Avatars of War rulebook

Terms of Use Avatars of War, SLNE makes the elctronic version of the game rules for Arena Deathmatch (e-rulebook, this file), including, without limitation, text, tables, icons, images and artwork (collectively, the content) available for free through www.avatars-of-war.com for your use subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this page. Use By downloading or using this file in any way, including, without limitation, using or downloading any content, you agree to and are bound by theTerms of Use. If you do not agree to theseTerms of Use please do not use this file or its content. By using this file, you agree not to modify, rent, loan, sell, adapt, edit, or create derivative works based on this file or its content. You have permission to print the book for your own entertainment use, and to distribute (for free) the unmodified e-rulebook.

Avatars of War presents

Fantasy miniatures gladiatorial combat

1.5

Avatars of War SLNE. Mare de Deu dels Angels, 37 Sta. Coloma de Gramenet - 08921 Barcelona - Spain Tel (+34) 933 850 326 Website: www.avatars-of-war.com Email: [email protected] All contents herein, including all artwork, images, places, things and character names are ® and/or © 2006-2008 Avatars of War, SLNE. Avatars of War, Arena Deathmatch, The Avatars of War logo, the Arena Deathmatch logo, are registered trademarks and/or ©2006-2008 Avatars of War, SLNE Copyright © Avatars of War SLNE, 2006-2009. All rights reserved.

CREDITS Johanna Acquah

Painting guide Studio McVey: Ali & Mike McVey www.studiomcvey.com

Avatars of War SLNE, Creative Direction Felix Paniagua

Cover art Des Hanley

Game design Ignasi Ferrer Felix Paniagua

Interior art Eric Chiang Imaginary Friends Studios Matt Dixon Mark Gibbons David Hammond Des Hanley Randy Humphries

Avatars of War SLNE, President

Arena Deathmatch developer Hans Verhaegen Rulebook written by Felix Paniagua Editors Matthew Dyer Denis Maddalena Graphic design & layout Huc Egea Felix Paniagua Creator of The Darklands & the Avatars of War Felix Paniagua Fiction stories Joma Laza Hans Verhaegen Miniature sculptors Pedro Fernández Ignasi Ferrer Felix Paniagua Edgar Ramos Raul Valiente Miniature painters Adam Benesz Alfonso Giráldez Ali McVey Mike McVey Fernando Morales Adam Skinner

Game & scenery templates Felix Paniagua Concept art Matt Dixon Imaginary Friends Studios Mark Gibbons Des Hanley Mark Huffman Felix Paniagua Cartography Willem and Johannes Blaeu Felix Paniagua Mould Making Luis Alemany Jeff Rodman Ben Rodman Playtesting Albert Biosca Michael Brown Robbie Davies Huc Egea Jake Flowers Raimund Gumpetsberger Marc Iglesias Claudi Paniagua Marc Plans Pere Pujol Lee Purslow Sergio Romero

FOREWORD It is quite amusing that after the entire book is written and completely laid out, the last section that needs to be finished, only a few hours before the book goes to the printer, is the “Foreword.” It would be difficult to write this section, however, without the overall perspective that you gain after everything else on the page. Developing this game and this rulebook has been, without a doubt, the biggest and most enjoyable professional project I have done in my life. It turned out much bigger than I ever would have predicted. Developing a miniatures game it is not an easy task! It was definitely worth the effort, and now that I see many of the things I only imagined made a reality in the form of a miniatures game, a world map, artwork depicting places and characters, miniatures… I feel very lucky, grateful and honoured. Countless hours of work by many talented people were necessary to make this project a reality: rule developers, illustrators, sculptors, miniature painters, writers, an editor, proofreaders, playtesters... to all of them goes my biggest thank you! Also, a very special thanks goes to my spouse, family and friends for putting up with me during this period, especially towards the last few months, when my social life has been almost totally nonexistent.

It started a day like any other. I received an unexpected email; it was from my friend Felix. It had been quite some time since I had heard from him. He asked me to accompany him in the developement of a miniatures game. I didn't imagine at that moment that the email would be the start of a great adventure. Like in all adventures worth telling (and this one definitely is), there are the intrepid and daring adventurers, Felix and Ignasi, and there are also inclemencies and obstacles that can easily lead to despair. When overcome with tenacity and will, they lead to the desired reward, neither gold nor glory or even distinction; instead, a dream come true. Arena Deathmatch is our victory, our loot, and we’d like to share it with all of you. Arena Deathmatch gathers and combines some of the best parts of roleplaying and tabletop miniature games: freedom of action (loads of it!), a cool atmosphere, a detailed setting, and the hobby side of miniatures gaming. It is a fun rule system which is accessible for every one but rewards the experienced player. It depicts with realism the bloody contests that take place in the arenas of the Darklands, a fantasy setting in every sense of the word.

My biggest thanks, however, is dedicated to you and to every gamer and collector who has shown an interest in the stuff we create here at Avatars of War. We NEVER forget that without your support Avatars of War would not exist.

I'd like to thank everyone that has collaborated to make this project a reality, as well as those persons whom I have left unattended or forsaken during this hectic time. I'd especially like to thank my family, my brother and sister, and that who was one day my better half. A very special memory for an outstanding mother that has been and will always be with me.

It's been just over four years since I first imagined how cool a gladiatorial style contest would be, where the most powerful and legendary of heroes clash in deadly combat. is simple idea led to the Darklands, the Avatars of War and Arena Deathmatch.

I hope you enjoy the game as much as I enjoyed designing it, and I hope it meets all your expectations and even exceeds them! Have fun and remember… this is only the beginning!

And this is just the beginning: the Darklands is a setting not only where bloody deathmatches take place, but epic sagas, dramas and stories will develop. All of us at Avatars of War are really looking forward to bringing them to your tabletop to share with you. In Arena Deathmatch you will find many terms you are used to if you are familiar with miniature games: stats, actions, feats, … however, I believe the mechanics will surprise you. From a very simple formula emerges an almost endless number of strategic options and situations. Arena Deathmatch is very easy to learn, but mastering it is another matter entirely… Enough talk. Let the dice roll and may the Gods of War favour you…

Felix Paniagua

anks,

Ignasi Ferrer Casanovas _________________ "e Avatars of War will attend in their uncontrollable thirst of power and glory!

TokENS PHASE 18

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRoDUCTIoN

6

WHAT IS AN ARENA? 6 WHAT IS A DEATHMATCH? 6 WHAT IS ARENA DEATHMATCH ABoUT? WHAT Do YoU NEED To PLAY THE GAME? MINIATURES 6 GAMING SURFACE 7 DICE 7 CoUNTERS & TokENS 7

A WoRD ABoUT SPoRTSMANSHIP oPEN GAME 8

7

AVATARS oF WAR SUPPoRTERS 9 BEASTS 9

6 6

ACTIoN TYPES 9 9

MoDEL DESCRIPTIoN 9 STATE TABLE 9 FEATS 11 ACTIoNS 11 CLoSE CoMBAT ACTIoNS FoRMATIoNS 11 DAMAGE & STATE oF A MoDEL MINIATURE BASE zoNES 11

RECRUITING AN AVATAR

11 11

12

13

TACTICAL ACTIoNS 20 MAGIC ACTIoNS 20 RANGED CoMBAT ACTIoNS CLoSE CoMBAT ACTIoNS

20 20

ACTIoN DESCRIPTIoN PERFoRMING AN ACTIoN

20 20

NUMBER oF PLAYERS 15 GAME DURATIoN 15 DEATHMATCH LEVEL 15 HoME oR AWAY? 15 SETTING UP THE GAMING SURFACE 16 ENTERING THE ARENA

GAME MECHANICS 17 THE RoUND PHASES 17 17

CoUNTERACTING ACTIoNS FATIGUE 23 ACTIoNS RANGE 24 CoMPULSoRY ACTIoNS oPPoRTUNITY ACTIoNS

22

24 25

TACTICS 28

GAME PREPARATIoN 15

SUPPoRTERS & BEASTS PHASE SoUL PHASE 17 CoMPULSoRY PHASE 17 TACTICS PHASE17 MAGIC PHASE 17 RANGED CoMBAT PHASE 17 CLoSE CoMBAT PHASE 18

20

DECLARING oPPoRTUNITY ACTIoNS 25 AGILITY CHECk 25 WHEN DoES THE oPPoRTUNITY ACTIoN TAkE PLACE? 25 INFLUENCE oVER THE TRIGGERING ACTIoN 25 oPPoRTUNITY ACTIoN AGAINST A CRoWD EVENT 27

12

12 12

SUPPoRTERS 13 A SAMPLE BAND 13 CoMPUTER BAND MAkER

18

WHAT IF AN AVATAR STAT IS 10? 21 SHoWING oFF 22

CREATING YoUR BAND BASE HIRE CoST TRAINING CoST

MANEUVER CHECkS

ATTACkS 18 CHECkS BETWEEN EqUAL STATS 18 oRIGINAL & CURRENT STAT VALUES 18 DIRECTIoN & SCATTER RoLLS 19 MEASURING DISTANCES 19 PENALTIES AND BoNUSES 19 RoUNDING 19

ACTIoNS 20

MoDELS 9 TYPES oF MoDELS

RULES PRIoRITY 18 EFFECTS & RoUNDS 18 STAT CHECkS 18

CoMMoN TACTICAL ACTIoNS28

16

MoVEMENT ACTIoNS 28 FACING 29 FIRST AID 29 DISENGAGE 29 SPECIAL TACTICAL ACTIoNS

MAGIC

30

31

CASTING A SPELL EMPoWERING SPELLS

31 31

DISPELLING MAGIC 32 CoUNTERACTING A SPELL

32

RANGED CoMBAT

USING ASSIMILATED SoUL SHARDS 49

33

REGENERATING THE SoUL

LINE oF SIGHT (LoS) 33 ATTACk RANGE 34 LoS MoDIFIERS 34 MAkING A RANGED ATTACk 34 TARGETING 34 TARGETING FoRMATIoNS

PSYCHoLoGY 51 FEAR 51 FEAR EFFECTS 51

HATRED

CoMMoN CLoSE CoMBAT ACTIoNS SPECIAL CLoSE CoMBAT ACTIoNS 37

BLIND RAGE EFFECTS 37

PERFoRMING CoMBAT ACTIoNS 42 RESoLVING ATTACkS & APPLYING DAMAGE 43 BLoW EFFECT 44

CLoSE CoMBAT SPECIAL SITUATIoNS 44 44 44

MoUNT FoRMATIoN ACTIoN 45 FoRMATIoN MoVEMENT 45 CoUNTERS IN FoRMATIoNS 45 JoINING A FoRMATIoN 46 ABANDoNING FoRMATIoNS 46 FoRMATIoN TYPES 46

SoUL INSTABILITY

48

52 52 52

53

GENERATING CRoWD EVENTS 53 WHo RoLLS THE CRoWD EVENT? 53 BEASTS ENTERING THE ARENA 53

ULTRA SUPPoRTERS 53 RECRUITING ULTRA SUPPoRTERS 54 SITUATING ULTRA SUPPoRTERS 54 AREA oF INFLUENCE 54 55 MoVING ULTRA SUPPoRTERS SUPPoRTERS JUMPING IN THE ARENA

56

TYPES oF TERRAIN

57

oPEN TERRAIN 57 DIFFICULT TERRAIN IMPASSABLE TERRAIN

57 57

SMALL ELEVATIoNS 57 STANDING oN ELEVATIoNS 57 FALLING DoWN & DRoPPING FRoM ELEVATIoNS

47

SoUL SHARDS 47

48

CRoWD MooD

ELEVATIoNS 57

46 46 46

48

52

51

TERRAIN FEATURES 57

FoRMATIoNS 45

USES FoR SoUL SHARDS 47 DECLARING AND RoLLING SoUL SHARDS

THE CRoWD

CRoWD EVENTS

MULTIPLE CoMBAT 42

THE PoWER WITHIN

51

RECoRDING THE CRoWD MooD VALUE CRoWD MooD MoDIFIERS 52 APPLYING CRoWD MooD MoDIFIERS

PERFoRMING CoMBAT ACTIoNS 37 RESoLVING ATTACkS 38 APPLYING DAMAGE 40 BLoW EFFECT 40

SToLEN SoUL 48

51

PSYCHoLoGY PRIoRITY

RESoLVING CoMBAT 37 SIMPLE CoMBAT 37

DAMAGING THE SoUL 48 DRAINING THE SoUL 48 FILLING THE SoUL 48 kILLING AN AVATAR oF WAR

51

51

BLIND RAGE 51

ENGAGED IN CLoSE CoMBAT?36 CLoSE CoMBAT ACTIoNS 36

STEALING SoUL

35

WoRSHIP

WoRSHIP EFFECTS

CLoSE CoMBAT36

CIRCLE FoRMATIoN SHIELD FoRMATIoN WEDGE FoRMATIoN

51

HATRED EFFECTS

35

SPoRTSMANSHIP AND RANGED ATTACkS

CoMBAT FACING 44 FLANkING 44 LoSING THE REARGUARD CLoSE CoMBAT MoDIFIERS FRIENDLY CoMBAT! 44

50

48

PLATFoRMS 59 59 STAIRS PITS 59 SCALE REFERENCE

59

qUICk REFERENCE SHEET 60 ALPHABETICAL INDEx 63

58

INTRODUCTION Avatars of War: Arena Deathmatch is a 28mm miniatures game that depicts the bloody clash between two or more bands of heroes facing off on the floor of the arena, in front of a raucous crowd that is thirsty for action, violence and even death. This deadly contest is known as a deathmatch. The most powerful heroes among the mortal races are known as the Avatars of War—heroes chosen by the gods themselves. These Avatars, in addition to being fierce combatants, are able to draw upon the sliver of divinity within their souls for the power to expand their already awesome combat abilities.

