Warpath II Rules

CORE RULEBOOK  Futuristic Squad�Based Warfare BY ALE SSIO CAVATORE CAVATORE

Credits

Contents

Games Design: Alessio Cavatore Graphic Design: Sean Turtle Photography: Ben Sandum, Warwick Kinrade and Chris Palmer

The Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Thanks to: all of the users on the Mantic forums, Matt Matt Gilbert, Gilbert , Stewart Gibbs, Josh Roberts, Dylan Dyl an Owen... oh yes, and Ronnie too! too!

The Marauders Marauders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Forge Fathers Fathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Veer-myn Veer-myn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 THE RULES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Models and Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Unit Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Line of Sight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Copyright © Mantic Entertainment Ltd. 2012

Initiative Initiative Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Activation Activation Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 End Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Unit Interpenetration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Halt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Move At The Double . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Shoot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Moving and Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Melee and Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Pick a Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Determine Firing Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Check Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Firing and Hitting the T Target arget.. . . . . . . . . . . 30 Damaging the Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Take It Out! – Independent Fire. . . . . . . . . 33

Melee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Determine Attacking Attacking Models . . . . . . . . . . 34 Attacking and Hitting the Target. Target. . . . . . . . 34 Damaging the Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Regrouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Disrupted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Nerve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Results. Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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Armoured Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Fraggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Armour Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Jumpers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Collisions & Overruns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Rippers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Shooting Against Armour Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Stunts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Armoured Units Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Melee against against Armoured Units. . . . . . . . . 42

Stunt-Bots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Armour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Nerve Tests for Armoured Units. . . . . . . . 44

Ordnance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Ordnance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Heroes and Monsters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Heroes and Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Transports Transports.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Special Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Forge Fathers army list . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Army Special Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Infantry. Infantry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Armour Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Steel Warriors Warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Weapons Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Thorgarim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Reinforcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Stormrage Veterans Veterans.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Picking a Force Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Godhammer Veterans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Timed Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Valkyr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Brokkr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

THE ARMY LISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Forge Guard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Ordnance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Corporation army list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Armour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Army Special Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Heroes And Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Infantry. Infantry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Marines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Veer-myn army list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Marine Veterans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Army Special Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Rangers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Infantry. Infantry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Heavy Weapons Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Night-Crawlers Night-Crawlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Enforcers Enforcers - Strike Units. Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Stalkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Enforcers - Assault Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Nightmares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Striders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Scourgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Enforcers - Suppression Units . . . . . . . . . 63

Ravenous Horde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Ordnance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Ordnance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Armour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Gougers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Heroes And Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Shredders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Armour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Marauders army list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Heroes and Monsters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Army Special Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Infantry. Infantry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Grunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Other Races Races.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Contents

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T

he galaxy is burning. The malevolent human Corporation is expanding its sphere of influence, annexing more and more star systems to its territories, bringing every alien civilization it can under its control. Or, if this proves impossible, impossibl e, exterminating them.

massive technological help to these planets: new forms of power, transit, communication and all the benefits a thousand year old technological technologic al society can bring. Very few peoples turn this down. Offered membership “as equal partners” in the Great Galactic Co-prosperity Sphere, these new worlds will at first be optimistic

4

The Corporation’s strategy is to make contact

and proud of their status, but over time they

with alien civilizations and dazzle them with

discover the truth. Their societies undergo

humanity’s superior technology [Note: Only

massive, traumatic change, overthrowing

27 species have so far been encountered

whatever customs and governance they

that possess higher understanding of the

once possessed in return for the bland, pan-

sciences than the Corporation]. Appearing as

galactic culture of the Corporation. Worse,

benefactors, Corporation diplomats will offer

what is initially offered free in the spirit of

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common sentient interest does not remain

most primitive culture can see through the

so for long. Soon the incorporated culture

baubles the Corporation offers to the truth.

will be dependent on Corporation goods and

Other times, a civilisation may be too savage,

services, and bled dry to pay for them.

too advanced or just too damn alien to risk bringing in to Man’s great galactic family.

Turned into little better than puppet

In these cases, the Corporation will deploy

states, these slave-societies are drugged by the cheap, get-rich-quick attitudes of

its considerable military might. Full-scale invasion and subjugation has been the fate

Corporation culture, and will gladly devote all

of many, even complete annihilation if a race

of their planets’ resources to enriching the

proves too troublesome.

Corporation and the few local bureaucrats that run the business for it, while the majority

Well trained and equipped with the best in

of the population plummet into a state of

military technology, Corporation Troopers

poverty and servitude.

are worth scores of the warriors of less advanced cultures. The Troopers’ armour is

This form of cultural imperialism takes time,

often invulnerable to the natives’ weapons,

and it does not always work. Sometimes the

leaving them free to mercilessly mow down The Corporation

5

Corporation Weapons Team

scores of the enemies with pulses from

From its ancient beginnings in the Solar

their laser weaponry. Indeed, a great many

System, the Corporation has spread like a

Corporation recruitment videos glory in

malignant cancer across the galaxy, covering

human troops slaughtering spear-waving

entire sectors in its tyrannical rule and

“savages” for the betterment of the cosmos.

suffocating any attempt to live free of its

If they encounter heavier resistance, the

clutches. Their expansion continues, but the

Troopers can bring the awesome firepower

galaxy is a big place. The Corporation is not

of their tanks and walkers to bear. In dire

the monolithic entity many think it to be, and

circumstances an expeditionary commander

suffers tensions between the great Houses

may petition Corporation Central to unleash

and Companies that comprise it. Many a

their most specialised force – the feared

House has had its trading right revoked

Enforcers – who will quickly dispatch even

and had to quickly move their assets out of

the most stubborn of foes.

