Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep

Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction
- Objective of the Game
- Terminology
Core Set Components
Before You Play
The Battlefield
Playing the Game
Action Phase
Power Step
Reactions
End Phase
- Objective Card Types
Play On
- Rounds 2 and 3
- Victory
  - No Enemies in Sight
Multiplayer Games

Introduction

Warhammer Underworlds is a game of strategy, fast-paced combat and devious ploys for two players. In this game, each player takes a warband and pits them against their rivals in search of glory on the hidden battlefields of the Mortal Realms. It is an easy game to pick up, but you'll quickly find that it has depth to reward dedicated and experienced players.

Objective of the Game

Your success in this game is measured in glory points, awarded for achieving objectives and vanquishing your foes. The player with the most glory points at the end of the game wins!

Terminology

If you come across a word in these rules and you're not sure what it means, you can refer to the Glossary (pg 48-50). When a word is in bold type, it is a keyword (pg 21).

Core Set Components

Cards

Xandire's Truthseekers fighter cards, objective cards and power cards
Da Kunnin' Krew fighter cards, objective cards and power cards
Universal objective and power cards
Grand Alliance objective and power cards

Tokens and Counters

38 glory point tokens (spent/unspent)
8 activation tokens (taken/un-taken)
24 wound counters/generic counters
6 Raise tokens
13 move/charge tokens
13 guard/stagger tokens
2 gloom hex tokens
1 scatter token
9 double-sided objective tokens

Boards

2 double-sided gameboards

Before You Play

This section explains the rules you need to understand and the components you need to gather before you play a game of Warhammer Underworlds.

Warbands

When you play a game of Warhammer Underworlds, you and your opponent each choose a warband. Each warband has its own distinct character and individual fighters, identified by their fighter cards (see opposite) and represented by their miniatures. You can both use the same warband if you each have a set of the miniatures and their fighter cards. If you are playing with one copy of the Core Set, simply decide between you who will use which warband. The Core Set includes two warbands: Xandire's Truthseekers and Da Kunnin' Krew.

Xandire's Truthseekers consists of four fighters: Calthia Xandire, Dhoraz Giant-Fell, Luxa Stormrider and Faros.

Da Kunnin' Krew consists of five fighters: Mannok da Kunnin', Orka Uffskul, Gikkit, Shank and Krookgrin.

There are also expansions that let you add additional warbands to your games of Warhammer Underworlds.

Sometimes a rule refers to a warband. This means all of the fighters in that warband and all of the cards used by the player of that warband.

If a rule refers to a friendly fighter it means a fighter in your warband. Each fighter in the other warband is referred to as an enemy fighter.

Fighter Cards

A fighter's fighter card tells you their characteristics (how fast, how tough and how well-armoured or evasive they are), their Attack actions, and any other abilities they have.

Picture of your fighter's miniature.
Your fighter's name. Keywords that label a fighter (pg 21) may also be found here.
Icons showing your fighter's trait(s) (pg 18). Some fighters have no icons here.
Your fighter's Move characteristic.
Your fighter's Defence characteristic.
Your fighter's Wounds characteristic.
Your fighter's Attack action (or actions) with Range, Dice and Damage characteristics (pg 30). An Attack action may have one or more keywords underneath – these will be explained on the fighter card (see 8, below) or later in this rulebook (pg 34).
Additional abilities or Attack action rules may be found here. Attack action rules that have the same name as an Attack action on the fighter card only apply to that Attack action. You may also find italic text that tells you more about the fighter or the world they inhabit – such text has no effect in the game.
Your fighter's Inspire condition (see overleaf). There is no Inspire condition on the reverse of the fighter card. Some fighters do not have an Inspire condition.
Your fighter's warband symbol.
Your fighter's Grand Alliance symbol.

Inspire

When the Inspire condition on a fighter's card is met, that fighter will become Inspired at the next Inspire step.

An Inspire step follows each activation step and each power step (pg 28). In each Inspire step, starting with the player who last took an activation, each player Inspires each of their fighters whose Inspire condition has been met. When a fighter becomes Inspired, flip their fighter card over, revealing the fighter's Inspired characteristics and abilities.

A fighter keeps all their upgrades, tokens and counters when they become Inspired. Once a fighter becomes Inspired, they remain Inspired for the rest of the game, unless un-Inspired – this will usually be as a result of a gambit card (page 37). When a fighter is un-Inspired, flip their fighter card over so that the Inspired side is hidden. A fighter keeps all their upgrades, tokens and counters when they become un-Inspired.

If an Inspired fighter would be Inspired, nothing happens.

Traits

Some fighters have one or more trait icons on their fighter cards. These traits represent archetypes that may be found across the different warbands in Warhammer Underworlds but that have consistent rules. The most common archetype is leader, denoted with a symbol – every warband has one leader. Each trait has rules associated with it, which are gathered here but which will make more sense when you have read this rulebook in full. A fighter can have more than one trait, in which case the rules for each of their traits apply.

Beast – This fighter cannot be given Attack action upgrades or bound spell upgrades, and cannot hold objectives.
Flying – When making a Move action, this fighter cannot be dealt damage by lethal hexes and can move through blocked and occupied hexes. This fighter must end its Move action in an empty hex.
Leader – Each warband has one leader. There are no additional rules for being a leader.
Wizard – This fighter can cast spells as described on page 35. A wizard will also have a number next to this symbol – this is their wizard level characteristic.

The Decks

Each player uses two decks of cards to play a game of Warhammer Underworlds: an objective deck made of at least 12 objective cards, and a power deck made of at least 20 cards, which are a mix of upgrade cards and gambit cards. The different types of cards are described over the page. You can choose which cards go into each deck, and this is an important and strategic part of the game. You cannot look at the cards in your opponent's decks.

For your first game, it is best for each player to use the pre-constructed decks that are included in the Core Set. There is an objective deck and a power deck for Xandire's Truthseekers and an objective deck and a power deck for Da Kunnin' Krew. Once you're familiar with the rules, you can experiment with customising your decks using the other cards in the Core Set, allowing you to try different strategies in your games.

Construct Your Deck

Constructing your own deck is a rewarding part of Warhammer Underworlds, but it can be a bit challenging until you've played a few games and are familiar with how everything works! The Core Set includes a ready-built objective deck and power deck for each player, so you can ignore this section until you've played a few games. However, very soon you'll be seeing the potential of all the additional cards included in the Core Set, and you'll want to construct your own decks.

When you're building your own decks, you must follow these restrictions:

The power deck must include at least 20 power cards. It can include any number of additional power cards. No more than half of the deck can be gambit cards.
The objective deck must include at least 12 objective cards. It can include any number of additional objective cards. It cannot include more than 6 Surge objectives (pg 42).
Neither deck can include more than one card with the same name: each card in both of the decks must be unique.
You can only include cards that have the same warband symbol as your fighter cards, the same Grand Alliance symbol as your fighter cards, or the universal symbol. Some older warbands do not have a Grand Alliance symbol on their cards. To find out which Grand Alliance these warbands belong to, visit WarhammerUnderworlds.com.

Some competitive formats have different deck construction rules. If you plan to attend a competitive event, be sure to check the format rules which you can find at WarhammerUnderworlds.com.

The Grand Alliances are Order, Chaos, Death and Destruction, each with its own symbol. There is also a symbol for universal cards, which can be included in any warband's decks, and each warband has its own warband symbol (for example, Xandire's Truthseekers and Da Kunnin' Krew each have their own).

Objective Cards (pg 42)

Objective cards reward you with glory points when you complete one or more conditions. Most objective cards are used in the end phase at the end of each round (pg 42).

Objective card symbol.
Faction symbol. If the universal symbol is shown here then any warband can use the card. If it is a warband symbol, only that warband can use the card. If it is a Grand Alliance symbol, only warbands from that Grand Alliance can use that card.
Card name.
Keyword(s). Some objective cards have one or more keywords. These objective cards have additional rules on page 42.
Condition(s).
Reward. If you meet the conditions on the card, you gain this number of glory points.

Multiplayer Variants

Some objective cards have one or more of the symbols shown below on them. These symbols are only used in multiplayer games (pg 44); ignore them and the text next to them in a two-player game.

Upgrade Cards (pg 37)

Upgrade cards are used to bestow permanent improvements on your fighters. You will get a chance to play these cards in the power step that follows each of a player's activation steps (pg 36-37) and in the end phase at the end of each round (pg 42).

