Hell Dorado: Core Rulebook
Hell Dorado: Core Rulebook Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Down to Basics
- Introduction
- The Armed Forces
- Unit Statistics
- Weapon Statistics
- Nature of the Units
- Value, Faction and Availability of a Unit
- Unit Base Sizes
- Turns and Dominance
- Movement
- Combat
- Ranged Combat
- Command and Orders
- Special Effects, Auras and Orders
- Orders Without Triggers
- Orders
- Magic
- States
- Special Abilities
- Constructing Your Company
Down to Basics
Fathoms
The standard unit of measurement used in Hell Dorado is the Fathom, which, although it is now only used to measure nautical depths, was still in use at the time when Hell Dorado is set to measure distances on land. It is equivalent to an average man's height. On the battlefield, this will be scaled down to a standard inch.
For those of you who do not live in countries where the Imperial system is still used (unless, of course, you had the great idea of investing in an inch-graduated measuring tape to check the size of your new flat-screen monitor), consider a fathom to be 2.5cm.
Dice
Playing Hell Dorado only requires six-sided dice, also known as "d6" by Those Who Know. Ideally, each player should have at least five six-sided dice (d6) handy. Some of the numbers used on the stat cards or in the rules will mean that that number of d6 must be rolled in some situations. In general, each d6 will be considered independently.
Distance
When the rules state that a unit should be at or within a certain distance from another unit or from a spot on the battlefield, this means that any part of its base that is at that distance fulfills that condition. A unit is considered to be inside an area from the moment when any part of its base is inside the area. This is the general rule, but we may remind you of it again if required. In all other cases, the specific rules will state if and when the whole of the base needs to be at a precise distance or within a specific area.
Introduction
This chapter will give you the basic, essential concepts you will need to understand the rest of the rules. Some of them will be using concepts that will be explained later. If you don't understand everything to begin with, don't worry, you can come back to it later. In any case, you will quite probably have to read the rules several times over to fully absorb them.
Measuring
When playing Hell Dorado, players can measure any part of the battlefield at any time. You can, for example, measure the distance between two units, between one of your own units and a point on the battlefield, measuring distances between units and effect areas or between one of your units and one of your opponent's, etc.
Contact and Control Area
One unit is considered to be in contact with another if their two bases are in contact, or if a part of one of them touches a part of the other. A unit touching another unit is said to be "engaged". The terms "in contact" and "engaged" are equivalent when applied to opposing units.
Most of the Hell Dorado models have a control area of one fathom. This means that any unit that comes within a distance of one fathom from an enemy unit will be considered to be inside that unit's control area.
Unless otherwise specified, once units are engaged they lose the effects of their control areas.
The control areas of units affect the way their opponents can move. See the chapter on control areas effect on page 14.
For those who like to meddle in the affairs of minis: No doubt that some of you, when reading this particular rule will jump to the conclusion that they can mess with their miniatures so contact becomes much easier (by changing a vertical spear into a horizontal one, for example). Far from wanting to crush your creative spirit, I must however warn you that anyone caught doing this will be thrown into a large vat of sulfuric acid. Previously, I will of course have ensured that their hands are cut off and sent to their mini-painting club. Once news of this hits the headlines, I'm pretty sure that anyone else who had come up with any similar smart idea will think twice about it. As for the unfortunate miscreant, apart from making bubbling noises with his mouth while waiting for the rest of his body to be completely dissolved, he will no longer be of any nuisance to any of the true Hell Dorado fans.
Directions
Miniatures in Hell Dorado are not considered to have a specific facing. It is treated as though the course of the battle is not really chopped up into phases and turns. Each unit is considered to turn automatically to face a danger or an opponent. So there's no use bickering about whether your miniature's front arc is touching your opponent's or not.
The Tap
If, at some point in the game, the rules alone do not enable you to resolve a conflict between players, two solutions can be used:
The first is the well-known heads-or-tails technique. Basically, you pick some handy object, such as a coin, a frying pan, or your girlfriend, and you flip it up into the air, after betting on which side you think will be visible when it hits the floor. Obviously, if you want to use this technique to end an argument, it tends to help if both players pick opposite sides.
The second option is our personal favorite, albeit one requiring skill and therefore best if only used by players of experience: a Tap on the cheek. When an argument cannot be settled by simply applying the rules, the first of the two players to gently tap the other on the cheek wins. This should be done with caution, as, if the tap turns into a slap, the too-brutal slapper is immediately disqualified. A slightly safer version is the tap on the back of the hand, but this is, of course, much less fun.
The Armed Forces
Unit Ranks
Each unit has one of the three following ranks: Officer, Independent, or Trooper. The Officers are unique (they should only be present once per Company) as are the Independents who have an identity. Troopers and anonymous Independents can be used several times in the same Company.
Officers are the soldiers who lead Companies into battle. They are unique beings who all have their own identity. They can therefore only be one each per Company. These units have unique support and command abilities that are linked to their character. The rules for composing Companies will tell you how many Officers you will be able to hire for your Company, depending on the total number of army points you have agreed on with your opponent. Usually, in a standard Company, you will only be allowed one Officer. All Officers automatically possess the orders vae soli and vae victis (p. 27).
Independents are elite soldiers who join the Companies seeking fame and fortune, or just for the pleasure of butchering invaders or natives. These soldiers have special abilities which are often exceptional. When put to the right use, they can change the course of a whole battle on their own. The Independent units with an identity (their own name) are unique and can only be hired once per Company. For all others, their Availability (p. 8) will tell you how many you are allowed to have in any one Company at the same time.
Troopers are the huddled masses of random soldiers who are the heart of the Companies, the nameless cannon fodder who fight and die for the glory of their commanding officers. Multiple Troopers of the same kind can be used in the same Company. The limits to their recruitment are defined by the unit's Availability stat (p. 8).
The Company
In Hell Dorado, each player has tactical control of a Company of soldiers or units. Each unit is physically represented by a miniature. They are all different, with different ranks, stats, types, base sizes, etc. All these concepts are explained in greater detail further on. A whole chapter (p. 33) is entirely devoted to their special abilities.
Unit Statistics
Each unit on the battlefield is defined by a series of statistic numbers that you will find on all the stat cards.
(Figure 5, "Analyzing a stat card (front and back): Missionary". Front labels: unit's name, Movement, Defense, Faith, Command, Availability, Army points, special abilities, unit's faction symbol. Back labels: Combat, Defense, Protection, Weapon, Damage type, Orders, Auras, Shooting skill, Keywords, Life points and the life point bar (wounded state in green), Power table, Special effect.)
Movement (MVT)
This score indicates the distance in fathoms that a unit can move in one turn when walking at a normal pace. This value can change depending on the actions undertaken by the units or the orders they receive.
Example: the average human unit has a Movement score of 5 if it is carrying little or no armor. In all other cases the Movement score will be 4.
Combat (CBT)
This stat represents a number of dice. This is the number of dice used by this unit during close combat. This stat represents the unit's talent for attacking, its physical abilities in combat and its equipment. It is both a reflection of the unit's warrior fury and its pure skill.
A unit with no Combat stat cannot fight, even if it receives a CBT bonus later on. All attacks against it will remain unanswered. A unit with a CBT stat of 0 will not usually throw any dice during a mêlée, but it can receive a bonus that will allow it to do so.
Example: the average human unit will have a Combat score of 3.
Shooting Skill (SHS)
This score represents a number of dice. This is the number of dice that will be used when the unit attacks with a ranged weapon (bow, arquebus, throwing dagger, grenade, etc.). This stat represents the unit's skill at using its weapon.
Example: the average human unit will have a SHS score of 2 if it carries a ranged weapon. If it doesn't, then the SHS score will not even be mentioned.
Defense (DEF)
As the name suggests, this score is an indicator of the difficulty that others will have hitting the unit during a battle. It is this score that the unit's opponents will roll their attack dice against when in contact (and sometimes when attacking from a distance). This stat represents the unit's speed, skill and martial talents.
Unless stated otherwise, a unit's Defense score cannot be higher than 5. In some very rare cases, always stated as such, the Defense score can reach 6.
Example: the average human unit will have a Defense score of 3.
Red and Green
On most stat cards, the units' statistics are printed on two different colored backgrounds: red and green. The value of the red stat is the basic value. The value of the green stat is the one that should be applied when the unit is in a wounded state. One exception: on the bar of life points on the back of the card, the green backgrounds are for the point from whereon the unit is considered to be wounded.
Protection (PR)
This score is a representation of the unit's armor (natural or not) and its resistance to hits. It is directly subtracted from the total number of damage points inflicted during an attack.
Example: a Protection value of 0 means a total lack of armor; a value of 1 means light armor or natural protection (leather, small shield, thick skin); a value of 2 means a medium level of armor or natural protection (chain mail, leather and metal-plated armor, partial metal armor...); a value of 3 means heavy armor or natural protection (full plate armor, chain mail and shield, full body shell...). A higher score is possible but remains exceptional.
Life Points (LP)
This stat represents the number of damage points a unit can take before dying in battle. If this value is followed by a second one printed on a green background, this second stat indicates the number of Life Points below which the unit is considered Wounded. This second value is called the Wound Threshold (WT). The initial number of Life Points is reduced after each hit depending on the number of damage points inflicted, and the new value becomes the current Life Point total.
A unit dies when its current Life Point total is equal to or less than 0.
A unit is Wounded as soon as its current Life Point total is reduced to or below the Wound Threshold printed on the green background.
Example: the average human unit has an initial Life Point total of 4/1. This means it has a total of 4 Life Points and will be considered Wounded as soon as it only has 1 Life Point left. In the same way, a unit with a Life Point total of 5/2 has a total of 5 Life Points (it will take 5 Damage Points to kill it) and it will be considered Wounded as soon as it has 2 (or fewer) Life Points left.
Faith (FTH)
This stat represents the unit's spiritual strength and it can be considered a bonus for the magical effects that belong to specific beliefs, and also as a way to resist hostile magical powers. A unit with the keyword Unbeliever (p. 7) does not have a Faith stat, and any ability, spell or aura that requires Faith will have no effect on it.
Example: the average human unit has a Faith stat of 1.
Command (CMD)
This stat represents the capacity the unit has for influencing the behavior of its allies during battle. This value is added to the total Command score of the Company when the game begins (p. 24).
When a unit with a Command score of at least 1 is eliminated, its score is immediately removed both from the Company's original Command total and from the Company's current value.
Example: the average human Officer has a Command score of 4.
Weapon Statistics
Power Table
The power of a unit's weapons is represented in a power table, showing the number of Damage points inflicted depending on the number of hits obtained during the attack roll.
For mêlée weapons, this stat is both a representation of the unit's strength, its weight, the weight of the weapon and its skillfulness at "hitting the target". For ranged weapons, this stat represents the strength of the unit for some weapons (bows, slingshots, throwing weapons...) and the natural power of the weapon itself for the others (arquebus munitions, crossbow bolts).
The power tables always indicate the damage inflicted for 1 to 5 hits, even if the unit in question doesn't have a combat stat that enables it to achieve such a score. This is in order to accommodate for any positive bonuses that may affect the unit.
Some special effects can be triggered by a certain number of hits.
The player controlling the attacking unit can choose to inflict less hits than they obtained with their attack roll (or even none at all if he wishes).
Explosive or blast-effect weapons do not have a power table. You will find more information on how these weapons work on pages 22 and 23.
Example: a Succubus using her whips will have the following power table:
| Number of hits | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage points | 3 | 4 + Pain 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 + knocked down |
She rolls 3 hits against an opponent for her attack roll. She can therefore inflict 6 Damage points. She can also consider inflicting only 2 hits, so she can inflict only 4 Damage points to her opponent but make him suffer a Pain effect for 2 turns. She could also choose to inflict only 1 hit and 3 Damage points or 0 hits and no damage.
Range (for ranged weapons)
This stat defines the difficulty of a ranged attack. The value is a number of fathoms. This value will be multiplied to obtain the levels of difficulty depending on the distance between the attacker and its target. You will find the rules about shooting distances in the chapter on ranged combat (p. 18).
Damage Type
Most weapons have a keyword that defines the kind of damage it will inflict. The most common ones are Sharp, Piercing, and Blunt, but there are many more, including more exotic ones (gaze, inhalation, etc.). This keyword doesn't have any effect (in general) on the game, but is used to trigger certain special abilities. Some weapons can inflict multiple types of damage.
Weapon Abilities
Some weapons have special abilities that will distinguish them from others. Their full descriptions are on page 33.
