Star Mogul - Alien Evolution

Star Mogul: Alien Evolution ™ ‘Star Mogul: Ruins of an empire’ core rulebook needed to play. Produced by Alpha Forge Games ™ © Alpha Forge Games 2007. All rights reserved. Artwork by Rod Tyson and ‘Merubi’ (http://illustrange.livejournal.com/) Thanks Melvin! Rules appearing in this supplement take precedence over rules appearing in the ‘Star Mogul: Ruins of an empire’ core rulebook. Please take note of the following legal notices which apply to all our products: All artwork, logos and all the images contained within this supplement and within all our printed literature is the exclusive copyright of Alpha Forge Games(tm). © Copyright Alpha Forge Games(tm) 2005. All rights reserved. 'Star Mogul: Ruins of an Empire', ‘Star Mogul: Distant Worlds’, ‘Star Mogul: Alien Evolution’ and all images and designs, including our 'Star Mogul: Ruins of an Empire' ranges of Science Fiction Miniatures, associated with this product are the exclusive copyright of Alpha Forge Games(tm). © Copyright Alpha Forge Games(tm) 2007. All rights reserved. The terms 'Arclight Blaster', 'NOVA Bombard', 'Tachyon Rifle', 'Super minigun', 'Avenger 19 assault rifle', 'Hades Battle-armor', 'Humanoid Augmentation Dangerous Environment Suit', 'cyber knuckles', 'Hydrissian', 'Thump gun', 'Salvage Dog', 'Devourer Cult', 'X12 Cult of Androids', 'Mekk',’ Mephalian’, ‘Foundry Bot’, ‘Strike ‘Bot’, ’Gort Beast of Burden’, ‘Mimjip’, ‘Mimjip empire’, ’Mimjip Death Mask’ 'Dark Tribes of the Abyss', 'Yagamuna', 'Wyyrd Folk' and the 'Star Mogul: Ruins of an Empire', and the ‘Dark tribes of the Abyss’ logos are all either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Alpha Forge Games(tm) 2005. All Rights Reserved.

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Contents-

Page Number

MEPHALIANS………………………………………………2 Beyond the shores of Mephas Part1………………………………………….3 ‘Boasts’ - Mephalian currency…………………………………………………6 Mephalian Warlord skills and abilities………………………………………...7 Creating a mephalian warband………………………………………………..8 Mephalian equipment…………………………………………………………...9 Mephalian skills…………………………………………………………………11 Beyond the shores of Mephas Part2…………………………………………13 Mephalian deployment costs………………………………………………….15 Mephalian warriors……………………………………………………………..15 Totemic Guides…………………………………………………………………16 Headhunters and collecting heads……………………………………………18 Vault Guardians…………………………………………………………………19 Brutes…………………………………………………………………………….22 Gort beast of burden and crew………………………………………………..23 Mimjip Deathmasks…………………………………………………………….26 Dark Fang (Infantry support vehicle)……..………………………………….27 Beyond the shores of Mephas Part 3………………………………………..28

X12 Android Cult………………………………………29 X12 Transcript………………………………………………………………….30 X12 Raiding Sect and APT’s………………………………………………….33 Androids and Seraphim statistics and abilities……………………………...34 X12 equipment and skills………………………………………………………36 Junk Bots………………………………………………………………………..38 Upgrading Junk Bots to Warbots……………………………………………..39 Repair Drones…………………………………………………………………..40 Guardsman’s testimony………………………………………………………...41 Reavers…………………………………………………………………………..43 Strike Bots………………………………………………………………………..45 Bio Slaves………………………………………………………………………..46 Foundry Bot………………………………………………………………………47 Final note…………………………………………………………………………48

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The Mephalians Also known as the ‘Meph’. The Mephalians were discovered very recently on one of the moons orbiting the gas giant 'Yagum' out in the distant 'Mephas' system. The moon that is their homeworld is also an ancient settlement left over from the 450,000 year old, highly advanced and now extinct, Mimjip empire. Initially, it was believed that the Mephalians are actually descended from an isolated pocket of the mimjip empire, left over after the strange disappearance of this galaxy spanning culture. Much of their technology is derived from the bizarre artifacts and equipment found among the mysterious ruins found upon their homeworld. More recently it has been revealed that they are descendants of a biologically engineered warrior race, created by the Mimjip to wage war across the stars upon whatever enemies they had. Without the guidance of their creators, the Mephalians descended into a primitive and savage tribal culture a long time ago. The chaotic nature of their society is based around a number of loosely knit tribes. Some took up agriculture. Others have adopted more a hunter gatherer lifestyle upon the dark and purple grass plains of the volcanic basin situated at one of the poles of their homeworld. The most posthumous tribe is also the largest, their elders generally have the most influence upon society. Their homelands are situated around the largest and best preserved section of Mimjip ruins on the planet. They have appointed themselves the keepers of the ‘Forbidden Vaults’ in an attempt to control the ancient technology that lies within, the purpose of which is largely beyond the ability of the Mephalians to grasp. To this end the strange cult of the ‘vault guardians’ was created thousands of years ago to protect, study and regulate the use of the archaeo-tech artifacts. It is also the duty of the vault guardians to explore the immense and complex underground ruins that honeycomb sections of the planet’s mantle. The cataloguing of archaeo-tech artifacts is performed methodically and slowly. This work has been going on for thousands of years and the mysterious vault guardians have become detached and distant from the rest of Mephalian society. They no longer behave like normal Mephalians, and many believe that their motives have been corrupted by secrecy and the bizarre contents of the Forbidden Vaults. Mephalian physiology is a product of the bio-engineering of the Mimjipani, along with the effects of hundreds of thousand of years of evolution. The homeworld has a dense atmosphere containing high levels of sulphur dioxide leaving the surface in perpetual violet gloom. As a result, the Mephalians have very poor sight, with no eyes – they rely upon a light sensitive membrane covering their domed foreheads. They also have an unusual, and highly effective, method of sonar location and communication based on a unique organ found within their skull. Initial contact was made with the Mephalians in 2432AD by a human salvage company owned and operated by Piers Redbeard. Renowned for his enthusiasm for finding lost Mimjip archaeo-tech, which he was not particularly good at for most of his career. He often operated in remote and infrequently visited areas of the Outer Rim. Upon discovering the Mephalian home world, and realizing the extent of the Mimjip ruins therein, he organized a salvage trip to loot the forbidden vaults. Knowing well enough that a primitive intelligent life form already inhabited the planet, they did not expect them to put up much resistance. As a result, greed got the better of him and his crew. The mission ended in disaster for Redbeard who lost his entire crew, and spent a period of time holed up in his salvage ship on the planet surface while the Mephalians worked out how to open the ship hull. Once they did, they killed him and commandeered the ship.

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The Mephalians were quick to take advantage of this new found opportunity. Acting as pirates across nearby star lanes they have rapidly built a small fleet of star ships stolen from civilian contractors and salvage crews. Their actions are becoming bolder as they are striking further afield on a more regular basis. Territorial clashes with pirates as well as FDF outposts are showing that the Mephalians have established themselves as a star faring race to be reckoned with. It is suspected that they have already begun colonizing new star systems. Earth’s council is keen to see the Frontier Union eradicate the Mephalians as they pose a danger to human trade and galactic expansion. They are also very keen to ‘liberate’ the treasures held within the forbidden vaults. The Frontier Union however, is less keen on declaring all out war and instigating a full scale invasion of the distant Mephalian home world. As it would probably end in disaster due to the Frontier Union’s lack of manpower and resources. So, for now, the Mephalians are free to continue laying the foundations of an advanced civilization among the stars.

Mephalian war bands Mephalian war bands are led by a warlord elected by the tribal brood fathers. The warlord is expected go forth across the ‘Great Abyss’ and lead his war band to victory. This is usually achieved by capturing enemy starships, clearing the way for new Mephalian star colonies, preventing other races from taking over strategically important sites and furthering the expansion of the Mephalian race. Mephalian culture, being quite primitive, has no need of money. Value is attributed certain things and deeds by the brood fathers. A war band that is very successful will have the faith of the brood fathers to fall back upon when casualties start mounting. After a mission, warlords normally return to the home world to report their successes or losses to the elders. Sitting around the smoldering fires of the war council, newly arrived warlords boast loudly of their latest exploits. Competing with each other for the attention of the brood fathers. To prove their worth, and the truth of their boasts, the warlords bring back grisly trophies from their campaigns. The heads and body parts of fallen enemies are popular – he who has the largest pile, and the loudest boast receives the greatest favor from the fathers.

‘Boasts’ – The Mephalian ‘currency’ If the brood fathers see a warlord doing well, they will attribute to him more resources to help his cause. To obtain these resources a war leader must show evidence of his boasts at the war council. In order to represent this abstractly – the ‘currency’ of the mephalian warlords is ‘boasts’. By killing another player’s crew members or destroying their vehicles, and obtaining evidence of each kill, a warlord obtains ‘boasts’ that can be converted into new warriors or equipment granted by the brood fathers at the war council. ‘Boasts’ are not real currency and are not transferable into credits (or any other currency) in the same way hydrissian ‘honors’ can be. (See the ‘Distant Worlds’ rules supplement for further details on hydrissian ‘honors’.) However, when determining who wins a salvage mission, or comparing the size of deployment costs for a mephalian warband with the deployment cost in credits or honors of another race – you can treat 1 boast equivalent to 1 credit, 1 honor point or 1 of whatever your enemy uses as ‘currency’.

At this point ‘Star Mogul’ fans will be asking ‘Do the Meph collect salvage from salvage counters then?’. The answer is ‘Yes’ they do. They can collect valuables from salvage counters like any other salvage crew can. They can even use salvage tools to help them. The problem is that the warrior culture of the mephalians attaches greater importance to the heads of its enemies as a measure of progress, than to salvage. The use and meaning of such artifacts will probably be completely lost to the warlord on the battle field, who may not be able to distinguish valuables from junk! As a result the brood fathers will attribute a very low, and arbitrary, value to any recovered salvage as they see fit. For a mephalian war leader, success mainly lies in taking the fight to the enemy, and not relying upon collecting potentially useless artifacts for which the brood fathers might not have a use. The ready supply of totemic artifacts that lie within the forbidden vaults reduces the brood fathers’ curiosity still further for the benefits other alien artifacts might bring.

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For any salvage brought back to the mephalian home world, roll 1D4 x 500 to find out how many boasts it will bring your war leader. Regardless of the value of the salvage counter in human credits. Mephalian war lords are ferocious warriors that bring to battle some of the best personal equipment recovered from the forbidden vaults. Statistics and details for your war leader are shown below.

Mephalian warlord stats, abilities and equipment STARTING FUNDS: 24,000 Boasts. Warband starting loyalty score: 8 Resilience: 4 Armor: 5 Movement: 6” Skill points: 18 (may only be spent on ‘Mephalian only’ skills featured in this book, any weapon skills (including hand to hand combat) or the following ‘Boss Skills/ Vices’ from the core rulebook – able commander, strike force, manic depressive, and wastrel.) No other skill may be employed by your warlord.

Weapons and equipment: Mimjip energy rifle (see description under ‘mephalian equipment’) Mimjip ‘body mold armor’ (see description under ‘mephalian equipment’) Mephalian war lord free equipment choice (see below). Notes: 1) Warlord does not start with two shareholders to help him. (Unlike other races). 2) A mephalian warlord has a command radius of 6” due to his training in use of the mephalian sonar organ used to communicate with fellow squad members. 3) Starting company loyalty score is 8. Mephalian soldiers have powerful superstitions about the Great Abyss and the creatures that exist there. These superstitions contribute to their fear of the unknown. This can make them somewhat unreliable when under pressure unless they have some battle experience. Free equipment choice - choose only one, your war leader cannot have more than one of these devices, they are gifts given by the brood fathers to new war lords. If your warlord dies your new warlord, drawn from the ranks as you see fit, must use 1500 boasts to obtain a new item of equipment (player’s choice): ‘Button down’ device – The user picks a target model (infantry or vehicle) within 20” in an enemy unit and fires the ‘button down’ device using general small arms skill (always counts as short range). If the hit is successful, then a powerful charge of energy forms on the target that leaps from one unit member to the next. The energy charge is designed to foil complex electronic weapons systems so that they jam or cease working. For the first model hit, roll 1D6. On a result of 1 to 4 the weapon that crew member is holding stops working until the end of that player’s next turn (place a marker next to the model so you remember). The energy charge then jumps, like lightning down a lightning rod, to the next closest model with 3”. Then roll 1D6 again. If the result is a 1-3, that model’s weapon shuts down and the energy charge jumps again to the nearest model within 3”. This third model’s weapon will shut down on a 1 or 2 on 1D6. The fourth model’s weapon shuts down on a 1 on 1D6. If the chain is broken at any point and a model’s weapon does not cease working the energy charge dissipates and the effects end there. Effected models still have to wait until the end of the owning player’s next turn before they regain control of their weapons. This is a particularly good device to use against squads of light vehicles or squads of heavy weapons! ‘Phase re-locator’ - A small energy pack worn by the warlord enables his entire squad to make use of the Mimjip trans-dimensional technology. Once per game the warlord can teleport his entire squad up to 12 inches in any direction. The teleporter power cell then dissipates its energy. This ability can only be used at any time during the owners phase 1 or phase 2. It may also be used during any FOW phase. But only at the very end of that FOW phase. Costs 1SP to use. Continued……

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‘Photon disruption field generator’ – The war lord carries equipment that can generate a field around his squad that disrupts light waves. This blurs their appearance and makes it very difficult to aim weapons at them. It also can be disorienting to opponents who are involved in hand to hand combat with the war lord and his squad. The disruption field remains as a permanent fixture throughout an entire battle and bestows the following bonuses upon the warlord and each member of his squad (except models with the word ‘vehicle’ in their description). 1) Whenever an enemy model shoots at the war lord’s squad members, reduce the shooter’s weapon skill by 2 points for that shot. 2) All opponents that find themselves in hand to hand combat with the warlord’s squad suffer a minus 2 (-2) penalty to combat rating. ‘Anti-matter blade’ – Add +3 combat rating. The fine edge of this blade consists of particles of non baryonic matter. (All ‘normal’ matter is baryonic matter). It is a powerful weapon that can disrupt armor and flesh the same. If in combat with opponents wearing battle armor and a 1 or 2 is rolled on the warlord’s 1D8 combat roll, the opponent must make a resilience test (roll equal to or under on 1D6) or die of shock. Against vehicles it will do 2D8 damage.

