BATTLECHEST

Chapter1:BuildinganArmy

Introduction
Toconstructanarmy,firstdecidewhichracetoplay.Therearemany,eachwithunique
abilities,weaknesses,andstrengths.Eachalsohasitsowncomplementofmagicitemswith
whichtoboostyourforcesgeneraleffectiveness.Allunits,regardlessofrace,costpointsto
includeinanarmy.Thesizeofanarmycanbedescribedbyhowmanypointsitincludes.
Concordantly,aonethousandpointarmysimplyconsistsofunitsandequipmenttotaling
1,000orfewerpoints.

Intheraceguides,whichlistalltheunitsavailableinagivenrace,theunitsarelistedbyname,
anumberinparenthesis,andthenaanothersetofnumbersinparenthesis.Thefirstnumberis
pointcostoftheunit.Thesecondvalueistheunitsbasesize(seeChapter4:Combatformore
information).

Howbigyourarmyisdependsonthegameyouwanttoplay.

Buildanarmyof1,000pointsforquickskirmishes.
Buildanarmyof3,000pointsforlengthybattles.
Buildanarmyof5,000pointsforepicwars.

Ofcourse,experimentwithdifferentsizearmiesandfigureoutwhatsizeisbestforthegame
youwanttoplay.

CoreUnits
Coreunitsrepresentsimpleinfantry.Thesearebuildingblockunits.Withoutthem,there
wouldbenoforcetolead.Theyarejustasimportant,ifnotmore,thanthelargerunits.

AdvancedUnits
Advancedunitsarebigger,moreexpensive,andmorepowerfulthancoreunits.Ingeneral,
fora3,000pointbattle,threetofiveadvancedunitsshouldbeexpected.

HeroUnits
Herounitsareunique.Theytendtobeexpensivebutextremelypowerful.Typically,hero
unitsaretheleadersoftheirraces.Anarmycannothavemorethanoneofaherounit,
because,aswasmentioned,theyareunique.Notethatanarmycancontainmorethanone
hero,justnotduplicatesofthesameone.

MagicItems
Magicitemsamplifythepowerofyourherounits.Theycanonlybeequippedonherounits.
Commonly,theyhavealimiteduse(seeChapter2,KeepingTrack,formoreinformation).

Chapter2:KeepingTrack

Introduction
Amoderateamountofmicromanagementisnecessarytomaintainthestatusofyourforces.
Therecordsheetsaidgreatlyinthistask.Belowisablockfromtherecordsheet.

A.UNITNAME
B.IDENTIFIER

C.HIT

H.MOVE
POINTS(HP)
MOVE
OOOOOO

OOOOOO
SAVE

I.SAVE
OOOOOO
D.ATTACK
COMBAT

OOOOOO
RANGE

OOOOOO
J.COMBAT
RADIUS
E. DEFENSE

MAGIC

K.RANGE

F. DESCRIPTION OF

MAGIC AND OTHER

OOOOOO OOOOOO
L.RADIUS

ABILITIES
OOOOOO OOOOOO

G. SPELLS AND
MAGIC ITEMS

Thisblockisusedtorepresentoneunitmodel.So,ifyourarmyconsistsoftenunits(skirmish
size),youwillneedtworecordsheets,asthereonlynineoftheseblockspersheet.

A.UNITNAMESimplywritedownwhattheunitis.
B.IDENTIFIERSinceyoullmorethanlikelyhavemorethanoneofthesametypeofunit
(coreunitsespecially),youllneedawaytoknowwhichmodeltheblockisreferringto.
Dependingonhowmanymodelsofthesametypeyouhave,takeadie.Forexample,ifyou
havefiveofthesametype,useasixsideddie.Placeadieonthebaseofeachofthemodels,
puttingadifferentnumberfaceupforeachone.Writethisnumberintheidentifierboxonthe
recordsheetblock.Inthisway,itiseasytoknowwhichblockcorrespondstowhichmodel.
Thesedicewillremainhereforthedurationofthegame.
C.HITPOINTS(HP)Aunitshealthismeasuredinhitpoints,orHPforshort.Thereare
thirtyticksavailable,asnounitshouldeverhaveabovethirtyHP;itwouldbetoodifficultto
kill.Theseticksareusedtokeeptrackofhowmanyhitstheunithastaken.Fornow,black
outalltheticksyouwillnotneed,startingfromthebottomup.Forexample,ifaunithas10
HP,blackoutthebottomthreerowsbeforethegameevenstarts.Whenallthedotsbecome
black,theunitisindiretrouble(seeChapter4:Combatformoreinformation).

