EXPLANATION OF RULES

GAME MECHANICS Squad level combat. Each Squad tends to be about 6-10 men / creatures. Each Squad moves and fires together when it's activation card is drawn out. Can be spklit into 2 4-5 man squads for city fight game

TURN SEQUENCE - Draw a card for each Squad. As each squad is drawn it may either use it's action points or reserve them in one of 2 ways, (overwatch or Timed assault)

OVERWATCH - Squad does nothing until one or more targets move across their line of sight. They may interrupt these units movement and fire upon them, (max 2AP's). If nothing moves across their line of sight then they basically waste their turn.

TIMED ASSAULT - Do nothing until later in the turn when they may move/fire. They may NOT interrupt another unit moving across their line of sight. They may only fire when the other unit has completed it's movement, and if that means they are now out of sight then they can not be fired upon.

SHOOT - If the target wishes to return fire then you must roll for each figures initiative to decide the sequence people fire in. The player whose turn it currently is rolls normally on the initiative table. If the opponent is on overwatch they also roll normally. If the opponent who wishes to return fire has not had their card drawn yet so they are firing ahead of their turn then they must roll on itiative table with a modifier of -3 meaning they have been caught out and most figures will be fired on first. If the person wishing to shoot has already expended all their action points this turn then they can't fire again!

MOVE - Move where you wish, you can only be shot at by squads on OVERWATCH. If at any time during movement you begin to use AP's to fire then see the action above entitled "Shoot"

ASSAULT - If using AP's to charge into contact with an opponent then the opponent may react as follows :- If the target (or any other squad in line of sight) is on OVERWATCH then they may fire at the assaulting squad on the way in. If the Target only is on TIMED ASSAULT then they may fire on the assaulting squad on the way in. If the target has already used all their AP's then they can only fight and only with the weapons they used last. If the targets card has not been drawn yet they can shoot with hand guns or shoulder weapons but with a negative modifier. If their to hit is <8 then deduct 1 otherwise deduct 2 from their to hit roll. If armed with Heavy weapons they may not fire.

MOVEMENT Wheeled/tripod heavy weapons cost 1AP to set up after moving, and normally 2AP's to fire. So normally the best a crew can do is to move 2AP's and set it up ready to fire next turn. Or even move the full 3 AP's and then use their first AP setting up the next turn. This still leaves 2AP's to fire the weapon. All crew of Tripod etc heavy weapons always count as under cover unless fired on from behind. 1 uninjured Human crew member is required to fire a heavy weapon of any sort, including hand held ones. i.e. injured can't use heavy weapons.

When rolling D6 for movement, roll once for the whole squad. You have to determine at the beginning of your phase how many dice will be for movement and how many for shooting. You can't roll 1D6 for movement, then if it wasn'tr enough roll another one etc.

Because of the small scale of the combat, you get 1D6" movement for each AP expended no matter whether you are running down a road, over a wall etc. There are no deductions for crossing terrain.

At the beginning of the game you may indicate that certain terrain can not be crossed by vehicles whilst other terrain can't be crossed by Walkers. Walkers don't fit in buildings for example but may be able to pass some other rough terrain that tracked vehicles couldn't negotiate, (e.g. ruins)

WEAPONS FACTOR CHART I have fitted the standard weapons used by Imperial Guard, Necrons and Tyrannid Gaunts into my old sci fi skirmish tables. Feel free to add other weapons in a similar way if you need them. All weapons are classed as one handed hand guns, shoulder weapons which means rifle sized weapons, and Heavy weapons which are large weapons which normally need 2AP's to fire. On the armour chart I have used a descriptive name for the armour value and the WH40K saving throw value. So Standard flak mesh armour is Imperial guard 5+ armour (or Tyrannid 6+ skin). Reinforced storm trooper armour or Tau armour is Imperial guard 4+ storm trooper armour, or walkers without protected crew compartments. "Power" armour is the 3+ armour of space marines, or Necrons, or some lighter vehicles such as Chimera APC's and walkers with protected crew canopies. Unlike WH40K i use the same armour value for infantry as vehicles. Tank armour means the strongest armour and equates to 13 or 14 armour in WH40K.