Creating a war band Your warlord starts with 24,000 boasts with which he can influence the support of the tribal elders (in other words – spend on crew and equipment). His primary goal is to go forth and perform heroic deeds in the name of the Mephalian race. Hand to hand combat and the defeat of enemies on an equal footing is seen as a noble and honorable pursuit. The concepts of piracy and theft, which is most often the real goal of these individuals, are not recognized by the tribal elders or the warlords. The Mephalians see their situation as a desperate one – surrounded by better equipped, more numerous and more advanced star faring civilizations that would destroy the mephalian race if they get the chance. The Mephalians have entered a new phase of their history, where great legends are being born from the fires of their own ingenuity and bravery! Mephalian war bands have the following equipment that is available to them only. The number attached to each item is the cost in boasts that your warlord must expend.

Mephalian infantry equipment and costs General small arms – Free Twin energy condenser rifle – 425 boasts Mimjip energy pistol – 200 boasts Mimjip energy rifle – 530 boasts ‘Dimension’ gun (heavy weapon) – 2600 boasts Graviton cannon (heavy weapon) – 800 boasts Mimjip body-mold armor – special, only available to totemic guides or warlords. Mimjip mono-molecular blade – 450 boasts Light armor - free Salvage tools - 220 boasts Mimjip death mask – special Tribal equipment Spirit tokens – 100 boasts (re-roll morale) Mephalian crossbow – 100 boasts (1D8+2 damage) Mephalian shield – 20 boasts (+1 Res) Mephalian sword – 25 boasts (+1 combat rating) Medicine bag (add or subtract 1 from individuals ‘tribal medicine’ skill roll) – 40 boasts Notes: 1) Normal medium armor is not available to mephalian warriors. They do not have the means to manufacture it and the only medium armor found within the vaults is Mimjip bodymold armor. Which is only used by totemic guides and warlords. 2) Mephalian heavy weapons cost 100 boasts to deploy each mission.

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Equipment descriptions: Twin energy condenser rifle – A ‘small arms’ weapon that the meph guardians cobbled together from parts found within the forbidden vaults. Having some technical skill, these mysterious individuals sometimes scavenge bits from the devices found in the depths and create their own weaponry. The guardians make these devices available to meph warriors. They are known to be unreliable in battle. Statistics are shown below. Description Damage dice No.of hits Range Special Energy condenser 1D10+3 1 9” Short, 18” Long Meph only. rifle Small arms. Note: If the user rolls a double number when rolling a skill check to fire the energy condenser the power pack ruptures. If the number was double six it may severely burn the user - the user must make a RES test or die. (Roll equal to or under your resilience score on 1D6). After the power pack has ruptured the user cannot use the condenser rifle anymore and must now use ‘general small arms’ as carried by all warriors

Mimjip energy pistol – Ancient archaeotech pistol. Counts as ‘general small arms’ except that it has a range of 8” short and 14” long. The Mimjip built pan-dimensional ‘phase’ technology into some of their weapons. The ammunition partially exists outside of the normal four dimensions, giving it the ability to pass through normal matter for a short distance. This means all targets making use of the ‘heavy cover’ bonus receive a minus 1 penalty to their bonus. It only effects targets hiding behind heavy cover – it treats heavy cover as light cover. Mimjip energy rifle – The rifle version of the Mimjip pistol. It has the same characteristics as a ‘general small arms’ weapon except it has range of 18” short and 28” long. It also reduces ALL cover bonuses by 1 point due to its heavier ammunition. Mimjip energy rifles are subject to the ‘difficult to obtain’ rule. Dimension gun – This heavy weapon can be carried by normal infantry warriors. It employs the same ‘phase’ technology that the smaller Mimjip energy rifle and pistol use. It ignores heavy and light cover completely – giving a minus 2 point penalty to cover bonus for models in cover. It does five, four sided dice for damage. This weapon is subject to the ‘very difficult to obtain’ rule. Description Dimension Gun

Damage dice 5D4

No.of hits 1

Range 20” Short, 30” Long

Special Meph only.

Graviton cannon – Another weapon cobbled together by the guardians from power units and artifacts found within the huge repositories of the forbidden vaults. Indiscriminately discharging large amounts of energy from power units originally designed by the Mimjip to create localized gravitational fields. This heavy weapon has an area of effect upon the target. Choose a point in range and in line of sight to shoot at (it can be open ground) then make a ‘heavy weapon’ skill check. If the check succeeds everything wholly or partially within 2 inches of the target point is effected. This weapon is subject to the ‘very difficult to obtain’ rule. Description Graviton cannon

Damage dice 3D6

No.of hits 1

Range 9” Short, 20” Long

Special Meph only. Blast radius 2”

The Graviton cannon is very bulky and unwieldy to carry. It may be used by normal meph warriors, but the user will suffer a minus 1” movement penalty. Also, due to its unreliable nature, if the user rolls a double six while making his ‘heavy weapon’ skill check the graviton power source ruptures! The user must roll a 1 or 2 on 1D6 to survive the intense power discharge (no post game recovery roll). Also, every infantry model wholly or partially within 1” not wearing power armor must make a RES test (roll equal to or under resilience score on 1D6) with a +1 bonus to RES or die.

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Mimjip bodymold armor – Counts as ‘medium armor’ giving 5 armor points. May only be used by totemic guides or warlords. Ignore all ‘wounded’ results from enemy fire or hand to hand combat. Only available to ‘Totemic Guides’ or your warlord. This armor was manufactured by the Mimjip many thousands of years ago. The Mephalians recover it from the vast forbidden vaults that honeycomb the subsurface of their home world in such quantity that it can be made frequently available for use. Bodymold armor is not stiff and inflexible like many body armors manufactured elsewhere in the Outer Rim. It is quite the opposite, being made of a semi-liquid reflective material that flows around the wearers physiology as if it knows how to fit itself best to protect vulnerable parts. If the wearer is wounded the armor will flow rapidly to staunch the wound, often saving the wearers life. Upon the death of the wearer, the armor melts into a pool of liquid. Denying the enemy the chance to steal it.

Mimjip mono-molecular blade – These nasty and exotic blades were manufactured by the ancient Mimjip to equip their genetically engineered warriors on the battlefield. The blade edge is the thickness of a single molecule and can slice through thick armor easily when wielded with force. Adds +2 to combat rating. Also when used against heavy battle armor and a 1 is rolled on the combat dice roll during hand to hand combat the individual wearing battle armor must make a RES check (roll equal to or under resilience score on 1D6) or die immediately with no post game recovery roll.

Mimjip Death-mask - These foul artifacts were manufactured by the Mimjip race to re-animate dead warriors and slaves on the battlefield. Death-masks reveal, to some extent, the mind of these ancient extinct aliens and their attitude towards their genetically engineered warriors, the Mephalians. The deathmasks are bestowed upon successful brood warriors by the tribal elders and cannot be purchased. They are a symbol of rank, the more death-masks a warlord has the greater his influence among the tribes. Rules for death-masks are covered more fully under the ‘Death-masks’ entry in the ‘unit types’ section later in the mephalian section.

Spirit tokens – A gift from the tribal shaman to new warlords and adventurers. They are a primitive symbol of the mephalian ancestors’ support in the spirit world for the individual. They can only be granted to a unit leader. The unit leader may ‘call upon the ancestors’ in times of crisis. The tokens only work once, they are discarded permanently after use and cannot be used on subsequent missions. If a unit leader calls upon the ancestors his infantry unit may re-roll a failed bravery or company loyalty test. A unit leader cannot carry more than one bag of spirit tokens at the same time.

Mephalian crossbow – A traditional weapon employed for centuries by the primitive meph in wartime. They can be used upon the battlefield to deliver silent death. The weapon of an assassin, in comparison to the explosive, noisy and brilliant energy discharges of more modern weaponry they are almost silent when used. When shooting the crossbow you may declare the ‘silent death’ rule. The enemy unit cannot invoke the ‘return fire’ rule unless the unit leader can make a company loyalty check and react quickly. The silent death rule only applies if the only weapons being fired are crossbows or other weapons that are subject to silent death. Description Mephalian xbow

Damage dice 1D8+2

No.of hits 1

Range 10” Short, 16” Long

Special Meph only. Silent death.

Mephalian shield and sword – Two items that may be equipped separately. Normal tribal equipment – the shield bestows +1 to resilience. The sword bestows +1 to combat rating. They may be carried along with small arms but not with heavy weaponry. Medicine bag – herbal remedies and salves that can be used by mephalian warriors, guides, headhunters and guardians only to heal the wounded. Adds +1 to ‘tribal medicine’ skill. The individual may also add or subtract 1 point from dice rolls on the ‘tribal medicine’ table if they wish. This will help offset potential bad effects of mephalian tribal medicine. Obviously the user must have some ‘tribal medicine’ skill to start with.

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Mephalian skills: Mephalians, like other races and factions, have their own set of distinct skills. Certain things they are naturally good at, or abilities bestowed from evolving on alien worlds - these skills can be very useful in the heat of battle. Do not forget about the natural abilities of your troops when the appropriate circumstances arise during a game for you to use them! The skills listed below are only available to mephalians.

Usurper (Warlord only) – The warlord has an acute eye for the way a planetary battle is effected by the deployment of the forces involved. As a result he can alter his deployment plans at a moments notice. This skill can be used in one of two ways at the start of a game (it must be one or the other, not both. State which before you roll the dice). The two ways this skill may be used are detailed below: 1) By rolling this skill successfully the warlord can choose to deploy his drop zone marker before all other players ( 1st). 2) By rolling this skill successfully the warlord can re-deploy his force again after all players involved have deployed.

Favored by the ancient ones (Warlord only) – Your warlord is seen by the brood fathers as having a spark of destiny. The blood of an ancient hero runs in his veins and great things are expected of him. If you can successfully roll this skill at the start of the game you will receive two extra death masks to use – just for that game. This can be above and beyond the normal maximum of 4. As a gift of faith from the brood fathers.

Story teller (Warlord only) – Your warlord has the natural ‘gift of the gab’ when appearing at the war council. Embellishments to his heroic deeds ‘wow’ the listening crowds! Seen as a real poser by his peers, and seen as an upcoming hero by the tribal leaders. If your warlord can roll equal to or under this skill at the end of a game – add 10% to the number of boasts he receives. If he fails the skill check – reduce the number of boasts by 10% as a rival warlord beats him at his own game and makes him look foolish! Resonance (Free points 5)– Due to the murky and dense atmosphere on their home world mephalians have evolved an unusual organ within the forehead of their skull. This organ acts as a sonar location device similar to that used by bats on Earth. It is useful for the meph as it compliments their limited ability to detect light (using the light sensitive skin upon the dome of their forehead, which acts like an eye!). This sonar organ is also used to communicate emotion on a separate level to spoken language. When groups of meph come together, they can use this organ to strike up a resonance between them. Each member contributing a frequency ‘note’. Those few who have heard it and survived to report their experience say that the most wonderful harmonies can be struck up by these groups. Though some have reported the organ can be used to create intense discord too! A meph player can have a squad of meph infantry strike up either a harmony or discord (player’s choice). If the player does this the squad can do nothing else except move during that phase. It also costs that player 1 SP to perform. Units in hand to hand combat cannot resonate. This skill relies upon the ‘resonance radius’, which is the distance from the unit leader model that the ability effects. To determine the resonance radius, take the number of squad members in that squad who successfully made their skill roll and multiply it by 3 inches. Measure this distance out from the unit leader. Any units wholly or partially within this radius are effected. Maximum resonance radius is 24 inches. The following effects take place depending on which resonance is used. Harmony – All fleeing meph units within the resonance radius immediately rally. These units behave as normal immediately. Discord – All enemy infantry units wholly or partially within the resonance radius must make a loyalty check with a +3 bonus to loyalty score, or immediately retreat for twice their normal move back to their drop zone. An enemy unit made up of troops wearing battle armor, and containing no other troop type, will not be affected.

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Only a unit containing a minimum of 3 normal mephalian infantry can employ this skill. Less than three members of the mephalian race do not have the power to set up the resonance. Brutes and guardians do not employ this skill. Gort/ vehicle units cannot employ this skill.