Nature of the Units
Each character is defined by a number of keywords that should give you a better idea of who they really are. These keywords will determine if a unit is eligible to be the target of a special attack, if it will be affected by magical effects or not, etc. The nature of a unit can therefore define several elements of its personality.
Rank (p. 3) is listed on the stat card as a keyword.
- Officer
- Independent
- Trooper
Species
- Angel
- Animal
- Damned
- Demon
- Lost
- Human
- Lemure
Gender
- Asexual
- Female
- Male
Religion
When it comes to religion, the units can be given a general belief in certain principles (Christianity, Satanism, Islam...) or a more precise belief in certain dogmas. Units who believe in a specific dogma are affected by the effects of their general belief and those associated with their particular dogma.
- Atheist
- Buddhist
- Yanluowang (Buddhist)
- Christian
- Papist (Christian)
- Orthodox (Christian)
- Protestant (Christian)
- Jewish
- Muslim
- Shiite (Muslim)
- Sunni (Muslim)
- Kharijite (Muslim)
- Satanist
- Luciferian (Satanist)
- Unbeliever (this is applied to all units who can never be affected by the powers that concern religion. They do not have a Faith statistic.)
Mentalist. These are the units that have one or several auras (p. 28).
Infernalist x/y. These are the units that can control lemures. This keyword is special in the sense that it is followed by two numbers. These indicate the number of lemures that the unit can control at one time (x) and the total number of lemures that it can use during a game (y) (p. 28).
Example: Asaliah, a rebel angel, has the keyword "Infernalist 2/3". This means she can invoke 3 lemures during the game, and control 2 at the same time.
Value, Faction and Availability of a Unit
All units are worth a certain number of Army Points. This number represents the unit's power on the battlefield. Usually, a standard Company is made up of miniatures whose army points total no more than 200 (p. 40).
Each unit belongs to one of the game's Factions (Westerners, Saracens, Demons, the Lost and Mercenaries). The Troopers mercenaries and Independent mercenaries can be hired by other Factions (p. 40). Mercenary Officers can also be tolerant towards other Factions (if they have the special ability Prestige) and can therefore hire Troopers and Independents from those Factions under certain conditions (p. 40).
All units have an Availability stat that represents the density with which they can be used when composing a Company (p. 40).
- Unique: the unit has an identity: it can therefore only occur once per Company, no matter the size of the Company.
- Limited x: the unit can occur several times in any one Company. There can be x specimens in each partial or complete group of 200 army points in any one Company (p. 40).
- Unlimited: the unit can be used as frequently as possible in any one Company. There is no limit to the number of specimens of this unit that can be hired in a Company. This is the default value of all units.
- Associated (name of unit) x: this miniature can only be used if the unit named between brackets is hired to the Company. There can only be x specific units associated with one named unit.
Limited X/Y. When a unit has two possible variations, its Availability is indicated by two numbers. This means that the maximum number of this unit is limited to X for each complete or partial portion of 200 points, and out of these X units, a maximum of Y can be of the second type described on the stat card.
Example: Pillars of Faith, Daggers/Halberd, Limited 3/2. A Company of 200 points can use a maximum of 3 Pillars of Faith (all types) and out of those 3, a maximum of 2 can be halberdiers.
Transformation (conditions • new shape). This model can change its shape and statistics during the game. This transformation will take place once the conditions indicated between brackets are fulfilled. A transformed unit appears with full life points, even if the previous shape had suffered damage.
Unit Base Sizes
All the units in Hell Dorado are fitted onto round bases that are suited to their size and mass. There are three sizes of base, and some of the game's rules take these sizes into account.
- Regular sized base (30mm diameter)
- Large base (40mm diameter)
- Extra Large base (50mm diameter)
(Diagram on p. 8: Regular unit, Large unit and Extra Large unit, shown as three units side by side.)
Turns and Dominance
Dominance
The concept of Dominance is one of the key elements of Hell Dorado. It defines the general way in which one of the two sides will dominate the other. It represents the way the warriors in the Companies feel during the battle, whether they're feeling superior or on the contrary if they have a vague fear of being overrun. As you will see later on, Dominance is the way to resolve many situations and work out which player starts each turn.
If necessary, Dominance can be physically represented on the table by a marker held by the player who is currently Dominant (a large marble, a skull on a stick, a cucumber, etc.).
First Dominance. Before the battle begins, both players must work out their initial Dominance score. This is the sum of all the Command values of the officer and the independents in the Company, plus the number of units lined up for battle (except the units with the special ability "Insignificant"), plus the sum of any First contact values (unit special ability) present in the Company. Do not add the Command values of any units who do not start out on the battlefield. Command should be calculated even if the whole Company is not present on the battlefield when the game begins.
Dominance = sum of officer and independent CMD + number of units (minus Insignificant units) + sum of First contact values.
If both players have an equal Dominance score, the player with the most units in his Company achieves Dominance. If there is still a tie, the player with the officer with the highest Command score still in play gets control of the marker for this turn. If the tie persists, flip a coin (or use the Tap).
After the first turn of the game, control of Dominance is determined by the number and the nature of the units that were killed during the previous turn. Both players count the number of significant units (not counting Insignificant units) that they lost during the previous turn.
The player who has lost the least units is granted Dominance for the next turn.
If both players have lost the same number of units, then the player who already had Dominance keeps it through the next turn.
Turns
A Hell Dorado turn is split up into two phases: Upkeep phase and Action phase. During the Upkeep phase, the players work out who has Dominance, Command scores are reset to their basic values, and all the special effects that take place during this phase are applied.
During the Action phase, the players alternate activating their units one by one, until all of them have performed their actions. Once this is finished, a new turn begins.
A game of Hell Dorado is split up into a certain number of turns. In basic battles, the number of turns in a game is limited (see scenario details in complete rules).
Upkeep Phase
To limit the risk of arguments, it is considered good manners, once one has finished the action of one's unit, to let one's opponent know that they are free to play. A standard phrase can be chosen, such as "The table is yours," or even "Dude, s'your turn." Once this has been said, the previously active player can no longer use a vae soli order (p. 27).
It is during this phase – the first phase of every turn – that the players resolve any special effects or situations that last more than one turn.
- At the beginning of the Upkeep phase, the current Command score of each player is reset to its original value.
- The question of Dominance is resolved (p. 9).
- Then any damage that should be inflicted is done, followed by any healing. In both cases, this is done simultaneously by both players.
- Finally, each player resolves any other powers, orders, auras and abilities that have an effect during this phase. If this causes any problems, the player who currently has Dominance gets to choose the order of application of the effects.
Definitions
- Waiting: A unit that has not yet taken an action during the current turn is said to be waiting.
- Active: A unit that is currently taking an action is said to be active.
- Already activated: A unit that has already taken its actions for this turn is said to be already activated.
- Engaged: A unit that is in contact with an enemy unit is said to be engaged.
- Free: A unit that is not engaged with an enemy unit is said to be free.
- Allied units are all the units currently controlled by the same player.
- Enemy units are all the units controlled by the other player or players (even temporarily). Enemy is synonymous with opponent.
Action Phase
Once both players have finished their Upkeep phase, the Action phase begins.
During this phase, the players will be making their units act in turn. The basic rule of this phase is this: as soon as a player has finished the actions of a unit, it is the other player's turn to act. However, as we will soon see, this rule is quite often abused. In any case, each unit can only be activated once per turn (except for lemures, see page 28). All units must be activated every turn.
At the beginning of the Action phase, the player who has Dominance chooses which of the two players activates one of their units first. The player that is chosen therefore has to activate one of its units, even if he has fewer units on the battlefield than his opponent.
Inferiority of Numbers. When a player has to play one of his units and he has fewer waiting units than his opponent, he can choose to make his opponent activate one of their units instead. This way, he can continue to "skip his turn" for as long as he has fewer waiting units than his opponent. This rule does not apply to the first unit activated each turn. The side to activate the first unit is always chosen by the player with Dominance.
Example: Ileana has Dominance for the current turn. She currently controls 8 Lost units. Her opponent, Arnold, has 4 Westerner units left. Ileana makes Arnold play first at the beginning of the Action phase. He is therefore made to activate one of his 4 units. Then Ileana plays one of hers. When it's Arnold's turn to play his second unit, he refuses, as he only has 3 units left and Ileana has 7. This way, he can make her play all her units until she also has only 3 waiting units left. However, Arnold does have the option to resume activating his units at any time after each of Ileana's moves, if he wishes.
Activation
Once a unit is activated, the player that controls it can choose to perform a single action from the list below. All units must act once per turn. None of them can act multiple times (except for lemures, see page 28).
Walk
Normal movement • No contact with an enemy unit • Free units only
The unit can move a distance up to or equal to the value of its Movement score before ending its activation. The unit cannot end its activation in contact with an enemy unit but it can enter an enemy control area. This action can only be performed by a free unit.
Run
Movement x 2 • No contact with an enemy unit • Free units only
The unit can move a distance up to or equal to double its Movement score before ending its activation. The unit cannot end its activation in contact with an enemy unit but it can enter an enemy control area. This action can only be performed by a free unit.
Attack
Normal movement • Contact with enemy unit • Free units only
The unit moves as if it was performing a Walk action, but it ends its activation in contact with an enemy unit, triggering a normal combat action (p. 15). This action can only be performed by a free unit.
Charge
Movement x 2 • Contact with enemy unit • -1 CBT when contact is made • Free units only
The unit moves as if it was performing a Run action, but it ends its activation in contact with an enemy unit. This immediately triggers an attack sequence affected by Charge modifiers (p. 16). This action can only be performed by a free unit.
Shoot
Normal movement • Ranged attack • No contact with an enemy unit • Free units only
The unit can perform a ranged attack against any eligible target (p. 18). It can also move a distance up to or equal to the value of its Movement score before or after shooting. It cannot end this movement in contact with an enemy unit. The unit can either move and then shoot or shoot and then move, but it cannot move part of the distance, shoot, then continue moving. This action can only be performed by a free unit. It is the only action that allows a unit to use a ranged weapon at a distance.
Retreat
Movement x 2 • No contact with an enemy unit • Triggers one-sided attack during Retreat • Engaged units only
The unit announces its intention to retreat from the combat it is engaged in. It immediately suffers a one-sided attack from one of its opponents, to which it cannot retaliate (p. 17). It can then use a Run-type Movement, unless the previous attack killed it or left it in a specific state (p. 29). It is impossible to come into contact with an enemy unit when using a Retreat action. This action can only be performed by an engaged unit.
If, during the one-sided attack, the enemy unit has less than 1 attack die, the attack is canceled and the Retreating unit can then transform its Retreat action into a Walk, Run, Attack or Charge action.
Concentration
Free units may move normally • No contact with the enemy • Engaged units may not move • Modified attack sequence
The unit announces its intention to use an active (see Special effects and timing, page 26) power (spell, special ability, order...).
If the unit is free, it can move a distance up to or equal to its Movement score, either before or after using its power. It cannot end its movement in contact with an enemy unit. The unit can either move and then use its power, or use its power and then move, but it cannot move part of the way, use its power and continue its movement.
If the unit is engaged, it cannot move and it begins combat, affected by Concentration modifiers (p. 17). If the outcome of the combat is a change of state (p. 29) for the unit (or its death, of course), the power has no effect (however, all costs must still be paid).
Focus
Free units may not move • Engaged units may not move • Triggers one-sided attack during Focus
The unit announces its intention to use an exhausting (see Special effects and timing, page 26) power (spell, special ability, order...).
If the unit is free, it cannot move at all, neither before nor after using its power.
If the unit is engaged, it cannot move and one of the enemy units it is in contact with gets to launch a one-sided attack at it (p. 17). If the result of the attack involves a change of state for the unit (or its death, of course), the power will have no effect (however, all costs remain due).
Mêlée
Limited movement • No loss of contact • Normal combat • Engaged units only
The unit engages an attack sequence against an enemy unit in contact with it. This action can only be performed by an engaged unit.
Actions
In practice, it isn't usually necessary to announce the action that the current unit is about to undertake beforehand. Therefore, a unit can be moved up to the double of its Movement score in fathoms: if it comes into contact with an enemy unit, it will be considered to have performed a Charge action; if it ends its activation outside of any contact or control areas, it will be considered a Run action.
Walk and Run actions may seem very similar, but some elements of the game (using auras, orders, etc.) will take the "speed" of movement into account. For example, a unit can be ordered to perform a Walk action. It would not, therefore, be able to move further than its Movement score in fathoms.