WHAT IS AN ARENA?

of War miniatures to enact memorable deathmatches. The outcome of these clashes depends on your ability to think fast, use sound tactics and take advantage of your Avatar’s strengths to overcome the Avatars controlled by your opponent. Do not underestimate the importance of having supporters in the stands. Having the crowd on your side often makes the difference between victory and defeat! The perils of the Arena stand against you. Traps, hazards and even savage beasts stand between you and your opponent. only the most skilled combatants can hope to be victorious. The door to the Arena opens, and the shouting crowd is eager to see their favourite heroes fight to the death. Will they be cheering your victory... or your death? There’s only one way to find out!

An arena is a structure designed to host public spectacles. The arena floor, covered in sand, is surrounded by gradually ascending stands where spectators closely follow the event.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PLAY THE GAME?

Arenas vary in size, from small town arenas that hold a hundred spectators to colossal arenas that can hold thousands. These coliseums, like the Drumminor Arena, are located in the largest and most important cities of the realm.

You’ll need the following to play a game of Arena Deathmatch:

The word arena comes from the Latin for “sand”. The sandy floor of the arena is where the action takes place, perfectly absorbing the blood which is spilled during the brutal contests known as deathmatches.

WHAT IS A DEATHMATCH? A Deathmatch is the term used to define a deadly game of combat between teams of two or more combatants which takes place in an enclosed area. The goal of the combatants is to kill as many opponents as possible during the deathmatch, while avoiding death themselves. The enclosed areas where deathmatches take place are the great arenas of the Darklands. The combatants are the legendary Avatars of War, the greatest warriors the world has even known.

Orc Warlord Avatar of War

WHAT IS ARENA DEATHMATCH ABOUT? In Arena Deathmatch, each player controls a band of Avatars of War as they face off on the arena floor in front of a cheering (or jeering) crowd. In this book you’ll find the rules to use Avatars 6

-This rulebook -Miniatures to represent your Avatars of War -A table or gaming surface to represent the arena -Ten sided dice (each player may need up to ten dice) -Something to measure distance (6 inch and 12 inch rulers) -A handful of tokens to indicate effects affecting your Avatars -A handful of counters (small d6 are perfect to thsi end) to indicate the number of action dice spent by your Avatars -The Avatars of War record cards -A printed or photocopied quick reference sheet and crowd events table

MINIATURES Each Avatar of War, beast or supporter that appears in a game of Arena Deathmatch must be represented by a miniature. Avatars of War produces highly detailed metal miniatures especially designed to represent the Avatars of War, beasts and supporters that appear in this rulebook. Every Avatars of War miniature is sculpted to the scale of 1/62: an average human (5,7 feet) measuring 28mm high to the top of the head. Avatars of War miniatures look even better when painted; in this rulebook there is a Painting guide that shows you how to achieve stunning paintjobs for your Avatars. You only need to paint around six miniatures to play Arena Deathmatch, so you can afford to spend lots of time on each one to make them look great on the arena floor and show off your painting skills!

Goblin Hero Avatar of War

A game of Arena Deathmatch in progress

GAMING SURFACE

COUNTERS & TOKENS

Arena Deathmatch does not come with a board; all you need to play is a flat surface at least 20x20 inches (up to 30x30 inches). This surface represents the arena where the Avatars clash.

You’ll need counters to keep track of the number of action dice spent by each Avatar. In addition, you’ll need some tokens to remind you of different effects such as those caused by spells and psychology.

An Arena Deathmatch game looks great if you play over a brown mat (to simulate the sand of the arena). You can go even further by building walls, stands and other scenery elements. Take a look at the “Building an arena” section in this book for quick and easy instructions for creating a great looking gaming surface.

You can easily make your own action dice counters. Small sixsided dice are perfect for that end. While gaming, place the dice next to the miniature; the shown face will indicate the action dice spent by that Avatar.

DICE

A WORD ABOUT SPORTSMANSHIP

Arena Deathmatch uses ten sided dice (d10) to determine the outcome of actions and attacks. In this rulebook, you’ll find 1d10 indicates the rolling of one ten sided die while 6d10 would indicate the rolling of six ten sided dice. When rolling a d10 in Arena Deathmatch, regardless of the type of roll, a result of 1 is always successful while a result of 10 (0) is a failure. The only exception to this rule is when an Avatar has a stat score of 10. This exception is explained further in the section on Actions.

on some occasions your opponent may ask you for information about your band of Avatars (special rules, stats, feats, their current state, etc). You must share that information whenever your opponent asks for it.

Sometimes you’ll need to roll as many as 10d10 for a particularly powerful attack or action!

At the end of the day, Avatars of War are well-known celebrities and their abilities and strengths are no secret to fans of the arena. A lot of testing went in to creating these rules and they have been carefully designed to cover as many situations as possible. Sooner or later, a situation may pop up where how to correctly apply the

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rules is not completely clear. In these situations, try to find a quick solution. Don’t argue with your opponent for a long time, as that breaks the pace of the game. If you can’t find a common position quickly, you should both roll a d10. The highest roll decides the outcome. When the game is finished, there is plenty of time to discuss the rule and what to do if the situation comes up again. You can even check the forums on the Avatars of War website to ask for advice

OPEN GAME This rulebook contains all the rules you need to start playing Arena Deathmatch. In addition to this rulebook, new material is created monthly to enrich the game: new miniatures, Avatars of War and ultra supporter groups to join your band, more scenery elements to spice up your arena, and new scenarios. These are just

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some of the things that take Arena Deathmatch beyond this rulebook. Stay up to date by visiting the Avatars of War website where you’ll find all the new releases for the game as well as news on tournaments and Avatars of War related events along with plenty of free downloadable stuff. The website forums are the ideal place to discuss all aspects of Arena Deathmatch: talk about the miniatures, give suggestions for future releases, discuss the rules, showcase your painting and modelling skills, and give or ask for advice. You can even find opponents close to you to clash in the arena. Welcome to Arena Deathmatch and thanks so much for joining the game!

MODELS Every combatant that appears in Arena Deathmatch is represented by a miniature which is referred to as a model for rules purposes. Miniatures can stand on different base types: small (20x20 mm), medium and large (25x25 mm), huge (40x40 mm), beast (25x50mm). on the record card of each model, you’ll find which the appropriate base for that model is.

TYPES OF MODELS There are three types of models used in Arena Deathmatch: Avatars of War, supporters, and beasts.

AVATARS OF WAR The Avatars of War are the greatest heroes that the world has ever known. An Avatar is a dangerous opponent who has highly trained skills and a long history of combat. To honour their martial skill, they have been granted a sliver of immortality by the gods themselves.

SUPPORTERS Just like any fans at a sporting event, supporters are heavily invested in their Avatars of choice. So invested, in fact, that they might even jump out of the stands and on to the sands of the arena itself! The supporter probably won’t stick around long (after all, even the greatest frenzy won’t last when face to face with someone like a 1200lbs orc Warlord) but while they’re running around the arena under your control, they can be quite useful.

BEASTS

This description is available i the model’s record card . The record card is composed of the model’s description (size, homeland, ...), the state table, and a description of its special rules, feats, and actions.

Dark Elf Prince Ag 3 4 St 3 4 Mi 3 4 Mov 1 2 Pop 3 4 CS 3 4 RS 3 4 Arm 3 4

5 5 5 2 5 5 5 5

10 10 10 4 10 10 10 10

BHC 139 gc Soul Stolen 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6

Tactical actions Running Thrust Throw Sand Ranged Combat Actions Crossbow Shot ♥

Formations Wedge, Circular, Shield

Every model has a descirption listing its stats, feats, actions and special rules that may or not improve its performance on the arena.

CD 4 8 9 8 9 8 9 3 4 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9

Feats Precise Strike Precise Shot Deflect Arrows

Beasts are not controlled by players, as they are bloodthirsty, hungry creatures that attack almost any combatant they find in their way.

MODEL DESCRIPTION

AD 4 6 7 6 7 6 7 3 3 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7

Special rules Windwalker Hatred (Light Elves)

Close combat actions Flank Win Rearguard Feint

Beware! Some beasts are powerful enough to pose a challenge for even an Avatar of War.

e record card is all you need to control a model in a game of Arena Deathmatch.

Example: Dark Elf Prince

Beasts are monstrous animals that are thrown into the arena for the enjoyment of the crowd. This normally happens when the crowd gets bored of the fight taking place.

Every beast has a description in this book. There you’ll find guidelines on how to generate its actions in the arena.

on the arena deathmatch website (www.avatars-of-war.com) you’ll find the record cards for each released Avatar of War, beast and supporter.

STATE TABLE The state table gives a numeric description of the model’s different statistics (stats). It also records the current state of the model’s statistics, as these change throughout a game of Arena Deathmatch. The higher the value (on a scale of 1 to 10), the better the stat. These values are used on several types of rolls throughout the game. The header of the statistic table lists the number of action dice and combat dice as well as the base hire cost.

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Header

Descriptive stats

Action Dice (AD): Action dice are used to perform and counter actions. This is the number of action dice a model can spend each round. When all action dice have been spent, the model cannot perform or counter any more actions until the next round.

Movement (Mv): The distance, in inches, that a model can move by walking.

Combat Dice (CD): Combat dice are used to perform and counter close combat actions and to attack in close combat. This is the number of combat dice a model can spend each round. When all combat dice have been spent, the model cannot perform or counter any more close combat actions or attacks until the next round. Base Hire Cost (BHC): The base hire cost indicates the amount of gold coins (gc) required to include an Avatar in your band. The more powerful an Avatar is, the more gold coins he charges for his services.

Popularity (Pop): Measures the respect and admiration that the crowd and other combatants have for a model. Combat Skill (CS): Measures how skilled a model is in close combat. Ranged Combat Skill (RS): Measures how skilled a model is using missile weapons in ranged combat. Armour (Arm): Indicates the type of armour a model wears. The higher the number, the better the protection from damage. This stat includes both normal and magic armour.

Soul stats Physical stats Agility (Ag): Measures the quickness, coordination and reflexes of a model. Strength (St): Indicates the physical power of a model. The stronger a model is, the harder it attacks. It is also a reference for the model’s physical size and weight. Mind (Mi): Indicates the mental capacity of a model. It is especially important for magic-users, as it directly affects the power and range of spells and the ability to dispel other’s magic. It is also used to resist the effects of a spell.

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Soul: Measures the power of an Avatar’s immortal soul. Stolen Soul pool: Indicates the number of stolen soul shards the Avatar has (taken or received from other Avatars of War).

SPECIAL RULES Special rules are characteristics or abilities that modify rules for a

model. Special rules are always in effect. Examples of special rules include Hatred and Toughness.

faces forward. The rear is opposite this. The other two sides are called flanks.

FEATS

The miniature box is a three dimensional box measured from the square base up to the top of the miniature’s head.

Feats are notable abilities that give models particular benefits. Feats are always in effect. Examples of feats include Mighty Blow and Precise Shot.

ACTIONS Almost everything a model can do is called an action. Common actions are available to all models (e.g. walking, running, charging) while special actions are available only to specific models (e.g. Warcry, Provoke Crowd). Actions are classified as tactical, magical, ranged combat or close combat. Favoured actions An Avatar's favoured action is highlighted on the model’s record card using the following symbol: ♥. When no favoured action is indicated, the Avatar favoured action is Charge.

CLOSE COMBAT ACTIONS Almost everything a model can do in close combat is called a close combat action. Common close combat actions are available to all models (e.g. standing up while in close combat) while special close combat actions (e.g. flanking or feigning) are available only to specific models.

Base zones and box of a miniature

FORMATIONS Some Avatars know combat formations and can call other Avatars to join one with him. Being in a formation gives special advantages. For example, the circular formation eliminates flanks and rears from Avatars so that they can only be attacked from their front.

DAMAGE & STATE OF A MODEL Damage in Arena Deathmatch is reflected directly on the model state table. Every time a model suffers damage one of its stats is affected, decreasing in value. This means that damage taken by a model directly affects its performance in the arena as its stats decrease during the deathmatch. When all three physical stats (Ag, St, Mi) decrease to their lowest value, the model is dead or too wounded to carry on fighting and is removed from play.

MINIATURE BASE ZONES Miniature bases have four sides: the front, rear and two flanks. The front is the side of the base where the miniature’s head 11

CREATING YOUR BAND Before you create a band, decide on a Deathmatch level or special scenario for your game which states the total amount of gold coins (gc) for each player. There is one rule to follow when composing your band: the sum of the cost of your Avatars (BHC plus training cost) plus the cost of bringing ultra supporters to the event has to be equal or less than the total amount of gold stipulated by the Deathmatch level or scenario.