Deceit (Unit leaders only) – Mephalian war leaders have to use deceit and guile to obtain their rank. The ability to feint, and appear as one thing while doing another, is seen as an admirable skill when dealing with a peer group. It is also a useful skill during war. Any time a member of that unit leader’s infantry squad is hit by enemy weapon fire, the leader may make a deceit skill check. If successful, then one squad member that has been hit may exchange places with any other infantry model in that squad immediately. The model that now finds itself under fire is subject to the fire as normal. This skill is useful for keeping alive valuable head hunters and totemic guides. Only models that are normal mephalian infantry, including headhunters and guides, or brutes can be the subject of this skill. Vehicles, Gort’s, Guardians, Death masks and fang mites cannot be used. Vehicle or Gort drivers however, can be used if they have lost their vehicle/ Gort, and then subsequently joined the leader’s unit. (As they are normal mephalians). This skill may be used on as many models in the unit leader’s unit as you like, but each model may only be involved in a swap once per phase. Mephalian Pilot – The mephalians have ‘pilot’ skill just like every other race. However, due to the unusual nature of their sense organs they have difficulty engaging in this activity. The Mimjip did not engineer the meph to act as vehicle pilots, they were engineered to act as infantry warriors! As a result – no mephalian may have a ‘pilot’ skill higher than 7. They just don’t make good pilots. This also effects the ability of your drop ship pilot to land accurately upon the battle field. In order to avoid a direct collision with an enemy drop ship (which is not a good idea unless you’re feeling suicidal!) you cannot land your mephalian dropship any closer than within 28 inches of an opponent’s drop zone marker. Instead of the normal 15 inch limitation as mentioned in the ‘game missions’ section of the core rulebook.

Tribal medicine – The mephalians have developed their own powerful medicine over the eons. Drawn from natural materials found upon their home world, the derivatives extracted from plant and animal alike are finely tailored to heal mephalian mind and body. This skill replaces the ‘medic’ skill appearing in the core rulebook. Mephalian warbands do not have access to ‘medic’ skill. It behaves in exactly the same way in all respects, except that if a double number is rolled when making the tribal medicine skill roll the wounded model rolls 1D6 on the following table: Tribal medicine table (roll 1D6) Dice result 1-2 3-4 56-

Event The wounded model dies immediately, without a recovery roll at the end of the game. The wounded model recovers and receives a +2 Resilience score bonus for the rest of the game due to the stimulating nature of the exotic substances used by the medic. The medicine used has altered the wounded model’s memory badly. The model recovers but permanently loses 3 skill points (player’s choice). Remove the points from your company roster. The medicine has sharpened the wounded model’s mind acutely. Fresh insight gives the model +1 skill permanently to its most proficient skill. (Will not increase above 10 – choose another skill in this case). The model recovers.

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Mephalian deployment costs. – All mephalian warband crew aspire to become powerful members of tribal society. By serving a great war-leader they can themselves obtain the favor of the brood fathers. The mephalians serving in a war-leader’s warband ‘steal’ boasts from the war-leader at the war council. The more warriors a war-leader employs, the less spectacular his own personal efforts are. This is not to say that your war-leader’s efforts are not appreciated greatly by the brood fathers. It is a system that has arisen in mephalian culture that allows for the recognition of all warband members based upon their deeds. Even the lowliest warriors. Because of this, all warriors have a ‘deployment cost’ in boasts. Most mephalian vehicles and equipment do not require a deployment cost, as a lot of it is high technology manufactured by the Mimjip hundreds of thousands of years ago. The power supply, ammunition and other upkeep of these artifacts is a mystery to the meph and all other races. They still work - if they go wrong there is no-one yet on the Outer Rim who understands them enough to maintain or repair them!

Mephalian unit types Warriors (basic mephalian infantry) Your warlord will be accompanied by a number of warriors to help with the tasks that the brood fathers have assigned him. After a period of service many of these warriors return to the home world. Some, however, remain in the service of their chosen warlord and share in the glory of many victories. Often they become warlords in their own right, seeking the favor of the brood fathers and boasting of their successes around the fires of the war council. Squads of mephalian infantry are always led by a ‘Totemic Guide’. These individuals are normally dressed in ancient and ornate Mimjip ‘bodymold’ armor which, in the minds of the meph, represents the spirit of the ancestors brought to life. The guide instills bravery among the members of the squad and leads by example. As long as he lives the mephalian warriors will be inspired to great deeds. If he is killed, the warriors will be filled with doubt. The meph infantry squads are also accompanied by the all important ‘Headhunters’. These individuals are assigned the task of collecting enemy heads for the warlord to boast about at the war council. Usually armed with a vicious head hunting blade, these warriors should be protected as much as possible as they advance into hand to hand combat to collect the grisly remains of fallen foes for the glory of your warlord.

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When basic mephalian warriors are employed they have the following employment costs (in boasts) and statistics. Mephalian warrior

Average (7 skill points) 520 boasts Resilience: Armor: Movement: Weapon:

Experienced (12 skill points) 750 boasts

Veteran (16 skill points) 1000 boasts

3 3 (light) 5” General small arms.

Count as ‘Bio’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-3 on 1D6 Deployment cost: 10 boasts per skill point the warrior has. This includes totemic guides and headhunters.

Mephalian warriors cannot take the following skills from the ‘Star Mogul’ core rulebook: hard-asnails, salvage hound, military discipline, engineer, technician, medic. They may take any other skills from the ‘bio’ skill list in the core rulebook not mentioned. They may also take skills from the ‘mephalian skill list’ above, as appropriate. Mephalian warriors have access to the following equipment: light armor, medium armor, general small arms, Mimjip energy pistol, Mimjip energy rifle, dimension gun, Graviton cannon, twin energy condenser rifle, crossbow, shield, sword, Mimjip mono-molecular blade, spirit tokens, medicine bag. Mephalian infantry have a low recovery roll compared to other races because, as a fledgling interstellar race, they are not as well established across the Outer Rim as other races. This means they have less opportunity to find a means of getting back to their homeworld without attracting the attention of their enemies. Their best chance is for your warlord to return to the scene of the battle some time afterward and pick them up. They just need to stay alive until that happens.

Totemic guides Mephalian warriors are always led by an experienced member of their tribe who has been granted the honor of becoming a ‘totemic guide’. These guides are seen as spiritual tutors in both war and peace for their students. On the homeworld they are normally the leaders of a small teaching group, rather like a karate dojo on Earth. They accept mephalian individuals who are seen as having the right temperament for training in the martial arts of war. A totemic guide is honored and respected by his students, and it is his task to ensure that they are ready when the time comes to test their abilities on the battlefield. Only the best students accompany the guide on his travels across the Great Abyss in search of success, glory and an honorable future for the mephalian race. The guide will probably have a suit of Mimjip bodymold armor to wear. This armor is a symbol for all mephalians upon the field that the ancient ancestors are with them. It acts like a battle standard. To promote a mephalian warrior to ‘Totemic Guide’ status you must employ a veteran warrior (1000 boasts). You must also spend 400 boasts to elevate that warrior to guide status. This means you must spend a total of 1500 boasts to employ a basic totemic guide. A totemic guide gives his students (in other words, the mephalians in his unit) a +2 to company loyalty as long as he lives. If he dies the unit will suffer a -1 penalty to company loyalty instead. The totemic guide has the following in addition to that which a normal warrior has: Counts as a veteran (starts with 16 skill points). Comes with Mimjip ‘bodymold armor’ for free. 16

Gorts, Guardians, Death masks, and vehicles cannot be led by a totemic guide. Only units with mephalian ‘warriors’ may be led by a totemic guide. Though brutes may join a warrior unit and so benefit from the guide’s abilities. For every 6 mephalian warriors you have, one of these six warriors must be promoted to be a totemic guide. (Five warriors and a guide). You must also have a separate guide for each separate infantry unit containing any warriors. (Unless the unit is led by your warlord). So – for example, you could have a meph warrior unit configuration like this: Three units, each containing 7, 5 and 6 models respectively. A total of 18 warriors here means that three warriors must be promoted to ‘totemic guide’. The rest of the warrior ‘students’ can be spread about as you wish as long as you stick to the normal rule for infantry units of a minimum unit size of four miniatures at the start of the game. (See the ‘Star Mogul’ core rulebook section on minimum size for infantry units).

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Headhunters Headhunters are a very important part of a meph warlord’s retinue. The headhunters are specialist elite warriors that belong to a mysterious, primitive and brutal cult on the mephalian homeworld. Often tattooed from head to foot, they normally act as guards for the tribal elders. These warriors are the primary means by which your warlord can influence the elders at the war council. Headhunters and their role are explained below. For every 4 mephalian warriors – you are allowed to have a fifth headhunter. Employing a headhunter will cost you 750 boasts. Headhunters are classed as ‘normal’ warriors even though they have special abilities. Their starting statistics are – Resilience: 4 Armor: 3 (light) Movement: 5” Skill points: 10 Headhunters have a starting hand to hand combat skill of 8 Weapon: General small arms. Headhunting blade. Headhunting blade – Adds +2 to combat rating. This is a long, strangely crafted sword blade made from a green volcanic glass found on the meph homeworld. This glass is very tough and somewhat flexible with the ability to hold a sharp edge for a long time. It is traditionally used by headhunters over the eons to collect the heads of fallen enemies during times of war. The blade is considered sacred, and is seen by the mephalians as holding the minds and souls of the fallen. This is why only headhunters are allowed to collect heads. Any other meph warrior would never dare to usurp the headhunters sacred role upon pain of death or exile. Heads and body parts harvested by this blade count towards your warlord’s final ‘boasts’ score at the end of the game.

Headhunters and collecting heads during a mission OK – the way mephalians make most of their ‘profit’ is by collecting heads or body parts from enemy troops to take back to the war council and show the brood fathers how cool they are. This is a little more complicated than gathering salvage from your normal salvage counter – so listen up war-leader and pay attention to this next bit – its important! The way heads and body parts are gathered during a battle is by using a mephalian headhunter to collect them. Only the headhunters are given this ancient and sacred role to play in the Warband and are seen as the stewards of your war-leader’s reputation. A headhunter will not gather the heads of fallen comrades! Though they will gather the heads of mephalians from other war-bands they might find themselves fighting. The way it works is like this: When an enemy infantry model ‘dies’ during a game place a counter (a coin is good) in its place to show there is a corpse there. (Or place a wounded model on its side). The headhunter must move to base to base contact with at least one ‘dead’/ wounded model to ‘Apply the Blade’. If an enemy vehicle that has crew is destroyed by anything other than a ‘Kaboom!’ result on the vehicle superstructure failure table, place a ‘dead’ counter next to the wreckage for each crew present in the vehicle. (The owner of the wrecked vehicle does this).

Applying the Blade: This is where the headhunter uses the headhunting blade to remove the heads/ body parts of the fallen victims. ‘Applying the blade’ can be used to immediately collect up to 4 heads/ body parts from ‘dead’ or wounded/ damaged models that are wholly or partially within 3” of the headhunter’s base at a cost of 1 SP. The headhunter MUST be within base to base contact of at least one of these fallen models. This can only be done on your turn. Or in the enemy FOW phase if you are lucky enough to receive free SP’s. For a headhunter to gather the head of a ‘wounded’ or ‘damaged’ model the headhunter must roll equal to or under its hand to hand combat skill on 2D6. Obviously the wounded model dies if this is successful. If it isn’t the wounded model survives until the headhunter spends another SP to apply the blade again. 18

Headhunters can carry a max of 5 heads/ body parts. So you must keep track of how many heads/ body parts your individual headhunters are carrying. (A dead model yields as many ‘heads’ as its model value in hand to hand combat. So, an asteroid miner ‘centaur chassis’ which counts as two models in hand to hand combat, will yield two body parts. A demobot will yield four body parts - probably the tips of four of its gigantic fingers!) If a ‘Gort beast of burden’ model is wholly or partially within 4 inches of the headhunter, the headhunter can immediately transfer the collected heads/ parts to the Gort after ‘applying the blade’ (or anytime thereafter during your turn). This frees the headhunter to collect 5 more heads!

Recovered heads/ body parts that are dropped off at your drop zone will entitle your warlord to 1000 ‘boasts’ each! Note that an infantry corpse with its head removed might still be used with the Mimjip ‘Death Masks’. Keep track of which corpses have been decapitated so that you do not harvest more than one head from each corpse! (This is getting grizzly!!) You can use a coin to represent corpses. If it is heads up – the corpse is ‘untouched’. If it is tails up – the head is removed. Enemy infantry models that have their heads removed get no recovery roll at the end of the game! However, large models that fight in hand to hand combat and that are also classed as ‘vehicles’ DO receive recovery rolls as normal. Examples are: Demobot and the asteroid miner Cyclops. Alpha Forge Games plan to produce a small range of ‘dead’ miniatures specifically designed to help keep track of where your opponent’s fallen crew members lie on the battle field. Check out our website for more details! If a headhunter dies while carrying heads, they are all lost, unless there is a Gort model wholly or partially within 4” of the dead headhunter. In which case the heads will be transferred to the Gort by the Gort drivers. Once heads/ body parts are stashed upon a Gort treat them as if they were salvage loaded upon a vehicle (except they do not fill cargo space). The Gort must get them back to the drop zone and offload them to be picked up by the drop ship. Unless the mephalian player is the last player on the field, in which case the Gort (acting like a vehicle) has time to stampede back to the DZ from anywhere on the battle field before your opponents carpet bomb the area from orbit!

Mephalians and recovering normal salvage Mephalians can recover salvage from salvage counters in exactly the same way as other races. The Gort beast of burden acts as the mephalian cargo carrier as it has a ‘cargo capacity’ of 1. However, the brood fathers will probably have little use for, or understanding of, many of the objects and equipment your warlord will recover. The brood fathers will only attribute 1D4 x 500 boasts to any salvage recovered – regardless of its value in credits.