Get a couple of circular blast radius counters. Games workshop do some nice transparent plastic ones, get one diameter about 3-4 inches and one diameter 6-8 inches. The first is the "small blast" the second is the "large blast". Some area effect weapons like the missile launcher have 2 figures 18/8 which means roll 18 or less on 1D20 for the target you hit, but roll 8 or less for any other target caught in the blast area (of the same armour). Other area effect weapons like an autocannon use the one single value against all targets under the blast radius (if the same armour value). Flame throwers use the flame thrower template.

Targets partly under a blast template roll a D6. on 4,5,6 they are hit. Targets partly under a flamethrower template are automatically hit.

Max range - The range in inches the weapon can fire to. Realistically these should all be longer, but then a hand gun is effective across most of the battlefield and the game doesn't "feel" right, so you compress the ground scale. Hollywood you fiddle with the facts to fit the illusion!

To hit and penetrate - I used to roll to hit the target and then roll for damage. I have tried to incorporate both into one table. So some weapons have a relatively high figure because they fire rapidly like machine pistols, whilst others have a relatively high figure because they have considerable penetrating power. Fortunately it doesn't all balance out and become boring though, you still get the feel of the weapon. Roll 1D20 and score less than or equal to the figure to damage the target. An unmodified roll of 20 is bad, it means the weapon has jammed or similar. Only roll once per weapon firing, for normal weapons this is fine, for template weapons that hit more than one target you still only get one chance of a 20 to jam the weapon!

The missile launcher is a special case, It has to "Lock on" to it's target to fire. Rolle the L-xx number or less on 1D20 to lock on, big dreadnought suits emitting lots of power are much easier to lock onto than an unarmoured infantryman. If lock on is achieved the missile is fired and damage to target and surrounding targets is resolved normally. note once locked on the missile is very dangerous to heavily armoured targets. Think of it as a future Tow or Milan missile type system, or intelligent RPG. If lock on is not achieved the 2AP's have been spent and the missile is not fired which means no one in the blast radius can be hurt either.

AP's - Most weapons cost 1AP to fire, which means you could move 2D6 and then fire once, or move 1D6 and fire twice etc. Please note that although you are free to use all 3AP's to move, you may not use more than 2AP's to fire weapons.

If a vehicle, war droid, etc carries more than 1 X 2AP weapons then for the expenditure of 2AP's it can fire ALL it's 2AP weapons once if it wishes too.

Ranged to hit modifiers - Make deductions from the number required to hit. So if to hit is 5 and the target is under cover it drops to 3. Note that assuming you started with a chance of hitting the target (i.e. not X) then you always get a hit on a 1.

Characters have the option to move and fire. Movement is at the rate of 1D6 per AP expended, which makes actual distance moved rather randomn. Each D6 you expend on movement causes an additional -1 modifier to your chance to hit. The exception is that if firing from a moving vehicle that has moved for example 3D6 you only deduct -2 not -3 from chance to hit, this is because vehicles are have cushioned suspension etc.

ACTION POINTS
This is the heart of the game. Most characters have 3 AP's and mostly move and shoot. 1 AP buys you 1D6" of movement. roll the dice see how far you can move up to,

A wounded character losses 1 AP from their total each turn until they are patched up with a auto medic. Tyrannid type alien creatures can't be healed and Necrons self heal at the end of the turn. No wounded human can fire or help fire a heavy weapon.

EFFECTS OF HIT
We differentiate between Heroes and common troopers. This is roughly the WH40K equivalent of multi wound characters. If a multi wound character treat as "Hero" otherwise treat as a "common trooper" character. The vast majority of units will be 1 wound characters. To avoid any confusion multi wound is just a term to compare with WH40K rules. In my rules EVERY figure has only "1 WOUND" basically the strongest character in the game if you roll a 6 on the damage table they die.

Duck-Back means the target must spend the rest of this turn cowering behind cover. If currently in the open they may run towards cover but not towards the person who fired at them. The duck back target may not fire any weapons for the remainder of the turn. Or move other than to take cover. If the duck back target has already had their turn then it's only effect is to make them take cover. NB Necrons, Tyrannids and War Droids of all types are not affected by Duck Backs at all. A 2nd wound to a War Droid destroys same as anything else. War Droids can't have their wounds cured by medics etc.

Wounded means a fairly serious wound, character may still move and fire but at a reduced ability, until they have been healed with auto medic. This process takes one entire turn. Please note "Wound" does not mean what it does in WH40K. Dead means dead. Wound means injured but not dead....