RECRUITING AN AVATAR Recruiting and training your Avatars is an important part of Arena Deathmatch. Spend some time considering the possibilities and combinations available. You can hire several Avatars with little training, or perhaps you’d like fewer models with more trained skills.

BASE HIRE COST The base hire cost (BHC) of an Avatar indicates how many gc you have to spend to recruit that Avatar. To recruit an Avatar, subtract his BHC from your current amount of gold coins. once you have recruited all your Avatars, you are ready to begin their training.

TRAINING COST Training an Avatar gives you options to upgrade some of his features, but at the cost of valuable gold. Each Avatar record card specifies which features can be upgraded and at what cost. When a number preceded by a “+” appears in the Avatar record card, it means that feature can be trained at the cost of that number of gold coins. If a feature shows “+5”, it can be trained at the cost of 5 gold coins. Features that do not show that symbol cannot be trained for that Avatar.

Example: Dark Elf Prince Dark Elf Prince Ag 3 4 St 3 4 Mi 3 4 Mov 1 2 Pop 3 4 CS 3 4 RS 3 4 Arm 3 4 Special rules Hatred Windwalker

5 5 5 2 5 5 5 5

AD 4 6 6 6 3 6 6 6 6

CD 3, 4 at +6 +4 8 9 7 8 9 +4 8 9 3 3 4 7 +2 9 +4 8 9 7 +5 9 7 8 9

BHC 139 gc 10 Soul Stolen 10 0 0 10 1 1 4 2 2 10 3 3 10 4 4 10 5 5 10 6 6

Feats (+5) Precise Strike (+5) Precise Shot (+5) Deflect Arrows Tactical actions Throw Sand (+4) Running Thrust Ranged combat actions Crossbow Shot Close combat actions Flank Win Rearguard (+4) Feint Formations Shield, Wedge, Circular Looking at the Dark Elf Prince State table we see that the following stats can be upgraded: Agility (Ag) from 6 to 7 at a cost of 4gc Mind (Mi) from 6 to 7 at a cost of 4gc Popularity (Pop) from 7 to 8 at a cost of 2 gc Combat Skill (CS) from 6 to 7 at a cost of 4 gc Ranged combat Skill (RS) from 7 to 8 at a cost of 5 gc Also the Dark Elf Prince can gain one extra CD at a training cost of 6gc The Dark Elf Prince can learn the following feats: Precise Strike at a cost of 5gc Precise Shot at a cost of 5gc Deflect Arrows at a cost of 5gc The Dark Elf Prince can learn the following actions: Running Thrust at a cost of 4gc Finally, the Dark Elf Prince can learn the following close combat actions: Feint at a cost of 4gc Training a Dark Elf Prince to his full potential will cost a total of 48gc. The training cost of an Avatar is the sum of the cost of each

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upgraded feature. To train an Avatar, subtract his training cost from your current amount of gold.

SUPPORTERS After recruiting your Avatars, you may want to invest in attracting supporters. Supporters won’t win any deathmatches by themselves, but that can easily be the difference between victory and defeat by tipping the balance of the deathmatch in your favour if your Avatars can get them involved.

A SAMPLE BAND

encourage our Avatars, as well as discourage our enemy’s band. We decided (since we have so many dwarfs in our band) that the Dwarven Ironfists are a good choice. We also added in some alcoholic drinks for our supporters in order to get them in the mood for a deathmatch! Dwarven Ironfists Alcoholic drinks Total Cost Amount of gold left

50 gc 9 gc 59 gc 2 gc

At this point we’ve spent all our gold coins and have recruited and trained our Avatars as well as attracted a group of supporters to the event.

We’ve recruited the following band for a Regional Deathmatch where each player has 750gc at his disposal for recruiting and training his Avatars and attracting supporters. The first thing to do is recruit your Avatars. To do so, we subtract their BHC from the amount of gc (750). The first Avatar we recruit is a Light Elf Prince. His BHC is 142gc, so we have 608gc left. Next, we hire two dwarf berserkers who have a BHC of 127gc each. This leaves us with 354gc. We continue to hire Avatars for our band. The following list shows our complete band of Avatars and their BHCs. Dwarf Berserker Light Elf Prince Barbarian Hero Dwarf Berserker Dwarf ThunderLord Total cost Amount of gold left

127gc 142gc 121 gc 127 gc 117 gc 634 gc 116gc

COMPUTER BAND MAKER The fastest way to create a band of Avatars is to use the Arena Deathmatch Band Maker. You can download it for free from the Arena Deathmatch website. It does all the math for you and also lists all available training options for each Avatar.

Now it’s time to train our Avatars. We haven’t spent too much on training a single Avatar in order to be able to train all of them in the few important features we need for our gaming strategy. The following list shows the amount spent on training each Avatar, the total training cost and the amount of gold coins left. Dwarf Berserker 7 gc Light Elf Prince 14 gc Barbarian Hero 9 gc Dwarf Berserker 7 gc Dwarf ThunderLord 18 gc Total training cost 55 gc Amount of gold left 61gc We’ve saved 61 gc for attracting supporters to cheer and 13

The Band Maker is updated when necessary with all the new Avatars, beasts, and supporters along with rule updates so you can be 100% sure that your Avatars are up to date if you use it to create your band. once your band is ready you can print it in an easy to use roster sheet, or simply fill in your Avatar’s record cards accordingly.

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GAME PREPARATION Before starting the game, players agree on a Deathmatch level which determines the size of the arena and the gold coins that each player has to hire and train their Avatars. There are also particular scenarios which state their own Deathmatch level (you can download several from the Arena Deathmatch website). Players can now create their band with the given gold coins. Next, set up the gaming surface that represents the arena where the deathmatch takes place. Players then deploy their Avatars and the match begins! The deathmatch finishes when a player destroys all his opponents Avatars, when a predetermined number of rounds or a set amount of time has been played, when the objectives of a scenario have been met, or even if the crowd becomes so frenzied there is no option left but to end the fight!

NUMBER OF PLAYERS Arena Deathmatch is normally played by two players. However, all the rules work perfectly with three or more players divided into two teams. Whatever the number of players, each player controls one band of Avatars. When there are more than two bands of Avatars in a deathmatch, all bands are organized into two teams. Players on the same team play cooperatively against the other team’s players. Gold coins are split evenly amongst the players on a team. one of the teams is the home team, while the other is the away team.

In the event that you reach the end of a deathmatch played with a time duration, the current round must end before finishing the deathmatch. You cannot end a deathmatch in the middle of a round.

DEATHMATCH LEVEL Before a game, agree to a Deathmatch level or special scenario with your opponent. If you choose to play a scenario note that the special scenario rules have priority over the Deathmatch level rules when creating your band. Each Deathmatch level assigns a number of gold coins that each player can spend on hiring and training their Avatars and attracting supporters. The table below shows the different Deathmatch levels and the number of gold coins available at each level. Note that this table is provided as a guideline; you can choose any amount of gold coins you’d like for you deathmatch as long as your opponent agrees.

HOME OR AWAY? Before setting up the gaming surface, decide which player represents the home team and which represents the away team. If there are more than two players, there should be an equal number of players on each team. If that is not possible, then the odd player should play on the away team (to offset the home advantage). There are several ways to determine which player is playing at home. The players can agree amongst themselves who is playing home and who is playing away. A good rule of thumb is that whoever built the Arena is fighting at home.

Arena Deathmatch games have a predefined game duration. Select a number of rounds to play, or a deathmatch duration (e.g. 2 hours).

Alternatively, you can randomly roll to determine the home team. once it has been determined how many player should be fighting at home and how many away, every player rolls a d10. The players with the highest results are fighting at home. In the case of a tie, the tied players reroll until teams are established.

At the end of the deathmatch, if no player has won by eliminating the other player’s band of Avatars or by meeting scenario objectives, the crowd mood value (see “The Crowd”) determines the winner. If the crowd mood has a positive value, then the home players have won the deathmatch. If the crowd mood is a negative value, the away players have won. If the crowd mood value is zero then the result of the deathmatch is a draw.

Example: Five Players are Taking Part in a Deathmatch. Two players play at home and three players are away. The five players each roll a d10, resulting in 9, 7, 7, 3 and 3. The two highest rolls play at home, so the player who rolled a 9 is on the home team. The two players who each rolled a 7 reroll, since only one of them can play on the home team. They reroll a 6 and a 4. The player who rolled a 6 is on the home team. The player who rolled a 4 is on the

GAME DURATION

Deathmatch level

Total gold

Avatars of War per band*

Arena size†

Scenery pieces

Village (Local Deathmatch)

600-700

4-5

25x20 inches

5-7

Town (Regional Deathmatch)

701-800

4-6

25x25 inches

6-7

City (Mark Deathmatch)

801-900

5-7

25x30 inches

7-8

Capital (National Deathmatch)

901-1100

6-8

30x30 inches

8-10

* e number of Avatars of War per band is just an indicative number (assumes only one ultra supporter group is hired) † e arena size is an indicative size for two player games. If there are more than two bands arenas should be bigger. Different shaped arenas (such as a circular one) should be of the largest size that still fits inside the indicated arena size. 15

away team. The players who tied at 3 do not need to reroll because there is only room left on the away team. The crowd reacts different towards away Avatars. The crowd is fickle though, and their support can shift based on the performance of the Avatars. See “The Crowd” for more information on how this affects a deathmatch.

If you’d like to place them randomly you can follow this procedure: for each scenery element roll a scatter roll and measure the distance and direction indicated from the central point of the arena. Alternatively you can create your own method for randomly placing the scenery elements. Scenery elements cannot be placed over entrance elements.

SETTING UP THE GAMING SURFACE It is now time to set up the gaming surface. The players fighting at home will deploy the arena’s basic structure: the gaming mat, the arena walls and the scenery elements where the different bands and beasts will enter the arena (normally a door or pit for each band and one door or pit for the beasts). There must be at least one entrance element for each band involved in the deathmatch and one entrance element for the beasts. Home bands can choose their entrance element, only after all scenery pieces have been placed, while away bands entrance elements should be randomly assigned to the different away bands. The Deathmatch level states a range specifying the number of scenery pieces (apart from the entrance elements) allowed. The home players will choose the final number of scenery pieces from that range. It is time now to deploy these scenery elements on the sand. Players fighting at home may choose up to two scenery pieces to place where they choose, before any other piece of scenery is placed on the sand. In case the arena is already modelled and has some fixed scenery pieces, subtract those pieces from the two the home players can choose to place. Next the rest of the scenery pieces are placed. our recommendation is to place the different elements to try to recreate a strategically and visually appealing arena. All players should be collaborative on that task and these pieces shouldn’t be placed to disadvantage any of the players.

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ENTERING THE ARENA Home bands can choose their entrance element, while away bands’ entrance element should be randomly assigned. The Avatars fighting away are the first to enter the arena. Each away Avatar enters the arena from their designated entrance element by performing a Walk action. As you’ll discover while reading this rulebook and playing deathmatches, the crowd plays a very important role in Arena Deathmatch. At the beginning of the game, the crowd mood has a value of 0. After all the away avatars have entered the arena, the crowd “welcomes” the away team with boos and jeers (or even worse!). This gets the crowd excited and its mood goes up to 1 and the first crowd event has to be generated. This crowd event will be generated by the home player. See “The crowd” for more details on the crowd mood and crowd events descriptions. Next, the Avatars fighting at home enter the arena from their designated entrance element by performing a Walk action. The deathmatch has begun!

GAME MECHANICS Arena Deathmatch is played in a sequence of game rounds. Each round is divided into eight different phases. Each player goes through the round phases alternatively (except the close combat and tokens phases, which take place for all players simultaneously). When all players have gone through all of the round phases, the round ends and the next round begins. At the beginning of every round, you have to determine the round initiative, which player goes first on all the current round’s phases. Each player rolls a d10. The highest number goes first, the second highest second, and so on. Remember, before advancing to phase two, all players have to have gone through phase one in the order established by the initiative rolls. The same applies for all phases except close combat, which is taken simultaneously by all players involved in combat, and the tokens phase, which is taken simultaneously by all players.

THE ROUND PHASES The round is divided into eight different phases: 1. Supporters & Beasts 2. Soul 3. Compulsory 4. Tactics 5. Magic 6. Ranged Combat 7. Close Combat 8. Tokens Each player goes through phases 1 to 6 taking turns as established by that round’s initiative rolls. Phase 7 and 8 are taken simultaneously by all players.

SUPPORTERS & BEASTS PHASE During this phase each player can move each one of their ultra supporter groups, activate up to one feat of their supporter groups and generate the actions of one beast (the one he chooses to). If, after all players have gone through this phase, there are still unactivated beasts, the players will alternate activating beasts and generating their actions based on the round’s initiative until all beasts in the arena have been activated.

SOUL PHASE During this phase each player can regenerate their Avatars souls if they wish to. Also, each Avatar who has stolen soul shards must make a soul stability check. Soul instability effects are applied immediately after each check has been made.

COMPULSORY PHASE During this phase each player checks his models for any compulsory actions that apply as a result of any effect, like magic or psychology effects, or an action’s outcome effects. Models required to perform a compulsory action must perform that action using at least two action dice (no matter the type of action) during this phase. When all compulsory actions have been performed, the next player (in initiative order) goes through the Compulsory phase. Models can be activated in any order desired.