Upgrade card symbol.
Faction symbol. These symbols work in the same way as for objective cards (see above).
Card name.
Keyword(s). Some upgrade cards have one or more keywords. These are used to label these cards and do not have any inherent effect.
Effect. The effect on the upgraded fighter. This may be a modifier to a characteristic, an Action that the fighter can take when activated, a reaction that you can use in certain circumstances, or many other things.
Restrictions. Some upgrade cards have restrictions, which can be one or more fighter names, one or more trait symbols (such as the leader or wizard symbols) and/or one or more keywords, indicating respectively a fighter of that trait and/or a fighter with at least one of those keywords. An upgrade card with one or more restrictions can only be given to one of the fighters identified by those restrictions.

Gambit Cards (pg 37)

Gambit cards have many uses. They are either ploys or spells. You will get a chance to play these cards in the power step that follows each of a player's activation steps (pg 36-37).

Gambit card symbol. Spell cards have a spell symbol. Ploy cards instead have a dagger symbol.
Faction symbol. These symbols work in the same way as for objective cards (see opposite).
Card name.
Keyword(s). Some gambit cards have one or more keywords. These are used to label these cards and do not have any inherent effect.
Effect. This is usually short-lived, and may let a fighter make an additional action, push a fighter or damage a fighter, for example.
Restrictions. Some gambit cards have restrictions in the same way as upgrade cards. A gambit card with one or more restrictions can only be played if one of the fighters identified by those restrictions is on the battlefield.

Additional Card Rules

Keywords

Some cards have keywords on them. These words are in bold type and are used in two ways: some of them are used to refer to a rule found in this booklet, in which case you can quickly find the relevant rule by checking the Glossary (pg 48-50), and others are used to label that card so that other cards can interact with it (e.g. an upgrade card that has the Illusion keyword would be affected by a gambit that affects all Illusions, and a fighter with the Brawler keyword would be affected by a gambit that affects all Brawlers).

'Cannot'

If two or more rules come into conflict, and one of them says 'cannot', that rule takes precedence (e.g. if a fighter has a rule that says they cannot be pushed, a card that lets you push a fighter does not work on that fighter).

'But My Card Says...'

Some cards allow you to do things that you wouldn't normally be allowed to do by the rules in this book. Whenever a card contradicts the rules in this book, the card takes precedence (even if the rule in this book says 'cannot').

Abilities

Rules found on a fighter card or power card are referred to as abilities.

The Battlefield

Games of Warhammer Underworlds use a battlefield made up of one game board per player. Here you can see an example battlefield, made of two game boards. It is divided into hexes, which are used to determine the position of objectives and fighters, and the distances between them.

The example battlefield labels: starting hexes, blocked hexes, incomplete hexes, edge hexes, lethal hexes, cover hexes, one player's territory, and completed hexes/no one's territory.

Incomplete Hexes

The incomplete hexes at the edge of the battlefield are not part of the battlefield and not part of the game – fighters cannot move or be moved into them, cannot draw line of sight through them (pg 31), nothing can be placed (see opposite) in them, and so on. Incomplete hexes are not hexes.

Starting Hexes

Some of the hexes contain a white Warhammer Underworlds symbol – these are used when placing your fighters, and are called starting hexes.

Blocked Hexes

Some hexes have a thick white border. These are blocked hexes. Fighters cannot move into or through these hexes, or be placed in these hexes (see opposite), and these hexes block line of sight to what is beyond them (pg 31). If blocked hexes are adjacent to each other, some of the grid lines will be missing to help show that they are inaccessible.

This diagram includes two blocked hexes.

Lethal Hexes

Some hexes have a red border. These are lethal hexes. When a fighter moves, is placed (see below), pushed (pg 29) or driven back (pg 32) into a lethal hex the fighter is dealt 1 damage (pg 33). A fighter that is in a lethal hex can remain in it without being dealt further damage from that hex, and can move out of it (or be pushed out of it) without being dealt further damage from that hex. If a fighter is in a hex when it becomes a lethal hex, they are not dealt damage from that hex.

This diagram includes two lethal hexes.

Cover Hexes

Some hexes have a border made of dashes rather than solid lines. These are cover hexes. A fighter on a cover hex considers rolls of [Shield] as successes in their defence rolls (pg 31).

Edge Hexes

An outermost hex on the battlefield is an edge hex in addition to any other types (e.g. an edge hex that is a lethal hex is both lethal and an edge hex). If a hex is not adjacent to six hexes, it is an edge hex (remember that incomplete hexes are not hexes).

Empty Hexes

If a hex is not occupied or blocked, it is an empty hex in addition to any other types (e.g. a lethal hex that is not occupied is both lethal and empty).

Occupied Hexes

A hex that contains a fighter is an occupied hex in addition to any other types (e.g. a lethal hex that contains a fighter is both lethal and occupied). A single hex cannot contain more than one fighter.

Players' Territory

A player's territory is made up of all the hexes on their game board. Hexes on other players' game boards are enemy territory. Any hexes that become completed by the placement of game boards are no one's territory.

Placing Fighters and Tokens

When a fighter, feature token (pg 26) or scatter token (pg 39) is put onto the battlefield, it is said to be placed. It must be positioned in a hex.

Counting Distances

These diagrams show you what the rules mean when they refer to distances. A fighter is always considered to be within zero hexes of itself. When counting the distance between two hexes, count the shortest distance possible (which can be straight through blocked hexes).

Diagram 1: B is within one hex of A. B is one hex from A. These hexes are adjacent.
Diagram 2: B is within two hexes of A. B is two hexes from A.
Diagram 3: B is within four hexes of A. B is four hexes from A.

Playing the Game

Game Sequence

A game of Warhammer Underworlds is played in the following sequence:

Set Up

Reveal your warbands
Place the boards
Place feature tokens
Draw cards
Place the fighters

Round 1 – Action phase, End phase

Round 2 – Action phase, End phase

Round 3 – Action phase, End phase

Victory

1. Reveal Your Warbands

Simultaneously, the players each reveal the warband they have chosen to use.

2. Place the Boards

The players roll off (see below). The player who wins picks a player. The player they pick will choose a game board first. This gives that player a disadvantage when the battlefield is set up, but the advantage when placing feature tokens (pg 26).

The player they pick chooses a game board from their collection and decides which side of that game board they will use as their territory. The other player then chooses a game board and a side in the same way, and then places the two game boards so that the chosen sides are face up, and so that there are at least four hexes that are completed by connecting the boards long edge against long edge, or two hexes that are completed by connecting the boards short edge against short edge.

Once the game boards are placed, you have what is called the battlefield. Examples of how you might set up the battlefield are shown in the rulebook.

Roll-offs

When the rules tell you to roll off, each player takes any combination of four attack or defence dice and rolls them. Then they compare the results:

If one player rolls more critical successes than their opponent, that player has won.
Otherwise, if one player rolls more of the first support symbol than their opponent, that player has won.
Otherwise, if one player rolls more of the second support symbol than their opponent, that player has won.
If there is still no winner, start the roll-off again.

(The symbols in these three bullets did not survive in the text source; they are given here in the order of the dice key below, critical success first and then the two support symbols.)

Re-rolls

When a rule tells you to re-roll a dice, roll it again immediately after making the relevant roll. If you are told to re-roll a dice roll that involved multiple dice, re-roll all of them simultaneously unless specified otherwise. Whatever the new result is, it replaces the old result, even if it is worse. Unless specifically stated otherwise, you cannot re-roll a re-rolled dice.

If you have two or more rules allowing you to re-roll one dice, for example in an attack or defence roll, if you roll more than one dice, you can re-roll one dice for each of these rules. As these are separate abilities, you can re-roll dice one at a time, though you still cannot re-roll a re-rolled dice.

Dice

The keys below show the different symbols on each of the dice in Warhammer Underworlds. Most rules just show the symbol itself, but each symbol also has a name – these are useful when discussing your rolls with your opponent.

Attack dice: Critical success; Attack symbol – Smash; Attack symbol – Fury; two Support symbols.

Defence dice: Critical success; Defence symbol – Block; Defence symbol – Dodge; two Support symbols.

Magic dice: Critical success; Magic symbol – Channel; Magic symbol – Focus.

3. Place Feature Tokens

A game of Warhammer Underworlds uses seven feature tokens which all show a gloom hex on one side. On five of the feature tokens, the other side has a number from 1-5, and on the other two feature tokens the other side also shows a gloom hex.