WOUND ALLOCATION
Please note that the defending player gets to allocate casualties, which means that if figures take wounds and some were already wounded the defender chooses whether to have more wounded figures or add the wounds to the existing wounded figures and kill them. The exception is that if a "Kill" is scored it has to be given to an unwounded figure if one exists in range. This is to avoid you finishing off wounded characters with all your kills..

SPECIAL SKILLS
To add a bit of RPG skirmish flavour, your heroes may have special skills, these may be pre allocated, bought etc. Please note most common troopers will not have any special skills at all, this is generally for players characters, hardened veteran officers etc. Depending on the scenario you could have a small elite unit and give all of them all the available skills, this would make them Arnie, clint eastwood and Bruce Lee all in one. Normally this would be silly! I suggest a maximum of 1-3 skills for your best characters.

CLOSE COMBAT
If a character enters into hand to hand combat as attacker or as target they use the weapon they were last using, unless either a) they use 1AP to change weapons, or b) they carry a one handed gun and a one handed close combat weapon in which case they can swap from one to the other at no cost. So if your hero was carrying a laser rifle and the equivalent of a light saber, you must decide whether to use your AP's firing the gun and take a gamble because the gun is a bit naff in close combat, or you give up an AP point to change weapons and get the benefit of the force weapon in close combat.

Both parties roll normally for damage etc. It is possible though unlikely that both attacker and defender will inflict a mortal blow against each other. It's a tough universe!

There is no initiative in close combat, everyone rolls simultaneously for damage. Everybody within 2" of an enemy can fight. If you are in base contact you must attack that figure. Otherwise you must attack the closest figure. If more than 1 to choose from the attacker may choose. You may never have more than 3 attackers against a single opponent assuming similar size. Against a walker or vehicle this number is upped to 5.

Note there is a specific close combat weapons table. It includes specific close combat weapons and "Aliens" with slashing claws. It also generically covers normal ranged weapons by their size, with the implication the smaller the better. You may be able to fire a hand gun in close combat, whereas a rifle weapon will only make a club, and a heavy weapon is virtually worthless!

Anti Tank grenades are automatically carried by Veterans, Saergents and officers. They can not be used against any vehicle who travelled faster than 8" in a turn. They can only stick to metallic vehicles, walkers AND Necrons.

If at the end of the close combat the side that suffered most casualties has at least 50% dead or wounded then roll 1D6. on a roll of 1,2,3 they run away 2D6". Any wounded only run away the higher of the 2D6 number of inches. If the unit comprises Tyrannids, Necrons or Human veterans then add +1 to the roll to determine whether they run away, Tau actually deduct 1. On a roll of 4,5,6 they pull back 3" (if feasable) and are immediately followed up by all their attackers, remaining in close combat for the next turn.

MORALE

Morale is not a big thing in a skirmish game. Vehicles ignore it all together. Other units there are no dice rolls, just preset effects at certain casualty levels.

Once a squad has lost at least 50% of it's force wounded or dead it is shaken. If wounded are healed the unit may become unshaken. Shaken squads lose 1AP and can no longer advance towards an enemy. They may still fire. They may also "Regroup" see below.

Once a squad falls below 35% then it must run away. It can not shoot at all. Does get all 3AP's but can only use them to run to safety. Only hope now is to "Regroup". (Necrons phase out at this figure rather than run away, they can't come back or regroup)

REGROUP

2 or more similar squads can regroup into one new squad. This takes one turn. Then they start again from a morale point of view. Take the number of figures in the new combined unit and count it as being a unit 2 larger than this. e.g. 2 X 4 man squads survivors regroup into an 8 man squad. Count it as 8 men left out of a 10 man squad. In this case they start with 20% casualties, so will be forec to stop advancing once they have 3 figures dead or wounded. No squad may ever regroup more than once, having moral broken twice is enough for anyone. Funnily enough these morale rules and regroup rules work for Tyrannids as well.

The only difference is that if human squads are regrouping there must be one saergent or officer present, this isn't neccessary for Tyrannid.

Necrons ignore the 50% rule altogether. If their force falls to below 35% of initial squad strength they phase out and do not return during this game. Necrons can't regroup.

