Shooting Phase

The player whose turn it is selects a unit to shoot.

Each model in the unit may select a different target. 

Targets must be within range and line of site of the shooting model.

Models may not normally shoot through friendly models.  However, a friendly model may voluntarily forgo shooting in order to allow another friendly model to trace line of sight though its base.  We will call this Lying Down.

Models may shoot through enemy models, provided line of sight is not completely obscured.  The target models will count as being concealed and in soft cover.

Models within Firefight distance of an enemy may not shoot in the shooting phase.  (They will shoot in the firefight phase.)  They may not Lie Down in the Shooting Phase.

All shooting is resolved one friendly unit at a time.

At the end of the Shooting phase, apply Suppression and test Leadership for all relevant units, friend or foe.

Geek Notes

Again, these are pretty standard shooting rules for casual wargaming.  They are closer to Flames of War than Warhammer 40k.  In particular, I have allowed individual models to target different units.  I find this makes a lot of sense.  I have limited friendly units from firing through each other freely, which prevents any amount of silly "screening" shenanigans.

Movement Phase

Standard Infantry will move 6" per phase.  Terrain will not slow them, but some terrain may be impassible.

Infantry has a coherence distance of 2" between models. Models in coherency distance of the leader or incoherency with a unit model in coherency distance with the leader are said to be in coherency.  Models out of coherency must move into or directly towards coherency or remain stationary. 

Standard Vehicles will move 12" per phase.  Terrain will slow them to 6" per phase.  Difficult Terrain requires a test on 2+ to avoid becoming Immobilized.  Very Difficult Terrain will require a test on 4+ to avoid becoming Immobilized.  Different types of Vehicles may move a different speeds.

Models may move at double speed, provided they do not come within Firefight distance (12") of an enemy model .  Models that have moved at double speed suffer the following penalties till their next turn:

• May not shoot in the Shooting Phase.
• Count as Suppressed in the Firefight Phase.
• Suffer -2 to their Cover Saves.

Geek Notes

The Movement phase is pretty boring, which is why I've waited so long to say anything about it.  The movement distances and rules here are pretty standard for beer-and-pretzel war-games.  Only a few points need comment:

First, I have rejected random movement distances, which seems to be the new way to add a little bit of uncertainty into games that allow pre-measuring. I just don't see the point -- Flames of War has fixed movement and pre-measuring, and I've never felt the need for more randomness when playing.

Second, I don't want terrain to slow the game down too much, so movement distances are pretty generous even in terrain.

Doctrines

Each force will have Doctrines, which represent aspects of their equipment and training.  Some Doctrines will apply to the entire force.  Other doctrines may be specific to a particular unit.   Special Leader models may also have Doctrines which only they may confer on nearby units.

Doctrines are activated from a pool of Activation Dice.  Activation Dice come from Leaders.  Typically, each Leader will generate one die.  (Some mighty commanders might generate two dice, or second-rate Leaders in poorly trained armies might generate none.)  A player receives their full pool of dice at the start of their turn.  Any left over dice from the previous turn are discarded.

Once per Phase, a Leader may attempt to activate a Doctrine for any single unit within 12” and under him in the Chain of Command.  This may be any doctrine intrinsic to the force, any Doctrine specific to the targeted Unit, or an Doctrine the Leader himself is eligible to confer on it. 

Doctrines will indicate in which Phase or Phases they may be Activated.  Usually, they may be Activated at any time, in reaction to events.  If both players wish to activate an ability at the same time, the player whose turn it is activates their Doctrine first.

The activating player then chooses how many Activation Dice he wishes to roll to Activate the Doctrine.  Each Doctrine has a target number (typically 4+), depending on how mighty or complex it is.  If any Activation Die equals or exceeds the target number, the Doctrine is Activated.  Otherwise it fails to activate.

If he succeeds, the Doctrine is activated.  If he fails, the Doctrine is not activated.  No other Leader may attempt to activate the same Doctrine on the same unit that Phase.

Geek Notes

Doctrines are another way to differentiate armies and give them character.  Even similarly-skilled and equipped forces may differ radically in their approach to combat.

I'm very inspired by Saga's approach to the Dark Ages.  Saga gives each army a series of abilities, activated by special dice.  Even though almost all Dark Age forces had the same equipment - a big round shield and a hand weapon - the Saga armies play very differently, based entirely on their Battle Board.  (You can read my thoughts about Saga here.)

Now, I didn't want a full Battle-Board and all that for my game.  I think that on top of rules for equipment, vehicles, and so forth, it would just be too complicated.  But I do like the idea of resource management.  I also welcome the chance to regularize the mechanics for those special unit and army rules most wargames tend to accumulate.  Why not make them all part of the same leadership mechanic?