Shuffle the five numbered tokens with the gloom side face up. Deal three to the player that chose the first game board, and two to the other player. Each player can look at the numbered sides of the tokens they were dealt, but should keep these sides hidden from their opponent. The players take it in turns to place the feature tokens on the battlefield, starting with the player that chose the first game board. When a player does so, they must place the token with the gloom hex side up in any hex on the battlefield, with the following exceptions: they cannot place it in a starting hex, a blocked hex, a lethal hex, a cover hex or an edge hex (pg 22-23), or within two hexes of another token. If a token cannot be placed because of the above exceptions, it can be placed in an edge hex. Once all tokens have been placed, leave them with the gloom hex side face up. Each player, starting with the player that chose the first game board, may then add one of the remaining feature tokens (the ones with a gloom hex on both sides) to the battlefield in the same way, with the exception that these feature tokens may be placed within 1 hex of other feature tokens.

Feature Tokens

With the gloom hex side face-up, a feature token is referred to as a gloom hex token. With the numbered side face-up, a feature token is referred to as an objective token.

Sometimes a feature token is flipped during the game. A gloom hex token flipped in this manner will become an objective token or remain a gloom hex token, depending on what is shown on the token. If that token is flipped again, it becomes a gloom hex token once more.

Sometimes a feature token is moved during the game: it cannot be moved into a blocked hex, a hex that contains another feature token, a lethal hex or a cover hex.

Gloom Hex Token

A hex which contains a gloom hex token is a cover hex in addition to any other types (pg 23).

Objective Token

Objective tokens indicate important areas of the battlefield that the warbands will fight to hold. A fighter (and their warband) is said to hold an objective if they are on the objective token.

4. Draw Cards

Each player shuffles their objective and power decks separately and places them face down next to the battlefield. Each player then draws three objective cards and five power cards. There will be opportunities for players to draw additional cards during a game.

Once a player has drawn their cards, they can use one 'do-over'. To do so:

First they discard all of their power cards, or all of their objective cards, or all of their cards.
Then they draw replacements for the cards they discarded – an objective card for an objective card, and a power card for a power card.
Then they shuffle the discarded cards back into their respective decks.

The player who chose the first game board is first to decide whether to use a do-over. After they have decided not to use a do-over, or after they have used their do-over, it is then the other player's turn to decide whether or not to use a do-over.

Draw

When a rule tells a player to draw a card, this means that they take the top card from the relevant deck. The cards a player has drawn but has not yet played are referred to as their hand, and are kept secret from their opponent. A player's hand can contain any number of power cards, but never more than three objective cards. If a player would draw a card, but the relevant deck is empty, they cannot draw a card – discarded cards are not shuffled back into the deck.

Discard

When a player discards a card, they place it face up in a pile next to that card's matching deck, so you will have an objective discard pile for your objective cards and a power discard pile for your power cards. Rules on cards in discard piles have no effect on the game, unless they specify otherwise. All players can look at the cards in any discard pile.

Broken

Sometimes a rule will tell you to break an upgrade, or say that an upgrade is broken. This only affects upgrades that have been given to a fighter, so an upgrade in your hand cannot be broken. When an upgrade is broken, it is placed face up in the power discard pile of the player that owns that card.

5. Place the Fighters

The players roll off again. The player who wins picks a player. That player places one of their fighters in an empty starting hex in their territory (pg 22-23). Then players take it in turns to place one fighter at a time in the same way, until all of the fighters in the warbands have been placed. If either player runs out of fighters to place, the other player continues placing fighters until all of the fighters have been placed.

A fighter on the battlefield is referred to as a surviving fighter.

Action Phase

You're now ready to battle! Each game is made up of three rounds, and each round is made up of an action phase and an end phase.

At the start of each action phase, the players roll off. This happens before anything else that happens at the start of an action phase. In the first round the player who finished placing all of the fighters in their warband first adds one critical success symbol to their roll. The player who wins picks which player is first to take a turn in that action phase.

Steps of a Turn

A player's turn has two major steps:

Activation step
Power step

In the activation step, the player takes an activation, which will usually involve activating a fighter to make an action such as a Move or Attack action. Note that although most activations allow a fighter to make an action, activations and actions are different things!

In the power step, both players can play power cards and delve (pg 36-37). After the power step, it is the other player's turn. When both players have taken four turns, the action phase is over, and the end phase begins.

The turn diagram describes when the steps occur during a player turn:

Activation step. This step can contain a number of additional reaction steps as described in the rules that follow. The activation step is followed by a reaction step, then an Inspire step and then a surge step.
Power step. This step can contain a number of additional reaction steps as described in the rules that follow. The power step is followed by a reaction step, then an Inspire step and then a surge step.

Each player's turn also includes a number of minor steps:

Reaction steps
Inspire steps
Surge steps

These are called minor steps because often neither player will do anything in these steps, and they will pass without comment. Each minor step is described elsewhere – the reaction step on pages 40-41, the Inspire step on page 18, and the surge step on page 42.

Additional Reaction Steps

The activation step and power step can contain a number of reaction steps which are not pictured in the diagram above. These steps occur after certain stages of the game, such as after a step in the combat sequence (pg 31) or after a power card is played (pg 37). How to play these steps is described in more detail on pages 40-41, but in the rules that follow, the reaction step symbol is used following a rule to show that after that rule is resolved, there is a reaction step.

Activation Step

You will use most of your activation steps to activate your fighters. When you activate a fighter they make an action. Doing so uses one of your four activations for the phase. All fighters can make the following actions:

Move (see below)
Attack (pg 30)
Guard (pg 34)
Charge (pg 35)

Other actions fighters can make may be found on fighter and upgrade cards.

You can instead use an activation step to make a player action. These don't involve your fighters – instead, these actions allow a player to do something. Doing so uses one of your four activations for the phase. Players can make the following actions:

Draw a power card.
Discard an objective card and then draw an objective card.
Pass (forfeit an activation).

It can be easy to lose track of how many activations you've taken in the heat of battle! This is why each player has four activation tokens. Each time you take an activation, flip one of the tokens over.

Move Action

When one of your fighters makes a Move action, you move them into an adjacent empty hex a number of times up to their Move characteristic. This is found on their fighter card. The move can be in any direction. A fighter that makes a Move action cannot end their Move action in the hex they started the Move action in.

When a fighter completes a Move action, give that fighter a Move token. Do this even if the fighter is not making the Move action as an activation. A fighter with one or more Move tokens cannot make a Move or Charge action.

A fighter's position on the battlefield sometimes changes without them taking a Move action (e.g. when they are pushed, see below) – when this happens, do not give that fighter a Move token.

In the example diagram, Dhoraz would need a Move characteristic of at least 2 to move to hex A, at least 3 to move to hex B, and at least 4 to move to hex C.

Push

When a rule tells you to push a fighter, push their miniature into an adjacent empty hex the number of times specified by the rule. Each push can be in any direction unless specified otherwise. A fighter that is pushed cannot end the push in the hex they started the push in.

When a rule tells you to push a fighter (or token) 'away' or 'further away' from a hex, fighter, or token, it means that each hex it is pushed into as part of that push must be further from that hex, fighter or token than the hex it just left. This distance is counted in hexes by the shortest route, even if that means counting a blocked hex.

Tokens and Counters

Some rules tell you to give a fighter a token. When you give a fighter a token, place the relevant token next to that fighter. That fighter is then said to have that token, and whenever that fighter's position on the battlefield changes, their tokens go with them.

Some rules instead tell you to use a counter – they will say to give it to a fighter or place it on a power card. The most common of these are wound counters. To give a fighter a counter, place it on their fighter card. That fighter is then said to have that counter. These rules may also name these counters – the names are simply used to label the counters in the same way as keywords (pg 21). The rules will explain how to use the counters, or what significance they have. The reverse of a wound counter can be used to represent any kind of counter.

Some rules tell you to remove a token or a counter. This means that you take that token from next to the fighter, or that counter from the card it is on. If the fighter or card has none of the relevant token or counter, you cannot remove it.

The token and counter types shown are the Move/Charge token, the Guard/Stagger token and generic counters.

