battlesystem miniatures rules (tsr 9266)

5/26/2018 Battlesystem Miniatures Rules (Tsr 9266)

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Miniatures Rules

An all-new game!Rules for playingtabletop battleswith miniaturefigures


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BATTLESYSTEMMiniatures Rule


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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Basic Rules Summary 6

Chapter 1: Reviewing the Troops 7Common Troop Types 8Standard Base Sizes 11Unit Rosters..............................................................12

.13Chapter 2: Sequence of PlayChapter 3: Morale 15

Making Morale Checks 16Morale Scale 17

Chapter 4: Movement 19Formation 20How to Move 23Movement and Enemy Units 28Movement and Missile Fire 31Charging 31Rout Movement 33Terrain Effects on Movement 34

Chapter 5: Combat 37

Attack Procedure 38Melee Combat 40Missile Combat 42

Basic Scenarios 46

Chapter 6: Intermediate Rules 53Skirmishers 54Battle Platforms 56Special Formations 56

Forced March 57Heroes 57Commanders 58Firearms 61Dismounted Cavalry 61Optional Combat Rules 62

Intermediate Scenarios 63

Chapter 7: Advanced Rules 71Flying Creatures 72Undead Units 75Animal Packs or Herds 76Fortifications and Fortresses 77War Machines 83Fire Attacks

Chapter 8: Magic 87Special Magical Abilities 86Spell Abilities 89Wizard Spell List 90Priest Spell List 93

Advanced Scenarios 95Appendices 103

I: Converting AD&D Game Statistics 104II: Troop Type List 108III: Scenario Construction and Point Costs 116IV: The Art of Miniatures Gaming 119

Unit Roster Forms 127

Reference Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Credits

Design: Douglas NilesEditing and Development: Kim Mohan, Jon Pickens,

Dave SutherlandPlaytest Coordination: Jon PickensPhotography, Battle Scenes: Michael Weaver, Ral Partha

Enterprises, Inc.Photography, Rules Diagrams: Dick Kahn Studio, Inc.Figure Painting, Rules Diagrams: Dave Sutherland3-D Construction, Rules Diagrams: Dennis KauthCover Art: Glen TarnowskiInterior Art: Jeff Easley (pages 1, 7, 19, 37, 53, 71, 103); Tim

Truman (page 13); Keith Parkinson (pages 15, 19, 87)Graphic Design and Keylining: Stephanie Tabat, Dave

SutherlandTypography: Gaye O'Keefe

Author, "The Art of Miniatures Gaming": Steve WinterPlaytesters: Zeb Cook, Scott Haring, Jon Pickens, James

Ward; David Nalepinski, Warren Brewer, Patrick Dan-iels, Joe Wedige; Mark Middleton, Eric Adamaszek, EdIsaac, Kip Romaine, Tim Sluss; Jason Saylor, MikeCook, Ed Hupp, Brian Jordan, Kim Moser, JoshuaSaylor, Rick Schulte; Dave Bethke, Chris Clark, Ga-memasters Guild of Waukegan; Jeff Morrison, SteveBell, Bill Bowman, Dave Cuneo, Ted Delairs, RolandGebner, Chris Steihl; Wayne Rasmussen, Bill Weaver

Second Printing: May 1991

TSR, Inc.POB 756Lake GenevaWI 53147 USA

TSRLtd.120 Church End, Cherry Hinton

Cambridge CB1 3LBUnited Kingdom

Our special thanks

to Chuck Crane and the folks at Ral Partha En-terprises, Inc., for their help and enthusiasm. Allof the figures shown in this book are availablefrom Ral Partha, 5938 Carthage Court, Cincin-nati OH 45212; for more information, write tothat address or phone 1-800-543-0272.

Distributed to the book trade by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby tradeby regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd.

This work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artworkpresented herein is prohibited without the express writ ten permission of TSR, Inc.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, BATTLESYSTEM, PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

0-88038-770-X Copyright 1989 TSR, Inc. All Righ ts Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.


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Introduction

About this book

This new book of

BATTLESYSTEM rules gives you allthe inform ation you need to create andfight tabletop battles with miniature

figures. The rules progress throughstages, allowing you to select the levelof complexity and detail you desire.

The basic rules (Chapters 1 through

5) are the fundamentals: how units ofminiature figures are described, andwhat they represent; the sequence ofevents that makes up a turn; how to de-termine morale; how to move unitsacross the battlefield; and how to con-duct combat. By the time you masterthis section of the book, you will be afull-fledged miniatures player.

The intermediate rules (Chapter 6) goa few steps farther, introducing specialhistorical units such as skirmishers (hit-and-run specialists) and arquebusiers(wielders of the first primitive fire-arms). In this section you'll also meetthe exceptional individuals known asheroes and commanders and learnabout the many ways in which theirpresence on the battlefield can changethe outcome of aconflict.Rounding outthis section are optional rules fo r move-ment and combat tha t add detail and re-

alism.The advanced rules (Chapters 7 and

8) add the element of fantasy, withguidelines for using flying creatures,magical effects, and magic spells, plusrules for undead creatures and artillery.Finally, you'll learn how to conductcombat in and around fortresses, tow-ers, and other structures: breakingthrough barriers, scaling walls, usingsiege machines, and defending against afoe who's trying to do those things toyour troops.

All of the optional rules (intermedi-ate and advanced) are modular, so thatyou can use only some of them if you sodesire. The system has been carefullydesigned so that the omission of someof the optional part s will not have a badeffect on the overall balance of thegame. However, we strongly encourageyou to work through all the rules in thisbooktry everything before deciding The irregular peasant unit approaching the castle suddenly halts, thrown infurther disarray by the thunderous charge of heavy cavalry.


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Introduction

not to use something, so that you can

get as much enjoyment as possible out

of the BAT T L E SYST E M miniaturesgaming experience.

Following each section of game rules,

you will find three s c e n a r i o s predesigned battles that you can set upand fight. The first group of scenarios

uses just the basic rules, and the later

groups add the intermediate and

advanced r u l e s c r e a t i n g scenariosthat are more complex but also more

exciting because of their complexity.

The appendices at the back of this

book take you even farther into the

hobby of miniatures gaming. You'll find

out how to convert character types and

creatures from the ADVANCED

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS gameinto figures and units that can be used in

a BATTLESYSTEM scenario. To save

you some work, we've provided a long

list of statistics for typical troop types

and many of the fantastic creatures

from the AD&D game worlds. You'll

learn how to design your own sce-

narios, using a point system to be sure

that the forces on each side are evenly

balanced. And lest you thought we for-

got about the most important aspect of

miniatures g a m i n g t h e figures them-selveswe've also included a sectionon painting attractive and realistic-

looking figures as well as creating the

three-dimensional features for your ta-

bletop battlefield. These rules would

work just as well with cardboard

squares for troops, and penciled-in out-

lines of rivers and trees . . . but it

wouldn't be quite the same.

The Rules Summary

A summary of

the major BATTLESYSTEM rules is in-cluded at the end of the Introduction

(page 6). Players with some experience

in miniatures gaming will be able to ab-

sorb the basics of this game with a quick

look at the rules summary.

Changes in the System

This set of rules

bears some resemblance to the original

BATTLESYSTEM Fantasy Combat

Supplement, published in1985butalot of details have been improved.

Some of the differences between the old

system and the new one are these:

The new combat system requires lessrecord-keeping and uses more dice and

less mathematics. A time-consuming

part of the original game, the Combat

Results Table, has been completely re-

vamped.

Instead of a quarter-page unit roster,

each unit can be represented by as little

as one line of information. Page 127 is a

sheet of blank forms, used to display in-

formation for units in any easily read-

able fashion.

The base size for BATTLESYSTEM

units has been converted to a more uni-versal standard. Individually mounted

figures that have been used with the

original game can be easily remounted,

since the new standard base sizes are

slightly larger than the older ones.

The number of magic spells described

in these rules, although still substantial,

is much smaller than the number of

spell choices in the original game, and

each spell is specifically described in

BATTLESYSTEM game terms.

These rules are fully compatible with

the AD&D game (original or 2nd Edi-tion), but do not depend on that game

in order to be playable. You don't need

any of the AD&D game reference mate-

rials, or even any knowledge of that

game, to stage miniatures battles with

the new BATTLESYSTEM rules.

One result of these changes, and the

many others that players of the original

BATTLESYSTEM game will find in this

book, is that any miniatures battles you

want to set up using these rules can be

played without the participation of a

referee. The Dungeon Master of your

AD&D game campaign is welcome to

oversee the battle, of course, and he

may be useful in resolving issues that

arise if your game play goes beyond the

scope of these rules. But this version of

the BATTLESYSTEM game has been

designed so that two players can con-

test against one another without the

need for a third party to moderate.

Other MaterialsNeeded for Play

DICE.An assort-

ment of dice are used in playing the

BATTLESYSTEM game, primarily forresolving attacks and checking the mo-

rale status of your units, but also for

other purposes.