TACTICS PHASE During this phase each player can order his models to perform different tactical actions using action dice. When all action dice have been used, or the player states he is done, the next player (in initiative order) goes through the Tactics phase. Models can be activated in any order desired. A model does not need to perform all of its tactical actions at one time. Players can go back and reactivate a model that has already been activated to perform more tactical actions as long as it is still that player’s turn in the Tactics phase.

MAGIC PHASE During this phase, each player can order his models to perform magic actions using their action dice. When all action dice have been used, or the player states he is done, the next player (in initiative order) goes through the Magic phase. Models can be activated in any order desired. A model does not need to perform all of its magical actions at one time. Players can go back and reactivate a model that has already been activated to perform more magical actions as long as it is still that player’s turn in the Magic phase.

RANGED COMBAT PHASE During this phase, each player can order his models to perform ranged combat actions using their action dice. When all action dice have been used, or the player states he is done, the next player (in initiative order) goes through the Ranged Combat phase. Models can be activated in any order desired. A model does not need to perform all of its ranged combat actions at one time. Players can go back and reactivate a model that has already been activated to perform more ranged combat actions as long as it is still that player’s turn in the Ranged Combat phase.

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CLOSE COMBAT PHASE

The player rolls 1d10 obtaining a result of 5.

During this phase, all players order their combating models to perform close combat actions and make attacks using their combat dice. When all combat dice have been used, or all combats have been resolved, the phase ends.

The roll is then a doubly successful roll, as it is equal to the Dwarf Thunderlord CS current value.

TOKENS PHASE

This means that the Dwarf Thunderlord passes the check and detects the Goblin Hero. He can then turn to face his opponent.

During this phase all players remove action dice and combat dice counters. Remove any token that refers to an effect or spell that expires this turn. Update, if necessary, any effect or spell tokens.

In case the check would have failed, the Dwarf Thunderlord would have been surprised and attacked from his rearguard during this round close combat phase.

RULES PRIORITY

MANEUVER CHECKS

Whenever two rules conflict because both describe a different resolution for the same circumstances, apply the following rule: the more specific rule is the rule which has priority.

EFFECTS & ROUNDS Some effects, like magic or psychology, last for one or more rounds. Effects are always applied immediate in Arena Deathmatch. An effect that lasts for one round is active for the rest of the current round only. An effect that lasts two rounds is active for the rest of the current round and the entire following round. Example: Applying Effects A Goblin Hero throws sand in the face of a Barbarian Hero. As a result of the action the Barbarian Hero suffers a -2 penalty for one round. As effects are applied immediately, the Barbarian Hero suffers the penalty immediately and until the end of the current round.

STAT CHECKS In some game situations a model makes a check against a given stat. Stat checks involve rolling 1d10 and comparing the result to the checked stat.

Maneuver checks (MC) are a particular type of stat check (against the Agility (Ag) stat). A maneuver check involves rolling up to 3d10 and looking for the result on the manoeuvre check table. Successful check rolls (Ag) 0 1

Maneuver check (over open terrain*) result The model is knocked down. The model moves 1 inch in a random direction, and faces in a random direction.

2+ The model keeps the position. *All maneuver checks over difficult terrain will be taken with one less die than they would over open terrain, but always 1d10 can be rolled.

ATTACKS During a deathmatch, several different types of attacks take place. All attacks in Arena Deathmatch (close combat attacks, magic attacks, ranged combat attacks and all other attacks types such as a slam attack or an attack due to a collision) have an associated attack strength, damage inflicted and a blow effect. When resolving ANY type of attack, follow this sequence: 1. Determine the attack strength. 2. Apply the inflicted damage to the victim. 3. Apply the blow effect to the victim.

If the roll is less than the current value of the stat, it is successful.

CHECKS BETWEEN EQUAL STATS

If the roll is equal to the current value of the stat, it is doubly successful and counts as two successful rolls.

on some occasions you will compare two models stats to make a decision. For example, the Agility stat is compared to determine close combat initiative.

If the roll is greater than the current value of the checked stat, it is not successful. If one or more successful rolls are made, the check is passed. otherwise, the check is failed. Example: Combat Skill check A Dwarf ThunderLord makes a Combat Skill check to detect a Goblin Hero who is attacking him from his rearguard. The check stat is Combat Skill (CS). The Dwarf Thunderlord’s CS stat current value is 5.

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If both stats are equal, each player should roll a d10 to break the draw. The player who rolls highest wins initiative. In case of a tie when rolling, roll again.

ORIGINAL & CURRENT STAT VALUES When called on to make a decision based on a model’s stat values, unless otherwise noted use the current stat value (the value that stat has at the moment and updated with any active modifiers), not the original value (the value that stat has at the beginning of

the game). When the original stat value is to be used for a check, it is explicitly stated.

miniature is considered to be within a distance when any part of its box is within that distance.

DIRECTION & SCATTER ROLLS

PENALTIES AND BONUSES

When you need to determine the direction of an event, you make a direction roll. To make a direction roll, roll a d10. The result of the direction roll is whatever way the pointed end of the top of the d10 is facing. The die score itself is not used; only the direction the top of the die is facing is important.

When applying a penalty or bonus to a model, you modify its available action and combat dice. For example, a penalty of -1 subtracts one action die and one combat die, while a penalty of -2 subtracts two action dice and two combat dice. A bonus of +1 adds one action die and one combat die, while a bonus of +2 adds two action dice and two combat dice. Unless otherwise specified a penalty or bonus lasts for one round.

ROUNDING When required to divide a number to make a decision, unless specified to the contrary, always round any results with a fraction up.

A direction roll When called on to determine a move with a random direction and a random distance, you make a scatter roll. This is the same as a direction roll, but the die score indicates the distance moved while the direction the die is pointed indicates the direction moved.

A scatter roll

MEASURING DISTANCES In Arena Deathmatch, distances are not measured until after declaring an action (the outcome which depends on a target being in range). When measuring the distance to or from a miniature, measure to or from any edge of the miniature box. This means that a 19

ACTIONS Almost everything a model does in Arena Deathmatch takes place in the form of an action. Walking, running, charging and shooting are all actions.

Ranged Combat phase. Unless stated to the contrary in the action description, ranged combat actions cannot be performed while engaged in close combat or against a model engaged in close combat.

CLOSE COMBAT ACTIONS

Some actions are available to all models. These are called common actions. They are described in different areas of this book. Most actions are available only to specific models and are known as special actions. Special actions are described in the model’s record card.

Close combat actions are performed during the Close Combat phase. These actions differ from other action types because they are performed by spending combat dice rather than action dice.

Whenever a special action rule conflicts with a common action rule, the special action rule has priority over the common action rule.

on a model’s record card you’ll find a description for each special action the model can perform. An action description is composed of:

An action is performed rolling action dice (AD). The more action dice used to perform an action, the greater its chances of success. After performing an Note that no action can be action do not forget to successful unless at least one place the required AD action die is rolled to perform it. counter next to the

-The stat used to perform the action, identified by thd dice icon -The action’s range (if any), identified by thd ruler icon -The different outcomes of the action, identified by the lightning icon. The outcomes are classified upon the number of successful dice rolled when performing the action.

A model can spend all of its action dice every round to perform and counteract actions.

miniature, to update the number of action dice spent during the round by this model.

This means the number of actions a model can perform in one round depends directly on how many action dice it spends on each action. The more action dice a model spends on each action, the fewer action dice it has to perform other actions. Alternatively, you can choose to spend action dice on more actions, but each action is less likely to be successful with fewer action dice devoted to that action.

ACTION TYPES In Arena Deathmatch there are four different types of actions:

TACTICAL ACTIONS Tactical actions are performed by models to develop tactics during the round. Tactical actions are performed during the Tactics phase. Unless stated to the contrary in the action description, tactical actions cannot be performed while engaged in close combat or against a model engaged in close combat.

MAGIC ACTIONS Magic actions involve casting spells. Magic actions are performed during the Magic phase. Unless stated to the contrary in the action description, magic actions cannot be performed while engaged in close combat or against a model engaged in close combat.

RANGED COMBAT ACTIONS Ranged combat actions involve the use of ranged combat weapons. Ranged combat actions are performed during the 20

ACTION DESCRIPTION

PERFORMING AN ACTION To perform an action, declare the number of action dice (AD) the model is going to spend to perform that action. Stating which action the model is going to perform and how many action dice are going to be used is called declaring an action. The more action dice the model uses, the more successful the action tends to be. Roll 1d10 for each AD used to perform the action and compare the results of each roll to the action stat’s current value.

Each AD roll that is lower than the action stat’s current value is successful. Each AD roll that is equal to the action stat’s current value is doubly successful and counts as two successful rolls. Each AD roll that is higher than the action stat’s current value is a failed roll. Count the total number of successful AD rolls, look for the action outcome that corresponds to that number of successful rolls, and apply that action outcome immediately. Example: Performing a Warcry action A player wants his Orc Warlrod to intimidate his opponents. He chooses to perform the action Warcry using three AD. The action’s description is as follows: Popularity (Pop) 4 inches 2: No effect | 3: All opponents in range are afraid of the Orc Warlord for the current round. The Orc Warlord’s Popularity stat is 8. The player rolls 3d10 obtaining the following AD rolls: 4, 9 and 8. The first AD roll is a 4: a successful AD roll as it is less than the Orc’s Pop. The second AD roll is a 9: a non successful AD roll as it is higher than the Orc’s Pop. The third AD roll is an 8: a doubly successful AD roll as it is equal to the Orc’s Pop. Thus, the total number of successful AD rolls is 3. Looking at the action outcome, the result (for 3 successful AD rolls) is that all opponents in a radius of 4” are afraid of the Orc Warlord for two rounds. Note that the first entry of the action’s outcome describes the outcome to be applied for the stated number of successful AD rolls or less, while the last entry describes the outcome to be applied for the stated number of successful AD rolls or more. For example, on the following outcome,

Popularity (Pop) n: Crowd mood + n The Goblin’s Hero Popularity stat is 6. The player rolls 2d10 obtaining the following AD rolls: 4 and 8. The first AD roll is a 4: a successful AD roll as it is less than the Goblin Hero Pop. The second AD roll is an 8: a non successful AD roll as it is higher than the Goblin Hero Pop. Thus, the total number of successful AD rolls is 1 (n=1 on the action outcome). Looking at the action outcome we see that the result is that the Crowd Mood goes up one point. once a model starts performing an action, the AD allocated for that action are spent, even if the model does not complete that action, voluntary or not. Example: An Unfinished Action A player wants to move his Orc Warlord to slam a Necromancer. He starts to move the Orc Warlord, but then realizes that a slam would be a mistake. He can stop the Orc Warlord‘s movement at any time, but the three action dice he allocated for the Slam action are lost. When an action requires the use of a specific weapon (e.g. Running Thrust, which requires the Avatar to be waving his sword) it is automatically supposed that the Avatar is waving that weapon. In Arena Deathmatch there is no need to specify the changing of weapons.

1:No effect | 2:Attack of strength 7 1: states the outcome when obtaining one or less succesful rolls, while 2: states the outcome when obtaining two or more succesful rolls. on several action’s outcome you may notice the letter “n”. Replace the “n” with the number of successful action dice rolled when performing an action. For example, on the following outcome : Attack of strength 5+n , if you obtain two successful AD rolls, replace the “n” with “2.” This gives you an attack that is an attack strength of 7 (5+ 2). If you get three successful rolls you get an attack strength of 8 (5+3). Example: Performing a Provoke crowd action A player wants his Goblin Hero to try to encourage the crowd in his own interest. He then chooses to perform the action Provoke crowd using two AD. The action’s description is as follows: 21

WHAT IF AN AVATAR STAT IS 10? Sometimes Avatars become so powerful that one or more of his stats has a value of 10! Upon performing an action, check or attack, rolling a 10 (0) on the die can mean a non successful roll (as a result of 0 is always considered a failure) or a doubly successful roll (as the roll is equal to the Avatar stat). In these cases, for each obtained result of 10, roll another d10. If the dice result is an even number, the roll is considered a doubly successful roll. If the dice result is an odd number the roll is considered a nonsuccessful roll. This rule is applied to all types of actions, including combat actions, and attacks.

SHOWING OFF Sometimes Avatars are so confident in their actions that they try to impress the crowd by adding a flourish or other attractive but unnecessary movements. To perform a show off action the Avatar has to perform the action as normal with a modifier of -1 to the action stat. A show off action must be declared when the player declares the number of action dice to be used. If the action outcome or an event which is a direct consequence of the action (like an Avatar death) modifies the crowd mood, then the crowd mood is modified by an additional point. If the outcome modifies the Avatar’s Popularity (Pop) stat, increase that stat by one additional point.

it also affects the action’s target. In this case, the model who is performing the action is the attacker and the models affected by the action are the defenders. The defenders can use their action dice to modify the action’s outcome. This happens during the attacker’s tactical After counteracting an phase, on the attacker’s turn. action do not forget to place Counteracting the attacker’s the required AD counter action can be done by the next to the defender(s) defender during the attacker’s miniature(s), to update the turn. number of spent AD by the model(s).