Attack Action

Most fighters have at least one Attack action on their fighter card. Fighters can gain additional Attack actions when they are given an Attack action upgrade (pg 20), or in some cases when they are Inspired (pg 18). Fighters can even gain temporary Attack actions from some gambits (pg 21). A fighter must have a target that is within range and visible (see Line of Sight, opposite) to be able to make an Attack action. All Attack actions have the following information:

Name. Some Attack actions have the spell symbol by their name. If they do then they are spell Attack actions.
Range characteristic. A fighter making an Attack action can target a visible fighter (see opposite) within a number of hexes equal to the Attack action's Range characteristic (so a Range 1 Attack action can only target enemy fighters within 1 hex of the fighter making the Attack action). The distance to the target does not affect the Range characteristic (e.g. a Range 3 Attack action which targets an adjacent fighter is still a Range 3 Attack action). Some cards may refer to, for example, 'Range 3+ Attack actions': this means all Attack actions with a Range characteristic of the stated value and higher.
Dice characteristic. This characteristic is a number and a symbol. The number tells you how many attack dice to roll when making the Attack action. The more dice you roll for an Attack action, the greater your chance of success. The symbol tells you which symbol (Smash, Fury or Support) you need to roll on the attack dice for a success. Spell Attack actions use magic dice instead, and have different symbols you need to roll for a success (Channel, Focus or Support). Spell Attack actions may have a hyphen instead of a number – where this is the case, roll a number of magic dice equal to the fighter's wizard level (pg 18).
Damage characteristic. This tells you how much damage the attacking fighter deals to the target if the Attack action is successful.
Some Attack actions have additional rules text, which may refer to a number of common abilities, such as Cleave and Knockback (pg 34) or may include other rules that change how the Attack action works. These rules only affect that Attack action, unless specified otherwise.

Example: Grievous – Attack action. This Attack action has +1 Dice for each upgrade the target has.

Line of Sight

Line of sight is used to determine which fighters are visible to each fighter. It is usually used when checking if one fighter can make an Attack action that targets another. Fighters have line of sight in all directions – it doesn't matter which way the miniature is facing.

To check if a fighter has line of sight to a hex, draw a straight imaginary line from the centre of the hex they are in to the centre of the hex in question. If that line goes through or touches one or more blocked hexes, or goes off the edge of the battlefield, the fighter does not have line of sight to that hex. Otherwise, they have line of sight to that hex, and anything in that hex is visible to that fighter. Fighters and occupied hexes do not block line of sight, and you can draw line of sight along the edge of an incomplete hex (but not through one).

In the diagram, Xandire has line of sight to all hexes labelled A, but does not have line of sight to any of the hexes labelled B.

Combat Sequence

When you choose one of your fighters to make an Attack action, follow the sequence described here. This is called the combat sequence. Once the sequence is complete, that action has been resolved. A fighter making an Attack action is referred to as an attacker while that action is being resolved, and that fighter's player is referred to as the attacking player.

Declare Attack action: Pick an Attack action and a target. You can only pick one Attack action (which will normally be on the attacker's fighter card or on an upgrade that fighter has), and the target must be within the Attack action's Range and visible to the attacker. You cannot target a friendly fighter. (reaction step)
Attack roll: Roll a number of attack dice equal to the Attack action's Dice characteristic (or magic dice if the Attack action is a spell, see page 35). (reaction step)
Defence roll: The target's player rolls a number of defence dice equal to the target's Defence characteristic. The target's Defence characteristic also shows which symbol (Block or Dodge) is a success. (reaction step)
Determine success: Compare how many critical success symbols you both rolled:
- If you rolled more than your opponent, this is called a 'critical hit'. The Attack action succeeds. Go to step 5. (reaction step)
- If your opponent rolled more than you, this is called a 'miss'. The Attack action fails. Skip to step 8. (reaction step)
- If you rolled the same number of critical success symbols (including if neither of you rolled any), check if the target is trapped (see below), and then compare how many successes you both rolled:
  - Trapped: The target is trapped if there is no empty hex adjacent to the target which is further from the attacker. If the target is trapped and you rolled one or more successes (including critical success symbols), add one success to the number of successes you rolled. A fighter that cannot be pushed or cannot be driven back cannot be trapped.
  - If you rolled more successes than your opponent, and you rolled at least one critical success symbol, this is called a 'critical hit'. The Attack action succeeds. Go to step 5. (reaction step)

If, at the start of any of the steps 2-5, the target is no longer visible and/or within range, the Attack action fails – skip to step 8. (reaction step)

Driven Back

If the target of an Attack action can be driven back, the attacking player can choose to push the target one hex. This can be in any direction that takes the target further away from the attacker. If the attacking player chooses not to, the fighter is not driven back.

When Xandire drives Mannok back, Mannok can be pushed into one of the three hexes labelled A in the diagram.

Support

In combat, fighters rarely have the luxury of facing their foe one-on-one. Each fighter's allies will try to help them and hinder their enemies, and in Warhammer Underworlds this is represented by support.

The attacker receives support for each other friendly fighter that is adjacent to their target.
The target receives support for each other friendly fighter that is adjacent to the attacker.

A fighter who provides support in this way is said to be supporting.

If a fighter has one supporting fighter, rolls of the first support symbol are successes in their attack or defence roll. If a fighter has two or more supporting fighters, rolls of both support symbols are successes in their attack or defence roll.

Fighters cannot support an attacker making a spell Attack action.

In the diagram, if Mannok (A) was attacking Xandire (D), Krookgrin (B) would support Mannok and neither Dhoraz (C) nor Stormrider (E) are in a position to support Xandire, as they are not adjacent to Mannok. This would give Mannok one supporting fighter, so he would count rolls of the first support symbol as successes. If, on the other hand, Krookgrin was attacking Xandire, Mannok would support Krookgrin, but Dhoraz would support Xandire. Again, Stormrider is not in a position to support Xandire. Both the attacker and the target have one supporting fighter, so each would count rolls of the first support symbol as successes. Finally, if Stormrider was attacking Krookgrin, Mannok is not in a position to support Krookgrin, while both Xandire and Dhoraz are in a position to support Stormrider. This would give Stormrider two supporting fighters, so she would count rolls of both support symbols as successes.

Damage

When a fighter is dealt damage, take a number of wound counters equal to the amount of damage dealt (which will usually be the Damage characteristic of an Attack action that targeted them and succeeded) and give them to that fighter by placing them on that fighter's fighter card. (reaction step) Then check if that fighter has been taken out of action (see below).

Sometimes you need to know who or what is considered to have dealt damage to a fighter:

If an Attack action or an upgrade a fighter has deals damage, the fighter is said to have dealt that damage and, if relevant, to have taken that fighter out of action.
If a gambit spell (pg 37) or backlash (pg 35) deals damage, the wizard that was casting the spell is said to have dealt that damage and, if relevant, to have taken that fighter out of action.
If another card deals damage, the warband of the player who used that card is said to have dealt that damage and, if relevant, to have taken that fighter out of action.
If a lethal hex deals damage, the lethal hex is said to have dealt that damage and, if relevant, to have taken that fighter out of action. This is true even when a fighter is pushed into a lethal hex during an Attack action.

Out of Action

If a fighter has a number of wound counters equal to or greater than their Wounds characteristic, that fighter is taken out of action.

When a fighter is taken out of action, take them off the battlefield and clear all of their tokens from the battlefield. In addition, clear all counters from their fighter card and from their upgrades. Note that these tokens and counters are not said to have been removed (so, for example, the fighter is not healed – see below). Do not break (pg 27) the fighter's upgrades. (reaction step)

A fighter that is out of action plays no further part in the game – they cannot be activated, they cannot become Inspired, they cannot make actions, you cannot use any actions or reactions on their upgrades and so on.

Bounty

When an enemy fighter is taken out of action, gain 1 glory point. Glory points that you gain in this way are called a bounty. If that enemy fighter had a Wounds characteristic of 6 or more (including all modifiers), the bounty is worth 1 additional glory point.

Vulnerable

A fighter who has a number of wound counters that is one less than their Wounds characteristic (so they would be taken out of action if they were dealt 1 damage) is vulnerable. This has no inherent effect, but some cards refer to this keyword.

Heal

Some cards allow you to remove wound counters from a fighter. This is known as healing. If a card tells you to heal (X), where X is a number, that means that you remove that number of wound counters from the fighter or fighters described by the card (if they do not have enough wound counters, simply remove all their wound counters). A fighter is only said to have been healed if at least one wound counter was removed from their fighter card.

Attack Action Keywords

Cleave

If an Attack action has the Cleave keyword, rolls of Block cannot be successes in the defence roll.

Ensnare

If an Attack action has the Ensnare keyword, rolls of Dodge cannot be successes in the defence roll.

Grievous

If an Attack action has the Grievous keyword, on a critical hit that Attack action has +1 Damage (see pg 38).

Knockback

If an Attack action has the Knockback X keyword, where X is a number, in the drive back step the attacking player can drive the target back a number of additional hexes up to X. This means that if an Attack action with Knockback 2 succeeds, the attacking player can drive the target back one hex for the successful Attack action (following the normal combat sequence), and up to two further hexes for the Knockback. The push must continue in the same direction. If the attacking player cannot push the target further in that direction, the target is not pushed any further. If an Attack action has two or more rules giving it Knockback, add the numbers together for a combined total (e.g. if an Attack action has two rules giving it Knockback 1, it has Knockback 2).

