Warzone

Warzone Rulebook

Table of Contents

The Rules
Force Lists
The Megacorps
- Limitations
- Capitol
The Art
General Equipment
Special Equipment
The Dark Symmetry
Optional Rules

The Rules

The Character Profile

Every model in Warzone has a character profile. This describes everything you need to know about the way that model performs on the battlefield. The profiles for each sort of model available for use in Warzone can be found in the "Force Lists" section in the back part of this book.

Each model has nine characteristics, the values of which normally range between 1 and 20. 1 is a very poor rating, 20 is an exceptionally good rating. The tenth characteristic, Point Cost, assigns the model a relative value.

The characteristics are:

CLOSE COMBAT (CC): This tells you how good the model is in hand-to-hand combat, either using its natural weapons (such as claws) or melee weapons (such as a sword or bayonet).
MISSILE WEAPONS (MW): This tells you how good the model is with ranged weapons (such as guns) and thrown weapons (like grenades).
POWERS (PW): Certain models possess unusual and magical powers, such as the Dark Legion's Dark Symmetry or the Brotherhood's ability to use the Art. This score tells you how good the model is with these mystical abilities. Not all models will have a score in this, for not all models possess these fantastic powers.
LEADERSHIP (LD): This is a measure of how well-trained your models are and how well they maintain discipline under fire. It's also used to resist some of the effects of mystical powers.
ACTIONS (AC): Not every person thinks or reacts at the same speed. This score tells how many actions a model may take in its turn. The higher the number of actions a model has, the better its reflexes are and, consequently, the more actions it can take.
WOUNDS (W): This score tells you how tough the model is and how many hits it can take before dying. Most models possess only one wound, but powerful monsters and mighty heroes may possess more.
STRENGTH (ST): This tells you how strong a creature is. Creatures with a high Strength inflict more damage with their claws or their melee weapons.
MOVEMENT (MV): This tells how many inches the model can move with every Move action it takes.
ARMOR (A): This tells how well protected the model is against damage. In the case of some creatures, it may represent a thick hide or innate toughness. In the case of most soldiers, it represents the armor they're equipped with.

Equipment

Most models possess some sort of equipment. This equipment falls into one or two categories: weapons or special equipment. Full descriptions of each bit of equipment available in Warzone can be found in the "Force Lists" section in the back part of this book.

Weapons

Like models, weapons have a profile. All weapons usually have five characteristics attached to them: Close Range, Long Range (Maximum Range), Range Modifier, Damage and Point Cost. In addition, some weapons may have special rules attached to their profiles, telling you the other effects they may have when they hit.

CLOSE RANGE (CR): This is the optimum range (in inches) a weapon can fire. The weapon may still be able to fire at targets beyond this range, but it will lose accuracy.
- If the weapon has S (shotgun) listed in its range description, it uses the triangular template in the back of the book.
- If the weapon has F (flame-thrower) listed in its range description, it uses the triangular template in the back of the book.
- If the weapon has CC (Close Combat) listed in its range description, it can only be used in close combat.
- If a weapon has T (Thrown) listed in its range description, it is throwable and uses the rules for thrown weapons (see below under "Special Types of Weapons").
MAXIMUM RANGE (MX): This is the maximum distance (in inches) that a weapon can fire. If a weapon has no range characteristics, it can only be thrown or used in close combat. Certain weapons have a Close Range in their profile, but no Maximum Range. This means that they always count as firing at Close Range but cannot fire beyond this range. Basically, their Close Range is their Maximum Range.
RANGE MODIFIER (RM): Weapons lose accuracy when firing at targets beyond Close Range. The Range Modifier indicates how drastic this loss is. It is subtracted from the firer's MW skill when the weapon is fired at targets farther than Close Range.
DAMAGE (DAM): This characteristic describes how hard a weapon hits. The higher the score, the more the weapon can hurt a target. Weapons with a x2 modifier next to their Damage characteristic hit twice. In other words, when such a weapon hits, the target must make two Armor rolls, one for each hit. Each failed Armor roll means the target takes one Wound. Targets hit by weapons with a x3 Damage modifier must make three Armor rolls, and so on.
POINT COST (COST): As with models, all weapons cost points. These are only used when you are choosing a force from your Force List. The cost of any weapons a model is carrying are added to its own Point Cost when calculating its value.

Beneath each profile you will find a short description of the weapon and any special rules that pertain to it, for example whether it is a heavy weapon, a burst fire weapon, or a weapon capable of sweep attacks.

Example weapon profiles:

Weapon	CR	MX	RM	DAM	Cost
Invader	12	24	4	14	8
Chainripper	CC	-	-	12 (x2)	4

The Invader is the standard assault rifle used by the Blood Berets. The Chainripper is a fairly standard weapon of all close assault troopers; it combines a gyrostabilized weight with a chainsaw blade that both stuns and rips its target. Chainrippers can make sweep attacks.

Units

Units are the basic military groups in the Mutant Chronicles universe. There are two different types: squads and individual models.

Squads

A squad is a group of soldiers trained to work together as a unit on the battlefield, like five Blood Berets commanded by a Blood Beret Sergeant. The soldiers in them learn to act together, and to trust and rely on each other. They also start to get scared when they see their comrades getting killed all around them.

A squad can vary in size between 2 and 12 models, but regardless of size, all squads are subject to certain rules.

In addition to basic weapons and armor, certain individuals may be outfitted with special equipment to enhance their performance. This is all covered in the "Special Equipment" section.

SQUAD LEADERS. The model with the highest Leadership in the squad is called the squad leader, and almost all squads have one. They know every soldier in their unit, their strengths and weaknesses and how to get the best out of them. While a squad leader is alive, the squad fights at maximum efficiency. If the squad leader is killed, the squad will become disorganized and less effective. You should mark each squad leader's model for easy reference during play. Try painting a colored dot on the model's base.

If the squad leader is killed, then the squad will rally round the person with the squad's heavy weapon. That person becomes squad leader. If the new squad leader is killed, or if the squad has no heavy weapon, then the next figure in the squad to be activated becomes the squad leader for the remainder of the turn. On each subsequent turn, the first model in the squad to be activated becomes the squad leader for that turn. This means that the squad leader can vary from turn to turn.

COMMAND DISTANCE. A squad leader must know where all of the squad's soldiers are so that he or she can give them orders in the most efficient way. All models in a squad must stay within 6 inches of the squad leader. This distance for maintaining unit coherency is called command distance.

If for any reason a model finds itself beyond its squad's command distance at the beginning of its turn, it must move back within command distance as soon as possible. Such a figure can only make Move actions (see "Using Actions" below) until it is back within command distance.

Diagram - Command Distance: a model not within command distance (six inches) may ONLY perform Move actions until it is back within the distance.

MORALE. All squads are trained to fight together. Some have better morale than others. If a squad takes casualties, the soldiers may become frightened and panic. This is covered in the rules below.

When a squad suffers more than 50% casualties, its morale is said to be broken and it may rout (see "Panic, Rout and Rallying" below).

Each of your force's squads should be painted with a small identifying mark so that its members can easily be distinguished from the members of other squads. A spot of paint on the base works nicely for this. Simply color code each unit. Don't forget to add another dot of a different color for the squad leader.

Individuals

Not all models need to be part of a squad. Certain heroic individuals and mighty monsters are quite capable of acting on their own in the battlefield. In effect, they are units of one.

Individuals are all subject to the following rules:

If individual models are within six inches of a squad, they can give the squad the benefit of their Leadership during panic tests.
Only individuals may use the Give Orders action.
Only individuals may use the Rally action on squads.

Rolling Dice

In the text, a twenty-sided die is referred to as 1D20. When rolling dice against each other, if both players' modified scores are equal, they should roll again.

When a player rolls a natural 1 (before any modifications are applied) when trying to do something, this is called a "perfect success" and it usually results in something special happening in the player's favor. When a player rolls a natural 20 when trying to do something, this is called a "fumble", and it usually results in something bad happening to the figure involved.

The exact effects of any particular perfect successes and fumbles are dealt with in the rules sections concerning whatever it is the die is being rolled for. If no special effects are listed for a certain type of roll, then none apply.

Facing

All models have two facings: front and back. Generally speaking, a model can only see and attack things that are in its front facing. Before you start playing, you should decide how to indicate your models' facing. It is a good idea to mark your models in some way to indicate which heading is "front". For example, you can paint something on the base, or decide that the weapon's direction always is "front".

Diagram: the models' fronts are indicated by white triangles. The Blood Beret can see and attack enemies in the front area. He cannot attack anyone behind him. Both Capitol soldiers can attack the Blood Beret (and each other).

Setting Up

There are a few things you need to do before you actually get down to playing a game of Warzone. You need to pick your forces, arrange the battlefield and place your forces on the field. Once you've done all that, you're ready to start fighting!

Choose Your Forces

When playing Warzone, each side starts the game with a force equal in total Point Cost to each other. This assures, as much as is possible, that the game will be balanced and fair. For full details about how to go about designing your forces, see the "Force List" section in the back of this book.

Arrange Your Battlefield

Battlefields are not flat, featureless plains. They contain hills and woods and walls and streams. We call these features of the battlefield terrain. In Warzone, these can be represented with models purchased from your local hobby shop or by simple, household substitutes. You can use books to represent hills, for instance.

Before the battle begins, you must set up the battlefield. Most people have a limited amount of terrain that they can place, so in the interests of fairness, it should be placed as follows:

Both players roll 1D20. The person with higher score gets to choose a piece of the available terrain and place it anywhere on the table. Then the person with the lower score does likewise. Players alternate placing the available terrain until all of it (or as much of it as you have agreed to use) is on the battlefield.

Deploy Your Forces

Both players now roll 1D20 again. The player with the higher score gets to choose which side of the table to set up his or her forces on. The opponent sets up on the opposite edge of the playing area. You can place your figures anywhere within 12 inches of your edge of the playing area, but not closer than 6 inches to the left and the right edge of the table (you can vary this according to the size of your playing area). This area is called your "deployment zone".

Before any figures are put on the table, though, both players roll 1D20 again. This time they add the single highest Leadership of all their models in their respective forces to their scores. The winner is the person with the higher score. The winner may choose to place a squad or individual model on the table or, alternatively, let the loser place first. Obviously, all models in a squad must be placed within command distance of the squad leader. Players then alternate placing squads or individual models on the table until all the forces on both sides have been deployed.

Now you are ready to begin playing.

The Turn Sequence

A real battlefield is a confused mass of activity. Soldiers move and shoot their weapons and fall to enemy fire. Warriors scream and charge into brutal hand-to-hand combat with their sworn foes. People panic and flee or seek cover from enemy fire behind the nearest scrap of shelter. In Warzone, we seek to give this chaotic mass of activity a structure so that you can play a good game. This structure comes from the turn sequence.

A Warzone game is divided into turns. In every turn, you get a chance to move and fire and perform all sorts of other actions with every model in your force.

The turn sequence is a series of steps that you run through each turn. It is always the same every time.

Step 1: Initiative

Both players roll 1D20 and add the highest Leadership score that any of their surviving, unpanicked models possesses. The person with the higher score wins the initiative.

Note: If all of one side's troops are panicked, then that player does not get to add any Leadership score to the initiative roll. This is rare, but it does happen.

Step 2: Nominating the First Unit

If you have the initiative, you may nominate any squad or model on the board to take its turn. This is called activating that unit or individual. If you nominate one of your opponent's squads, your foe still controls it. You have simply elected to make it go first.

Step 3: Activating Units

If the activated squad is in a state of panic, it must follow the rules for panicked squads until it has a chance to rally. If it is in cover or within its deployment area, it may attempt to rally.

If the activated unit is unpanicked, the controlling player activates any single model in the unit. That figure may then take as many actions as listed in its AC characteristic. A figure never has to take any action unless it is panicked or out of command distance. Once the figure has used up all its actions, the player activates another figure in the unit. Figures can move in any order, but each figure must complete all of its actions before another figure can move. This goes on until all the figures in that unit have been activated. Once this is done, the unit's turn is over.

The opposing player now activates a unit. Play passes back and forth until all the units on both sides have been activated. Once this happens, the turn is over, and the players return to step 1.