 A Dice pool is really easy to keep track of -- it's got dice!  Remove them as you roll them.  But you'll have to decide where and how to spend them.  Since Leaders must activate Doctrines, it matters where your Leaders are on the battlefield, and how they are part of the chain of command.  That gives the chain of command more of an in-game role, too.

So, consider the various Space Marine chapters in the Warhammer 40k universe.  They are all equipped basically the same - power-armor, bolter, combat knife, chain-sword, and some specialty stuff like jet-packs or terminator armor.  In the background, they have really interesting backgrounds and a strong character.  But it's always seemed to me that 40k struggles to translate the background into rules.  It can give them a few special rules and juggle the equipment options, but the different Chapters don't end up playing that much differently.

With this system, even armies equipped the same could have different Doctrines.  So one army might specialize in close shooting.  Maybe its Doctrines would allow a re-roll failed to-Hit rolls in Firefights or grant all its weapons +1 HE.  Another might specialize in close combat; maybe its Doctrines would let it re-roll Hits in Melee or grant its models an increased Rate of Attack.  Perhaps a third is renowned for its stoicism; its Doctrines might double the number of Hits required to Suppress it or allow it re-roll failed Leadership tests.  Instant variety.

Leaders

Every army has a chain of command.  Certain models in your army are Leaders.  Leader models are associated with a particular level of the army’s command structure.  Typically, this runs:

• CiC of the Force
• Battalion Leader(s)
• Company Leader(s)
• Platoon Leader(s)
• Squad Leader(s)
• Team Leader(s)

The game recognizes several types of Leaders: Unit Leaders, Independent Leaders, and Special Leaders  

A Unit is a group of Models that must maintain Coherency and which maneuvers separately . It may be at any level of the command structure, but is usually a Squad.  Bigger armies, with poor command and control, may have Platoon or Company-Sized units.  

A Unit leader is the integral Leader model for a Unit. Every Unit has a Unit Leader and cannot be without one.  If the Unit Leader dies, another model immediately becomes the new Leader.  This must the next highest ranked model in the Unit, if the Model can be discerned by equipment or markings.  Otherwise, any model in the Unit may be designated. 

Independent Leaders are not part of a Unit, but are able to roam freely about the battlefield as lone Models.

Special Leaders have Doctrines that only they may activate or confer on nearby Units.  These Doctrines represent that specific Model's abilities.  If that Model dies, the special Doctrines are lost with it.  The Special Leader may also be a Unit leader.  If a Special Unit Leader dies, the new Unit Leader may only use Doctrines associated with the Unit itself.  It does not inherit a slain Special Leader's Doctrines.

Geek Note

Casualty removal is semi-random, meaning sometimes you will lose a Leader. In FoW, a dead command stand completely hoses over a Unit until a new one is appointed.  This strikes me as a little too much realism - nothing is more annoying than having your army hosed over arbitrarily.  So I am going to assume that as long as a Unit keeps making Break tests, it manages to keep functioning somehow.  Even if the Officer or NCO perishes, perhaps a particularly inspiring common trooper takes over temporarily.  

Suppression

A unit is Suppressed if in any single Phase, it takes a number of Wounds equal to the number of models it contains.  This is checked before any casualties are removed or Cover Saves are rolled.

A Suppressed unit fights less effectively.

• It fires at -2 to-Hit in the Shooting and Firefight phases.
• A Suppressed unit may not charge into Assault.  Once in assault, it fights normally.

Geek Note

Many Wounds fail to remove a model, because of cover saves, so Suppression is often more important than actual casualties.

 Most models will have an RoF of 2.  Against a target of equal Ranged Skill, in the open, it will require a 4+ to Hit.  With no advantages or disadvantages, its weapon will Wound on a 2+.  This means that evenly matched units in the open will Suppress each other slightly less than 50% of the time.  It also means that as a unit becomes larger, better skilled or better-equipped, it will be harder to Suppress. 

 It also means that units will not easily be Suppressed by weapons which cannot hurt them effectively.  So elite, armored Space Marines will wade blithely through lasgun fire, Death Robots won’t care about Sherman tanks, and so forth.

Cover and Defensive Saves

Models also receive a Save.  In Shooting and Firefight, this Save is called a Cover Save.  In Melee, it is called a Defensive Save.

A Cover Save represents a model’s ability to interpose obstacles or the earth between itself and incoming fire.  Game models are almost always depicted standing upright, brandishing their weapons, but we may assume actual soldiers will often be crouching, ducking, or crawling.