In the diagram, Xandire attacks Mannok with a successful Attack action with Knockback 1. The attacking player can choose one of three hexes to drive Mannok into as a result of the successful Attack action, and the arrows show how that movement can continue as a result of Knockback.

Scything

When a fighter makes an Attack action with the Scything keyword, the fighter makes that Attack action X times, where X is the number of enemy fighters adjacent to that fighter at the start of the action. Each of these Attack actions must target a different adjacent enemy fighter. If X is more than 1, the Attack action is resolved as a superaction (see pg 35). The attacking player resolves the Attack actions in whatever order they choose. Because each Attack action is resolved separately, if there is a rule in effect that affects the next Attack action, it will only affect the first Attack action resolved in this way, not the whole superaction. In addition, each Attack action has its own reaction steps in the same way as other Attack actions.

Stagger

If an Attack action has the Stagger keyword, after that Attack action, if it succeeds, give the target one Stagger token. This happens before the reaction step after that Attack action. If a card tells you to stagger a fighter, give that fighter one Stagger token. When a fighter is given one or more Stagger tokens, remove that fighter's Guard tokens. A fighter with one or more Stagger tokens is staggered: when that fighter is the target of an Attack action, the attacker's player can re-roll one attack dice in the attack roll.

Guard Action

When one of your fighters makes a Guard action, give that fighter a Guard token: the Guard action is then complete. When a fighter is given one or more Guard tokens, remove that fighter's Stagger tokens.

A fighter with one or more Guard tokens is on Guard. A fighter who is on Guard counts both Block and Dodge as successes in their defence rolls, and cannot be driven back.

A fighter with one or more Guard tokens cannot make a Guard action.

Charge Action

When your fighter makes a Charge action, first remove any Guard tokens that fighter has (see above). They then make a Move action, then an Attack action.

You must follow all of the rules for Move and Attack actions (pg 29-31), with the exception that you give the fighter a Charge token (rather than a Move token) after the Move action. Do this even if the fighter is not making the Charge action as an activation. If any of the conditions for making those actions cannot be met, the fighter cannot make a Charge action. Once you have followed the rules for those actions, the Charge action is complete.

A fighter with one or more Charge tokens cannot be activated.

Superactions

A superaction is a special kind of action that combines two or more actions in one. The most common of these is the Charge superaction. When you activate a fighter to make a superaction it only requires a single activation. Each action within a superaction follows the rules for an action of that type (so an Attack action within a Charge superaction follows the rules for Attack actions). There is a reaction step after each action within a superaction – see page 40.

Spells

Spells in Warhammer Underworlds come in three forms:

As gambit cards, as described on page 21. Gambit spells can only be played when there is a friendly wizard on the battlefield – that is, a fighter with the wizard symbol on their fighter card. Each time you play a gambit spell, you must choose a friendly wizard to attempt to cast it as described below.
On fighter cards and upgrade cards as actions or reactions that your fighter can make. A wizard with a spell action can attempt to cast it as described below.
On fighter cards and upgrade cards as Attack actions. A fighter can make a Spell Attack action in the same way as other Attack actions, though see right for details on how these spells are cast.

Casting Spells

Spells have a casting value. This will be a number of channel, focus or critical success symbols. The casting value for a gambit spell, and for a spell action on a fighter card or upgrade card, is denoted by a number of symbols (for example, a Gambit Spell or Spell Action with two Channel symbols).

When you attempt to cast the spell you must roll the magic dice – this is called the casting roll. The number of magic dice you roll is equal to the wizard level of the wizard casting the spell. (reaction step) If there are two or more critical success symbols in the casting roll, the wizard suffers backlash: they are dealt 1 damage (pg 33), as the magical forces they are channelling threaten to overwhelm them. If this damage takes the wizard out of action, the spell fails. If they survive, or if the wizard does not suffer backlash, compare the casting value to the result of the casting roll. If the casting roll includes a matching symbol for each symbol in the casting value, the spell has been cast: this means that you can resolve it. Each critical success symbol in the casting roll can be used to match a symbol of any kind in the casting value. If you do not roll enough matching symbols, the spell fails (and in the case of a gambit it is discarded).

For example, if a level 2 wizard was attempting to cast a Gambit Spell (Channel, Channel), that fighter's player would roll two magic dice. If the result of the roll is Channel and Channel, Channel and critical success, or critical success and critical success, the spell is cast (although with the critical success and critical success result this will only be true if the wizard survives the damage from backlash!). On any other result the spell is not cast.

Some spells require you to choose one or more fighters, cards, spells, objective tokens or hexes. If, when you would resolve the spell, you cannot (e.g. because there are no enemy fighters within a certain number of hexes) the spell fails. In addition, if a spell requires you to choose a fighter or fighters, the caster must have line of sight (pg 31) to the fighter or fighters you choose (the caster is considered to have line of sight to themselves). If they do not, they cannot attempt to cast that spell (and in the case of a gambit spell, you cannot play that card).

Unlike other spells, spell Attack actions do not have a casting value – a spell Attack action is cast if the Attack action succeeds, and otherwise it is not cast and it fails (see Attack actions on page 30 for more detail on making spell Attack actions). If you roll two or more critical success symbols in the attack roll when a wizard makes a spell Attack action, that wizard suffers backlash. If this damage takes the wizard out of action, the spell (and the Attack action) fails.

Power Step

The best-laid plans in Warhammer Underworlds rarely survive contact with the enemy. This section of the rules explains how gambit cards and upgrade cards can be used to disrupt your opponent's plans, or carry out your own.

After a player's activation step, it is time for that player's power step. Players alternate playing a power card, delving a feature token or passing (saying "pass"), starting with the player whose turn is next. (If this is the last turn in a round, start with the player whose turn would be next if there was another turn.) Any number of power cards can be played in each power step, but once both players pass in succession, the power step ends and the next turn begins.

In the example, Xandire has just made a Move action that puts her adjacent to Orka. With that activation step finished, it is time for Xandire's player's power step. Orka's player is first to decide whether to play a power card, delve or pass. They reveal and play the Swampspill card that allows them to re-roll one attack dice in their chosen fighter's Attack actions until the end of the phase. It's time for Xandire's player to decide whether or not to play a power card. They have an Advance as One card in their hand, but they don't want to play it just yet and they have no fighters on feature tokens, so they pass. It's time for Orka's player to decide whether or not to play a power card or delve again, and with no more gambits in their hand, a fighter benefiting from the defensive boost their gloom hex token is giving them, and no glory points for upgrades (see over the page), they pass. Both players have passed in succession, so Xandire's player's power step ends and it is Orka's player's turn.

Play a Power Card

To play a power card, a player simply reveals the card from their hand they wish to play. The player then follows the directions on the card if it is a gambit, or gives the upgrade to a friendly fighter if it is an upgrade card. More detail is found in the sections that follow.

A player can only play a power card if they can follow all of the directions on that card. For example, if a card instructs you to choose two friendly fighters, and you only have one surviving friendly fighter, you cannot play that card. For another example, if a card instructs you to remove a fighter's Guard tokens, and that fighter has no Guard tokens, you cannot play that card.

Some power cards describe an additional condition that must be met before they can be played (reactions are the most common of these, and are described on pages 40-41). A player can only play these power cards when that condition is met.

Delve

In place of playing a power card, a player can instead delve by flipping one feature token, if a friendly fighter is on that feature token. Each player can only delve each feature token once in each power step.

Sequencing

If a player has two or more abilities that would resolve at the same time (e.g. at the beginning of the action phase) they choose in which order they are resolved.

If two players have abilities that would resolve at the same time, and these rules do not specify otherwise, they roll off (pg 25). The winner chooses who resolves an ability first, then the other player resolves an ability. They keep resolving abilities in the same order until all abilities they wish to resolve have been resolved. Some abilities are optional (they use the word 'can') – a player can choose not to resolve such an ability, but if they do so they cannot resolve any further optional abilities at this time.

Gambit Cards

Gambit cards are held in a player's hand until they are played. They are either ploys or spells.

When you play a ploy card, reveal it. (reaction step) Then follow the text on the card. Once you have done so, the card is said to be resolved, and you discard it. (reaction step) When you play a gambit spell card, reveal it. (reaction step) Then you must choose a wizard to attempt to cast the spell and make a casting roll (pg 35). (reaction step) If the spell is cast, follow the text on the card. Once you have done so, or if the spell fails, the card is said to be resolved, and you discard it. (reaction step)

Some gambit cards refer to the next event of some kind – the next activation, Attack action, or so on. Instead of discarding these cards immediately, leave these gambit cards face up in front of you once you have played them. There is a reaction step once you have played them. They will remain there until the end of the next activation, or until the end of the round, or until you apply their effects: whichever comes first. Once that point is reached, any remaining unresolved face-up gambit cards of this type are discarded with no effect.

