon
will gain a +3 to kill modifier in addition to any others that it
Banners would normally. Also this weapon grants a +2 bonus to the
wielders Combat Skill at all times which increases to +4 when
A unit may only have one banner, they may not be given to attacking elves.
single stand units, war machines or characters unless the
description of either the banner or the troops states otherwise. Sharpshooters Bow Add +2 to any to hit roll
Banner of Despair. The unit will use 3D6 when rolling Break Caliburn Add +1 to hit and +1 to kill with this sword.
Tests against an opponent and may choose any 2 dice.
Stormbringer - Each wound caused with this sword increases
Banner of Command. The unit will use 3D6 when rolling for its the wielders wounds by 1. This may increase them above their
T&L Tests and may choose any 2 dice. starting amount. Has other abilities - best not to ask.
Banner of Valour. The unit does not suffer the effects of Armour & Shields
becoming unsteady due to being at half wounds or less. Other
instances of unsteady will still apply as usual.
Armour and Shields may only be given to characters, not single
or multi stand units. Only one set of armour and one shield
may be used by a character at any one time. Unless they have
multiple appendages they may not use a shield and a great
weapon at the same time.
Scrolls
Scrolls may only be used by Mages, they are one use items
and do not use any of the Mages Mana when they are used. A
scroll may never have more power put into its effects, the level
of the spell or event is determined when the scroll is created
and it may not be changed.
Any level of mage may cast any level of spell scroll. The
chance of success is determined by the level of the spell that is
54
inscribed on the scroll and the difficulty level of that spell. Arcane items can mimic or enhance all of the standard rules,
traits and attributes as well as adding new ones.
Scrolls have spells imbedded into them, they will always
mimic the effects of a certain type of spell. The spell level Goblin War Drums. These are taken with the tribes when they
is determined as usual and this is the number of D6 that are go to war, inspiring the Goblins in battle. Each Goblin unit or
rolled to see if the difficulty level is reached. character gains a bonus to their T&L when near to the war
Drums. Within 12” +3, within 24” +2, within 36” +1. This T&L
For example a scroll of Frenzy mimics the effects of the 3rd increase is cumulative with any other bonuses but may not
level earth Spell of the same name. The caster would roll 3D6 increase a T&L to more than 12.
and need to get greater than or equal to the standard 3rd Level
spell difficulty of 12.
Designing Magic Items
Potions Goblin War Drums Points per stand ***
MV Cs (A) Ms (A) Mt Pr Wd TL
Potions may be used by any character but not single or multi
stand units. Potions generally increase stats, heal wounds 8 6 (4) - (-) 6 9 4 9
or impart some sort of trait or ability to the user. The use of a Hand Weapon, Lance, Medium Armour, Shield, Trample (1)
potion does not count as the casting or dispelling action that a Shock (2), Mounted.
Mage can take during their part of the magic phase.
Upgrades: Heavy Armour + 10 pts
Once a potion has been consumed it is used up, its effects
may not be altered or increased, they are determined when the It is worth considering the abilities that a magic item contains
potion is created. before you design it, this not only applies to play balance but
also to the game mechanics themselves. For example if you
A potion will always work - there is no casting roll required, it have a sword that says all attacks ‘always hit except on a one’
can only affect the person that drinks it. The effects of a potion and a shield that says all attacks ‘always miss except on a six’
should never remain in play after the end of the turn, they may you are going to have a conflict in the rules that can only be
not be dispelled by enemy Mages. A character does not have sorted by the ‘tie breaker’ rule.
to be a Mage to take a potion.
On the other hand if you give the sword a +6 modifier to hit
Effects such as increase stats, heal wounds, gain traits and so and a shield a -6 modifier to the enemy attack chance you get
on. pretty much the same result throughout most of the battle and
if these items do come into contact they will cancel each other
out. You also have the advantage of being able to make some
Staffs weapons better than others. A ‘+10 to hit’ sword is going to
be better than a ‘+5 to hit’ sword even though they may not
Staffs may only be used by Mages. Staffs count as double actually use their full bonus very often.
handed weapons and this means that a Mage could not wield a
staff and a greatsword for example!
Points cost for Magic Items
A Mage may only have one staff. Casting a spell from a staff
counts as the casting or dispelling actions for that Mages part The points cost should be worked out according to what
of the magic phase. Any special ability or trait will have further the item can achieve, how often it is used, under what
details in the item description. circumstances it can actually be effective and also whether it
imparts an ability outside of those usually available.
Staff of Magus Increases the level of the Mage by 1, this may
make a 5th level mage into a 6th Level. This level increase
effects the amount of Mana the Mage may have, the amount
they may use to cast spells, how effective they are at disrupting
enemy spells and so on.
Staff of Life - At the start of their magic phase the Mage may
recover 1 wound. This may not bring them back from the dead
or exceed their starting wounds.
Flame Lance 4th level spell (4D6, requires 16+). 48” range,
one Str 12 attack, magic missile.
Arcane Items
These are magical items that do not easily fit into any other
category. Most Arcane items will have specific rules and
limitations and may be more specialised than the other magic
items already listed so far.
55
Turn Order
Initiative Phase Determine initiative, both sides draw initiative cards. D6 roll off for ties.
Initiative winner casts spells and makes dispell attempts.
Magic Phase
Initiative loser casts spells and makes dispell attempts.
Initiative winner declares charges, targets declare reactions.
Charge Phase
Initiative loser declares charges, targets declare reactions.
Move & Fire Initiative winner compulsory movement, then normal movement, then firing.
Phase Initiative loser compulsory movement, then normal movement, then firing.
Both sides, simultaneous. Initiative winner chooses order in which melee is fought,
Combat Phase
apply results and reforms one by one.
End Turn Phase Both sides, simultaneous. Roll for game end from turn 6 onwards.
Legions of Battle fast play sheet. © Mark Sims. Permission granted to copy for personal use only.
Weapon Close Long Might PTS
Light Crossbow 12” 24” 5 19
Heavy Crossbow* 15” 30” 6 26
Handgun* 9” 18” 6 23
Sling 9” 18” 4 13
Bow 12” 24” 4 14
Short Bow 9” 18” 4 13
Longbow 15” 30” 6 26
Elf Bow 18” 36” 5 22
Javelins 6” - 4 11
Darts 9” - 3 9
Thrown Axes 6” - 5 16
* Heavy Crossbow and Handguns may not move and fire.
Legions of Battle fast play sheet. © Mark Sims. Permission granted to copy for personal use only.
STAND &
EVADE
1 2 3 4
FIRE
STAND &
EVADE
FIRE
STAND &
EVADE
FIRE
STAND &
EVADE
FIRE
5 6 7 8
STAND &
EVADE
FIRE
STAND &
EVADE
FIRE
COUNTER
HOLD
CHARGE
1 2 3 4
COUNTER
HOLD
CHARGE
COUNTER
HOLD
CHARGE
COUNTER
HOLD
CHARGE
5 6 7 8
COUNTER
HOLD
CHARGE
COUNTER
HOLD
CHARGE
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 UNSTEADY UNSTEADY
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 UNSTEADY UNSTEADY
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 UNSTEADY UNSTEADY
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 UNSTEADY UNSTEADY
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 UNSTEADY UNSTEADY
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 UNSTEADY UNSTEADY
Legions of Battle counter sheet. © Mark Sims. Permission granted to copy for personal use only.
58