When it is your turn to activate a unit, you must do so. Even if you do nothing with that unit, you cannot return and activate it later. A unit can be activated only once per turn.

Example: Bob and Fred are playing Warzone. Bob has two squads of Blood Berets, Archer and Baker. Fred has two squads of Legionnaires, Zentak and Yerkatcht. These are led by Nepharite Wrenstadt. In the first turn, both players roll for initiative. Both of Bob's Sergeants have a Leadership of 16, so that's his highest Leadership. Fred's Nepharite has a Leadership of 16, too. Both players roll 1D20. Bob gets 11, and Fred gets 5. Bob's total is (11+16=) 27. Fred's total is (5+16=) 21. Bob wins the initiative.

Bob decides that Fred's Nepharite must activate first. Fred activates the Nepharite and takes all its actions. Bob then activates his Squad Archer. Fred must now choose to activate either Squad Zentak or Yerkatcht. He chooses to move Squad Zentak. Next, Bob activates Squad Baker. Last, Fred activates Squad Yerkatcht. Since all squads and individuals on both sides have now been activated, the turn is over. To start the second turn, both sides roll for initiative again.

If both of Bob's Sergeants had been killed, he would have to use one of his Blood Beret's Leadership scores of 14 for his initiative roll. This would obviously put him at a disadvantage.

Winning the Battle

Usually, players repeat the turn sequence until one side surrenders or every unit on the opposing side is either dead or panicked. The survivor is the winner.

However, there are other ways of calculating victory.

Victory Points

If you are playing to a time limit or for an agreed upon number of turns, you can calculate victory points based on the Point Cost of your units (see the "Force List" section). A squad or individual model is worth one victory point per 50 points or part thereof it is valued at. You receive victory points for every enemy squad or individual model eliminated or broken.

Scenarios

In certain special types of battles (called scenarios), you may have agreed-upon victory conditions. These victory conditions might be as simple as "the first person to seize the bridge wins" or as complex as "the first person to seize the bridge, the farmhouse and destroy half the opponent's force wins". If you are going to use victory conditions, you must agree upon them with your foe before battle commences. Here are a few simple scenarios:

AGAINST THE CLOCK. There are a limited number of turns before darkness falls and the battle must end. Both players secretly write down a number between 1 and 3. Then they reveal the numbers and add them together. That is the number of turns the battle will last. The winner is the person with the highest number of victory points after the last turn is complete.
SUDDEN DEATH. Total up the number of victory points your army is worth. Divide this number by 2 (round up) and add 1. That is the sudden death victory score your foe needs to get to win. At the end of each turn, total up the number of victory points each side has gotten so far. If either side has exceeded its own sudden death score, it has won a decisive victory. If both sides have exceeded their sudden death scores, it is a marginal victory for the person with most points. If both sides have the same total (over their sudden death scores), the game is a draw.

Using this method will give you a very fast game. If you want a longer game, play until you achieve the total number of victory points your opponent's force is worth.

Example: If you and your opponent each have a force worth 10 victory points (equivalent forces are often worth the same number of victory points), then your sudden death totals are ([10÷2]+1=) 6 points each.
SEIZE THE OBJECTIVE. This is not really a unique scenario, but a twist on the other two types. After terrain is placed, but before deployment areas are chosen and the armies are deployed, both players can nominate a piece of terrain as an objective. To hold an objective, you must be the only player to have an unpanicked model within one move of it. These objectives are worth 1 victory point each. By agreement, both players can nominate more than one objective. If you wish, you can make certain, difficult-to-hold objectives worth 2 or more victory points. This must be agreed to by both players before the battle commences.

When playing "Against The Clock" with objectives, players receive victory points for any objective they hold at the end of the last turn.

When playing "Sudden Death" with objectives, add the number of victory points each side's objectives are worth to its sudden death score. Then simply figure in victory points for any held objectives when calculating victory point totals at the end of each turn. The points for holding an objective don't carry over from turn to turn. You only get points on the turn you hold it.

Using Actions

There are many different actions a figure can take when it is its turn. These are Move, Fire, Aim, Concentrate, Use Special Power, Hide, Spot, Give Orders, Rally, Infiltrate, Close Combat and Wait.

Actions can be taken in any order and any number of times up to the maximum number of actions a figure possesses. It is perfectly permissible for a figure with three actions to move three times or to fire three times or to move then fire then hide. Or to move and fire and move.

There are certain exceptions to this. Using a Wait action automatically ends a model's turn. Also, a model cannot give orders, rally or use a special power more than once per turn.

Move

A figure can spend one action and move up to its Movement in inches. During the course of its Move action, it can turn as many times as it wants to and end its move facing in any direction.

Of course, certain types of terrain are more difficult to move through than others. It takes more effort to move through a thick swamp or a tangle of briars than it does to sprint across open ground. Certain terrain types reduce a figure's Movement as follows:

Rough terrain, such as swamps, fordable rivers, dense woods, and steep slopes, cuts a model's Movement in half. These effects are cumulative, but even so, a figure can never have its Movement reduced to less than 1 inch due to rough terrain.

Walls and linear obstacles such as hedges can be difficult. Sometimes a model wants to climb a wall. You can only climb over walls if they are as tall as or shorter than the model. This takes a whole Move action to complete. Before play begins, you and your opponent may agree that certain high walls are passable if you take two or more Move actions to climb them.

Certain types of terrain, such as chasms, very dense jungle and quicksand, are impassable, and no figure may move through them unless they have a special power that allows it.

Example: A Cybertronic Chasseur has a Movement of 3 inches and is trying to move through a swamp, so its Movement is reduced to 1.5 inches. The same Chasseur climbing a steep slope covered with trees would have its Movement halved twice, reducing it to 0.75 inches. Since a figure's Movement can never be reduced to less than an inch, the Chasseur's Movement is then 1 inch for that Move action.

The Table Edge. If a figure moves off the edge of the playing area, it is gone. It may not re-enter.

Flying Models. Flying models can swoop over the battlefield unleashing their attacks on anyone below. They are very mobile and capable of ignoring terrain penalties for Movement.

Every flying model has a Flight Movement distance. When the model chooses to fly, it may move its Flight Movement distance, ignoring any terrain it passes over. It is now airborne. At the end of its Move action, the flying model must decide whether it remains airborne or whether it is landing. Models which have landed are now on the ground. They are subject to the same rules for line of sight and cover as any other model.

Models that remain airborne should be marked somehow. They are soaring aloft over the battlefield. They have line of sight to everything on the battlefield except things hiding inside buildings or nestled 3 or more inches inside a wood. Everything they have line of sight to has line of sight to them, too. For the sake of ease of play, just measure ranges from the models' relative positions on the table. Don't worry about the effect of the relative heights on the range.

Models that are airborne cannot be attacked in close combat except by other airborne models.

To maintain command distance with each other, all models in a flying squad must end their turn either airborne or on the ground.

Panicked airborne squads seek cover on the ground just like any other squad.

Pop-up attacks, in which a unit uses a Move action to fly straight up, then a Fire action, then a Move action to land behind terrain again, are perfectly legitimate.

Fire

The model can use one action to fire any missile weapon it possesses. Before it can fire, it has to be able to see its target. This means the target must be in the firer's line of sight.

LINE OF SIGHT. A figure can fire upon any enemy figure it can see, providing that enemy figure is within range of its weapons. The ability to see your target is called having a line of sight to it. Obviously, certain things can interfere with your ability to see a target. If there is a hill or a large building between you and a target, you won't be able to shoot at it. Most of the time, it's obvious when an attacker can or cannot see a target, but there are certain special cases where it might not be so obvious.

If you are on a hill, you won't be able to fire at an opponent unless you are on the brow of that hill on the same side of the hill as your target.
Walls and hedges block line of sight only if they are taller than the target model. Otherwise, they can provide cover for the target models. See "Cover" for more about this.
Trees and dense foliage interfere with your warrior's ability to see a foe. You can only shoot at models in woods if they are within 3 inches of the edge of the wood or you are within 3 inches of them. Even then, the target gets the benefit of soft cover.
If there is any doubt about line of sight, then get down to the eye-level of the figure. If you can see the target, you can shoot it.
Both your own models and your foe's models block line of sight unless they are hidden. You cannot simply fire through people, much as you might like to!

Hidden enemies must be spotted before they can be fired at. This requires that the figure use one action to make a successful Spot roll.

RESTRICTIONS ON FIRING. Sometimes you won't simply be able to fire at any target you like. Certain factors have to be taken into consideration.

It takes a lot of nerve to shoot at a distant target when a howling, frenzied foe is closing on you with a roaring chainbayonet. That's why models must always roll under their Leadership to shoot at a more distant target when there's a visible enemy model within six inches of them.

When firing at a squad, you always shoot at the nearest visible model in the squad. You cannot choose to shoot at the squad leader if any of that squad's troops are nearer. If an individual model is within three inches of any model in a squad, then it counts as part of that squad for purposes of being shot at.

There are certain exceptions to these rules. You can always fire at a large target, such as an Ezoghoul or an Eradicator Deathdroid, rather than a smaller one, even if the smaller target is closer. You can opt to fire at a target on open ground rather than a target in cover, even if the target in cover is closer.

ROLLING TO HIT. If you have a line of sight to your target and within range of your weapons, you can open fire. To hit your foe, you need simply roll equal to or under your Missile Weapons score on 1D20.

There are certain modifiers to this. The first is range. If you are over the Close Range score of your weapon, then you must subtract the Range Modifier of your weapon from your chance to hit.

PERFECT: Your target does not get to make an Armor roll and automatically takes whatever damage your weapon inflicts.
FUMBLE: Your soldier loses any remaining actions for this turn.

COVER. If your target is in cover, there is also a penalty. If the target is in soft cover, such as brush or woods, subtract 2 from your Missile Weapons score. If the target is behind hard cover, such as stone walls, then you must subtract 4 from your Missile Weapons score. A figure only counts as in hard cover if its base is touching the wall and if it's on the other side of the wall from its opponent (obviously). If the figure's base is not touching the wall, it only gets soft cover (because the wall is not obscuring the enemies' line of sight as much). In any case, if the attacker's base is touching the same wall as the target, the target only gets soft cover.

Example: McBride of the Blood Berets is firing his Invader at a Legionnaire. The Legionnaire is 16 inches away on the very edge of a woods. The range is over Close Range for an Invader, so the range penalty applies. This applies the Invader's Range Modifier of -4 to McBride's Missile Weapons score. The woods provides the Legionnaire with soft cover. This subtracts another 2 from McBride's chance to hit. McBride's Missile Weapons score is 16. Because of the modifiers, McBride needs to roll (16-4-2=) 10 or less to hit.

Different types of cover:

Soft covers (-2)	Hard covers (-4)
Brush	Walls
Hedge	Vehicle Wrecks
Wood	Sand Bags

DAMAGING THE TARGET. If you have hit your target, you may have inflicted damage. Your opponent must now make an Armor roll. He or she looks at the figure's Armor score and subtracts your weapon's Damage score. This gives the number your opponent needs to roll equal to or less than to avoid having the figure take damage. If the roll succeeds, the model is fine. If it fails, the model has taken damage and may well be dead.

A successful hit always inflicts at least one wound. Hits with certain special weapons inflict more. The damage inflicted is subtracted from the target's Wounds score. If this score reaches zero, the target is dead and the model is removed from the table.

Example: McBride hits the Legionnaire. His Invader has a Damage rating of 14. The Legionnaire has an Armor rating of 22. The Legionnaire's player must roll (22-14=) 8 or less to save the Legionnaire from harm. If he doesn't, the Legionnaire will take 1 wound and die.

WEAPONS WITH DAMAGE MODIFIERS. As explained above, certain weapons have a x2 or even a x3 next to the Damage characteristic. These weapons inflict more than one hit when they hit. If a weapon has a x2 Damage modifier, then the target must make two Armor rolls. If the weapon has a x3 Damage modifier, the target must make three Armor rolls. The target takes one wound for every Armor roll it fails.

Example: Schmidtofen, a Hussar Kapitan, fires his MG-40 (Damage 14 (x2)) at a nearby Legionnaire. He hits easily, and now the Legionnaire must make 2 Armor rolls. It makes the first one, but fails the second and dies.