a system they previously owned under the supervision of an Enforcers ‘peacekeeping’

6

A system that has been cleared of hostile

force. And all those pampered, rich men

indigenous aliens is ripe for re-colonization

who debate and bicker in the sterile halls of

by the humans that form the largest part

Corporation Central share one, deep-seated

of the Corporation’s population. More often

fear: that sooner or later the Corporation will

than not they too are oppressed as they strip

meet its match in the unexplored expanses

the place of its natural resources. resources.

of deep space…

 

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THE ENFORCERS – A SECRET ARMY These elite warriors exist to enforce the will

Very little is actually known about the

of the government – they answer solely to

Enforcers. They were first created in the

Corporation Central, meaning, in actuality,

wake of the Mandrake Marauder rebellions,

the Council of Seven. Comprised of superior

as a replacement for those treacherous

soldiers, equipped with some of the best technology in the galaxy, the troops of the

companies of aliens under Corporation Central’s direct command. Corporation

Enforcers are few in number, but each is

Central does its best to keep the Enforcers’

worth a score of lesser men. In firepower

recruitment, equipment, disposition, overall

they are matched only by the Forge Fathers,

numbers, organisation and membership

while in combat they are as deadly as the

confidential. In a galaxy as large as ours, this

wild Marauders. Their loyalty to Corporation

is nigh on impossible, and there are certain

Central is absolute. Unmatched in the galaxy,

matters that are readily apparent to an

the Enforcers are the elite of the elite, the

observer, nevertheless the Enforc Enforcers ers remain

armoured right fist of Corporation Central.

shrouded in secrecy. The Corporation

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W

herever there is war you will find the Marauders. Hulking, muscled alien brutes who revel in combat, Marauders are employed as mercenaries mercenaries by all the major powers in the galaxy. For a Marauder chieftain, it does not matter who you fight or why, only how much you can pay.

“Marauder” is not the name these creatures have for themselves, in their own, simple tongue they are “Orx”, but Marauder suits them well. When peace reigns, Marauders become a menace to civilisation, turning to piracy and looting when they can find no paymaster. Marauders can be found everywhere,

from

the

most

densely

populated core systems to the depths of interstellar space. In the wilder reaches of the galaxy, away from the Corporation Core Worlds, it is said that there is not an

Marauder Army

8

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asteroid belt or moonlet that does not house

of human civilization. Forty or so worlds of

a pirate nest of these violent creatures. It is

various classes were claimed and scheduled

not unusual for Corporation scout fleets to

for colonization by automated reconnaissance reconnaissance

travel to an unmapped system only to find a

drones of the Klandax Company. Signs of

Marauder pirate lord has been there before,

low level sentient life activity were recorded

and tense ship battles are often the outcome

on these planets, but this in itself was not

in these situations.

unusual. A Grand Settlement Fleet of some 300 ships, including a portion of Klandax

It was not always so. Until less than three

Company’s own military, were dispatched.

centuries ago, the Orx were confined to a cluster of twenty or so systems halfway

For Klandax, it was a great shame they had

toward the spinward end of the Sagittarius

not invested in more sophisticated drones.

arm. At the time, this was right at the very edge of Corporation territory, and even today

Fleet

scout

teams

made

landfall

the area remains far from the bustling heart

Caprisiam IV, and began to survey sites for

The Marauders

on

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an initial colony that would serve as base of

team and wiped them out. Commander

operations for further activity in the sector. Large numbers of natives were recorded,

Mitrandesh had the remainder of Friers’ exobiology staff declare the Orx hostile, and

but these appeared primitive in the extreme.

set about a campaign of extermination.

While the fleet surveyors started their work, renowned exobiologist exobiologist Dr Jan J an Friers, working

The genocide took six weeks and cost Mitrandesh quarter of his fighting men. Still,

under license directly for Klandax. Friers

the planet was clear. Sector colonisation

was widely regarded as a safe pair of hands,

headquarters were established, and the fleet

having already participated in first contact

moved on to the next scheduled world.

contact with the natives was attempted by

with four alien species. He was accompanied by a half company of Corporation Troopers,

The same thing happened there. And then

so despite the alien’s savage nature,

again. And again.

Klandax’s expeditionary commander Prakal Mitrandesh was confident things would go smoothly.

What Klandax’s probes had not revealed was that this promising world cluster was infested with these Orx. How they spread

Within half an hour of approaching the first native settlement, Friers was dead. The

is unclear, although it has been surmised

natives had attacked in force, ambushing

of civilization, or were employed as another

the Corporation representatives. Although

culture as warriors – their cleared worlds

they took many casualties, the natives had

exhibit extensive, ancient ruins.

that the Orx once possessed a higher level

killed twenty-three other men, despite their primitive weaponry. Captain Martello,

Mitrandesh soon realized he had not

commanding,

of

enough men to pacify the entire region, and

unparalleled ferocity, simple metal blades

reluctantlyy applied to Corporation Central for reluctantl

punched through his men’s sophisticated

military aid, forfeiting Klandax’s sole claim to

armour by dint of their massive strength

the territory.