Every successful AD rolled by the defenders is subtracted from the attacker’s successful AD rolls. The total number of successful AD rolls is the attacker’s successful AD minus the defenders successful AD. Each defender can use at most the same number of AD as the attacker is using when counteracting an action. It is important to note that both players must state how many AD are being rolled before any roll is made. The player declaring the action chooses how many AD he spends on his action, and then the defenders can declare how many AD they wish to use to defend, if any. The dice are then rolled. Also note that to counteract an action, the defender must be aware that the attacker’s action is taking place. Unless otherwise specified in the action description, this means that the attacker must be in line of sight (LoS) of the defender. Any action dice that are allocated by a defender to counteract an action are spent for the current round, even if it is not yet that player’s turn in the current phase.

Example: Showing off A Barbarian Hero is fighting in close combat against an Orc Shaman. The Barbarian’s strength is so overwhelming that he decides to show himself off with his next combat action: the Barbarian Hero performs a show off knob Hit action. For example, he draws a full circle before hitting the Orc Shaman with the knob of his axe.

For actions that can be countered, the action outcomes contain a letter (A or D) preceding the number of successful AD rolls. A1 means the attacker has one more successful AD roll than the defender, while a D2 would mean the defender rolled two more successful AD rolls than the attacker. A0 means the attacker and defender obtained the same number of successful AD rolls.

The Barbarian Hero CS is 6, thus he will perform the action with a value of 5. The player controlling the Barbarian rolls 2d10, scoring a 2 and a 5, obtaining three successful rolls!

Again, the first entry describes the outcome to be applied for the stated number of successful AD rolls or less, while the last entry describes the outcome to be applied for the stated number of successful AD rolls or more. For example, on the following outcome,

As a result of the action, the Orc Shaman is knocked down, event that modifies the crowd mood by one point in favour of the Barbarian Hero team. However, as the Barbarian Hero was performing a show off action, the crowd mood modifying value will be of two points instead of one. The crowd was very impressed with the Barbarian Hero’s performance!

COUNTERACTING ACTIONS Several actions affect two or more models. For example, Throw Sand requires a check from the model performing the action but 22

A0:No effect | A1:Attack of strength 5 | A2:Attack of strength 7 A0 states the outcome when the attacker obtains the same successful AD as the defenders or less, while A2 states the outcome when the attacker obtains two or more successful AD than the defenders. on some actions the stat used by the attacker to perform its action is not the same as the stat used by the defenders to counteract. In these actions, both stats will appear in the form “attacker stat” vs. “defender stat”, so for example, upon

performing the Fireball magic action, the spellcaster uses Mind (Mi) stat while the defender can try to dodge it, and uses then its Agility (Ag) stat Finally, sometimes the defender can choose one of several stats to counteract an action. In this case, all usable stats will appear separated by a slash symbol (/). The defender can decide then which stat to use to counteract the action from the ones listed. Remember: actions that can be counteracted will show a letter (A or D) preceding the number of successful AD rolls on their different outcomes. Actions that can not be counteracted will only present the number indicating the number of successful AD rolls.

Example: Several Avatars Counteracting a Disengage Action In a combat situation, a Dark Elf Prince is fighting against an Orc Warlord and a Goblin Hero. The player wants his Dark Elf to abandon the combat because the Dark Elf Prince is badly wounded. The player controlling the Dark Elf Prince speaks first: he’ll use three dice to perform the action. It is very important to him abandoning the combat. The opponent player can now counteract not only with the Orc Warlord, but also with the Goblin Hero, as this model is involved in the same combat. He chooses to roll three dice with the Goblin Hero and one dice with the Orc Warlord.

Example: Counteracting a Throw Sand Action A player wants his Goblin Hero (before moving into combat) to throw sand to the eyes of his opponent to get a slight advantage, as his opponent, being a Dwarf Hero, is much powerful than the Goblin in combat. The player controlling the Goblin Hero decides to use two dice for performing the action. The player controlling the Dwarven Berserker can use at most two dice to counteract. He decides to use only one dice to defend from the Goblin Hero action. The action’s description is: Combat Skill (CS). A0: No effect | A1: Defender looses 1CD and 1AD for the rest of the round | A2: Defender looses 2 CD and 2AD for the rest of the round The Goblin Hero CS stat is 5. The player rolls 2d10 obtaining the following AD rolls: 4, and 6. The first AD roll is a 4: a successful AD roll as it is less than the Goblin Hero CS. The second AD roll is a 6: an unsuccessful AD roll as it is greater than the Goblin Hero CS. Thus, the total number of the Goblin Hero successful AD rolls is one. The Dwarf Hero CS stat is 6. The player rolls 1d10 obtaining the following AD roll: 6. A lucky roll! A double successful AD roll as it is equal to the Dwarf Hero CS.

The action’s stat is Combat Skill (CS). The Dark Elf Prince CS stat is 7. The player rolls 3, 8 and 6. The first AD roll is a 3: a successful AD roll as it is less than the Dark Elf CS. The second AD roll is an 8: an unsuccessful AD roll as it is greater than the Dark Elf CS. The third AD roll is a 6: a successful AD roll as it is less than the Dark Elf CS. Thus, the total number of the Dark Elf Prince successful AD rolls is two. The Orc Warlord CS stat is 5. The player rolls 1d10 obtaining the following AD roll: 9. Thus, the total number of the Orc Warlord successful AD rolls is zero.

Thus, the total number of the Dwarf Hero successful AD rolls is two.

The Goblin Hero CS stat is 5. The player rolls 3d10 obtaining the following AD rolls: 4, 0 and 3. Thus, the total number of the Goblin Hero successful AD rolls is two.

As the Goblin Hero has rolled one successful AD roll, and the Dwarf Hero has rolled two successful AD rolls, the final result is D1 (we subtract the two Dwarf Hero successful AD rolls from the only successful Goblin Hero AD roll).

As the Dark Elf Hero has rolled two successful AD rolls and the Goblin Hero and Orc Warlord sum a total of two successful AD rolls, the result is zero (we subtract the two Orc Warlord and Goblin Hero successful AD rolls from the two successful Dark Elf Prince AD rolls).

Looking at the action outcome A0 entry (as D1 means less successful rolls than A0, and we use then the first entry) we see that the result is quite negative for the goblin! His action does not affect the Dwarf Hero at all and he has lost two valuable AD with no benefit!

Looking at the action outcome (pg. 30) we see that the A0 result is quite positive for the Dark Elf Prince: he is able to abandon the combat. However he can not run and must make a maneuver check which could leave him in a very bad position or even be knocked down.

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FATIGUE

COMPULSORY ACTIONS

When fighting in the arena, models are exerting immense physical and mental energy and as a result eventually suffer fatigue. The effects of fatigue often have a direct influence on their performance.

Sometimes Avatars are required to perform actions over which players have no control. These actions are called Compulsory actions. Compulsory actions and related checks, called compulsory checks, are always performed during the Compulsory phase.

Whenever a double (except double 9’s or 0’s) is rolled while performing any type of action or close combat attack, the model suffers a fatigue damage point. A triplet is considered only as one double, four times the same dice result as two doubles, five times the same dice result as two doubles, six times the same dice result as three doubles and so on. Note that by spending more action dice to perform an action, you also increase the likelihood of rolling doubles. The action is more effective, but because the model is putting forth a greater effort to insure it is effective he is more likely to become fatigued. Ignore action and combat dice generated from soul shards and doubly successful rolls when checking doubles for fatigue damage. Example: Fatigue damage An Orc Shaman (Mi 7) rolls 7d10 for casting an empowered spell, scoring 1, 1, 7, 1, 3, 2 and 7. The three 1s are counted for fatigue damage (as one double), while the two 7s are ignored because they are double successful rolls. Example: Fatigue damage and soul shards An Orc Shaman (Mi 7) rolls 3d10 for casting a spell, scoring 1, 1 and 3. The player rolls as well 2 action dice generated from soul shards, obtaining a 9 and a 3. The double 1 is counted for fatigue damage while the double 3 is ignored because one of them is obtained from a soul generated action dice.

ACTIONS RANGE Some actions require a target to be into a determined range for the action to be successful. only after declaring the action (inlcuding the number of action dice used) do you measure the distance to a target. If the target is out of range, the action can not be performed regardless of the results of any action dice rolled. The attacker still rolls the declared action dice and must check for fatigue. There is no need for the defender to counteract the action and does not spend the action dice allocated to counteract it. Actions range is always specified in inches.

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Compulsory actions can be a result of (sorted by descending priority): -A magic effect -A psychology effect -An action outcome An Avatar can perform only one compulsory action each round. However, sometimes an Avatar may be bound to more than one compulsory action: the Avatar will perform only the compulsory action with highest priority. If bound to more than one compulsory action with equal priority select randomly the action to perform. once the compulsory action to perform has been selected, the Avatar has to pass a successful compulsory check or immediately perform that action. The stat used to roll the compulsory check will be determined by the related compulsory action; when no

stat is stated the Mind stat (Mi) will be the one used. Avatars required to perform a compulsory action must perform that action using at least two action dice (no matter the type of action). Example: Multiple Compulsory Actions A Goblin Hero performs a Provoke Enemy action against a Dwarf Thunderlord. As a result the Thunderlord is forced to immediately run towards the Goblin Hero. On the next round’s Compulsory phase, the Dwarf Thunderlord is still pursuing the Goblin Hero, and is in charge distance from a hated creature (a psychology effect) and thus must also attack the hated enemy.

Each player can only declare one opportunity action or advanced action each round. Choose wisely when to use them, as they can change the outcome of a round or even an entire deathmatch.

DECLARING OPPORTUNITY ACTIONS After your opponent declares his model’s action but before he starts performing it, declare that you’d like to perform an opportunity action. When declaring the opportunity action, it must be explained in full to your opponent. once an action has started you cannot declare an opportunity action against it. Be sure to declare your opportunity action immediately after your opponent has declared his triggering action.

AGILITY CHECK

Two compulsory actions apply: pursuing the Goblin Hero and attacking the hated enemy. The Dwarf Thunderlord will ignore the Goblin Hero and attack the hated enemy as this compulsory action (resulting from a psychology effect) has priority over pursuing the Goblin Hero (result of an action outcome).

An opportunity action can be performed if the model is quick enough to perform its action before the opponent’s model starts performing the triggering action. To determine which model is quicker, both must perform an Agility check. . The model trying to perform the opportunity action can spend one soul shard to roll one extra d10 on the Agility check.

Now that we have selected the action to perform, the Dwarf Thunderlord must pass the related compulsory check (a Mind check in this case) or immediately perform that action.

If the model attempting the opportunity action obtains at least one more successful roll than its opponent, it is able to perform the opportunity action. otherwise, the model is unable to perform the opportunity action and automatically loses one action die.

Compulsory actions can be counteracted as usual and can trigger opportunity actions.

OPPORTUNITY ACTIONS An opportunity action (oA) gives a model a chance to act when it is not its controller’s turn. opportunity actions temporarily break the turn sequence; they cannot, however, be performed during the close combat phase. An opportunity action may only be taken as a direct reaction to a declared action by an enemy player. This declared action is called a triggering action. An opportunity action can be of any type (tactical, magical or ranged combat action) regardless of the current phase, but its outcome must directly have some influence (if successful) on the model performing the triggering action or the triggering action itself. opportunity actions do not allow for extra movement, so an opportunity action involving movement cannot be taken if a movement action has already been performed during the same round. Close combat actions and close combat attacks can not be performed as opportunity actions. opportunity actions may never be taken as a reaction to another opportunity action. opportunity actions can not be counteracted.

Note that no matter the Agility check results, the player has declared his opportunity action for the current round.

WHEN DOES THE OPPORTUNITY ACTION TAKE PLACE? If you are able to perform an opportunity action, it takes place at any moment during the performance of the opponent’s triggering action. The opponent’s model must start performing its triggering action until you decide to start performing your model’s opportunity action. Your opponent then immediately pauses his model’s action while you perform your opportunity action. The opportunity action’s effect is applied immediately. If still possible (that is, the effects of the opportunity action still allow it) the opponent’s model can choose to continue its triggering action or decide to not resume the action. Either way, all action dices allocated to perform the triggering action will be spent. For example, if the triggering action contains movement, your opponent moves his model until you decide to perform your opportunity action (e.g. when the enemy model is in range to be affected by your opportunity action). Perform the opportunity action and apply its effects immediately. If still possible, your opponent can choose to resume his model’s movement.

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INFLUENCE OVER THE TRIGGERING ACTION

place, it must be stopped immediately.

How the opportunity action influences your opponent’s triggering action is sometimes obvious, but other times may once an action has allow for different started taking place you interpretations. In that case, try can not declare an to agree to the most common opportunity action sense result with your opponent. against it. Be sure to If you are unable to agree, roll a declare your opportunity d10 and the highest roll action immediately after determines the influence of the you opponent has opportunity action. declared his action!

Example: Opportunity action A player controlling a Dark Elf Prince speaks that his Avatar is going to charge the opponent’s Goblin Hero.