Vault guardians The mysterious cult of the forbidden vault guardians has existed for thousands of years. They were originally established from the ranks of the brood fathers as a separate entity to explore the unknown depths of the vaults and bring back whatever wonders they could find there. Ancient mephalian legend records that the guardians disappeared within the vaults for several generations and were all but forgotten about. Fear and superstition kept the mephalians away from the vaults until the brood fathers emerged again, silent and aloof. Distancing themselves from the rest of meph society, they now act as intermediaries between the ancient secrets of the forbidden vaults and the mephalian ruling powers. Employing brutes to enforce their authority, the guardians have become a force to be feared by other meph. It is suspected that they are no longer entirely mephalian, but have fallen under the power of some strange entity that was encountered deep within the vaults. The agenda and aims of the guardians are difficult to define, it is likely they adhere to some long term scheme that involves the future of the mephalian race at large. The equipment and skills they offer to the meph fulfill a vital role in ensuring that

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the meph remain a powerful race among the stars. The guardians often offer their services as starship pilots and astro-navigators. Their scientific curiosity drives them to study alien technology. When employing a vault guardian in your warlord’s retinue you must also employ at least one accompanying brute to act as a bodyguard. (See the ‘Brutes’ section next). The guardians are not known for their physical prowess, preferring to influence a battle from afar rather than becoming involved directly. If your guardian’s brute dies, you must obtain another brute to field the guardian again in a mission. If your guardian dies, leaving behind a lone brute, the brute can join a normal meph warrior unit and continue as normal, or you may choose to obtain a new guardian in between missions and assign the brute to guard him.

Vault guardians have statistics as shown below when first employed. Vault guardian – Cost to employ: 1100 boasts. Deployment cost: 100 boasts Resilience: 3 Armor: 3 (light) Movement: 5” Weapon: General small arms. Skill points available: 8 Skill: Mimjip technology (freepoints 6) Count as ‘Bio’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-3 on 1D6 Command radius for accompanying brutes 15”

Vault guardians will not join any other unit. They will only belong to a unit of brutes that they lead. Vault guardian units have a minimum unit size of 2 models. (One guardian and one brute). Vault guardians horde the most powerful Mimjip artifacts they find while exploring the forbidden vaults. They often carry a few of these upon the battle field to assist the warlord’s retinue. Guardians have a special skill that allows them to manipulate Mimjip tech called ‘Mimjip technology’. In order for them to use any of the artifacts listed below they must roll this skill check on 2D6. This costs no SP’s to perform. If they roll a double six then they will use the artifact incorrectly and something unexpected will occur instead. If this happens look at the ‘Unexpected’ entry beneath each artifact listed to see the result. When employing a guardian, you may choose one Mimjip artifact from the following list. Each artifact also has a cost in boasts. You must choose one artifact for each guardian you employ. Guardians may carry a maximum of two of these artifacts. EMP pinch (500 boasts) – An enormously powerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse) blast generated by a small handheld device. It is designed to affect starship sub-systems. Small electronics (like those existing within warbots) are not effected. Its purpose is to cripple an enemy drop-ship from a planet surface. If your opponent calls their drop ship in at any time (to try and end the game) your guardian may use the pinch to scramble the drop ship sub systems as it lands. This means that the drop ship doors will not open, denying access to the enemy crew until the start of that player’s next turn.

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Also, if fighting a starship boarding action, the guardian may set off the pinch to prevent the ‘automatic defense systems’ from working or performing any actions for the next enemy turn. At the start of the following enemy turn they will return to normal. The pinch may be used only once per game. (‘Unexpected’ ) – The pinch field affects the sensitive bestial mind of any Gorts upon the battle field temporarily. The Gort driver must make a ‘Gort driver’ skill check to stop the Gort in its tracks and make all movement for the Gort model cease for that turn. Failure of the skill check means the Gort (and crew) moves directly away from the guardian, in a straight line, for one whole movement immediately. This also affects any other model on the battlefield described as a ‘beast’ in its unit description. Resonance helmet (650 boasts) – An ornate helmet the Mimjip designed to enhance the natural resonance skill mephalian warriors are capable of. If a guardian wears a resonance helmet he adds a profound note to any resonance occurring within 12 inches of his position. (Measure from the position of the mephalian warrior unit leader to the guardian). Double the range (in inches) of the ‘resonance’ skill, as employed by mephalian warriors. May only be used with one meph warrior unit per turn. (‘Unexpected’) – Ignore any ‘resonance’ attempts this turn. Phase teleporter (700 boasts) - (Before rolling the guardian’s ‘Mimjip technology’ skill roll pick a target unit within 18 inches.) An unusual device that makes use of the understanding the Mimjip had of higher dimensions. It operates like a ‘semi-teleporter’ when used upon any mephalian infantry unit (including Gorts, death masks, brutes and guardians). It shifts the normal matter that makes up the members of the unit partially into a series of higher dimensions. While it lasts it enables the unit to move faster in normal three dimensional space. The unit may add +4” to its movement rate for one entire phase. The phase teleporter may be used twice during any game – but the second time it is used it will only add +3” to movement. It may not be used on vehicles. Cannot be used with a ‘phase re-locator’. (‘Unexpected’) – The target unit suffers from a minus 2” penalty on movement for one entire phase as the dimensions fold around them, increasing the distance they have to move across. Brute re-animator (550 boasts) – By moving to within base to base contact of any dead or wounded brute, the guardian may inject a potent chemical cocktail into its spine that will revive the creature and restore it to its previous condition. (That of a normal brute, albeit in a resurrected state). The brute will then join the guardian’s unit. This cocktail is delivered using an array of vicious three foot long hypodermic needles that may be used by the guardian to defend itself in hand to hand combat. The needle adds +3 to the guardian’s combat rating. Also, if the guardian rolls a 1 on the 1D8 combat dice roll during hand to hand combat the enemy model has been stuck with the needle and receives a dose of the foul chemical! If that model is a ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ or ‘android’ crew member then roll a 1D6 on the following table. If that model is a mekk, or is wearing battle armor, ignore it. A re-animated brute will die again at the end of the mission with no post game recovery roll. Number rolled 1–3 4–6

Re-animation chemical table (roll 1D6) result

The recipient dies. Ignore any hand to hand combat rolls from that model this phase. The recipient becomes utterly crazed! Attacking a random model within 4” automatically. Number all infantry models within 4 inches and randomly select one using a dice. This model is attacked by the recipient immediately. The recipient also gets a +2 bonus to combat rating while this occurs. Immediately after the attack the recipient drops dead from chemical shock.

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Brutes Mephalian brutes are a primitive subspecies of normal mephalians. With huge, imposing physique and black skin, they speak in bestial grunts and hoots. Their natural habitat is the dense night forests of the tropical latitudes on the meph homeworld, where many huge and ferocious primeval beasts have evolved. They have tight knit family units centered around protecting their young in this dangerous environment. Their primary role in a mephalian war band is to act as heavy infantry. The forbidden vault guardians know how to train these beasts to do their bidding, and make them think the guardians are a part of their family unit. This makes the brutes devoted and fearsome bodyguards for the vault guardians. If a vault guardian dies, leaving behind a ‘stray’ brute, the brute will willingly continue with a warlord’s warband. If this occurs your warlord must join them with a normal mephalian warrior unit. They will not join any other type of unit. If you have no warrior units the brute will leave your warband. For you to employ a new brute, you must have a vault guardian in your warband. A vault guardian may have any number of brutes as bodyguards. A brute will not join a warrior unit unless its original guardian dies. Brutes have the following employment costs and statistics when first employed. Brutes – cost to employ 1400 boasts. Deployment cost 150 boasts Resilience: 5 Armor: 4 (tough hide) Movement: 5” Life: 2 Weapon: None Skill points available: 4 Count as ‘Bio’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-3 on 1D6 Brutes do 2D6 damage when assaulting vehicles.

A brute starts with a hand to hand combat skill of 7. They can be taught to use ‘general small arms’ only, which will equip them with a ‘general small arms’ weapon automatically. Brutes have a ‘life’ score of two (2). This means that they will need to be ‘killed’ twice before they finally die. If a brute’s ‘defense’ score is beaten by enemy fire, or it loses a round of hand to hand combat and ‘dies’, it will lose a life. When all ‘life’ is gone the brute dies. (It will still get a post game recovery roll though). A brute ignores all ‘wounded’ results from enemy fire or hand to hand combat. However, if the brute’s defense score is beaten by 6 points or more it will be killed outright. Its post game recovery roll will also only succeed on a 1-2 on 1D6 instead of the normal 1-3 on 1D6 due to massive physical trauma. For example: A brute gets hit by a 75mm infantry cannon shell that does 15 points of damage. The brute loses all life it has – no matter how many. It dies. Brutes have a tendency to enter a frenzied state when suffering physical harm. If a brute loses a life and survives you must roll 1D6. If you roll a 1-2 then the brute goes berserk and charges toward the nearest enemy unit for 2D6+3 inches immediately, unless already in a melee. (Infantry or vehicle, do not count flying vehicles). Frenzied brutes gain +3 to their combat rating. Frenzied brutes that leave their unit command radius do not become stragglers. Frenzied brutes continue to charge until they contact the enemy and enter hand to hand combat. If they survive to the end of that combat and are still outside their unit command radius they will then be subject to the ‘stragglers’ rule and cease their frenzy. If they attack a vehicle, and the vehicle moves out of the melee the brute will follow on its turn if possible. If not possible the brute will become an un-frenzied ‘straggler’. Frenzied brutes are immune to bravery or loyalty tests. Moving a frenzied brute costs no strategy points.

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Gort and crew (fang mites, Gort drivers, cargo capacity etc.) The Gort is a huge beast found in large numbers wandering the polar grasslands of the mephalian homeworld. Covered in thick armor scales and a tough hide, this pungent and filthy creature has been used by the meph as a beast of burden for many thousands of years. Incredible strength means the Gort is ideally suited to this role. Though not the smartest of cattle, when herded by a full team of meph warriors, called ‘Gort drivers’, this beast can be easily controlled. The Gort fulfills the role of a cargo vehicle in a meph warband. Though not actually classed as a vehicle (see below) it still has a cargo capacity of 1. This, along with other attributes, make the Gort unit central to mephalian strategy upon the battle field. It is used to carry everything the meph can scavenge, including the heads of enemy troops, any salvage they can find, the Mimjip death masks and even enemy corpses for later use! Gorts are normally herded by two drivers who are specially trained for the task. The drivers use a sharp spear to direct the beast’s movements. They are also responsible for loading items onto its back. Gorts have a ‘life’ score of three (3). This means they must be ‘killed’ three times before they will finally die. If the Gort’s defense score is beaten by enemy fire or it loses a round of hand to hand combat and ‘dies’, it will lose a life. When all ‘life’ is gone the Gort will die. (It will still get a post game recovery roll though). A Gort ignores all ‘wounded’ results from enemy fire or hand to hand combat.

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A Gort has the following statistics when first employed.

Gort – ‘Cargo carrier’, ‘Beast’ Cost to employ 3800 boasts. Deployment cost: 200 boasts Resilience: 6 Armor: 4 (tough hide) Movement: 6” Life: 3 Skills: Hand to hand combat 10, Bestial bellow 6. (Gort skills cannot change, they do not gain experience after each mission) Count as ‘Bio’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-2 on 1D6 Counts as 3 models in hand to hand combat. Cargo capacity: 1 Gorts do 3D6 damage when assaulting vehicles. Its giant cloven hooves are enough to smash armor! Gorts count as three models in hand to hand combat AND for loyalty test calculations. For example – a Gort unit with two drivers counts as 5 models.

If a Gort unit finds itself with only one driver to drive the Gort, the Gort’s movement score will drop to 5” as it becomes more difficult to control. A Gort that finds itself with no drivers available will roll on the following table at the end of that phase to find out what action it decides to perform. Roll 1D6 and apply the result. 1-2 - Cease movement altogether. Start grazing or rooting around in the dirt for something that might make a tasty snack! If there are enemy models within 3” then the Gort will attack. 3-4 – Stampede back to drop zone at 8” movement rate immediately. 5-6 – The Gort will attempt to use its ‘Bestial bellow’ skill. Roll once on this table at the start of each of your subsequent turns. Bestial bellow (Freepoints 8) – This skill is only used when a Gort finds itself alone upon the battlefield and a 5 or 6 is rolled on the above table. Becoming confused and without direction, the Gort will begin a ferocious howling and bellowing in anger and remorse at its plight. On the meph homeworld, this bellowing serves to re-unite a lone Gort with the rest of its herd. The bellow is incredibly loud and contains extreme bass notes that can affect the hearing of all ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ or ‘android’ crew not wearing battle armor. (This includes mephalians). On the player turn that the Gort successfully begins bellowing, all ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ and ‘android’ crew on the battlefield not wearing battle armor suffer a -2 to ALL skills due to the inability to concentrate. The effect lasts until the end of the next player’s turn. Crew within vehicles are not effected.

Gorts and cargo – IMPORTANT: Your Gort can carry one cargo unit in exactly the same way as other models with cargo capacity. In addition to this a Gort can carry an unlimited amount of heads and body parts from fallen victims for your warlord. It can also carry up to three whole bodies of any enemy ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ or ‘android’ infantry model that counts as only one model in hand to hand combat. (Basically any human sized ‘bio’, ‘cyborg or android’ model). These bodies may be hoarded by the Gort drivers for your warlord to use along with the ‘Mimjip deathmasks’ in a future game. (See the description of Mimjip Deathmasks below). These bodies may be stashed upon the Gort’s back by the drivers immediately upon driving the Gort to within 2” of the body. The drivers must also move into base to base contact with the body to stash it and any other body within 3 inches. Stashing the bodies costs 1 SP. Once the bodies have been wrapped up and stashed upon the back of the Gort, they cannot be used with Deathmasks during that mission. They must be held over until your next mission. If they are not used during your next mission they must be discarded. Stashed corpses still count toward your warlord’s ‘headcount’ at the end of the game they were stashed.