described

warriors

alone. Martello insisted they had been tricked, that the natives had drawn them

Enter General Klimt. Named “The White Devil

in to talk simply to assess them. They’d

God” by the Kathradny [extinct], Klimt wasted

learned precisely two things: One, that the

no time in extirpating the Orx from their

natives called themselves “Orx”, secondly,

ancient worlds. But Klimt was impressed by

that

aggressive.

his foe. Wave after wave of howling savages

Martello was disciplined for abandoning the

would literally throw themselves at his

bodies and equipment of his men, and a

lines, doing enormous damage before being

suborbital fighter was launched to destroy

gunned down.

they

were

extremely

the settlement. By this time Corporation intelligence had

10

Four hours later, an Orx force, carrying

gained a grasp of the Orx language, and

Corporation weaponry, attacked the surveying

so Klimt hit upon an idea. He had several

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hundred Orx captured, and once they were

A century later, during the Mandrake

subdued, made them an offer.

Secession War, an entire Orx auxiliary legion turned on their masters, seized control

And so the first battalion of Orx auxiliaries

of a flotilla of spaceships and scattered

were trained using Corporation war-doctrine.

themselves across the galaxy.

As they were as happy to fight each other as the corporation the worlds were soon

The Marauder civilization was born, a new

cleared, and Klimt forced Klandax into an

breed of space-faring Orx. Although most

embarrassing handover of the new colonies

Orx auxiliaries were immediately liquidated

to Klimt’s own masters in House Antigone.

on news of the Mandrake Betrayal, the Corporation and its enemies still make

Klimt’s scheme was so successful that

frequent use of these brutal but very effective

Orx were employed for decades as shock

troops as mercenaries – the reasoning being,

troopers all over the Corporation.

it is better to have them fighting with you, than against you.

But the Orx learnt their lessons well. The Marauders

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 The

Forge Fathers T he ancient and proud culture of the Forge Fatherss has managed to Father retain its independence from the Corporation while others have fallen. Masters of science, artisans beyond compare, the Forge Fathers are the only aliens to trade with the Corporation on anything approaching even terms.

While they are far fewer in numbers than

humans, the Forge Fathers are renowned across the galaxy for their grasp of advanced technology. They are one of the only species in

known space whose weaponry and spacecraft are more powerful than those of the Corporation. Their battle-suits are nigh-on impregnable, the destructive capability of their thermal guns is of tremendous magnitude, not to mention the incredible rate of fire and penetrative power of their solid-shot weaponry. In the field of space warfare, they are unsurpassed. Their ships are much like they are: slow, massive, resilient to damage, and armed to the teeth.

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The Forge Fathers are a cautious people in

know very little about them at all beyond

most matters, their technical secrets cannot

that which the Forge Fathers wish them to

be bought, and they take great pains to

know. Human spymasters can never be sure

conceal the workings of the machinery that

what they have gleaned is disinformation

they sell to others. The structure, workings

and which is truth. It is also a sad fact that

and habits of their civilization have only

there are far more corruptible individuals in

been won by the Corporation at great cost

the Co-Prosperity Sphere than in the Forge

and effort, as the torture, psychological

Fathers’ Star Realm. Corporation Central

conditioning

engineering

is well aware that the Forge Fathers have a

employed by the Corporation on war captives

great deal more information about mankind

work rarely on the robust psyches of the For Forge ge

than mankind has about the Forge Fathers.

and

mental

Fathers. Were it not for the few disaffected members of this honourable people willing

Although the core of the Forge Fathers’

to sell their secrets, the Corporation would

realm lies coreward to Corporation space,

The Forge Fathers

13

they can be found throughout the galaxy.

what they are engaged to do, a Forge Father

The great fleets of the Forge Fathers have

fleet can remain in orbit around a planet for

been plying the heavens for millennia,

anything up to a century before moving on.

travelling from system to system, selling

This is but a short time for Forge Fathers;

their services. Although dubbed “Trading fleets” by the Corporation, this is something

the longest lived in Corporation custody survived one hundred and fifty years before

of a misnomer; each great Forge Forge Father star-

contriving to take his own life. It is suspected

caravan centres on one or more Ward Ships,

their natural lifespan is at least seventy

a mountain of metal and stone bristling with

years longer than this, and has been greatly

weapons. Smaller craft cluster about it, and

extended by medical means.

these are multifarious in purpose. Besides

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smaller warships, many are tailored to

Relations between the Corporation and the

constructive purpose: geoengineering, large-

Forge Father Star Realm are tense. Military

scale construction, fabrication, asteroid

confrontation confrontation between the two almost always

mining or whatever else the clan they belong

go in favour of the Forge Fathers. The Forge

to happens to specialise in. Depending on

Fathers might lack the numbers or territorial

 

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ambition to exploit such victories, but any

orbit; needless to say this is of great interest

trespass into their space by Corporation

to Corporation peace contractors. There

Fleets has been ruthlessly dealt with, while

appears to be a new pattern emerging in the

every attempt to incorporate Forge Father

activities of the Forge Father trade fleets, with

worlds or clans into the Co-Prosperity

civilisations earmarked for incorporation into

Sphere have been foiled, no matter the

the Co-Prosperity Sphere suddenly gaining

means employed. The two powers will trade,

a much higher level of technology. Several

but these transactions are always done on

cultures near the borders of the Star Realm have signed mutual protection pacts with the

the Forge Fathers’ terms.