Special Types of Weapons

HEAVY WEAPONS. Heavy weapons are squad support weapons. These rare and expensive weapons can be devastatingly effective, but are so costly that they are comparatively rare. Usually they are only issued one per squad, or to especially heroic individuals. When used, most heavy weapons (except flame-throwers) need to be braced (see below).

BURST-FIRE WEAPONS. Certain ranged weapons (usually machine guns) are called burst-fire weapons. These usually have a x2 or x3 Damage modifier. When shot at a single individual, the target must make two or three Armor rolls, as appropriate. For each Armor roll failed, the victim takes one wound. When fired in this way, you need only make a single Missile Weapon roll. You can also aim.

Alternatively, you can burst-fire at a number of targets. This means that you unleash shots in controlled bursts.

To burst-fire you MUST shoot at the nearest visible enemy model unless it's engaged in close combat with a friendly model. There are two exceptions to this:

you can shoot at targets in open ground if ALL nearer targets are in cover
you can also choose to shoot at large targets even if they are not closest.

You then roll to hit as usual. If you miss, your attack ends. If you hit and your target fails its Armor roll, it takes one wound. If the target is still alive, you can fire at it again. If the target dies, you can move on to the next closest enemy model. You can fire a number of times equal to your weapon's Damage Modifier in each burst. Any time you miss, the burst-fire attack ends. You MUST kill your first target before moving on to the next target. Burst-fire takes only one action. You cannot aim when burst-firing.

Example: MacGruder fires his Charger at an oncoming group of Necromutants led by a Centurion bringing up the rear. He decides to burst-fire. He blasts away at the nearest Necromutant, but his first attack misses and the action is wasted. He tries again. This time he hits, but his bullets glance off the hideous thing's armor (i.e., it makes its Armor roll). However, since he's burst-firing, he can shoot again. He hits again, and this time the foul creature takes a wound and dies. Since his weapon has a x3 Damage Modifier, he still has one shot left from his burst. He blasts away at the next Necromutant and blows it away, too. MacGruder's second action is now over. With his third and last action, MacGruder keeps blazing away with burst-fire. His first shot chops down a third Necromutant, but his follow-up misses the Centurion. MacGruder now finds himself face to face with a very angry Centurion.

SIDEARMS. Because they are light and easily wieldable, certain guns may be used in close combat. These are called sidearms. Sidearms get their full Damage rating in close combat, but the user does not get any bonus to damage because of Strength, charging or any close combat skill.

SHOTGUNS. Shotguns have no range modifiers and are not used in the normal way. Instead, place the triangular template in front of the muzzle of the weapon. Every visible model under the template, whether friend or foe, has a chance of being hit by the shotgun's blast. You cannot shoot hidden figures or figures you don't have a line of sight to.

For each potential target, roll under the firer's MW score, applying any penalties for cover. If successful, you score a hit.

Because of the scattershot nature of a shotgun, it is impossible to aim with it.

Shotguns can be used in close combat as a sidearm. In this case, you do not get to use the template.

SNIPER RIFLES. Because of their high-powered sights and incredible accuracy, sniper rifles are exempt from the usual restrictions on picking targets. You can fire at squad leaders and individual models even if they are within command distance of their squads. Only individual models can be issued sniper rifles.

FLAME-THROWERS. Flame-throwers squirt jets of flame at their chosen target. They are devastating and deadly weapons because they ignore cover and can set their targets aflame.

When using a flame-thrower, place the triangular template at the nozzle of the flame-thrower. Any model under the template, whether friend or foe, is automatically hit. You do not need to roll for this.

Cover provides no protection against the deadly blast of heat and chemical fire. Even Hidden figures are affected by flame-throwers. Also, you do not need a line of sight to any targets. You cannot, however, fire over the brow of a hill.

Any model which is hit by a flame-thrower is set aflame. Models which are aflame must keep making an Armor roll against the flame-thrower's Damage rating until either they successfully make their Armor roll or die. Each failed Armor roll permits another wound to get through the target's armor.

You cannot aim with a flame-thrower.

Example: Horton (a Wolfbane Commando) fires her Gehenna Puker (a flame-thrower) at a pair of Pretorian Stalkers. Both of them fall within the effect of the triangular template. They are both set aflame and must start making Armor rolls. The first Stalker fails three Armor rolls in a row and dies. The second fails two Armor rolls, but makes the third. Horton is now face to face with one injured but very angry Stalker looking for revenge.

THROWN WEAPONS. Thrown weapons have a range of 4 inches plus 1 inch for every point of Strength the thrower has. Thrown weapons can deviate from their point of impact (see "Deviation" below).

Example: A Shadow Walker with a Strength of 5 can hurl grenades (or any other thrown weapons) up to (4+5=) 9 inches away.

GRENADE LAUNCHERS. A weapon fitted with a grenade launcher may fire a grenade up to 10 inches away. There is no penalty for range. If a grenade misses its target, it will deviate away from the point of impact (see "Deviation" below).

GRENADES. If you successfully hit with a grenade or grenade launcher, place the grenade template at the point of impact. Any model, whether friend or foe, even partially under the template takes the full effect of the grenade.

EXPLOSIVES. Explosive weapons affect a huge area when they detonate. However, the destructive effect is lessened the further you get from the epicenter of the blast. When you hit with an explosive weapon, place the center of the explosion template over the point of impact. Anything even partially within the first circle takes the full impact of the explosion. Anything even partially within the second circle (but not the first) is affected, but the damage modifier is reduced by 1. Anything even partially within the third circle (but not the first or second) is affected, but the damage modifier is reduced by 2. If the damage modifier is reduced to 0, the target is unaffected.

Cover does have some effect on an explosive device, however. The penalty that would have been applied against anyone shooting at the unit is instead added to the target's Armor rating. A model in soft cover has its Armor rating increased by 2. A model in hard cover has its Armor rating increased by 4.

If you aim with an explosive device, such as a grenade, you get a bonus added to your MW score, but you don't get any bonus to your Damage rating. You just cannot be that accurate with an explosive device.

With all explosive weapons, if you miss you should check for deviation (see "Deviation" below).

Example: A Doomtrooper fires a DPAT-9 rocket launcher into a squad of Undead Legionnaires. The DPAT has a DAM rating of 11 (x3). This means that the target Legionnaire at the center of the template takes a DAM 11 (x3) hit. Two of his fellow undead monsters under the second circle of the template each take a DAM 11 (x2) hit. The remaining three Legionnaires under the third circle each take a DAM 11 hit.

Deviation

Weapons like grenades, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and explosives are subject to deviation. This means that they can go astray. But because most of these things are explosive and their area of effect is wide, they can still hurt people even when they miss.

If you miss with a weapon subject to deviation, your opponent gets to move the point of impact away from the intended point of impact. Your opponent rolls 1D20 and consults the Deviation table.

Your opponent can move the point of impact up to a third of the range it was fired over (round down). So, if you fired at a target 10 inches away and missed, your opponent can move the point of impact by 3 inches anyway he likes within the limits set by the Deviation table.

1D20	Result
1-5	UNDERSHOT LEFT. The weapon falls short and to the left of its target. Move the point of impact back in the direction of the firer and over to the target's left.
6-10	UNDERSHOT RIGHT. As above but move the point of impact to the target's right.
11-15	OVERSHOT LEFT. The weapon falls beyond and to the left of its target. Move the point of impact past the target model and to its left.
16-20	OVERSHOT RIGHT. As above but move the point of impact to the target's right.

Aim

By aiming, you increase your chances of both hitting and damaging with missile weapons. If you use an action to aim, then you add 4 to your Missile Weapons score and 4 to your weapon's Damage rating. In the furious swirl of close combat, there is no time to aim, so you cannot do it there.

Once you have aimed at a target, you continue to get the bonus for aiming until you move, your target moves or your turn ends.

Aiming is not cumulative. You cannot aim twice and get +8 to hit and damage.

You cannot aim when using burst-fire. The recoil of this sort of firing makes it impossible. Similarly, you cannot aim a flame-thrower.

Example: Let's take another look at the first firing example in which McBride fired at a Legionnaire and missed. If McBride had chosen to spend an action aiming before firing, his chance to hit would have been (16-4+4=) 16 or less. If he had hit the Legionnaire, it would have needed to roll (22-14-4=) 4 or less to avoid taking damage.

Bracing

Heavy weapons such as machine guns and rocket launchers have enormous recoil. Before firing them, you need to brace yourself to absorb the kick. If you do not take an action to brace such a weapon, you cannot aim with it, and you suffer a -4 penalty to hit. Once braced, you remain braced until you stop firing or your turn ends. Heavy weapons which fire after waiting always count as unbraced.

Really strong creatures can easily control the recoil of even the heaviest weapons. If a figure has a ST greater than or equal to the damage modifier of the weapon, it suffers no penalties for not bracing. In addition, if a model's ST is 2 or more greater than the damage modifier of a heavy weapon, it can use it one-handed.

Vehicle-mounted weapons, like those on a Twin Barracuda or a Hedgehog Necromower, do not have to be braced. The weapon mount automatically braces the weapon at no action cost.

You do not have to brace when using a flame-thrower. Such weapons have no recoil.

Close Combat

To attack someone in close combat, the models must be so close that their bases are touching.

To hit in close combat, you must roll equal to or under your Close Combat skill. As always, there can be modifiers to this.

PERFECT: Your target does not get to make an Armor roll and automatically takes all the wounds your weapon inflicts.
FUMBLE: Your soldier loses any remaining actions for this turn.

DOING DAMAGE. Once your figure's been hit in close combat, you must make an Armor roll. Subtract the attacker's weapon's Damage rating from your figure's Armor rating. This gives the score you need to roll equal to or under to avoid taking damage. If you succeed, your figure takes no damage. If you fail, the figure takes any wounds that the attacker's weapon may inflict. If the target's Wounds score falls to zero, it is dead and the model is removed.

Example: Winchell, a Brotherhood Trooper, takes a swing at a Legionnaire with a Punisher short sword. Winchell's CC is 12. He rolls a 5, and the blade connects. The sword does Damage 14, but the Legionnaire has an Armor of 22. The Legionnaire makes an Armor roll. It needs (22-14=) 8 or less. It gets an 8, and Winchell's sword scrapes along the side of the Legionnaire's armor without doing any damage.

STRENGTH. Obviously, in close combat very strong creatures have a greater chance of inflicting damage. To simulate this, a model's Strength rating is added to its weapon's Damage rating when using melee weapons, like swords, fists and bayonets. Although shotguns and sidearms can be used in close combat, they do not qualify for this bonus.

Example: Kim Dunsirn, a Wolfbane Hero, swings her Claymore at a Legionnaire. Her Strength is 3, so she gets to add that to her CC skill of 17. Her chance to hit is (17+3=) 20. Unless she fumbles, she'll hit. She rolls a 17, and connects. The Claymore does Damage 15, but Kim's Strength makes it do (15+3=) 18. With the Legionnaire's Armor of 22, this means the creature must roll (22-(15+3)=) 4 or less to avoid taking the wound. It gets a 13 and dies on Dunsirn's blade.

WEAPONS WITH DAMAGE MODIFIERS. Just like with missile weapons, certain close combat weapons have a x2 or even a x3 next to the Damage characteristic. These weapons inflict more than one hit when they hit. If a weapon has a x2 Damage modifier, then the target must make two Armor rolls. If the weapon has a x3 Damage modifier, the target must make three Armor rolls. The target takes one wound for every Armor roll it fails.

CLOSE COMBAT WITHOUT WEAPONS. Everyone can hit in close combat even if they don't have a close combat weapon. You can always hit with your fists and feet and the butt of your weapons. Basic Damage for this is 6, but don't forget to add your Strength.

BREAKING AWAY. If you move your figure into base-to-base contact with an enemy model, you are within close combat range.

The two figures are now wrestling it out in hand-to-hand combat. Neither may use any missile weapons (except sidearms and shotguns) while they are in base-to-base contact. Targets must defend themselves as best they can.