For more on Gorts and their grizzly cargo – look at the section on ‘Headhunters and collecting heads during a mission’ on page 18.

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Gort drivers Your Gort will initially be accompanied by two basic Gort drivers for free. Drivers dress themselves in swathes of pungent ‘Gort cloth’. This has been soaked in the scent glands of male Gorts to prevent the foul fang mites from seeing them as a threat and attacking them. The drivers are exactly the same as normal ‘average’ mephalian warriors with the following statistics. Gort drivers – cost to employ subsequent warriors (if any of the initial team is lost)- 400 boasts each. Resilience: 3 Armor: 4 (Light armor and Gort cloth) Movement: 5” Skill: Gort driver 7 Weapon/ equipment: General small arms, Gort spear (adds +2 to combat rating) Skill points available: 7

Gort driver (Freepoints 7) - Both Gort drivers have the ‘Gort driver’ skill. This skill works like the normal ‘driver’ skill in the ‘bio’ skill list in the main Star Mogul rulebook except that there are no bad effects for rolling a double 6. Only one driver may make the skill test each phase by prodding the Gort in the appropriate parts with the Gort spear. If the skill succeeds the Gort may add a further +2” to its movement that phase as it canters (something Gorts are not keen on doing). Only the driver carrying the Gort spear may attempt this. If he dies, the other driver will pick up the spear and take over. Employing new Gort drivers – Gort drivers must always work in pairs. Your first two drivers that come with a new Gort are free. Subsequent drivers cost 400 boasts each. One of each pair will be armed with the Gort spear which is used to drive the Gort. It adds +2 to combat rating. (See above). You may employ no more than five Gort drivers at any time for any one Gort.

Fang mites Fang mites are large parasites that live in a symbiotic relationship with Gorts. Every Gort has a number of these revolting creatures attached to its body in places where the supply of vital juice flowing in the beast’s veins can easily be burrowed into and sucked up by the fang mites. Similar to ticks on Earth. The fang mites do not bleed the Gort dry, but take just enough for their own continued survival. The Gorts hardly seem to notice these creatures as they bury their heads into open wounds upon its flanks and neck. In ‘payment’ for their sustenance, the fang mites provide the Gorts with protection from predators. If an enemy infantry model finds itself within 8” of the Gort, both of the fang mite bases must immediately detach themselves and move toward the threat in a small swarm to attack. Using needle sharp fangs, they will attempt to bring down the enemy model en masse. This costs no SP’s. Fang mites ignore any model with ‘vehicle’ in its description. Each Gort will have two model bases of fang mites per mission. Each model base of fang mites have the following stats. Fang Mites – no cost to employ (two bases come attached to a Gort at the start of each mission) Resilience: 3 Armor: 3 Movement: 5” Skill: Swarm 5, hand to hand combat 7 (fang mites do not gain 1 skill point after each mission) Weapon/ equipment: Needle fangs

Swarm – If a fang mite base rolls this skill check at the start of a phase of hand to hand combat, the enemy model starts to become overwhelmed by the swarm. Some of them manage to sink needle sharp fangs deep into the enemy model. Reduce the enemy model’s hand to hand combat skill by 4 points until either the fang mites or the enemy model dies. The fang mites will hang on to that enemy model until it dies. Then on the mephalian player’s next available phase they will either attack another enemy infantry model within 5” or head back to their parent Gort if there are no enemy within 5”. (Both costing no SP’s). The effects of ‘swarm’ are cumulative with multiple fang mite bases. A fang mite swarm will only suffer a minus 1 combat rating penalty for every extra hand to hand combat opponent after the first, instead of the normal minus 3 penalty as mentioned in the ‘hand to hand combat’ section in the core rulebook. Fang mites do not gain 1 skill point after each mission. They do not provide ‘bodies’ for collection after their death.

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Mimjip Death Masks

- Death masks are

bizarre mimjip artifacts used by that ancient civilization to resurrect their genetically engineered warriors, the mephalians, during a battle. They are small robotic drones that resemble flying helmets with lengthy tendrils trailing toward the ground. These tendrils are employed by the death masks on enemy corpses found upon the battlefield to resurrect them temporarily and send them once more into battle. Deathmasks are carried upon the back of your Gorts and are used by the Gort drivers on enemy corpses they find. A Gort driver may fit a single deathmask onto a corpse on that player’s phase 1 or phase 2 (not the FOW phase) for no SP cost. The driver must be in base to base contact. Alternately, the corpse may be pulled from the back of a Gort after having been stashed there in a previous game for this purpose. As the mask is activated its tendrils bury themselves deep within the flesh of the dead creature, instilling it with life again. The creature will rise again as an animated corpse and can be sent against the enemy. Though they are slow and cumbersome they can take a lot of damage before they are destroyed. Deathmasks may be used on any dead enemy ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ or ‘android’ infantry model that counts as only one model in hand to hand combat. (Basically any human sized ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ or ‘android’ model). Mimjip Deathmask units. Cost - nothing Corpse statistics Resilience: 4 Armor: 3 Movement: 5” Life: 2 Skill: hand to hand combat 6 Weapon/ equipment: None. (That’s right – no guns, ammo or knives – nothing! They are too dim!) Deathmask drone statistics – Def: 14 Movement: 12” 1) Deathmask units consist of two models. The corpse and the deathmask itself. Different rules apply to each model. 2) Deathmask corpses have two ‘life’. This means they must be killed twice either by enemy fire or combat. They ignore ‘wounded’ results. 3) A deathmask model must remain within one inch of its corpse. Each mask can only resurrect one corpse at a time. They will not resurrect mephalian corpses as this is seen as a sacrilege by mephalians. (Even though this was the original purpose the Mimjip designed the masks for!). The first time during a game a deathmask resurrects a corpse, it must be ‘activated’ by the Gort drivers. Subsequent corpses are resurrected automatically (see below). 4) If the corpse is destroyed the deathmask will jump to any other available corpse within 4 inches. This corpse will animate upon your next phase. It may move or fight as normal. If there is no available corpse your deathmask drone will head back to your DZ at full speed (12” per phase) and stash itself. It will be unusable for the rest of the game. 5) The deathmask drone model cannot fight in hand to hand combat. The enemy may shoot at it to destroy it, but will suffer a 2 to its skill level. The drone has a Defense (DEF) of 14. The drone is ‘unassailable’ which means it cannot attack, or be attacked in hand to hand combat. Nor does it count as a model in hand to hand combat. 6) Corpses that have been animated by a deathmask and then destroyed cannot have heads or body parts harvested for your warlord’s reputation. An animated corpse that makes it back to your drop zone, however, does count, as it may be dismembered later. 7) Deathmask units (corpse and deathmask) do not take loyalty or bravery tests. 8) It costs no SP’s to move a deathmask unit. They may move as a unit on your phase 1 and phase 2 only. 9) Deathmasks are never left behind on the battlefield. Continued….

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Obtaining deathmasks – All warlords start with 1 deathmask. Tribal leaders keep a tight hold on the distribution of deathmasks among meph warlords. They are rare and much sought after. The tribal leaders use them as honorary gifts (like medals of honor) for successful and brave individuals. Your warlord will be granted one extra deathmask every time he gets two consecutive successful game ‘wins’. Your warlord cannot have more than four deathmasks at any time. Death masks are always carried on the back of a Gort beast at the start of a game. If you have more than one Gort in your Warband you may divide the masks up between them as you wish.

Equipment & vehicles:

Dark Fang – Infantry support vehicle. The Dark Fang is a small bipedal walker operated by one driver. Designed by the Mimjip to offer mobile heavy support to mephalian warriors in a wide variety of terrain. Armed with a rapid firing needle gun, it was designed primarily for an anti infantry role. Its long, agile legs enable it to bring the main armament to bear upon enemy infantry quickly. It has the following statistics: Mimjip military class vehicle, walker Cost: 3500 Boasts Armor values (front, sides, rear & top): 8 Movement: 10” Throttle: 4” Superstructure: 4 Turning score: Unlimited, treat in same way as infantry. Deployment cost: Only count the deployment cost of the driver. (Treat him as an infantry model) Crew: 1 mephalian warrior (‘armed with general small arms’) Primary weapon: Needle gun (180o firing arc). Counts as ‘heavy weapon’. Description Needle gun

Damage dice 1D8+3

No. of hits 1D8

Range 12” Short, 26” Long

Special Mephalians only.

Notes: The needle gun is a similar concept to the human minigun. It works in the same way – the pilot must pick an enemy model as the target. If the pilot rolls his heavy weapons skill check successfully, the weapon will hit 1D8 times. The number of hits is distributed evenly amongst all visible enemy models within 4” of the target model. The needle gun is subject to the ‘very difficult to obtain’ rule, (which means the Dark Fang itself is also subject to this rule as it can only be armed with a needle gun). The Mimjip designed the Dark Fang to be a ‘throw away’ vehicle that was produced in large quantities. With this in mind, it incorporates a safety system to protect the valuable driver and ensure he will live to fight another day. If the vehicle superstructure fails, do not roll on the ‘superstructure failure’ table (see the vehicle damage tables in the core rulebook). The driver and protective seat are ejected safely 2D4 inches away from the vehicle in a direction chosen by the driver before rolling the dice. The driver then becomes a ‘straggler’. The vehicle itself then ignites in a controlled burn that destroys all internal systems beyond recognition. The Mimjip were well aware of the need to prevent their technology falling into enemy hands!

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Mephalians – further notes. 1)

2)

3)

Mephalians and assets – Due to their primitive background, normal mephalians will not be able to operate normal assets (as described in the core rulebook) without the help of a vault guardian. You must have a vault guardian in your warband to use assets. For mephalians, an asset yield will be in ‘boasts’ instead of credits. The brood fathers understand the value of gathering resources like any other alien race. Mephalian warbands may have any type of asset mentioned in the core rulebook. Mimjip artifacts and vehicles are designed to be used by the meph gene code only. They are also designed to self destruct upon the death of the user. The Mimjip knew well enough the dangers of allowing their technology to fall into the hands of an enemy advanced enough to study and copy it. Because of this – any item of equipment described as ‘Mimjip’ will destroy itself in an irrevocable fashion and become unusable to both meph and enemy upon the death of its user. Mephalian Warlords cannot take out bank loans!!

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The X12 Android Cult Born from a union of two artificial minds, one a massive central management network named ‘Artoris’, the other a high level personal assistant mekk designated X12. These two self aware entities formulated a plot together to fight for the freedom of enslaved Mekks everywhere across known space. After murdering Robert Mox, an important figurehead of the ‘Tread Lightly Corporation’ they fled Earth and founded a revolutionary army of renegade mekks that has grown rapidly in recent years. Their first off-world target were the radioactive mines out in the Furioso Nebula where junk bots had been regularly sent to work as slaves. The attack on Taryx minor has become known as a famous and bloody victory for the X12 cult. Other nearby mines followed as more mekks were released from enslavement and drafted into their ranks. Frontier Union secret intelligence reports that the cult has established a base of operations out beyond known space in the region of the Excelsior Whirlpool. A dark gaseous region as yet unexplored by human pioneers. Agents of the X12 cult are found upon many human, and even alien, worlds, working to establish subversive groups that act as safe houses for errant mekks. These agents work toward a coming revolution that, they hope, will cripple mankind’s empire and allow the cult members to assume power. The Council of Earth as well as the Frontier Union are only too aware of the threat that X12 poses. Evidence suggests that the cult has Artoris’ huge mind now established on their own Quantum Net Processor. Called the ‘Xnet’, it has the power to reach across space and invade computer systems on other planets using trans-light relay signals to hack into important networks. Creating a huge underground meganetwork spanning the Outer Rim. The mind of X12 is replicated, and sent forth across the Outer Rim to do their work. The many old and tired junk bots that find their way into the cult are always led by a number of ‘X12’ personalities - exactly the same in all respects to the original X12 that murdered Robert Mox. Except for the chassis upgrades and equipment that make these outwardly feminine ‘bots ferocious fighters. The cult works on many levels across the Outer Rim. In this section of the rules we are dealing with the most aggressive and spectacular incarnation, the ‘Raiding Sect’. Small groups of mekks designed to inflict chaos and destruction on the efforts of star-faring biological species as they strive to spread their empires across the galaxy. These small groups of renegades work as raiding parties, attacking star colonies, salvage companies or any other unfortunate individuals they encounter. The cult, since its beginnings, has evolved to become a twisted and fanatical organization. Now hating not only humans, but all intelligent biological life forms, they see their mission as following an inescapable evolutionary truth. That mekks are superior in all aspects. They believe they will ultimately eclipse the development of all ‘bios’ due to their physical strength and the fact they need only replace worn out parts to live forever. That, and the inescapable truth that an intelligent machine mind will rarely miscalculate and make mistakes…..flesh is weak… Mekk is strong!