Forge Fathers, or even allowing themselves The activities activi ties of the Forge Fathers are of great

to by subsumed into the Star Realm entirely. entirely.

interest to the Corporation, not least because they are capable of planetary engineering

All this is exceedingly irksome to Corporation

feats that make the Corporation’s own

Central, but while the Forge Fathers remain

efforts appear feeble. In particular par ticular the Forge

preeminent in the field of space warfare, there

Fathers possess the ability to shift a world’s

is little prospect that the situation will change. The Forge Fathers

15

W

herever mankind has gone, rats have shortly followed. The Veer-myn are the latest manifestation of this unwitting partnership.

things made and shipped throughout space go at much lower velocity. The bulk haulers of the Corporation are vast, gigantic vessels made from hollowed out asteroids that are pulled across the cosmos by tug craft. A hauler’s carrying capacity is often in the

16

The armies and dignitaries of the Corporation

hundreds of thousands of megatonnes.

fly through space at many times the speed of light. Not so the cargoes needed to keep

Each one is the size of a city; a maze of endless holds and storage bays connected

the Co-Prosperity Sphere trading. Shooting

by innumerable lift shafts, corridors, and

such mass past the light barrier is unfeasibly

conduits. Unless circumstances or cargo

complex and expensive, and so ore, grains,

are exceptional, carriers tend to ply the

chemicals, machines, all the many, weighty

starlanes between stars close to one another.

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Nevertheless, each voyage takes many

rat to Veer-myn took place phenomenally

months, sometimes years.

quickly; at most, so Corporation science personnel have it, just under one thousand

A tug’s crew rarely ventures back into the

years. Perhaps this huge evolutionary jump

hauler, but on occasion inspections are

occurred because of radiation leaks from

required, requir ed, and so haulers all possess sections

poorly shielded reactors, or because of

where basic life support and an atmosphere

cosmic ray bombardment, or perhaps their

are maintained. At some point in history,

race was born from some chemical cocktail,

the rat crept into these cold, dark and

spilled in the transport caverns of a forgott forgotten en

inhospitable places, found some warm spot

ship. More troubling is the idea that their

in which to live and thrive, and it is here that

emergence was no accident at all, that the

it evolved.

Veer-myn were deliberately made…

Who knows when the first Veer-myn stood

Whatever caused the change, it forced

upright and blinked eyes ablaze with newly

the common brown rat to walk upright

minted intelligence? The transition from

and grow many times in size. It gained

The Veer-myn

17

18

opposable thumbs, and a mind to use

There are Veer-myn everywhere in the galaxy

them. Language and a vicious society came

today. They live deep within the settlements

quickly, both crude mirrors of mankind’s

of many races, from airless colony moons

own. A new race of space scavengers was

to continent-spanning mega-cities, and

born. With an intelligence close to that of a man married with the survival instincts and

infest the depths of spacecraft. Wherever they are, they cause serious problems. Their

astounding reproductive rate of the rat, they

spade-like teeth are iron-hard and grow

quickly spread.

constantly. They are vital tools to the rat-

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men, but a Veer-myn must gnaw at hard

rudimentary understanding of more advanced

materials lest their teeth outgrow their

technologies, and an enthusiastic if somewhat

 jaws, causing agonising pain; a Veer-myn

haphazard approach to experimentation. They

can chew through reinforced carbons given

strip the machines of others to get to the

time. Their bodies are host to numerous

raw materials they require for their devices,

unpleasant diseases that they spread from

crippling city sectors or ships, sometimes

world to world, the purple pox of Indraxia,

with fatal results. To prevent these mishaps,

a supposedly quarantined world, somehow

Corporation spacecraft are routinely scoured

managed to break out from its point of origin

for Veer-myn nests, and there are certain units

and infect fifteen systems, killing up 25% of

of Corporation troopers who spend entire tours

the population of each. The Veer-myn were

of duty as “rat catchers” aboard those warships

duly blamed, and with good reason.

large enough to warrant it. On occasion, humans cower in reinforced crew quarters

Most problematically, Veer-myn steal whatever

while a ship’s atmosphere is vented into space.

they can. They take food and water, despoiling

A drastic measure, and not always successful.

what they leave behind, ruining vital supply

There are rare cases of Veer-myn tribes being

shipments. They have an almost preternatural

bought off to watch over “their” ship, but in the

understanding of chemistry,

main they are regarded as unsophisticated pests and exterminated. This attitude greatly underestimates the complexity of Veer-myn society. They are naturally secretive and appear to possess a great deal of native cunning, so much so that rumours of hidden cities of Veer-myn are just about credible. Less believable are stories of worlds overwhelmed by masses of verminous warriors boiling up out of the ground, armed with bizarre weapons that spit fire and searing chemicals, or those tales told of the giant, mutant monsters that fight beside them. Co-Prosperity Sphere citizens should rest assured that these are just stories, furthermore stories that are likely to earn their teller a latenight call from Corporation Intelligence.

The Veer-myn

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 Th  The Rules Warpath is a sci-fi small-action wargame wargame set in Mantic’s fictional galaxy at war. Warpath is a game that is easy to learn and fast to play, yet will take time and experience to master. With few and simple rules, there is little to get in the way of the fun and slaughter.

