Aliens Supplement 1.2 Rules, V1.2

BEAMSTRIKE 15mm Miniatures Sci-Fi Wargame Neil Cooper 2008

ALIEN RACES ALIEN RACES GAME SUPPLEMENT

For 1.2 Core rules. 1

ALIENS INTRODUCTION Aliens, the stuff of Science fiction since the dawn of Sci-Fi books and movies. Red, green, multi limbed, Aliens can provide both colour and excitement on the Sci-Fi battlefield dominated by Human forces. Although Alien forces may be used in Beamstrike, they should not just be used as different looking Humans. Where Alien races are introduced, assuming a selection of suitable miniatures can be sourced, new rules governing their tactical strategies, special weapons, troop formations, new vehicles etc. should be outlined and agreed by both players before the game starts. Where Alien forces are much more advanced/ stronger than human equivalents, balance this with either a high points value per trooper, or disadvantages applied in some areas. What follow are a selection of generic Alien races which can be introduced and ‘pick and mixed’ as wished. A brief description of the Alien history, motivations and tactics, troop types are given, along with details of their use in the Beamstrike game along with points values. Enough detail for simple games is provided, but feel free to expand on these ‘outlines’ and feedback extra troop types/ rules/ army lists to the Beamstrike yahoo group. All the Alien races presented in this booklet are available as 15mm miniature ranges from a wide variety of manufacturers across the UK and USA. Where different troop types exist in the figure range, the rules give statistic and game data for the different types available. If there is enough interest, there will be another Alien races supplement in the near future.

USING ALIEN FORCES The Beamstrike Aliens below may be fielded as complete Armies, where the Beamstrike timeline ‘Era’ allows. Otherwise they are used as a detached group of mercenaries, fielded with more conventional Human forces, or as ‘one off’ type first contact battles. Attached Alien units within an army must obey morale rules for that army, unless stated otherwise. Aliens may be classed as heroes, unless the specific rules for the race forbid this. Note where alien races are fielded, special rules for the race MUST be followed.

ALIEN RACE Hibevor Growwlan Thuntra Centaling Ferrapur Replican Spug Grey Bug K’Kree Kra’vak Ghoulani Goblinoids/Orks Phugs

Is use allowed in game ‘Era’ ? Segregation Era R N N N N N N R N N N N N N

Imperial Era Y R R R R R Y R Y R Y Y Y Y

10,000 Year War Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Borrowed Time Era

R R R R R N R R Y R Y Y Y Y

1d100 Random* 1-10 11-20 21-23 24-25 26-27 28-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-72 73-80 81-83 84-90 91+

N= No, Alien race may not be used in this era, as Contact between Humans and the Alien race had not yet taken place, race not available normally unless special circumstance/ scenario. Y= Yes, unrestricted use, large forces can be fielded. R= Restricted. Small attached mercenary forces, or exploratory scout units only, total points value of attached aliens should be below 30% of the total army points value. * 1d100 dice roll if random Alien race needed.

CREDITS AND THANKS Written and illustrated by Neil Cooper.Photos by Neil Cooper unless otherwise credited, various manufacturers miniatures shown, miniatures are the copyright of the manufacturer. Rules in this supplement were originally based on work by Francisco LLerandi Grossebohle and Paul Gallagher for the Imperial Commander game by Tabletop Games. Original background information by Don Clarke and Neil Cooper. Where others have been involved or have provided inspiration, they are credited at the start of each Alien race section. Some illustrations the work of others, credited where they appear.

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THE HIBEVOR INTRODUCTION Arguably the most technologically advanced of the major Alien races (although the Greys are not far behind) Hibevors are physically weak. They stand 5 to 6 foot tall, and are of slim build. They say little, and see much. They have a lack of emotional intelligence to human observers. They know their limitations, and therefore avoid hand-to-hand combat. For this reason their weaponry tends towards a long-range nature, and they maximise the protection of cover. Hibevor reluctance to engage at close quarters led to the rumour amongst human troops that the Hibevors were cowards. However, the 5th Imperial Guard division discovered the truth to their cost when a modest Hibevor battlegroup annihilated them in the Battle of Usk-Antares in the Ten Thousand Year War. Hibevor may use any weapons and equipment from any other race, adapted for their own use. (except Ferrapur sniper cannon) but pay an additional 1 point for each item. A favourite Hibevor heavy weapon is an advanced ‘sun’ weapon, the power sphere projector, firing a ‘mini sun’ globe of burning superheated plasma and capable of taking out tanks and infantry units with ease, even at range. The Hibevor have an almost symbiotic relationship with the Growwlan during wartime, each complimenting the abilities of the other, the Hibevor provide the technology and new weapons and the Growwlan reciprocate with brute force, courage and close combat ability. Whenever an army of either Growwlan or Hibevor is used, you must have at least one squad of the other Alien type present. Hibevor armies are not easy to play, as they have many disadvantages on the battlefield (see special rules below), and will suit players who have a good understanding of the rules and like to fight from a distance!

HIBEVOR TROOP TYPES HIBEVOR LIGHT INFANTRY (LIGHT ARMOURED, REGULAR INFANTRYVOR) Light armour class, but move as Fast infantry. Fielded in squads of 6-10. Usually one of the squad has leadership skill. HIBEVOR POWER ARMOURED INFANTRY (ASSAULT DREADNOUGHT,VETERAN ARMOURED TROOP-VOR) Hibevor power armour is equivalent to dreadnought armour for damage purposes, but troop movement is as if wearing power armour. May act independently. HIBEVOR SPECIAL RULES: • Hibevor troops may not choose hand to hand combat weapons unless Veteran troop class or above. • Hibevor troops MAY NOT be classed as heroes. • Before a Hibevor squad can advance towards an enemy a score of 2 or less is required on 1d6, unless there is a leader in the squad (in which case they may move as the player wishes). A roll is needed each own move phase. • If the opportunity to take cover occurs when advancing then a passed troop roll is required for them not to take advantage of such cover. Roll each time a new set of cover is within the current move distance of the squad- only one roll per move phase is required, regardless of how many pieces of cover present themselves!. This special rule does not apply if troops are in Power Armour or a vehicle or a leader is present in the squad. • Hibevors use jet-packs and personal shields, in fact shields are common-place. • Hibevors may use weapons from any other race, but pay an additional 1 point for each item which represents costs of adaptation to their own specifications. • Due to enhanced communications between troops, Hibevor squads have a coherency range of 4 inches instead of 3. • Hibevor troops have a penalty of -1 on suppression rolls. • If using Hibevor troops , AT LEAST one squad of Growwlan must also be fielded.

THE GROWWLAN Standing around seven and a half feet tall, the Growwlan (singular and plural) are a proud and fierce race, but not mindlessly aggressive. A sense of humour is a rare thing in a Growwlan. Growwlan society is based on the warrior clan, and great importance is attached to personal acts of bravery. Single combat is the preference of the Growwlan, close combat on the battlefield coming a close second, and sniping is considered a disgrace. Growwlan usually settle clan grudges, feuds, and disputes with duelling lasers; these are effectively laser pistols with a singleshot setting irreversible within 1 hour of activation to avoid ‘mistakes’ in the ritual of the duel. There are many legends and superstitions that govern Growwlan behaviour. These are related to little known traumatic times in Growwlan history. A favoured mount for a Growwlan is the fearsome armoured ‘Wrok’; looking like a huge, relative of the Dodo, this animal follows its rider’s orders without question.

TROOP TYPES Growwlan Armoured Infantry Power armoured equivalent veteran trooper armed with shock rifle, power sword and shock grenade pack.

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Growwlan Infantry chief Power armoured equivalent veteran leader troop, leadership skill. Armed with Shock pistol, shock grenade pack, and power sword. Growwlan ‘Wrok’ Warbird. Assault Dreadnought armoured equivalent animal, glancing hit results ignored. May carry up to 2 Grrowwlan infantry at once. If the model is selected as a target, roll 1d6 to see what is hit. If one rider 1-4= warbird hit, 5,6 rider hit. If 2 riders present, 1-2 warbird, 3-4 rider1 5,6 rider 2 hit. Warbird may have a harnessed forward firing squad support weapon attached to it, any weapon from the Infantry and squad support weapons can be mounted. Arc of fire is the same as any vehicle mounted forward firing gun (template 3 used for arc angle). The rider may fire BOTH the forward mounted gun and any personal weapon from the warbird. GROWWLAN SPECIAL RULES: • Growwlan units must pass a troop roll not to advance in the direction of the enemy if not in view of a unit chief. Unit commanders lower the required score by 1. Roll once at the start of each own move phase. • Growwlan units must pass a troop roll to hide in/ behind cover if not in view of a unit chief. Unit commanders lower the required score by 1. • Growwlan usually only use lasers for duelling. They may not be armed with any other laser weapon except a laser pistol. • Growwlan may not target leaders or medics except in close or hand-to-hand combat. • Growwlan see any aide to ranged combat as dishonourable, so do not use targeters. • Growwlan night vision is excellent, so they do not have night time hit penalties. • Growwlan do not use jet-packs – they like their feet on the ground. • Growwlan troops treat ‘Glancing Hit’ results as ‘no effect’. • Sniper troop skill may NOT be used. • If using Growwlan troops , AT LEAST one squad of Hibevor must also be fielded.

THE THUNTRA Thuntra are huge, 12 foot tall reptilian creatures. They are slow-witted, and originate from a low technology society. They were taught to use high-tech equipment when used as a servitor race by the Ferrapurs in the Ten Thousand Year War. They bore the brunt of the losses of the Ferrapur defeats. Centuries later, when the truth of how they had been used as slaves and cannon-fodder by the Ferrapurs finally filtered through the armoured skulls of their leaders, they swore eternal hatred of the Ferrapur. Despite their mental frailties, they nevertheless make fearsome opponents. Thuntra are very single minded, and they have a powerful instinct to follow a job or mission through to the very end.

TROOP TYPES TYPES THUNTRA Armoured Infantry Power armoured equivalent regular trooper. Arranged into fighting groups of 1-10 troops, one of which must have leadership skill. Carry heavy bolt pistol and heavy advanced grenade pack, but any human squad support weapon may be used, with an additional points cost of 2 to allow for weapon modifications to suit them to the Thuntra (If other weapons are used, adjust points cost accordingly) Also carry a heavy power axe, a huge energy melee weapon. THUNTRA SPECIAL RULES: • Thuntras must lose three-quarters of their number before they become shaken. • Thuntras may not have a higher than ‘regular’ troop class. • Thuntras are never affected by “Glancing Hit” results, treat as ‘no effect’. • Thuntras are fearsome creatures in Hand to Hand combat, and Human troops wishing to engage a Thuntra in such battles must first succeed a troop roll, or must choose a different close combat option. • Thuntras are easy to hit (+2 bonus to hit number), but when hit are hard to kill (-1 to damage table roll). • Thuntras do not use jet-packs. • Thuntras may only fight alongside Ferrapurs in battles set prior to the end of the Ten Thousand Years War. • Thuntras may use the Mecha special movement types ‘STOMP’ and ‘OVERTURN’, and are classed as hull class 3 for this purpose only.

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THE CENTALING Centalings are seven or eight feet tall, and have a humanoid head and arms on the body of a four-legged creature similar to a farancient Earth horse. They are excellent scouts due to their speed and agility. They are easily swayed by money, so many Centalings end up fighting as mercenary scouts, though they are very independent, and don’t take well to others trying to lead them. Commanders in the field just accept that they are difficult to control. From a human point of view they can be temperamental, unapproachable, and often sadistic. There is no such thing as a Centaling family unit, and their mating habits are brutal to human eyes. They have a reputation for mistreating prisoners. Little is understood about Centaling culture or motivation.