Figure: Different types of movement. Unit A has performed a Walk action; Unit B has performed a Run action; Unit C has performed a Charge action; Unit D has performed an Attack action; Unit E has performed a Mêlée action.
Quick Chart of Actions
Free units
- Walk: Normal movement • No contact with enemy units
- Run: Movement x 2 • No contact with enemy units
- Attack: Normal movement • Contact with enemy units
- Charge: Movement x 2 • Contact with enemy units • -1 CBT when contact is made
- Shoot: Normal movement • Ranged attack • No contact with enemy units
- Concentration: Normal movement • No contact with enemy units
- Focus: No movement
Engaged units
- Retreat: Movement x 2 • No contact with enemy units • Triggers a no-retaliation attack
- Concentration: No movement • Modified attack sequence
- Focus: No movement • Triggers a no-retaliation attack
- Mêlée: Limited or no movement • No loss of contact • Normal attack
Powers and Free Actions
It is important to remember that a passive power (p. 26) can be used at any time during a unit's activation, no matter what action is being performed at the time. This does not trigger any particular reaction, whether the unit is free or engaged. It can even be used before or after – but not during – an attack sequence or a ranged attack (if the unit survives, of course).
A free power can be triggered at any time during the Action phase, whether the unit has already been activated or not (even during an enemy unit's activation) but never during an attack sequence or a ranged attack.
A free unit can decide not to perform any actions during its activation (it will not, however, be able to act later on during the same turn).
An engaged unit must act once it is activated (Mêlée, Retreat, Concentration or Focus actions).
Once a unit has finished its action, in order to remember which units have been activated, you can flip their stat card over. By doing this, all players can easily see which units are still waiting and which have already been activated.
Example: Stephen has 2 Lost units. One of them is Saurav-Geet (an independent), who is engaged in contact with an enemy unit. The other is Isha-Akshay (the Company's officer). When his turn comes to act, he decides to activate Saurav-Geet and make him perform a Concentration action. He can then use his Exuvia power (an active power) if he survives an attack sequence as modified by the Concentration action, meaning -1 CBT and -1 DEF for Saurav-Geet. If he had possessed a passive power, he could have used it before he began the attack sequence. He could also have chosen to use it after the attack sequence (if he survived it, of course). During the attack sequence, Stephen can choose to spend 1 or 2 of his current Command points to add 1 or 2 points to Saurav-Geet's CBT stat, thanks to Isha-Akshay's vae victis order. Indeed, the vae victis order is a free effect, and it can therefore be used at any time during the Action phase, whether the unit who possesses it has been activated or not, and as many times as the player can afford to do so. Once his independent unit has finished its activation, Stephen can spend one of his current Command points, if he has any left, to give a vae soli order (free effect) and therefore activate a second unit, Isha-Akshay in this case, immediately.
Movement
All movement distances are measured in fathoms. A moving unit never has to spend all of its movement potential (it can even choose not to move at all). It doesn't have to move in a straight line, either. During its movement, its base can never overlap the base of another unit (ally or enemy). Some elements of the terrain can block or hinder movement, as you will see in the detailed terrain rules in complete rules.
Moving in Control Areas
A unit that begins its activation within the control area of one (or more) enemy units can:
- perform an action that will allow it to engage its enemy as directly as possible (or one of them); or
- perform a Concentration, Focus, or Shoot action (no movement when using a Shoot or Concentration action); or
- pay 1 Command point to be able to either move around inside the control area it is in at the beginning of its activation or leave the control area. This can only be done to leave a control area that the unit is in at the beginning of its activation. It cannot pay to move through a control area during its movement without stopping there. See page 24 for a full description of Command points. Spending Command points in this way is not an Order.
Control Area Effects
Most units in Hell Dorado have a control area of a fathom's radius out from their base. Control areas affect the movements of other units in the following way:
A unit entering the control area of an enemy unit has only three choices. It can:
- continue its movement so as to engage its enemy directly (by the most direct route, even if this means entering another unit's control area); or
- approach its enemy as stated above, but stop moving before making contact; or
- stop moving immediately.
It cannot continue its movement and leave the control area or otherwise move around within the area unless it is to engage the enemy. If it decides to end its movement before making contact with the enemy, the two units are not considered to be engaged.
Control areas have no effect on a unit that moves during a Mêlée action. On the other hand, a unit that moves to Retreat is affected by control areas (except for the one it is Retreating from).
If a unit simultaneously enters the control areas of several enemy units, it can:
- stop its movement immediately; or
- pick one of the enemy units and engage it by moving to make contact by the most direct route (this may take it out of the control area of one or more of the other units); or
- simultaneously engage several enemy units.
Unless otherwise stated, an engaged unit is no longer considered to have a control area.
(Diagram on p. 14, "Examples of minis entering enemy control areas": unit A decides to stop its movement; unit B decides to engage the enemy unit; unit C decides to engage enemy unit E; unit D decides to engage enemy units F and G.)
Figure 8 (p. 15), "A miniature inside a control area decides to act": if unit A wants to engage unit B, it must spend 1 Command point. Engaging combat with C will cost nothing.
Combat
In this section, you will find a detailed description of all the possible combat situations, both close and ranged, that can occur during the Action phases of a game. It is important to have a good grasp of all the following concepts to be able to make the most of playing Hell Dorado and to avoid being led astray by your future opponents.
Close Combat
An attack sequence in Hell Dorado represents a flurry of blows between engaged units. This is one of the reasons why the Hell Dorado units don't have front and rear arcs like minis do in most similar games. An engaged unit can fight all the units around it, for as long as it can resist their number.
However, every time an attack sequence is resolved, it can only involve two units at a time (an ally and an enemy), any other units in contact will only provide support to the main fighters.
A player cannot choose to attack one of the units in his own Company, unless those units are considered to be enemy units (controlled by another player at that time).
A unit without a Combat stat cannot engage in combat, even if it receives CBT bonuses later on. Any attack engaged against this kind of unit will remain a one-sided attack.
Resolving an Attack Sequence
The same procedure is used whenever a close combat attack sequence needs resolving. Later, we will see the most common exceptions.
A. Both players work out how many combat dice they need to roll. In close combat, both players roll a number of dice equal to the Combat stat of the unit involved. This number of dice can be modified by the actions of the units during the Action phase, by the state of the units or by outside elements.
Example: William has a Damned One of Wrath engaged in an attack sequence. This unit has a CBT score of 4 and has a total of 3 extra points added to its CBT as bonuses (order, spell...). William will therefore have 5 dice to roll and 2 possible re-rolls.
B. Both players roll their combat dice. Each of the dice that rolls a number equal to or greater than the unit's Defense stat inflicts a hit. Each of the dice that rolls a number lower than the unit's Defense stat is a miss. A die that rolls a miss can be rolled again, once and only once, as a re-roll. This means that if a player has 3 possible re-rolls and only 2 misses, the third possible re-roll will not be usable, no matter what the result of the re-rolls are.
Once all re-rolls are done, the players count the number of hits.
Example: the enemy unit William's Damned One is fighting has a Defense score of 3. William rolls his Combat dice and obtains 3, 4, 2, 6 and 4. He has scored 4 hits. He re-rolls the 2 and gets a result of 1. Even if he had 2 possible re-rolls, he cannot re-roll the 1, as any die can only be re-rolled once: in this case, he does not benefit from his second re-roll. At the end of this sequence, William has scored 4 hits.
C. Both players apply the result of the attack rolls simultaneously. The players check the power table of the weapons that were used to work out how many damage points should be inflicted and/or any special effects that have been triggered.
A player can always choose to reduce the number of hits inflicted by his own unit (this can, for example, allow him to trigger specific effects that may be a lot more helpful than the full number of hits).
The defender's Protection score is then subtracted from the number of damage points. The final result will be the number of Life Points the unit will lose.
Unless otherwise specified, damage is inflicted simultaneously to both units engaged in the attack sequence. The same is true for any change of state.
Even if a unit dies, all the damage it caused is applied (and any special effects are triggered).
Example: Arnold's missionary can inflict 4 damage points with the 3 hits it rolled during the attack roll. However, Arnold chooses to reduce the number of hits inflicted to 2, so he can also inflict a Stunned effect (p. 33) and inflict no damage points. The missionary's enemy, a Damned One of Wrath, manages 5 hits and inflicts 10 damage points, which, despite the missionary's Protection score kills him. The Damned One will still suffer from the Stunned effect, as the effects of the attack sequence are applied simultaneously.
D. The Grim Reaper comes for the fallen. The units whose Life Points reach or go below 0 are immediately removed from the battlefield. All units who still have one or more Life Points left stay on the battlefield. Depending on the result of the attack sequence, a unit can become free or remain engaged.
Friendly Fire
In Hell Dorado, a player cannot attack one of his own allied troops, be it in close or ranged combat. Allied troops are all the units controlled at any one time by the same player.
If a unit ever has a number of dice greater than 5, it will only roll 5 and any extras will be counted as re-rolls (see below).
A unit cannot have more than 10 dice to roll (5 rolls and 5 possible re-rolls). If a unit gets over 10 dice, each die over 10 allows it to inflict one automatic Damage point per extra die to its opponent (Protection is ignored and these points are inflicted even if the unit doesn't score a single hit with its attack roll).
Attack Sequence
Once the attack sequence has begun, powers and passive or free abilities can no longer be used until the sequence is over. The most obvious example of this is the use of the order vae victis (p. 27).
Special Situations
Charge. When a unit engages an attack sequence while charging, it suffers a -1 CBT penalty. Any later attack sequences are not affected.
Attack and Mêlée. When a unit engages in an attack sequence during an Attack or Mêlée action, no particular modifiers are applied.
Attacking from above. Any unit standing on ground at least half a fathom higher than its opponent receives a +1 CBT bonus. On the other hand, if the lower unit's head is lower than the base of the higher unit, no contact – and therefore no close combat – can occur between the two.
Concentration. When a unit performs a Concentration action while engaged, it takes part in an attack sequence at the beginning of its activation, but it does so affected by a -1 CBT and DEF penalty. If several enemy units are in contact with the unit, only one of them (chosen by their controlling player) will perform an attack, the others will only provide a support bonus.
One-sided attack during Retreat. When a unit suffers a one-sided attack because of a Retreat action, a normal attack sequence is performed, but only the enemy unit gets an attack roll. If several enemy units are in contact with the Retreating unit, only one of them (chosen by their controlling player) performs the attack, the others will only provide a support bonus. All abilities and modifiers that affect normal attack sequences can affect one-sided attacks.
One-sided attack during Focus. When a unit suffers a one-sided attack because of a Focus action, a normal attack sequence is performed, but only the enemy unit gets an attack roll and the unit currently Focusing suffers a -1 DEF penalty. If several enemy units are in contact with the Retreating unit, only one of them (chosen by their controlling player) performs the attack, the others will only provide a support bonus. All abilities and modifiers that affect normal attack sequences can affect one-sided attacks.
Support. If a unit engages combat with an enemy unit that is already in contact with an ally unit, the attacking unit receives a bonus for its attack roll. Each ally in contact with the enemy unit produces a +1 CBT bonus. A unit can provide a support bonus multiple times in one turn. A unit that cannot fight (no CBT stat, Immobilized, etc.) or that has been Knocked Down does not provide any support.
(Figure 9, "Multiple units and support": Unit A receives a support bonus of +1 CBT. Unit B receives a support bonus of +2 CBT. Unit C does not receive any support.)
Weapon damage types. Most of the weapons carried by Hell Dorado units inflict a specific kind of damage, indicated on the stat cards as keywords. However, some weapons can be listed as inflicting several types of damage. In this case, the type of damage inflicted is always the one that will be more favorable to the attacking unit (depending on the defender's different types of resistance). Note that the kind of damage inflicted by a weapon does not imply that any special rules should be applied unless otherwise stated. For example, the keywords Blunt, Sharp or Piercing are not associated with any special rules. They are only used as keywords when dealing with some specific effects.
(Figure 10, "Units and damage types": this Damned One of Wrath can cause both Piercing and Sharp damage. Depending on the type of resistance its opponent has, the type of damage will be the one that is more favorable to the attacker.)
Multiple weapons. When a unit carries several weapons (with different power tables) that can be used during ranged or close combat, its player must state which weapon is being used for the current attack sequence. If the player fails to do so, the defender gets to choose which power table is used to inflict damage. Obviously, only close combat weapons can be used by an engaged unit and only ranged weapons can be used by a free unit.