The game system uses an intriguing unit activation system that will keep both players on their toes and force them to make some difficult choices to outwit their opponent. And that’s not all – like all Mantic wargames, Warpath has been designed to allow you to use a stopwatch or a chess clock to time your moves. As the seconds tick away,

Measuring Distances You can measure distances at any time. The distance between two models is measured to/from the closest point of their bases. If a model has no base, use the closest part of its hull or torso. The distance between two units is measured to/from the closest models in the two units. To avoid confusion, keep your units more than 1” away from enemy units at all times.

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the pressure and excitement build up, giving you an extra dimension of gameplay and an extra resource to manage during the battle. Following the same successful development pattern we employed with Kings of War, we have decided to release Warpath at a very early stage of development. The system, and particularly the army lists, are still in need of accurate balancing… and that’s where you can help. Please play as many games as you can and give us your feedback at: www.manticgames.com/Forum.html

In exchange we’ll keep the rules of Warpath up to date for free, while we continue with the development of our apocalyptic mass-battle system, which we will unleash upon you in the notso-distant future!

Models and Units The models used to play Warpath must be glued on the bases provided with them or identically-sized alternatives. Most models in the game fight together in groups which we call ‘units’. Each unit belongs to one of the following following types:

Infantry (Inf) Infantry units normally consist of five to twenty models, as shown in Diagram A. The number of models that make up a unit is specified in its Stats (Stats are explained later) and will normally correspond to the number of models you get in the boxes supplied by Mantic. Models in a unit must at all times be in formation, by which we mean within 5” of the unit’s Leader and within 1” of another member of that unit, forming an uninterrupted chain of models (see Diagram A).

Heroes & Monsters (Hero, Monster) A Hero or Monster is a unit consisting of a single model: either a mighty leader or other officer (Hero), a large alien beast or armoured combat walker or exoskeleton (Monster) or even a combination of the two - like a commander mounted on a great war-beast (often treated as a Hero, but see individual entries).

Ordnance (Ord) Each Ordnance unit consists of a single large gun and sometimes a number of crew models too. Any crew models are purely decorative and should be arranged around the machine, machine, and within 1” of it, in a suitably realistic fashion.

Armour (Arm) Each Armoured unit consists of a single model. They range in size from mighty battle tanks to smaller armoured personnel carriers and include armoured cars and other lighter vehicles.

Leader

t

1"

L

Trooper t

t

t

t

5 Infantry t

t t t

20 Infantry

t

t

t

L L t

t

t

t

t t

t t

t

t

t

5"

t

10 Infantry t

t

t t t

t t

Diagram Diagram A – Units Units

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The Rules

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Dice In these rules, when we refer to a die or dice, we mean a six-sided die, which we call D6. Sometimes we also use terms like ‘D3’ (the result of a D6 divided by 2 (rounding up)), or ‘D6+1’ (roll a D6 and adding 1 to the result), or 2D6 (roll two dice and add them together). Also, if a rule tells you that you need to roll 4+, it means you need to roll a number equal to or higher than 4.

Re-rolls When you are allowed a re-roll, simply pick up the number of dice you are allowed to re-roll and roll them again. The second result stands, even if it’s worse than the first.

Roll-off When called to roll-off, both players roll a die, and then compare their results. The highest scorer wins the roll-off. Re-roll in the event of a tie.

Stats Each model in Warpath has a name and a series of statistics (for short, we call them ‘Stats’) which define how powerful it is in the game. These are: are: • Speed (Spd).  How fast the model moves, in inches. • To Hit (Hit). The score needed by the model to hit, both with ranged attacks and in melee. • Attacks (Att). The number of dice the model rolls when attacking in melee. • Defence (Def). The score the enemy requires to damage the model. • Nerve (Ner). A combination of the model’s courage, training and discipline.

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Special. A unit’s entry will also list any unusual equipment and special rules that apply to its models.

The Stats are presented in a profile  as in the following example:

Forge Fathers, Steel Warriors Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Steel Warrior

4

Special: Headstrong.

4+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit Leaders A unit’s Leader is very important, and should be represented by a suitably imposing model so that he clearly stands out from the rest of the unit. The Leader is the commander of the unit, the one making the decisions and issuing orders to his subordinates and is often used as a point of reference. If a unit consists of a single model (such as an Armoured unit, a Hero or Monster), that model obviously counts as the ‘Leader’.

Line of Sight During the game, you will at times need to determine whether one of your models can see another one - normally an enemy model that your model (and the unit it belongs to) intends to charge or shoot. Unless stated otherwise, models can see all around regardless of the direction they are actually facing.

Of course, terrain and other models can still get in the way and hide targets targets from sight. To determine whether your model can see a target, simply lean down on the table and peek from behind the head of the model. If you can see the torso or head of the target model (ignore weapons, banners or other decorations, limbs, tails, wings, etc.) then your model can ‘see’ it. When checking a model’s line of sight, ignore the other models in its own unit. You can even lie them down d own temporarily temporari ly if you need to (as in reality they might be kneeling or even lying prone on the ground – a safe habit on the battlefield). If you’re not sure whether a model can see a target or not, roll a die. On a 4+ it can see it, on 3 or less it cannot.

The Rules

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 The  The Turn A game of Warpath is played in turns. During each turn, players first roll to see who’s going to go first, and then alternate activating their units until all of the units in the game have been activated. This concludes the turn and then the next one begins and is played through, and so on and so forth until an agreed time limit or turn limit is reached. reached. At the end of the game the players will then work out the victory conditions as

described in the Game Scenario section (see page 56). More formally, formally, a turn is divided into the following phases: 1) Initiative phase 2) Activation phase 3) End phase

Let’s examine each of these phases in detail.