TROOP TYPES CENTALING independent Mercenary. Light armoured equivalent elite troop. May be armed with any infantry/ support weapons from the human charts, SPUG charts or any advanced laser/ grenade pack. Each individual has ‘scout’ skill and ‘ sapper’ skill. Act independently. CENTALING SPECIAL RULES: • A Centaling in hand-to-hand combat gets two throws of the dice, once with all bonuses due to any hand held melee weapons, and another at a modifier of +0 to represent fighting with its forelegs. • Centalings do not use jet-packs. • Centalings fight independently, have no leaders, and derive no benefits from leaders of other races, but can be rallied by leaders of other races if fighting as mercenaries. Once rallied they fight independently again – one can assume the leader bribed the Centaling to stay and fight. • There is no Centaling army. They are too fiercely independent and lacking in teamwork skills. NO more than 10% of any army will be Centaling. • To kill a centaling you need to score 2 ‘kill’ damage hits, this is because all internal vital organs are duplicated in the centaling body. Keep track of each ‘kill’ scored.

THE FERRAPUR Ferrapurs are eight foot tall and look like the big cats of far-ancient Earth, only they walk as bipeds. To human eyes they are preening, arrogant, boorish, and vain. Weapon technologies developed by the Ferrapur include advanced power-lasers, which fire charged particles along the length of the laser ‘designator’. These give much higher damage values than standard lasers, while keeping the excellent reliability and range of this weapon class. The Ferrapur are stealth specialists despite their large size; their fur, clothing, and armour has inbuilt chameleon qualities. Their snipers are much feared, and infamous throughout the Four Galaxies. Ferrapurs excel in hand to hand combat and many of their leaders are deadly in melees.

TROOP TYPES FERRAPUR Armoured Infantry Light armoured infantry, advanced laser rifle, advanced grenade pack, veteran troop class. Fielded in units of 3-6 individuals. Have hero skill of ‘gun skill’ (with advanced laser rifle), giving +3 bonus to hit. FERRAPUR Marksman Light armoured infantry, Elite level sniper, this is the only troop class allowed to use the Ferrapur advanced snipercannon (See alien weapons). Also has stealth cloak, advanced laser pistol for close range work, laser painter device. May act independently. FERRAPUR commander Power armoured Hero level troop with leadership, swordsman, and Martial arts skills. FERRAPUR SPECIAL RULES: • May only use advanced weapons and the Ferrapur sniper cannon. • All ferrapurs have scout ability (affects concealement range etc) • Ferrapur do not use jet-packs. • Ferrapurs may only fight alongside Thuntras in battles set prior to the end of the Ten Thousand Years War. • Stealth cloaks often used.

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THE REPLICAN INTRODUCTION Many advanced civilisations eventually design and build artificially intelligent mechanisms during their history, to do things the biological entities themselves cannot. Machines performing simple tasks under the control of a computer (Robots) are usually the first step, following this are constructs with positronic brains capable of ‘thinking’ outside of their original programming (Androids). There are examples throughout the known universe of Androids so advanced they surpass the ‘creator’ race in capability. The race name ‘Replican’ is really a misnomer. It is a term used by Humans to collectively name many now- independent races of machines. Several super- intelligent ‘droids went to far corners of the universe after the Great Droid War, The Hibevor created, then lost control of, another group of Androids. There are also Replican races, whose origins are unknown, and who generally keep themselves to themselves. The term ‘Replican’ originated on far Earth, home-world of the human race. Some of the first Androids were called ‘ Replicants’, as they perfectly Mimicked the Rich, powerful, Human they were created to replace as a ‘double’ for dangerous public events. Although myriad in nature, most Replican races have several features in common: • Central processing core (CPC)- The central brain or leader of the race, this may take the form of a mobile individual, or a building/ structure containing the core leadership and communication/ intelligence functions. • Manufacturing core- Usually large, underground manufacturing facility that builds the worker/ combat Replicans. • Morale rules are optional for Replican forces, and they make take them or leave them however it suits the combat situation. • Suppression rules do not affect Replicans. REPLICAN DESCRIPTION No one description can adequately paint an accurate appearance of the Replican races. Many types of robots, androids and sometimes cyborgs are found, built of many different types of metal. Many Replicans have Humanoid form, as they take on the shape of the biological race originally creating them, but in advanced Replican races, their CPCs construct troops ideally suited to their purpose, so grav, tracked, multi limbed types can be encountered. REPLICAN TACTICS Not having any sense of self preservation is the Replican trooper programming, so individuals will tend to march straight into combat making little use of cover, and not being affected by fear or doubt. This can be a double edged sword, as although intimidating, can mean troops are cut down in open ground. Replicans are also known for winning battles by sheer numbers of troops they can manufacture and send into combat, overwhelming their opponents. Replican motivations range from bizarre revenge plots against creator races, to more mundane acquisition of raw materials for expansion and maintenance. Many troop types used have little ability to function autonomously if the CPU link is severed

REPLICAN TROOP TYPES Note that all Replican troop types are considered to be ‘Androids’ and function exactly as per biological troop equivalents, except where specifically indicated. REPLICAN ENFORCER (REGULAR, LIGHT ARMOUR TROOPER) The base model Replican attack trooper. Fielded in squads of 4-10 figures. Enforcers are armed with various weapons, dependant on role. Heavy sniper rifles, P- Beam rifles and Miniguns are common. REPLICAN CPU DIRECTOR (POWER ARMOUR, ELITE WITH LEADERSHIP) Advanced trooper with comprehensive leadership and communications package, constantly in contact with the Replican CPC. At least one must be fielded per army. Leadership skill. Due to the Replican weakness of its troops retreating if all CPU leaders are destroyed, it is recommended that several leader troops are fielded and well protected. REPLICAN HEAVY BATTLE DROID (as Imperial Heavy Battle Droid) The Replican version of the Imperial heavy battle droid (See robots section)- identical in operation, also note that this is a robot, so may malfunction etc. REPLICAN ‘MIMICK’ (VETERAN, POWER ARMOURED TROOPER) Humanoid shaped Replican android having a layer of biological matter adhering to the metal endoskeleton in the form of a ‘skin suit’. Although sometimes called cyborgs, Mimicks are not cybernetic organisms, as there is no biological brainstem. Advanced ‘Mimick’ heuristic programming allows the Mimick to act exactly as a trooper of the enemy force. Up to 3 ‘Mimicks’ may be fielded in a battle, and are activated as follows:

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At the start of the Replican players fire phase (including their first), the player rolls 1d6 for each Mimick he has. Each roll of 5 or 6 means that a Mimick is activated and is placed in cohesion with a random enemy foot squad in play on the table (so, for example, if 4 enemy squads are in play, roll 1D4 and assign appropriately according to die roll). The activated Mimick then gets a ‘first shot’ (see first shots rule) and is then revealed for all to see, even if it then does not fire in the next turn. The activated Mimick will try to engage as many enemy as possible and engage in hand to hand combat where the opportunity arises. NOTE: One roll in each Replican players fire phase is allowed to activate each Mimick. It is possible that Mimicks may not be activated by the end of the battle- this is the chance you take if you field them. Mimicks MAY NOT be placed within enemy Replican, Grey or Hibevor armies, their detection systems are too advanced. Mimicks have the same weapon as the troops in the unit they infiltrated, but also have a built in palm- flamer and power glove which may alternatively be used. Note by their very nature Mimicks act independently. REPLICAN ‘SHROUD’ (VETERAN, LIGHT ARMOUR, STEALTH CLOAK, LASER PAINTER) The Replican shroud is a camouflaged, stealth cloaked bipedal or quadrapedal unit, designed to close in on an enemy quickly and silently. Sometimes used for assassinations and designation missions. Act independently. REPLICAN ARTILLEROID (Robo- artillery) Function exactly as the robo- artillery unit in the robots section of the core rules. REPLICAN REPAIR UNIT (REGULAR, LIGHT ARMOURED) A highly efficient multi-limbed droid unit capable of scouring the battlefield repairing and putting back together damaged Replican units. The unit functions as if it has medical aid skill (see core rules), but up to 2 fallen Replicans may be healed if the unit has sufficient movement to reach both in the same next friendly move phase. Repair units act independently and have no ranged weapons. In hand to hand combat they are classed as unarmed . REPLICAN MULTI-LAUNCHER DROID (REGULAR, LIGHT ARMOUR TROOPER) This troop type is given when figures from the 15mm.co.uk Automaton range are used. The Replican trooper has a unique 9 shot missile pod built into its chest and may fire 1 to 3 missiles per fire phase. It is otherwise classed exactly as an enforcer. The 9 shot missile pod, once 9 shots have been fired is useless, but this type of Enforcer has a laser pistol built in as a backup weapon. Points cost given includes the missile pod and laser pistol.

REPLICAN FAST ATTACK DREADNOUGHT (ELITE, ASSAULT DREADNOUGHT) This troop type is given when figures from the 15mm.co.uk Automaton range are used. This replican trooper is an assault dreadnought classed chassis mounted on a tracked base. Two miniguns are mounted, one in each arm. Movement is as a light tracked vehicle. May act independently, and are often used as ‘patrol’ droids and guards. Mounts laser painter and an Energy shield. Both miniguns have targetters. Points cost includes all weapons and equipment listed above.

REPLICAN VEHICLES Grav vehicles and Mecha are favoured by the Replican, although most other types of vehicle may be fielded except wheeled and hover (Replicans do not use this technology, considering it antiquated). Note that Replican vehicles are processor controlled and do not have crew. REPLICAN SPECIAL RULES • Morale and Suppression rules are not applicable to Replican armies. • Replican forces do not suffer Night or Bad weather firing penalties. • Replicans in squads (in other words, NOT independent units ), must stay within 2 inches of at least one other member, instead of the normal 3 inches. • Replican foot troops move slower than their biological equivalents. All movement rates have 1 inch deducted from it, unless the standard move is 1 inch, in which case a ½ inch move is made. E.g: Light armoured Enforcers are moving over difficult ground. They move at 2 inches per move phase, instead of 3 inches. Penalties do not apply to vehicles. • Replican vehicles do not have crew, they are computer controlled. • Replican units are not known for their initiative or quick thinking, due to programming limitations and subservience to the CPC. All Replican troop rolls are at -1 during the game. • All Replican troops ignore ‘Glancing hit’ results. • If all Replican CPU leaders are destroyed in a battle, remaining Replican troops not acting independently must retreat to the table edge they started at, and once there are removed from play and count as killed for victory purposes.

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THE SPUGS

(15mm Spugs are available from Spriggan miniatures. Thanks to the ‘No Limits’ and ‘Chain Reaction’ rules for Spug ideas.)