Specific Modifiers
| Situation | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Charge | -1 CBT for the attacking unit |
| Concentration | -1 CBT and -1 DEF for the attacking unit |
| One-sided attack during Retreat | One-sided attack |
| One-sided attack during Focus | One-sided attack with -1 DEF for the attacking unit |
| Support | +1 CBT for the allied unit (per supporting unit) |
| vae victis (p. 27) | +1 or +2 CBT depending on Command points spent |
Ranged Combat
As with close combat, ranged combat is resolved during the Action phase. There is, however, one big difference between the two: during ranged combat, the targeted unit cannot respond to the attack.
Shots
During the Action phase, as with close combats, ranged combats are resolved during the attacking unit's activation. These ranged attacks are called shots. When a unit wishes to shoot, the ensuing actions are always the same.
A. Choosing the target. In Hell Dorado, unless they have special abilities, units wishing to perform a ranged attack must target the enemy unit that is nearest to them. There are, however, three exceptions to this:
- The first important exception to this rule is that if the nearest possible target is under cover (see below) that gives it a Protection bonus at least equal to its natural Protection score, the shooter can choose the next closest eligible target. If the next possible target has a similar amount of cover to the previous one (cover that provides Protection at least equal to the unit's natural Protection score), then the next closest target will be examined and so on.
- The second important exception to this rule is that if the nearest enemy unit is engaged in close combat, the shooter does not have to choose it as a target and can choose the next closest eligible target.
- The third exception is that an enemy unit that cannot be a target (because of an ability or an aura, etc.) never counts as the nearest enemy unit.
Allied units cannot become targets, unless they are temporarily considered to be enemy troops.
B. Cover and line of fire. You can consider that there is a clear line of fire between a shooter and its target if an imaginary straight line could be drawn between the center of the shooter's base and any part of the target (base, weapon, body of the figure...).
Elements of terrain can naturally prevent a shooter from aiming at an enemy unit if there is no clear line of fire between the two, no matter how far the enemy unit is from the terrain element. On the other hand, in Hell Dorado, lines of fire are never blocked by other units (enemies or allies). It is treated as though the warriors are not standing still on the battlefield. As one moves forward at a fast pace to intercept an enemy, another one will have the time to exchange blows with several enemies and a shooter can wait until its target is in view as other units move out of the way.
If the target is partially covered by terrain elements (from the shooter's point of view), it receives cover Protection if at least 50% of the figure is concealed by the obstacle and if it is a fathom (or less) away from the obstacle. To work out if at least 50% of the figure is hidden from the shooter's view, you can either lean over and see for yourself "what the mini can see," or use a laser pointer.
If a target does have cover, then it receives a bonus to its Protection score depending on its size (a large warrior would naturally find it harder to hide than a smaller one would).
(Diagrams on p. 19, "Line of fire and protection": the shooter has a clear line of fire towards D, but the element it is behind gives it a Protection bonus of 2 (the target has a Large base). The shooter (A) has no possible line of fire towards B, as part of the terrain is completely blocking any line of sight between the two units. The shooter has a clear line of fire towards E and the scenery is hiding less than 50% of the figure; the shot takes place as normal. The shooter has a clear line of fire towards C, but the element it is behind gives it a Protection bonus of 3 (the unit has a Regular base) as less than 50% of the figure is visible. The shooter has a clear line of fire towards F and the scenery is over 1 fathom away from the figure; the shot takes place as normal.)
Cover bonus (added to the target's Protection score):
| Target's base size | Cover bonus |
|---|---|
| Regular | 3 |
| Large | 2 |
| Extra Large | 1 |
C. Measuring distances. The distance between the shooter and its target is always measured from the edge of one base to the other.
In Hell Dorado, there is no limit to the range of most throwing weapons or firearms. The weapons' Range score is only an indication of how difficult the shot roll will be depending on the distance from the target as explained in the following table:
| Distance between shooter and target | Range | Distance difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| No greater than the weapon's Range | Point blank | 3 |
| Greater than the weapon's Range but no greater than Range x 2 | Short | 4 |
| Greater than Range x 2 but no greater than Range x 3 | Medium | 5 |
| Greater than Range x 3 | Long | 6 |
The final difficulty of the shot roll is equal to the distance difficulty or the target's Defense score, whichever is higher.
(Figure 12, "Distance and difficulty": all the shooters in this example are using arquebuses (range of 8). The Defense score of all targets is 4. Shooter A's target B is 19 fathoms away from him. The difficulty of the shot roll will therefore be 5 (4 DEF score and a 5 distance difficulty). Shooter C's target D is 5 fathoms away from him. The difficulty will therefore be 4 (4 DEF score and a 3 distance difficulty).)
Shots. Once a shot has been fired, passive or free powers and abilities can no longer be used. For that, you must wait until the shot has been resolved. The most obvious exception to this rule is the use of the vae victis order (p. 27).
D. Resolving the ranged attack. The shooting unit rolls a number of combat dice equal to its Shooting skill stat. This number of dice may be modified by the unit's state or other modifiers.
If a shooter ever has a number of dice greater than 5, it will only roll 5 and any extras will be counted as re-rolls (see below).
A shooter cannot have more than 10 dice to roll (5 rolls and 5 possible re-rolls). If a unit gets more than 10 dice, each die over 10 allows it to inflict one automatic Damage point per extra die to its opponent (Protection is not taken into account and these points are inflicted even if the unit doesn't score a single hit with its attack roll).
Each of the dice that rolls a number equal to or greater than the shot's difficulty inflicts a hit. Each of the dice that rolls a number lower than the shot's difficulty is a miss. A dice that rolls a miss can be rolled again, once and only once, as a re-roll. This means that if a player has 3 possible re-rolls and only 2 misses, the third possible re-roll will not be usable, no matter what the result of the re-rolls are.
Once all re-rolls are done, the players count the number of hits.
E. The shooter applies the results of the shot roll. The player checks the power table of the weapon that has just been used to work out how many damage points to inflict and/or what special effects may have been triggered. The defendant's Protection stat is subtracted from the Damage points to be inflicted. The final number will be the number of Life Points that the enemy unit will lose.
A player always has the option of choosing to cause fewer hits than the number rolled by one of the units he controls (which may enable him to inflict specific effects that may be more beneficial to him than the full number of hits would).
F. The Grim Reaper comes for the fallen. The units whose Life Points reach or go below 0 are immediately removed from the battlefield. All units who still have one or more Life Points left stay on the battlefield.
(Figure 13, "Aiming a shot at certain minis": Unit A wishes to shoot. Usually, it would have to pick the nearest enemy unit, but... Unit B has a cover of 3, and its natural Protection score is 1. Unit C is engaged in close combat. Unit D also has some cover, although it is not better than the unit's natural Protection score (cover of 1 and Protection of 3). Unit E is not under cover. Unit A can therefore pick units B, C or D as its target for this shot.)
Shooting During Close Combat
When a unit decides to perform a ranged attack on an enemy unit engaged in close combat, the shot takes place as normal (measuring distance, consideration of cover, etc.).
The difficulty of the shot roll is the highest of values between the Defense stat of each unit engaged in the close combat (and not just the target's Defense) and the distance difficulty.
While resolving the attack (once all re-rolls are done), if the result is at least one hit, then the number of odd and even dice scores are compared (compare all the dice, those that provided hits and those that didn't). If there are more odd scores than even ones ("even" though this may seem "odd"), the shot hits another of the units engaged in the close combat, chosen randomly (give each of them a number and roll a die, or mix up their stat cards and pick one...).
The Damage is then inflicted as normal, based on the total number of hits (in this case it is impossible to choose to reduce the number of hits).
If the shooter picks a target that is behind an ongoing close combat, the same rule applies, but if the odd dice win, the unfortunate victim is picked amongst all those whose bases are at least partially on the imaginary line between the center of the shooter's base and that of its target, and all the units in contact with them. Of course, if the shooter and/or its target are on a higher level than the units between them, the line of fire is not blocked and the shot can take place as normal.
Example: Ileana is playing her Berber chasseur, who is firing at an enemy Blade for hire that is engaged in close combat with two of her units. These two have Defense scores of 3 and 5, the target's Defense stat is 4 and the shot is short range (distance difficulty of 4). This means that the shot's difficulty will be 5 (the highest of the previous values). Ileana rolls 3 dice for her shooter. The results are 5, 6 and 3. She gets 2 hits, but as there are more odd results than even ones, the shot will hit one of the other engaged units (meaning one of hers) picked randomly.
Explosion
A shooter who carries a weapon that produces an explosion aims it at a point on the battlefield. It can be a place where an enemy unit is standing, or any other spot on the ground. Important note: the unit does not have to aim at the closest enemy unit.
The unit will require a free line of fire towards the spot it wishes to aim at.
Unless otherwise stated, all explosions will affect a circular area with a 3 fathom radius, centered on the targeted spot.
The shooter then performs a normal ranged attack based on the distance difficulty (Defense stats are not taken into account here).
If the shot roll scores at least one hit, then the shot is considered to have successfully hit the targeted spot. The vae victis order cannot be used during explosion damage rolls (although it can perfectly be used during the roll that determines if the shot hits its target or not).
If the shot roll does not score a single hit, then the shot is considered to have missed and inflicts no damage (as if the weapon had misfired or the shot had missed completely and hit some deserted bit of terrain...).
If the shot roll is successful, the explosion template is placed on the battlefield with its center on the targeted spot. All units that are hit (allies or enemies) by the template have to roll for damage (even if only a tiny part of the miniature's base is inside the effect area).
Ranged weapons with explosive ammunition have two stats: a Difficulty value and a Power value. They are always displayed in the following way: Explosion (type of damage if necessary • power x/y). Here, x is the Difficulty and y is the Power. In some cases, these two damage stats will be replaced by a specific state. In this case, any unit even partially inside the effect area will automatically be affected by the aforementioned state.
For each unit inside the effect area of an explosion, the shooter rolls 5d6: each of the dice higher than or equal to the explosion's Difficulty stat is a hit. Each hit inflicts a number of damage points equal to the explosion's Power stat. The damage points for all the hits are added up, the unit's Protection score is subtracted to obtain the number of Life Points the unit will actually lose. It is not possible to choose to reduce the number of hits obtained.
There are no bonuses due to cover for units inside an explosion effect area.
Example: One of Stephen's sling-carriers shoots with an "explosion (power 3/1)" weapon on a battlefield that can allow him to include two enemy troops in the effect area, but also one of his own units, unfortunately for him. The targeted spot is in long range. Stephen rolls 2 dice for his shot roll: he gets 2 and 6. This single hit (the 6) means that the shot has hit its target. For each of the three units inside the effect area, Stephen then rolls 5d6 against a Difficulty of 3, as he would with a normal shot roll. Each hit will inflict 1 damage point. The Protection stat of each unit is then subtracted from the total number of Damage points it was hit with.
Blast Effect Weapons
Before we begin, it is important to differentiate the two kinds of blast effect weapons: cloud-type blasts and ammunition blasts.
Whatever the type of blast, the attack is resolved in the same way. The shooter places a blast template (a triangle 6 fathoms long and 2 fathoms wide at the base) where he wants on the battlefield, the only condition is that the tip of the cone must be in contact with the unit's base. It doesn't have to "aim" at any specific enemy unit.
Each unit (ally or enemy) hit by the blast template will have to roll for damage (even if only a tiny part of the base is inside the effect area). Using a blast effect weapon does not require a shot roll.
Example (Ammunition blast): Grenadier A, carrying a blunderbuss "Impact blast (piercing • power 4/2)", shoots at a group of 3 units. Its Shooting skill score is 2. It therefore rolls 7 dice against unit B and scores 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5 and 6. This means that it hits unit B 4 times, and therefore inflicts 8 Damage points (minus Protection). The shooter then rolls 3 dice (the dice that missed during the previous roll) against Unit C. The shooter obtains 4, 6 and 6, for three hits, which deal 6 Damage points (minus Protection and Cover). Unit D therefore suffers no damage, even though it is inside the blast effect area, as there are no dice left to roll (all the dice in the previous roll produced hits).
Impact blast weapons. With Impact blasts, the first unit we will take care of will be the one nearest the shooter, inside (at least partially) the blast template.
The shooter rolls a number of dice equal to its Shooting skill stat + 5: each die that rolls equal to or greater than the blast's Difficulty stat is a hit, each hit then inflicts a number of Damage points equal to the blast's power. The Damage points are added up and the first targeted unit's Protection score is subtracted to obtain the number of Life Points that it will lose immediately.
