Monday, September 14, 2009

Warhammer Fantasy Map Campaign Rules

Here are some rules I've come up with for playing Warhammer Fantasy map based campaigns using the Mighty Empires map tiles and accessories. I'm trying them out right now with my gaming group in a multi-player campaign, and they seem to work well so far. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions for improvements.


Set Up
Set up a randomly generated hex map to represent the region being fought over. Each allied force gets one side of the map opposite the other force. Each player selects a single hex that is one hex away from his edge. This is where his Fortress is. There will have to be markers made for each player that can be placed on hexes to show that he controls them. To start with, these markers are placed on the fortress hex that the player starts on. As players capture or lose castles, cities, and towns, markers will be placed on or removed from the map hexes containing them.

Each player starts with the same number of Armies, usually three. They will all represent a Warhammer army of an agreed upon points value, usually 2000. Armies are represented by a flag of a different color for each player. Each player places his armies on his Fortress hex or within one hex of it. Two armies of the same side can never occupy the same hex.

Each player will be allowed only one lord level character in the campaign, representing the commander of his army. This Lord choice is essentially a special character, and he will not change from game to game. If he is used in a battle, he must be taken with exactly the same magic items, mount, etc. Each player will need a token to represent which of his armies the Lord is currently with. It can start with any of his armies, and during a player’s movement phase, he can move his Lord to any of his armies. Otherwise, the character moves along with the army he is with. If the army the Lord is in gets into a battle, the player may choose to use the Lord character in the game if he wishes. If the character is used, points are paid for him as normal, and he uses up a character slot. If the character is with an army that gets completely Massacred, the character is captured or killed and can no longer be used in the campaign. If the character is killed in a battle in a challenge, then the character is killed and can no longer be used.

Features such as towns and villages are placed randomly on the map.

Turn Phases
If there are multiple players on each side of the war, all players on the same side take their turn at the same time. Each turn is broken into the following phases:


  1. Move Armies

  2. Fight Battles

  3. Battle Results


Move Armies
Armies are allowed to move a maximum of D3 hexes during their turn. They subtract one from the roll if they start their move adjacent to a hex with an unbroken enemy army, to a minimum of 1. Each army is rolled for and moved one at a time, so you will not know how far the rest of your armies will be able to move. You can not move through a hex with an enemy army in it or an enemy controlled settlement. You may pass through a hex with a friendly army in it, but may not end your move in the same hex as a friendly army. You may end your move in a settlement (Town, Village, City, or Fortress) controlled by an allied player, provided there is not another army already there.

An enemy controlled settlement without an enemy army in the hex can be captured by an army ending its move on the hex. Mark that the capturing player now controls the settlement. Enemy controlled locations that have an enemy army on them can be captured, but in order to do so the attacker must first win the battle with the enemy army. An army can move into a hex that an enemy army is occupying, in which case it must halt there even if it has more movement. The two armies will do battle.

Fight Battles
After movement is complete, a Warhammer battle will be fought anywhere there are armies from both sides occupying the same hex on the map. Each player selects an army up to the points value agreed upon for the armies.

The two players proceed to fight the Warhammer battle with their selected armies. The attacker is the player whose turn it is. The defending player deploys a unit first in the game and the attacking player gets the first turn. Roll off for choice of deployment zones as normal. At the end of the game calculate victory points to determine the results.

Instead of always fighting a pitched battle, you can determine the scenario you fight by rolling on the following chart:

1-3: Pitched Battle
4: Supremacy
5: Flank Attack
6: Last Stand

If a Pitched Battle is being played, both players randomly select a special objective and reveal it to the other player. (Note it is possible to get a blank special objective, which means you have no special objective for the battle). For either side, completing the objective gives that player bonus victory points equal to 10% of the size of the game. So for 2000 point games, it would grant 200 bonus victory points.

As an alternative, instead of fighting a Warhammer battle, the result of the battle can be determined by dice rolling as follows. Each player rolls a die. A player subtracts one if his army suffered a minor defeat in the last turn, or two if the player’s army is broken as a result of a major defeat. Subtract one if attacking an enemy on a special location. The results are compared, and if one player gets a higher result than the other, the difference determines the level of his victory according to the following chart:

Difference: Result
0-1: Draw
2: Minor Victory
3: Major Victory
4-5: Massacre


Battle Results
Draw
If the result of the battle is a draw, the attacking army is moved back one hex to the hex it came from.