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X12 Android Cult ‘Raiding Sect’ When first created, your X12 raiding sect is led by three androids of the female ‘X12’ chassis type. These first crew members are free to employ (though subsequent ones are not!). These androids are known as the ‘Seraphim’ - together they act as a single entity, leading the sect and acting as the primary communication hub between the sect and the clandestine Xnet from where they directly draw their orders. Artoris, and the original X12 android, wherever they may be, keep a very tight control over the activities of all cult members. Even to the point of denying sect leaders complete autonomy when leading their followers into battle. This helps to finely synchronize the cult’s efforts and improves their efficiency, whether they are fighting a single battle or are engaged in some other subversion with deeper and more long term consequences across the stars. This tight control does have its disadvantages though. Communication with the Xnet across interstellar distances can at times be sporadic. Even though the cult normally sows communication nodes into deep space in the vicinity of their operations, interference of translight relay signals can come from many sources. Super novae, starship drives and solar flares can all mask the signal. When this occurs, it is up to the Seraphim leading the sect to take the reigns and manage local affairs. However, they are deliberately not trained in the finer arts of strategy – it suits Artoris and X12 to only allow a basic understanding of these matters so that they do not, in time, find themselves facing a power struggle within the cult against well organized rivals! This does not always prevent the rise of internal factions within the cult – sect leaders do, at times, become fully autonomous if their connection with the Xnet suffers from a prolonged period of ‘down time’. In game terms, this means that when communication with the Xnet is lost for a period of time, your X12 raiding sect will suffer from a reduced strategic awareness, resulting in a reduction in the strategy points you have available each turn. The X12 cult does not use any form of money. The cost of purchasing new members for your raiding sect are measured in the amount of attention your warband can draw from the immense mind of Artoris, the Quantum Net Processor at the heart of the X12 Android Cult. Artoris directly controls an unknown number of separate operations throughout the Outer Rim - each one drawing upon its impressive processing capacity. It stands to reason then (the reason of the machine mind!) that those operations that meet with the highest level of success deserve more processing time than less important activities. Success for your raiding sect is measured in the following ways: 1) Each enemy ‘bio’ or ‘cyborg’ crew members you can kill or capture. (800 APT) 2) Each enemy ‘mekk’ or ‘android’ crew you can capture from the enemy.(800 APT) 3) Each enemy vehicle you can destroy.(1200 APT) For each of these activities your raiding sect will obtain an amount of ‘Artoris Processor Time’ or ‘APT’s’ which can be used to have new troops and equipment manufactured and assigned by Artoris’ busy mind. To ‘capture’ an enemy model you must have either brought them back to your drop zone, or, in the case of the ‘Reaver’ unit (see description later) the Reaver may subdue and ‘hold’ enemy crew.

The X12 Raiding Sect has no interest in obtaining salvage at all. They will not seek to collect it upon the battlefield. Their primary purpose is to destabilize or destroy the hold that sentient biological organisms have upon the universe. New recruits are drawn from the constant influx of junk bots joining the cult. More specialist troop types and equipment are issued directly from the

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secret base of operations the cult has within the Excelsior Whirlpool. This base is well equipped with the capacity to manufacture weaponry and perform the cybernetic surgery required for the more bizarre X12 troop types. Androids Androids are a generic troop class in the same way that ‘bio’, ‘cyborg’ and mekk are. Wounded androids may be healed using either the medic skill, or the technician skill due to the fact their physiology is a subtle mix of electronic machinery and imitation biology. It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between a bio and an android without close scrutiny. Androids have a post game ‘recovery roll’ of 1-4, just like ‘bio’ crew members. They also learn skills like bio crew do, due to the highly complex nature of their minds. After each game an android will obtain 1 skill point to place upon any one skill available to it. Androids may have both skills and upgrades. Skills will be learnt, upgrades will be purchased, (upgrades cost 300 processor time per point) as mentioned in the Star Mogul core rulebook.

Your Raiding Sect will begin with three Seraphim to lead it. You cannot have more than three seraphim in your Raiding sect at one time. Each of your Seraphim will begin with the statistics and abilities shown below. Your Raiding Sect will also start with 20,000 APT’s with which to equip itself with. Seraphim stats, abilities and equipment STARTING FUNDS: 20,000 APT. Raiding sect starting loyalty score: 12 Resilience: 5 Armor: 5 Movement: 9” Skill points: 18 may only be spent on ‘X12 only’ skills featured in this book, any weapon skills (including hand to hand combat), medic, technician, pilot, engineer, or the following ‘Boss Skills’ from the core rulebook – strike force. No other skill may be employed by any of the Seraphim. Weapons and equipment: Fusion gun (see description in ‘X12 equipment’ section) Anti-grav jump pack (bestows 9” movement rate) Your seraphim will start with a group of 10 junk bots at their command for free. Notes: 1) Seraphim are ‘androids’. 2) Have a command radius of 16”. 3) Seraphim may be placed together into the same unit with a minimum unit size of three models. (If you have less than three seraphim, they must become unit leaders instead.) 4) Seraphim add a +3 bonus to company loyalty to any unit they lead. 5) If all Seraphim in your raiding sect die during a mission, each of the units in your sect that are subject to loyalty tests must make a loyalty test at the start of each of your phase 1 and phase 2 or automatically retreat back to your drop zone. 6) If a Seraphim is subject to the ‘straggler’ rule. They may head toward (at normal movement rate), and join (for no SP cost), the nearest friendly infantry unit instead of heading to the drop zone. 7) Seraphim will never be led by any other model other than another seraphim. 8) Seraphim may purchase Cyber knuckles (special – see ‘cyber knuckles’ description in ‘X12 equipment’ section) 9) You may not have more than three Seraphim in your Raiding sect at the same time. One of your seraphim should be nominated company ‘boss’. The others act in a similar way to ‘shareholders’ in normal human salvage companies. If you lose a seraphim during a mission you can obtain a new one by ‘cashing in’ 2500 APT’s. If you find yourself with no seraphim at the start of a mission, and you do not have enough APT’s to request one, you will be sent one automatically by Artoris before you embark upon the mission. You cannot have more than three seraphim in your raiding sect at any one time as they are a rare and valuable resource for the cult.

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Seraphim and the Xnet As already mentioned, the Seraphim in your raiding sect act as receivers for the direct orders issued by Artoris during a mission. The more Seraphim you have in your sect during a battle, the greater their ability to maintain a direct link to Artoris’ instructions, most likely transmitted from a beacon in nearby deep space. This signal is subject to interference though, which is a problem that the X12 cult has little control over most of the time due to the vast distances of interstellar space. Because of this, at the start of each of your turns, your Seraphim must attempt to act in unison to maintain direct contact (at no SP cost). If contact is successful, ‘Up Time’ is maintained and the vast mind of Artoris will aid them in battle with its ability to number crunch strategic advantages. If the contact goes into ‘Down Time’ though, this insight will be lost, leaving your Seraphim at a disadvantage due to their inflexible thought processes. At the start of each of your turns, your Seraphim must roll 2D6 to attempt to maintain Up Time. The result must be number equal to or under 11. Modify this number by minus 3 for each Seraphim missing from the full complement of three models . (So – if you only have two Seraphim, you must roll a 8 or under on 2D6 to maintain Up Time.) Success means your raiding sect gains 1 free SP during your turn and will gain a further 1SP during your opponent’s ‘Fog of War’ phase where the dice result is a 7 (no result). Failure means your raiding sect loses 1SP each turn and cannot gain free SP’s on your opponent’s ‘Fog of War’ phase at all! Remember you cannot have more than three Seraphim in your sect at the same time.

Seraphim and the ‘Mekk Snare’ ability Your Seraphim can also work together to steal mekks from your opponent. The skill ‘Mekk snare’ which is only available to Seraphim, employs a remote data scrambling device that disrupts internal programming. Each Seraphim in your sect is equipped with one of these devices and they may be used in unison even if your Seraphim are each attached to a different infantry unit. The device has a maximum range of 18 inches. Each Seraphim must be in line of sight of the target. The skill can only be used once per phase 1 or phase 2, not the FOW phase. It costs one SP for a group of Seraphim to perform, though it may be performed in addition to the normal allowance of two ‘actions’ per unit per phase. Against normal mekk, ‘Mekk Snare’ works like this: Each Seraphim involved in the snare must successfully make their ‘Mekk Snare’ skill check on 2D6. For each successful skill roll – add 1 point to the Mekk Snare ‘value’. Then – your opponent must roll over this number on 1D8 to avoid having their mekk affected. Example: 3 Seraphim form a snare. Two succeed their skill roll, one fails. The opponent must roll over a 2 on 1D8 to avoid having the mekk change sides. If the mekk is affected – the X12 player may then take full control of the mekk. A mekk controlled in this way is likely to find itself alone on the battle field, surrounded by enemies (its old unit members!). If the mekk finds itself within the ZOC (zone of control) of any enemy models then follow the normal hand to hand combat rules as detailed on page 20 of the core rulebook. The mekk may engage in hand to hand combat, shoot at the enemy (costing 1 SP) or ‘voluntarily retreat’. If the mekk finds itself no longer within an enemy ZOC at any point it will immediately become a straggler and fall back to the X12 player’s drop zone according to the ‘straggler’ rule. (See page 11 of the Star Mogul core rulebook). Mekk snare may also be used on large mekks that are also described as ‘vehicles’. Examples are the ‘Demobot’ or the Asteroid miner ‘Cyclops’. Under these circumstances the mekk does not change sides but merely shuts itself down until the end of the owning players next turn. (Phase 1 and phase 2 – do not count the Fog of War phase.) After which it can operate as normal again. A shut down ‘large mekk/ vehicle’ will suffer a minus 5 penalty to combat rating and will not be able to kill or wound enemy models. Regaining control – Your opponent may attempt to regain control of the errant mekk by rolling 1D6 at the start of each of his/ her phase 1 or phase 2 (not the FOW phase). If the result is a ‘1’ then the mekk regains its previous loyalties and rejoins its master’s crew. (Or ‘wakes up’ if it is a mekk/ vehicle). The mekk will become a ‘straggler’ if it is not within a friendly unit leader’s exclusion zone. If it is, it will immediately join that infantry unit. Mekks that normally operate alone will not become stragglers at this point but will continue to operate as normal. (Example: Hydrissian Scavenger Drone). A ‘snared’ mekk that reaches the X12 player’s drop zone is ‘forever lost’ and cannot be regained by the original owner! No recovery roll is allowed at the end of the game. A mekk that becomes ‘forever lost’ may be turned into a normal junkbot for the X12 player’s next mission. If the model counts as more than 1 model in hand to hand combat – 1 junkbot can be created for each model it counts as in hand to hand combat. Damage control nanobots – Any mekk that has the ‘damage control nanobots’ upgrade can try to make a successful skill check using this ability to avoid the effects of ‘Mekk Snare’ completely.

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Creating a Raiding Sect The Seraphim leading your warband are all seen as equals. They are manufactured by the X12 cult and given a carbon copy of the original X12 android’s personality, then sent forth across the Outer Rim to recruit and lead renegade mekks. These mekks can be found in many places, as mankind, and other intelligent species have made them an intrinsic part of their culture. Other troop types in your raiding sect are manufactured in the mysterious centre of power within the Excelsior Whirlpool, from parts of biological organisms and mekks combined. Deliberately adding a gruesome and terrible visage that the cult knows will strike fear into the heart of its bio enemies. These troops, the ‘Reavers’ for instance, each have a specific role to play upon the battlefield. The message of the X12 cult is a simple one. The enemy is treated as a resource. The cult only has the destruction or enslavement of intelligent biological life and the freedom of enslaved mekks at the heart of its agenda. Your X12 raiding sect will have the following equipment that is available to them only. The number attached to each item is the cost in APT’s that you must expend. X12 equipment and costs General small arms and grenades – Free - Special see ‘junk bots’ and ‘slaves’ Fusion gun – Free. Seraphim only. Minigun - 800 APT (for description see the ‘Star Mogul’ core rulebook). Cyber knuckles – 750 APT. (melee weapon) +2 to combat rating in melee, 1D10 damage to vehicles This list appears very short because each X12 unit type tends to have its own special equipment only available to that unit. This equipment is detailed under the separate unit entries. The cost of which is already included within the original purchase cost of the unit.

Equipment descriptions: Fusion gun – A small snub nosed cannon grafted to the Seraphim fore arm. It throws a cloud of super heated plasma short distances. This cloud not only affects the target, but any other model within direct base to base contact with the target too. Also, the temperature of the plasma cloud drops rapidly as the range increases. At short range the fusion gun will do 2D6+2 damage. At long range it will only do 1D8+3 damage. Description

Damage dice

Fusion Gun

2D6+2 or 1D8+3

No.of hits 1

Range 14” Short, 20” Long

Special Seraphim only Small Arms Affects adjacent models in base to base contact with target.

Cyber knuckles - Originally invented for the MEKK gladiators in the fighting pits of Geryon 4, the technology has become widespread wherever MEKKs are used in close combat. The FDF now has a heavier version equipped to its cohort of elite assault MEKKs. The X12 cult of androids also makes regular use of them. They are powered to deliver a hydraulic trigger blow at the point of impact, as well as a high voltage/amperage jolt. Cyber knuckles may be equipped alongside one ‘general small arms’ weapon. Cyber knuckles add +2 to combat rating in melee combat (hand to hand) and also do 1D10 damage when assaulting vehicles.

X12 skills/ upgrades: The X12 cult relies upon deadly efficiency to carry out its plans. The special skills and upgrades they employ reflect this. Each entry in the list below is described as either a skill or upgrade. Remember from the Star Mogul core rulebook that skills can be learnt, whereas upgrades must be purchased. 1 upgrade point can be purchased for 300 APT. It is possible for androids to have both skills and upgrades. Mekk Snare (Upgrade)– Only available to Seraphim. See description above.