When it's their turn to act again, either of the two figures in close combat may choose to use an action to move apart. If the other player wants to prevent this, both players must roll 1D20 and add their figure's Strength score. If the figure trying to move away gets the higher score, it may move as normal. If it doesn't, it is locked in place and the action is wasted. The figure can always try again on its next action, though.

If you are in close combat with several models and trying to break away, each of the models you're fighting gets to roll 1D20 and add its ST. You must beat the highest score.

A model that is attacked in close combat can turn to face its attacker. This takes one Move action, but it can be done without breaking away.

Example: McNaughton is in close combat with two Necromutants. Realizing he is outmatched, he decides to break away. He tries this with his first action. As a Blood Beret Sergeant, his Strength is 0. The Necromutants each have a Strength of 2. He rolls a 12. The Necromutants roll and get (6+2=) 8 and (11+2=) 13. McNaughton beat the first one, but not the second, so he has not broken away.

On his next action, McNaughton gives it another try. This time he gets a 19, beating the Necromutants' modified scores of 7 and 18. He gets to move 3 inches away (his full move). At the end of his move, he turns around so he can spray the Necromutants with his Destroyer.

COVER. Cover provides no modifiers in close combat. The combatants are too close for it to have any effect.

However, certain linear obstacles, such as walls and hedges, may get in the way of combatants, preventing them from touching base to base, even though the two figures are close enough to hit each other.

When this happens, the figures can still attack each other in close combat. However, they are not so closely locked into the struggle, and so neither figure needs to break away if it wants to move out of close combat.

FIRING AT FIGURES IN CLOSE COMBAT. If you fire at two figures in close combat, you have a 50% chance of hitting the wrong figure. Roll 1D20. If you roll 10 or less, you've hit the one you're aiming at. Otherwise, you've hit the other figure. This is because the figures are so close together it is impossible to tell them apart. If one model is significantly larger than the other (for example, a Nepharite or an Ezoghoul fighting a human), then roll 1D20. On a 12 or less, you hit the larger model. Otherwise, you hit the smaller one.

If more than two figures are locked in the close combat being fired at, only one of the friendly troops is in danger of being hit. Choose the one closest to the firer's line of sight. If more than one are equally close, roll a die to randomly determine which one is in danger.

Example: Hatamoto Tanaka wants to fire his Shog at a Nepharite locked in close combat with his squad leader Yojinko. He rolls to hit and succeeds. Now, before damage is figured, he rolls to see which figure he hit. Since the Nepharite is larger than his squad leader, Tanaka needs to roll a 12 or less to hit the creature of the Darkness. He gets a 15. Luckily the bullet bounces off of Yojinko's armor. Still, Tanaka's going to have some explaining to do once this is all over, if he lives that long.

CLOSE COMBAT WITH HIDDEN FIGURES. If you move into base-to-base contact with a hidden figure, you automatically spot it. This does not take an action. Remove the defender's Hidden marker.

However, if you do this and the hidden figure is unpanicked, it gets one free close combat attack at you before you get to strike at it. Also, you don't get a charge bonus when it is your turn to attack. Your trooper has basically just blundered into a hidden enemy.

If the hidden figure was waiting as well, it gets to use its waiting action after it makes its free attack.

SNEAK ATTACKS. If you are hidden and you infiltrate into close combat, you surprise your opponent and gain one extra close combat attack for free. For this attack, you count as charging. If you bump into a hidden foe, you do not get these benefits. Treat this as if you were unhidden. Note that you lose your Hidden status either way.

SECONDARY ATTACKS. Some models, such as Wolfbane troopers or Dark Legion Centurions, often carry two weapons. Any figure which visibly carries two weapons gets one extra attack. This is known as a secondary attack.

When you activate the figure, announce which is the main weapon and which is the secondary. You must make all your normal attacks with the main weapon, but you may get one extra attack with the secondary weapon.

IMPORTANT: This rule does not apply to figures with both bayonets and sidearms. A bayonet takes two hands to use. It only applies to those models which carry two visibly distinct weapons, one in each hand.

Example: A Wolfbane with a sword and pistol normally has three actions. However, since he is carrying two weapons, he could fire twice, then move into close combat and use his sword for a secondary attack. Or he could move into close combat, attack twice and, assuming he kills his opponent, use his pistol to make a secondary attack. Or if he charged up and failed to kill his opponent with two stabs with his Punisher's blade, he could then switch to his pistol for a secondary attack against that stubborn foe.

CHARGING. If you moved into base-to-base contact with your previous action and then make a close combat attack, then for this attack only, you get a charge bonus. This adds 4 to your Close Combat score and 4 to your weapon's Damage rating. You do not get a charge bonus on subsequent, consecutive close combat attacks.

Example: The lone Pretorian Stalker charges Horton and tries to club her to death with its bare hands. It uses its first action to move into base-to-base contact with its intended victim. With its second action, it attacks. Its CC skill is 18, so it needs to roll under a (18+4=) 22 to hit. It does automatically, but the Stalker still rolls to check for perfect successes and fumbles. It gets neither.

Horton tries an armor roll. Her Armor is 24, and the Stalker's Strength is 6, so she needs a (24-(6+6+4)=) 8. She gets a 7 and survives. The Stalker can try to attack her barehanded with its last action, but it won't get any bonuses for the charge.

MULTIPLE ATTACKERS. When two or more people gang up on a single warrior, they have a considerable advantage in close combat. If you attack when there are already friendly models in base to base contact with your foe, you get +1 to your CC score and +1 to your DAM for every extra friendly model in close combat with your foe.

Example: Tanaka decides to join in the fight against the Nepharite attacking Yojinko. He charges the creature, swinging his Ceremonial Blades. Because there is another friendly model (Yojinko) already in close combat with the Nepharite, Tanaka gets an additional +1 bonus to his attack, in addition to the charging bonus and the bonus for his Strength of 1. This makes his chance to hit (14+1+4+1=) 20. He rolls a 10 and hits.

SWEEP ATTACKS. Certain long and powerful close combat weapons are capable of sweep attacks. You whirl the blade around in a great arc, striking every foe within reach. This means that, providing there are no friendly models within one inch of you when you make the attack, you can hit all enemy models within one inch with just the one die roll. All bonuses for charging, close combat skills and Strength apply. If you score a perfect success, it applies to only one of your targets.

Use Special Power

Certain models possess special powers, such as being able to use the Dark Symmetry or the Art or to call in airstrikes. It takes a Use Special Power action to invoke one of these powers.

Concentrate

A figure that uses an action to concentrate may add 4 to its PW rating this turn. This represents the fact that the figure is focusing all its mental and spiritual ability on the task at hand. This action is usually taken by those using a special power like the Art or the Dark Symmetry.

The bonus for concentration is cumulative. If you take two Concentrate actions before using your special power, you may add 8 to your PW. However, this bonus does not carry over from turn to turn. It is lost at the end of your model's turn.

Other Actions

Sweep attacks can also be used to hit every enemy model in base-to-base contact with you. If you only intend to hit these models, you do not have to worry about friendly figures being within one inch.

Example: Belzroch, the Nepharite fighting the Mishimans, finally gets his turn. He uses an action to rouse his Azogar and then decides to make a sweep attack against the three Hatamotos on him (Hiroto has joined Yojinko and Tanaka). He rolls a single die, adding his Strength of 5 to his CC of 16. He needs less than (16+5=) 21, but he still rolls to check for fumbles and perfect successes. He gets a 1, a perfect success!

Belzroch chooses to use the perfect success against Yojinko. It automatically takes the squad leader's single Wound, killing him. Tanaka and Hiroto still get to make Armor rolls, and since the Azogar does 15 (x2) damage, they each have to make 2. Their Armor is 24. Less the weapon's Damage and Belzroch's Strength bonus, they have to roll (24-(15+5)=) 4 or less. Hiroto rolls 10 and 12. The first wound kills him, so the second is just for effect. Tanaka miraculously makes both his rolls, but now he finds himself standing all alone, toe to toe with an angry Nepharite. This is not his day.

Hide

When playing Warzone, we can see every model on the battlefield. Obviously, for real troops on a real battlefield, this is not the case. Enemies can hide in culverts and behind trees and bushes. Foes can lie immobile in tall grass, waiting to spring up and attack from ambush. To simulate this, we use the Hide action.

You can spend an action to hide. Place a Hidden marker beside the model. Now, in order to see the model, your opponent must make a Spot roll. While hidden, a model cannot be shot at or be targeted with special powers. Even while they cannot be targeted, hidden models can take damage if for example a Grenade template is placed on an adjacent (non-hidden) model, and a part of the template covers the hidden model as well.

If the model moves or fires, then the Hidden marker must be removed. You should note that there are certain weapons which can be fired and still allow the model to stay hidden. These are covered in the appropriate weapon's descriptions.

It is perfectly possible to hide in open ground, even if there is no cover. Simply assume the warrior is throwing itself flat and is taking advantage of all the small depressions in the ground.

You can remain hidden while infiltrating, waiting, aiming, spotting, giving orders and concentrating.

You cannot remain hidden while performing any other sort of action.

Imagine that all the hidden models are invisible. Remember, they don't block line of sight.

Infiltrate

If a model is already hidden, it may sneak forward instead of taking a Move action. The Model's MV is reduced by half, but as it moves, it still counts as hidden. Any waiting enemy has to spot it in order to shoot. The infiltrating model loses its Hidden status when it fires or moves or performs any other action that cannot be performed while hidden.

The Movement penalty for sneaking is applied before any Movement penalties for terrain.

A model may never move less than one inch per Infiltrate action regardless of penalties for infiltrating or terrain.

Spot

In order to locate a hidden foe, you must spot it. This takes an action. To spot someone, you must have line of sight to the model and you must roll under the spotting model's Leadership score. There is a -4 penalty if the hidden model is behind any sort of cover. If you roll more than this score, you have failed and the action is wasted. Once you have spotted a hidden model, remove its Hidden marker.

It is harder to spot someone at a distance, so any trooper trying to spot someone at a range of over 12 inches subtracts 4 from the chance of success.

You can add 4 to your chance of successfully spotting someone for every extra action you spend trying to spot.

You can spot someone and still remain hidden yourself until you launch your attack. In this case, you are simply reporting your foe's location to the rest of your force over the sealed channels of your comm-link.

Example: Kruger is trying to spot an Imperial soldier hiding in dense jungle 15 inches away. Kruger has a Leadership of 15, so his chance of success is (15-4-4=) 7 or less. Kruger rolls a 10 and fails to spot his target. He tries a second Spot action. This time, he is at +4 because it is his second try, so he only needs 11. He rolls 15 and fails again. With his last action, Kruger makes one last desperate effort. This time he needs 15 or less, and he succeeds. The rest of his squad can now open fire on the target.

PERFECT SUCCESS: You may remove the Hidden markers on every enemy model in the figure's line of sight.
FUMBLE: If you roll a 20 on your Spot roll, your figure becomes so absorbed in its efforts to spot the enemy that it loses all the rest of its actions for that turn.

Give Orders

An individual model may give orders to any friendly squad within six inches of it. This takes an action. By doing so, it can activate any unpanicked unit that has not already been activated this turn.

If the individual chooses to activate a unit, then all the figures in that squad must take their actions as if it was their turn. They will begin immediately after the figure giving them orders has finished its turn.

A figure may only give orders to one unit per turn. It can only give orders to another individual model if its Leadership is higher than the model it is giving orders to.

A figure can give orders and remain hidden.

Rally

This action can only be used by an individual model. It may try to rally any one panicked (see "Panic, Rout and Rallying" below) squad within 6 inches. If the individual model can roll beneath its Leadership score, the panicked squad will rally.

Because the individual model must stand up in plain sight and exhort the troops to rally, it cannot remain hidden and perform this action. Remove any Hidden markers.

An individual model may only use this action once per turn.

An individual can rally a squad and then activate it by giving it orders on the same turn.

Wait

When a model is waiting, it is doing nothing except awaiting and watching so that it can react to the foe. You can spend an action for a model to wait. If you do so, the model's turn ends. Place a Waiting marker beside that model and continue with the rest of your turn.

Basically, a waiting model has one action in reserve, which it can use out of the normal turn sequence. If an enemy model performs any visible action within line of sight, then the waiting model can use its saved action.