INTRODUCTION The colonists who first encountered this Alien menace called them Space Bugs, or ‘Spugs’ for short, because of their insect like appearance, and to differentiate them from the Bugs. In time, when human and other intelligent alien forces had marshalled sufficient resistance and the xenobiologists had examined specimens, they were indexed as species XENO-00237/hostile. To the infantry grunt they were always simply Spugs. Whereas the Bugs are nontechnological, the Spugs have developed high technology and FTL space travel, and have adapted alien technology to their own purposes. Though completely different species, they do share many bug characteristics - indeed, they fall upon world after world like locusts, stripping a planet of its useful resources before moving on, or claiming it as a hive world. Unlike the Bugs, only their leader and comm caste can operate well independently. DESCRIPTION Humanoid in appearance, standing around 6 foot tall, the Spugs are bipedal and have long arms terminating in 4 long claws. Tough carapace counts as light armour, making even the basic trooper very resilient. Spug skin is pale green on temperate planets, but skin colour can vary on hotter or cooler worlds. Some Spug hives have long histories of painting warriors with permanent Hive markings- this form of ‘tattooing’ may in some cases cover the whole Spug. Although tough, Spugs are slow moving and the movement rates for all troop types show this trait. Humans often compare Spugs to Grasshoppers, but the similarities are tenuous. Spug eyes are pink/ red in colour and eyesight is poor compared to Human standards and Drones, Alpha Drones, and Omega drones have an ADDITIONAL -1 penalty to hit if firing through smoke, or in darkness or bad weather. SPUG TACTICS The Company level organisation of the Spug is called the ‘Hive’, each Hive comprises 4 to 6 ‘Cells’. Each cell is made up of 2 to 3 ‘packs’ (equivalent to squads) of 6 troopers. Spug packs comprise 6 troops, including one leader (Alpha or Omega). A Spug unit with no leader within cohesion distance (3 inches) becomes confused. They will not move, and suffer a -2 penalty to firing. They will join any other Spug leader that comes within cohesion distance of any one Spug in the unit. SPUG WEAPONS Spugs may use any human infantry weapons, but are nearly always found with their own designs. The shard guns fire shells filed with several ‘fletchettes’ similar to some 20th century shotgun loads. The fletchettes have good armour penetration and inflict a large wound, range problems of early fletchete rounds have been overcome and shard guns have reasonable range, if only moderate damage capability. The Toxcannon infantry support weapon is a double barrelled affair having a grenade launcher and a plasma gun- equivalent in the same casing. Other commonly used weapons are Spug versions of the Human grenade launcher, missile launcher and a huge version of the power glove called a power claw. Spug heavy weapons include the scatter laser, the tripod mounted field-Gatling laser cannon and the Splinter launcher. SPUG VEHICLES Spug combat vehicles are wide ranging and will vary dependant on the terrain the battle is fought on. Legged vehicles are favoured by the Spugs, due to their versatile ‘go anywhere’ nature. Multishields are commonly fitted to all vehicles for extra protection. Spug Exosuits and Firebugs are commonly fielded where heavy firepower is required, Trions are used on reconnaissance missions as needed, and scout bikes. Spug vehicles are often mid to light green in colour and many hives use red anti-glare colour- absorbing vehicle canopies and windows, to compensate for the poor Spug eyesight.

SPUG TROOP TYPES DRONE (REGULAR, LIGHT ARMOURED) The Spug drone trooper is equipped with either a Shard rifle or carbine (recommended), or may alternatively be given weapons from the standard infantry weapons list. Usually 4 drones are found in a pack of 6 also including a leader and a heavy weapon drone. HEAVY WEAPON DRONE (REGULAR, LIGHT ARMOUR) Support Spug, usually one per squad and armed with either missile launcher, squad support laser, or the Spug ‘Toxcannon’(recommended)- a twin barrelled weapon combining a plasma gun and grenade launcher. Either weapon barrel may be fired in a fire phase, but not both.

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ALPHA DRONE LEADER (VETERAN, LIGHT ARMOUR) The Alpha drone is the pack leader, usually armed with shard carbine with targetter. Figure has ‘leadership’ skill. May act independently, but usually found leading 5 other drones. OMEGA DRONE LEADER (ELITE, LIGHT ARMOUR) A pack leader drone excelling in close combat, often armed with a power claw (larger and superior to the power glove), and a shard carbine. Figure has leadership skill. May act independently, but usually found leading 5 other drones in a ‘pack’ THETA DRONE LEADER (HERO. LIGHT ARMOUR) The highest class pack leader drone, hero with skills of leadership, martial arts, initiative and medical. Carries a power glaive which also functions as a shard rifle. COMMS DRONE (VETERAN, LIGHT ARMOUR) A Spug Trooper equipped with sophisticated comms equipment, armed with a Shard Carbine and grenade launcher. Counts as having a support targetter, a laser painter and ‘scout’ troop characteristic. Attached to a ‘pack’ instead of a normal drone trooper. HEAVY INFANTRY (VETERAN, ASSAULT DREADNOUGHT ARMOUR) Spug drones showing better than average combat prowess are trained to use the Spug Power armour suit. As the Spug chitinous carapace is already classed as light armour, the heavy infantry move as power armour (and function as power armour in every other way), but take damage as if in assault dreadnought armour. Organised in ‘packs’, comprising 6 heavy infantry, one of who has leadership skill. SPUGNAUGHT ( LIGHT BATTLESUIT) A light Mecha/ battlesuit class powered exosuit encapsulating the remains of a mortally wounded Alpha drone. Often fitted with Power claws in addition to shard cannons and missile launchers, the Spugnaughts are slow but fearsome enemy. Act independently. Several common versions are fielded including the TAC (Tactical), Close assault, Support and Command Suits. TAC SUIT: General purpose suit, combining jet- pack jump ability, a close combat claw and a couple of support weapons. ASSAULT: Close combar suit, 2 power claws, sun guns for maximum short ranged punch. SUPPORT: Long range , stand-off suit for ranged support. COMMAND: Acts as a command vehicle on the field, comprehensive communications and command functions. JUMPSPUG (VETERAN, LIGHT ARMOUR, SPUG JUMP PACK) Jump Spugs are Well trained spug troopers used as shocktroops and are able to quickly move into battle and manoeuvre around the battlefield. Jump Spugs are usually fielded in ‘flights’ of 3 Spugs, one having leadership skill. Points cost includes the Spug Jump-Pack, a unique form of Jetpack which allows limited flight as well as standard Jumps. These function as follows: • May make any standard jetpack ‘jump’ as normal, treat as a LA infantry jetpack. • May jump then glide. In this movement mode the Spugs use the Aircraft movement rules, with the exception of only being able to move a maximum of 20 inches per phase instead of anywhere on the table. For example, in move phase one the jump Spug ‘squadron’ takes off and is airborne, but above the place where they took off from. The next move phase they may move anywhere within 20 inches of the start location, change height bands, hover, land etc, as aircraft do (see core rulebook). Airborne Spugs are at a -3 to hit (as aircraft are), and have a -1 firing penalty applied to the trooper if he is airborne when he fires. See also the aircraft rules for range bands when calculating ranges etc. Use counters to remind you that jump Spugs are airborne. SCOUT RIDER DRONE (REGULAR, LIGHT ARMOURED) The Spug drone trooper is equipped with either a Shard rifle or carbine (recommended), or may alternatively be given weapons from the standard infantry weapons list. SPUG TRION The spug Trion is a 45 foot tall (14 metres) tripod walker vehicle, used by the spugs as light recon/ scout units over varied and difficult terrain. Although spindly and frail looking, they nevertheless pack a fierce punch with powerful shields, ECM packages and large energy guns. They are visibly menacing on the battlefield, and allow Spugs a commanding view of the area. Fire directed toward Spug trions gets NO vehicle hit bonus as the spindly legs and small canopy are little larger than a assault dreadnought armoured trooper. Spug Trions, like the Exosuits are true cybernetic organisms, a fusion of living tissue (a Spug brain) and metal. SPUG FIREBUG Several variants are found, some are squat walkers with bulbous canopies, while others look like metallic slugs, floating on grav plates. The firebugs act as light combat vehicles or APCs

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REMOTE CANNON Spugs often use small armoured AI turrets as point defence, these are easily moved into position on the battlefield (placed at the start of a game), but have the additional ability to ‘roam’ on low power grav- plates. Each Remote cannon may move 2 inches per move phase if the player desires, or remain stationary. Remote cannons are not subject to morale, cohesion or suppression rules. Cost is as for light standing turret weapon (See core rules), but an additional 5 points is paid for the grav plate movement.

SPUG SPECIAL RULES: • • • • • •

May use advanced weapons and sniper rifles along with Spug specific types listed below. Spugs are not subject to morale rules but follow normal cohesion and suppression rules. Spugs may use jetpacks (Assault Jump Spugs are commonly seen troop types) Spugs may not fight alongside any other race. Even during the great 10,000 year war, Spugs were universally despised. -1 additional hit penalty for Spug troops if through smoke, bad weather or at night time- this penalty is due to their bad eyesight. (Does not apply to Spugnaught, Trion or Heavy Infantry) A Spug unit with no leader within cohesion distance (3 inches) becomes confused. They will not move, and suffer a -2 penalty to firing. They will join any other Spug leader that comes within cohesion distance of any one Spug in the unit.

SPUG Vehicle

TAC Spugnaught Assault Spugnaught Support Spugnaught Command Spugnaught Attack firebug Troop Firebug Scout Bike Trion • • • •

Points

Hull

Type

Move Type

Main Gun

Aux guns

Troops

Model

Shield

117

2

Lt Mech

Limbed

None

Left arm: Shard cannon, spug power claw Right arm: Missile launcher. Mecha jetpack

0

SP12

MS

129

2

Lt Mech

Limbed

None

Each arm: Power claw , Sun gun.

0

SP12

MS

133

2

Lt Mech

Limbed

None

Left arm: Spug heavy support weapon, Right arm: missile launcherx2, targetter, sensor array.

0

SP12

MS

130

2

Lt Mech

Limbed

None

Command array, additional MS shield. P-Beam rifle.

0

SP12

MSx2

95

2

Lt Mecha

Limbed

none

2x FF Toxcannon

3

-

-

16

-

-

@

60

3

APC

Grav

none

Sensor array, AI turret, with shard cannon.

35

1

Bike

Jet*

none

FF: Shard cannon

1

SP1504

-

Beam cannon

Extra MS shield, Command array, laser cannon.

0

-

MSx2

215

3

M Mech

Hvy Limbed

*the Spug scout bike uses a large rear jet and stabilising grav plates for manoeuvrability. Treat movement class as antigrav. @ The Assault Spugnaught has 2 powerclaws and uses these together for a melee bonus: 2 d10 hand to hand combat throws are made and the highest chosen. Where no current 15mm model exists for the Spug troop/ vehicle type, please consult the Beamstrike Yahoo group for scatch building ideas and conversions. Note that Spugnaughts are vehicles and as such may fire all weapons each fire phase. Weapons in the same arm pack however, must be fired at the same target.

10

THE GREYS INTRODUCTION The greys are one of the most ancient races in the galaxy, and are rumoured to have even ‘seeded’ Earth in ancient times with the proto-forms of humanity. The Greys then re- visited Earth every few Decades to see how their ‘experiment’ was progressing, often abducting, operating on and generally examining the genetic and phenotypic development of individual race- lines. It was in the early years of the 21st Century that the Greys realised the Human race it had spawned had the potential to spread throughout the universe as if it were a virus on a field of crops, and possibly threatens the existence of the other galactic sentient races. The Greys masterminded the coalition of alien forces, and fought bitterly during the Great Ten Thousand Year War.

DESCRIPTION Greys are beings approximately 4 feet tall, with grey (sometimes blue-grey/green-grey) skin. Their body is typically elongated, and lacking in muscular definition. Their legs are shorter and jointed differently to humans, giving them an apparently awkward stance. Their arms reach down to their knees, and have three digits and a thumb on each hand. They have a bulbous, hairless head supported by a thin neck, which is dominated by large black lidless eyes.

GREY TACTICS Greys are highly intelligent, and generally abhor conflict and outright hostility (they do not consider the abduction, alteration and experimentation they have done on Humans over the last 2500 years to be anything other than an interesting science project). However the Greys can protect themselves, and will conduct military action where necessary to protect their interests. As the average Grey is physically weak, the use of battlesuits and armoured androids (constructs) is the norm. Greys do not use ground based wheeled, hover or tracked vehicles or large artillery, their technology level is heavily grav- based. Even grav vehicles will be few and far between. Where used, saucer shaped grav-scout tanks are common, weapons will be Beam cannons. Advanced shields in common use. Heavy use of Q- travel pods allow quick movement of greys around the battlefield.

GREY TROOP TYPES CLOSE SCOUT (Regular light armoured infantryman) Grey alien clad in form fitting suit equivalent to light armour. Invisibility cloak, Regular troop class. Carries paralysis rod, a close combat device treated as a power sword in melee combat. If the grey wins the combat round, the enemy is ‘paralysed’ for the rest of the action. The purpose is that enemy troops are later beamed back to Grey motherships for examination and genetic alteration. May act independently.

SUPPORT SCOUT (Regular light armoured infantryman) Grey alien clad in form fitting suit equivalent to light armour. Invisibility cloak. Carries spherical P- beam which functions exactly as a P- beam rifle with targeter. The ranged combat trooper of the grey army. May act independently. If using HOF figures, troops with energy rifles count as P- beam rifles, heavy support ‘ death ray’ figures count as carrying an anti-grav ‘sun cannon (see vehicle weapons), which may be carried as a rifle, but has the burst template and area of effect of a sun cannon. This unique weapon costs 35 points to field.