If the outcome of the opportunity action results in action dice being lost by your opponent’s model, these action dice have to be removed from the dice allocated to perform the triggering action. If due to losing action dice the triggering action no longer has the action dice to take

The opponent player has his Orc Shaman quite close to the Goblin Hero. He decides to perform an opportunity action to prevent the Dark Elf Prince charge. He then declares his opportunity action: The Orc Shaman is going to cast a “Provoke paralysis” spell on the Dark Elf Prince using two AD. Both Avatars make an Agility check and as a result the Orc Shaman can perform his opportunity action. The Shaman’s controller asks the player controlling the Dark Elf Prince to start making his charge. The Dark Elf Prince starts making his charging movement, until his opponent asks him to stop (when he believes the Dark Elf Prince is in range of his spell). At this point the player controlling the Dark Elf Prince has to stop his Avatar. The Dark Elf Prince is effectively in range, so the spell is cast. If the spell is successful, the Dark Elf Prince will loose at least one AD and CD and the charge will be frustrated as he will not be able to run anymore. Otherwise the charge will take place. Note that the Dark Elf Prince can not counteract the spell as it was cast as an opportunity magic action. Example: Opportunity action A player controlling a Light Elf Prince speaks that his Avatar is going to shoot his eagle bow at his opponent’s Necromancer with three AD. The opponent player has his Dwarf Berserker very close to the Light Elf Prince. He decides to perform an opportunity action to try to prevent the Light Elf Prince from shooting. He then declares his opportunity action: The Dwarf Berserker is going to throw sand at the Light Elf Prince using one AD. Both Avatars make an Agility check and as a result the Dwarf berserker can perform his opportunity action. The Dwarf Berserker performs his action immediately (only an instant after the Light Elf Prince starts loading his bow), and as a result the Light Elf Prince looses one AD. The Light Elf Prince will still be able to shoot, but only rolling two AD instead of three AD (although all allocated three AD are spent!).

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Note that the Light Elf Prince could not counteract the Throw Sand action, as it was an opportunity action.

OPPORTUNITY ACTION AGAINST A CROWD EVENT opportunity actions may also be taken against crowd events. In this case, the model attempting to perform the opportunity action makes an Agility check as usual, but the crowd makes a check against crowd mood value (if negative, ignore the sign).

A player wants his Orc Warlord to charge an enemy Dark Elf Sorceress. The Orc Warlord can not reach his target with a charge as of now. However, if the Orc Shaman was casting a successful teleport spell on the Orc Warlord, he could get him close enough for a charge. The player needs to do the magic action now, during the tactics phase, so he decides to take an advanced action to cast now the teleport spell.

If the model trying to perform the opportunity action obtains at least one more successful roll than the crowd, it is able to perform the opportunity action. The model trying to perform the opportunity action can spend one soul shard to roll one extra d10 on the Agility check. Example: Opportunity Actions Against the Crowd Mood A stone is hurled from the stands against a Dwarf Thunderlord. The Dwarf Thunderlord decides to perform an opportunity action to avoid the stone. He also decides to spend one soul shard to win an extra d10 for his Agility check. The Dwarf Thunderlord performs his Agility check, while the crowd performs a check against the current crowd mood value, which is, for example, 6. The player who the crowd throwing the stone is a supporter off, rolls 1d10 obtaining a 5. The player controlling the Dwarf Thunderlord rolls 2d10 obtaining two successful rolls. The Dwarf Thunderlord can then perform his opportunity action getting out of the range of the stone. Note that the crowd could not switch target now, as their action already started before the Dwarf ThunderLord started moving out of range. The stone will simply impact on the ground!

ADVANCED ACTIONS An advanced action gives a model a chance to perform an action, during its controller’s turn, that should usually be performed in a later phase. For example, an advanced action allows a model to perform a magic action during the tactics phase, or a ranged combat action during the magic phase. Advanced actions temporarily break the round sequence and can be counteracted as normal. Close combat actions and close combat attacks can not be performed as advanced actions. Advanced actions can be counteracted as usual and can trigger an opportunity action Advanced actions can not be taken during the Compulsory phase. Each player can only declare one advanced or opportunity action each round. Example: Advanced Action 27

TACTICS Tactical actions involve actions that develop strategies and plans for the current round. Tactical actions are performed using action dice during the Tactics phase. There is no limit to the number of tactical actions that a model can perform during a round as long as the model has action dice to perform them. The same tactical action may be performed as many times as desired by a model in the same round as long as it is not a movement action and as long as it does not target the same objective more than once.

COMMON TACTICAL ACTIONS Common tactical actions can be performed by all models and do not appear on the model’s record card.

MOVEMENT

ACTIONS

Walk, Run, Charge, Sprint, Disengage and Stand Up are movement actions. It is very important to note that movement actions are exclusive, meaning a model can only do one movement action each round. All movement actions are tactical actions. Note that in order to move through a space, the model’s base has to fit in that space, otherwise the model can not move through that space.

A model that walks and ends its movement in box to box contact with an enemy model (already engaged in close combat or not) enters close combat. A model that moves into combat by walking must attack its enemy on the closest free base zone.

Run A model may run to move at least its current Movement (Mv) stat and at most double its current Movement (Mv) stat in inches. To run, the model spends two action dice, but there is no need to roll. This action only has one outcome (movement) and there are no fatigue checks.

Charge A model that runs in an almost straight line and ends in box to box contact with an enemy model (already engaged in close combat or not) enters close combat and is making a charge. A Charge action is performed exactly as a Run action. If the charging model ends in box to box contact with more than one enemy, it must choose only one of the contacted models as the target of the charge. A model charging uses its inertia to unleash a powerful attack. During the first close combat phase after charging: -The model has to perform its first combat action against the charged model if possible. -The model has to perform its first attack against the charged model if possible. If doing so, add one point to the attack strength.

Walk A model walking may move up to its current Movement (Mv) stat in inches. Walking costs one action die, but there is no need to roll. This action has only one outcome (movement) and there are no fatigue checks.

To charge an enemy, the victim must be in the attacker’s line of sight at the start of the player’s tactics phase, before making any movements (including facing). The charging model can rotate before starting to run if desired, and can only rotate once, a

Charge examples

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maximum of 45º, while running. The model must charge its enemy on the closest base zone. Note that a model can change facing to gain line of sight and then run into box to box contact with an enemy model, but this is not a charge. The model is still considered to be in close combat. A model that moves into combat by running must attack its enemy on the closest free base zone.

Sprint A model may sprint to move at least double its current Movement (Mv) stat in inches and at most double its current Movement (Mv) stat in inches plus half its current Movement (Mv) stat in inches. To sprint the model spends three action dice. This action only has one outcome (movement) but the player will roll the three action dice to check for fatigue. A model cannot end a sprint in box to box contact with an enemy model.

Stand up & knocked down

A Light Elf Prince is forced, due to the effects of a Provoke enemy action, to run towards the provoker with an extra Run movement action. The Light Elf Prince must perform a Run action now, spending two action dice as usual, even if he performed another movement action during the same round. Also, he will be able to perform another movement action during the same round. A Dark Elf Hero receives, due to a crowd event effect, a free extra Run action. The Dark Elf Hero can run now without spending two action dice as well as perform another movement action during the same round.

FACING

Facing consists of rotating a model without moving. Facing costs no action dice and can be done at any time during a player’s Tactics phase as many times as desired.

A model that is knocked down can stand up. To stand up, the model spends two action dice, but there is no need to roll. This action only has one outcome (standing up) and there are no fatigue checks.

FIRST AID

When a model is knocked down, determine the direction of the fall with a direction roll. Place a marker next to the knocked down miniature indicating the direction it has fallen to. If you prefer to lie over the miniature, make sure the base stays in the same place.

The action’s description is:

A knocked down model can be declared the target of any action (such as a charge or a launch) unless the action specifies the contrary. A knocked down model does not have flanks or rearguard.

After performing a tactical action do not forget to place the required AD counter next to the model’s miniature, to update the number of spent AD, during the round, by the model.

An Avatar trying to heal himself has to spend all his action dice for the current round to do so. Fatigue effects are ignored when performing this action.

Combat Skill (CS). 0: The Avatar makes a mistake while trying to heal himself and suffers one damage point | 1: The Avatar recovers one damage point for each successful AD rolled. The damage point can be recovered from any chosen stat (except Armour).

DISENGAGE A model engaged in close combat can leave combat at any point

Example: Knocked down An Avatar has a pit trap to his left and is knocked down due to a failed maneuver check. Upon making a direction roll, the Avatar falls to his right. He is lucky and avoids falling into the pit!

Free & Extra Movement Actions A free movement action is a movement action that does not cost any action dice to perform. An extra movement action is a movement action that can be performed even if another movement action has already been or will be performed. Example: Free & Extra Movement Actions An Orc Warlord receives, due to a spell effect, a free run action. The Orc Warlord can perform a Run action now (provided he has not perfromed a movement action on the current round) without spending two action dice, but he will not be able to perform another movement action during the same round.

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during the Tactics phase. oponent(s) can counteract that action. A model cannot perform a disengage action on the same round that it enters combat. The action’s description is: Combat Skill (CS). D1: Attacker can not leave combat | A0: Attacker leaves combat walking. Then makes a maneuver check with two dice | A1: Attacker leaves combat walking. Then makes a maneuver check with three dice | A2: Attacker leaves combat walking (if he spent only one AD to perform the action) or running (if he spent two or more AD to perform the action)

SPECIAL TACTICAL ACTIONS Special tactical actions are available only to certain models and are described in the model’s record card. Examples of special tactical actions include Running Thrust, Slam,

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and Warcry.

the number of action dice allocated to the empowered spell.

MAGIC Some models are able to perform magical actions. These models may have gained their magical power through the intensive study of spells or through the use of a magical object. Magical actions involve casting a spell. There is no limit to the number of spells that a model can perform during a round as long as the model has action dice to perform them. The same spell may be cast as many times as desired by a model in the same round as long as it does not target the same objective more than once.

CASTING A SPELL After performing a magic action do not forget to place the required AD counter next to the miniature, to update the number of spent AD.

Spells are special magical actions. Their descriptions appear in the model’s record card. The most common magic action stat is Mind (Mi). Spells can only be performed during the Magic phase.

Example: Casting a Spell An Orc Shaman wants to cast a Rolling Boulder spell. The action’s description is: Mi vs. Ag D1: Victim dodges. The boulder carries on rolling while in range until it hits a model or scenery piece. | An: The victim suffers a St 7+n attack Upon reaching his Magic phase he still has three remaining AD. The controlling player decides to use two AD to cast the spell (he prefers to keep one AD just in case he later needs to dispel). The shaman obtains 2 successful AD rolls, inflicting an attack of Strength 9 to his victim!

EMPOWERING SPELLS An Avatar of War can accumulate magical power between two consecutive rounds (the current round and the following one) to cast an empowered spell.

ere is no need to specify which spell is being empowered. In Arena Deathmatch magic power can be accumulated before deciding which spell is going to be the recipient of that power.

To do so, the player announces during the Magic phase that the Avatar is empowering a spell. All that round’s unspent action dice are then allocated to empower the next spell cast by that Avatar. Place a d10 next to the miniature to indicate

The Avatar starts the next round ready to cast a spell, and is able to cast it at any moment, using all of the allocated action dice (and no more). Resolve this as if it was an extra advanced or extra opportunity action, depending on whether it is the controller’s turn. To take full advantage of an empowered spell, the player has to wait until his next Magic phase to unleash the spell. If the spell is cast during the controlling player’s next Magic phase, is empowered by adding the last round’s allocated action dice to the action dice the player uses to perform the spell. If the spell is cast before the player’s next Magic phase, it is performed using only the allocated dice. An empowered spell cannot be combined with an advanced or opportunity action. There is no way to gain more action dice to cast the spell if cast before the player’s next Magic phase. After the spell is cast, the Avatar can perform actions as normal during the remainder of the round with any unspent action dice. If the empowered spell is not cast during the round after it is allocated, all allocated dice are lost. The Avatar cannot accumulate magical power for more than one round as it is extremely difficult to manipulate. The Avatar cannot perform any action or counteraction before casting the empowered spell once it has been allocated or he loses concentration. All allocated dice are lost immediately. If the Avatar is damaged or forced to make a maneuver check he loses concentration. All allocated dice are lost immediately.

Note that empowering a spell is the last action the avatar does on the current round, so be sure to perform any spells you wish to cast this round before announcing the empowering of a spell.

Example: Empowered Spell The player controlling a Dark Elf Sorceress decides she won’t cast any spells during the current Magic phase, and instead accumulates the remaining AD (three out of four) to empower her next spell. On the following round, the Dark Elf Sorceress controller decides to cast the spell, as an extra advanced action, before the Magic phase. The Dark Elf Sorceress can only use the three accumulated dice to cast the spell. If instead the controller had waited until the Magic phase, she would have been able to cast the spell with up to seven AD! (Using the three allocated to empower the spell plus the four available on the current round).