For best results you should have at

least six dice of each of the following

types: 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-

sided, and 12-sided. Dice are referred to

in the rules by abbreviations: d6 for a

six-sided die, d10 for a 10-sided die, and

so on.

If you don't have all of these types of

dice, the absolute minimum require-

ment is two 6-sided dice and two 10-

sided dice. To simulate the rolling of a

d4 or a d8, roll the next largest die and

disregard (reroll) any results higher

than the desired range. To simulate a

d12 roll, roll 1d6 and 1d10. If the dl0

comes up 1-5, read the d6 normally. If

the dl0 comes up 6-10, add +6 to the

d6 roll to get a number from 7 through

12. (As you can see, getting along with-

out all the proper types of dice is possi-

ble but troublesome.)

FIGURES. Miniature figures, castfrom metal or plastic, make the best

troops for your army. The game is de-

signed to be played with 25mm (1 inch

= 6 feet) scale figures. Chapter 1 con-

tains information on preparing figures

for play, and Appendix IV. includes a

short course on painting miniatures and

attaching them to bases.

PLAYING SURFACE. A miniaturesgame requires a large, flat surface. You

can use a section of floor, but for sev-

eral reasons (especially in a householdwith animals or small children) a table-

top is much better. The table should be

large enough to allow room for maneu-

vering, but small enough so that any

part of the table can be reached from at

least one edge. The scenarios given in

this book are designed to be played on a

battlefield that is twice as long as it is

wide. A 4' x 8' surface is ideal; 3' x 6'

is large enough for small scenarios.


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Introduct

The playing surface usually repre-sents something other than flat, fea-tureless terrain; the battlefield (whetherfor a predesigned scenario or one ofyour own creation) is likely to havehills, rivers, buildings, forests, andother kinds of physical features thatwill have an effect on how the battleplays out.

These terrain pieces can be simple orelaborate. Cut-out strips of construc-tion paper can mark a river. A few largebooks can be scattered around to repre-sent low hills, while a book on a flatgame box represents a high hill.

Of course, a whole host of productsis available to make your battlefieldlook like a grand diorama. Many play-

ers enjoy placing styrofoam cut-outs,detailed miniature trees, and models ofbuildings and other features on the bat-tlefield. Appendix IV contains some ba-sic information on how to constructand use realistic-looking three-dimensional terrain features.

MEASURING STICK. Several rulersand measuring tapes are handy at thegaming table, since every player willprobably need to make a few measure-ments during a turn. The best tools forthis purpose are those metal tape mea-

sures that remain rigid when extended.You can get along with rulers or yardsticks most of the time, but a flexibletape will come in handy at times formeasuring along arcs. If not everyplayer has access to a ruler, you canmake temporary measuring sticks bymarking off half-inches and inches on astrip of cardboard.

Playing a Scenario

Once you have

learned the basic rules of the BATTLE-SYSTEM game, you will be able to setup and fight an enormous number ofbattles, skirmishes, and engagementson your tabletop playing area. Eachscenarioactual ly a "game" in itselfconsists of at least three sections of in-formation: the situation map andbackground; a list of the forces in-volved in the scenario; and special con-

ditions (including how to achievevictory) that apply only to that sce-nario.

Each of the nine scenarios in this bookcontains all of the information describedabove, enabling you and your friends torecreate the situations and play out thebattles as commanders of the opposingforces. If you're new to miniatures gam-ing or have just started to become famil-iar with the BATTLESYSTEM rules, youshould start by setting up and playingthe basic scenarios on pages 47-52.When you've gone through each ofthose at least once, you can try yourhand at designing some more scenariosusing only the basic rules, or you canprogress to the intermediate and

advanced rules and try out the scenariosprovided on the pages following thosesections. By the time you've absorbed allthe rules in this book, you'll be able toplay large battles involving heroic lead-ers, hordes of monsters, powerful siegeartilleryeven flying dragons and tow-ering castles!

The complexity and playing time of ascenario relate directly to the size of theplaying area and the number of minia-tures involved. While miniatures gam-ing lends itself readily to team play,

getting more players involved will notnecessarily decrease the playing time ofa game. Experience will soon show youthe right type of scenario for a givengroup of players and time limit.

Self-designed scenarios are easy to doand lots of fun. A particular advantageof the home-grown scenario is th at youcan tailor the forces in the battle to thekinds of minatures you have on hand.Appendix III provides a point systemand other tips for creating balancedarmies in home-grown scenarios.

Starting to Play

Once your sce-nario is chosen or planned, you simply

need to set up the necessary terrain fea-tures, make a roster of all of your units(for an original scenario), put the min-

iatures in place on the battlefield, andstart to play.

For the scenarios given in this bgeneral setup locations are speciHowever, you will often get to sethe exact placement of each unit, threction faced by your miniatures,so on. Sometimes a scenario will sify that one side or another is sef i rs t .

Rosters for the scenarios in this bare included with each scenario. may want to copy the informati on a separate sheet of paper (especialyou want to refer to other parts ofrule book during play), but this isnecessary. If you are using a designed scenario, you will havdraw up your own rosters.

Once your rosters are in hand,

terrain and miniatures are arraacross the table, and dice, rulers, the rule book are close at hand, yoready to start the game!

Follow the BATTLESYSTEM quence of play (see page 14) for turn of the game. Play through a cession of turns until one side orother achieves victory. Though victor is always defined by certain nario conditions, such definitionsoften unnecessary. If your v ictory wsolid one, you (and your opponent)

know it!

Questions?

If you're unhow to interpret a rule or how to with a special situation that comeduring the play of a scenario, we be able to help. Send a note containyour question or comment, along wa self-addressed, stamped envelopeBATTLESYSTEM Game QuestTSR, Inc., P.O. Box 756, Lake GenWI53147. Be sure to give us as muchformation as we'll need to give youaccurate and complete answer, anpossible, phrase your question so thcan be answered in just a few word

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Basic Rules Summary

When reading this summary, you willneed to refer to a BATTLESYSTEMunit roster (see the example on page 12),and the Reference Card attached to theback cover.

The ground scale is 1 inch = 10yards. Figures are at a 10:1 ratio, so thateach figure in a unit represents 10 indi-vidual combatants of that figure type.The game is designed for use with25mm figures.

Units are described by the wods andstatistics on the unit roster: Type,

Weapon(s) Used, Attack Dice, ArmorRating, Hits, Morale, and Movement.

Attack Dice (AD) specifies a size ofdie (d4, d6, d8, d10, or d12). On rare

occasions, an AD notation will be givenas the total of two dice, such as 10 + 8 or2dl0; otherwise, only a single numeralappears, indicating a single die that hasthat many sides. Generally, a playerrolls one attack die for each figure in anattacking uni t. The result of each roll iscompared to the table on the top of theReference Card to find out how manyhits were scored on the defending unitby that roll. The attacker adds up thehits scored by all of his AD rolls to de-termine how many hits were scored by

the entire attack.Occasionally (such as during a

charge or when missile weapons arefired ; see the Reference Card), the num-ber of attack dice allowed for a unit isincreased or decreased. In all suchcases, round fractions up. For example,a unit with 5 figures that is allowed abonus of x 11/2 AD gets to roll 3 extraattack dice; the same unit attacking atx 1/2 AD must roll only 3 attack dice in-stead of 5.

Armor Rating (AR) represents a unit'sability to withstand h i t sthe lower aunit's AR number, the harder it is to de-feat. When the attacker has finishedrolling his attack dice and has totaledall of the hits scored, the defender rolls1d10 for each hit. Each result higherthan the defending un it's AR means oneof the hits is cancelled by armor.

Circumstances often affect a unit'sarmor rating, modifying it for the pur-pose of determining hits scored by a

specific attack. A negative modifier toAR is an improvement, increasing thetarget's chance of avoiding hits, while apositive modifier makes the defendermore vulnerable. In some cases, morethan one of the modifiers to a target'sAR (see the Reference Card) will applyat the same time.

Hits represents the number of hits re-quired to remove one figure from theunit. Figures can be removed from any-where in the unit. Partial damage to afigure can be recorded by placing a d6next to the unit. For example, if it takes4 hits to remove a fig ure fro m a unit andthat unit suffers 3 hits, then a d6 withthe "3" facing up is placed next to theunit to keep track of the hits it has suf-

fered. As soon as the unit takes 1 morehit, then a figure must be removed.

Example of combat procedure: UnitA (8 figures, AD 8) engages in melee(hand-to-hand) combat with Unit B (6figures, AR 7, Hits 2). For the attack,Player A rolls 8d8, getting results of 2,2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, and 8. The three lowestrolls score no hits; the next three highestrolls score 1 hit each; and the two high-est rolls score 2 hits each, for a total of 7hits.

Player B rolls 7dl0 to see how manyof the hits are cancelled out by armor,getting results of 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9.The two highest rolls are greater thanUnit B's armor rating of 7, meaning tha tonly 5 of the hits actually did damage.Since each figure in Unit B can take 2hits before having to be removed, thismeans that Player B must take 2 figuresoff the tabletop and then note (with ad6, as described above, or some othermarker) that the unit has suffered 1 ad-ditional hit of damage.