CONTROL SCOUT (Regular light armoured infantryman) Grey alien clad in form fitting suit equivalent to light armour, Invisibility cloak, Carries control unit for the Grey Combat construct. Carries laser painter. Functions in a squad along with 3 combat constructs.

GREY LEADER (Hero, Assault Dreadnought level) Grey alien clad in form fitting suit equivalent to assault dreadnought. Null shield fitted, ambidextrous, carries spherical P- beam and paralysis rod. Has laser painter. Acts independently. Has further hero skills of agile, constitution and leadership. The co-ordinator of any hostile action/ skirmish. Will not hesitate to summon Off table fire support as needed from grey saucers in nearby proximity.

GREY COMBAT CONSTRUCT Advanced droid. Power armour class, P- beam rifle, support grenade pack. Veteran troop class. Invisibility cloak. Operate in a coherent squad of 3 droids. A grey control scout must be within 36 inches of the combat construct squad, or the squad will become ‘suppressed’ and attempt to move back within range. If the control scout is killed, the construct squad powers down and is ‘beamed’ back to the nearest Grey mother ship, and count as lost as far as victory purposes are concerned.

11

GREY VEHICLES Grey vehicles are predominantly saucer shaped grav aircraft. ANY weapons mounted fire in any direction from the base of the saucer as if in a turret (although no turret structure is visible, the beams just ‘emanate’ from the saucer) Sun cannons, beam cannons and P-Beam rifle weapons favoured. Energy shield are invariably fitted along with advanced Electronic counter measures. Grey combat vehicles are silver/ grey in colour, but can change colour to suit their environment. This chameleon- like quality means they tend to be quite camouflaged when need to be and have a -1 ‘to hit’ penalty applied to direct fire against them. The larger Grey vehicles have some troop- carrying capability. A saucer may ‘Beam’ any or all troops to within 2 inches of its current location, providing it is either ‘landed’, or at ‘ground attack’ aircraft movement mode. Troops may also beam into a saucer if they are within 2 inches of the vehicle. Beaming in or out of a saucer is done in the movement phase. Grey ‘hover packs’ are personal flight packs, like advanced grav-technology jetpacks, but with a shielded skeletal structure which envelopes the Grey on activation. Provides limited protection, but allows very fast movement around the battlefield. Movement is as per fast grav vehicle, ‘jumps’ as such are not made, the trooper could remain in the air for the duration of the game if required. GREY Vehicle

Points

Hull

Type

Move Type

Main Gun

Aux guns

Troops

Model

Shield

ES

Light Saucer

130

3

LT

Aircraft/ grav

Sun cannon

2x linked P-Beam rifles

None

15mm.co .uk HOF50, Grey alien flying saucer

Medium Saucer

215

4

MT

Aircraft/ grav

Beam cannon

2x linked P-Beam rifles, ECM, MAD

8 LA

-

ES

Heavy Saucer

295

5

HT

Aircraft/ grav

Hvy beam cannon

2x linked P-Beam rifles, ECM, MAD

20 LA

-

ESx2

Hover pack

40

0

jetpack

Fast grav

none

None

None

-

ES

GREY SPECIAL RULES •

Greys may only use the weapons/ devices described above.

•

Greys will cut their losses and beam out sooner than most other races. Greys are shaken when morale points are at 2/3 instead of ½.

•

Greys will not fight their own kind.

•

Greys may not fight other aliens if games are set during the Great Ten Thousand Years War.

•

Greys are physically slender and weak and have a +1 damage roll (on the 1d6) penalty on hits against them.

•

Grey vehicles are at a -1 ‘to hit’

12

THE BUGS INTRODUCTION For those players who like the idea of Human military troops fighting chitinous semiintelligent ‘bug’ type aliens, ranging from small ‘face-ripper’ running types to larger, more ferocious ‘warrior’ humanoid forms, or slug like ‘ brain’ type leaders here are some generic rules to allow their use within Beamstrike . For those interested in this type of game, more detailed descriptions and rules may be needed. 8 generic types are described; all types have NO penalty for night/bad weather movement or firing. Bugs have claws and other natural weapons and MAY NOT use any manufactured weapon system.

BUG TACTICS As the ‘bugs’ possess no long range attacks, and very few ranged attacks at all, the use of cover, concealment, and burrowing movement coupled with surprise attacks are their forte. Their fast movement rates will need to be utilised to find cover or they will be cut down before hand to hand range is reached. The Bug cerebral leaders will sacrifice some troops to enable others to get into better position (especially ‘runners’). The fanatic nature of the Bug armies will mean a long bloody battle down to the last one in some cases. Many of the Bug types, although usually found in groups, may act independently, so do not need to keep squad coherency. The exceptions are runners and Terrors which must keep unit formations as regular human squads do.

THE BUG COLONY AND STARFARING COLONISATION Bugs are cunning and ruthless. They have a hive mentality powered by the instinct to hunt and kill, and some varieties are starfaring. Starfaring colonization works through the psionic abilities of the Cerebral bug. Towards the end of its life a typical Cerebral will ingest anything up to 100 of the eggs laid by the queen. Inside the eggs will be bound together by a secretion similar to plasticrete, and the Cerebrals internal pressure begins to rise. Meanwhile the Cerebrals psionic ability allows it to reach with its mind to identify, and precisely locate, a suitable planet for colonisation in a nearby star system. Struggling to the surface, it calculates the exact velocity and direction that is required to launch the egg cluster towards the discovered planet, taking into account relative celestial movement and gravity. Using the massive internal pressure build-up, the egg cluster is then, with Herculean effort, fired from the Cerebral’s body toward the planet in question. The Cerebral explodes and dies in the process. On the new host world the eggs hatch and the runners are born. They then find warm blooded creatures within which to deposit an embryonic Terror bug. They paralyse the creature and deposit the embryo through any convenient orifice. The host creature remembers nothing of the process due to the secretion of a rohypnol like drug by the runner during impregnation. The embryo continues to develop inside the living creature, until eventually it bursts from the host in an explosion of blood and bone (this usually kills the host). The newly born terror bug keeps a low profile and grows to full size within a couple of days. As they grow, some terror bugs mutate and develop into Queens, Cerebrals, Flyers, Hunters or Colossi. The mutation process is possibly controlled by the telepathic abilities of the Cerebral, or may be an environmentally governed process. A new Queen will begin to lay eggs almost immediately, and a planet can be overrun within a few months.

THE HIVE/ COLONY Bugs usually live in tunnel complexes (both natural and man made if need be), centered around one queen and a couple of Cerebrals. Packs of runners, Terrors and Flyers support the Queen/ Cerebral family nucleus, protecting, providing food One bug colony never goes to war with another, recognizing fellow links in a chain of higher consciousness and purpose. There is still much to be learned about the bugs.

EXPANDING THE BUG RULES If this genre of miniatures combat is for you, you will want to expand the number of Bug types, include long range direct/ indirect fire capable bugs, bugs in other environments (space, underwater, city sewers etc), think about more alien fortifications other than tunneling, write detailed background histories and more!- There are several well known movies and fictional stories written about this class of Alien, so inspiration should not be too hard to come by.

BUG BUG TROOP TYPES RUNNER (Regular, fast infantry level troop equivalent) This type of bug is a small (dog sized) alien beetle with a hard armoured shell, razor sharp pincers and fast movement type. No ranged combat, but quite deadly close up and in packs. Its claws count as a melee weapon (So no combat modifier, a straight 1d10 rolled). Count as fanatic. Fielded in units of 4-10 bugs.

13

HUNTER (Regular level, Light armoured troop equivalent) 4-6 foot tall, chitinous (like a crab shell) armoured humanoid type hunting alien which uses stealth and cunning to creep up on its prey and attack. This type of Alien counts as having a level of cover one higher than normal, can engage in close combat if within 4 inches of an enemy (rather than 2 inches), and when concealed, has a concealment range of a scout. It has no ranged attack, but its fearsome claws and jaws count as ‘power sword’. Counts as a fanatic trooper. Glancing hit results are ignored. Act independently.

TERROR (Regular level, power armoured troop equivalent) 6-8 foot tall, heavily armoured and deadly in close combat, the Terrors claws and tail count as ‘power sword’ equivalent, and it may have 2 d10 rolls, choosing the highest in hand to hand combat. It may also ‘spit’ venom/ acid for a ranged Standard damage attack using template 2 with a base 7 or over needed for a hit. (4 inches maximum range). Fanatic troop. Glancing hit results are ignored. Used in units of 3-8 bugs. Must be formed into squads and stay in coherence range.

FLYER (Regular level, power armoured troop equivalent) The same as the ‘Terror’ class, but has rudimentary, leathery ‘wings’ allowing limited flight and gliding. Gives improved movement allowance and makes them harder to hit, but other wise as per ‘Terror’ class.

CEREBRAL (Elite level, Power armoured level equivalent) 20 foot Long, slug like leader alien with telepathic ‘leadership’ skill, poor ground movement and combat ability. In hand to hand combat it counts as ‘unarmed’, its ranged attack is a ‘barb shooter’, which is equivalent to a SMG using template 2. May tunnel underground to any area of the table that is not concreted or metal clad at a rate of 6 inches per move phase, regardless of terrain type above. It takes one move phase for a cerebral to start a burrow.each move phase after that, a move underground up to 6 inches may be made. Other bugs may use the tunnel created to move underground without being fired at. Whilst burrowing underground, the player just notes the total distance burrowed and at any movement phase start can ‘surface’ his Cerebral anywhere along the ‘burrow’ which is now declared, along with up to 5 other bugs, which must stay within 1 inch of the exit hole (E- hole). In the next movement phase they may move off as normal. 5 bugs per move phase may enter/ exit tunnels. Bug move in tunnels at ‘open ground’ rate. Humans may move in tunnels, but at difficult move rate due to sticky acidic slime layers. Humans may destroy burrows, any individuals equipped with grenades/ gren launcher/ missile launcher may seal off a burrow at any point by thowing 3+ on a 1d6 during their firing phase. Tunnel exit/ Entrance holes may be marked with crater markers, or you may wish to create your own special markers. Tunnels may be represented by lengths of string on the table if needed. Special attack: ‘swallow your soul!’ : as a cerebral burrows, it can detect those figures above it due to vibrations into the ground and psionic eminations from the target. At any point along the burrow it may surface and attempt to ‘swallow’ an individual figure. This attack is made in the move phase. An attack at ‘ power’ level is made against the figure if a 3 or more can be thrown on a 1d6.

COLLOSUS (Veteran, Assault Dreadnought level, walker vehicle type equivalent) Large 12-15 foot tall humanoid armoured walking nightmare, many variants exist, depending on world encountered on. Close combat attacks get a +5 bonus to the 1d10 roll due to massive claws and tail attacks (The +5 bonus is equivalent to a power axe being used), ranged attacks are two poison barb shooters equivalent to rapid fire bolters for hit and damage levels. The weapons may be fired at different targets. The colossus counts as a fanatic trooper and glancing hit results are ignored. May engage in close combat at a range of 4 inches instead of 2 inches. May act independently. Collosi may use the Mecha special movement types ‘STOMP’ and ‘OVERTURN’, and are classed as hull class 3 for this purpose only.

QUEEN (ELITE, Power armoured, leadership) Occassionally, particularly large terror bugs mutate and grow into Queens (possibly under psionic control from the Cerebral) and further develop a reproductive system to allowing the laying of eggs. There is only one Queen in a particular bug colony, any newly developing Queens are killed by the Terror bugs guarding the Queen. The reproductive capacity of the Queen is enourmous and given enough food and a suitable hive, the queen can lay around 10 eggs per day. Queen bugs have leadership skill, and may act independently. Will not usually be found in combat, but will fight if guards have been killed. Counts as a terror for combat abilities. Only 1 fielded per army May lay 1 egg cluster per turn if a 4-6 is rolled on a 1d6. Laid egg clusters must be placed within 1 inch of the queen model.