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DISPELLING MAGIC Dispelling magic is type of counteraction available only to magic users. Every model that can cast a spell is able to dispel magic if it is not in close combat. Models who cannot cast spells cannot dispel magic. The stat used to dispel magic is the Mind (Mi) stat. When a magic user casts a spell one or more enemy magic users can try to dispel it. To dispel magic, the spell effect or the magic user casting the spell must be in range (can be measured prior to allocating dices for dispelling). The range of dispel magic is equal to the current value of the dispelling magic user’s Mind (Mi) stat in inches. As with countering other actions, subtract the number of successful action dice rolls by the dispellers from the action dice rolls by the magic user casting the spell. Some spells effects remain in effect one or more rounds after they are cast. A magic user can dispel these remaining spell effects during his Magic phase. Each successful AD roll will remove one successful AD from the effects of the spell. Example: Dispelling a spell An Orc Shaman wishes to paralyze an enemy Shadowdancer. The Orc Shaman casts the spell with four AD. As the enemy magic-user is in range of dispel, he will try to dispel it using two AD. The Orc Shaman rolls three successful AD. The enemy magic-user rolls one successful AD. So the total number of successful AD rolls is two. Looking at the Provoke paralysis spell outcome we see that the Shadowdancer will suffer a -2 penalty for the rest of the current round. Example: Dispelling the Effects of a spell Carrying on from the last example, the Shadowdancer suffers now a penalty of -2. As this penalty is caused by the effects of a spell, it can be dispelled. On the Shadowdancer controller’s Magic phase, the player decides that his Necromancer will try to dispel the effects of the spell using two AD. He then rolls 2d10 and scores one successful roll, which automatically affects the effects of the spell. The penalty applied to the Shadowdancer is now -1 instead of -2, and so the Shadowdancer gets back one AD and one CD!

COUNTERACTING A SPELL As with other actions that affect two or more models, spells can be counteracted by their target. Counteracting a spell can be done while engaged in close combat. Counteracting spells work as counteracting any other action; each successful action dice roll is subtracted from the caster’s successful action dice rolls, and the result is used to determine the effects of the spell. Some spells remain in effect a number of rounds after they are 32

cast (e.g. Cause Fear). The victim of the spell can counteract the spell’s effects in the remaining rounds during the Tactics phase. Each successful Mind (Mi) roll made with action dice removes one successful AD from the effects of the spell. Example: Dispelling and counteracting a spell A Necromancer tries to curse an enemy Beastman Warchief. The Necromancer casts the spell with four AD. An enemy magic-user, a Dark Elf Sorceress, is in range to dispel; she tries to dispel it using two AD. The Beastman Warchief also tries to counteract the spell using three AD. The Necromancer rolls five successful AD (as he obtained a double successful roll). The enemy magic-user rolls one successful AD. The Beastman Warchief rolls one successful AD. Looking at the Curse spell outcome we see that the Beastman Warchief is cursed for three rounds (the current round plus the two next ones). Example: Dispelling and Counteracting the Effects of a Spell Carrying on from the last example, on the next round the Beastman Warchief is still under the effects of the Curse spell (and will be on the following one as well unless some measures are taken by his controller). On the Beastman Warchief controller’s Tactics phase, the player decides that his Beastman Warchief will try to counter the effects of the spell using all of his four AD. He rolls 4d10 and scores only one successful roll, which is removed from the effects of the spell. The Beastman Warchief is cursed one less round than before (only one round remains, the current one, now). Next, during his Magic phase, the player decides that his Orc Shaman will try to dispel the effects of the spell using two AD. He rolls 2d10 and scores one successful roll, which is automatically removed from the effects of the spell. The Beastman Warchief is free of the effects of the Curse spell, as the spell effect is again reduced by one successful AD (which translates again into one round), thus

RANGED COMBAT

attacker to have line of sight to its target. on the models’ record card there is a description of each ranged combat action a model can make.

Ranged combat actions (or ranged attacks) are special actions. Their descriptions appear on the model’s record card. The ranged combat action stat is usually Ranged combat Skill (RS).

LINE OF SIGHT (LOS)

Note that even if a ranged combat action involves two models, these actions cannot be counteracted unless it is specifically stated so on the action’s description. Ranged combat in Arena Deathmatch takes place during the Ranged combat phase. Generally, any model that carries a ranged combat weapon (bows, crossbows, or guns) can make ranged attacks during this phase. A ranged attack is a ranged combat action. To perform a ranged combat action, the model must spend action dice. There is no limit to the number of ranged attacks a model can perform during a round, as long as it has the action dice to continue attacking. The same ranged attack can be performed as many times as desired during a round, but can only target the same objective once. A ranged attack can be made against any model that can be selected as the target of an attack. Normally that means the model is within line of sight of the attacker. However, there may be exceptions such as ranged weapons which do not require the

A model can see anything in its field of view. The field of view is 180° extended from the front of their base as shown below. To determine if a target is in line of sight, image a line from any point of the attacker’s box front face (and into the model’s field of view) to any point of the target’s miniature box. -If you can draw a line to any part of the target’s box without going across an obstacle or miniature box, then the target is in full line of sight of the attacker. -If you can draw a line to only 50-99% of the target’s box without going across an obstacle or miniature box, then the target is in partial line of sight of the attacker. -If you can draw a line to less than 50% of the target’s box without going across an obstacle or miniature box, then the target is in minimal line of sight of the attacker. -If you can not draw a line to any part of the target’s box without going across an obstacle or miniature box, there is no line of sight.

Filed of view and line of sight (LoS) 33

ATTACK RANGE For a ranged attack to hit its target, the target must be in range of the attack. If the target is out of range, the attack automatically misses regardless of the results of any action dice rolled. on the model’s record card there is a detailed descriptions of each ranged combat action (including its range, in inches) a model can make.

Example: Ranged Attack A player wants his Dwarf Thunderlord to shoot his opponent’s Beastman Warchief using his Thunder pistol. He declares his target (the Beastman Warchief) and declares that he is going to perform the ranged attack using three AD. Remember that the attacker cannot measure the distance now, he must guess that his target is in range. Both players determine if any LoS modifier should be applied. In this case, the dwarf has a partial view to the Beastman Warchief, so he looses one of the allocated AD to perform the ranged attack.

Attack range is always specified in inches. The Beastman Warchief cannot counteract the attack, so his controller has no need to declare a counter action.

LOS MODIFIERS Unless the contrary is specified, apply LoS modifiers when performing any Ranged Combat action.

Partial LoS to target

Minimal LoS to target

No LoS to target

LoS modifiers Automatically loses one of the AD allocated to perform a ranged combat action against a target in partial LoS Automatically loses two of the AD allocated to perform a ranged combat action against a target in minimal LoS Ranged attack not possible

Example: Minimum LoS A Dark Elf Prince has minimum LoS to a Light Elf Prince hiding behind a column. The Dark Elf Prince wants to shoot the Light Elf Prince anyway, allocating three AD for the attack. He finally shoots the Light Elf Prince rolling only one AD, as he automatically loses two of the allocated AD.

MAKING A RANGED ATTACK To make a ranged attack, use the following procedure: 1. The attacker declares attack, specifying a target and how many action dice are to be spent performing the attack. 2. If required, apply any LoS modifiers to the attack. 3. If there is the possibility of the target counteracting the action, the player controlling the targeted model declares how many action dice are to be used counteracting. 4. Measure to see if the target is in range. If the target is in range, perform the ranged attack and apply the outcome. If the attack results in a hit, apply damage effect and blow effect as explained in the chapter on Close Combat. If the target is out of range the attack automatically misses. The attacker still rolls the declared action dice and must check for fatigue. There is no need for the defender to counteract the attack and does not spend the action dice allocated to counteract it. 34

The player controlling the Dwarf Thunderlord proceeds to measure to see if the Beastman Warchief is in range. It is! He then rolls two AD (one is lost due to having only partial LoS to the target) and obtains two successful rolls. Looking at the Thunder pistol outcome we see that the outcome of the action is that the Beastman Warchief suffers a Strength 7 attack! If the Beastman Warchief had been out of range, then the ranged attack would have missed automatically and the Thunderlord would have lost all three allocated AD.

TARGETING An Avatar of War can target his ranged attack objective through two consecutive rounds (the current round and the following one) in order to take a precise and extremely damaging shot. To do so, the player controlling the Avatar must announce during the Ranged Combat phase that the Avatar is targeting a specific objective. That entire round’s unspent action dice are then Note that targeting is allocated to upgrade the next the last action the Avatar ranged attack. does during the current Place a d10 next to the miniature to indicate the number of action dice allocated.

round, so be sure to perform all desired ranged combat actions before declaring you are targeting an objective.

The Avatar starts the next round ready to make the ranged attack and is able to shoot at any moment using all the allocated dice (and no more). Resolve this as if it was an extra advanced or extra opportunity action, depending on if it is the Avatar controller’s turn. To take full advantage of targeting an objective, the player must wait until the next round’s Ranged Combat phase to unleash the ranged attack. If the ranged attack is made during the player’s next round Ranged Combat phase is upgraded by adding the last round’s allocated action dice to the action dice declared to perform the ranged attack. If the ranged attack is made before the player’s next round Ranged Combat phase, it is performed using only the allocated dice. A targeted ranged attack cannot be combined with an advanced or opportunity action. There is no way to gain more action dice to make a ranged attack if made before the player’s

next Ranged Combat phase. After the ranged attack is made, the Avatar can perform actions as normal during the remainder of the round with any unspent action dice. An Avatar can target the same objective for only two consecutive rounds. The allocated dice for a targeted ranged attack are always those from the preceding round. The Avatar cannot perform any action or counteraction before making the upgraded ranged attack, or he loses concentration and as a result loses all extra allocated action dice. If the Avatar is damaged or forced to make a maneuver check, he immediately loses concentration and as a result loses all extra allocated action dice. If the line of sight to the target becomes minimal or the Avatar loses line of sight to the target, the targeting Avatar immediately loses all targeting allocated action dice. Example: Targeting The player controlling a Dark Elf Hero decides to target an enemy Dwarf Berserker, to make a powerful shot during the next round. He uses his remaining AD (three out of four) to concentrate on targeting his victim. During the following round, seeing that the Dwarf Berserker is going to move into cover (thus causing the Dark Elf to lose all dice allocated for targeting), the Dark Elf Hero’s controller decides to shoot as an extra opportunity action,

before the Ranged Combat phase. The opportunity action Agility check is taken, resulting in the Dark Elf being able to shoot (only with the allocated dice) before the Dwarf Berserker moves into cover. If the Dwarf Berserker hadn’t moved, the Dark Elf Hero controller would have waited until his Ranged Combat phase, and then been able to shoot the Dwarf Berserker with up to 7 AD! (Using the three targeting allocated AD plus the four available on the current round).

TARGETING FORMATIONS If targeting a formation, all Avatars in the formation become possible objectives of the ranged attack. When targeting a formation, there is no need to specify which Avatar is being targeted until the ranged attack is made. The player controlling the attacker can then declare one of the Avatars in that formation as the final objective of the targeting. If the LoS to all Avatars in the formation becomes minimal or null, the targeting Avatar immediately loses all allocated dice.

SPORTSMANSHIP AND RANGED ATTACKS Determining the modifiers to a ranged attack may on occasion be unclear. In some situations determining line of sight to the target or even range may be unclear as well. In situations like these, try to find a quick solution. Do not argue with your opponent; it only slows down the game. Instead, try to find a common agreement. or, each of you can roll a d10 and the highest roll can determine the results.

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CLOSE COMBAT

called a close combat action. All close combat actions affect two or more models, so all close combat actions can be counteracted.

Close combat is characterized by a quick and dangerous exchange of blows accompanied by all kinds of swift movements, attacks and defences.

A close combat action is performed the same way as other action, but uses combat dice instead of action dice. As with other actions, the more combat dice spent to perform a close combat action usually means a greater chance of success.

Arena Deathmatch close combat is not composed of a static succession of predetermined dice rolls, but instead by player’s actions and ability to exploit his Avatar’s fighting style and strengths. In Arena Deathmatch, every combat is different not only because of dice rolls but because of the different combat actions taken by Avatars of War.

ENGAGED IN CLOSE COMBAT?

There is an important difference between combat dice and action dice however: successful combat dice rolls do not count as spent by the model and are kept to perform more combat actions. A model in close combat can spend all of its combat dice every round to perform close combat actions. The model can perform as many close combat actions as desired while it still has combat dice left. Each close combat action can only be performed once against the same target during the same round.

All models that are in box to box contact (even if only the smallest part of the box) with one or more enemy models at the start of the Close Combat phase are considered to be engaged in close combat. When engaged in close combat a model should touch as much of the enemy miniature’s box as possible. At the start of the close combat phase, if asked by a player, combatant positions should be corrected (by shifting their bases) to touch as much of the enemy miniature’s box as possible.

When a close combat action requires the use of a specific weapon (e.g. Knob Hit, which requires the Barbarian Hero to be waving his axe) it is automatically assumed that the Avatar is waving that weapon. There is no need to specify the changing of weapons.

CLOSE COMBAT ACTIONS

Whenever a special close combat action rule conflicts with a common close combat action rule, the special close combat action rule takes priority.

Close combat is resolved by performing close combat actions. Everything a model can do in close combat before attacking is

As with other actions, common close combat actions are available to all models and are described in this section. Special close combat actions are only available to certain models and are described in the avatar record cards.

All models in this picture are engaged in close combat.Note that even if the elf and goblin bases do not contact, their boxes do.