Persist

Some gambit cards say that they persist – these cards have an ongoing effect. Instead of discarding these cards immediately, leave these cards face up in front of you once you have played them. There is still a reaction step once you have played them. They are not discarded until they specify that they are, or another card specifies that they are. If a card that persists specifies more than one event that it persists until, it persists until the first of those (e.g. if a card said 'this persists until the next Attack action, or until the end of the round', it would persist until the first of these events occurs).

Additional Actions

Some gambit cards allow you to make additional actions with your fighters. These additional actions do not cost you an activation, and a fighter that makes an additional action in this way is not activated.

These cards either specify a particular action or actions (e.g. 'Reaction: Play this after you give a fighter an upgrade in an action phase. They can make a Move or Attack action.') or they allow a fighter to make an unspecified action (e.g. 'Choose a fighter. They can make an action.').

When a gambit specifies a particular action or actions, a fighter can make those actions even if the rules of the game would normally not allow it. For example, if a gambit says that a fighter can make a Move action, they can do so even if they have a Move token.

When a gambit allows a fighter to make an action, but does not specify which action, the fighter cannot make an action that would not normally be allowed by the rules of the game. For example, a fighter with a Move token could not make a Move or Charge action, as the rules forbid a fighter with a Move token from making a Move or Charge action.

Upgrade Cards

Upgrade cards are held in a player's hand until they are played. They are used to give permanent boosts to a player's fighters.

To play an upgrade card, a player reveals that card. (reaction step) The player then spends one of their unspent glory points by flipping it over to its spent side. Once they have done so, they declare which friendly fighter they are giving the upgrade to (following any restrictions, see page 20), and place it adjacent to that fighter's fighter card. (reaction step) The fighter has that upgrade for the rest of the game. A fighter can be given more than one upgrade. A fighter cannot be given an upgrade if they are not on the battlefield or are out of action (though they keep any upgrades they have when they are taken out of action).

If a fighter has an upgrade that includes a modifier, that modifier applies to that fighter (pg 38). If a fighter has an upgrade that includes an action, that fighter can make that action when activated or when granted an action of that type or an unspecified action. If it includes a reaction, it will state when that reaction can be used. An upgrade that includes an Attack action is called an Attack action upgrade.

Modifiers

Various effects in Warhammer Underworlds change the values printed on cards or the dice you roll. These are called modifiers.

Modifying Characteristics

Modifiers are cumulative, so if a single characteristic or roll has more than one modifier applied to it, apply them all. Apply modifiers that multiply or divide before modifiers that add or subtract, even if the modifiers that multiply or divide are on cards played after those with modifiers that add or subtract.

Characteristics cannot be reduced below 1, with the exception of Move, which cannot be reduced below 0.

When a modifier changes a characteristic, that characteristic is said to be the modified value. For example, a fighter with a Move characteristic of 3 is given the Heroic End upgrade. Heroic End gives that fighter +1 Move (amongst other things), so that fighter's Move characteristic is increased by 1, to 4. If they also had Raptor's Eye (+1 Move), their Move characteristic would be increased again to 5. In another example, if a fighter with Heroic End was affected by a card that doubled their Move characteristic, you would double the Move characteristic printed on the fighter's fighter card, then add 1 for Heroic End.

Numerical modifiers that affect the Dice and Defence characteristics change the number of dice you roll in an attack or defence roll. For example, +1 Dice means that you would increase the number of an Attack action's Dice characteristic by 1 (and therefore roll an extra dice for that Attack action).

Setting Characteristics

Some modifiers set a characteristic at a particular value, rather than modifying an existing value. For example, a card might set a fighter's Move characteristic at 1 for the next activation. Apply these modifiers before any others. For example, if a fighter has an upgrade that sets their Move characteristic to 5, and also has an upgrade that gives them +1 Move, you would set their Move characteristic to 5 and then add 1, for a Move characteristic of 6.

If two of these modifiers affect the same characteristic or roll (e.g. a fighter's Move characteristic is set to 1 by one card and to 3 by another card), whichever of those rules came into effect last is the value used, for as long as that rule is in effect (or until another card is played that sets the value).

For example, if a fighter has an upgrade that sets their Move characteristic to 5 and a player plays a ploy that sets all Move characteristics to 1 for the next activation, the ploy takes precedence: that fighter's Move characteristic is 1 for the next activation, and then it reverts to 5 when the ploy is no longer in effect. If the upgrade was played after the ploy, the fighter's Move characteristic would be 5 (regardless of the ploy).

Modifiers may set the symbol of a Dice or Defence characteristic. For example, a ploy that makes the next Attack action have a Fury characteristic means that rolls of Fury (rather than the symbol on the Attack action) are successes for the attack roll of that Attack action.

Modifiers and Re-rolls

Dice roll modifiers also apply to any re-rolls of those dice (pg 25). For example, when rolling to see who chooses the first player to take an activation in the first round, the player who finished placing their fighters first adds one to their roll. If this roll is re-rolled, they add one to that re-roll (and any subsequent re-rolls) as well.

Innate Symbols

Innate symbols can appear on fighter cards, on upgrade cards, and on gambit cards – for example, innate (Smash) or innate (Fury). These symbols are modifiers and are added to attack rolls, defence rolls and casting rolls. For example, if a fighter has innate Fury, when you make an attack roll for that fighter you add one Fury symbol to whatever else you have rolled.

Unlike other modifiers, these success symbols do not stack – no matter how many of these innate symbols a fighter has, you can only apply one to their roll. For example, if a fighter had innate (Smash, Fury), you would choose to add either Smash or Fury to the attack roll when they make an Attack action, and if a fighter had innate (Channel) from two or more sources, you would only add a single Channel to the casting roll when the fighter attempts to cast a spell. If you have to choose between two or more innate symbols, you must do so before making the roll.

Scatter

Some cards or actions have the keyword scatter X on them, where X is a number. Scatter is used to represent the sometimes random nature of direction in the confusing underworlds. When you resolve a card or action with Scatter X you will create a random chain of adjacent hexes that determines how you resolve the card or action.

The card or action will tell you which hex to scatter from – this hex is called the 'origin hex'. To scatter from the origin hex, place the scatter token on the battlefield. You can choose how the token is oriented and which hex you place it in. (reaction step) Then roll a number of attack dice equal to the Scatter number (so for Scatter 1 you would roll one dice, for Scatter 2 you would roll two dice, etc.). The symbols on the attack dice correspond to directions on the scatter token, so each of the dice rolled indicates a direction you can use to create the chain (see below). You cannot change the orientation of the scatter token once you have rolled the dice.

When the chain is complete, remove the scatter token from the battlefield. The card or action you are resolving will tell you how to use this chain, or what happens in the hexes through which the chain passes or in the end hex.

If the chain would extend off the edge of the battlefield, it ends in the last hex it extends into. A chain that ends in this way is described as interrupted. If the chain has not extended beyond the origin hex, no chain is created, which usually means the card or action will have no effect.

For example, if a card said 'Scatter 3 from this fighter's hex. Any fighter in the end hex is dealt 1 damage.' you would place the scatter token on the battlefield, choosing its orientation when doing so. You would then roll three attack dice, choose the order in which to use them and place them in a chain as indicated by the directions on the scatter token. The effect of the card would cause 1 damage on any fighter in the last hex in the chain (the end hex). In the example shown below, two [symbol?] and one [symbol?] were rolled. After the player creates a chain using the three results in whichever order they choose, any fighter in the end hex is damaged.

Creating the Chain

Choose one of the dice you rolled (if there is more than one) and place it in the hex adjacent to the origin hex in the direction indicated by that dice. This is the first hex in the chain. Note that the scatter token's orientation is fixed – you cannot change it once you have rolled the dice.
Then choose another of the dice and place it in the hex adjacent to the previous hex in the chain in the direction indicated by that second dice. Note that the scatter token's orientation is still the same.
Repeat this process for any remaining dice. The chain may loop back into the same hex more than once, or even into the origin hex, but each hex in the chain will be adjacent to at least one other hex in the chain. The last hex that you place a dice in is the 'end hex' in the chain.