14

EGG CLUSTER (stationary, light armoured equivalent) An egg cluster is a group of pulsating,acid- mucous coated eggs waiting to hatch out. These may either be purchased and placed at the start of a game, and/ or a queen Bug may lay them during a battle. For each cluster, roll 1d6 at the end of each full game turn. A roll of 1-4 does nothing, a roll of 5 allows the placing of a ‘runner’ bug next to the cluster, a roll of ‘6’ allows placing a ‘terror’ bug next to the cluster. This represents various bug varieties ‘hatching’ out of the eggs. Hatched Bugs must immediately join the nearest squad of the same type of bug. If no other squads on the field, the hatched bugs will join the nearest squad of any type of bug.

BUG SPECIAL RULES • • • •

No penalties for movement or ranged combat in night or bad weather scenarios Some types are fanatic Bug armies will not fight other bug armies (they will merge together, although there will be a battle to the death between the queens) Bugs cannot use manufactured weapons, jet packs or other equipment, only natural weapons like claws or barb shooter etc are allowed.

•

EXAMPLE BUG SCENARIOS Bugs may be introduced as a ‘menace’ to be targeted for offensive action for several reasons, maybe that isolated Imperial Colony has been losing Colonists lately and a couple of Imperial infantry squads are sent in to find out why, perhaps a Supply and Rest Depot of the Crimson Rebels on a far desert planet suddenly finds itself under attack by the local animal life after their supplies of foodstuffs, or alternatively a Bug army is given to a third player in a straight Imperial versus Rebel army to add spice and perhaps introduce a new player to the game. A few suggestions of scenarios and start positions to start off your ‘Bug’ wars are presented below:

1d10

Name

Points each Humans/ Bugs

Bugs setup

Human Setup

Victory conditions

1-3

Patrol

300/ 400

Within 12 ins of table edge

Standard

4-5

Ambush

400/500

At either side of the road/ path and in cover

Within 12 ins of table edge Down centre of board, 8 ins wide, usually on a road or path, no further than halfway towards the bug base edge.

6

Fried eggs!

500/600

Centrally

Within 12 ins of table

7

Last Stand

600/ 1000

Within 12 ins of all table edges

8-9

Bug hunt

1000/1000

Within 24 ins of table edge

10

Specimen Collection

300/600

Has whole ¾ of the rest of table edge

15

All troops , with fortifications/ barracades within a 12 ins circle in the middle of the board Within 12 ins of table edge

Within 8 ins table edge

Humans win if they manage to get 25% of the point value of forces up the road and off the table. Bugs must purchase at least 6 bases of eggs, humans only win iff all eggs are destroyed. Humans win if they manage to survive the onslaught of the bugs for 4 full turns, whereby Air evac takes place. Standard Humans win if 3 or more Bugs are ‘Stunned’ then transported back off the table edge that the humans came in on. It takes 2 troops to carry each stunned Bug. If humans come into base contact with a stunned bug it remains stunned for the rest of the game.

The K’KREE KREE

(a.k.a. T't'tkahk Xeng Kirr)

(This is a ‘Traveller’ universe Alien. Alien race data from Lee Barnes with thanks)

INTRODUCTION ‘The Two thousands Worlds’ is the most common name in the Imperium for the region of space ruled by the K'kree. "Two thousand worlds" is a literal translation of the K'kree T't'tkahk Xeng Kirr. The same words can also be rendered idiomatically as "universe." In times past, the words meant "night sky," for roughly two thousand stars can be seen from one hemisphere of Kirur, the K'kree homeworld. The name should not be taken to mean that there are exactly 2000 worlds in the K'kree empire. The K'kree government is highly conservative. The current dynasty ruling the Two Thousand Worlds has been in power since prehistoric times, and the form of the government has remained unchanged except for a few minor modifications made necessary by the problems inherent in governing an interstellar empire. K'kree expansion into space progressed very slowly after the discovery of the jump drive in 4142. The conservative nature of society and the technical limitations placed upon space flight by that society (K'kree spaceships must be very large, for example) combined to inhibit early exploration and colonization. The discovery of other intelligent alien races caused a xenophobic reaction in K'kree society. The realization that intelligent carnivores might exist somewhere in space sparked the K'kree obsession to convert the universe to herbivorism. This obsession stimulated the growth of the Two Thousand Worlds to its present size and still dominates K'kree culture. Local cultures are tolerated and other aspects of K'kree society are not heavily enforced, but all races within the Two Thousand Worlds are herbivorous. K'Kree are religiously motivated (they are militant vegetarians after all), claustrophobic and neurotically gregarious. Note that although they are superficially similar, the K’Kree are not genetically related to the Centaling.

K’KREE SPECIAL RULES • • • •

• • • •

All militaryK'Kree encountered will be at least Veteran troops. K'Kree can't use other races weaponry due to their odd hand structure, but may use their own equivalents (any weapons on any of the Human AND Alien charts) K’Kree squads are usually herds of 10-20 warriors and NEVER leave a man behind K'Kree have a bonus of +3 in Melee combat against carnivores. (So not Replican, Droids, Hibevors, Androids or Greys) K’Kree will not seek any enclosed cover, like bunkers or enclosed buildings, nor will transport in small enclosed vehicles. K’Kree in a squad have a coherency distance of 2 inch (rather than 3 inches). K’Kree must stay in coherency even if not advancing. A K’Kree in hand-to-hand combat gets two throws of the dice, once with all bonuses due to any hand held melee weapons, and another at a modifier of +0 to represent fighting with its forelegs. No K’Kree troop types are independent, all will be in herds.

K’KREE KREE TROOP TYPES HINDMOST LEADER (Elite, power armour, Leadership) Herd leader with quadrupedal power armour and usually heavy weapons.

HINDMOST STAFF (Elite, fast infantry) Bodyguards to the Leader, often found with Melee weapons. May NOT move out of coherence range of the Leader.

K’KREE LIGHT ARMOUR Standard Veteran K’Kree in light armour with weapon of choice. K’KREE FAST INFANTRY Standard Veteran fast attack trooper with weapon of choice.

16

THE KRA’VAK KRA VAK (This is a Ground Zero Games Alien race, for their game ‘Stargrunt2’) Some information below from an Internet article by Jon Tuffley, modified by Neil Cooper for Beamstrike. These rules allow the use of the excellent 15mm Kra’Vak figure range by GZG.

INTRODUCTION The Kra'Vak, (Literal translation: "People of the Sorrow Killer ") are a clan-based Alien race, who place a high value on loyalty, combat prowess and bravery. The Kra’Vak home worlds is called Zha’Vak, which means "World of the Sorrow Killer "

DESCRIPTION Kra’Vak are 2 legged Phughropoids with a mix of reptillian and insectoid features. They communicate with a guttural language that is hard for humans to comprehend thus making relations with them very difficult. Relations are complicated further by the fact that Kra'vak pass through several gender and behavorial stages as they age which make them somewhat unpredictable as members of one stage can be more or less aggressive and territorial than those in another stage. Kra’Vak have never formed good relations with any other race, and did not participate in the Ten thousand years war.

PSYCHOLOGY RO'KAH (Clouded War Mind): When a normal Kra'Vak becomes angered, fearful or otherwise strongly emotionally stimulated, chemicals released into its brain cause a reaction known as Ro'Kah (literal translation: "Clouded War Mind"), which causes the Kra'Vak to become steadily more enraged as the source of the stimulation increases. In its extreme stages, the Kra'Vak will enter a kind of "berserker rage" in which it will attack almost anything (including, in some cases, its own fellows) but loses its capacity for rational and coherent thought and planning. This gives Kra'vak warriors a kind of "reverse morale" effect, where the worse the situation gets in terms of enemy threat, casualties etc., the more frenzied the warriors will become in their attacks. In Kra'Vak prehistory, this was a survival trait running away was of little use against the fast predators of Zha'Vak, and the only defence was to launch a furious frontal attack with all their strength. While in the grip of Ro'Kah, a Kra'vak warrior will fight like a demon, using any and all weapons to hand (natural and manufactured), but loses all concept of tactics. In personal combat, an enraged Kra'Vak will simply launch itself at its opponent, with a weapon if it has one and with mandibles and claws if it doesn't, uttering a terrible war scream. At this point, it will either win or die. This frenzied burst of energy cannot be maintained for long, and if the warrior wins the fight it will soon subside into a much more passive state as the causes of the Ro'Kah are removed and the effects of the fury drain away. As the Kra'Vak civilisation rose from barbarism and they began to develop technology, mechanised warfare and eventually spaceflight, the racial legacy of Ro'Kah remained with them. Its effects are most strongly seen in Kra'vak ground troops, where their close proximity to the enemy triggers the neurochemical release that precipitates Ro'Kah very easily. Warriors that are more remote from the "sharp end" of the fighting, such as vehicle crews and to a greater extent Starship personnel, feel some of the effects but at a slower rate and with less ferocity; they may also have the benefit of the controlling influence of a Sia'Na In a group, Kra'Vak will suffer the effects of Ro'Kah just as intensely as on their own; in some ways each feeds off the emotional stimulation of the others, and the tension rises even faster. This is true both of small groups (say, a squad-size unit of ground troops) and larger gatherings, and can even extend to entire War Families. SIA'NA (Walkers of the Path): The Sia'Na (literal translation: "Walkers of the Path", but the concept best translates as "Moderator") are a small caste of Kra'vak in which the physiological processes that cause Ro'Kah are absent or dormant. In Kra'vak pre-technic civilisation, where Ro'Kah was an accepted and necessary part of inter-Kra'Vak relations and conflict, offspring found to be Sia'Na were considered defective and either exiled from the War Family or simply killed. As the Kra'vak culture matured and their society became more sophisticated, however, it was realised that the Sia'Na held a unique place in the scheme of things - they could serve as a moderating influence on warriors consumed by the fury of Ro'Kah, making proper tactical and strategic decisions without minds clouded by the fury. The presence, words and thoughts of a Sia'Na have a calming and controlling influence on Ro'Kah-enraged warriors, which seems to be accomplished through a mixture of cultural conditioning, "religious" belief and some kind of empathic link - the Kra'Vak's own scientists and psychologists don't fully understand it themselves, any more than human science really understands the occasional manifestation of apparent psionic abilities and other paranormal phenomena in humans. To be born Sia'Na is to live a precarious life in Kra'Vak society; they are both revered and despised at the same time by the warriors, and it is not unknown for a warrior in the grip of Ro'Kah to turn on and kill a Sia'Na who tries to calm and control him. For this reason, the Sia'Na are masters of subtle diplomacy and persuasion; these skills grow with age and experience, as does the Sia'Na's ability to affect larger numbers of Kra'Vak over a wider area - some of the Sia'Na Elders can extend their influence to a huge crowd, or even by remote communications, while the younger and less adept of the caste must be in close physical proximity to the warriors they are attempting to "advise".

17

KRA’VAK TACTICS Kra’Vak do not use energy weapons, but have developed very effective Gyrobolt technology which provide the mainstay of their small arms and vehicle weapons. Mass driver weapons are used aboard starships. Shielding devices are not used, as the Kra’vak have not developed this technology yet, but considering their psyche, would be considered cowardly anyway.

KRA VAK TROOP TYPES KRA’VAK LIGHT INFANTRY WARRIOR (Light armoured, Veteran infantry) Standard infantryman. Squads are fielded in coherent groups of 8 Kra’Vak. 5 will be armed with bolt rifles (or assault rifles in some cases), one will have a heavy bolt rifle (or support bolter), and a heavy support trooper will be armed with either a standard missile launcher, or an ATGW. The 8th member of the squad is usually an infantry master leader (See below).

KRA’VAK LIGHT INFANTRY MASTER (light armour Elite infantry, leadership) MUST be included in each squad of 8 troops, the Infantry master keeps control of the warriors and directs their battle rage during combat. Armed with a particularly compact Kra’Vak Gauss rifle.