Morale (ML) refers to the morale rat-ing of the unit. When a unit makes amorale check, the player must roll2dl0. A resul t equal to or less than theunit's ML means that the check ispassed, and the unit does not suff er anypenalties. A result greater than theunit's ML means that the check is failed,which has varying effects, dependingon the status of the unit when the checkis made.

All units begin the game in good or-der. When a unit in good order reachesa situation that calls for a morale check(see the Reference Card), the unit musteither make a morale check or retreat4" (player's choice). If the check is madeand failed, the unit goes to shaken orderand must retreat 4".

When a shaken unit reaches a situa-tion that calls for a morale check, thecheck is mandatory. If the check isfailed, the unit must retreat 4" andmake another check. A failure on thissecond check causes the unit to rout.

A unit that has been routed will at-tempt to retreat from the battlefield asquickly as possible.

A unit that is shaken or routed and is

not in contact with enemy forces can berallied (improved to good or shaken or-der) if it makes a successful moralecheck.

Any unit that fails a morale check by7 or more is routed immediately. For aunit with ML 12, for instance, this oc-curs if the 2dl0 roll is 19 or 20.

It is important to remember that ahigh ML is good, but a high roll on amorale check is bad, since a check isfailed whenever the roll exceeds theunit's ML.

In certain circumstances, a unit's MLis modified before a check is made; seethe Reference Card.

For scenarios that use the intermedi-ate rules concerning individual units(heroes and commanders), the headingon this column of the uni t roster is givenas ML/CD, and the number for an indi-vidual, expressed in inches, representstha t figure' s command diameter (see theintermediate rules). Heroes and com-manders do not have morale ratings (ineffect, their ML is considered to be so

high that it need never be checked).

Movement (MV) is the number ofinches a unit can move across clear, flatterrain. A unit conducting a charge canmove farther than its normal MV. Spe-cial ter ra inanyth ing other than clear,flat g r o u n dha s an effect on move-ment (see the Reference Card); some-times a unit is slowed, and certain typesof units are not allowed to move intosome types of terrain.

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Chapter

Reviewing the Troop

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Chapter 1:Reviewing the Troops

Many different types of miniaturefigures are available for use with theB A T T L E S Y S T E M game, rangingfrom the historically realistic (for exam-ple, foot soldiers wielding spears) to the"merely" fantastic (elven archers,dwarves with battle axes) to the trulyincredible (enormous flying dragons).Each figure represents a certain numberof troops of that type. When you groupa band of the same t r o o p s o u t f i t t e dwith identical weapons, armor, andequipmen ttogether , you form a unit.

In general, troops can be classifiedinto one of several categories, by thetype of creature making up the unit, byits weapons and armor, and by itsmeans of transport.

A unit is also defined in terms of itsformation, which in the basic game iseither regular or irregular. Trained sol-diers can operate in regular for-m a t i o n a compact mass of troops thatcan move efficiently and concentratetheir firepower. A unit in irregular for-mation is more dispersed and less wellorganized, which reduces its maneuver-ability and its combat effectiveness tosome extent. (For a more detailed de-scription of these formation types, seepages 20 and 21.)

Common Troop Types

The two funda-

mental troop types are infantry andcavalry. Practically any scenario willinclude some units of each of thesetypes (although an all-infantry or all-cavalry scenario is certainly possible).Among the wide variety of fantasymini atures on the marke t, several kindsof special troop types are also availa-

ble, such as elephants mounted withhowdahs (battle platforms), chariots,artillery pieces such as catapults andballistae, fantastic monsters, and otherunique combatants.

Infantry are warriors who marchabout the battlefield on their own two(or, occasionally in a fantasy milieu,three or four) feet. Most infantry will be

hum ans , or humanoid creatures such asogres, trolls, and goblins.

Light Infantry includes foot soldierswith little armor protection, oftenarmed with missile weapons and/orswords.

Medium Infantry is made up of footsoldiers that are moderately well ar-mored, usually wielding spears andshields or carrying pikes or other polearms.

Militia or Levy troops are armed andarmored much the same as medium in-fantry, but are different in game termsbecause they are not professional sol-diers and thus are not capable of assum-ing a regular formatio n.

Heavy Infantry is composed of footsoldiers wearing chain mail or plate ar-mor and generally utilizing large

swords, halberds, or other powerfulweapons in combat.In the BATTLESYSTEM game scale,

each infantry figure represents 10 sol-diers of that type. Generally, you willneed infantry mounted on various-

sized bases, or stands, containing one,two, or three figures. (Putting morethan one figure on a stand makes it eas-

ier to move large units across the battle-fie ld, but you will still need some singlefigures in the unit to make it possible toremove casualties one figure at a time.)You can mount larger numbers of fig-ures per stand if you favo r large units inbattle (and if you have lots of minia-tures). Guidelines for base sizes aregiven on page 11.

Cavalry troops represent, in general,soldiers that ride into battle on thebacks of mounts. Those mounts might,incidentally, also be combatan ts. Lanc-ers on horseback, orcs riding giantboars, and goblins atop wolves are allexamples of cavalry troops.

Light Cavalry moves quickly, be-

cause mounts and riders wear little orno armor. The soldiers are armed mostcommonly with bows, javelins or lightlances, and swords.

Medium Cavalry riders typicallywear chain mail, but the mounts mightnot be as well protected. Medium cav-alry can operate in regular formation,using lances and swords in combat.

Infantry mounted on bases. Note how the figures were mounted diagonally sothat each one occupies a square area of the proper size.

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Chapter 1: Reviewing the Troo

Heavy Cavalry is primarily com-posed of knights armored in plate mailand riding steeds protected by heavybarding (armor for mounts). Thoughsuch a group is slower than other typesof cavalry, very few units can standagainst the crushing charge of these

knights and their lances.As with infantry, each cavalry figu rerepresents 10 soldiers of that type. Formost units, cavalry figures should bemounted on individual bases, or twoper base. However, if you have (andwant to use) large numbers of cavalryfigures in your battles, stands of threeor more figures are quite workable.

Special is a catch-all troop classifica-tion for anything that can't qualify asinfantry or cavalry, including vehicles

(chariots or wagons), siege machinery(catapults, ballistae, etc.), unusuallylarge or fantastic creatures (elephants,giants, dragons), and unique individ-uals (army leaders or heroic charac-

ters). Special troop types are mountedon bases that conform to the overallshape of the figure (which will most of-ten be square or rectangular, half aswide as it is long). Information on theuse of special troops is introduced in the

intermediate and advanced rules, andin the scenarios and appendices.

Units: An Army'sBuilding Blocks

In the BATTLE-SYSTEM game (just as in most real-life military conflict situations), theforces making up an army are orga-nized into companies of warriors thatoperate together, called units.

The figures in a unit, generally, arearmed with the same weapons, or

weapons that inflict the same of dam-age and function in similar ways.(Some of the illustrations in this bookshow figures with different weapons inthe same unit.) For example, you mighthave a unit made of a mixture of axe-men and swordsmen, since the weap-ons are similar, but you could not have

a unit that included pikemen and

Cavalry mounted on bases. These figures have actually been mounted twicegreen base is a "holdover" from the earlier BATTLESYSTEM rules.

swordsmen, because the two types ofweapons have almost nothing in com-mon.

The figures in a unit must move andfight together on the battlefield. A unitthat becomes split or scattered must re-combine as soon as possible.

Unit Sizes

At the start battle, each unit in an army must tain a minimum number of fig(which varies according to the trtype), and for most scenarios the nber of figures in a unit should fall wa recommended range, as given intable at the bottom of this page.

9

Minimum and Ideal Unit Sizes (in number of figures)Unit Type Minimum Recommended

Infantry, human-sizedor smaller creatures 6 12-36

Infantry , larger thanhuman-sized creatures 4 6-24

Cavalry 4 4-24Special 2* 2- 8

* Unless the entire force contains only one figure of this type.


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Reviewing the Troops

Despite the recommendations givenin the preceding table, there is no rulelimiting a unit to a certain number offigures. Units composed of many fig-ures have the advantage of beingsturdy, capable of sustaining many ca-

sualties before their morale begins tosuffer or their position begins to giveway. However, large units are hard tomaneuver (not everyone can getthrough a mountain pass at the same

time), and if the morale of the unit doescollapse, a large part of your army islost.

Units composed of relatively few fig-ures are much more maneuverable thanunits representing a great number of

soldiers, and if the unit 's moral e is shat-tered, you don't risk losing so many fig-ures at once. However, small units areobviously more vulnerable in combatbecause it takes fewer casualties toeliminate them.

Brilliant plumage distinguishes this elven cavalry unit and its command chariotas they move forward to the attack. Regular infantry covers the riders' left flank.

Getting Down to Bases

Your miniaturesshould be mounted on fir m bases beforeyou begin to play. Bases ensure that f ig-ures take up the proper amount of space("frontage") on the playing surface.They can be made of cardboard, ma-sonite, thin strips of plastic, or anyother durable, hard, flat material thatyou can easily cut into the requisitesizes. More information on how to at-tach miniature figures to bases can befound in Appendix IV.