If you are waiting, you can interrupt an enemy's movement at any time. Once your waiting model has taken its action, remove the Waiting marker. Your opponent completes the turn as normal.

You do not have to take the action as soon as an enemy model moves into your line of sight. You can wait until the entire unit comes closer. Once the enemy squad or individual model finishes its turn, though, you cannot act against it.

Normal rules concerning choosing targets when firing take precedence over the rules concerning waiting. You cannot let a whole squad move and then shoot at the squad leader if it moves last, unless it moves closest to you out of all the squad members.

If the enemy model doesn't move but performs another visible action, such as a Fire action, you can only respond after it has completed that action. The basic rule is that, if the enemy model is performing an action that requires a die roll, you must wait until the action is completed before you can interrupt. If the enemy model is performing an action that does not require a die roll, then you can interrupt any time before the action is completed.

You can only react to a model you can see, so if an enemy model is infiltrating forward, you cannot react to it so long as it stays hidden. If it opens fire, you can only react to it after it has fired and thus given away its position. If it uses an ordinary Move order, you can react to it providing you still have line of sight.

You cannot use a Wait action to perform an action that may only be performed once per turn (such as Rally, Give Orders or Use Special Power).

A Waiting marker stays in place until the model's next turn or until the model takes its single action. Once that is done, remove the marker.

Example: Free Marine Williams is lying hidden and waiting in a patch of tall grass in an open part of the battlefield. He is facing a woods, in which is a squad of Hussars about to attack. When the first Hussar moves out of the woods, Williams could shoot at it if he wanted to, but that doesn't fit in with his plans. He waits for all but the last Hussar to finish their moves. At this point, the closest of them is 6 inches away from him. Just as the last Hussar is about to move into place, Williams exercises his right to use his saved action. He stands up and begins blasting away with his Charger on burst-fire. Sure, he's blown being hidden, but now all the Hussars are like sitting ducks.

Dive for Cover. When the shells start whistling down from above, well-trained troops react and throw themselves into cover. When targeted with explosive weapons like grenades or rocket launchers, waiting troops may react. After the template is placed, any waiting model may try to dive for cover.

Roll under the model's Leadership. If successful, the model gets to make one Move action. If the roll fails, the model stays where it is. Whether the model is hit, or which circle of the template it's in, is determined by its new position. Either way, the model's waiting action is used up. Remove the Waiting marker.

Panic, Rout and Rallying

Most warriors are brave, but even the bravest people have their limits. When all your friends are dying around you, when the enemy seems to have overwhelming firepower, even the boldest will turn tail and run.

In Warzone, we simulate this with the panic test and the rout test. Whenever a squad loses a model, it must roll under the highest Leadership score of any model in the squad. If it succeeds, nothing happens. If it fails, it panics (see below).

A squad always makes any panic tests against the best Leadership in the squad. This means that if the Blood Beret Sergeant has a Leadership of 16, the squad makes its panic test on 16 or less. If the Sergeant is later killed, then the squad will make its Leadership test on 14 or less (the Leadership of a typical Blood Beret).

If an individual model is within command distance of a squad taking a panic test, the squad may take the test against the individual's Leadership. Be warned that, if the test is failed, the individual model is caught up in the general panic and is now panicked, too.

Panic

If a unit panics, turn its models to face away from the enemy. If a model is not in cover, any Waiting or Hidden markers are removed. If a model is already in cover, any Hidden markers can remain. Until a model rallies, it must do the following.

Every time the unit is activated, the model must use all its actions to fall back. When falling back, a unit must move away from the enemy and toward its own deployment area or the nearest cover. Squad coherency rules must still be observed. Once the model finds cover, reaches its deployment area or is out of line of sight of every enemy unit, it will cower there until it either rallies or routs.

If the unit's cover is penetrated by unfriendly forces, it must fall back again to the nearest available, uncompromised cover. In any case, once a panicked unit reaches its side's deployment area (usually within twelve inches of its player's side of the playing surface), it can no longer be forced to move.

Attacking Panicked Models

Once a soldier has panicked, it is much more likely to flee the battlefield in terror if attacked. When shooting at a panicked model, you get +4 to your Damage score. Also any time you attack a panicked model in close combat, add 2 to your Close Combat score and 2 to your Damage score. This is in addition to any bonus for charging.

These numbers do not mean that the warrior's armor is suddenly less effective. They represent the fact that a panicked soldier is more likely to run away when attacked. You do not get these bonuses for attacking units which never rout (Imperial Special Forces troops, for instance). These troops have nerves of steel!

Panic Tests for Individual Models

If an individual model takes a wound and is still alive, then it must make a panic test. It must roll against its Leadership. If the individual fails the test, it behaves exactly as a panicked squad would. It must fall back, seek cover, try to rally, etc. Individuals can attempt to rally themselves. If it is within 6 inches of a friendly, panicked squad, an individual model can try to rally both the squad and itself with the same action.

Broken Squads

A squad is broken if it has taken 50% casualties or more. This means an 8-model squad is broken when it has been reduced to 4 models. A 7-model squad is broken when it is reduced to 3 models. A 6-model squad is broken when it is reduced to 3 models. A 5-model squad is broken when it is reduced to 2 models, and so on.

Routing

Once warriors' nerves have been broken, they can easily be driven into such a state of terror that they flee from the battlefield or are reduced to gibbering, immobile wrecks. Either of these conditions leaves them effectively unable to take any further part in a battle.

Only squads that are both panicked and broken can be routed.

Every time an eligible squad takes casualties, it must make a rout test. To do this, roll under the highest Leadership of any model left alive within the squad. If you succeed, the situation remains stable. The squad remains panicked but otherwise steady. If you fail, the squad has routed. Every model in the squad must be removed from the table.

Example: A panicked squad of Imperial Regular troops takes another casualty. It started out with 8 models and has now been reduced to 4. Since this is half the original total, the squad is broken and must now take a rout check. The Sergeant is still alive. She has a Leadership of 15, so what's left of the squad must roll 15 or less to stay on the table. If it rolls more than 15, the entire squad is removed.

Panicked individual models are subject to rout tests if they take another wound. If they succeed, they are stable. If they fail, they have routed and are removed from the table.

PERFECT: The unit is filled with berserk fury. It rallies immediately.
FUMBLE: The unit's screams and pathetic groveling cause despondency to any nearby friendly troops. Any units with friendly models within command distance of the routed unit must make a panic test.

Rallying

When activated, the only thing a panicked squad that has reached cover or its deployment area can do is rally. It does this by rolling under the highest Leadership of any model in the squad. If the squad succeeds, turn the models to face the enemy once more. The squad may take no other actions this turn, but next turn it may act normally.

PERFECT: The squad is so overcome with shame at its cowardice that it is galvanized into immediate action. All warriors in the squad may take all their actions as normal this turn.
FUMBLE: The squad completely loses its head with fear and flees from the battlefield. Remove all the squad's models from the battlefield.

Lastly

No set of rules can cover every contingency that might arise during a battle. If something crops up that hasn't been discussed here, resolve it between you and your opponent. Be fair: If you cannot reach an agreement in the heat of combat, each of you should roll 1D20. The person with the highest score gets to make the call. After the battle, when the adrenaline stops flowing and tempers have cooled, you and your opponent should sit down and talk rationally about what happened and decide what interpretation you should place on the rules. This way you'll build up a set of house rules that you can apply in the future.

Force Lists

Point Costs

In Warzone, all models cost points. These points are an indication of the relative strength of a unit. A force that costs 400 points is roughly twice as potent on the battlefield as a force that costs 200. Of course, there are situations where this breaks down. No point-based system can be perfectly accurate, but generally speaking, the Point Cost of a unit is a reasonable guide to its strength.

Force Lists

Before fighting a battle, you and your opponent should agree upon how many points both sides are going to use. We would suggest up to 500 points each for a short battle and up to 1000 for a longer battle. Generally speaking, the more points you use, the longer the battle will take. In no case, though, should a battle take longer than an evening unless it's a real monster.

Once you've decided how many points you're going to play with, you should choose your force from the force lists. The number of points you and your opponent have agreed upon is how much you have to spend to buy your entire force, all its equipment and any special powers. You select your force from the appropriate force list, and you pay the Point Costs listed there.

Special Powers

Certain units may have special powers. These are noted in the unit's description. The special powers are as follows:

COMMANDO TRAINING. All models in this unit may use the Infiltrate action without any Movement penalty. They may remain hidden and still advance at full speed.
STEALTH. All models in this unit are trained to use every scrap of available cover. Other units are at -4 when trying to spot them.
JUNGLE TRAINING. This unit suffers no Movement penalty when moving through woods or swamps.
CLOSE COMBAT TRAINING. This unit may add 2 to its Damage rating while in close combat.

There are many other forms of special abilities that are specific to each type of force. These are detailed in the appropriate force lists.

Unit Descriptions

In each force list, you'll find a number of unit descriptions. These all follow the same format:

DESCRIPTION. This tells you a little about the unit.
SPECIAL RULES. Any special rules that may apply to the unit.
EQUIPMENT. This tells you how the unit is equipped.
STRUCTURE. This tells you the number and type of soldiers in each squad. Squads usually have a minimum and a maximum number of soldiers that can be in them when purchased.

Custom Equipment

The force lists simply describe the most commonly encountered squad types of any army. If you wish, and you have the proper models, you are perfectly at liberty to change the composition of any squad's equipment, within certain limits. You can give every figure in the squad a different weapon combination if you like. The only rule is that it must be completely obvious to your opponent what weapons each model is carrying. And, of course, you must pay the Point Costs for the weapons.

There are still restrictions on how many heavy weapons per squad that you may have. However, you can give the heavy weapon to the squad leader if you like. You must then make it obvious that this model is the squad leader; paint on those sergeant's stripes!

Example: You want to create a Blood Beret close assault squad, so you rush out and purchase three Blood Berets with Chainrippers and SMGs. You paint one of these with Sergeant's stripes and say it is the squad leader. This gives you two close combat soldiers and a Sergeant. Since the Squad's minimum size is 3 Blood Berets and a Sergeant, you still need another soldier. You can add a Blood Beret with a Charger to give you a heavy weapon. If you wanted, you could even add another Blood Beret with an Invader to beef up your firepower a bit, or another Blood Beret with close combat weapons.

Example of Creating a Force

Let's say you want to create a 500-point Imperial force. You carefully study the Imperial force list and decide that you want a small, elite force with a lot of hitting power. You choose a squad of Blood Berets and a squad of Wolfbanes.

You purchase 4 Blood Berets and a Blood Beret Sergeant. The Blood Berets cost 22 points each. The Sergeant costs 30 Points. There goes 118 points already. Now you must pay for the weapons. That's 4 Invaders and 4 Aggressors. The Invaders cost 8 points each. The Aggressors cost 1 point each. That's another 36 points in total. The Sergeant's Chainripper and Interceptor cost 2 and 5 points respectively. The running total is now (118+36+2+5=) 161 points. You decide that one of those Blood Berets really must have a Charger, so that adds 31 points. (The Charger costs 39 points, but dropping one of those Invaders saves 8 points.) So your Blood Beret squad now costs 192 points.

It's time to purchase those Wolfbanes. You go for a standard squad: one Chieftain, one Support Trooper with Charger and two Regulars with Punishers and sidearms. The Chieftain costs 29 points plus the cost of a Claymore, which is 4 points: 33 points. The Support Trooper costs 64. That's 25 for the figure, plus 39 points for the Charger. Each Regular costs 29, including the 4 points for their weapons. Total cost for the Wolfbane squad is 155 points. So far, so good. Your force now totals 347 points.

Time for a couple of heroes to enter the scene. Since you only have two squads, you can only have two individual models, so they may as well be powerful ones. How about a Blood Beret Captain armed with a Charger? That costs a total of 87. And, to add a bit of air power, how about a Rams Air Cavalry trooper weighing in at 58 points? This adds 145 to your total, bringing your force cost up to 492 points.

You have 8 points left. Might as well give that Chieftain and Blood Beret Captain some grenades at 4 points each.

So there you have your 500-point force. If you were playing for victory points, the Blood Beret and Wolfbane squads would be worth 4 VP. The Blood Beret Captain would be worth 2 VPs, as would the Air Cavalry trooper.