KRA’VAK AXE-HERO (Power armour, leadership, Hero) A hero figure, the An’Ax clan have been trained to high levels in hand to hand combat. Wielding heavy power axes, with leadership, swordsman and martial arts, along with the aggressive trait, the An’Ax Hero is a fearsome foe up close, but must be protected whilst at range. Power armoured, but moves as light armour. Kra’Vak power axe included in points cost and this functions as the Imperial standard power axe.

KRA’VAK SIA’NA -Path Walker (Regular, Fast Infantry, leadership) See psychological notes above. The Sia’Na calms the enraged warriors and can think clearly during heated combat situations. Adding a Sia’Na as an ‘Advisor’ in an army gives the following bonuses: When the Kra’Vak army is ‘shaken’, if the sia’Na makes a successful troop roll, the whole army may ignore the ‘enraged’ state of mind, if desired. If the combat situation would favour that the ‘enraged’ effect kick in then the player still has this option. Whilst a Sia’Na is present in a Kra’Vak army, it will never reach ‘broken’ status.

KRA’VAK POWER ARMOUR (Veteran, Power armour, leadership) Power armoured Kra’Vak troops are either fielded in squads of 3 independent troops, or individual Powered troopers are added to standard squads to fortify them. The Kra’Vak power armour is of a particularly flexible design, and although provides the same protection level as standard Human power armour, movement rate is as Light armour. Power armoured troops have leadership skill, and are of veteran troop class. 3 Weapon load-outs usually deployed: • Gauss rifle and Specialised grenade pack • Gauss rifle and head mounted missile launcher ‘pod’ • Plasma gun

KRA’VAK RIDING BEAST AND RIDER The rider is exactly as the light infantry master, but with scout skill and a laser painter as additions. The Riding beast is a terrifying, thick skinned reptilian quadraped with large mandibles and a spiked, poisoned tail. Able to emit glass- shattering roars in combat, or sneak silently into enemy territory, it is a true scout beast. Classed as wheeled vehicle for movement purposes, and having a skin equivalent to power armour, it ignores glancing hit results and 2 kill results are needed before the beast is removed from play. Has no ranged attack, but may engage in close combat at 3 inches instead of 2, counts as a veteran for any troop rolls, roll 1d10+7 in hand to hand combat, and has an additional poison barb attack, which may be used in either close combat or hand to hand combat phase. A troop roll is made, a success meaning one enemy figure within 2 inches of the figure takes a ‘high’ damage hit. If the Riding beast/ rider is selected as a target, roll 1d6 to see what is hit. If one rider 1-4= beast hit, 5,6 rider hit. If the rider and beast are within a blast template, roll for damage on both as separate units. If either the beast or rider is killed, the survivor may function normally without the other. Riding beasts with riders are considered independent units and are often used as fast scouts.

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KRA’ VAK SPECIAL RULES Kra'vak technology is similar to humans, but in some cases they are not as advanced. They favour powerful non-energy based weaponry such as rail-guns and missile launchers, and they also lack shield technology. •

Kra’Vak have a sort of reverse morale or ‘war mind’ When the Kra’vak lose ½ their morale points, instead of being shaken, they are ‘enraged’:
+1 extra bonus to HtH rolls.
-1 penalty to ranged combat rolls If the Kra’Vak army then becomes Broken ( 2d6 throw made at the end of each players own turn, 7 or more for broken army), it is instead in ‘Battle rage’:
+2 bonus in HtH rolls (on the 1d10)
-2 to all ranged combat
they may engage in close combat at a range of 3 inches instead of 2 inches.
MUST advance toward nearest enemy on the table.

•

Kra’Vak may use Bolt weapons, CPP guns, Gauss rifles, grenade and missile launchers

•

Kra’Vak MAY NOT use: Any shields, jetpacks, ECM suites, laser or beam weapons,

•

Kra-Vak infantry do not carry melee weapons usually, although their martial combat training and physical strength, mean that they have an overall HtH bonus of +1, even though unarmed.

•

Kra’Vak Power armoured troops move as Light armour.

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THE GHOULANI INTRODUCTION The Ghoulani are a cruel race of Aliens who wish to dominate the galaxy by the use of their psychic abilities and slave making technology. Using their leaders skills in mind control they uproot the populations of lesser worlds and their infamous capture teams reduce these once independent peoples to little more than mindless slaves. When a more advanced race encounters the Ghoulani they are met by laser wielding infPhugry and assault teams with heavier weapons along with rapid troops riding floating disks. Standing at nearly 6 feet tall, with blood red skin and mean black eyes, the Ghoulani dress in thick plastic overalls of a dark grey colour. Much fable and mystery surrounds this odd race, dubbed the ‘Space Ghouls’ by Humans, stories of their exploits are often used to scare human children into behaving themselves! The Ghoulani have some similarities to the Greys in both appearance and their psychology. The experimentation on and enslaving of other life forms seems to be an integral part of their societies.

DESCRIPTION 6 foot tall humanoid beings, the Ghoulani have striking red, leathery skin. Their bodies posses many joints on each limb making them very agile. Hands and feet are large, each having 4 digits, foot wear is seldom worn as Ghoulani feet have thick leathery soles. Ghoulani skin secretes a sticky substance continually, making them glisten. Ghoulani have large almond shaped black eyes, rather like the Grey Alien, but their eyesight, although able to see partly into the ultra-violet scale, is about the same as that of Humans. A high proportion of Ghoulani have very well developed psychic abilities, and the training of this trait is encouraged in the Ghoulani military.

GHOULANI TACTICS Ghoulani encountered in skirmish battles will undoubtedly try to enslave their enemies and turn them against each other by the use of their highly developed mind control devices and techniques. Regular Ghoulani weaponry is not especially advanced, probably equivalent to early Imperial standards, but with the added threat of having your own army turn against you, the Ghoulani threat is great. Mind- controlled slaves are frequently found with Ghoulani controllers operating at the rear. Although not especially effective fighters, enslaved troops do help ‘make up the numbers’ of Ghoulani attackers. Ghoulani make extensive use of energy and null shields.

ghoulani TROOP TYPES COMMANDER (Hero, Fast infantry, null shield, unarmed. Leadership, agile, intuitive) You must have one and only one commander in any Ghoulani army. Unarmed and does not directly take part in any combat directly, nevertheless, the Commander is an essential part of the Ghoulani assault team. AT least one Psycher will be present with the Commander.

PSYCHER(Civilian, Fast infantry, null shield, unarmed) Under direct supervision and protection of the Commander and officers, the psycher uses telepathic powers to connect to the minds of enemy soldiers to confuse them and prepare them for enslavement. Up to 3 psychers may be under the control of a commander. Ability throws below can be rolled for EACH psycher on the battlefield. Although of civilian grade and useless in ranged and unarmed combat, each game turn a psycher may single out either an independent figure or an infantry unit, or a ground vehicle (wheeled, tracked, hover, legged, limbed or Grav) for a psionic attack. The attack is either initiated at the start of your own player turn, or your enemies, but not both. The effect lasts for that players turn only. TO LAUNCH A PSYCHIC ATTACK: The Psycher announces which target is to be attacked at the start of the player phase (note some attack types rely on either the friendly or enemy player turn to be effective). The target makes a troop saving throw, if this fails (there may be modifiers to the roll) the psychic attack effect is as described below, if the target saving throw passes, there is no effect. Note each Psycher may make ONE psychic attack EACH gameturn. NOTES ON PSYCHIC ATTACKS: • • • •

Hidden units, snipers, enemy commanders, are ALL fair game, range is unlimited (but the unit must be on the table rather than held as reinforcement), no line of sight needed. A psycher MAY not target: Robots/ androids, Heroes, Greys, Phugs, Hibevor or Bugs- these races/ targets are immune to psychic attacks , or have developed personal defences against them. PSIONIC ATTACKS ALWAYS GET RESOLVED AT THE START OF THE PLAYER TURN and their effect lasts for that whole turn. Either a single independent figure on its own, or a squad of figures in coherence (use the troop roll of the majority troop type) is selected as the target. If an independent figure is part of a squad and moving with them, the Psycher may target either the squad or the independent figure within, which may mean that the squad splits up.

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The following table outlines the Psionic attacks available, their success criteria and the effect of a successful attack. Psionic attack

Success if…….

Opsonise (Prepare for enslavement)

Enemy fails troop roll (enemy has +1 to the dice throw)

Confuse

Enemy fails troop roll

Halt

Enemy troop roll fails

Turn against Strike dead

Enemy fails troop roll (enemy has +2 to the dice throw) Enemy fails troop roll (enemy has +2 to the dice throw)

Effect for that player turn Targeted enemy foot troops may not move or fire for that whole player turn. This attack cannot be used against enemy troop inside vehicles. Most effective when used at the start of the Ghoulani players turn, as this gives the float disk trackers or foot trackers time to move to the targets and collar them (See below) Enemy foot troop has -1 in ranged attacks and -2 to the dice throw for any hand to hand combat engaged in. Enemy squad or independent figure or ground vehicle cannot move in this turn (Note this attack is only effective if performed at the start of your enemies turn, else he won’t be moving anyway!)- note that this also stops troops who have passed their troop roll for close combat from moving as well. Hard to achieve, but if successful the targeted unit becomes under the complete command of the Ghoulani for that player turn! The entire squad (up to 4 troops), or targeted independent unit takes the equivalent of a ‘total’ damage hit.

Random d100

1-40

41-55

56-70

71-90 91+

OFFICER (Elite, Fast Infantry, Energy shield, Blast pistol, Vibro knife, Targetter, leadership skill) At least one officer must be attached to each enslaver squad. At least one must also be present in the command group, and must stay within coherence of the commander figure (usually within 1 inch) and must attack any enemy unit attacking the commander or Psycher figure, if they are within range.

CAPTURE TROOPERS There are 3 divisions of capture troopers, the Seekers, the capturers and the trackers.

•

SEEKERS: ( Fast infantry, veteran, Stun ray, Targetter, Vibro knife) Seekers use electronic thought amplification devices to seek out enemy units for enslavement. They can be used with or instead of Psychers. A seeker may direct their amplification box at an enemy unit or independent unit and ‘fire’ it each combat phase. The amplification box is classed as a Blast carbine for hit purposes and uses a burst template 1. All enemy troop within the burst must make a troop roll, or are ‘stunned’. Stunned troops are prime targets for enslavement (See below)

•

CAPTURERS: ( Fast infantry, veteran, tracking collars, Blast pistol, Targetter, Vibro knife) These are Ghoulani infantry who scout out and capture enemy troops for control. Capture teams may either be on foot, or on float-disks and when moved to within 2 inches of any enemy ‘stunned’ or ‘Opsonised’ automatically collar them. ALL such stunned enemy units within 2 inches of the capturers finish move position are collared. Collared individuals are now considered to be ENSLAVED.

•

TRACKERS: ( Fast infantry, veteran, Tracking device, Blast pistol, Targetter, Vibro knife) Having long ranged scanning and tracking device and antenna in a custom backpack, the Trackers actually control groups of enslaved individuals. Each tracker may control up to 30 enemy troops or dedicated slaves. There is no range limitation to the control, nor are any dice rolls needed, the enemy troops are simply controlled by the Ghoulani player and must do

21

their bidding. Keep a track of which enslaved troops are being controlled by each tracker, because if the tracker is killed, the troops under their control are freed. Freed troops are considered to be stunned for one more game phase, then may be moved and fired as normal. Note that free troops may once again become enslaved later in the same game.