The attack then continues to the next closest unit to the shooter. The shooter rolls the dice that did not produce hits during the roll for the previous unit. Each of the dice that rolls a score higher than or equal to the blast's Difficulty stat is a hit, each hit then inflicts a number of Damage points equal to the blast's power. The Damage points are added up and the next unit's Protection score is subtracted to obtain the number of Life Points that it will lose immediately.
Continue until there are no more units left inside the blast effect area or until there are no dice left to roll. Cover is applied normally to damage inflicted by an Impact blast.
If two units (or more) are at an equal distance from the shooter, the one who is affected first is determined randomly.
Impact blast weapons are usually weapons that fire clusters of ammunition (Blunderbuss, cannon loaded with lead shot...).
Blast effect weapons have four stats: type of damage, type of blast (cloud-type or impact), Difficulty and Power. They are always displayed in the same way: "[blast type] Blast (type of damage • power x/y)". In this example x is the Difficulty and y is the Power. In some cases, these two stats will be replaced by a specific state. In this case, all units even partially inside the effect area will automatically be affected by the aforementioned state.
The vae victis order cannot be used during a shot with a blast effect weapon.
It is not possible to choose to reduce the number of hits for blast effects.
Cloud-type blast effect weapons. Cloud-type blast effect weapons usually fire things like flames or burning gases. As you will probably have noticed, these effects are quite similar to the explosions mentioned above.
For each unit inside the effect area of a cloud-type blast, the shooter rolls 5d6: each die which rolls equal to or greater than the blast's Difficulty stat is a hit. Each hit inflicts a number of damage points equal to the blast's Power stat. The damage points for all the hits are added up, the unit's Protection score is subtracted to obtain the number of Life Points the unit will actually lose. There are no bonuses due to cover for units inside a cloud-type blast effect area.
Example: a monstrous creature projecting a cloud of acid across the battlefield has an attack "Cloud-type blast (acid • power 5/2)". Any dice rolled by the creature that scores a 5 or higher will cause 2 Damage points.
Full cover. During an explosion or an Impact blast (but not during a Cloud-type blast), if a unit is totally under cover (none of the miniature is visible) from the point of origin of the attack (center of the explosion, tip of the blast cone), then it will not be hit by the attack.
Command and Orders
Command and Orders are important notions in Hell Dorado. These are the factors that will most probably make the biggest difference between two Companies. Managing Command points is particularly important in this respect.
Command
The notion of Command is essential to games of Hell Dorado. Each player has a certain number of Command (CMD) points that will be used to pay for the orders that some units can use.
You can use cardboard tokens, glass markers or coins to keep track of how many Command points each player has left.
At the beginning of the game, all players work out the number of Command points they will start with.
Depending on unit losses and expenditure, it is possible for players to reach a basic Command score of 0 during the game.
This is done by adding up the Command points of all the units in each Company.
The basic Command score is considered to be different from the current Command score. The basic score is the Command score of the Company: it is only modified by permanent losses of Command points (caused by the death of units, use of orders that cost permanent Command points...). The current score is the number of Command points that a player has left at any given time (once permanent and temporary costs are accounted for). At the beginning of each turn, during the Upkeep phase, the current Command score is reset to its basic value.
When a player spends temporary Command points, they are subtracted from the current score. When a player spends permanent Command points, they are subtracted from the current score and the basic score.
When a player loses a unit with a Command score, the unit's score is subtracted from the current and from the basic Command score. If the player doesn't have enough current Command points, he loses all remaining command points. He will still, however, lose the unit's full Command stat from the Company's basic Command score.
It is, of course, impossible to use an order if the player doesn't have enough current Command points to pay for it.
Example: Arnold is playing a Westerner Company and has 7 Command points at the beginning of the game (4 points for the Frank-Captain +1 for the Swashbuckler +1 for the Missionary +1 for the Sergeant). During the first turn of the game, he decides to use 3 temporary Command points to trigger certain orders: he has 4 Command points left for the rest of the turn, even though the basic score remains at 7. During the Upkeep phase of the following turn, Arnold's Command points return to the basic score of 7. During this phase, Arnold uses 4 temporary points and 2 permanent points to activate various orders: at this point, he only has a current Command score of 1 and the basic score is lowered to 5 (7 – 2 permanent points). Before the turn is over, Arnold loses his officer who had a Command stat of 4. He immediately subtracts these 4 points from his basic Command score, which is reduced to 1 (5 – 4), and from his current score, which is reduced to 0 (1 – 4, with a minimum of 0). During the following Upkeep phase, Arnold will only get a current Command score of 1 to spend on his orders.
Special Effects, Auras and Orders
The area of effect is the range (in fathoms) that is the radius of the circular area where the aura will be effective. This radius is always measured from the edge of the base of the unit that uses it.
Special Effects and Timing
There are two types of aura, lingering and instant (p. 28), their precise nature is indicated in their full description.
If a special ability or any other spell, order or aura contradicts one of the basic rules, then the special ability is the one to prevail.
Special effects in this game can be associated with specific statistics when they are indicated on the stat cards.
Auras can be associated with a keyword. Depending on the effect's nature, this keyword allows to tell the difference between vulnerable units (no keyword) and immune units (keyword: immune).
- Duration: a permanent effect is always in effect, a player cannot voluntarily choose to stop it. A temporary effect is only active until the end of the current turn, unless stated otherwise (for example "lasts until the end of the unit's activation"). Players cannot voluntarily choose to stop the effect before its term. When a duration of x is indicated for a temporary effect, the current turn is always considered to be the first turn of the x value. Thus, an effect with a duration of 1 will end at the end of the current turn, an effect with a duration of 2 will last through the current turn and end at the end of the next turn, etc.
- Triggers: exhausting, active, passive or free (sorted by decreasing complexity).
- An exhausting effect requires the unit to perform a Focus action (p. 12) to be triggered.
- An active effect requires the unit to perform a Concentration action (p. 11) to be triggered.
- A passive effect can be triggered at any time during the unit's activation, no matter what action it chooses to perform. This does not trigger any reaction from its enemies, whether the unit is free or engaged (p. 10). This type of effect cannot be used during a ranged attack or a close combat attack sequence, but it can be used just before or just after the attack.
- A free effect can be triggered at any point during the Action phase (even during an opponent's activation), whether the unit in question has already been activated or not. This kind of effect cannot be used during a ranged attack or a close combat attack sequence, but it can be used just before or just after the attack.
If none of these four triggers are indicated for a permanent effect, then the effect is always in effect. If none of these four triggers are mentioned for a temporary effect, then it can be triggered as indicated in its full description.
An order is described in the following way: Trigger • Cost (permanent or not) • Unique (or nothing). An order with the keyword Unique can only be used once per game. The cost indicates the number of Command points that will be spent to trigger the order. In some cases the points will be permanently spent (p. 27).
An aura is described as follows: Duration • Trigger • Area of Effect • Type (lingering or instant) • Keyword (immune or nothing).
Example (aura): Inspiration Aura. Temporary • Active • 4 fathom radius • Lingering • Muslims. Muslim units gain +1 CBT. This ability is an aura. It lasts until the end of the turn (temporary). To use it, a Concentration action is required (active trigger). It affects all Muslim (keyword) units within a range of 4 fathoms from the unit's base (effect area). Auras have another trait (the type: lingering or instant): we will go into this in more detail on page 28. Using this aura doesn't cost any Command points (no cost indicated).
Example (order): The Lord guides my hand. Active • 2 permanent CMD • Unique. The swashbuckler gains +1 MVT, +2 SHS, +2 CBT and +2 FTH until the end of the game. This ability is an order. It has a permanent effect (see description). To use it, a Concentration action is required (active trigger). It only affects the swashbuckler. This order can only be used once during the game ("Unique" keyword) and it costs 2 permanent Command points.
Orders Without Triggers
If, for some reason, a unit enters the game after the first turn, its Command value is added to the basic Command score of its Company during the Upkeep phase of the turn following the turn when it entered the game. This can happen because of a special rule or other detail in a scenario. In the same way, if a unit leaves the battlefield during a game, its Command stat will be subtracted from the basic Command score of the Company, exactly as if it had been eliminated.
Using an Order without a trigger (exhausting, active, passive, free) is not considered to be "giving an order" or "receiving an order."
Example: Samael and one of his Succubi have been Stunned (incapable of giving or receiving orders) by enemy units. If Samael dies, he can still use his Ultimate Sacrifice order and the Succubus can benefit from it.
Orders
Some units in Hell Dorado can use orders. These are often effects that allow the unit to break some of the basic rules of the game, and they therefore have great tactical potential. These orders are usually activated by spending Command points.
Orders follow the same rules as effects (see Special effects and timing on page 26). Orders with the keyword "Unique" can only be used once in each game.
Using an effect as it is described on a unit's stat card is called "Giving an order". Being affected by an effect as it is described on an ally's stat card is called "Receiving an order". A unit is not "Receiving an order" if it is reacting to an effect listed on an enemy's stat card.
In general, and unless specified otherwise, orders do not have a limited range and can therefore affect units anywhere on the battlefield.
This order cannot be used during a shot with a blast effect weapon (or when rolling for damage after using an explosive weapon).
As this order has a free type trigger, it can be used several times during any one Action phase (even when an enemy unit is resolving an action).
Even if several units have the ability to use this order within a Company, it is not possible to spend more than 2 Command points and so obtain a CBT or SHS bonus higher than 2 for any one shot or attack sequence.
There are two special orders that all Officers – and only Officers – can use (see below): these are vae victis and vae soli.
Vae Soli
Free • 1 CMD
As long as a Company has at least one unit with this order (able to use it), the player who controls it can spend 1 temporary Command point immediately after activating one of their units to be able to activate a second unit immediately. This cannot be used to activate more than two units in a row, even if there are several units in the Company that can use this order.
Vae Victis
Free • 1 or 2 CMD
As long as a Company has at least one unit with this order (able to use it), the player who controls it can give one of their units a +1 CBT or SHS bonus for 1 temporary Command point, or +2 CBT or SHS for 2 temporary Command points.
This order should be used when the number of dice is being calculated for the combat or shot roll. The bonus only lasts for the current attack sequence or shot (this Order is an exception to the rule that states that free triggered powers cannot be used during an attack sequence).
Frequent use of vae victis and vae soli. After your first few games of Hell Dorado, using these two orders will have become a second nature to you and you will find it hard to do without them. However, don't forget that your Officer is the one who allows you to use them and that if he dies, you will lose these two essential abilities. Also, don't forget that if an Officer is Stunned or Knocked down (for example) you temporarily lose the benefit of these two abilities.
Magic
There are two ways of using magic in Hell Dorado: the first is by using magical auras with effects with variable durations, the second is by capturing small demonic creatures and feeding them magical ingredients and using them as power containers.
Auras
Some units are able to use magical auras. These auras obey the rules of special effects (see Special effects and timing on page 26). A unit with at least one aura is called a Mentalist.
Many auras are linked to the units' religions: if so they represent the powers of Faith.
There are two kinds of auras: lingering auras and instant auras:
- A lingering aura will only affect the units that are inside its effect area and no longer affects the units once they leave the area. The effects of a lingering aura end if the unit that produced it dies (but not if its state changes), or at the end of a turn if the unit is still alive. The effects of two identical auras cannot be applied jointly to any one unit.
- An instant aura only affects the units inside its effect area at the time it is triggered. The effects of an instant aura end at the end of the current turn, even if the unit who triggered it is killed before that.
Lemures
Some of the units in Hell Dorado have learned how to capture and train some of the small creatures that live in Hell like rodents on Earth for use as vessels for the magical powers that seep through the infernal planes. These units are called Infernalists.
These people know what to feed the strange little creatures so they can obtain surprising – and sometimes explosive – effects...
On the battlefield, Lemures are represented by their own special miniatures. Like all the other units, lemures have their own stat cards. However, they do follow some special rules.
Entering the battlefield. When they are captured, lemures are tiny creatures, only an inch or two high, like a kind of demonic grub. Infernalists feed them up with various elements (gold coins, herbs, potions, rocks...) so as to be able to use them as they wish. As soon as the combined elements are sufficient to produce the desired effect, the lemure grows incredibly fast, growing from a grub of less than 4 inches to a fully grown specimen of 1.5 to 3 feet tall in a few seconds.
Unless stated otherwise, an Infernalist can choose any lemure to cast a spell (as long, of course, as the corresponding miniature and its base are available and painted). A lemure that has been destroyed (either because it was killed or because its power was triggered) is available again immediately.