The Megacorps

The following pages describe the forces of each and every one of the megacorporations in detail. They also cover the other forces fighting against the Dark Legion: the Brotherhood and the Cartel. If you plan on creating a force from a particular corporation, it's your job to know your force's abilities and limitations backward and forward. Read your chosen force list over and think about the kind of force you'd like to be able to field. Then play around with the numbers for a while until you get a force you feel comfortable with.

Start out with building a 500-point force, and then move up to larger forces. Then when you go out to get your Heartbreaker miniatures to play with, you'll know exactly what figures you're going to need.

Limitations

Within reason, corporate forces may choose any models you like from a single force list, but there are some limits.

No force may contain more individual models than it has squads. Such mighty heroes and leaders are relatively rare.

Any corporate force except Cybertronic may choose to take some of its individual models from the Brotherhood Force List's individual models. Inquisitors and such are often seconded to the megacorporations' forces in the fight against the Dark Legion. You may not take more Brotherhood individual models than you have individual models from your own force list.

Example: The Imperial force contains 4 squads, so it may also take four individual models. These could be 3 Imperial individuals and 1 Brotherhood individual, or it could be 2 Imperial individuals and 2 Brotherhood individuals. It could not take 3 Brotherhood models and 1 Imperial because then there would be more Brotherhood individuals than Imperial.

Usually a squad may be equipped with any weapon from its own armory or the General Armory. It may not choose weapons from the other corporations' equipment lists.

Usually, no squad may contain more than one heavy weapon. The main exception is for large groups of infantry. Units of seven or more soldiers may have two heavy weapons. For example, a squad of six Imperial Regulars and a Sergeant may replace two of their Invader assault rifles with Charger HMGs.

Individual models may be armed with any heavy weapon, or they may be equipped with one ranged weapon and one close combat weapon. All models can carry a sidearm and grenades, too. Any figure with an assault rifle or submachine gun can have a grenade launcher or a bayonet (or both) fitted to that weapon. (You've got to pay the points, of course!)

Squad leaders may be equipped with one piece of special equipment. Individual models may be equipped with three.

Sniper rifles are only issued to individual models.

Capitol

Capitol is the largest of the megacorporations and has one of the most powerful military forces. Capitol's military doctrines were developed on the Capitolian heartland on Mars. Amid its vast, empty deserts, the Pioneers swiftly learned the value of air superiority, and this has shaped the thinking of the Supreme Commanders ever since. This means that Capitolian players can take advantage of the following special rules.

Air Strikes

The airplanes of the mighty CAF usually sweep the skies clean of enemy aircraft over their forces. Then Capitol's troops are delivered to their objectives by huge helicopter gunships. Once the troops have deployed, the Capitolian helicopters continue to circle low over the battleground, flying close to the ground to take advantage of any cover. On command from the officers on the ground, they pop up and unleash their devastating Eagle Claw air-to-ground missiles.

By taking a Use Special Power action, any unpanicked Capitol individual model or squad leader may call down such an airstrike on any visible enemy. To do this, it rolls under its Leadership to reel off the desired coordinates for the strike. If successful, the strike is targeted. If not, the missile is still unleashed, but it streaks over the battlefield and explodes harmlessly in the distance. The airstrike is wasted.

If the airstrike is successfully targeted, the missile streaks toward the designated target. It explodes and does a Damage 12 explosive attack on everyone within a 5-inch radius.

Airstrikes must be paid for out of points when you purchase your force. Each airstrike costs 10 points and is good for one use only. You cannot purchase more than four airstrikes; there is a limit to the number of Eagle Claws fitted to a gunship. When calling in an airstrike, it is possible to fumble or to achieve perfect success.

PERFECT: The target the missile was aimed at gets no Armor roll.
FUMBLE: The officer giving the coordinates makes a mistake and calls the strike in on his or her own location. The blast goes off, centered on that figure.

Helicopter Deployment

As a Capitolian player, you do not have to set up all your forces on the table before the battle begins. You may choose to deploy them by helicopter on the first turn of battle instead.

During setup, when it's your turn to deploy a unit, simply keep that unit off the table and say: "Airborne." On the first turn, when you want to activate the unit, place it anywhere on the table that none of your foes could reach on a single Move action. The deployed unit can take no other action this turn. All units that are deployed by helicopter finish their turn waiting; place a Wait marker beside them.

Helicopter deployment can be a risky strategy because helicopters can be shot down.

Shooting Down a Helicopter

When a helicopter fires a missile, it can be shot at. Any waiting enemy with a weapon that has a range of over 30" can fire at it. If the enemy is waiting, it shoots before the helicopter. The waiting unit fires as normal, treating the range as if it were 31 inches. If it hits, the helicopter must make an Armor roll. If the helicopter fails, it takes one wound and is out of control. It may not fire its missile this turn, since the pilot is too busy wrestling with the controls.

The procedure for shooting at helicopters deploying troops is exactly the same except that the range is calculated from the point where the troops are being deployed. If the helicopter goes out of control, the unit that was about to be deployed still scrambles clear, but they are panicked. They do not count as waiting.

Waiting enemy troops cannot fire at the deployed troops as they land. They must shoot at the helicopter.

Helicopters have an Armor Rating of 28 and 4 Wounds. Once the last wound is lost, the helicopter is destroyed and all troops still airborne are lost. No further airstrikes can be made.

Example: Bill, the Capitol player, has four airborne units at the start of the game. While he's deploying the third unit, Bob, the Legion player, has his waiting forces hit the helicopter with a flame-thrower. The helicopter is destroyed. The unit that had yet to be deployed is lost, having gone down in flames with its ride.

The Art

To use the Art, a model must have a PW greater than 0 and be affiliated with the Cardinal and the Light. While Deathbringers have a high PW rating, their powers do not fall under the Art's domain. All individual Brotherhood models and certain Etoiles Mortant qualify, though. This gives them access to many powerful spells.

The Aspects

The Art is sub-divided into several Aspects, groupings of mystical spells defined by the arcane methodology by which they are employed. A model automatically knows all of the spells in its chosen Aspect(s). Most eligible models can only use one Aspect, but Mystics and Keepers of the Art can master two.

Spells

Spells are each small manifestations of an Aspect. They are what models use on the battlefield. Spells are normally described in the following manner:

RANGE: This is exactly the same as the range of a weapon. Spells can only be targeted against models within range and line of sight. If the target is hidden, then the caster (or someone else) must spot it before the spell can be cast. If it says "Self" in this section, the spell can only be cast on yourself.
LEVEL: This tells you how difficult and complex a spell is. It's usually indicative of how powerful that spell is, too. Variable spells can be cast at any level of the player's choice, up to a maximum of 10.
EFFECT: This tells you the effect the spell will have if successfully cast.

Casting a Spell

In order to cast a spell, you must take a Use Special Power action. Then you subtract the spell's level from the caster's Power. This tells you the number you must roll equal to or below to successfully cast the spell.

Resisting a Spell

To resist a spell, a model must subtract the spell's level from its Leadership. This tells you the number the model must roll equal to or below to resist the spell's effects.

The Art of Kinetics

The Art of Kinetics involves the actual telekinetic manipulation of matter.

Striking. RANGE: The caster's PW in inches. LEVEL: Variable. The player casting the spell can choose any level up to 10. EFFECT: You channel all your mystical power into a devastating bolt aimed at a single enemy model. Damage of 10 plus the spell's level. This damage is resisted with an Armor roll.

Shield. RANGE: Self. LEVEL: 4. EFFECT: You cause a glowing field of light to appear around yourself. This light deflects any incoming attacks. This spell increases your Armor rating by 4 (up to a maximum of 30) for the rest of the battle.

Teleportation. RANGE: Any model in line of sight, including the caster. LEVEL: 8. EFFECT: You cause a model to vanish from one point of the battlefield and reappear instantaneously somewhere else. The model vanishes and reappears anywhere else on the battlefield that you wish. This can be resisted if the target is unwilling.

Explosion. RANGE: Equal to the caster's PW in inches. LEVEL: 6. EFFECT: You shape the air into a swirling, volatile ball of gases. When thrown, this ball explodes at the point of impact. Place the Explosives template at the point of impact. You do DAM 12 (x3) explosives damage.

The Art of Changeling

This Aspect of the Art is concerned with manipulating thoughts and emotions, memories, feeling and subconscious activities.

Domination. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 6. EFFECT: This spell enables you to dominate the will and guide the actions of an enemy model. It can only be cast on an enemy unit that has not already been activated this turn. The target must make a Leadership test, subtracting the level of the spell. If the target fails this saving roll, it comes under the control of the caster. You must now spend an action to give orders to the victim. Immediately thereafter, you get to make a full set of actions with the victim. The victim may only move or shoot. It cannot take any other sorts of actions. Immediately after the target unit finishes its actions, the control fades. The target unit may not be activated again this turn.

Telepathy. RANGE: None. LEVEL: 3. EFFECT: By reading the mind of the enemy commander, you get to add 3 to your initiative roll next turn.

Rally. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 2. EFFECT: You send a wave of positive psychic messages to the target unit. If the target unit has panicked, it gets to make a Rally roll immediately, adding 2 to the unit's highest Leadership value.

Command. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 2. EFFECT: You send an urgent telepathic command to the target unit, activating it immediately. This spell works just like the Give Orders action except that it can be used over great range. It can only be used on friendly units.

Panic. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 3. EFFECT: You send a wave of fear coursing through the target unit. It must immediately take a panic test. This only affects those units that take panic tests.

Pain. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 4. EFFECT: You send a wave of uncontrollable agony coursing through a single target model. It must make a Leadership test (minus the level of the spell) or suffer a single wound.

The Art of Exorcism

This Aspect of the Art is used to repair wounds, deny fear and defy the power of Dark Symmetry in nearly all of its horrendous forms.

Turn Undead Legionnaire. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 2. EFFECT: This spell channels the power of the Light at a unit of Undead Legionnaires. It must make a panic test checking against its best remaining Leadership. If they fail this test, they behave just like any other panicked squad. They will not, however, rout because of casualties. They may be rallied like any other unit. If this spell is successfully used again against panicked Legionnaires, then they will rout. This spell is just about the only way Undead Legionnaires may be routed.

Exorcise Wound. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 3. EFFECT: This spell heals one wound from any wounded model. It cannot be used on models already dead and removed from the table.

Exorcise Fear. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: 2. EFFECT: You exorcise all fear from the minds of the target unit, calming them. If the target unit has panicked, it gets to make a Rally roll immediately, adding 2 to the unit's highest Leadership value.

Exorcise Evil Influence. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: Variable. EFFECT: This spell works to undo the effect of any Dark Symmetry spell, gift or power, such as Infection. When cast, the spell level is the same as the Dark Symmetry effect it seeks to cancel. If successful, the Dark Symmetry effect is undone.

Exorcise Dark Symmetry. RANGE: LOS. LEVEL: Variable. EFFECT: This spell unravels the effects of the Dark Symmetry in the minds of the Dark Soul's servants and disrupts the pattern of any Dark Gift. You choose which Gift to strip away from the victim and then make a PW roll, subtracting the level of the Dark Gift. If successful, the evil pattern is removed from the target's mind, and the target cannot use the Dark Gift for the remainder of the battle.

The Art of Mentalism

This Aspect of the Art allows its practitioners to focus their powers in on themselves, transforming themselves into virtual superhumans.

Proficiency. RANGE: Self. LEVEL: Variable. EFFECT: This ability enables you to focus on any single skill and enhance it beyond belief. Either CC, MW or LD can all be increased by the level of the spell. This increase lasts until the end of the turn.

Speed. RANGE: Self. LEVEL: 5. EFFECT: This spell adds 2 each to your AC and MV. Its effects last until the end of the turn.

Invulnerability. RANGE: Self. LEVEL: Variable. EFFECT: Every level of this spell adds 1 to your Armor rating (up to a maximum of 30) for the rest of the battle.

Exorcise Self. RANGE: Self. LEVEL: 4. EFFECT: This spell heals one wound on you.