Infantry made up of human-sized orsmaller figures are mounted, most com-monly, three figures to a base. How-ever, you will need enough single- and

double-mounted figures to give youflexibility in making different forma-tions, and to "make change" as you suf-fer losses in battle. For a group of 12human infantry, for example, youmight mount two stands of three figureseach, two stands of two, and twostands of individual figures. This al-lows you to arrange the 12 figures invirtually any grouping you might de-sire, and enables you to remove the ex-act number of figures from the unitevery time it suffers casualties.

As a general guideline, larger thanhuman-sized infantry and all cavalryfigures are mounted with no more thantwo figures per base. Special trooptypes are best mounted on individualbases.

If you like to fight battles with hugeunits (40, 50 or more figures), you willbe able to move these units morequickly and easily if you mount manyof the figures three or four (or more) toa stand.

Base SizesThe dimensions

of bases for various types of figures arevariable, depending on the size of thefigure and the type of unit that figurerepresents. The illustration of recom-mended sizes on the facing page is com-patible with the standard ground scale(1 inch = 10 yards) used throughoutthe BATTLESYSTEM rules. If you

10


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Reviewing the Tro

Standard Base Sizes

or

15 mm

Small-sized

infantry

(halflings,goblins, etc.)

20 mm

or

20 mm

Man-sized

infantry

(humans,

orcs, etc.)

25 mm

30 mm

Large-sized infantry (ogres, trolls, etc.)

or

35 mm

40 mm

Giant-sized infantry (giants, dragons, etc.)

25 mm

50 mm

Standard-size

cavalry base

11


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Reviewing the Troops

own some miniature figures on baseslarger than the minimum sizes, and cut-ting the bases down is not possible ordesirable, then you can use your figures

the way they are.When a choice of base sizes is given

for a certain type of figure, you shoulduse the smaller size for regulart roopsunits composed of trained professionalsoldiers that work together on a regularbasis. The smaller bases reflect the factthat soldiers can function well in closequarters and assemble into tighter for-mations. The larger size should be usedfor figures representing militia orpeasantsunits composed of troopsthat don't have as much training or dis-cipline, and thus can't form in to a really

densely packed group.For extra-large or oddly shaped fig-ures (elephants used as mounts, drag-ons, giants, other fantastic monsters),the size of the base is generally dictatedby the shape and massiveness of the fig -

ure. Special troop types of all sortsshould be mounted singly (or at themost, two per stand) on bases that aresquare or rectangular and large enoughin area to support the figure.

Unit RostersEach figure type

in the BATTLESYSTEM rules is as-signed certain values to reflect its abili-ties in combat, movement, and soforth. These values are all consistentwith the creature type descriptions inthe ADVANCED DUNGEONS &DRAGONS game. Other creaturesfrom the AD&D game can be con-verted to the BATTLESYSTEM rules byusing the process described in Appen-

dix I.The summary of a unit's capabilities

is known as a unit roster. You can play aBATTLESYSTEM game without creat-ing unitros tersjustuse one of the pre-generated scenarios in this book, untilyou start to draw up your own forces.Appendix II contains a long list of unitrosters for dozens of unit types youmay want to use in the scenarios you

create.

The infor mat ion in each unit roster is presented in this form at:

n t Type AD AR Hits ML/CD MV2 4 Light Infantry 6 7 1 1 12"

Short swords

Unit Type: Here is given the numberof figures in the unit, the type of figuresthat make up the unit, and (sometimeson the following line, as shown here)the type of weapon the troops in theunit are equipped wit h.

Att ack Dice (AD): The AD of a unit isthe size of the die tha t is rolled fo r eachfigure in the uni t when it is attacking anenemy figure. The "6" in the examplemeans that each figure rolls a 6-sideddie when attacking. (For more infor ma-tion on combat, see Chapter 5.)

Armo r Rating (AR): The AR of a unitrepresents how heavily armored thetroops are. The lower the number, thebetter the unit's armor.

Hits: A number representing the du-rability of a un i t t hehigher the num-ber, the more damage the unit can takebefore a figure must be removed fromthe table.

Morale (ML): The morale rating of aunit is a number indicating the relativecourage and commitment of the troops.A morale rating of 11 is average; 13 or

bet ter is elite; 15 or higher is rare. Whenyou check morale for a unit, it passesthe check if you roll its morale rating orless on 2dl0. (See Chapter 3 for more

information on morale.)Command Diameter (CD): This sta-

tistic takes the place of a morale rati ngfor an individual figure that representsa hero or a commander. (Since heroesalways have good morale, they don'tneed a morale rating.) The CD number,in inches, indicates the diameter of thecircular area over which the special in-

dividual can exert influence, enabling aunit within that area to perform at itsbest. (For more information on individ-ual figures and their command diame-ter, see the intermediate rules, Chapter6. )

Movement Allowance (MV): Thenumber of inches (in the standard scaleof 1 inch = 10 yards) that the unit canmove in a single turn. This is a basicvalue th at can be changed by terrain orother circumstances. (See Chapter 4 for

more information on movement.)

These Oriental horsemen rush to fill a breach that has been forced through theirinfantry line. The shock of this heavy cavalry charge might just save the day!

12

Unit Type24 Light Infantry

Short swords

ML/CD MV

11 12"

AD

6

AR Hits

7 1


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Chapter

Sequence of Pla

13


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Chapter2:SequenceofPlay

Each turn in a BATTLESYSTEMgame consists of several steps, taken inthe order they are described here. If youaren't yet familiar with these rules orwith minia tures gaming in general, youmay encounter words and terms on this

page that you don't understand rightaw ay b u tall of them are described inthe rules that follow.

Step 1: Charge Declaration

(Skip this step onthe first turn of any scenario.)

Players declare which of their unitswill attempt to charge on this turn. Un-less the participants agree to use someother method of declaring charges (seepage 31), the player who did not win

init iative (see Step 2, below) on the pre-vious turn must make all of his chargedeclarations firs t.

Step 2: InitiativeDetermination

Each player rollsa d10 to determine which side has theinitiative. A player subtracts 2 from hisdie roll for each of his units that will at-tempt to charge when it moves (in Step3 or 4). The player with thelowermodi-

fied roll wins initiative for the turn. Ifthe results are identical, roll again.Example: Player A declares that two

of his uni ts will charge on this tu rn, andPlayer B designates one unit to charge.They roll dice for initiative: Player Arolls a 6 and subtracts 4 (for his twocharging units) to give him a modifiedroll of 2. Player B rolls a 5 and subtrac ts2(fo r his one charging unit) , fo r a modi-fied result of 3. Player A, with the lowerresult, wins initiat ive for the turn.

Note tha t the result of a modified die

roll for determining initiative can bezero or a negative number; this mayhappen if a player rolls a low numberand has declared several charges to takeplace during his movement step.

The player who won initiative thenchooses which side will perform FirstMovement (Step 3), with the other sidethen following with Second Movement(Step 4).

Step 3: First Movement

Several actionsare performed during this step. First,the active player makes charge initia-tion checks for any units that he has de-

clared to be charging. If its check issuccessful, a uni t is eligible tochargeand must do so, as long as it fulfills thenecessary conditions (see pages 32-33).

Charge initiation checks and move-ment for charging units can be per-formed in any order, so long as theplayer moves each of his charging unitsbefore handling any other unit.

Next, the player deals with all of hisnoncharging units. Any unit in goodorder can be moved normally , up to thelimit of its movement rate. A shaken

unit can be moved normally, or theplayer can make a rally check for theunit. A shaken unit that undergoes arally check cannot be moved duringthis step, whether the check succeeds orfails; conversely, a shaken unit that hasbeen moved during this step cannotrally until the following turn .

Within the framework describedabove, the active player can move orattempt to rally his unit s in any order hedesires. However, his opponent may re-quire him to stop charging or moving

now and then, so that an enemy unitcan deliver pass-through fire or makean opportunity charge.

After all of his charging units havebeen moved, a player may find thatsome of his units armed with missileweapons are within range of targets. Ifall of the necessary conditions are met(see "Movement and Missile Fire," page31), a unit with missile weapons can at-tack at this time. (However, by doingso, many units forfeit the opportunityto attack later in the turn.) If an oppor-

tunity for a missile attack occurs andthe player wants to make the attack, thecombat must be resolved immediately,before continuing with movement ofother units.

During this step, the active playermustattempt to rally any unit that hasrouted and is not in contact with an en-emy unit. A routed unit that is in con-tact with the enemy or that fail s its rally

check must immediately perform routmovement.

Step 4: Second Movement

The player or

side designated to perform SecondMovement now does so, repeating allof the procedures under Step 3.

Step 5: Magic

Magical spellsare introduced in Chapter 8. Skip thisstep when using the basic rules.