Invoking a lemure is an exhausting power that requires a Focus action. Once this has been done, the miniature of the chosen lemure should be placed on the ground in contact with the Infernalist's base, but not in contact with an enemy unit.
A lemure cannot be activated during the turn during which it was invoked.
Every time a lemure is invoked, its owner must clearly warn its enemy which spell will be used with it (it can only associate one spell with each lemure). The kind of spell associated with each lemure can even be indicated by some kind of special marker. There is no particular limitation to the kind of spell associated with lemures (unless otherwise stated). Any lemure can be associated with any spell known by the Infernalist. If the unit in question can invoke several lemures, it can associate the same spell with any number of them.
Mi lemures es su lemures... The basic rule in Hell Dorado, is that all players should bring their own miniatures for the lemures they are going to use during the game. During friendly games, if both players agree, the lemure miniatures can be put to one side and shared between the players. This way, the players can dip into the lemure pool every time they require one of these strange little creatures for one of their Infernalists.
Activating lemures. Unlike the other units, lemures are activated twice per Action phase.
If a player owns a lemure that has not been activated at all and his opponent has no units left to activate, the lemure can only be activated once. This rule prevents a lemure from moving twice its Movement distance without anyone being able to react to its movement.
It is therefore important to remember which lemures have already been activated. This can be done by placing tokens beside the miniature or the stat card. The stat card can also be turned round 90 degrees after the first activation and turned over after the second.
Movement and actions of lemures. Lemures can only perform one of their own specific actions during their activation. Although it resembles a Walk action, it is still a specific lemure action and also allows them to trigger their magical power. When performing an action a lemure can:
- move, at the most, the number of fathoms indicated in its Movement stat. It can engage an enemy unit, but this will not trigger a combat sequence. It can also break contact with an enemy without triggering an attack sequence or a one-sided attack (but it cannot engage and break contact with a unit during the same activation).
- AND a lemure may also release the magical effect that it was entrusted with, which usually destroys the lemure instantly.
So, during its activation, the lemure can move over a number of fathoms lower than or equal to its Movement stat and may also choose to trigger its magical power. A lemure never Runs: it always moves, at most, the number of fathoms indicated in its Movement stat.
Only lemures with the Strider ability can enter and end their turn in Difficult terrain. A lemure with the Strider ability can enter and/or end its activation in Difficult terrain (p. XXX). (The printed text reads "p. XXX" in the references in this passage.) A lemure with Burrower, Intangible or Levitation abilities will be able to pass over (or under) Difficult terrain, for example (p. XXX), but it will not be able to end its turn there unless it also has the Strider ability. A lemure is not affected by the Attraction ability.
As long as a lemure has not been activated twice during an Action phase, it will count toward the number of waiting units when working out inferiority in numbers (p. 11).
Limited number of lemures. Each Infernalist has the ability to control a maximum number of lemures simultaneously on the battlefield. What's more, the ingredients that Infernalists carry to feed the lemures will only allow them to invoke a maximum number each per game of Hell Dorado.
These two limits are indicated on the stat cards in the x/y format. These two numbers are the maximum number of lemures that the unit can control simultaneously (x) and the total number of lemures that the unit can use throughout the game (y).
Finally, when Infernalists are killed or leave the battlefield, all the lemures that they invoked and that are still in the game disappear immediately.
(Sidebar "Madagascar?": "No, Ileana. A lemure (rimes with secure) is not a lemur (rhymes with steamer). Lemures are drooling demonic creatures that live in Hell. Lemurs are cute little furry wide-eyed monkey-like mammals that live on the island of Madagascar. They do not explode. Got it?")
Special abilities of lemures. Unless otherwise stated, lemures have the following special abilities: Harmless, Evasive, Insignificant, Rebellious and Invulnerable.
Lemure effects. All the effects that can be channeled into lemures are linked to the Infernalist and are therefore indicated on the invoker's stat card (or on an extra card if necessary).
States
A unit can be affected by a wide variety of states during a game of Hell Dorado. In this part, you will find a detailed description of these states.
It is important to remember that when a unit is simultaneously affected by several different states, their effects are cumulative.
A unit whose state prevents it from giving any orders also prevents its controlling player from using its free orders.
All the stats of units in Hell Dorado can potentially be reduced to 0, except for the Defense score, which can be reduced to a minimum of 1 (this means an automatic hit for all attack rolls targeting this unit).
Whatever the penalties that are applied to a unit, a stat score cannot be reduced below 0. If, following this, bonuses are applied to this stat, they will be added to 0, and not to a negative score. In practice, this means that when penalties and bonuses are applied at the same time, the penalties are applied first, followed by the bonuses.
Example: One of Benny's unit's CBT score is currently 2. This unit is then affected by the states Wounded and Knocked down. A penalty of -3CBT is therefore applied to the unit and its CBT score is reduced to 0. This unit then takes part in an attack sequence during which two allies provide support. It will therefore have 2 dice for this attack sequence (CBT 0 + 2 support).
States can be permanent or temporary. When a value of x is indicated next to the state, it represents the number of turns during which the state will affect the unit (see Special effects and timing on page 26).
Stacking state changes. State changes that affect a unit can only be cumulative when they are different. When a unit is affected multiple times by the same state-changing effect, the greater value of the two effects is the one that remains.
Ex: a Stunned 1 unit, suffering from another Stunned 1 state in the same turn will still only be Stunned 1.
Accelerated X
+2 Movement • Activation by reaction
The unit can act faster than usual. This acceleration will also give the unit a better understanding of combat sequences.
An accelerated unit can be activated immediately after the activation of another unit from the same Company. However, it is not possible to activate more than 2 units from the same Company in a row (even by using the order vae soli).
Berserk X
Immediately cancels the effects of Wounded and Immobilized states • No orders • Immediately after having killed an enemy unit, roll 1d6: on a score of 1 to 3 the Berserk unit stops all actions; on a roll of 4 to 6, it must immediately move 2 fathoms towards the nearest unit (ally or enemy). If it manages to engage the nearest unit, an attack sequence takes place immediately. If several units are at equal distance from the Berserk unit, choose the target randomly.
The warrior becomes a madman, thirsty for blood and violence. He no longer feels the effects of fatigue and wounds, but if he has become a lethal danger for his enemies, he is also now a considerable risk for his allies.
When a Berserk unit hits one of his comrades, his player's opponent is the one to decide whether or not to reduce the number of hits (but the unit's controller is the one to roll the dice).
A Berserk unit never benefits from support when it attacks one of its allies.
The unit cannot give or receive orders.
Brave X
+1 Movement • +1 Shooting skills • +1 Combat • +1 Faith
This state indicates a certain level of euphoria on behalf of the affected unit: it will be more efficient in combat and its mental state will also be affected.
Consumed (type of effect • durable or not specified • x/y)
The affected unit loses x life points for the next y Upkeep phases • With a Focus action, the unit can stop all non-durable Consumed effects.
This state is applied to a unit that has suffered damage from fire, acid or any other type of long-term damage. When the effect is triggered (usually due to a hit, a shot, or on entering a specific area), the unit is immediately affected (unless it is immune to this type of effect). From that time forward, it will suffer x damage points (its Protection score does not apply in this case) for each of the next y Upkeep phases. By default, it is possible to remove this effect before its term. To do so, the unit must perform a Focus action. All Consumed states it is currently suffering from are immediately removed (even if they are of different types). However, if the effect has the keyword "durable", then it must continue until its natural end.
Different types of Consumed effects can be inflicted concurrently.
When a unit is affected by two Consumed effects of the same type, values x and y are modified to take on the highest available value for each.
Sidebar, "A simple... well, less complicated, way of dealing with the Consumed state": Every time a unit gets hit by a Consumed state, simply place (y) markers on its unit card and, during each Upkeep phase, remove a marker and apply the (x) Damage points. How's that for easy?
Example: a Swashbuckler is hit by a 1/5 fire-type Consumed effect (1 damage point for 5 Upkeep phases). He has already suffered damage points during an Upkeep phase, so we consider him to be Consumed 1/4 (1 Damage Point for the next 4 Upkeep phases). He then gets hit by a new Consumed effect, but this time it's a 2/3 (2 Damage points for 3 Upkeep phases). His fire Consumed status is updated immediately. The new values are 2/4. He will therefore suffer 2 Damage points for the next 4 Upkeep phases.
Consumed state and effect areas. When a Consumed effect is inflicted on units inside an effect area, things get complicated. To begin with, the y time value is no longer applied to the Consumed effect for as long as the unit remains in the area. The x Damage points will simply be applied during each Upkeep phase. As long as the unit is inside the effect area, it cannot try to stop the effects of the Consumed effect. If it moves out of the area, or if the area disappears, the usual Consumed rules are applied immediately, as stated above.
Example: A Damned One is in an area with a "Consumed 2/5" effect. During each Upkeep phase, 2 Damage points will be applied. If he leaves the area, he will immediately be hit by a Consumed 2/5 effect.
Example: a friend sends a unit with a Consumed 2/3 effect into a Consumed 1/5 effect area of the same type. During the next Upkeep phase it will suffer 2 Damage points (greater value of x). However, none of the 3 remaining time markers will be removed. During the unit's next activation it leaves the area. Its Consumed state then changes to Consumed 2/5 (using the greater values of x and y). Therefore, the unit will suffer 2 damage points during the next 5 Upkeep phases (it gets an extra 2 time markers).
The first point to clarify is the rule to apply if a unit enters such an area and leaves it in the same move. In this case, the unit is immediately affected by the Consumed that was affecting the zone.
The second point is what happens when a unit with an existing Consumed effect enters a Consumed area of the same type. This case should be avoided as much as possible anyway. If you're "just passing through" the area, it's easy: you just apply the usual rule (apply highest x and y values). But if a unit who already has a Consumed effect decides not only to stray into the Consumed area but also to stay there, you put aside the remaining y value of the original Consumed he had when he walked in (so no more counting down those Consumed phases). Instead, he will be hit by the higher of the two Damage scores (between the original Consumed and the area's Consumed) during each Upkeep phase until he leaves the area. As soon as he leaves, the usual rule applies: highest of both x and y values.
(Sidebar, "State name and value": when the name of a state is followed by a value, x usually represents the number of turns during which the state will be applied to a unit (exceptions to this are specified in the state's description). To keep things simple, if the name of the state is not followed by a value, it is assumed to last for one turn.)
Devoured
This only affects units with a base of smaller or equal size to that of the attacker • Removed from the battlefield • No actions • No orders • No attack (close or ranged)
When threatened by this state, a unit with less than 10 Life Points (as a basic score) is always Devoured. A unit with a basic score of more than 10 Life Points must roll a score equal to or less than its current Defense stat on 1d6 to avoid being Devoured. For as long as the unit remains Devoured and alive, it will suffer 3 Damage points during each Upkeep phase (Devouring ignores Protection). If the unit that has Devoured a victim is killed, the Devoured unit reappears and is considered to have already been activated. A unit cannot Devour more than one enemy unit at a time. It must wait to have killed its victim before Devouring another. While a unit is Devoured it is considered to be dead (it cannot give or receive orders, any Command points are deducted from its Company's basic score, etc.). If it is freed, it re-enters the game as usual (any lost CMD points are returned during the next Upkeep phase).
Controlled X
A unit to whom this state is applied becomes controlled by its player's opponent for the next x activations • No orders • Limited actions
When this state is applied to a unit, it becomes controlled by a different player from the one who controls its original Company. It is considered to become an enemy unit if the player who gains its control is an opponent of its original player.
The player who gains control of the unit will play it for the next x activations (using it as if it was his own unit during the Action phase). As long as the unit has not been activated, it is considered to be a waiting unit in its new owner's Company when applying the rule of inferiority in numbers (p. 11).
A Controlled unit can only perform one of the following actions: Walk, Run, Attack, Charge, Mêlée, Shoot or Retreat.
A Controlled unit cannot give or receive orders, use its auras or invoke any lemures.
A Controlled unit can move rapidly over Difficult terrain and leave an enemy's control area for the price of 1 Command point that will be paid by the player controlling it at that time.
A Controlled unit is not considered to be a member of its new owner's Company, but for as long as it is Controlled it is no longer considered to be part of its original Company either. However, if it dies while being Controlled it is its original owner that loses any Command points associated with its Company.