Minor Victory
If the result of the battle is a minor victory, the loser moves back 1 hex. If the attacker lost, he must move back in the direction he came from or one of the two adjacent directions from the hex where the battle was fought. If the defender lost, he must move in the direction opposite the one the attacker came from, or one of the two directions adjacent to that one. A losing army is not allowed to retreat into an enemy controlled settlement. In addition, the losing army is shaken. This means that for one full turn, the army suffers the following effects in any battles it fights: his opponent is allowed to choose a deployment zone, he must begin deploying first, and his opponent may choose whether to go first or second.

Major Victory
If the result of the battle is a major victory, the loser moves back 1 hex as described in the Minor Victory section above. In addition, the losing army is now considered broken until it can rally. A broken army cannot attack another army, and if it is attacked it suffers the following effects in the battle: the army gets 10% fewer points, the opponent is allowed to choose deployment zone, the entire army must be deployed first before the opponent’s army being deployed, and the opponent can choose to go first or second. Broken armies can rally by ending their regular move (not retreat move) on a hex with a friendly settlement. Once they do this, the army returns to normal.

Massacre
If the result of the battle is a massacre, the losing army is removed from the game permanently. The winning army stays where it is. If this happens to an army containing the player’s Lord character, the character is captured and takes no further part in the campaign.

Surrounded
In the case of a Minor or Major victory when the losing army is compelled to make a retreat move, cases may occur where it is impossible for the army to make the required move, due to enemy armies or the edge of the map or mountains blocking all the possible destinations. If this happens, the army is trapped, and is wiped out as if the result of the battle was a Massacre. If the army is blocked by a friendly army, they may move one extra hex through them if possible and if there is no other possible place to move.

Ending the Game
The game is played until one side has no armies remaining, or one side has lost all their fortresses. The other side is the victor.

Special Locations
Towns, villages, hills, bridges, and other features of the landscape can be used by a clever general to gain tactical advantages over his opponent. The following are some special locations that may be placed on the hex map. Special locations grant certain benefits to armies on or near them. Unless otherwise specified, benefits of special locations apply to an army occupying the hex the terrain feature is on. If a battle takes place on a hex with a special location, unless otherwise specified the benefit applies to the defender. In cases where the player is allowed to place terrain, it is placed after all normal terrain has been set up for the game, and deployment zones have been chosen.

Village: Defender can place up to 12” of linear obstacle in his deployment zone. He gains +50 bonus victory points for each of his starting table quarters that he controls at the end of the game. An army that starts its turn on a Village, it gets +1 movement.

Town: Defender can place up to 18” of linear obstacle and one building (up to 2 stories) OR one special terrain feature in his deployment zone. He gains +100 bonus victory points for each of his starting table quarters that he controls at the end of the game. An army that starts its turn on a Town, it gets +1 movement.

City: Defender can place up to 24” of linear obstacle and up to two buildings (up to 3 stories) OR one such building and one special terrain feature in his deployment zone. He gains +150 bonus victory points for each of his starting table quarters that he controls at the end of the game. An army that starts its turn within 1 hex of a friendly controlled City gets +1 movement.

Fortress: Play a siege game. The defender gets 75% of the point value of the attacker. Both armies get 25% of the point value of the attacker to spend on siege equipment. If the attacker wins, it counts as a massacre. If the defender wins, it counts as a minor victory. An army that starts its turn within 1 hex of a friendly controlled Fortress gets +1 movement.

Hill: Defender can place a hill of any size in his deployment zone. The attacker is not allowed to place any hills in his own deployment zone. The Defender adds +1 to his roll to determine deployment zones, and +1 to his roll to determine who goes first.

Bridge: It is difficult to attack and retreat across a narrow bridge. If the attacker loses a battle on a hex with a bridge, the loss is counted as one level more severe. So a minor victory for the defender becomes a major victory, a major victory becomes a massacre.

River: Fighting in the area of a river with no bridge makes it hard to escape if an army gets surrounded. Both armies fighting a battle in a river hex gain double victory points for controlling table quarters. If there is a bridge in the hex, use the rules for a Bridge location instead.

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