Step 6: Melee Combat

To begin thisstep, the player who won initiative fo r

the turn designates a unit of his that is incontact with an enemy unit . All attacksmade by and against those two units areresolved. The opponent then selects

one of his units that has not fought yet,and that battle is resolved. The choiceof where to fight next alternates until allmelees have been resolved.

Step 7: Missile Combat

In this step, play-ers resolve missile fire for all artillery

figures (catapults and other siege equip-men t), as well as any missile troops tha tare eligible to fire during this step. (If aunit with missile weapons fired duringthe movement step, it cannot fire againduring this turn unless it is armed withbows and arrows.) All missile fireisre-solved one unit at a time. Players taketurns firing eligible units until all at-tacks have been made, beginning withthe player who has initiative.

Step 8: End of Turn

Some scenariosmay require you to keep a record ofturns played (fo r example, if reinforce-ments for one player enter on a certainturn , or if the scenario has a time limit) .If this is necessary, players mark thepassage of a turn at this time.

To continue the battle, proceed to

Step 1 of the next turn, unless one sideor another admits defeat or has noforces left with which to fig ht.

14


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Chapter

Moral

15


17/130

Chapter3:Morale

When a group of soldiers fights as aunit, one important measure of theunit's effectiveness is its morale. Thestrongest and toughest warriors on thebattlefield are not necessarily the best

fighters, if their morale is so low thatthey are liable to become disorganizedor panicky as soon as something unfor-tunate happens to them.

To reflect the all-important role ofmorale in a mass combat situation,

each unit in a BATTLESYSTEMtmgamehas a morale ra t inganumber from 2to 20 (but usually in the range of 5 to 15)that represents the unit's will to fight inthe face of casualties and other dismay-ing circumstances. At numerous timesduring the game, each player will be re-

quired to make a morale check for oneor more of his units. The player notesthe morale rating of the unit, appliesany modifiers that may raise or lowerthe rating because of present circum-stances, and then rolls 2d10. If the roll isequal toor lower thanthe modified mo-rale rating, the check has succeeded; ifthe roll is higher than the modified rat-ing, the check has failed. The effects ofa failed check are described below.

2. It suffe rs a 1 penalty to its mo-rale rating for all morale checks (includ-ing rally attempts) made for the unitwhile it is shaken.

3. It cannot move into contact with

the front of an enemy figure or uni t. (Itis still courageous enough to contact theenemy on the flank or in the rear; seepages 41-42.)

4. A shaken unit that suffers even asingle hit from enemy pass-through fire(a missile attack that occurs during theshaken unit's movement step) mustcease moving for the rest of the turn, re-gardless of whether a morale check isrequired because of the hit(s) .

ROUTED: A routed unit has lost allwill to fig ht, and is concerned only with

placing as much distance as possible be-tween itself and the enemy. (When aunit becomes routed, mark it by placinga tokendifferent from the one usedfor shakenuni tsbesideit.)

The restrictions for a routed unit aresimilar to the limitations given abovefor a shaken unit, except that its moralerating penalty is -2, and itcannotstopmoving if it is hit by pass-through fire.After the consequences of such an at-tack are resolved, the unit must con-tinue fleeing just as if the attack had notoccurred.

A routed unit cannot attack and can-not move voluntarily. If its flight awayfrom the battle causes it to move closeto other friendly units, those unitsmight be required to make a moralecheck to see if the routed unit affectstheir own morale.

Making Morale Checks

Morale checksare required at many times during agame. Several factors can modify aunit's morale rating, increasing or de-creasing it from the rating listed on theunit's roster. These factors should bedetermined before the check is made,and may vary from check to check.

A unit must make a morale check atany time during the game when at leastone of the conditions listed below is ineffect. If more than one condition oc-

curs at the same time, only one moralecheck is required. Regardless of whathappens to it, a unit is not required tomake more than one morale check dur-ing any step of a turn (but may makemore than one if the owning player de-sires to do so).

A unit must make a morale check:1. When the unit loses its first figure

as a casualty of combat. (Elite units,representing highly disciplined troopswith exceptionally strong morale, areexempt from this check.)

2. Whenever the unit takes 4 or morehits in one step.

3. Whenever the unit finds itselfwithin 3" of a routed unit wi th an equalor better morale rating.

4. When the unit is reduced to 50% ofits original size, and during every stepthereafter when it loses at least one ad-ditional figure.

5. When the unit finds itself 1" awayfrom an enemy unit th at is charging andabout to strike.

6. When the unit attempts to begin acharge, unless the target of the charge isa shaken or routed enemy unit.

7. When the unit, in the course ofmaking a charge, attempts to cross an

obstacle in its path.8. When the unit is routed and not in

contact with an enemy unit at the end ofits movement step. (This morale check,also known as a rally check, is optionalfor a shaken unit but mandatory for arouted one.)

The intermediate and advanced rules(Chapters 6 and 7) introduce other con-ditions requiring morale checks. All ofthe conditions, collectively known as

morale triggers, are listed on the Refer-ence Card printed on the last page of

this book and on the perforated foldoutinside the back cover.

How to Check Morale

The basic moralecheck procedure requires a player to

roll two 10-sided dice and add the re-sults together. If the sum is equal to orless than the unit's morale rating, thecheck is successful. If the sum is greaterthan the unit's morale rating, the checkis failed.

16

Order: A Unit's Status

Any uni t in aBATTLESYSTEM game is always inone of three states of morale: good,shaken, or routed. If a unit fails a mo-rale check, it drops one notch on this

scale and/or is forced backward 4". Ashaken or routed unit can try to rally; asuccessful rally check moves it a notchback up the scale, from routed to

shaken or shaken to good.

GOOD: A unit in good order per-forms movement and combat functionswith no penalties because of morale.

SHAKEN: A shaken unit has beendisorganized by events of the battle. Itis one step closer to running away than

is a unit in good order. (When one ofyour units becomes shaken, mark it byplacing a suitable token beside it.)There are several limitations on the useof a shaken unit:

1. It cannot charge.


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Reviewing the Troo

Morale ScaleCauses

1. A unit is always in good order at

the start of a scenario.2. A shaken unit that makes a suc-

cessful rally check regains good order.

Consequences

A unit in good order . . .

1. Has no restrictions; canfunction with no penalties be-cause of its morale status.

2. If not a flying unit, canelect not to make a morale checkand retreat 4" instead (page 75).

3. Is the only unit that canperform a charge.

4. Is the only unit that canmake a forced march (page 57).

Results ofFailed GeneralMorale Check

1. The unit becomes shakand must retreat 4" .

2. If a unit of herd animalsbecomes routed instead of shakand must perform rout movemor a stampede rout (page 77).

A shaken unit . . .

1. Has a -1 morale modifierfor as long as it remains shaken.

2. Cannot charge.3. Cannot move into contact

with the front of an enemy unit.4. Must stop moving when

hit by pass-through fire.5. If not in contact with an

enemy unit, can make a rallycheck or perform movement,but not both in the same turn.

6. If airborne (page 75), can-not gain altitude and cannot

make a rally check.7. If not in command (page

58), cannot make a rally check.

1. Unit must retreat 4" acheck again immediately; if tsecond check fails, the unit comes routed.

2. If inside a building (pa80), the unit remains shaken.

A routed unit . . .

1. If airborne when it routs,must be removed from play im-mediately (page 75).

2. Has a -2 morale modifierfor as long as it remains routed.

3. Cannot attack.4. If not in contact with an

enemy unit, must make a rallycheck during its movement step;if the check fails, the unit per-forms rout movement (page 33).

5. May af fect morale offriend ly units it nears while per-formi ng rout movement.

6. Must continue with routmovement after being hit bypass-through fire.

1. Unit performs rout moment immediately .

Note: See the Reference Car(page 128) for information owhen morale checks are required, and modifiers that caaffect a unit's morale rating.

17

1. A unit in good order that fails ageneral morale check becomes shaken.

2. A routed unit that makes a suc-cessful rally check becomes shaken.

3. A unit that uses its full chargemovement bonus and fails to contact anenemy unit becomes shaken (page 32).

4. A unit in good order that retreatsto avoid being contacted by a friendlyrouted unit becomes shaken (page 33).

1. A unit in good order that fails ageneral morale check by 7 or more be-comes routed.

2. A shaken unit that fails two con-secutive general mora le checks becomesrouted.

3. A unit that cannot retreat farenough to avoid being contacted by afriendly routed unit becomes routed it-

self (page 33).4. A skirmish unit that is too tightly

or too loosely formed at the end of itsmovement becomes routed (page 54).

5. A flying unit that lands upon a en-emy unit as the result of a dogfight be-comes routed (page 74).


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Morale

However, often the morale rating ofa unit is improved or worsened by con-ditions around it. Thus, before dice arerolled for a morale check, the playershould check the following list to see ifhe needs to modify his unit's moralera t ingfor the current check on l ybefore he rolls.

The conditions that affect a unit'smorale rating, and the amount of thebenefit or penalty, are listed below.