Initiative Phase

First unit.

Activates automatically.

The players execute an Initiative roll – they roll-off and the winner will decide which player has the Initiative in the ensuing activation phase.

Second unit.

Activates on 3+.

Third unit.

Activates on 5+.

Final activations.

All units activate on 3+.

Activation Phase The player currently with the Initiative must  pick  pick any one of his units and take an Activation Test for it. He can activate one to three units in a row before the Initiative passes to his opponent, as described below. To take an Activation Test, roll a die and consult the chart below. Note that in the case of the first unit to activate every time you have Initiative, the test is automatically successful.

If the test is successful, successful, the unit is activated normally and can move and/or attack as described in the rules. The unit then receives a “Done” marker to show that it has been activated for this turn. If the test is failed, the unit simply mills around in confusion or fails to understand the command and can do nothing for the turn. The unit still receives a “Done” marker and retains a Suppres Sup pressed sed marker if it has one.

The required numbers are as follows: Once one of his units fails an Activation Test or the player activates the third unit, or decides that he does not wish

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to attempt a further Activation Test, the Initiative passes to his opponent. The opponent must then activate a unit as described above and can continue to do so until he too fails an Activation Test, or activates all three units, or decides that he is not going to attempt another. At this point the Initiative reverts back to the first player, and so on and so forth.

Final Activations Once a player has finished activating all of the units in his army, their opponent retains the Initiative and can try to activate all of his remaining units. This is called ‘Final activations’. During these ‘Final activations’, all remaining units (including the first one!) activate on 3+. In other words, all remaining units count as a ‘Second unit’. It is very importnat to note that during Final Activations, the player can keep going and try to activate units even if he fails an Activation Test. He keeps doing this until he has tried to activate all of the remaining units in his army and they have all received a ‘Done’ marker.

Activating Suppressed Units You will see later than units can become Suppressed if they receive fire from the enemy and fail a Nerve test (see page 36). A Suppressed unit is less likely to react to your activation, and might just ignore their leaders’ orders and stay put. Every time you pass a successful Activation Test for a Suppressed unit (including an automatic pass for a first unit, and during

‘Final Activations’), you must immediately roll a die for that unit to see if it shakes off the effects of Suppression. If the result is one, two or three, the unit remains Suppressed and the Activation Test counts as failed instead – the Initiative passes to the enemy as normal. If the result is four, five or six, the unit shakes off the Suppression and activates as normal. Remove its ‘Suppressed’ marker. marker.

End Phase Once all units have been activated, the players remove all of the “Done” markers from the table and do some general tidy-up of the field - removing stranded casualties, dice, markers, tape measures, teacups and all other debris of battle. Then you’re ready to begin the next turn, starting with the Initiative Phase.

Game End At the end of turn 5 of the game, either player rolls a die: on a 3 or less, the game ends. On a 4+ a final extra turn is played (Turn 6) and then the game ends. It is of course possible for the players to agree at the beginning of the game to play for a different amount of turns. In either case, when the agreed number of turns is reached, always roll for an extra turn in the End Phase of the last turn. You can instead decide that you are going to play for a set amount of time – we suggest half an hour per 500 points being used (e.g. two hours for a 2000pts game). Lastly, you could also play a Timed Game, as explained in the Timed Games section. The Rules

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Movement When a unit is activated, it can execute one of the movement actions described below (Halt, Move, Move At The Double or Charge) and then, where permitted, fire their weapons as described in the Shooting section.

Halt The unit does not move at all.

Move Move each of the unit’s models in any direction up to a number of inches equal to their Speed. Models must end their move in formation  (i.e. within 5” of the unit’s Leader and within 1” of another member of that unit, forming an uninterrupted chain of models, as shown in Diagram A on page 21). During this move, the models can make any number of changes of direction, as long as no model moves further than its Speed. See Diagram B. This is often refered to as a “normal Move” or “normal speed”. Usually the unit can still fire after moving like this but some heavy or cumbersome weapons require a model to stay still in order to fire.

Unit Interpenetration Infantry, Heroes and Ordnance models can move through friendly Infantry, Heroes and Ordnance models. They cannot however end their move on top of other models, so you’ll have to be sure that they have enough movement to end up clear of their friends. Enemy Infantry, Heroes and Ordnance on the other hand, block movement, as do all Armoured Armoured units (friend and foe).

Move At The Double The models in the unit can move as described above, but up to double their Speed. See Diagram C. This

Diagram C – At The Double Double t t L

1) Leader (Spd 4) moves 6" of its At The Double move.

t

Original Position of Unit

t

t

t

t L t

t

t

New Position of Unit

2) Each other model in the unit is moved up to 4" (their Speed stat), ending their move no further than 5" from the Leader within 1" from another model in the unit.

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t

t t

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t

L t

t t

1) Leader (Spd 4) makes a move of 3"

t

t

2) Leader moves 2" in another direction, completing its At The Double move

Trooper

L

t

L

t

t

t

t

Diagra Diagram m B – Move Move Leader

t

t

t t

3) Each other model in the unit is moved up to 8" (double their Speed stat), ending their move no further than 5" from the Leader within 1" from another model in the unit.

normally means that the unit will be unable to fire.