• In the Shooting Phase, the basic Cover Save is 3+.
• In the Firefight Phase, the basic Cover Save is 5+.
• A target in Soft Cover gains +1 to their Cover Save.
• A target in Hard Cover gains +2 to their Cover Save.
• A target that is Cowering gains +1 to the Cover Save.

The High Explosive trait reduces Cover Saves.  Each level of HE reduces the Cover Save by 1.  This even effects the basic Save.  So a Good HE weapon can remove Cover Saves altogether.

In Melee, models may receive a Defensive Save.  This Save represents the model dodging or parrying or perhaps weirder stuff like force-fields or magic.  The basic Defensive Save is 5+.  Certain traits may increase or decrease the Defensive Save.



Geek Note

Soft Cover will be natural stuff, like trees, fences or whatever.  Hard Cover is actual military fortifications.  This game is not going to permit models to dig or create cover during play.  It represents a much closer, sharper, shorter engagement than Flames of War, with no time to dig foxholes or lay sandbags.

A model can easily gain a 1+ or better Cover Save by getting into cover and cowering. This is as it should be: a model should be really hard to get out of a prepared position.  Flames of War players may think a 1+ Cover Save is excessive, but remember, in my game, there is no equivalent to Firepower.  A model with a 1+ cover save will fail on double 1s -- statically the same as a FoW stand dug into bulletproof cover and shot with a machine gun.  Furthermore, the High Explosive characteristic (found on artillery and so forth)  will reduce Cover Saves.

To Wound

For each Hit, roll a die to-Wound the model.

The basic number needed to-Wound is a 2+.

The to-Wound roll is subject to modifiers:

    If the model has Armor or Toughness, then the difficulty increases by 1 for each level of Toughness and/or Armor.
    If the attacker has a Massive weapon, then reduce Toughness for each level of Massive.
    If the attacker has an AP weapon, then reduce Armor by each level of AP. 
    Once Toughness or Armor is reduced to 0, neither Massive nor AP have any additional effect.

Example

Let us use some examples from Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40K universe, since most gamers are familiar with that background.  (Again, no challenge to their intellectual property is intended.)

An Imperial Guardsman with a lasgun (no special characteristics) hits at a Cultist (no special characteristics).  The to-Wound roll is 2+.

The Guardsman hits an Ork with Toughness 1.  The Ork’s Toughness increases the to-wound difficulty to 3+.  The same Guardsman then shoots at a Space Marine with Toughness 1 and Armor 2.  The difficulty increases to 5+.

The Guardsman equips himself with a bolter (Massive 1). He hits the same Cultist Ork and Space Marine.  The Massive has no extra effect against the puny Cultist, however, who is still wounded on a 2+ . The Massive negates Toughness but not Armor.  His to-Wound is now 2+ against the Ork and 4+ against the Space Marine.

The Guardsman now equips a Heavy Bolter (Massive 2, AP 1).  First he shoots the Ork.  The “extra” Massive has no effect on the Ork, and the Ork isn’t wearing armor, so AP is irrelevant.  His to-wound remains 2+ against the Ork. Then he shoots the Space Marine. The “extra” Massive has no effect on the Space Marine, either, but the AP removes one level of Armor. His to-Wound improves to 3+ against the Space Marine.

Geek Notes

I am working on the assumption that Hits are generally man-lethal.  If every target in the game was an unarmored human, then I would skip the to-Wound step altogether.  Flames of War does just that - for infantry, a hit is a hit.  FoW doesn't worry whether a .50 or a .30 is more lethal.  But our universe will have tougher and better armored things in it. So we have to worry about whether a .50 or a .30 better kills elephants and battle armor.  Hence we have Toughness and Armor.

The Warhammer series of games, by contrast, assume that, weapon Strength and target Toughness being equal, a weapon wounds on a 4+.  It must includes things like scrapes and near misses in the 50% of Hits that do not Wound, because otherwise it's pretty silly.  Think of all those chainsaws in the 40k universe!  I intend for cover saves to play a bigger role in my game than they do in the Warhammer series, though, so I'm sticking with 2+.

You will notice, however, that bigger, badder weapons do not get better at Wounding ordinary men. You never get better than a 2+.  So, in my game, some things are just overkill.   (This goes a long way towards explaining why even well-equipped forces carry ordinary rapid-firing small arms and not a zillion bazookas.)

Armor Piercing and Massive are separate characteristics, allowing a wider range of weaponry with different table-top performance. A weapon might be very high in one, and useless in another.  Think of an exploding shell that can tear a man apart but which cannot penetrate sealed battle-armor -- or of a thin intense energy pulse that punches through plate but can't stop a charging bull mastodon.