Reactions

Each reaction step in a game of Warhammer Underworlds gives you the chance to use a single reaction. You can use the reaction on a fighter card, an upgrade card (only one given to a surviving fighter, unless it specifies otherwise), or a gambit card in your hand in a reaction step if the situation described on the card matches what is happening in the game – it does not cost you an activation to do so, and you do not need to wait for the power step. Note that some reactions are spells – to use these you must still cast them as described on page 35.

Each reaction describes a reaction step in which it can be used, and may also list one or more conditions that must be met in that reaction step. When this situation arises you can use the reaction by declaring that you will do so and, in the case of a gambit, revealing the card from your hand. (reaction step) Then resolve the reaction as described on the card, and if it was a gambit discard the card. (reaction step) Then play continues from the point where it was interrupted.

The following diagrams show you each of the reaction steps – the opportunities in which players will be able to use reactions. Each symbol represents a reaction step, and you will find these throughout this rulebook indicating where there is a reaction step.

Reaction Steps During an Attack Action

There is a reaction step after each of the eight steps of the combat sequence: 1. Declare Attack action; 2. Attack roll; 3. Defence roll; 4. Determine success; 5. Deal damage; 6. Check if the target is taken out of action; 7. Drive back; 8. End sequence.

Reaction Steps When a Fighter Is Dealt Damage

These reaction steps exist each time a fighter is dealt damage, for any reason (though most commonly after steps 5 and 6 of an Attack action). If a fighter is dealt damage at any other time during an action or when a power card is played, these reaction steps occur before that action or card is considered to be resolved, and before any other reaction steps.

Reaction Steps After an Action

There is a reaction step after a Move action, after an Attack action, and after each action within a Charge action (after the Move action, and after the Attack action).

Reaction Steps After an Activation Step

There is a reaction step after the activation step begins, and one when the action (or the final action) ends and the activation step ends. The end of the final action in an activation step and the end of that activation step are simultaneous, and they share the same reaction step. These examples use Charge actions to show how these reaction steps work for superactions.

Reaction Steps When a Spell Action (Other Than an Attack Action) Is Made

There is a reaction step when the spell action is declared, after the casting roll, and when the spell action is resolved.

Reaction Steps When a Power Card Is Played

There is a reaction step when the power card is revealed and when it is resolved. For a gambit spell, there is a reaction step when the gambit spell is revealed, after the casting roll, and when the gambit spell is resolved.

On Hold

Often, a player will be able to make a reaction during an action or when a power card is played, before that action or power card is resolved. When this happens, the game is put on hold until the reaction has been resolved. Once it has been resolved, you then finish resolving the action, gambit or effect that was interrupted.

If the reaction has made this impossible (e.g. if a fighter's position has changed so that they are no longer in range to complete an Attack action), the action, gambit or effect ends without being resolved any further.

If a reaction happens during a fighter's action, that fighter is still considered to have made that action, even if you are unable to finish resolving that action. For example, if a reaction made during a Charge action prevents that action being resolved, the fighter making that Charge action still gets a Charge token.

One Reaction per Reaction Step

In some situations more than one reaction could be used in the same reaction step – most often this will be after an action or activation step. However, only one reaction can be played in each reaction step. In each reaction step, the player whose turn is next takes precedence. If they play a reaction, the other player cannot play a reaction in that reaction step. If the player whose turn is next does not wish to play a reaction, they say "pass", and the other player can play a reaction.

For example, if both players had a reaction that could be used after an Attack action, the player whose turn came next would decide whether or not to use their reaction. If they use it, the other player cannot use their reaction. If they decide not to use it, saying "pass", the other player can then decide whether or not to use their own reaction.

When there is no player whose turn would come next, because you are playing the last turn in an action phase, the player whose turn would be next if there were an additional turn takes precedence.

Some reactions may share a reaction step even if their conditions are different: for example, a reaction that can be played after an Attack action and a reaction that can be played after an Attack action that fails – in both cases the reaction step is after an Attack action.

After an Action/Activation Step

Many reactions use the reaction steps that occur after an action or after an activation step. These reaction steps are often the same, as the end of a fighter's or player's last action in an activation step is simultaneous with the end of that activation step. This means that players cannot use an 'after an action' reaction to the last action in an activation step and then an 'after an activation step' reaction – they must pick one or the other.

Reacting to a Reaction

Reaction steps can occur when a reaction is revealed and/or resolved, before play continues. When this happens, rather than precedence going to the player whose turn would be next, precedence instead goes to the opponent of the last player to use a reaction.

For example, a player plays a reaction after an Attack action that allows one of their fighters to make a Move action. Both players have a reaction that can be used after a fighter makes a Move action, but the player who did not play the first reaction has precedence. If they decide not to use their reaction, saying "pass", the other player will be able to use theirs.

Fighter Card Reaction

Blazing Purity – Xandire has a reaction ability. After she is dealt damage that will take her out of action, you can Heal (2) another friendly fighter.

Upgrade Reaction

Unaltering Stride – Reaction: After this fighter's activation, push this fighter 1 hex. If you give one of Xandire's Truthseekers the Unaltering Stride upgrade, it allows that fighter to react to their own activation and be pushed one hex.

Ploy Reaction

Shattering Blow – Reaction: Play this after a friendly fighter's successful Range 1 Attack action. Pick one of the target's upgrades. Break that card. Shattering Blow is a ploy reaction that can be played after a friendly fighter has made a successful Range 1 or Range 2 Attack action. When it is played, you can pick one of the target's upgrades, which is then broken.

End Phase

Once both players have taken all of their turns, the end phase begins. In the end phase, you can score objective cards, upgrade your fighters, discard cards and replenish your hand. Take it in turns to run through the following sequence; the player who took the first turn in the action phase runs through this sequence first, then their opponent does so.

Check your objective cards, and if you have met the conditions on any of them you may score that objective card. To score an objective card, reveal that card and collect the number of glory points specified on that card. Place the card revealed this way face up in your scored objectives pile, adjacent to your objective card deck. Repeat this step for any further objective cards you wish to score.
You can discard any of your remaining objective cards.
You can play any upgrade cards, as described on page 37.
You can discard any of your remaining power cards.
If you have fewer than three objective cards in your hand, draw objective cards until you have three in your hand, or your objective deck is empty (whichever happens first).
If you have fewer than five power cards in your hand, draw power cards until you have five in your hand, or your power deck is empty (whichever happens first).

Note that players cannot use gambits in the end phase, and there are no reaction steps, Inspire steps or surge steps in the end phase.

Once both players have followed this sequence, clear all Move, Charge, Guard and Stagger tokens from the battlefield (these tokens are not said to have been removed). Flip your activation tokens over – a new round then begins.

Objective Card Types

Surge Objective Cards

Most objective cards are scored in the end phase as described above. However, some objective cards are scored 'immediately' after an event – for example after an action or gambit – as long as the conditions on the objective card are met. These objective cards are called surge objective cards, and have the surge keyword. When the condition on a surge objective card is met, the player reveals that card. They will score that card in the next surge step.

When a player scores a surge objective card, that player immediately draws another objective card. Note that you cannot score any surge objective cards drawn this way until the next surge step – you cannot draw and immediately score a surge objective card, even if the conditions on the card have been met. In addition, you cannot score surge objective cards in the end phase.

Surge Step

A surge step follows each activation (pg 28) and each power step (pg 36). Starting with the player who last took an activation, each player scores each of their revealed surge objectives.

Hybrid Objective Cards

Some objective cards have two different conditions on them (separated by the word 'or'), either of which allow you to score the objective card. These objective cards are called hybrid objective cards, and have the hybrid keyword. When you satisfy either or both of the conditions on the objective card you can score that objective card. Hybrid objective cards may also be surge objective cards.

Dual Objective Cards

Some objective cards have two different conditions on them (separated by the word 'and'), both of which you must satisfy to score the objective card. These objective cards are called dual objective cards, and have the dual keyword. When you satisfy both of the conditions on the objective card you can score that objective card. Dual objective cards may also be surge objective cards.

Play On

Rounds 2 and 3

Round 2 works in the same way as round 1 – simply return to page 28 and play through another action phase and another end phase.

The action phase of round 3 works in the same way as rounds 1 and 2. However, when you get to the end phase of round 3, each player only plays the first step of the end phase, scoring any objective cards whose conditions have been met in the same way as in the other end phases. You do not discard cards, play upgrade cards or draw cards. The third round then ends, and then the game ends.

Victory

At the end of the game, whichever player has the highest number of glory points (whether they are spent or unspent) is the winner. If the players have the same number of points, but only one player has one or more surviving fighters, that player wins. If each player has one or more surviving fighters, whoever is holding the highest number of objectives wins. If there is still a tie, the game is a draw.