Immobilized X
-3 Defense • No actions • No orders • No attacks (close or ranged) • No control area
An Immobilized unit cannot do anything during its activation. It can therefore not respond to an attack in close combat (all attack sequences against it are one-sided) and it will be an easy target for ranged attackers. It is incapable of performing actions and giving or receiving orders. An Immobilized unit has no control area. An Immobilized unit must be activated x times before this state disappears. Each time an Immobilized unit is activated, one enemy (chosen by the player controlling them) in contact with it gets to perform a one-sided attack against it.
Non-reciprocal contact. In some situations, it is possible that the units of Hell Dorado may become engaged in non-reciprocal contact. This means that two or more units are in contact (as generally admitted) but that some suffer from this non-reciprocal contact and others benefit from it.
If a unit is suffering from a non-reciprocal contact, it is then affected in the following ways:
- it is considered to be engaged by its enemies;
- it is not considered to be in contact with its enemies;
- it is not considered to be in contact with its allies (it can therefore not help them with any special abilities that require contact).
If a unit is benefiting from a non-reciprocal contact, it is then affected in the following way:
- if it is an ally of the unit suffering from the non-reciprocal contact, it is considered to be in contact with it;
- if it is an enemy of the unit suffering from the non-reciprocal contact, it is considered to be free, however it remains able to perform actions that require it to be engaged with the unit.
If an Immobilized unit is in contact with other units, they are considered to be benefiting from a non-reciprocal contact with it and the Immobilized unit is considered to suffer from non-reciprocal contact (see highlight box).
Stunned X
-1 Combat • -1 Defense • No shooting • No orders • No control area
The unit is Stunned and has problems focusing on its surroundings. It is therefore an easy target on the battlefield. It cannot give or receive any orders. It cannot perform a ranged attack. A Stunned unit has no control area.
A Stunned unit must be activated x times before this state disappears. The state disappears at the end of the activation.
Knocked Down
-2 Combat • -2 Defense • No orders • No actions other than getting up • No control area • Gets up during its next activation
The unit is lying on the ground. To represent this state, just leave a token next to the miniature or on its stat card. During the activation that follows its being Knocked Down, the unit must get up. It cannot perform any other action, nor can it give or receive any orders.
If the unit becomes engaged in close combat while it is Knocked Down, it jumps to its feet immediately, but performs the attack sequence with a Knocked Down penalty (-2 CBT and -2 DEF). If it survives this attack, it is no longer considered to be Knocked Down (unless it is affected again by this state).
If the unit gets up while it is in contact with an enemy unit, an attack sequence is immediately performed with the Knocked Down penalty. If it survives the attack sequence, it returns to a standing state.
A Knocked Down unit has no control area. If a Knocked Down unit is in contact with other units, they are considered to be benefiting from a non-reciprocal contact with it and the Immobilized unit is considered to suffer from non-reciprocal contact (see highlight box p. 32). [Transcriber note: the printed text here reads "the Immobilized unit"; it is kept as printed and most likely means the Knocked Down unit.]
Wounded
-1 Movement • -1 Shooting skill • -1 Combat • -1 Defense • -1 Faith
When a unit's Life Points are reduced equal to or below its Wound Threshold, it is considered to be Wounded. It will therefore be less agile in combat, because of the pain of the wounds and fear of impending death. Some effects triggered by terrain and some special abilities can apply a Wounded state without the unit's Life Points being reduced equal to or below the Wound Threshold.
It is interesting to note that some units have special abilities that change their stats in a specific way once they are in a Wounded state.
On the stat cards, the Wounded state on a unit's Life Point bar is indicated in green.
A unit with no Wounded state on its stat card cannot be affected by this state.
If the state was caused by a loss of Life Points, this state is permanent unless a Healing effect brings the Life Point level up above the Wound Threshold again.
Slowed X
-2 Movement • Last to be activated
For many possible reasons, the unit finds itself incapable of acting normally. It moves at a slower pace.
A Slowed unit will always be the last unit in its Company to be activated. If several units in the same Company are Slowed, then once all the other units have been activated, the player can then choose the order in which the slowed units are activated.
Even the use of vae soli cannot cause the affected units to be activated earlier in the Action phase.
A Slowed unit must be activated x times before this state disappears.
Summary Table of Main Effects
| State | Effect |
|---|---|
| Immobilized | -3 Defense • No actions • No orders • No attacks (close or ranged) • No control area |
| Knocked Down | -2 Combat • -2 Defense • No orders • No actions other than getting up • No control area • Gets up during its next activation |
| Stunned | -1 Combat • -1 Defense • No shooting • No orders • No control area |
Special Abilities
In this chapter, you will find the list of all the special abilities that set the characters of Hell Dorado apart from one another. It is important to note that a special ability is not necessarily a good thing for the one who possesses it, although it usually is. Unless otherwise mentioned, all special abilities are active all the time and they cannot be deactivated.
Amongst the special abilities, it is important to realize that there are two kinds of ability: those that are linked to the unit itself, and those that are the abilities of specific weapons the unit can carry, which are called "Weapon abilities" and will be specified as such in the ability's full description.
When the name of an ability is followed by an x value, this value represents a parameter of the ability that will be explained in the full description. To keep things simple, if the name of the state is not followed by a value, it is considered to have a value of 1.
So it is easier for you to remember during the game, all the special abilities that are printed in red on the stat cards affect the unit in a negative (or partially negative) way.
Ambush
At the beginning of a game, the unit can be placed completely inside an Awkward or Opaque part of the scenery, anywhere on the battlefield, as long as it is outside of any enemy control areas. If the player who owns the unit does not wish to place it in such a place, or if no such place exists on the battlefield, then the unit is placed in its normal deployment area. In both cases, it should be placed at the same time as the units with the Advance Deployment ability.
Ammunition Carrier
This unit carries or makes the ammunition that is used by a specific piece of artillery (see Weapon ability Artillery). Each carrier is linked to a specific piece of Artillery and cannot be used by another, even if the original one is destroyed.
Arch-enemy (Keyword) X
When a unit with this ability is fighting a specific enemy (defined by the keyword), the unit gains a bonus of +x CBT and its enemy gets a bonus of half of X to its (rounded up) CBT.
Example: if the value of x is 1 then both units receive a +1 CBT bonus.
Artillery
Weapon ability
All the units that carry a weapon with this ability are accompanied by another unit with the special ability Ammunition Carrier. No Shooting or Reloading can be performed by this unit if the Ammunition carrier is not in contact with the shooter.
Attack of Opportunity X
A unit with this ability automatically inflicts x Damage points (ignoring Protection) to all enemy units that enter or appear inside its control area. This ability has no effect when this unit moves towards an enemy unit and therefore causing it enter this unit's control area.
A unit with this ability cannot use it against a unit that appears in contact with it (therefore removing its control area) unless it has some way of retaining its control area while engaged.
Attraction X
This ability is only active while the unit who possesses it is free and it only affects free enemy units. Lemures are not affected by this ability.
When they begin their activation, all enemy units within x fathoms of the unit who possesses this ability must move into contact with it by the most direct route.
The most direct route for one unit to move into contact with another is usually a straight line drawn between the centers of both bases, and it is only possible to stray from this line to avoid allied units and parts of terrain, while staying as close to them as possible. If an enemy unit is on the other side of an impassable piece of terrain and it cannot make the whole move around it to come into contact with the attracting unit in one Action phase, then it is protected by this and will not be affected by the ability.
If, along the most direct route, the affected unit must engage contact with an enemy unit, it immediately stops its move and engages combat.
For as long as it is affected by this ability, a unit is considered to have the Elusive and Strider abilities.
A unit that begins its activation in the range of several Attraction abilities can choose which Attracting unit it will move toward.
Berserker
This unit becomes Berserk when it enters a Wounded state. If it is healed later on and loses its Wounded state, it also loses its Berserk state.
Bodyguard
A unit with this ability adds 1 to the Protection of allies it is in contact with. This ability cannot raise the Protection score of the allied units above 3 (if the ally's Defense is already greater than or equal to 3, it keeps its regular Defense). This bonus is applied after all other bonuses: it is applied after any cover bonuses (or Resistance).
Burrower
This unit's movement is not hindered by terrain or by other units. However, the unit cannot end its activation in the same place as a unit or in Impassable terrain.
The unit is not affected by control areas during its movement, but it is at the beginning and the end of them (for example, it must pay 1 CMD to leave the control area of an enemy unit if it starts its activation there). However, this ability cancels an Attack of Opportunity if the unit ends its activation in contact with an enemy unit with that ability.
A lemure with this ability will be able to Burrow under Difficult parts of scenery, amongst others, but it can only end its activation there if it also has the Strider ability.
Camouflage X
The unit receives a Protection bonus of +x when it is under cover.
Chaotic Charge
The unit triples its Movement score during a Charge action.
Charisma X
All allied units within a range of 4 fathoms around the unit will receive a +x CBT bonus. A unit can only benefit from one Charisma bonus per attack sequence (the one that offers the highest bonus).
Combat Sense
The unit receives a bonus of +1 DEF (with a maximum DEF of 5) during an attack sequence.
Combined Attack X
When the unit has at least one support bonus, it gains an extra bonus of +x CBT.
Concentrated
A unit with this ability will not trigger a one-sided attack when it performs a Focus action while in contact with an enemy unit. A regular attack sequence is triggered, instead. When the unit is performing a Concentration action while in contact with an enemy unit, the attack sequence will take place without the usual Concentration modifiers being applied.
Counter-attack
During attack sequences engaged against a unit with this ability, any of the dice its opponent rolls that score a 1 (after all available re-rolls) cause the enemy unit to suffer 1 Damage point. This damage is added to all damage inflicted during the attack sequence by the unit with this ability. If the unit's DEF score is reduced to 1 then it can no longer use this ability.
Cumbersome X
Weapon ability
During the second attack sequence against the same enemy unit and after, the unit carrying a weapon with this ability suffers a penalty of -x CBT. This is only applied if contact between the two units was not broken in between the attack sequences.
Defensive Combat X
During each attack sequence, the unit can choose to reduce its CBT score by x and reduce its opponent's CBT score by the same amount. Both units will still be able to roll at least 1 die if their Combat score was of at least 1 before using this ability. This ability is used after applying all other modifiers (including any uses of vae victis).
Defensive Shot
If contact is made with this unit while it is waiting, free and has a ranged attack available (weapon loaded and in good condition), it can take a point-blank shot at its enemy before the close combat attack sequence begins.
Demoralize
When a unit with this ability kills an enemy unit that has at least one Command point, the loss of temporary and permanent CMD is doubled.
Discretion X
This ability is canceled if the unit is engaged.
The unit cannot be the direct target of a Shoot or a Charge action unless the attacking unit is within a range of x fathoms.
Players also may not use an explosion or blast template if all the targets inside it are enemy units whose Discretion abilities all affect the shooter.
Dodge X
As soon as this unit is engaged by contact, it can try to Dodge. Roll 1d6. On a result of x or less, the unit is automatically moved a distance of up to 3 fathoms. Of course, the enemy's movement is stopped when it makes contact. It is only possible to attempt one Dodge per Action phase. It is not possible to come into contact with an enemy unit or enter an enemy control area during the 3 fathom Dodge movement (it is, of course, possible to leave the control area of the unit being dodged). If the Dodge movement cannot be performed, the Dodge does not take place. A unit that is Knocked Down or already engaged cannot use this ability.
Eager X
Weapon ability
This unit receives a +x CBT bonus during the first attack sequence with a unit, whether an enemy unit comes into contact with this unit or it moves into contact with an enemy unit.
Elusive
A unit with this ability is not affected by enemy control areas. It can therefore pass through them without triggering any particular effects. This ability cancels the Attack of Opportunity ability.
Emancipated
A lemure with this ability begins the game on the battlefield like any other unit and cannot be invoked. It cannot be entrusted with a spell.
Entangle
If a unit with this ability is engaged with another unit whose base is equal or smaller, then the other unit cannot Retreat.
Erratic Movement X
The unit receives a +x DEF bonus (with a maximum DEF of 5) when it becomes the target of a ranged attack.
Evasive
This ability can only be used if the unit and at least one of its allies are engaged with the same enemy unit. During its activation, the enemy unit cannot choose the Evasive unit as a target. If all the units in contact with an opponent unit possess this ability, the player who controls them decides which of them will fight the enemy unit.
Expertise
To use an exhausting power, a unit with this ability must perform a Concentration action (instead of a Focus action). Any effect that usually requires a Focus action may be used by this unit by performing a Concentration action instead.