D.ATTACKThisvaluerepresentstheunitsoffensivepowerincombat.Itwillalwaysbein
theformatXdY,whereYisthesizedieandXisthenumbertobethrown.Forexample,3d8
meanstorollthreeeightsideddice.
E.DEFENSEThisvaluerepresentstheunitsdefensivepowerincombat.Itwillalsobein
theXdYformat.
F.DESCRIPTIONOFMAGICANDOTHERABILITIESThisspaceistobeusedtojotdown
importantnotesaboutaunitsmagicpowers(ifany),specialabilities(ifany),ormagicitems
(ifequipped).
G.SPELLSANDMAGICITEMSThesetwochartsareusedtokeeptrackofaunitsabilities
iftheyarelimited.Inthespace,writethenameoftheunitsspell,ability,ormagicitem,then
blackouttheticksasnecessary,justaswasdonewithHP.Forexample,ifamagicitemhad
onlyfourusesperbattle,blackoutthebottomrowandthelasttwodotsofthefirstrow.
H.MOVEThisnumberrepresentstheunitsabilitytomaneuver(seeChapter3:TheTurnfor
moreinformation).
I.SAVEThispercentagerepresentstheunitsabilitytoresisttrauma(seeChapter4:Combat
formoreinformation).
J.COMBATThisentryclassifiestheunitscombattype,whichwillbeMelee,Ranged,or
Magic(seeChapter4:Combatformoreinformation).
K.RANGEIfCombatisRanged,thenaRangewillbelisted.Thisisthemaximumdistance
atwhichtheunitcanattack(seeChapter4:Combatformoreinformation).
L.RADIUSIfaunithasanattackthathasablastradius,therewillbeanumberhere(see
Chapter4:Combatformoreinformation).

Therecordsheetisdynamicthroughoutthegame;usepencil.Therecordsheetisimportant
becauseitmeansthatthegamecanprogresssmoothly;thereisnoneedtoconstantlylook
figuresupintherulebook.

Important
Oncethegamebegins,therecordsheetsarepublicknowledge.

Chapter3:TheTurn

Introduction
Eachplayersturnconsistssimplyofthreephases:move,action,andmoveagain.

Move
Unitsmaymovetheirfulldistanceinaturn.Alldistanceinthegameisreferredtoininches,
soaMoveof6meansthattheunitcanmovesixinchesinanydirectiononaturn.Ifaunit
usesallofitsMovepoints(orinotherwords,movesitsMovescore),itcannotparticipatein
theActionstageoftheturn.IfaunitistomoveandparticipateintheActionstage,itcanonly
movehalfofitsMovescore,roundedup.Therefore,aunitwithaMoveof11whowishesto
moveandattackthisturncanonlymoveuptosixinchesbeforeattacking.

Action
DuringtheActionstage,unitscantakeaction.Theycantakeoneaction.Thismeansthata
unitcanattack,useaspecialability,magic,oramagicitem,butonlyoneoftheseoptions.So
ifaherounithasamagicitemequipped,theunitcannotattackandthenusetheitem(orvice
verse,forthatmatter).

MoveAgain
IfaunithasanyMovepointsleft,theycanbeusednow.Forexample,ifthepreviously
mentionedunit(Move11)movedonlyfourinchesbeforeattacking,itcannowmovetwomore
inchesifdesired.

Important
ThereisonlyoneActionstageperturn.Onceaunitattacksortakesanyotheraction,any
otherunitstakingactionthisturnmustdoitnowbeforeanyunitcanmoveagain.

Chapter4:Combat

Introduction
Combatiswhatmakesthegamemove;itisthegoalofeachplayertoeliminatetheothers.

MeleeRange
InorderforaunittoengageinMeleecombatoruseanitemorabilitythatrequiresmelee
range,thatunitsbasemustbewithinoneinchofthetargetsbase.

RangedAttacksandEffects
InorderforaunittoengageinRangedcombatoruseanitemorabilitythathasaRange,that
unitmustbewithinrangeofitstarget.Measuretheshortestdistancebetweenthetwounits
bases,asmostofthetimetheunitswillnotbeturnedthesameway.

MagicAsaCombatType
IfaunithasMagicforitsCombatlisting,itmayormaynotbeMeleeorRanged.Todetermine
this,simplylookattheunitsRangescore.IfitsaysN/A,thentheunitsattackmustbewithin
meleerange.Ifthereisanumber,thentheattackcanoccuratrange,buttheattackremainsof
thetypeMagic,anddoesnotcountasaRangedtypeattack.

RollingitOut
Combatissimple,andeasiestlearnedthroughexample.

UnitAhasanAttackof1d8.UnitBhasaDefenseof1d6.UnitAattacksunitB.

AttackersRoll(A)
=1d8
DefendersRoll(D)
=1d6

D>Ax3

UnitAloses1HPautomatically
Nothinghappens
D>A

A>D

UnitBlosesaHP
A>Dx2

UnitBlosestwoHP
A>Dx3

UnitBlosesthreeHP
etc

So,ifUnitArollsa6andUnitBrollsa1,UnitBloses6HP,whichisanextremelysubstantial
hit.

TheSaveRoll
EveryunithasaSavepercentage.Thisrepresentstherandomnesspresentinbattle.Ifaunit
goesbelow1HP,itdoesnotautomaticallydie.Thedefendingplayerrollspercentagedice.If
thediceresultlowerthantheunitsSave,thentheunitsurvivesandissetto1HP.

GroupAttacks
Multipleunitscangangupandattackasingleunitsimultaneously.Todothis,theattacking
unitsaddtheirAttackrollstogetherandtreatitastheAttackingRoll.Thismakesitmuch
moredifficultforthedefendingunittodefendadequatelyandisausefultacticinusingsmall
unitstobringdownbiggerones.

MagicitemsandspecialabilitiescannotbeusedinaGroupAttack.TheGroupAttackmust
consistonlyofstandardattacks.

IfunitparticipatesinaGroupAttack,itcannotmoveduringtheturn.Ifitalreadymovedin
thefirstMovestage,itcannottakepartinaGroupAttackinthesameturn.

Notethatthereisnosuchthingasgroupblocking.