Morale Rating Modifiers-2 if at least 50% of the unit's

figures have been removed- 2 if the unit is routed- 2 if the unit att emp ts an oppor-

tunity charge, and no charge

had been previously declaredfor the unit on this turn- 1 if the unit is shaken+ 1 fo r each rank in the unit be-

yond the firs t, to a maximummodifier of + 4

Other modifiers are introduced in theintermediate and advanced rules(Chapters 6 and 7). All of the moraleratin g modifiers are listed on the Refer-ence Card at the back of this book.

Effects of a Morale Check

Morale checksare made for a variety of reasons. Aunit attempting to begin a charge, or acharging unit that comes upon an ob-stacle in its path, must make a chargeinitiation check. A player can (and usu-ally should) attempt to rally a shaken orrouted unit by making a rally check. Amorale check made for any other rea-son is known simply as a general mo-rale check. The effects of success or

failure differ according to the reasonwhy the check was made.

General Morale Checks

If a unit in goodorder is required to make a general mo-

rale check, the player can choose to re-treat the unit 4" directly backwardinstead of making the check (and risk-

i n g f a i l u re ) .

Exception: A unit checking mo-rale because it is about to be hit bya charge cannot choose to retreat; itmust make the check.

A unit that retr eats to avoid making ageneral morale check remains in good

order. If a player decides to make thecheck, he must abide by the results.

A unit in any order (good, shaken, orrouted) that succeeds on a general mo-rale check suffers no positive or nega-tive e f f e c t i t continues about itsbusiness or remains in place, as appro-priate. If the unit fails the check, how-ever, the exact effect depends onwhether the unit is in good order,shaken, or routed.

If the unit that failed was in good or-

der, the player must reduce the unit toshaken order and retreat 4".If the unit that failed was shaken, it

must retreat 4" from its current posi-

tion and make another general moralecheck. If it fails this second check, it

routs, assumes irregular formation (seepage 20) if it was not already in thatstate, and immediately performs routmovement (see page 33).

If the unit that failed was alreadyrouted, it performs rout movement.

Catastrophic Failure: If a unit fails a

general morale check with a dice-rollresult at least 7 greater than the unit'smodified morale rating, the unit auto-

matically routs.

Retreating: The retreat performed bya unit after failing a morale check is asimple rearward move. The unit pullsback, directly away from the attack orthrea t tha t caused the check to be made,and every figure in the unit ends the re-treat facing in the same direction aswhen it began the move.

If a unit is unable to retrea t the ful l 4"because its path is blocked by impass-able terrain (including the edge of thetabletop) or another unit (enemy or

friend ly), then the unit moves as far asp o s s i b l e u p to the edge of theo b s t ru c t i o n an d halts there. How-ever, if a unit in good order wants toavoid making a morale check but doesnot have a clear line of retreat at least4" long, then it must remain in placeand make the check.

Charge Initiation Checks

Units that havebeen ordered to charge, but then fail therequired charge initiation check, can-

not charge during this current turn.

A charging unit that attempts tocross an obstacle in its path (wall,fence, trench, ditch, etc.) must make acharge initiation check when it reachesthe obstacle. If the check is successful,the unit continues on with its charge. Ifthe check is failed, however, the unitceases movement where it s tands, and itcannot change frontage or facing forthe rest of the tur n.

Rally Checks

Each player hasan opportunity to make rally checksduring his movement step, in an effortto improve the morale of units that areshaken or routed. The only units thatcannot be rallied are ones that are in

base-to-base contact with enemy units.For a shaken unit , a ra lly check is op-

tiona l. During his movement step, eachplayer can make a rally check for ashaken unit instead of moving it. If therally check is successful, the unit re-turns to good order; if it fails, the unit

remains shaken. In neither case can theunit move (including a change in facing

or frontage) later in the same turn. Like-wise, a unit that has already moved, orchanged facing or frontage, cannot berallied in the same turn.

For any routed unit not in contactwith an enemy unit, a rally check ismanda tory. If the rally check is success-ful, the unit becomes shaken, and thefigures in the rallied unit can be turnedto face any direction the player wants.

A rally check is made the same way

as a general morale check, using anymorale rating modifiers that apply. Aunit su ffer s no actual penalty for failinga rally check, other than being forced toremain shaken or routed. However,that can have its drawbacks: A shakenunit that fails to rally has lost a turn ofmovement. A routed unit that fails torally is forced to begin (or continue)

fleeing from the battlefield, and if it

moves off the field it is lost forever.

18


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Chapter

Movemen

19


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Chapter 4:Movement

Units can be moved during the move-ment step of each turn. As part ofmovement, units can change forma-tion, change facing, change frontage,and perform special movement such ascharges or rout movement.

While the basic movement allowance,in inches, is given on the roster for eachunit, this allowance can be modified bybattlefield terrain, special movement,changes of direction by the moving unit,and the presence of enemy units.

Formation

The figures thatmake up a unit must remain grouped to-

gether, with the base of each figure orgroup of figures touching (or very closeto touching) at least one other base. Theexact arrangement of the figures de-pends primarily on whether the unit is inregular or irregular formation. Regard-less of the type of formation a unit is in,the figures in the unit must be placed inrows, called "ranks," of figures.

In regular format ion , each part of theunit is in base-to-base contact with theparts around it, and all of the figures arearranged as neatly as battlefield terrainand conditions will allow.

In irregular formation, the base ofeach figure (or stand of figures) in theunit must be separated from the basesaround it by some small amount of

space (no greater than 1/2"). The ranksof the unit must still be easily identifi-able, and each rank must be parallel tothe ones adjacent to it.

Some units are capable of assumingregular formation (and will most oftenprefer to remain that way, to take fulladvantage of the benefits of being inregular formation). Other units can

only be in irregular formation; when aunit has this limitation, it will be notedas part of the unit roster.

The most important differences be-tween regular units and irregular unitsare the amount of area the units cancover, the types of terrain they canmove through (see "Terrain Effects onMovement," page 34), and the ease with

Examples of regular formation (above) and irregular forma- base-to-base contact; in an irregular unit, each stand of fig-tion (below). The figures in a regular unit are always in ures is separated from the others by as much as 1/2".

2O


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Moveme

which they can change their configura-tions (perform turns or alter the shapeof the formation). Regular units aremore closely packed than irregularunits, which means that they can bringmore attack strength to bear on an en-emy unit of a certain size. However, aunit in regular formation cannot travelover any terrain other than clear, openground. Irregular units are not as effi-cient as regulars when making changesin facing and frontage (discussed laterin this chapter).

A unit capable of assuming regularformation can switch back and forthbetween regular and irregular forma-tion. A change to irregular formation

an be done automatically any time the

player desires; he simply declares theintent to change, and then separates thestands of figures within the unit bysome small amount, so that the unit isvisually identifiable as being in irregu-lar formation.

In contrast, a change from irregularto regular formation costs 3" of a unit'smovement allowance (representing the

time required to pull the ranks back to-gether). Thus, a unit with less than 3"of its movement allowance remainingin the current turn cannot reassume reg-ular forma tion until the following turn.

As noted above, every u n i t whether regular or irregularmust bearrayed in rows. When a row of figuresmeets certain conditions (described be-

low), it is considered a rank. Depth ofrank provides a valuable morale boostto uni tsa +1 morale rating modifierfor every rank beyond the first. How-ever, the maximum modifier for multi-ple ranks is + 4, so a unit with morethan five ranks does not receive any ad-ditional benefi t.

In order to be considered a rank, a

row of figures must meet these condi-tions:1. When the row is in a single

straight line, that line must becontinuous.

2. When the row is not in a sin-gle straightl inewhichis the caseafter part of a un it has moved andtu rnedtheonly gaps in the row

must be those that occurred anatural result of the movemen

(Note: Any row, whethernot it otherwise qualifies arank, must abide by these ftworequirementsunlessit isback row of a unit. If the brow does not contain as many ures as the row in front of it, tone or more breaks in the linepermitted.)

3. It must contain at leastmany figures as the front rowthe unit.

4. It must have a figure behevery figure that is part of the in front of i t .

5. Every row in front of it m

be a rank.

Frontage

In order to how many ranks a unit has, a plamust first determine the fron tage ofu n i tho wmany figures are in the frrow, and exactly which figures th

Believe it or not, these two stone giants started out as iden- left even more formidable by adding armor and other cloing and gear that he sculpted out of epoxy.

21

al figures, Dave Sutherland made the leader-type on the


23/130

Movement

Determining frontage and number of ranks. The units ongreen bases have frontages of 6 and 3. They are both tworanks deep, which qualifies them for a morale bonus. The

brown-based unit has a frontage of 12 (counting the six figures in the center plus the three on each end that are facing sideways), but only has one rank.

are. In general, a figure is consideredpart of the frontage of a unit when itmeets both of the following conditions:

1. Its front side is not adjacentto another fig ure in the same unit.

2. It is part of an unbrokenbut not necessarily s t raightlineof figures (bases adjacent side to

side or corner to corner) that allmeet condition 1.