Strength. RANGE: Self. LEVEL: Variable. EFFECT: Your Strength is increased by the level of this spell. The effects last until the end of the turn.

Flight. RANGE: Personal. LEVEL: 2. EFFECT: You use telekinetic abilities to rise into the air. For the rest of this turn, you may fly with a Flight Movement of 10 inches. You must end your turn on the ground.

General Equipment

General equipment is the war gear normally available to all megacorporate and Brotherhood forces. It is fairly common, and each corporation's versions are so similar that it is not worth describing them separately. General equipment may be issued to almost any model; any restrictions are mentioned in the description.

Grenades

All grenades are thrown weapons, and they are subject to certain rules. You can buy grenades for an individual model, for a squad leader or for a whole squad. Remember to note down which models and squads are carrying grenades. If you decide to buy grenades for a squad, then you must buy them for every soldier in the squad. This stops any arguments about which figures are equipped with grenades and which aren't.

Most grenades operate in a similar fashion: place the grenade template at the point of impact. Anything even partially below the template suffers the effect of the grenade. All grenades can deviate.

FRAG GRENADES do explosive damage, sending showers of shrapnel tearing into their targets. (Damage 12, cost 4.)
SHOK GRENADES stun their victims. Anything beneath the template must make a panic test.
ARMOR PIERCING GRENADES affect only one target. They do not use the template. However, these powerful shaped charges are capable of inflicting enormous damage on a single target. (Damage 18 (x2), cost 5.)

Grenade Launcher

A grenade launcher can be fitted to any assault rifle or submachine gun. It adds 2 to the cost. It enables you to fire any grenades your unit may be equipped with, up to 10 inches. You can buy grenade launchers for individual models, squad leaders or entire squads. If you decide to buy grenade launchers for a squad, then every model in that squad who can be equipped with one must have one. The grenades must be purchased separately.

Bayonets

All assault rifles and sniper rifles can be fitted with snap-on bayonets. These give a close combat Damage of 10 and add 1 to the weapon's cost. If you buy bayonets for a squad, you must equip all eligible models in the squad with them.

Gas Masks

Gas masks cost 2 points each and protect against certain gases. They range from small rebreathers to full face protectors. Of course, they cannot be totally effective, since some gases are contact poisons, and some soldiers won't even bother to wear them, since they are uncomfortable and many restrict the user's ability to see. Also, many are defective.

Gas masks protect against gas attacks on a roll of 15 or less on 1D20. Gas masks can be bought for individual models or squads. If bought for a squad, then they must be bought for every model in that squad.

Special Equipment

In addition to their weapons and armor, troops may be issued with special equipment that greatly enhances their combat ability. Much of this stuff is rare and costly, so unless otherwise stated, this equipment can only be issued to a squad leader or an individual model. If the model carrying it is killed, any special equipment is lost.

There are certain other restrictions. Squad leaders may only be issued with one piece of special equipment. Individual models may carry up to three. Make sure you note down which individual is carrying which stuff.

Equipment marked with a * can be affected by the Dark Symmetry Malfunction Gift.

The special equipment given here cannot be used by Dark Legion forces.

BIONIC EYE IMPLANTS. These add 4 to the user's Leadership when scanning for hidden objects. They also add 2 to the user's Missile Weapons score, but only for purposes of canceling out Range Modifiers. COST: 2 points.
CHAMELEON OVERSUIT. This suit automatically blends in with the background. It is worn over the user's armor. It subtracts 4 from a spotting enemy's chance of seeing a hidden wearer. These rare items are issued only to individual models. COST: 5 points.
COAGULANT AUTO-INJECTOR *. This allows the figure to ignore the first wound it takes. COST: 4 points.
COMBAT DRUGS. These may be issued to either a squad or an individual model. Either way, they have the same Point Cost. They allow the unit to ignore any panic tests until the unit's next turn. They can be used only once, and their use must be declared when the unit is activated. They cannot be used by an already panicking unit. COST: 3 points per model.
COMBAT MEDIC UNIT *. If the figure suffers a wound, roll 1D20. If the result is 10 or less, it ignores the wound. If the weapon does two wounds, you have to roll twice. COST: 10 points.
COMMAND HELMET *. This gives the figure one extra action. COST: 4 points.
CYBERNETIC POWER ARM. This is an artificial arm with servo-motors far stronger than any human muscles. It adds 5 to the model's Strength. COST: 4 points.
HYPERACTIVATOR *. This allows the figure to control its production of adrenaline and endorphins. It grants an extra action per round and adds 4 to the user's Leadership. Before every round of use, roll under the figure's unmodified Leadership. If you fail, the unit is broken, and the wearer loses all actions this round. Once the unit is broken, the Hyperactivator may not be used again for the rest of the battle. COST: 8 points.

The Dark Symmetry

Many of those who serve the Darkness have the ability to wield extraordinary powers. These powers are ultimately gifts from their masters, but they enable the users to perform feats beyond the wildest nightmares of ordinary mortals.

The Dark Gifts

If a figure has the potential to possess Dark Gifts, this will be mentioned in the Force Lists. Only certain models, such as Nepharites, have this potential, for the Dark Gifts are the privilege of the few, corrupt souls who are high in the favor of their Dark masters.

Anyone who can channel the power of the Darkness has one or more of the Dark Gifts. In game terms, these Gifts each have a level which indicates how powerful they are and how difficult they are to use.

The level of the Gift is also how many points it costs to purchase. If a gift has a variable level, it costs 5 points.

For example, if you wanted your Nepharite to have three Dark Gifts, and each of those gifts was level 5, this would add 15 to the cost of the Nepharite when the force was purchased.

Limits on the Possession of the Dark Gifts

No individual model may possess more than 10 Dark Gifts. Models may only choose gifts from the Dark Symmetry List or the list of the Gifts of the Apostle they serve. For example a Nepharite of Algeroth may choose gifts from the Dark Symmetry List or the Gifts of Algeroth List. It may not choose any of the Gifts of the other Dark Apostles.

You should note on your force list which models in your force possess which Gifts so that there is no confusion.

Using the Dark Gifts

When an individual wants to use its Dark Gifts, it must take a Use Special Power action. Then the level of the Gift is subtracted from the individual's Power score. This gives the number the figure must roll equal to or beneath to use the gift.

Unless otherwise stated, all Gifts have unlimited range. They can be targeted at any model if the user has a line of sight to the target and the target is not hidden.

The level of a Gift is noted directly after its name.

Variable Level Gifts

Certain Gifts are of variable level. This means you can choose at which level to use the Gift at, up to a maximum of 10. This number is then subtracted from your Power when checking for success when casting.

Resisting the Dark Gifts

Sometimes, a target gets a chance to resist the influence of the Dark Symmetry. To do this, the target must subtract the level of the Gift from its Leadership. This gives the number the target must roll equal to or under to avoid being affected by the Gift.

The Dark Symmetry Gifts

LANCE OF PAIN (1). The target feels a sudden overwhelming burst of pain. Unless it can resist the Lance of Pain, it takes 1 wound.
DARK AURA (2). The user is surrounded by an aura of darkness and fear. Any enemy who wishes to target the user must resist the effect of this aura or be unable to attack the user. If the attacker fails, its action is wasted. The effect of the Dark Aura lasts until the user is next activated. A marker should be placed next to the user to indicate the Aura is in place.
TELEPATHIC COMMAND (2). This enables the user to activate any Dark Legion squad that has not already been activated this turn. It is, in effect, a telepathic version of the Give Orders action. The user does not need to have a line of sight to the unit. It can still use a Give Orders action on any squad within its command distance.
MALFUNCTION (3). The user causes a single piece of special equipment to malfunction. This only works against equipment with an electrical component. It does not affect weapons.
COMPRESSION (4). By compressing time, the user can move up to its Power value in inches. This does not ignore the effects of terrain. It is just like a very fast Move action.
TIME DEATH (6). By distorting time for a moment, the user doubles its number of actions for this turn. Those actions that may only be used once per turn, such as Rally, Give Orders, etc., can still only be used once. This power can only be used once per battle by any model.

Gifts of Ilian

DIMENSIONAL HOLE (6). The caster may open a rift in the fabric of reality at any point within line of sight. Any model within 5 inches of this point must make an Armor roll against a Damage of 12. If it fails, it takes a wound from the rending winds and spectacular radiation of Dark energy.
DISRUPT POWER (VARIABLE). This can only be used by a waiting model. If successfully cast, it immediately negates any use of the Art or Dark Gifts used by the enemy before they take effect. The user does not need line of sight for this, as it interferes directly with the flow of power over the battlefield. The level of this Gift is equal to the level of the spell or Gift the user is trying to interfere with.
HAND OF DEATH (VARIABLE). Unless the target resists, it feels a cold hand close around its heart and takes 1 wound. The level of the spell only serves to help overcome any resistance.
TRUE GATE (6). The caster opens a Gate between itself and any point up to its Power rating in inches away. The caster and any squad it has just activated can step through this gate and appear on the far side. The caster must step through first. By expending one Move, any models in the just-activated squad may appear within 3 inches of the caster.

Gifts of Muawijhe

CONFUSE (4). This can be targeted on any unhidden unit within LOS. It must make a panic test against the highest Leadership in the unit, minus the level of the Gift. If this is failed, the unit panics. This Gift does not affect units which do not take panic tests.
INSANE DANCE (2). This may be targeted at any single model within LOS. If the target fails to resist, it begins to dance uncontrollably. The caster takes control of the figure and can make up to 3 Move actions with it. The caster may not move the model off the table, but that's about it. This gift affects even units that have already been activated this turn. A victim of Insane Dance can still be activated by its owner that turn if it hasn't been already.
WIND OF INSANITY (6). The caster sends a wave of screaming, gibbering, terrifying spirits seething toward a target unit. The target must resist the Gift, or it will panic. If the target panics and the squad has already broken or the individual has already taken wounds, it must then take a rout test. The Wind of Insanity does not affect those units which never take panic tests. A unit which never routs will not rout as a result of the Wind of Insanity.

Gifts of Semai

CONTROL MIND (4). This gift can only be used on visible targets. Unless the target model resists, it will immediately perform up to its maximum number of actions under the direction of the caster. This cannot be performed on a target that has already been activated this turn. A victim of this Gift counts as having been activated this turn.
MIND MELT (4). Unless the target model successfully resists, it takes 1 wound of damage as its brain is subjected to the terrible influence of the Dark Symmetry. If a model is killed by this, its head explodes, showering brains all around it.
POSSESS (6). The caster sends its spirit sweeping out over the battlefield to possess the body of an unfortunate victim. The caster does not need line of sight to the target and may even possess hidden models. Unless the victim resists, its body comes under the power of the caster for the rest of the caster's turn. The caster may use the rest of its own actions to make the victim perform any actions the caster wishes, using the victim's MW and CC scores. This Gift can be used on models that have already been activated this turn. An unactivated model may still be activated after it has been possessed. The user of this gift may even possess models on its own side.
SHROUD (4). The user of this Gift is surrounded with a vision-distorting cloud of swirling, multi-colored fog. This fog covers a 3-inch radius all around the user and blocks line of sight both in and out. A marker of some sort should be placed next to the user to indicate the presence of the Shroud.

Gifts of Algeroth

THE DEVOURING DARKNESS (4). The user of this gift opens up small portals within the body of a victim, through which seep corrosive flows of Dark Symmetry. Unless the target model resists, it will be devoured by this internal darkness. It takes a Use Special Power action to invoke this Gift, but for every action the user spends concentrating before using the Gift, the target must make one resistance roll. Each failure means the target has taken a wound. As soon as the target successfully makes one resistance roll, the gates are closed, and the power's effect ceases.
DIMENSION WARP (5). The user teleports a single model into a dimension of pure evil. Unless the target resists, it must be removed from the table. Next turn, when the user is activated, it may return the model to anywhere on the playing area. If the model which vanished was part of a squad, the squad must take a panic test (or a rout test if appropriate) when the figure vanishes.
DISTORT (2). The corrosive effects of this Gift permanently warp and twist the body of the target model. Reduce the victim's Wounds, MW, CC, and MV by 1 unless it successfully resists this effect.
FLOW OF ACID (4). The user of this gift causes a stream of acid to flow toward the victim from its outstretched hands. This acts in exactly the same way as a DAM 12 flame-thrower. Unless the victim makes an Armor roll, it will be corroded by the acid. The effect is exactly the same as being set aflame.
INVOKE FRENZY (4). The caster can infuse followers with an insane frenzy. By using this power on them, the caster turns them into raving berserkers whose only wish is to get to grips with the foe. The caster can use the Gift on one squad. It will immediately become activated as if given orders. It must spend all its actions moving into close combat with the nearest enemy squad or model. Once it is there, it will spend all its actions on close combat or moving into close combat until the enemy unit is dead or the frenzied unit is eliminated. Frenzied units add 3 to their Strength and 1 to their Movement.