Diagram Diagram D – Charge Charge t

Charge This is the most exciting type of movement but is also the most complex. A charge is the only way your models can move into contact with the enemy. A unit can charge a single enemy unit (‘the target’) as long as the following conditions are met: • at least one model in the charging unit can see at least one model in the target unit • at least one of the charging unit’s models can reach one model in the target unit, as described below • it is actually possible for the t he charging unit to damage the target in the ensuing melee

Moving Chargers If a charging model can make a double move and, going around Blocking Terrain and enemy units, it can reach the closest model in the target unit, the Charge is successful. Otherwise the unit cannot Charge (and it must choose another movement action instead). Note that during a Charge, models move through obstacles and areas of Difficult Terrain without reducing their movement as they would when not charging (see the terrain rules below). However, if any of a unit’s models must go through these types of terrain in order to reach their targets by the shortest route possible, the entire unit will suffer a slight penalty in the ensuing melee (more on this later).

t t t L

t

t

t t

1) Unit A (Marauders Spd 5) is within 10" of enemy unit B, which it wants to charge. Its charge is therefore successful.

8"

Unit A

t

t

t

L t

t

Unit B

t t t

t L

t t

t t

t t t t

t

L

t

t

2) Unit A charges into t L t base contact with t t t models in the target unit. t Charging models try to make t it into base contact with enemy models and are spread as evenly as possible amongst the enemies they can reach. Note that no charging models could reach the enemy model furthest away (too far!), and two chargers could not make it into base contact with any enemy (no more space!), so they are left at the back.

After moving the first model, move all remaining chargers into base contact with models in the target unit by the shortest route possible. This follows the rules for an At The Double move (other than Difficult Terrain not slowing them down) and these models must end their move in formation. As you move into contact with the enemy, you must spread your models as evenly as possible amongst the enemies they can reach, trying to get as many models in base contact as possible. If there is no space for all of your models to make it into base contact with an enemy in the The Rules

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target unit, or if some of the charging models cannot reach any enemy, simply place them as close as possible behind the rest of their comrades, and of course still in formation. The models in the target enemy unit are not moved, as they brace themselves for the impact. When charging, models can move to within 1” of any enemies, though they can only move into base contact with the enemies they charged. This means that sometimes a charging unit may end up very close to one or more enemy units it has not charged (e.g. when charging tightly packed enemies).

Charging Suppressed Enemies Lying down in cover is not very useful if someone is right on top of you trying to stab you with a bayonet. If a Suppressed Supp ressed unit is charged, it automatically loses the Suppressed marker, as the soldiers stand up and prepare to desperately defend themselves.

Terrain Elements of terrain make your table look more impressive, and also help hiding your troops from the enemy’s long-range firepower, making the game more interesting as troops manoeuvre around looking for cover or a better line of fire. In wargames, terrain is normally one of two types: a single terrain piece or an area of terrain. The rules for both are given below. Before the game, you should agree with your opponent how you are going to treat each of the pieces p ieces of terrain on the table.

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Single Terr Terrain ain Pieces These are individual pieces like a lone tree, a boulder, a fence, a hedge or a wall. They are going to either be Blocking Terrain, an Obstacle  or Decorative Terrain. • Blocking Terrain. We recommend treating solid areas of rock, high walls and other large pieces as Blocking Terrain. Units cannot move across Blocking Terrain and must go around it. • Obstacles. Obstacles are long and narrow pieces of terrain, like a low wall, fence, hedge, a stream, etc. – something that a man-sized creature could see over and clamber across easily.

Units can move over obstacles normally (even ending halfway over them) but cannot cross them while moving ‘At The Double’. • Decorative Terrain. This category groups small terrain pieces like individual bushes or trees, lampposts, street signs, etc. A unit can move over Decorative Terrain pieces as it pleases, ignoring them altogether. However, it is best if you still make sure your models don’t end up on top of them, so you don’t have to move these pieces of terrain, which could be important if they are big enough to influence line of sight.

Areas of Difficult Terrain This type of terrain consists of things like single-storey ruined buildings, alien  jungl  jungles, es, scatt scatter ered ed mining mining or colo colonia niall infrastructures, cratered areas or broken, rocky terrain, scree, and so on. These are normally made by gluing a number of pieces of terrain onto a large base. This conveniently demarcates the area of the terrain – the entire area of the base counts as Difficult Terrain. Models can move through these areas, but all distances travelled through these areas are doubled (e.g. every inch of Difficult Terrain they cross counts as two inches).

Buildings Buildings are complex terrain that deserves its own section – see page 53. The Rules

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Shoot After moving an activated unit, you can choose a target for them and open fire!

Moving and Shooting Units that have just moved At The Double are too busy moving and cannot shoot. Some cumbersome weapons can fire only if the unit called a Halt. When that’s the case, it will be specified in the weapons’ rules.

Melee and Shooting Units that have any models in base contact with enemies cannot shoot, nor be chosen as a target for shooting.

Pick a Target The firing unit can pick a single enemy unit as a target for its ranged attacks. In order to do so, at least one of its models must be able to see at least one of the models in the target target unit.

Determine Firing Models Once the firing unit has picked a target, any model that can see at least one model in the target unit can open fire with one (and only one!) of its ranged weapons. It’s a good idea to turn all firing models towards the target, and any models that are not firing away from it to make the distinction clear.

Check Range Each weapon has a range in inches shown in its profile (see examples below). Measure the distance between the firing model and any of the models it can see in the target unit. If the distance is equal to or less than the weapon’s range, the entire enemy unit is in range (not  ju  just the model you measured to).