If a unit contains more than one lineof figures that meets condition 2, then

the player can choose which line consti-tutes the unit's f ron tageif the unit isnot in contact with an enemy unit.However, if the front side of any figureis in contact with an enemy figure, thenthat figure is automatically consideredin the front row of the unit (as are all theother figures in the same unbroken line,whe ther or not each of those figures isalso in contact with an enemy figur e).

In cases where it is not easy to deter-mine the frontage of a unit, or which

figures are part of the frontage, by us-ing these guidelines, then commonsense and reasonability should prevail.

Column Formation

A unit that is ca-pable of assuming regular formationcan be arrayed in a column, which is aspecialized type of regular formation.(See the illus tration on the facin g page.)A column is made up of many ranks oftroops, with no more than three figures

of width. A column cannot be widerthan 3 inches (75 mm) ; if this restrictionis impossible to meet with three figures,

the column can only be two figureswide (or one figure, in rare cases in-volving very large figures that aremounte d on bases 40 mm square).

Exception: If a unit of man-sized orsmaller troops contains some figuresthat are mounted in stands of four ormore, and players on both sides agree

to grant the exception, then it is permis-sible to have a column format ion th at ismore than three figures wide and whichmight also be wider than 3 inches.

A unit in column formation can take

advantage of a special column move-ment bonus: The unit does not pay anymovement costs for wheeling (changing

direction) as it movesit can snake itsway freely along a winding road, ormake turns while moving across openterrain, and still travel a number of

inches equal to its full move ment allow-ance.The drawback is that a unit that em-

ploys this column movement bonus atany point during its move cannot movecloser than 3" to an enemy figure dur-ing that same movement step. A unit incolumn formation that does not makeuse of the column movement bonusduring a given movement step is not sorest r ictedit can move close to, oreven into contact with, an enemy unit.

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How to Move

Each player

moves his units during either Step 3First Movement) or Step 4 (Second

Movement) of each turn. Units can bemoved in any order the player desirescharging units first); however, all

movement for a single unit must becompleted before any other figure can-e moved. It is not legal to move some

of the figures in a unit, then move a dif-rerent unit, and then move the remain-ing figures of the first unit. The figures

in a unit must be in forma tio n (regularor irregular) when movement for thatunit is completed, but the shape of aunit's formation can be altered during

movement.Each unit has a movement allowance

(in inches) listed on its roster. This is themaximum distance that the figures inthat unit can move during a turn. Aruler or tape measure is used to deter-mine actual distances on the tabletop.

The distance of a move is measuredfrom the front of a figure's base. For asimple move (for instance, traveling ina straight line with no change of facingor frontage), it is generally sufficient tomeasure the move for one or two standsof figures in a unit. Move those figuresand then bring the rest of the unit up to

join it, placing them in the same posi-tion relative to the moved figures asthey occupied befor e the move. (See theillustration on the top of page 24.)

A player must declare what a unitwill try to achieve with its move beforehe actually measures out the move. Forinstance, if he states tha t one of his unitswill move toward an enemy unit, in-

tending to attack, but when he mea-

sures the move the target tu rns out to bean inch or two beyond the unit's move-

ment allowance, he must still move hisunit forward as far as possible.

Conversely, if he declares that a unitwill move as far as it can in a certain di-rection but upon measuring the movehe discovers that it brings the unit into

contact with an enemy unit that henot intend to attack, he mustthrough with the move as announc

A player is not required to move

figures. He can move some, but notof the figures in a u n i t a s long asunit continues to abide by the fortion rules when the move is comple

A unit cannot move through a s

occupied by another unit, even if bunits are on the same side. It's imtant to keep this in mind when decithe order in which units are moved

A unit that tries to move througnarrow gap between other units ortween areas of impassable terrain have to change frontage (see beloworder to be able to fit through the o

ing. If it does not have enough moment allowance remaining to makefrontage change, then it must stop wait until the following turn to tinue its movement.

IMPORTANT: As stated abovand emphasized hereit is strictly

Column formation. This unit, 3 figures wide and 14 figuresdeep, can snake its way through the valley without paying

for all the turns that each stand of figures has to make inder to stay on the path between the trees and the fenc

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Movement

A unit in the process of being moved. The move has beenmeasured and made for the corner figures of the front

rank. The rest of the unit can now be moved up betweenand behind the two figures, without further measuring.

gal to pre-measure movement distances(or any other measurement) withoutfirst declaring what action a unit will at-tempt to perform. Once the action is de-clared, the unit is committed tofollowing through on it.

Changing Direction

A unit can movestraight ahead, or at an angle of up to45 degrees to either side of the directionit is facing, w ithou t paying any specialmovement costs. However, when a unitmakes this sort of angling movement,none of the figures are allowed tochange their direction, or facing, as aresult of the move.

Often a player will want to maneuvera unit through a sharper turn, or to ad-ju st the unit so th at its fron t rank ispointed in a different direction, inwhich case it is necessary for the figuresto pivot in addition to moving from one

Forward movement. The unit at the bottom can move straight ahead (to the topor anywhere within a 45-degree arc to either side of the center of the front rank

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Movem

A simple right face turn. These pikemen have ended up facing the trees (top),and must make a right face turn (bottom) to avoid having to move through theforest.

location to another. A unit has severalways to change the direction faced byits figures. Each change of directioncosts part of a unit's movement allow-

ance.A figure in base-to-base contact with

an enemy figure cannot change direc-tion, except as specified under "Move-

ment and Enemy Units" (page 28). For aunit that is not in contact with an en-emy unit, the two types of direction

changes used most commonly are thechange of facing and the wheel.

A unit that changes its facing can per-form a right face turn, a left face turn,or an about face turn. In a right or leftface turn, some or all of the figures inthe unit are rotated 90 degrees to the

right or left. A right or left face turncosts 2" of a unit's movement allow-

ance (4" for irregulars), regardless ofhow many figures are changed to thenew facing.

Note: If some of the figures in a unitare mounted three or more to a stand, itis sometimes impossible to perform atrue right or left face turn. If a unit isonly two ranks deep, for example, three

figures technically could not stand sideby side afte r such a turn. In such a case,the player can adjust the unit to theclosest practical arrangement offiguresas long as the unit is able topay the movement cost for a change offro ntage (see page 26) as well as the fac-ing change.

For example, fo r a unit configured asdescribed above, a two-rank line turn-

ing right could be changed to a columnof figures marching three abreast so

long as the unit could afford the coa change in frontage (1" to incrfrontage by 1 figure) in addition tochange in facing (either 2" or 4",pending on whether the unit is regor irregular). See the illustrations

page 26 for an example of an adjuright face turn.

When a unit performs an about turn, some or all of its figures aretated 180 degrees, so that they facthe opposite direction (to the reatheir original position). An about turn costs 4" of a unit's movemenlowance (8" for irregulars), regardof how many figures are involved.

A wheel is a combination of a mand a turn. Instead of simply chanthe direction of facing while remaiin the same location (as is the case a right face, left face, or about turn), a unit that performs a wchanges direction and location atsame time by pivoting along an The movement cost of wheeling isdistance moved by the figure fartfrom the pivot point. (This is one where a flexible measuring decomes in handy, since the distance tmeasured is along a curved line.)

the illustrat ions on page 27 for an exple of a wheeling maneuver.

Facing a Unit in SeveralDirections

Sometimes player may want to change the fac inonly some of the figures in a un i tdefend against an anticipated attfor example, by forming a square all four sides facing outward so none of the figures can be attacked fthe rear.

Figures that are not in contact enemy units can change facingeveother figures in the uni t begin the mment step in contact with enemy ures. To determine how much of a umovement allowance is requiredmake multiple facing changes, simadd up the movement costs of the ferent maneuvers that need to be formed.

For example, forming a regular

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Movement

into a square requires some figures tomake a right face turn (2" cost) , some tomake a left face (2" ), and some to makean about face (4"). Thus, the unitspends 8" of its movement allowance to

perform the maneuver. See the illustra-

tion on page 28 for examples of squareformations.

A unit with figures facing in morethan one direction cannot move, exceptto change frontage (see below), to per-for m facing changes, or to wheel one ormore portions of itself around to makeall of its figures face the same direction.A unit can only move across the battle -field, changing its physical location,when all of its figures are facing thesame direction.

A unit with multiple facing can alsore-form into a single facing by changingfron tage (see below). Each figure tha t ismoved during a change of frontage canbe faced in whatever direction theplayer desires.

March to the Rear

In performingthis maneuver, a unit moves up to 4"backward, retaining its facing, duringits movement step. A unit th at executes

a march to the rear cannot changefrontage, facing, or formation duringthe same movement step, nor can itcombine a march to the rear with anyforward movement.

As an alternative to a full rearward

march, a unit can wheel one or anotherof its flanks backward a distance up to4". Again, this is the only movement ofany kind allowed for that unit duringthe current movement step.

A march to the rear is identical withthe maneuver that a unit in good order

or a shaken unit performs when it fallsback after failing a morale check, andwith the maneuver performed by a unitin good order to avoid having to make amorale check. In those cases, however,the fall-back movement takes place in-dependent of the unit's chosen move forthe current turn . A unit that fal ls backfor a morale-related reason can stillmove normally during the current turn

if it has not already done so.