UNIT COHESION

All squads must try to keep their men (aliens) within 2" of each other. Only exceptions are
a) Wounded who are allowed to drop behind, but must catch up if they are healed
b) Human 2 man heavy weapons teams. who can be detached in which case they may not move until the squad rejoins them. They are also effectively easier to shoot because the fire must go against them, whereas normally the defending player gets to decide where ranged combat hits are allocatted.
c) Necron destroyers or other bike type units are allowed to operate 4" apart
d) In complex city terrain individual figures may have to be placed slightly more than 2" apart.

For morale purposes wounded still count as part of the squad. Detached heavy weapons do not. You count the squad as never containing those men (until they rejoin).

When allocatting casualties in ranged combat, the defender decides which target is hit. This is to avoid the attacker picking on the best weapons. Exceptions are that you may only select a target which is part of the same unit and within range. If there is an "Officer" or other "Hero" character present alongside common troopers roll 1D6 for each attack, on a roll of 6 the attack goes against the Hero character otherwise one or more of the common troopers. e.g. 6 Necrons fire 2AP's into a squad of human troopers lead by a "Hero" veteran saergant. Roll 12D6 and score 1,2,2,3,3,3,4,5,5,6,6,6 Three of the shots have been directed at the saergent and 9 at his men. Now roll D20's for each of these attacks to determine whether they are hits or not..

NECRON SPECIAL RULES
At the end of each full turn any Necrons that are "wounded" self heal. If 2 wounds are suffered in one turn the Necron is destroyed as normal. Any Necrons that were destroyed the previous turn Roll a D6 to repair and rebuild themselves, at the very beginning of a turn, whether it was a straight kill, or the result of 2 wounds. On a roll of "5,6" they stand back up and continue uninjured. If they are within 12" of a Tomb Spider or a Necron Lord then then they can get back up on a roll of 4,5,6. If they fail their roll then they are destroyed for ever. Exception to this recovery is any Necron destroyed on a roll of 1 on a D20. This was a catastrophic hit that completely destroys the Necron with no chance of repairing itself.

A Necron Lord and 1 squad within 6" of him can teleport to any part of the battlefield. Roll 2D6 and a scatter dice for direction and distance deviate from intended target. If go off the board then Roll again next turn to try and bring them on then.

This teleporting takes 1AP of the Necrons movement allowance, and 2AP's of the Necron Lords allowance.

The Necron Lord's Staff is a special close combat weapon, allows teleportation and enhances the Necrons ability to repair themselves, it also counts as a std Necron rifle for ranged combat.

Necrons never take any notice of Duck back rolls.

Necron Scarab swarms move 3D6 each turn, they have no ranged combat. In close combat although they have a low capability, every scarab fights, so a swarm gets 4 attacks. . For wounds they count as a "Hero" unit which makes them hard to kill, but a kill is a kill, and all 4 scarabs are lost. 2 wounds in one turn destroy the scarab swarm. If a swarm is hit by any area effect weapon it takes two hits not one. their armour counts as "Storm Trooper 4+" they have no repair roll that normal Necrons have and they do phase out like other Necrons if reduced below 35% strength

TYRANNID SPECIAL RULES

Although count small arms as machine pistols. 1AP to fire and 12 inch range. Count the Tyrannid XXXXX as a flame thrower template weapon same as Human flamer. Personally I don't like using "Aliens" with Guns but that's how the figures are sold.

A Tyrannid Gaunt with claws only, gets 2 attacks in hand to hand combat. A Gaunt with small arms still fights as with claws but gets only one attack. A gaunt with the XXXXX fights as a human with heavy weapons, i.e. very badly!

HUMAN SPECIAL RULES

Chimeras or most other APC's can carry 12 human sized passengers. Disembarking from an APC costs 2AP's for the passenger, they may disembark upto 1D6" from the vehicle, and then normally have 1AP left to move again or fire. They may not use this last AP to launch a close assault on the turn they disembark from an APC. The APC may only have moved upto a maximum speed of 2D6" for the passengers to have been able to disembark. Any faster and it is going too fast.

Sentinel or simillar walkers carry ranged weapons they can fire. In addition they are deadly against infantry in close combat. They get 2 attacks in close combat and on a roll of 10 or less on 1D20 squash any human sized target including Tyrannids, Necrons and human war droids. They can not engage tanks and APC's in close combat. (The Necrons do get to roll for recovery the next turn.

APC's and Tanks can not do close assaults of any sort whatsoever. They can not fire at any infantry sized target within 4" of them with any of their weapons. Sentinels can fire at close targets.

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