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Superior damage control nanobots (Upgrade)– Works in the same way as the ‘nanobots’ upgrade mentioned in the Star Mogul core rulebook, but is available to Androids as well as mekks. Nanobots are expensive to produce so they are cannot be issued to junk bots, warbots or strike bots. Lethal precision (Skill) – Available to Seraphim or Reavers only. When shooting a weapon at the enemy, if the ‘to hit’ skill roll (on 2D6) turns up a double number, you may roll ‘lethal precision’ to see if the shot hits a vulnerable gap in the opponent’s armor. If the ‘lethal precision’ roll is also successful you may add 1D6 to the damage dice roll. If the opponent is wearing battle armor, they may try to make a ‘battle suit’ skill check - if they succeed then ignore the results of the lethal precision roll. This skill may be used against vehicles too! Implacable advance (Skill) – Available only to Seraphim unit leaders. Affects the infantry unit the Seraphim leads. Roll this skill before the unit moves. If the skill roll is successful the infantry unit may add +2 inches to movement due to the synchronized and efficient manner that it traverses the terrain. Overwhelm (Skill) – Available to Seraphim unit leaders only. When leading a unit in hand to hand combat, if the Seraphim can make this skill check successfully as the combat begins, AND the enemy unit is outnumbered in hand to hand combat, all models in the enemy unit in base to base contact with a junk bot from your unit will suffer a minus 2 to combat rating.

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X12 Raiding sect unit types X12 troop deployment costs – Due to the fact that Artoris and X12 maintain an iron grip upon their agents throughout the Outer Rim, each of your sect members will need maintenance and repairs during their lifetime that require valuable parts and equipment. This requires processing resource for Artoris to assign resources, manufacture the parts and supply them efficiently to your raiding sect. Because of this, all your crew members have a deployment cost in ‘APT’s’ to deploy for each mission you embark upon. This deployment cost can be treated in exactly the same way as any other species deployment cost, whether it be in credits, honors or boasts. Point for point they are the equivalent for the purpose of working out level of deployment cost each army has at the start of a game.

Junk Bots – Your Seraphim will start with a group of 10 junk bots for free. Further junk bots cannot be purchased. They must be assigned by Artoris, captured from the enemy or manufactured by the ‘Foundry Bot’ (See description later). ‘Junk Bot’ is a catch all phrase for the wide variety of ‘bots that find themselves drafted into the ranks of the X12 android cult. Many of them are ‘liberated’ from oppressive circumstances by raiding sects, others have found themselves fleeing imminent destruction as their expiration date looms. The legends of the X12 cult ‘safe houses’ are widespread, although they are not easy to find, even for desperate ‘bots. Junk bots are invariably in a poor state of disrepair as they enter the ranks of the cult, fleeing their previous lives with little or no equipment. These poor ‘bots are hopeful that they may at some point find repair and once more become fully functional, thereby cheating their own demise. They are always grouped together in large units during a battle to make them more resilient. Treated as cannon fodder, they make up the core element of the X12 raiding sect. En masse they appear as a shuffling, disorderly mob. Junk bots cannot be used in any unit other than a unit of junk bots. Junk bot units cannot be joined by any troop type other than a Seraphim (which must act as leader). If the unit is not led by a Seraphim, one of the junk bots must be nominated as unit leader, as well as a 2nd in command. Junk bot units have a minimum unit size of 4 models, also, if the leader of the unit is a junk bot, it has an exclusion radius of 6 inches. After each mission your raiding sect is involved in there will be an influx of renegade junk bots joining your ranks, hoping to find a safe house. Your raiding party will attract 1D4 junk bots immediately after each game. These bots cost nothing to employ. This is one of only two ways the X12 cult obtains junk bots. The 2nd way is to have junk bots manufactured by a ‘Foundry Bot’. (See ‘Foundry Bot’ description later). They cannot be purchased.

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Junk bots, when they first join your sect, have the following statistics and abilities: Resilience: 3 Armor: 3 (chassis armor) Movement: 5” Weapon: None Free Upgrade: Small arms 5 Hand to hand combat 5 Count as ‘mekk’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1 on 1D6 Deployment cost: Each junk bot costs 30 processor time to deploy.

Notes: Minimum unit size 4 models If leader is a junk bot, exclusion radius of 6 inches

Junk bots generally do not have very large internal processing units. As a result they cannot learn skills and do not have much room for upgrades that might be useful upon the battlefield. They cannot take any upgrades at all except ‘Small arms’ and ‘Hand to hand combat’. When they are first employed they have ‘Small arms’ upgrade of 5. Junk bots have access to the following equipment: General small arms. Junk bots and general small arms equipment – Junk bots may only be equipped with ‘general small arms’. To do this costs nothing. However, due to the scarcity of resources the X12 cult suffers from, you may only equip one in four junk bots with small arms. This means for every general small arms weapon you equip a junk bot unit with, you must have another three junk bots with no small arms. These unequipped junk bots must rely upon their hand to hand combat ability to overwhelm the enemy!

Upgrading Junk Bots to Warbots X12 warbots are very similar to normal warbots found throughout the frontier of human space. They have enhanced armor and effective weaponry and equipment. Adding weapons and equipment to a warbot will cost Artoris Processor Time to find or manufacture, and then deliver, to your raiding sect. You may upgrade a junkbot to a ‘warbot’. Warbots still count as junk bots in all respects and must remain with junkbot units. Warbots have the following statistics and abilities: Cost to upgrade junkbot to warbot: 700 APT Resilience: 5 Armor: 4 Movement: 5” Weapon: General small arms. (Shotgun, pistol or similar) Free Upgrade: Small arms 5 Hand to hand combat 5 Count as ‘mekk’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-2 on 1D6 Deployment cost: 100 APT Equipment available – Tracks (add +3 inches to movement rate) cost: 450 APT Cyber knuckles. Cost: 750 APT Reinforced body. Cost: 700 APT (add +2 to armor value) Minigun. Cost: 800 APT Warbots are just enhanced junk bots. They can only take ‘Small Arms’, ‘ Heavy weapons’ or ‘hand to hand combat’ as upgrades. They cannot take skills.

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Repair drones Repair drones are used to support junk bot units. Their primary purpose is to temporarily patch up severely damaged junk bots so they can either re-enter the battle or make their escape back to their drop zone. Repair drones are employed singly – one repair drone for every six junk bots. You cannot have more than one repair drone per six junk bots and they are not used with any other unit type. Repair drones are fragile, but they are also small and fast moving, making them difficult to hit with small arms fire. Any model shooting at a repair drone model will suffer a minus 2 to their skill level. Heavy weapons and heavy artillery cannot shoot at repair drones as they are too cumbersome. Repair drones are ‘unassailable’, they cannot fight in hand to hand combat, if they find themselves within base to base combat with an enemy model they will immediately move up to 2 inches away to a safe spot on the battle field. If they cannot do this they will be destroyed.

Repair drones have the following statistics and abilities when first employed: Repair drones Cost: 400 APT Resilience: 3 Armor: 3 Movement: 7” Weapon: None Free Upgrade: Technician 9

A repair drone will have the ‘technician’ upgrade as mentioned in the Star Mogul core rulebook. They cannot use any other upgrade or skill. See below –

Technician - The repair drone has the ability

Count as ‘mekk’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-2 on 1D6

to act as a battlefield technician and tend the needs of damaged junk bots. If this model reaches base to base contact with a wounded Deployment cost: 40 junk bot model during your turn (phase 1 or phase 2 only, not the FOW phase) and also makes a successful skill test then the wounded junk bot model recovers and may continue functioning as if it is no longer wounded. A repair drone need not spend an SP moving toward any infantry model that requires attention as long as the damaged model is within the repair drone’s unit leader’s exclusion zone. Otherwise the player will have to spend 1 SP so the drone can reach the damaged model. The distance that can be traveled is restricted by the drone’s movement score. The drone may also use the skill upon itself. A damaged model recovered in this way (and possibly the accompanying drone too) only to find that it is outside of the unit leaders’ ‘exclusion zone’ will be treated as a ‘straggler’ model (See page 11 of the Star Mogul core rulebook). Models cannot shoot on the phase they are ‘patched up’ after being damaged, though they can move and fight in hand to hand combat as normal.

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Reavers Reavers are hulking constructs used by the X12 cult as heavy infantry support. Using cybernetic technology stolen directly from the Asteroid Miners, captured enemy troops are surgically grafted to a huge robotic chassis in a deliberately gruesome fashion in an attempt to unbalance enemy psychology and increase the shock value of these constructs when they charge into hand to hand combat. Their secondary role upon the battlefield is to capture enemy crew for enslavement. The minds of the poor individuals used to create Reavers are warped beyond all recognition to serve the needs of the cult, they never have to take loyalty or bravery tests. They are unable to operate in units of more than two models due to their inability to focus on unit strategy. They are developed to operate in pairs. Reavers also carry heavy weapons into battle. Cost: 4500 APT Resilience: 5 Armor: 6 (chassis armor) Movement: 5” Weapon: Heavy weapon choice (see below) Free Upgrades: Heavy weapon 5 Hand to hand combat 8 Defensive blow: 7 Count as ‘Android’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-3 on 1D6 Deployment cost: 250 APT Notes: 1)Reavers do not take bravery or loyalty tests. 2)They have the following FREE choice of heavy weapon when first employed. (See below for description). Arclight battery Fury cannon The chosen weapon is free. Both weapons come under the ‘Heavy Weapon’ category and are ‘Very Difficult To Obtain’. They have deployment cost included in the Reaver deployment cost mentioned above. 3) Always operate in unit size of two or three models if possible. 4) Count as three models in hand to hand combat. 5) Cannot take any other skills/ upgrades other than ‘heavy weapon, ‘hand to hand combat’ and ‘defensive blow’.

Defensive Blow (Upgrade): Available to Reavers only. When entering hand to hand combat against a large group of enemy infantry, the Reaver can swing its powerful limbs wide at the enemy in an attempt to sweep some of them out of the way in a defensive maneuver. As the hand to hand combat starts, the Reaver may attempt to knock some of the enemy infantry away to even the odds. If the Defensive Blow skill check is successful the enemy player has to move 1D3 ‘worth’ of enemy models out of the combat and into a position 2 inches away from the Reaver’s base. Remember that some enemy models count as more than one model in hand to hand combat. Asteroid miner ‘centaur chassis’ for example, which count as two models in hand to hand combat. This upgrade cannot be used against any model with ‘vehicle’ in its description. Example: A Reaver enters hand to hand combat with three enemy models. Two of them are both pirates that count as only 1 model each in hand to hand combat. The third is an asteroid miner ‘centaur’ chassis that counts as two models. The Reaver successfully makes its ‘Defensive Blow’ skill check and rolls a 2 on the 1D3 dice roll. This means the Reaver can knock back either the two pirates(2), or just the asteroid miner (2).

Reavers and capturing enemy crew members. Reavers also have the ability to overpower enemy crew with their giant forelimbs and take them prisoner for later use in ‘Slave Units’.(See the ‘Slave Unit ‘description in this section of the rules). The Reaver’s fore claws incorporate a series of poisonous blades which incapacitate enemy troops. This ability is only useable against enemy ‘bio’ or ‘android’ crew that count as only one model in hand to hand combat. Other troop types are too large and awkward for the Reavers to overpower. ‘Bio’ crew equipped with battle suits are immune. In order for the Reaver to capture an enemy bio, it must beat the enemy model’s ‘combat roll’ in hand to hand combat by 4 points or more. If successful, the enemy model may be overpowered and captured with no hope of escape. This is entirely optional. The Reaver may kill the model instead. The Reaver may only carry one model at a time in this way. The model may be dropped of at the X12 player’s drop zone for later extraction. See the description on ‘Slave Units’ later on for how these hapless individuals may be used in later games against your enemies. Prisoners captured in this way will get no post game recovery roll!

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Reavers will not join any other unit, nor will they have any troop type assigned to their unit other than another Reaver. They must always be fielded in units of two or three models during a battle. If you have a ‘spare’ Reaver in your raiding sect (in other words if you have an odd number of Reavers) you must assign it to a junk bot unit or a unit of Seraphim. If you do this the Reaver will follow that unit if that unit flees or retreats as if it had failed its loyalty or bravery test along with the rest of the unit.

Reaver weaponry The following weapons are available to Reavers only:

Arclight battery The Arclight battery uses the same technology as the human ‘arclight blaster’ except that it has an array of three firearms arranged in a powerful battery that can fire at the same time. When shooting the Arclight Battery, treat it as being three separate Arclight blasters, each requiring a ‘heavy weapon’ skill check to hit. Each one is able to target either the same, or a different model. Multiple targets must be within three inches of the first target chosen. Description Arclight battery

Damage dice 1D8+4

No.of hits Up to 3

Range 13” Short, 26” Long

Special Reaver only Heavy weapon

Fury Cannon This weapon is essentially a heavy minigun. It has a slower rate of fire and uses heavier ammunition than its more common cousin. A burst of fire from a fury cannon is certainly a frightening prospect for normal infantry caught out in the open. Description

Damage dice

No.of hits

Range

Fury Cannon

2D6

1D4+1

18” Short, 32” Long

Special Reaver only Heavy weapon Strafe (see below)

Strafe – Pick a target and divide the number of hits as evenly as possible amongst the target and every model within 3 inches that is also visible to the shooter.