An adjusted right face turn, before (top) and after. Because the unit is made up ofstands of three figures, it has a frontage of 3 (instead of 2) after the turn.

Changing Frontage

This movementmaneuver is in effect a reorganizationor realignment of the figures in a unit.

The unit's frontage can be expanded orcontracted by moving figures into orout of the existing front row, at a move-ment cost of 1" for each figure th at is re-aligned.

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Moveme

A wheeling maneuver. After coming up to face the gap atan angle (left), this cavalry unit performs a wheel (right),

pivoting on the right front corner, before continuingmove between the hedge and the fence.

A unit can expand its frontage bymoving figures from the rear ranks tothe front, placing them on one or bothsides of the figures in the existing frontrank. The cost of such an expansion is

1" per figure added to the unit's front-age. There is no additional cost to ex-pand one or more of the back ranks tomake them equal in size to the newfront rank.

A unit can contract its frontage bymoving one or more figures from thefront rank and placing them in therow(s) behind the front rank. Again,the movement cost is 1" for each figurethat is moved from the front row to

some other location within the unit,with no additional cost for rearrangingfigures that were positioned behind the

front-rank figures that were moved.A unit can only change its frontage if

there is enough space on the battlefieldto accommodate the new configura-tion. A unit that is hemmed in by im-passable terrain or the presence ofnearby units (enemy or friendly) maybe restricted in the number of figures

that it can add to or subtract from itsfrontage. See the illustrations on page29 for examples of changing frontage.

Facing and Frontagefor Irregular Units

As noted early inthis chapter (in the section titled "For-mation"), irregular units are not as effi-cient or as versatile as regular units incertain aspects of facing and frontage.The differences are these:

Irregular units pay double the regularcost for changes in f ac i ng4" to per-form a left face or right face turn, and

8" for an about face turn. Thus, a slow-moving irregular unit (MV 6", for in-stance) cannot perform an about face inone movement step, but must accom-plish the maneuver by making one 90-degree facing change and then a secondone during a later movement step.

Also, an irregular unit must maintainat least half as many ranks as it has fig-ures in its frontage. Its facing or front-age cannot be changed in such a way

that the unit would violate this restrtion. If the unit violates this restrictbecause of the way in which casualtwere removed from it, then it mustreconfigured immediately the next tithe unit is able to movewhenevebegins a movement step not in contwith an enemy unit. The irregular umust pay for the necessary changefrontage before it can undertake aother kind of movement.

If an irregular unit remains adjacto an enemy unit (locked in melee cobat) from one turn to another, then figures that are in contact with the eemy are not allowed to mo v e athus, the irregular unit can continueviolate the frontage-vs.-ranks rule. Bas soon as the contact is broken (by t

elimination of the enemy, or the ret reof either unit), the irregular unit muchange frontage as its first act durithe player's next movement step, that the unit is no longer in violation the rule. If conditions on the battlefiemake it impossible for the unit to mathe necessary change in frontage, th

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Movement

one or more figures must be removedfrom the unit (and counted as casual-ties) to bring the unit into compliancewith the rule.

The only times that an irregular unitin violation of this rule is allowed tomove across the battlefield are when it

is performing a retreat after failing amorale check and when it is performingrout movement (see page 33).

This restriction on the configuration

of irregular units may not seem likemuch of a limitation, but it can have asignificant effect on how the unit per-forms in a scenario.

Movement andEnemy Units

A figure or standof figures must immediately stop its

movement when it comes into base-to-base contact with an enemy stand.Other stands in the moving unit cancontinue forw ard if they are not in con-tact with the enemy, so long as the mov-ing unit remains in formation.However, no figures in the moving unitcan change facing after any one figure

in the unit contacts an enemy figure.NOTE: If a unit moves into contact

with an enemy unit during the FirstMovement Step, the figures in that en-

emy unit cannot move normally, norcan they change facing or frontage,during the Second Movement Step.

Exceptions: A unit that begins itsmovement in contact with one or moreenemy figures can perform only one ofthese three types of movement: fighting

withdrawal, flight, or wraparound.

Fighting Withdrawal

The unit moves4" directly backward, just as if it wereperforming a march to the rear (seepage 26). It retains the same facing ithad before the move took place. Theunit cannot come into contact with anenemy unit as it moves; if it is not possi-

Three types of square formations. The unit can have a gapin the middle (left), can be a solid mass with figures facing in

all four directions (right), or can simply have its front and rearanks facing away from each other (center).

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Movemen

ble to move the full 4" without contact-ing an enemy unit, then the fightingwithdrawal cannot be performed. The

move is also prohibited if the necessary4" path is blocked by impassable ter-rain (see "Terrain Effects on Move-ment," page 34).

If a unit makes a fighting withdrawalduring the First Movement Step, thereis no further effect; the unit has simplyused the benefit of initiative to break offcontact and pull back a short distancefrom the enemy unit.

If, however, the withdrawal occurs inthe Second Movement Step, a specialcombat is fought at the moment the

withdrawal begins. All enemy figuresin contact with the withdrawing unitare allowed to make a normal attackagainst the withdrawing unit--but thewithdrawing figures cannot attack thefigures they are pulling away from. Ca-sualties and any required morale checksare resolved for the withdrawing unitbefore it can perform the withdrawalmovement. If a morale check results inthe unit being forced to fall back 4",then it does so (this move is physically

Changing frontage. This infantry unit (top) expanded its frontage from 6 to 9 in oder tofillthespace betweenthetreeand thefence.Thecavalry unit (bottom)wriding nine abreast, but narrowed its frontage to 3 to pass between the building

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Movement

identical with a fighting withdrawal). Ifthe unit routs, then it performs routmovement (see page 33) instead of thewithdrawal that had been planned forit.

Flight

This type ofmovement is generally performed whena player wants to put a lot of distancebetween one of his units and an enemyunit. When a player announces that hisunit will attempt to flee, the enemy unitimmediately gets a free attack on thefleeing unit (regardless of which move-ment step is taking place).

After this attack is made, casualtiesare removed, and any morale checks re-sul ting from the combat are resolved,the fleeing unit makes an immediateabout face turn (at no movement cost)and moves in a straight line away fromthe enemy unit, up to the limit of itsmovement allowance. Note that if theresult of a morale check calls for theunit to fall back 4", it does not fallback, but proceeds with its flight in-stead.

If the unit routs as the result of a mo-

rale check following the combat, it per-

forms rout movement (see page 33).Flight isphysically identical with routmovement; however, a unit that is flee-ing (but not routed) does not requireother nearby friendly units to makemorale checks. Also, a unit that is flee-ing is not required to keep fleeing turnafter turn (as is the case with rou t move-ment, unless the routed unit rallies).

Wraparound

Unlike the other

two types of movement describedabove, wraparound movement is an of-fensive maneuver. The unit expands itsfrontage (if necessary) and then wheelsone or both ends of the unit inward inan attempt to outflank or envelop theenemy unit.

The movement cost of wraparoundmovement is the to tal cost of expandingfrontage (at 1" per figure) and thewheeling movement. However, unlikeother types of movement resulting in

Wraparound movement. The elves could fight the giants along one front (top),but can bring more attackers to bear by expanding their frontage from 7 to 13 andthen wheeling the flanks until they also make contact with the enemy.

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Moveme

multiple facings within a unit, the costfor wraparound movement is not thetotal of all the individual turns andmovements made by various figures inthe unit. If both wings of a unit wheelinward, apply only the cost for the

wing that traveled the longer distance(or the cost for a single wheel, if bothwings traveled the same distance).

Movement andMissile Fire

A unit that isarmed with missile weapons can oftenfire those weapons during one of themovement steps instead of waiting for

an opportuni ty to use the weapons laterin the turn.

NOTE: Troops using bows and ar-rows have the advantage of being ableto fire twice in a turn (but not twice inthe same step). All other missile weap-ons can only be used once per turn.

When Firing Unit Moves

The figures in aplayer's missile units can fire during hismovement step (whether it is First or

Second Movement) if they meet the fol-lowing conditions:

1. The figure in the missile unit is notin contact with an enemy figure at anypoint during this step, before or afterthe missile fire. (Exception: A figure canfir e missiles and later in the same step bestruck by an enemy unit making an op-portunity charge.) If an enemy unitcomes into contact with part of a mis-sile unit, the figures tha t have been con-tacted cannot fire, but other figures inthe missile unit are still free to do so.

2. The unit cannot use more than halfof its movement allowance during thisstep. (Exception: Archers astride horsesor other mounts can use their bows dur-ing the movement step and still movetheir full movement allowance.)

3. Unless armed with bows, the unitcannot have fired missiles previouslyduring the same turn.

A unit that meets these conditionscan fire either before it moves or after it

completes its move (or, if the unit re-mains stationary, at any time during themovemen

battlesystem miniatures rules (tsr 9266)

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