No Enemies in Sight

It may seem strange that if your fighters take the other warband entirely out of action, you don't automatically win the game (though odds are that you will do). This means that you cannot afford to take your eyes off the objective cards!

This also means that if a warband is taken entirely out of action in round 1 or 2, you still need to play the remaining phases so that neither player is prevented from scoring objective cards.

Multiplayer Games

If you have access to two Core Sets, you can play Warhammer Underworlds with three or four players. For the most part you will follow all of the rules for a two-player game, but there are some significant changes which are detailed here.

Place the Boards

The players roll off. Whoever loses (see below) chooses a game board and a side of that game board to use. This can be any board from their collection. The remaining players roll off again, and the loser chooses a game board and side next, then places it adjacent to the first board and in one of the positions shown in the rulebook. If there are two players left, they roll off again and the player who scores lowest does the same, placing their board adjacent to at least one of the boards already placed, in one of the positions shown. Then the final player does so. The resulting battlefield will look like one of the examples in the rulebook.

No Room for Your Board?

Note that when you place your game board, you can first rotate the game boards that have already been placed (though you must keep them in the same position relative to each other). This means you can place your own game board exactly where you want it to be. Once all game boards are placed, players may wish to switch places so that their own game board is within easy reach.

Roll-offs in Multiplayer Games

When the rules tell you to roll off, each player takes any combination of four attack or defence dice and rolls them. Then they compare the results:

If one player rolls more critical successes than any other players, that player has won.
Otherwise, if one player rolls more of the first support symbol than any other players, that player has won.
Otherwise, if one player rolls more of the second support symbol than any other players, that player has won.
If there is still no winner, start the roll-off again.

In a multiplayer game, you may need to establish the loser of a roll-off. In this case, when you compare the results:

The loser is the player who has rolled fewer critical successes than any other player. The other players win.
If there is a tie, the tied player who has rolled fewer of the first support symbol than any other tied player loses. The other players win.
If there is still a tie, the tied player who has rolled fewer of the second support symbol than any other tied player loses. The other players win.
If there is still a tie, the tied players should roll off again. The other players win.

(As in the two-player roll-off, the symbol icons were not captured in the text source and are given in the order of the dice key.)

Order of Play

In a multiplayer game of Warhammer Underworlds, when determining the order of play (whose turn it is to do something), the next player to have a turn is the player to the left of the player whose turn it is.

Place Feature Tokens

A three or four player game of Warhammer Underworlds uses up to thirteen feature tokens which all show a gloom hex on one side. On nine of the feature tokens, the other side has a number from 1-9, and on the other feature tokens the other side also shows a gloom hex.

If you are playing a three-player game, take the tokens numbered 1-7 and put the other numbered tokens back in the box. If you are playing a four-player game, use all the numbered tokens. Shuffle the numbered tokens with the gloom side face up. Deal three to the player that chose the first game board, and two to each other player. Keeping the numbered sides hidden from their opponents, the players take it in turns to place the feature tokens on the battlefield, starting with the player that chose the first game board and following the order of play. When a player does so, they must place the token with the gloom hex side up in any hex on the battlefield, with the following exceptions: they cannot place it in a starting hex, a blocked hex, a lethal hex, a cover hex or an edge hex (pg 23), or within two hexes of another token. If a token cannot be placed because of the above exceptions, it can be placed in an edge hex. Once all tokens have been placed, leave them with the gloom hex side face up. Each player may then add one of the remaining feature tokens (the ones with a gloom hex on both sides) to the battlefield in the same way, starting with the player that chose the first game board and following the order of play, with the exception that these feature tokens may be placed within 1 hex of other feature tokens.

Draw Cards

The player who chose the first game board is first to decide whether to use a do-over. After they have decided not to use a do-over, or after they have used their do-over, the next player decides whether to use a do-over, and so on in order of play.

Place the Fighters

The players roll off, and whoever wins chooses who places a fighter first. That player places one of their fighters in one of the starting hexes on their game board. Then players take it in turns in order of play to place one fighter at a time in the same way, until all of the fighters in the warbands have been placed. If any player runs out of fighters to place, the other players continue placing fighters until all of the fighters have been placed.

Objective Cards

Some objective cards work differently in multiplayer games. When this is the case, they will have one or more of the following symbols:

A symbol used for cards that work differently in all multiplayer games.
A symbol used for cards that work differently in three-player games.
A symbol used for cards that work differently in four-player games.

Each symbol is followed by italic text that replaces the italic text in the objective card's condition, modifying the condition depending on how many players are in the game. In the example objective card (Dual: Score this in an end phase if two or more enemy fighters are out of action, and your warband holds two or more objectives), in a game with three or four players, you score the objective in an end phase if four or more enemy fighters are out of action, rather than if two or more enemy fighters are out of action.

Action Phase

At the start of the action phase, the players roll off. The player who finished placing their warband first adds one to this roll in round 1. Whoever wins decides which player is first to take a turn in that action phase. Players take it in turns to take a turn, starting with the player chosen as described above and proceeding in order of play from there.

Game Sequence

The number of turns each player takes in a round is determined by the number of players:

If you are playing a three-player game, each player takes three turns in each round.
If you are playing a four-player game, each player takes four turns in each round.

Supporting Fighters

When working out who is supporting a fighter in a multiplayer game, the rules work exactly the same. In effect, you will ignore all fighters from warbands that are neither attacking nor the target of the attack. In the diagram, Mannok (A) can attack three enemies. When resolving an Attack action against Faros (D), Krookgrin (B) supports Mannok, but Stormrider (C) and Dhoraz (E) are from different warbands and do not support Faros. Similarly, when resolving an Attack action against Stormrider or Dhoraz, Mannok doesn't have to worry about the other enemy fighters, as they are from different warbands.

Bounty

When a fighter is taken out of action, only the player whose warband took them out of action gains a bounty. If a fighter is taken out of action by damage not caused by a warband, for example by a lethal hex, no player gains a bounty. A player cannot gain a bounty for taking their own fighter out of action.

Power Step

After a player's activation step, it is time for that player's power step. In a three- or four-player game the only players that take part in a player's power step are that player and the player who is next in order of play (if this is the last turn in the round, include the player whose turn would be next if there was another turn). Those players alternate playing a power card, delving a feature token or passing (saying "pass"), starting with the player whose turn is next. (If this is the last turn in a round, start with the player whose turn would be next if there was another turn.) Any number of power cards can be played in each power step, but once both players pass in succession, the power step ends and the next turn begins.

Sequencing

If two or more players have abilities that would resolve at the same time, they roll off. The winner resolves an ability first, then the loser of the roll-off resolves an ability. If there are three or four players with abilities that would resolve at the same time, the losers roll off again until a first, second and third loser are established, and they resolve one ability each in that order. They keep resolving abilities in the same order until all abilities they wish to resolve have been resolved.

One Reaction per Reaction Step

In some situations more than one reaction could be used in the same reaction step – most often this will be after an action or activation step. However, only one reaction can be played in each reaction step. In each reaction step, the player whose turn is next takes precedence. If they play a reaction, the other players cannot play a reaction in that reaction step. If the player whose turn is next does not wish to play a reaction, they say "pass", and the other players can play a reaction or pass in order of play.

When there is no player whose turn would come next, because you are playing the last turn in an action phase, the player whose turn would be next if there were an additional turn takes precedence, and order of play continues from there.

Reacting to a Reaction

For example, a player plays a reaction after an Attack action that allows one of their fighters to make a Move action. Two players have a reaction that can be used after a fighter makes a Move action, but the player who did not play the first reaction has precedence. If they decide not to use their reaction, saying "pass", the other player will be able to use theirs.

End Phase

The players take it in turns to follow the sequence of the end phase (pg 42) in order of play, starting with the player who took the first activation this round.

Round 2

If you are playing a three-player game, play this round in the same way as round 1. If you are playing a four-player game, skip this round.

Round 3

The action phase of round 3 works in the same way as round 1. However, when you get to the end phase of round 3, each player only plays the first step of the end phase, scoring any objective cards whose conditions have been met in the same way as in the other end phases. You do not discard cards, play upgrade cards or draw cards. The third round then ends, and then the game ends.

Victory

Whichever player has the highest number of glory points at the end of round 3 is the winner. If two or more players are tied for the highest number of points, the winner is the tied player with surviving fighters. If there are still surviving fighters from more than one of these warbands, whichever tied player is holding the highest number of objectives at the end of the game wins. If there is still a tie, the game is a draw between those players, and the other players lose the game.