SLAVE The ‘slave’ is an individual considered to be under long- term control of the Ghoulani and having no will or real intuition of its own, but exists merely to serve. Almost zombie-like in appearance and movement. Slaves do not count toward the morale strength of the Ghoulani army. Although very variable in race, armour and armament, a basic ‘slave’ can be considered as Fast infantry of civilian grade, armed with Vibro knife and laser pistol. Players may wish to devise more varied slaves for their armies, which must follow the following rules: • Slaves cannot classed higher than regular troop class. • Slaves cannot be fitted with higher than light armour • Slaves cannot use support or heavy weapons • Slaves cannot be given skills • Cannot use jetpacks or drive vehicles • Cannot call off-table support • Cannot be of grey, Hibevor, Bug or phug race. • Slaves have gang coherence.

ENSLAVER INFPHUGRY ( Fast infantry, veteran, Blast rifle, Energy shield, Targetter, Vibro knife) The basic infantry unit of the Ghoulani. Outfitted in grey energy absorbing tunics giving some degree of protection and the Ghoulani energy rifle (equivalent to Blast rifle), these troops help keep control of enslaved races, and provide extra firepower when dealing with more advanced races. Operate in cohesive units of 5 troops with an attached officer. Extra assault troopers may be added to squads as required.

ASSAULT TROOPER (Fast infantry, veteran, Targetter, Vibro knife, Energy shield, Blast pistol, extra weapon as below) The assault trooper is added to enslaver squads as needed dependant on scenario. A close combat trooper with swordsman skill and armed with a shock spear ( equivalent to pirate multi blades, see core rules) gives melee support, while the 2 man Rocket cannon team gives long range support and anti- vehicular offensive capability. Rocket Cannon: This weapon must be deployed before use, must have 2 men operating it, but when deployed is equivalent to a Rocket battery (See weapon charts pack, heavy weapons effect chart). If either member of the 2 man team is killed, the rocket cannon cannot be used, and the remaining trooper reverts to using a laser pistol or Vibro knife. The assault troopers may act independently or be attached to Enslaver squads.

FLOATDISK TROOPER As Enslaver Infphugry trooper, but mounted upon a floatdisk . A Ghoulani float disk moves as an Imperial Jetspeeder (See core rules), has a hull class of 1 and a forward firing blast rifle built in. Floatdisks follow all special rules for bikes/ trikes. Passenger capacity is normally 1, but 2 troops may mount if needed. Cost is 15 points.

GHOULANI SPECIAL RULES •

Enslaver technology does NOT work against Robots and androids, Bugs, Phugs, Hibevor or Greys. The other races are fair game.

•

Counters with ‘stun’, ‘opsonised’, ‘ensaved’ will be needed to keep track of units under the control of Ghoulani.

•

Ghoulani armies are difficult to play, as the process of enslavement requires several steps and a good working knowledge of the rules and good record keeping.

•

Ghoulani do not use slug or bolt based weapons.

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THE GOBLINOIDS (SHIA KHAN) And the ORKS ORKS INTRODUCTION The origins of the multitudinous Orcoid sub-species in the universe is a hotly debated subject. It is likely that the 2 main species of Orc, the Shia-Khan and the Ork do in fact have different origins. Some Scientists and Galactic Historians claim evidence to show that the Shia Khan sub-species originated on old earth of the Sol system, and were manipulated and genetically modified by the Greys, many thousands of years ago as foot soldiers. The Greys then removed them from the Sol system and used them as troops in other areas. Once the Greys found other races to manipulate, the Shia-Khan were left to their own devices and developed their own society from then onwards. The Greys and Hibevor, the eldest and most advanced races in the known universe, do not confirm or deny such rumours. The Ork subspecies have their own unique genetic origin, nothing to do with human kind (See below) The Orcs are considered the most savage of the ‘sentient’ races, even more so than the Bugs, and there is a huge dislike of the Orcs by the Greys and the Hibevor. The Orcs did not cooperate during the 10,000 year war.

DESCRIPTION: Orcs are humanoid, stand anywhere from four to eight feet in height, and have green tough skin. There are many demi-species and hybrid genetic mutants, so appearance can be quite varied. Armour tends to be crudely cut metal plates and chainmail, usually bronze in colour. Orc leaders and battlesuits often have a distinguishing colour other than bronze. Purple or red is common. Orcs are physically stronger than humans, but most are mentally and physically slower. The orcoid race is broadly divided into 2 divergent species, as described below, but there is considerable overlap in appearance, disposition and sociological behaviour. The Ork and Shia-Khan subspecies are genetically compatible and able to mate, however, their offspring are often mutated in some way, there is a high level of abortion of infants, and a wide range of individual sizes and shapes.

The Orks- Tend to be planet bound and thrive on picking the bones from the battlefield. Born scavengers and salvagers, the Orks have been known to appear in the middle of a war being fought by other races, and offer to help one side, only to treacherously turn on them after the battle and end up scavenging the spoils of war from both sides to turn a profit. Physically the Orks are generally bigger than the goblinoids but there are some exceptions to this. The Verscimnan (large Orks) and Vermusarañ (small Orks) originated from a planet where they were originally a strong, primitive primate. When their sun was dying something drastic happened. The sea on their world had a high iron content allowing very high levels of unicellular life forms, among them an Amoeboid photosynthetic organism called the Verza-ver, which were also primitively Psionic. Their protozoan reefs could pick up radio waves and they had awareness of other stars and life. The Verza-ver then infected the Verscimnan and the Vermusarañ causing their hairless skin to turn green, as the organisms migrated to the dermal layers of the Ork skin, over a period of thousands of years. This bizarre symbiosis is similar to the way in which primitive single cell organisms became the mitochondria in the cells of Humans. The Verza-ver symbiotes stimulated the primitive primates to action via increased hormone levels and strange dreams of other worlds with plentiful sun light. Inter-galactically the Verza-ver races are quite primitive they use slower than light speed travel and crew are held in a state of symbiotic hibernation. The Ork main technological advance is a steel alloy which is semi transparent allowing star ship passengers to photosynthesize even in space. On the battle field the Verscimnan and the Vermusarañ have quite primitive weapons of the segregation era or earlier (radio waves take a long time to travel) but lack any fear of the battle field as they dream constantly of possible extinction.

The Shia- Khan (Goblinoids)- are mainly space- faring and are found raiding merchant ships and cargo vessels in deep space. Main centres of population include Asteroids and huge space stations. The Shia- Khan and the Orks get on very well with one another and can often be found as mixed armies. In battles on a planetary surface, the mix will be mainly Ork, whilst in the depths of space, Shia- Khan will be the dominant type.

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ORCOID TACTICS AND WEAPONS Orcs are less technologically advanced than Humans are in the Imperial Era and their technology has followed the lines of ‘bigger is better’- many troops will be found with customised bolt rifles, missile launchers, assault weapons, shotguns and various other projectile-based weaponry, many are multi- barrelled. Although energy weapons may be used, Orcs generally dislike them, considering them less effective in the ‘cost per kill’ stakes. Energy shields are not used, nor are P-Beams or Gauss weapons. A wide variety of vehicles are found in Orc use, mainly wheeled and tracked. Grav technology is not used by the Orcs. Orc military chain of command and hierarchy of ranks is very different from the human model, with ‘leaders’ coming and going continually, even during the same battle!- there is a perpetual jostling of power amongst the Orcs, the biggest individuals continually striving to be the best and have the biggest and most powerful weapons and armour. This has severely hampered the Orc technological and social development, with many centres of population remaining pure anarchy. It has been reported from several Orc-Human battles, that the Orcs have fallen upon themselves after internal disagreement, with bemused Human soldiers looking on as the Orcs divided and started tearing into their own divisions.

GOBLINOID TROOP TYPES

(15mm.co.uk HOF Shia Khan Figure range)

Shia Khan Maligs -Goblinoid Infantry ( Regular, light armour, Heavy bolt rifle, Mono sword) The mainstay of the Goblinoid army are the ‘Maligs’, a random collection of individuals, weapons and motivations come together into some sort of dubiously effective fighting force. A ‘typical’ malig is listed here, although any combination of troop type from Civilian to Veteran (No Elites or Heroes), with any weapon and armour combination may be fielded if you have miniature models to suit- The few restrictions on equipment are listed below under special rules.

Shia Khan Heavy weapon Maligs (Regular, light armour, Double barrel support bolter, Mono sword) Basic Malig troops who have bullied or bribed their way to carrying a bigger weapon. Usual armament is the double barrel support bolter with extra ammo lugged around by the strong Goblinoid. As for the infantry, other weapons may be carried dependant on scenario, points must be adjusted accordingly.

Shia Khan Drop Troops (Power armour, Regular, Jet pack, Hvy Gyro Gun, Power glove) Although classed as regular troops, the Shia drop troops are well able to use all of the equipment they have acquired. Able to drop out of Ork Spacewagons and straight into combat, and wielding heavy guns and tough armour, they can be more than a match for similar Human equivalents.

ORK TROOP TYPES Ork BATTLELORD (Verscimnan, Veteran, Power armour, support bolt gun or Ork minigun, leadership skill, specialised grenades) Although not the largest of the Verscimnan Ork type, the Battlelords are the wiliest and cleverest and possess the best of the Orc arsenal and armour. Battlelords have leadership skill, although much of the time this does them little good….

Ork CARVER (Verscimnan, regular, fast infantry, swordsman, Carver weapon x2) Large squat Ork, specialising in melee combat, with either bladed weapons or short ranged large calibre projectile weapons (Called Carver guns) needs to be protected until within melee range as do not wear armour- limited protection afforded by tough scaly skin.

Ork OGROS (Verscimnan, regular, power armour, swordsman, Ogros weapon x2) The very largest of the Verscimnan Orks are called the Ogros, much like the Ogres of human mythology they are very slow witted, immensely powerful and easily commanded. Ogros are permitted to use hand to hand melee weapons ONLY, so must be well protected until in a position to fight at close quarters.

Ork Trooper (Vermusarañ, regular, light armour, bolt rifle, mono knife, basic grenades) The basic Ork trooper-strong, slow moving, slightly dim, but fierce and ready to die for the spoils of war.

Ork BATTLEWALKER (Medium Mech) A squat, medium mech piloted by a specially trained, ‘bright’ Ork. Carries heavy weapons and is well armoured. See vehicles below. Often fearsomely painted and very imposing.

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TYPICAL ORCOID VEHICLES In keeping with the generally assumed Sci-Fi ‘Space Ork’ image, any models you use to represent Orcoid vehicles should be ‘clunky, tough and old fashioned’ looking. Tank models from WW1 or WW2 era would look great suitably modified and painted to represent Ork tanks. The Battle walker is best represented by one of the 28mm Games workshop offerings. The 15mm Ork bike is supplied from ‘The Scene’ in the UK (See figure availability, below) Orcoid Vehicle

Points

Hull

Ork Battlewalker

203

3/3/2

Ork Battlebike

20

1/1/1

Type

Move Type

Main Gun

MM

A

2x50mm CPP

2x gyro cannon, 1 each arm. HtH capable, Mecha blades,Smoke dispensers, Sun gun x2.

1

-

Trike

-

2xFF machineguns

2

Ork Battlecart

52

2/2/2

APC

wheeled

-

Ork Tank

188

5/4/3

HT

Tracked

100mm CPP

Aux guns

HMG in pintle mount,Smoke dispensers,auto grenade launcher. Smoke dispensers, ADS, FF sun gun x2

Troops

Model GW Nobz in Mega Armour ‘The Scene’ Ork Bike

Shield

none

None

16

-

None

4

-

none

ORCOID SPECIAL RULES (Apply to both Goblinoid and Ork troops) • • • • • • • • •

•

Coherency has no place in the Orc army, figures may be placed in any formation or arrangement, usually as ‘rabbles’ of around 10 troops just to make gameplay easier. Each and every unit can thus be considered as independent. Leaders are NOT required in the Ork army, although particularly big Orcs, or those in Battlewalkers may be assigned leadership skill and allowed all the bonuses that come with leaders. Shia Khan and Vermusarañ Orks are tough and have a -1 to the damage throw roll . Ork Verscimnan are very big and tough and have -1 to the damage roll AND ignore glancing hits. Orcs love to brawl and all units have a +2 Melee combat 1d10 roll bonus. Orcs are slow and have less movement allowance than similarly equipped Humans. Orcs may not use Gauss , P-beam, or Grav technology. Shields may not be used. Orc troops may NOT be classed as Elite or heroes Orcs MAY not use off table fire support, snipers, sappers, Q-pods or reinforcements- their chain of command is not that structured to allow this, troops in close vicinity to a battle would most likely charge-in to be the first to get into the carnage. Orcs do not employ Robots or Androids- they just do not understand why a machine would be sent into a battle where there would be potential spoils of war for them to get their hands on first.