Fanatic
As soon as this unit enters the Wounded state, the unit is not affected by the usual modifiers but by the following ones: -1 MVT, -1 SHS, +1 CBT, +1 DEF (5 maximum), +1 FTH.
On the stat cards, a unit's "Fanatic" scores are indicated in green.
Fast X
When it performs a Charge or Run action, a unit with this ability will be able to move up to x fathoms more than its normal Movement stat (example: a unit with a MVT score of 4 and a Fast 3 ability can move up to 11 fathoms during a Run action).
Fierce X
The unit gains a +x CBT bonus if its opponent has at least one support bonus.
First Contact X
When first calculating Dominance before the first turn of the game of Hell Dorado, units with this ability provide an extra x to their Company's total.
Frantic
When the unit performs a Mêlée, Charge or Attack action, two attack sequences are resolved, one immediately after the other.
Fury
When this unit with this ability performs a Charge action, it does not suffer the Charge penalty that should affect the attack roll (which should be -1 CBT).
Harmless
The unit has no control area.
Healer X
This ability is an exhausting power. A unit with this ability must therefore perform a Focus action during its activation to be able to use it.
The unit can return x Life Points to itself or any allied unit it is in contact with. This ability cannot be used to heal an Invulnerable unit.
Heavy
Weapon ability
A unit carrying a weapon with this ability cannot move during a ranged attack action.
Huge
When this unit performs a Retreat action, after the one-sided attack it can then move as if it was performing a Run, Attack or Charge action. This movement replaces the movement of Retreat.
Immunity (Keyword)
This unit is naturally immune to a certain type of damage or attacks (Life drain, fire, poison, blunt weapons, ranged weapons, etc.). It will therefore not suffer any damage coming from such a source.
However, if specific states are associated with the effect, the unit will still be affected by them. It may therefore be Knocked down, Stunned... A unit that is Immune to fire can still be affected by a Consumed state, it will just not suffer the damage from it.
Impressive
This unit can be targeted by a shooter even if it is not the closest unit. If a shooter has a clear line of fire for several units with this ability, it can choose which one to target (but it doesn't have to choose any of them).
Insignificant
This unit is not included when calculating Dominance (neither for calculating the basic score, nor when it comes to working out who has lost the fewest units).
Intangible
This unit's movements are not hindered by terrain or by other units. The unit cannot, however, end its movement in Impassable terrain.
The unit is not affected by control areas while moving, but it is at the end of its movement. It does not trigger a one-sided attack on breaking contact and does not pay CMD if it begins its movement in an enemy's control area.
A lemure with this ability will be able to pass through Difficult parts of scenery, amongst others, but it can only end its activation there if it also has the Strider ability.
Intercept X
This unit has a control area of x fathoms out from its base against lemures.
It cancels the effect of the Elusive, Burrower and Intangible abilities for enemy units inside its control area (the normal one and the extended one for lemures). If it also has the Attack of Opportunity ability, it can use it inside its control area, even against an Elusive enemy. A lemure engaged with a unit who has this ability that chooses to break contact with it will suffer a one-sided attack during Retreat.
Invulnerable
This unit only suffers 1 Damage point per hit, regardless of what the power table of the weapon says, provided the damage indicated is higher than 0. It is not affected by state changes (Wounded, Knocked down, Consumed, etc.), whether they are negative or positive (except for those indicated on its stat card and/or by its special abilities).
It only suffers damage from other effects (explosions, blasts, etc.) if they score a 6 on each die instead of the regular difficulty of the blast or explosion. The damage is reduced to 1 point per hit, no matter what the usual power of the blast or explosion is.
An Invulnerable unit's Defense score is always 6 and can never be modified (unless this is specifically mentioned).
Leader
This unit's Command score counts double when calculating the number of troopers that a Company can hire.
Levitation
The unit's movement is not hindered by Difficult terrain but remains affected as usual by all the other terrain abilities (Impassable, etc.). It can move over units that are less than 3 fathoms tall, but it is affected normally by control areas. The unit cannot, however, end its activation on another miniature.
A lemure with this ability will be able to Levitate over Difficult parts of scenery, but it can only end its activation there if it also has the Strider ability.
Life Drain X
Weapon ability
The unit wielding a weapon with this ability inflicts x Damage points to its enemies, ignoring their Protection stat or any Immunity (other than an Immunity to Life drain). The acting unit will gain as many Life Points as the number of Damage points it actually inflicted. An affected unit can regain the Life Points it lost during the attack sequence during which this ability was triggered, unless it dies first.
Limited Range X
Weapon ability
Unlike other ranged weapons, the unit cannot pick a target at a distance greater than x times the weapon's basic Range stat.
Lunge X
Weapon ability
This unit's control area extends x fathoms from its base.
Man-at-arms X
A unit with this special ability can, once an enemy unit in contact has finished all possible re-rolls, force it to re-roll up to x dice that had scored hits. Important: this ability can force a player to re-roll dice that may have already been re-rolled.
Maverick
This unit can never receive an order from anyone but itself (including vae victis and vae soli if it does not have these orders).
Moving Shot
The unit can take part of its movement, shoot, and then finish its movement.
Munitions X
Weapon ability
A unit can only use this weapon x times during a game. It is important to keep a visible reminder of how many shots are still available (for example, you can use tokens or mark the use of the weapon directly on the specified place on the unit's stat card).
Natural Talent X
The unit always has at least x possible re-rolls during an attack, no matter what its CBT or SHS stats are. Don't forget that no die can be re-rolled more than once.
Pain X
Weapon ability
While this effect is applied to an enemy unit, it will immediately be affected by the negative effects of a Wounded state (even though its Life Points are not modified by this) for a duration of x turns. Nothing happens if the unit is already Wounded. A Fanatic or Berserker unit will be affected as usual (for these units the effects will even be quite positive). A unit who does not have a Wounded state will not be affected by this ability.
Prestige (Faction)
The officer can hire units of the specified Faction for its own Company.
Piercing Strike X
Weapon ability
The unit reduces its opponent's Protection score by x before inflicting any damage. It is impossible to reduce a Protection score below 0.
During a ranged attack, this ability can also affect the Protection bonus provided by cover. This Protection reduction only lasts for the duration of the attack.
Protective
The unit does not lose its control area when engaged by one or more enemies.
Rapid Strike (Attack or Defense)
When a unit with this ability takes part in an attack sequence, either during its activation or during an enemy unit's activation (depending on the keyword after the ability's name: "attack" means during its own activation, "defense" means during an enemy unit's activation), it inflicts its damage before its opponent can inflict his. Consequently, if its hit eliminates its opponent, this unit will not suffer from the enemy's attack. If two units engaged in combat have this ability – Rapid Strike (Attack) for the attacker and Rapid Strike (Defense) for the defender – their damage is inflicted simultaneously. Changes of state due to Fast hits are taken into account normally at the same time as the ones inflicted by the enemy unit at the end of the attack sequence.
Receive Charge X
Weapon ability
The unit receives a +x CBT bonus during an attack sequence triggered by an enemy unit using a Charge action against it.
Regeneration X
During each Upkeep phase, this unit regains x Life Points.
Reloading X
Weapon ability
To be able to shoot again with a weapon that has this ability, the unit will have to perform x Focus actions in a row.
To simplify things, it is a good idea to keep track of this by marking the number of Focus actions remaining on the unit's stat card (using tokens or by marking the Focus actions directly in the specified place on the stat card).
All weapons that use this ability are loaded when the game begins.
If the unit is engaged while reloading, it has two options: either it fights as usual and has to start the reloading from scratch once the combat is over, or it retains its previous Focus actions and continues to Reload, but suffers a one-sided attack during Focus.
Resistance (Keyword) X
This unit has natural protection against the special effect or the type of damage that is mentioned in the ability's title (state, flames, poison...). It will therefore have a Protection bonus of +x against the damage inflicted by an effect or a weapon of this kind.
Ricochet X
Whenever a unit with this ability suffers damage, it automatically inflicts x damage points (ignoring Protection) on the enemy unit who caused the original damage. This ability only applies to damage inflicted during a close or ranged attack sequence (but not to damage caused by a state, an order, an aura, a special ability, an explosion or a blast).
Runaway
When this unit announces its intention to Retreat from close combat, its opponent suffers a -2 CBT penalty to their one-sided attack roll during Retreat.
Scout
This unit allows its player to have a better choice of terrain for the battle to come. The exact rules for using Scouts is quite complex and is fully explained the complete rules.
Slow
If this unit Charges, it can come into contact with an enemy unit as normal, but the enemy unit will get to perform a one-sided attack with a -1CBT penalty instead of a normal attack sequence.
Sniper
The unit does not have to pick the nearest enemy unit as its target. It can shoot any target to which it has a clear line of fire.
Spiritual Damage
Weapon ability
When this unit performs an attack sequence, its opponent's Faith stat is removed from the Damage inflicted, instead of its Protection stat.
Being an Unbeliever is not a protection against Spiritual damage.
Strider
This unit does not have to pay 1 CMD point to be able to Run or Charge through Difficult terrain. A lemure must have this ability to be able to enter and/or end its activation in Difficult terrain.
Teleportation
A unit with this ability cannot perform a Run, Charge or Retreat action. This unit's movements are not hindered by terrain or by other units. The unit cannot, however, end its activation inside another unit or within Impassable terrain. The unit is not affected by control areas during its movement, unless it starts or ends its movement in one (for example, it must pay 1 CMD to leave the control area of an enemy unit). However this ability cancels out an Attack of Opportunity if this unit ends its move in contact with a unit with that ability. During a Mêlée action, it behaves like any other unit.
Tenacious X
The unit receives a bonus of +x CBT if an enemy unit comes into contact with it while it is waiting.
Terror X
All enemy units in contact with this unit are affected by a -x CBT penalty. A unit can only be affected by one Terror penalty at a time (use the Terror rating with the largest penalty).
Trained Gunman X
The unit receives a +x SHS bonus if it does not move before or after a Ranged attack.
Uncontrollable
You must spend 1CMD when activating this unit to perform an action other than Attack, Walk or Mêlée. This cost in CMD is not considered an order. If the player controlling this unit doesn't want to spend any CMD, the unit can still be activated, to take no action.
Vicious X
This unit gets a bonus of +x CBT when it performs any kind of one-sided attack on an enemy unit.
Vulnerability (Keyword) X
The unit's Protection score is x against the type of damage indicated between brackets.
Constructing Your Company
Before beginning to raise Companies, the two players must decide on the number of Army Points (AP) they will have to spend on their troops. A basic Hell Dorado box is worth 200 Army Points. The standard size of a Hell Dorado game is therefore 200 Army Points.
Then, the following restrictions should be applied:
- All members of the Company must belong to the same Faction (out of the 5 currently available: Westerners, Saracens, the Lost, Demons, and Mercenaries). See the complete rules for an important exception to this rule (Enlisting Mercenaries).
- Each Company must have one Officer (no more, no less).
- Independent units with identities can only be used once in any one Company. All nameless independents can be used as much as the players wish (however, see the Limited keyword as stated below).
- Troopers are limited in number: a Company cannot hire more troopers than its basic Command score.
In any case, units with the Limited keyword cannot be hired more than x times per 200 AP or fraction thereof. If Limited troopers are hired, both limits must be taken into account (Limited number of each type of unit and the Company's basic Command score limit to the global number of troopers).
Example: a Limited 6 trooper unit belonging to a 200AP army can only be hired 6 times. Unfortunately, this Company only has a basic Command score of 5. Therefore, only 5 of this unit can be hired.
Obviously, the AP total of all the units in a Company must not be any higher than the total that was decided upon to begin with (generally 200 AP).
Recruiting Mercenaries
Mercenary troops can generally be recruited by Companies from another Faction. However, the following rules must be followed:
- A Mercenary Officer cannot lead a Company from another Faction. All the independents and troopers that are lead by the officer must be mercenaries (unless the officer has the Prestige special ability).
- A Mercenary independent unit's Command points cannot be used to hire troopers from the Company's Faction, they only allow the hire of Mercenary troopers.
- You can hire as many troopers, Mercenaries or not, as you like, as long as you comply with the basic Command score of your Company.
Example: the basic Command score of your Company is 7, and you should be able to hire 7 troopers. However, 2 of your 7 command points are provided by an independent Mercenary unit. Therefore, you can hire up to 7 troopers but if you choose to hire more than 5, the last 2 will have to be Mercenaries.
Larger Battles
It is possible to play with a Company of over 200 Army Points. In any case, there can only ever be one Officer per Company.