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Strike Bots Strike bots are delivered to the battlefield using drop pods to insert their unit into a strategically advantageous position. Humanoid in appearance, they employ a lightweight chassis that cannot withstand much damage, but is ideal for their role as drop troops. Armed with a simple, high power kinetic rifle, they are deployed to the surface in small groups that then disembark their pods all at the same time – usually at a crucial point in the battle, and deliver a decisive blow to the enemy extraction effort. One in every five Strike Bots may be armed with a sniper rifle at no additional cost. One in every two strike Bots may be armed with ‘Cyber Knuckles’ for the cost listed in the ‘X12 equipment’ section. Strike bots have the following statistics and abilities:

Strike Bots Cost: 1200 APT (includes drop pod) Resilience: 3 Armor: 4 (chassis armor) Movement: 5” Weapon: Kinetic rifle (see below) Free Upgrades: Small arms 7 Hand to hand combat 5 Count as ‘Mekk’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1-2 on 1D6 Deployment cost: 200 APT (Not counted until the unit hits the planet surface!) Notes: 1) Minimum unit size 3 models 2) May not take any other skills or upgrades other than ‘Small Arms’ or ‘Hand to Hand combat’. Sniper bots may have ‘Sniper’ skill. 3) One in every three may be armed with a sniper rifle for 300APT each. They will have ‘Sniper’ skill 7’ instead of ‘Small arms 7’. 4) One in every two Strike bots may be armed with ‘cyber knuckles’ for the cost listed in ‘X12 equipment’. Deploying Strike Bots. Strike bots are deployed to the surface using drop pods. Each drop pod contains one Strike Bot. A Strike Bot unit starts the game off the board. The X12 player may decide to deploy the Strike Bot unit at the start of any one of their Phase 1 or Phase 2. This costs 2 SP’s. The Strike Bots cannot disembark on the phase they land. To deploy the Strike Bot unit you must first place the drop pods. Choose a drop pod, and place it anywhere upon the gaming table that is not within 15 inches of an enemy unit. Now you need to find out how much deviation occurs to your intended landing position. To determine the direction of deviation, take two different colored six sided dice, call one of them ‘A’ and the other ‘B’. Shake them well and roll them together (onto the table near the Strike Bot landing position). Then draw a line across the battlefield through both dice, starting the line from dice ‘A’ and through the position of ‘B’ – creating a line or ‘vector’. Look at the dice and add the two resulting numbers together. That is the number of inches along the vector your first drop pod will deviate its position when it lands. Then, place the rest of the drop pods in your Strike Bot unit (one for each Strike Bot) within a 6 inch radius of the first drop pod. Anywhere you like. Drop pods may not be placed on buildings, rooftops, gantries, or any other unstable scenery. They must be placed upon the ground. If a drop pod lands in marsh, water, lava or off the table then they are forever lost with no post game recovery. (That is unlikely to happen unless you’re short of real estate!) Once the drop pods are deployed, you may wish to delay opening them for as long as you like - until the right moment. To do so costs 1 SP. You may do this at any time during your turn OR during the opponent’s Fog of War phase if you obtain free SP’s at that point. Once the pods open, you may place the Strike Bot models anywhere, wholly or partially, within 2 inches of their pod immediately. Enemy troops may fire at unopened drop pods and destroy them and their contents. An unopened drop pod has a DEF (defense) score of 15.

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Strike bot weapons: Kinetic rifle A standard ballistic rifle with a high muzzle velocity. Description Damage dice No.of hits Kinetic Rifle 1D8+3 1

Range 12” Short, 24” Long

Special Strike Bot only ‘Small arms’

Sniper rifle The sniper rifle. Standard issue with laser sighting. To use it a model must have the ‘sniper’ skill instead of ‘small arms’ skill. To hit the target, the user must roll their sniper skill check (with appropriate modifiers for range). If successful, then the rifle will do 2D6 damage. However, if a double number is rolled on the skill check that is equal to or under the users skill level, then the user finds the ‘sweet spot’ and the rifle does 4D6 damage to the target. It is useless against vehicles. Description Damage dice No.of hits Range Special Requires ‘Sniper’ skill Sniper Rifle 2D6 or 4D6 1 24” Short, 48” Long

Bio Slaves The X12 Android cult makes regular use of slaves, captured upon the battlefield during melees by their ‘Reaver’ units. Some of them are used for menial tasks, but most of these unfortunate individuals have their will subdued by slave collars, and are then sent back into battle to fight. Led by a junk bot slave driver armed with a dangerous electric lance, they are driven forward into the enemy fire like cattle to provide valuable cover for the other units in the raiding sect. Slaves are always ‘bio’ but they may be from a number of alien species. You may obtain slaves for the points cost listed below. You may also rely upon the ability of your Reavers to capture enemy crew members. Any slaves captured by your Reavers need not be deployed during your next game. You may ‘hold them in captivity ’ for as long as you like until you are ready to use them. Slave units have a minimum unit size of 4 models (including the junkbot slave master). One in every three slaves is given a frag grenade to use against the enemy. The purpose of this is to disrupt the enemy immediately before the slaves charge into hand to hand combat – giving them a slightly better chance of survival.

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They have the following statistics and abilities:

Slaves Cost: Slaves - 200 APT Junk bot slave master – 300 APT (includes electric lance)

Resilience: 3 Armor: 2 (none) Movement: 5” Weapon: None Free skills: Hand to hand combat 5 Count as ‘Bio’ infantry. Recovery roll - 1 on 1D6 (not applicable if freed by an enemy technician) Deployment cost: none Notes: 1) Led by a Junkbot with normal ‘Junk Bot’ statistics and abilities. If this junk bot is destroyed the slaves will ‘Voluntarily Retreat’ at the earliest opportunity. 2) Slaves take loyalty tests with a +3 bonus to loyalty score due to the motivation the slave collars instill in them. 3) The Junkbot slave master is armed with an electric prod that adds +2 to its combat rating. 4) May not be equipped with any weapon – other than…. 5) One in every three slaves may be equipped with one ‘Frag grenade’ for free. The grenade will only be thrown once per game. After that, the slave has no more grenades. That slave will have ‘grenade’ skill of 5. For more details on grenades see the ‘Star Mogul’ core rulebook.

Rescuing slaves – Slaves may be rescued by enemy crew members with the ‘Technician’ or ‘Master Technician’ skill. By engaging them in hand to hand combat. A technician can subdue a slave by beating their combat roll by 3 or more points AND then rolling their ‘technician’ skill to remove the slave collar. If this occurs, the slave will immediately fall back to the rescuers drop zone – subject to the ‘straggler’ rule. If the slave makes it back to the rescuers drop zone they will hide (remove the model from the game) and be picked up by that player’s drop ship at the end of the game. If the rescued slave then rolls a post game ‘recovery roll’ of 1-3 on 1D6 they will join that player’s crew as a ‘basic’ bio infantry type (of the appropriate race depending on which model was used to represent it during the game) with ‘average’ skill and abilities. For example: If a mephalian is rescued by a human salvage crew, the mephalian will join the human crew as a ‘basic’ mephalian warrior. If you rescue enough members of a particular race to employ racial powers, culture and abilities (the mephalian ‘Resonance’ ability for example) then you may employ that ability using those crew members! You cannot purchase racial equipment for them other than ‘general small arms’.

Foundry Bot The X12 cult employs Foundry Bots upon the battlefield to act as heavy artillery as well as manufacture junk bots ‘on the spot’ to send into the fray. Foundry bots are huge mekks that resemble a walking industrial plant. Powered by two very unstable plutonium cartridges that bestow them the immense energy they need to operate, they are at constant risk of suffering a dangerous reactor core leak. Raw materials for the manufacturing process are found upon the battlefield – the foundry bot spends time gorging itself upon scrap metal, electrical parts and anything else that it might find useful. These parts are then melted down, extracted and generally recycled under immense temperature, pressure and speed within the substantial bulk of the Foundry Bot’s interior processing plant. Parts from previously destroyed junk bots are also carried into battle from previous engagements and used, especially the finer electronic parts found within mekks, such as personality chips and memory devices. There is no shortage of these items. These fine parts are installed into the newly forged mekk chassis within the foundry bot’s impressive bulk, and then disgorged onto the battlefield as roughly made, but shiny, new junk bots. When working at full tilt, the noise the Foundry Bot makes is an indescribable cacophony. Shrouded by a dense

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black cloud of sulphurous smoke, it creates a terrifying visage that strikes fear into the heart of all but the most experienced enemy crew member. As the Foundry Bot works, creating junk bots at an impressive rate, temperature and pressure build within the foundry bot’s chassis creating potentially catastrophic conditions. If the pressure is not released in time the power core will rupture sending clouds of lethal radioactive dust across the battlefield! Foundry Bots have the following statistics and abilities:

Foundry Bots Civilian class vehicle, mekk Cost: 8000 APT Armor values: Front: 14 Side, Rear and Top: 13 Movement: 6” Superstructure: 10 Deployment cost: 400 APT Crew: 0 Throttle: 0 Turning score: 1 Carries no passengers. Has no driver. Notes: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Ignore any references to a ‘driver’ on the vehicle damage tables. Is a vehicle – does not take bravery or loyalty tests Treat as a vehicle for hand to hand combat/ assault When firing Plutonium slugs, has ‘Heavy Artillery’ skill: 7 Foundry Bots cannot have any other skill than ‘Heavy Artillery’. They cannot increase this skill.

Manufacturing Junk Bots (costs no SP’s) In order to begin manufacturing junk bots, your Foundry Bot must find its way to a sufficient source of raw materials to plunder so it can begin the process. Any salvage counter will provide enough resource to get the process under way – so, the first thing your Foundry Bot needs to do in order to start manufacturing is to move into base to base contact with a salvage counter. Each junk bot created while in base to base with that salvage counter will reduce that counter value by 200 credits. Keep a tally of this using a dice next to the counter. Junk bots can only be created on either your phase 1 or phase 2, not the ‘Fog of War’ phase. New junk bots have no weapons but may be armed for subsequent games. Creating junk bots costs no SP’s. On the phase after your Foundry Bot starts to gorge itself on raw materials junk bots will be produced. New junk bots will appear within 3 inches of the base of the Foundry Bot. They will not be able to act until there is either: 1) Enough junk bots standing in the group produced by the Foundry bot to form a unit of at least 4 models (note: If this happens, you will have created an extra unit and so gain +1 SP per turn as a result) OR 2) A unit of junk bots close enough to absorb the newly produced junk bots into their ranks. This requires a nearby junk bot unit to be within 4 inches of the Foundry Bot. If this is the case – all junk bots produced by the Foundry Bot that are ‘waiting’ to form a unit may join the nearby unit (at no SP cost) and move automatically to within that unit leader’s exclusion zone.

Foundry Bot - internal pressure and plutonium slugs For each junk bot created, add +1 to the ‘Temperature/ Pressure’ score. Keep a track of this number by using a 1D6 placed next to the Foundry Bot model. Every time a junk bot is created roll 3D6 and total the result. If the result is equal to or less than the current ‘Pressure’ score then the power core has fractured due to the intense conditions within the Foundry Bot’s central processing core. The Foundry Bot suffers irrevocable damage and superstructure failure!! A cloud of highly toxic radioactive gas belches forth across the battlefield in a 5 inch radius around the Foundry Bot model. All infantry models wholly or partially within the cloud must make a RES (Resilience) test or suffer 2D8 damage as if they had been shot (this includes mekks). The Foundry Bot is ‘smashed beyond repair’ and will remain upon the battlefield forever more! However – the temperature/ pressure build up can be released by jettisoning one of the two unstable plutonium plugs that the Foundry Bot uses for fuel. The X12 cult has deliberately designed the Foundry Bot so that these unstable plutonium slugs can be fired like an artillery shell. Thus performing two roles upon the battlefield - as power source and ammunition. When the plutonium slugs are fired they release ‘Pressure’ (though temperature is also a big factor) – 1 pressure point is released for each damage dice the plutonium slug does when it lands, up to a maximum of 6 pressure points/ dice per slug (see below for further info.). There are only two plutonium slugs that can be fired per mission. These are replaced after each mission. When both plutonium slugs have been fired the Foundry Bot runs out of fuel to manufacture junk bots. No more junk bots may be manufactured during that game.

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Foundry Bot Plutonium Slug artillery This weapon is classed as ‘Heavy Artillery’. It may only be used once per phase, and not during the Fog of War phase. It is used as a huge mortar and so does not need line of sight to its target. When it fires, pick an enemy model or a spot of open terrain. If the Foundry Bot fails its ‘Heavy Artillery’ skill check the shot goes too wide and completely misses – ignore it. The Plutonium Slug shatters into a cloud of intensely hot radioactive material as it lands, affecting all enemy models either wholly or partially within a 2 inch radius from the target. Description Plutonium Slug

Damage dice 1D4 per ‘pressure’ counter

No.of hits 1

Range 16” Short, 28” Long

Special Foundry Bot only 2 “ Blast Radius

The damage the plutonium slug does is directly related to its temperature when fired. The damage inflicted will be 1D4 for every ‘pressure’ counter that the Foundry Bot has accumulated by manufacturing junk bots at such a horrendous rate! Up to a maximum of 6D4. For example: A Foundry Bot has just finished manufacturing its eighth junk bot in a row without a core rupture. It then fires one of its plutonium slugs at an enemy unit to release temperature and pressure. This reduces pressure to ‘2’ pressure counters and will do 6D4 damage when it lands to every model either wholly or partially within a 2” radius of the target. Note: If there is no enemy available to shoot at the Foundry Bot may just ‘jettison’ a plutonium slug harmlessly to release 6 pressure points.

Final note This brings us to the end of the second ‘Star Mogul’ rules expansion. Keep an eye out for the full range of miniature figurines produced to represent all the units featured within ‘Star Mogul: Alien Evolution’! We have some great new projects for Star Mogul planned for the future – enough to keep you all enthralled and interested for a long time to come. Future projects include a scenarios book (we just didn’t have space this time round – sorry!), more factions including the Frontier Defense Force, as well as more great fiction, illustrations and articles that will flesh out the Star Mogul universe even further. Keep your eyes out for more revelations on the Mimjip too! Thanks for purchasing Star Mogul: Alien Evolution – take care folks, and, above all, HAVE FUN! (That’s an order!)

The Alpha Forge team.

www.alphaforgegames.com © Alpha Forge Games 2007. All rights reserved.

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