PAINTING ORCOID ARMIES Orcs should be painted with mid to bright green skin, highlighted with yellow/ green mix. Armour tends to be bronze or dull metallic grey in colour. Weapons are silver or black. Leaders, carvers and walkers should have a bright colour (suggest purple) on helmet plumes, headdress or walker armour plates.

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THE PHUGS

(Pictures courtesy of Dan Elmore, used with permission)

INTRODUCTION The "Phugs" are aliens that form "Ant" type colonies and crawl around on all sixes, Phugs are semi- sentient, but were originally assumed to have an animal level of intelligence, recent research however, suggests a ‘hive’ awareness and a developed ancestral tactical capability. Phugs are non space-faring and will be only found on a limited number of planets having a suitable climate and ground structure. 245 planets within the Human sphere of influence are known to be ‘infected’, some planets have been seeded deliberately by more advanced races during interplanetary wars, to undermine and weaken native population centres. Although superficially similar to the ‘Bugs’ and ‘Spugs’, the Phugs are nevertheless a completely different species with their own unique abilities and weaknesses. Most Phug variants establish their initial nest in soft ground, but, once established, the Phugs can extend their tunneling into harder bedrock and even plasticrete. Well established nests can do considerable damage to colonising towns and villages, and even larger cities have been known to be infested. Phugs typically have a parent colony. When the colony grows larger and needs room to expand satellite colonies are established. These satellite colonies often develop nearby, presumably because of the protection from the parent nest. Only the parent colony contains the queen(s), young larvae and workers, while the satellite contains the mature larvae, pupae, workers, and/or winged reproductives. Phugs move back and forth from parent nest to satellite nest but just a few ( less than 10 % ) will be visible foraging for food. Sometimes they can be seen moving mature larvae (white and grub-like) or pupae (papery cocoons). Phugs are generally active along Phug trails in a seasonal pattern, dependant on the climate of the host planet. These trails may be either above ground, generally well covered and having plenty of hiding places, or underground and follow natural contours and lines of least resistance in ground and bedrock, they also frequently cut across areas of Human (or other indigenous race) habitation. Traffic on these trails may be noticeable during the day, but peak traffic occurs after sunset and continues throughout the night. The colony does not produce reproductives (winged males and queens) until it is from 3 to 6 years old and contains about 2,000 workers. The natural food of Phugs consists of any digestible plant or animal debris. They have been reported to be very active after battles between other races, ‘cleaning’ away the corpses from the battlefield. They are also attracted to other sweet material such as decaying vegetation and waste food. Reproductive Phugs ( winged males and females ) leave the nest early if the nest is in a warm environment. Those living in cooler climates will not swarm until much later. The fertilized queens must then find soft ground to establish a new nest, and the cycle starts over again. The new queen could live 150 years or more and lay 70,000 fertilized eggs.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Phugs are squat, 6 legged insect- like Aliens with hard chitinous skin. They have hard, beak- like mouths lined with sharp teeth allowing rapid burrowing through soft to medium density ground. Phug diggers perform most of the work around the nests, and the Warriors keep guard and ensure the workers are productive. Warriors have large armoured fore-claws with a surprisingly powerful grip, even close to power glove strength and able to rip its way through all but the heaviest of armour. The Queen Phug is larger than the other Phugs and has four large horns on the top of its head, a clear indication of its status to other Phugs.

PHUG TACTICS: A major tactic of the Phug, is its ability to tunnel and move underground and detect the presence of troops above. Warrior Phugs then tunnel upwards and attack enemies at close range. Possessing limited ranged attacks, the Phugs must use stealth and tunnelling or risk being cut down in open ground, a strategy shared by the ‘Bug’ alien race. When present (and it is highly recommended that she is!)- the Queen Phug emits wave after wave of basic level Psionic activity, which can confuse troops and interfere with electronic apparatus. This ability has baffled Human technicians for many years now, both in its power and the lack of any effective defences against it. Due to the large size of colonies, Phug reinforcements are plentiful and do not need to be paid for (See below).

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Phug troop types QUEEN PHUG (POWER ARMOUR, ELITE) The queen phug can be considered the leader of any group involved in combat, although this Phug will not usually be present in direct combat herself. She has several unique abilities which give advantages to all phugs fielded, but also has a few weaknesses. Usually you may only field one Queen, unless the scenario is based around attacking a parent colony, in which case up to 3 may be used. The queen phug should be placed well back and well protected on the field, preferable sited as ‘tunnelled’, which is a -4 to hit. ABILITIES: • Psionic wave: This strong Psionic field extends 24 inches all around a Phug Queen, and does the following: Enemy foot troops And those in vehicles have -1 to hit and -1 inch movement. Command and recon vehicles within this field DO NOT get any bonuses due to the electronics packages they carry, lastly, ALL shields DO NOT function, any robots or Android shut down and cannot move or fire. Phugs within this field get +1 inch movement and +1 bonus to their HtH 1d10 roll. • Egg laying: At the end of each own player phase the Queen may lay one egg cluster (No roll is needed). Egg clusters must be placed within 1 inch of the Queen figure and then are used exactly as per standard Egg Cluster. • If the Queen is killed, ALL remaining Phug troop types are considered ‘shaken’ for the rest of the game, but may continue to fight – even to the last Phug, Considering the free reinforcements and extra Phugs coming from egg clusters, this can make beating a Phug army quite difficult, as with no morale to worry about, you literally have to kill all Phugs on the table to have ‘won’ the battle- this applies to the standard battle conditions, if you have specific scenarios then the victory conditions may be different. • If attacked in HtH treat the Queen as having a 1d10+7 roll, but it will usually attempt evasion rather than combat if threatened directly.

PHUG DIGGER (POWER ARMOUR, CIVILIAN) The Phug digger is a worker Phug having a chitinous , spiny carapace, sharp digging claws and surprisingly fast movement for its squat, dumpy looks. It has no ranged attack, but will attempt to get within HtH range by tunnelling its way toward potential enemy, and by using sheer numbers to over-run its enemy. Considered ‘Civilian’ class, no ranged attack, has an overall HtH modifier of +5, and engages in HtH combat normally as per core rules page 21.

PHUG WARRIOR (POWER ARMOUR, REGULAR) The phug warrior performs guard and defence duties for the Phug colony during quiet times, and attacks intruders during hostilities. The phug warriors main weapon is a massive claw lined with razor sharp hooklets. The Warrior may also spit a particularly corrosive venom at enemies. Classed as Regular troop type, HtH combat bonus is +8, acid attack uses the hit chart and cone template of the Plasma gun, but with a damage rating of ‘High’.

PHUG EGG GROUP (LIGHT ARMOUR) A small nest of eggs, just beginning to hatch out into pupae. Egg groups may either be purchased and placed at the start of a game, and/ or a queen Phug may lay them during a battle. For each group, roll 1d6 at the end of each full game turn. A roll of 1-3 does nothing, a roll of 4-5 allows the placing of a ‘digger’ phug next to the cluster, a roll of ‘6’ allows placing a ‘Warrior’ phug next to the cluster. This represents various phug varieties ‘hatching’ out of the eggs. Hatched phugs may immediately move and fight as normal.

PHUG SPECIAL RULES: Phugs have no coherence and do not need to form squads, they do not use the suppression or morale rules. All Phugs may move either over the ground (normal movement and cover rules apply), or a special tunnelling movement- this is considered to be just below the surface, can be seen by those looking (the tunnelling caused a ‘ripple’ effect’ in the soil above them), and may be done in unconstructed soil (so no tunnelling through concrete!) Tunnelling movement is at the rate of 3 inches per turn, Phugs may not attack anything whilst tunnelling, and any fire directed towards a tunnelling Phug is at -4 to hit (unlikely, but possible)- this represents the cover value of a metre or so of soil and earth above them. Use a counter to represent ‘tunnelling movement’. A Phug may switch between normal and tunnelled movement in each movement phase. FREE reinforcements!- Due to the nature of the Phugs, and the fact that any confrontation with them must be near a colony, the Phug player may roll at the end of each own player turn for free reinforcements to appear on the table edge (a table edge is rolled for randomly). 1d6 is thrown:

• •

•

1 2

One egg group One Warrior

3 4

1d4 Diggers 1d4 Warriors

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5 6

1d4 Warriors 1d6 Warriors

15mm ALIEN MINIATURE AVAILABILITY (UK) Below are suggested figures available currently for all of the Alien races presented in this supplement. These are suggestions only, and if you have suitable figures you may of course use whatever you like. Hibevor, Growwlan, Ferrapur, Centaling, Thuntra: Tabletop Games (sold by 15mm.co.uk in the UK) have alien figures that will fit these types.(The Froog, Szithk, Mrurz, Centulon and Thulg ranges respectively).

REPLICAN 15mm.co.uk HOF ‘Automatons’, and either/ in addition to Ground Zero Games Endoskeletal combat robots SG15-X03

SPUGS Spriggan Miniatures: http://www.sprigganminiatures.co.uk/2.html Make sure the figures you are ordering are 15mm (there are 28mm Spugs as well). As yet there are no 15mm spugnaughts, but you can order the 28mm heavy infantry and use them instead.

GREYS Ground Zero Games ‘Greys’ product number SG15-X02 15mm.co.uk HOF grey alien range. HOF44 Robotic Servants make great constructs.

BUGS Runners: Pendraken SF31 small runners, SF13 small creatures. Hunters: The Games WorkshopTM ‘Tyranid’TM Ripper swarms, TTG ‘GA14’ Alien (From 15mm.co.uk), Pendraken SF18,19 Terror: The Games WorkshopTM ‘Tyranid’TM Ripper swarms, TTG ‘GA14’ Alien (From 15mm.co.uk), Pendraken SF 23. Cerebrals: TyranidTM ‘epic’ scale Haruspex, Trygon, and Malefactor from GWTM. Alternatively Make your own from ‘Greenstuff’ or putty! Collosus: The Games WorkshopTM ‘Tyranid’TM Gaunts, Warriors and Genestealers make great Collosi.

K’KREE The traveller range of figures by Games design workshop or fantasy era 15mm Centaurs may suffice. You may find it difficult to source these figures.

KRA’VAK Available from Ground Zero Games at: http://www.gtns.co.uk/store1/commerce.cgi Ranges are SG15-K1, SG15-K2, and SG15-K3

PHUGS Peter Pig produce the Phug range of miniatures. They form part of ‘range 9’- for the company rules.

ORKS/ GOBLINOIDS GOBINOIDS: The Shia Khan range of 15mm figures from 15mm.co.uk is excellent (HOF 15mm range). ORKS: There are some excellent 15mm orc figures available from ‘The Scene’, at: http://www.thesceneuk.com/ to suit the Ork basic 15mm troopers and bikes. The Orc ‘Ogros’ is a 28mm figure. Use Games WorkshopTM ‘Ork Boyz’ or similar for these. The ‘Ork Battlelord’ is a 15mm ‘Big Boss’ type Ork figure, The 15mm.co.uk HOF Malig heavy weapon figure with the plummed helmet is ideal. The ‘Orc Carvers’ are Games WorkshopTM 28mm ‘Gretchin/Grots’ The ‘Orc Battlewalker’ is a Games WorkshopTM ‘ORK NOBZ IN MEGA ARMOUR’

GHOULANI Available from 15mm.co.uk in the HOF 15mm science fiction range, under ‘Ghoulani Enslavers’- you may be disappointed with the quality of the sculpting of these figures compared to other ranges.

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