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COMMON CLOSE COMBAT ACTIONS Common close combat actions can be performed by all models and do not appear on the model’s record card.

Stand up (in combat) A model that is knocked down and is engaged in close combat can try to stand up during the close combat phase. opponents currently engaging that model can counteract this action. The action’s description is: Combat Skill (CS). A0: Attacker can not stand up | A1: Attacker stands up and faces randomly | A1: Attacker leaves combat walking. Then makes a maneuver check with three dice | A2: Attacker stands up faces at will Note that close combat modifiers for performing a combat action from the ground against a standing enemy do not apply when performing the Stand up combat action. The model is not performing an action against its enemies, but rather just trying to stand up, so it can always use up to all of its CD for performing this action.

SPECIAL CLOSE COMBAT ACTIONS Special close combat actions are only available to certain models and are described in the model’s record card.

RESOLVING COMBAT All combats are resolved during the Close Combat phase. The player that has round initiative chooses the order in which combats are resolved. If, for any reason, a new combat is created during the Close Combat phase, that combat is resolved during the same phase using the combatants remaining combat dice.

SIMPLE COMBAT A simple combat involves only two engaged models.

the defender can at most use only the number of combat dice the attacker uses to perform the action.

CD counters It is very useful to use d10s as CD counters. Place 1d10, for each available CD, next to each model involved in combat (simple or multiple). When one CD is spent, remove 1d10 from the ones next to the corresponding miniature base. is way you will always know how many dice each model has to make its combat actions or attacks.

once the attacker has declared its close combat action and the defender has declared its counteraction, the close combat action is immediately performed. The outcome is applied immediately. The roles are then reversed: the attacker becomes the defender and the defender becomes the attacker. This process is repeated until there are no more combat dice to spend or both players decide not to perform any more close combat actions. Example: Combat Actions A Dwarf Berserker (four CD) is fighting against an Orc Warlord (four CD). The Dwarf Berserker’s current Agility is the highest, so the Dwarf Berserker acts first. Its controller declares that the Dwarf Berserker will perform a Flank combat action using three CD. The Orc Warlord controller wishes to counteract this action, as he does not want to end up flanked, and declares he will use two CD. The Dwarf Berserker’s controller gets two successful rolls, and the Orc Warlord controller gets two successful rolls as well. Looking at the Flank action outcome we see that the Dwarf Berserker moves to the Orc’s flank but the Orc faces him again. The Dwarf Berserker has lost the non-successful CD rolled, so he has three CD left. The Orc Warlord has lost no CD, as all its rolls were successful. He still has all of its four CD. Now is the Orc Warlord’s turn to act. Its controller decides to launch the Dwarf Berserker through the air. He declares a Launch action using all four CD (he really goes for it!). The Dwarf Berserker counteracts the action using only two CD (a bit risky, but he has only three CD left!).

PERFORMING COMBAT ACTIONS If one of the models has charged this round, it automatically becomes the attacker: The controller declares its first close combat action (including how many combat dice he uses to perform that action). If neither or both models have charged, the model with the highest Agility stat (AG) becomes the attacker. The controller declares its first close combat action (including how many combat dice he uses to perform that action). The opposing player (the defender) then decides if he would like to counteract the attacker’s first close combat action and declares how many combat dice he is going to roll. As with other actions,

The Orc’s controller obtains only two successful rolls while the Dwarf ’s controller obtains a doubly successful roll. Looking at the Launch action outcome we see that the Orc catches the Dwarf, but the Dwarf escapes! The Dwarf Berserker still has three CD left, while the Orc Warlord now only has two CD left (as he lost the other two while performing the Launch action). Things look better for the Dwarf now! It’s the Dwarf Berserker’s turn to act again. The controller decides he does not want to perform any more close combat actions (he wants to attack with its greater number of CD). The Orc Warlord controller also states that he does not want to do any more close combat actions. It is time to resolve the attacks! 37

RESOLVING ATTACKS once both models have finished performing close combat actions, it is time to attack! Attacking is done simultaneously by both models. All combat dice not spent performing close combat actions become attack dice (ATD) and can be used to attack. The more attack dice you roll, the more powerful the attack becomes. If all combat dice were spent performing close combat actions, the model cannot attack. once the player with the turn’s initiative declares how many ATD he’ll use for performing an attack, he can not change that number after the other player has declared his attack, so think twice when declaring!

The player that controls the model with the highest Agility (Ag) declares first how many attack dice are allocated for his model’s attack. The other player then declares how many attack dice are allocated for his model’s attack. Both players then roll their attack dice and compare the results to the current value of their model’s Combat Skill (CS) stat.

Each attack die roll that is lower than the current value of the model’s Combat Skill stat is successful. Each attack die roll that is equal to the current value of the model’s Combat Skill stat is doubly successful, and counts as two successful rolls.

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Each attack die roll that is greater than the current value of the model’s Combat Skill stat is a failure. The model who has the most successful attack dice rolls hits its opponent and becomes the attacker. The other model becomes the victim of this attack. If both models roll the same number of successful attack dice two situations arise: -If the number of successful attack dice rolled by each player is one or zero, then neither models hits their opponent -If the number of successful attack dice rolled by each player is two or more, then a clash occurs. Both models have attacked so hard that hit each other simultaneously. When a clash takes place, resolve the attack results of both attacks before applying any damage points. The hits are simultaneous, so any damage effects do not apply until after both models have hit their opponent. The attack result is obtained by subtracting the victim’s successful attack dice rolls from the attacker’s successful attack dice rolls. Attack result = Attacker successful ATD - Victim successful ATD Example: Attacking The Dwarf Berserker was ready to attack. He had three CD left (so three ATD for attacking) and the Orc Warlord had two CD left (so two ATD for attacking).

Both players roll their ATD: the Dwarf’s controller obtains four successful rolls while the Orc Warlord’s controller obtains only one successful roll. The Dwarf Berserker wins the attack by three points (attack result of 3)! once attack result has been obtained, if any attacks result in a hit or a clash, damage must be calculated. The strength of an attack (Attack Strength) is equal to the sum of the attacker’s current Strength (St) stat plus the attack result. Attack Strength= Attack result + Attacker current St To obtain the damage, subtract the victim’s current Armour stat from the Attack Strength. Damage points= Attack Strength – Victim Armour (Arm)

Aggressive attacks An attack can be made more aggressive by converting attack dice in to strength points. Strength points are automatically added to the attack Strength. An Avatar can convert as many attack dice as desired in to strength points. Note that the more attack dice an Avatar converts to strength points the less probable it is that the attack is successful. However, if your Avatar does win the combat, his blow is especially strong. Attack dice must be converted to Strength points when attack dice are declared for that attack, before any dice are rolled.

Note that the more attack dice an Avatar converts to armour points the less probable it is that the attack is successful. However, if your Avatar does lose the combat, he is in a good defensive position and is likely to take less damage. Attack dice must be converted to armour points when attack dice are declared for that combat, before any dice are rolled. Example: Defensive attack A Goblin Hero is fighting against a Dark Elf Hero. After performing all combat actions, both Avatars have four CD left. However, the Dark Elf Hero’s CS is much higher than the Goblin’s CS. Odds are the goblin will be hit even if he rolls all four ATD; instead, his controller decides to convert all ATD to armour points. The Goblin will be hit almost for sure, but his Armour is raised by four points (to a value of 9). The Dark Elf hero has to hit really hard to damage the Goblin!

Show off attacks Sometimes Avatars feel so confident in their abilities that they try to impress the crowd by embellishing an attack with impressive, but unnecessary, flourishes. To perform a show off attack the Avatar has to perform the attack as normal with a modifier of -1 to his Combat Skill (CS) stat. A show off attack must be declared when the player declares the number of attack dice to be used in combat.

Example: Aggressive attack A Barbarian Hero is fighting against a Light Elf Prince. After performing all his combat actions the barbarian has still four CD left which are converted to ATD.

If the attack outcome or an event which is a direct consequence of the attack (such as an Avatar death) modifies the crowd mood, then the crowd mood is modified by an additional point. If the outcome modifies the Avatar’s Popularity (Pop) stat, increase that stat by one additional point.

As the elf lost all his CD performing combat actions, the Barbarian Hero’s controller believes that by rolling only one ATD (his CS is 7) the odds are he’ll hit the Elf Prince. The other option would be rolling more ATD, to make sure to obtain at least one successful roll. However, he also risks obtaining unsuccessful rolls as well and losing attack strength.

Example: Show Off attack A Dwarf Berserker is fighting in close combat against an Orc Shaman. The Dwarf’s strength is so overwhelming that he decides to show off with his attack. For example, he makes a very appealing but unnecessary movement with his axes just before directing them in to his victim.

The barbarian’s controller decides to make a risky but aggressive attack, converting three out of four ATD to strength points, and rolls only one ATD. The player rolls a 3. The attack hits, and a strong one it is!

The Dwarf Berserker’s CS is 6, thus he performs the attack with a value of 5. The player controlling the dwarf rolls two attack dice, scoring a 2 and a 4, obtaining two successful rolls.

Defensive attacks An attack can be made more defensive by converting attack dice to armour points. These armour points are automatically added to the victim’s Armour (Arm). An Avatar can convert as many attack dice as desired to armour points.

As a result of the attack, the Orc Shaman dies. This modifies the crowd mood by three points in favour of the Dwarf Berserker’s team. However, as the Dwarf was performing a show off attack, the crowd mood modifying value will be of four points instead of three. The crowd was very impressed with the Dwarf Berserker’s finishing move!

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APPLYING DAMAGE

Fatigue damage

Damage in Arena Deathmatch is reflected directly on the model state table. Every time a model suffers damage, one of its stats is affected, decreasing by one point.

Fatigue damage is applied exactly the same way as combat damage. However, the damaged stat is determined by the number that was rolled double (thus provoking fatigue) according to the following table.

Combat damage

Fatigue damage

1

Mv

1 (1,2)

St

2

Pop

2 (3,4,5)

Ag

3

CS

3 (6,7,8)

Mi

4

CS

4

RS

5,6

Arm

5

RS

7 (1-3)

Ag

6,7

Pop

8 (4-6)

St

8

Mv

9 (7-9)

Mi

0

So

Fatigue damage does not affect the current action or attack result even if the stat being damaged is the stat used to perform the action. That is because fatigue damage is not applied until after obtaining the current action rolls or attack result.

For each damage point roll 1d10 and subtract one point from the stat indicated on the following table. If a descriptive stat has already reached its lowest value, you cannot decrease that stat further. Instead, apply the damage point to the next descriptive stat on the record card state table. If that Example: Fatigue damage stat cannot be decreased, move on to the next non empty Again, back to the fight between the Orc Warlord and the Dwarf Berserker. descriptive stat (downwards, returning to the top The Dwarf Berserker rolls 3d10 for performing his if necessary). For quick and easy attack scoring 1, 1 and 5. All three rolls are successful When all five descriptive stats (Mv, Pop, CS, reference, both Combat (the 5 is doubly successful); however, a double 1 is RS, Arm) have decreased to their lowest value, and Fatigue damage tables obtained, so the dwarf suffers fatigue damage. the model only receives damage to its physical appear at the bottom of Looking at the fatigue damage table we see that the stats (Ag, St, Mi). Use the values indicated in the band roster sheet Dwarf Berserker Strength stat will get damaged and parentheses on the Combat damage table to (when generated using will be then reduced, by one point, to a value of 4, determine which physical stat is affected if all the Band Maker). immediately after obtaining the attack result of 4. the descriptive stats are at their lowest value. If a physical stat has already reached its lowest value, you cannot decrease that stat further. Instead, apply the damage point to the next physical stat on the record card state table. If that stat cannot be decreased, move on to the next non empty physical stat (downwards, returning to the top if necessary). once all three physical stats (Ag, St, Mi) decrease to their lowest values, the model is dead or too wounded to continue fighting and is removed from play. If the Soul stat of an Avatar reaches zero, the soul damage is applied to the first physical stat in the Avatar record card state table that can be decreased one point. Example: Combar damage Getting back to the Orc Warlord and the Dwarf Berserker combat, the dwarf won the attack with an attack result of 3. Adding the Dwarf Berserker’s Strength (St 5) to the attack result we obtain attack strength of 8. As the Orc Warlord’s current Armour stat is 5, the Dwarf Berserker inflicts three damage points to the Orc Warlord. The Dwarf Berserker rolls 3d10, 1d10 for each damage point, obtaining 6, 3 and 8. This means the Orc Warlord’s Armour, Combat Skill and Strength all are immediately reduced by one point. 40

Next we calculate the attack strength. As the Dwarf Berserker Strength has now decreased to a value of 4, adding the dwarf Strength (St 4) to the attack result of 3 we obtain attack strength of 7.

BLOW EFFECT Close combat is not a static exchange of blows; fighters move many times involuntarily while in combat. The strength of an attack my make a victim lose position, be knocked down, or something even worse. To reflect this, once damage has been applied, subtract the victim’s original Strength (St) stat (not the current stat, as here the Strength stat is used an indication of size and weight) from the Attack Strength and apply the result indicated on the following table. Blow effect= Attack strength - Victim original Strength

Collisions with obstacles Whenever a model is thrown through the air due to a blow effect, it may collide with an obstacle during the flight.