Gifts of Demnogonis

IMPRISON DEAD (4). If used directly after the user has killed a foe in close combat, this Gift allows the user to animate the corpse. Instead of the killed model being removed, it is added to the user's retinue. It still has all the weapons it was previously equipped with, and it has 1 Wound. The victim's CC and MW scores are reduced by 4. Imprisoned Dead do not panic. They are part of the user's retinue and are activated whenever it is. The user has, in effect, obtained a squad.
DECAY (2). This causes weapons and armor to rot and become useless. It can be targeted at any heavy weapon or item of special equipment (lesser things being beneath the notice of those who use such powers) and, unless the target successfully resists, the weapon or piece of equipment will be destroyed.
INFECTION (VARIABLE). This terrible gift infects the target individual or squad with a dreadful, wasting disease. Unless the victims resist, boils erupt on their skin, and their lungs begin to fill with a terrible, choking pus. This disease will kill the victims in under 6 hours unless they are given medical treatment. In the meantime, they must make a panic test with their Leadership reduced by the level of the Gift invoked. If any broken units fail this test, they must then immediately make a rout test with their Leadership reduced by the level of the Gift invoked. If they fail this, they will flee the battlefield in terror. Units which never rout or panic are immune to this.

Optional Rules

These rules are not really needed to play Warzone, but they can add a lot of fun to the game. Use them only if both you and your opponent agree to do so.

Multi-Player Battles

It is possible to play Warzone with more than two players. At the simplest level, you can just divide up the squads and individuals on either side between two or more players. If two players are playing a force with two squads and two individuals, each could take one squad and one individual, and so on. If there was an odd unit left over, then they could roll 1D20. The person with the higher result gets to control the unit in question.

More challenging is the idea of a multi-player battle where each player controls a different force; for example, a three-way battle between Mishima, Bauhaus and the Dark Legion.

Terrain is placed as normal. Then the players roll to see who gets first choice of deployment area. Highest wins, then next highest and so on. In a multi-player game, forces may come on from any table edge. Two forces can even come in on the same edge. They are just not allowed to have units within 12 inches of each other. Units are deployed one at a time in the order that the deployment areas were chosen in.

Sequencing a turn is slightly different. All three players roll for initiative as usual. If you win, you can activate one of your own units or nominate one of your enemies' units to be activated. Once that unit has gone, it's the turn of the person with the next highest roll, and so on. This sequence is repeated until all units have been activated. If the person with initiative chooses to activate someone else's unit for them, those two trade places in the initiative order.

Example: Mishima, Bauhaus and the Dark Legion are engaged in a titanic, three-way tussle. The Mishiman (played by Barry) rolls 29 for initiative. The Bauhaus Commander rolls 25, and the Dark Legion Commander rolls 19. The Mishiman has the initiative. Barry could choose to activate one of his own units, in which case the sequence of play would be Mishima, Bauhaus and Dark Legion. Or he could activate a Bauhaus unit, in which case the sequence of play would be Bauhaus, Mishima and Dark Legion. Or he could activate a Dark Legion unit, in which case the sequence of play would be Dark Legion, Bauhaus and Mishima.

Winning

It's probably best to play till one side is clearly victorious, i.e., all the other sides' units are dead or panicked. However, if you are playing scenarios, there are some ways of adjudicating victory.

When playing "Against the Clock", each player should count up how many victory points his or her unbroken units are worth at the end of the game. For example, if you've got a 130-point unit still not under half-strength, it's worth 3 points. Broken units are worth nothing, as are dead units. Add the value of any objectives you held to this. The player with the highest value is the winner.

When playing "Sudden Death", things are a little different. Total up the number of victory points your force is worth at the start of the game. Then, halve this number and add 1. This is the sudden death level. If, at the end of any turn, your forces fall below this number, you lose. At the start of next turn, your forces must begin to retreat off the table. Every activated unit must spend at least one action moving toward the nearest table edge. Once they are off the table, they may not re-enter. Units which have panicked must use all their actions to move toward the nearest table edge rather than heading for the nearest cover.

Any victory points for holding objectives are added to your total. This may keep you from sudden death, even if your side has taken many casualties.

It is perfectly possible for all involved players to lose a sudden death scenario. The winner is the person who doesn't lose, i.e., fall below his or her sudden death total.

Quick-Play Rules for Massive Battles

Warzone was designed as a skirmish game for up to 5 squads and 5 individual models per side. You should easily be able to fight a battle using these numbers in the course of an evening.

However, some people like to fight huge battles using massive numbers of squads and figures. Far be it from us to discourage you if you want to do this. We do, however, suggest you use the following optional rules to speed up play:

No one is allowed to wait.
Only those squads and individuals who have a special ability connected with hiding (i.e., the Free Marines, the Shadow Walkers, the Wolfbanes, etc.) can hide or infiltrate.
Each model only gets one attack action per turn. As soon as a model completes an attack action (such as Fire or Close Combat or Use a Special Power that does damage to an enemy), its turn ends. This means that if you have three actions, you can move twice then fire, move once then fire, move and aim then fire, or just fire. You cannot fire then move. This prevents people from sniping, i.e., moving into the open, taking a shot, then hiding behind cover again. Breaking away from close combat does not count as an attack, so you can do that and then attack someone.

You can also use these rules in smaller battles if you just want to speed up play. You will lose an element of skill but gain a faster paced, more frenetic game.

Creating Really Individual Models

Within every army, there are mighty heroes, warriors and officers capable of performing feats of incredible bravery and leadership. In Warzone, these people are represented by individual models. If you want to create a truly special individual model for your own force list, use the rules below.

If both you and your opponent agree, you may choose special abilities for your individual models. They can each have up to 3. If you are buying special abilities, no two individuals on the same side can have the same special ability.

Heroic Special Abilities

FEARLESS. This model never needs to take a panic test. Cost: 5.
LEADERSHIP. Any squad making a panic test within command distance of this model gets a reroll. Cost: 5.
JUNGLE TRAINING. This model ignores terrain penalties for woods and swamps. Cost: 3.
CLOSE COMBAT TRAINING. Add 2 to the model's Damage rating in close combat. Cost: 2.
CRACK SHOT. Add 2 to the model's MW score and 2 to the Damage rating of the model's ranged weapons. This also adds to the close combat damage of sidearms in hand-to-hand combat. Cost: 4.
KEEN EYES. This model adds 4 to its Leadership whenever it makes a Spot roll. Cost: 1.
SCOUT. This model has been trained to infiltrate behind enemy lines. Subtract 4 from any attempts to spot the model when it's hidden. Cost: 2.
BLESSED. This model has +4 on any attempts to resist the power of the Dark Symmetry. Cost: 2.
PAIN RESISTANT. This model has an extra Wound. Cost: 5.
TOUGH. Increase the model's Armor Rating by 2 (up to a maximum of 30). Cost: 2.
LONG LEGS. Increase the model's MV by 1 inch. Cost: 2.
VERY STRONG. Increase the model's ST by 2. Cost: 2.

Customizing Squads

If your opponent agrees, you can design your own custom squads, just like you can with individuals. To do this, you take the squad's character profile and add special abilities. You can give an entire Squad up to 3 special abilities. These must be given to every model in the entire unit, and the cost of these Special Abilities must be added to the models' cost. If a unit already has a special ability (such as the Blood Berets' Jungle Training), this counts as one special ability already.

Generally speaking, you should be limited to one custom unit for each side, but if you and your opponent both agree that every unit can be a custom unit, then go right ahead.

Creating a Special Squad Member

If you like, you can give one member of a squad a single special ability in addition to any other special abilities the squad may possess. This model must be made completely distinct from its fellows in some way. For example, let's say you want to create a Blood Beret Medic. You could paint a red cross flash on the shoulder pads of one of your Blood Beret figures and give it the First Aid special ability. Or you could take a Venusian Ranger and paint a special marksman badge on it and give it the Crack Shot special ability. That model would now be the squad's Marksman. Only First Aid, Crack Shot, Close Combat and Scout can be used to create special squad members.

Of course, the cost of this ability is added to the model's point cost. Such squad members can be targeted with sniper rifles.

Campaigns

One of the most satisfying ways to play Warzone is as a campaign. This means that you and a group of your friends get together and agree to play a series of games.

During the course of these games, you watch your troops gain experience and grow, just as they would in a real series of battles. This is done by awarding them experience points.

A figure gets 1 experience point for every enemy model it kills. This means that the figure must have been removed from the table as a result of your figure shooting it or chopping it down in close combat. You do not get points for a mass of enemies routed by panic.

A figure also gets 1 experience point for still being alive and on the table when the scenario ends. Raise this to 2 experience points if the figure was on the winning side.

Who can get experience points? Only squad leaders and individual models can earn experience points. You could, in theory, keep track of every single warrior, but the bookkeeping would be enormous, and you would need some way of distinguishing every model in your force.

What can you do with experience points? You can use them to improve a model's character profile. With one experience point, you can increase a model's CC, MW or LD by 1. These characteristics can never exceed 18. For 5 points, you can increase either the model's Wounds or Actions by 1. The maximum here is 5 for Actions and 4 for Wounds. Brotherhood characters can also spend 2 points to increase their PW by 1.

These improved characteristics can be used the next time your squad enters a battle.

You can also use these points to buy special abilities. Just pay the Point Costs out of your experience. For example, First Aid would cost 10 experience points.

Casualties. If a character that has a lot of experience is killed, that can be tough. However, that's war for you. At the start of your next battle, that figure can be replaced by a new model with the basic character profile.

Converting Your Character from the RPG to Warzone

Your character's CC score is equal to your character's SV with whatever close combat weapon it is using.
Your character's MW score is equal to your character's SV with whatever missile weapon it is using.
Your character's PW is 10 plus 1 for every 2 points of MST over 10 your character has, up to a maximum of 16.
Your character's LD is 10 plus 1 for every 2 points of PER over 10 your character has, up to a maximum of 16.
Your character's AC is equal to your character's Actions per Round.
Your character's Wounds score is devised as follows. Add your character's MST and PHY scores. If the total is 34 or less, the character has 1 Wound. If the total is 35-40, the character has 2 Wounds. If the total is 41-50, the character has 3 Wounds. If the total is 51 or more, it has 4 Wounds.
Your character's ST is equal to your character's Offensive Bonus.
Your character's Armor is calculated by adding the value of the armor on your character's chest location to 18. If the character has 3 points of chest armor, your character's Armor rating is 21. As always, the maximum is 30.
Your character's Movement Rating is the same as in the RPG.

Unless you specifically want your character to be part of a squad, then all player characters count as individual models.

If your character possesses the Art or any Dark Gifts, choose the Warzone Art or Gift that most closely resembles the RPG version and use that.

A note for GMs. Warzone is ideal for those big fights you've always wanted to run. Now's your chance to send your players into a pitched battle in the Venusian jungles alongside a squad of Blood Berets. Better yet, it will take a lot less time using Warzone.

The overall fight can be directed by the single player of your choice. It is probably best to give each character control of his or her own squad so that every player has something to do. You should command the opposition.

If you are using Warzone in conjunction with the Mutant Chronicles RPG, you should follow one simple rule: never kill off a player character reduced to zero Wounds in Warzone. If this happens, assume the character was simply knocked out or wounded. If the player's side wins the battle, then the character can be recovered and given medical treatment. If the player's side loses the battle, then the character can be captured or may be wandering lost and dazed on the battlefield. Warzone should provide a springboard for adventures. It should not be used as an excuse to butcher player characters.