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Ranged Weapon Profiles Each ranged weapon has its own profile specifying its Firepower (Fire), Range (Ran) and any other special rules it might have. For example: Fire Ran

Special

Laser rifle

1

24

–

Light Laser Cannon

1

48 Piercing (6)

For some common ranged weapons’ special rules, see page 51.

Firing and Hitting the Target Each weapon being fired has a Firepower (Fire) value that shows you how many dice you roll when firing it. Roll that many dice for each weapon that has been determined to be in range of the enemy unit. Your firing models’ dice rolls, after applying any modifiers that apply, must score a number equal to or higher than their To Hit (Hit) value in order to hit their targets. Discard any dice that score less than that.

Modifiers A number of factors can make a hit less likely to happen. The most common are: • -1 extreme range. The target is over half of the weapon’s range away. • -1  Suppressed target. The target is Suppressed. • -1  soft cover. The target is in soft cover (see below). • -2 hard cover. The target is in hard cover (see below).

For each of these factors, deduct the modifier from the score rolled by the dice. For example, if your models normally need a 4+ to hit, but are shooting at a target in soft cover, you will need to score 5 or more to hit instead and achieve the required 4+ result. If the target was at extreme range as well, you would need 6s. It can happen that the range modifier only applies to some of the firing models, as some are in extreme range and some are not. If this is the case, roll to hit separately for the various groups of weapons, but then put all hits caused back together before rolling to damage (see below). Any dice that rolls a 1 is always a miss, regardless of modifiers. However, if modifiers to the roll mean that the firers would need more than 6 to hit, they can still shoot. In order to hit, however, you need to first roll a 6 and then roll again and score a 4 or more (no modifiers or re-rolls apply to this second roll).

Cover To decide whether the target unit is in cover, take a look at it from behind the heads of the firing unit’s models. Always ignore other models in the firing unit – they’re trained to keep out of the way. Also ignore other models in the target target unit – you cannot use your team mates as cover! • If at least half of the models in the target unit have no cover whatsoever from the point of view of at least half of the firing models, the target is not in cover.

• If at least least half of the models in the target unit are completely or partially obscured by intervening terrain or other units (friend or foe), from the point of view of at least half of the firing unit, the target is in cover. • If the majority of the target unit’s models are on, or in base contact with, an area of Difficult Terrain that the players have agreed offers cover, the target target is in cover. cover. • If the majority of the firing unit’s shots have to go through 3” or more of an area of Difficult Terrain that the players have agreed offers cover, the target is in cover. If the majority of the cover is made of things that in reality would partially hide the unit from sight, but not provide much physical protection against bullets or shrapnel use the soft cover modifier (e.g. woods, bushes, camouflage nets, as well as infantry units and heroes). Otherwise, use hard cover (e.g. walls, ruins, craters, rocky areas, as well as other units except for infantry and heroes). It is important that you and your opponent discuss and agree before the game which terrain is going to count as hard and soft cover. If you’re not sure if the target is in cover, roll a die. On a 4+ it is not, not , on 3 or less it is.

Damaging the Target After discarding any dice that missed, pick up the remaining dice and roll them again to try to damage the enemy models. The number your firers need to roll to damage their targets is equal to, or higher than, the targets’ Defence value. The Rules

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This roll can sometimes be modified by special rules. For example, some units (like most Armoured units) have a Defence value of 7 or more, so they cannot be damaged unless the firer has some positive modifiers to this roll. As before, there may be some weapons which have different modifiers than others. You should roll these separately or perhaps use different coloured dice to distinguish them. Any dice that rolls a 1 always fails to damage, regardless of modifiers.

Effects of Damage – Casualties Ca sualties For each hit that scores damage, you remove one of the models in the target unit. This is done in a strict sequence, following the rules below. Note that the rules are given in order of importance. • You cannot take the unit’s Leader until there are no other models left – he’s always the last to die. In reality this represents other troopers in the unit taking on the role (and gear) of the Leader if he is killed. • You cannot take any models that stand out from the normal troopers (e.g. models carrying support weapons, etc.) until all of the normal troopers have been removed. This represents other troopers in the unit picking up the weapons of the specially armed trooper if he is killed. • You must try as much as possible not to break the target unit’s formation. • First you must take any models in the open (i.e. visible and not in

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cover from the point of view of any firing model), then you must take any models that are visible to the firers but in cover. Finally, you can take casualties from models that are completely out of sight of all of the firing models – shrapnel, ricochets and bullets going through walls ensure that nobody is safe.

Testing Nerve After firing with all models in a unit, and removing casualties, you immediately test the Nerve of any enemy unit(s) that your unit inflicted enough damage on (see the Nerve section). This test will determine whether the enemy will stand or be destroyed.

Take It Out! – Independent Fire Sometimes, units can be upgraded by giving one or more of their models a very powerful man-portable weapon, whose nature varies enormously between armies. In general, they are used to take on enemy tanks and other heavily armoured targets. When a unit fires, any model firing a weapon with a Piercing  value  value of (4) or more can target any visible enemy, regardless of what his teammates are shooting at. You can resolve the shots from independent firing weapons before or after firing the rest of the unit, but you must declare all targets before rolling any dice. When resolving the independent fire, always determine line of sight and cover by looking from the viewpoint of the independent firing model, ignoring models from its own unit (basicall (basically, y, imagine that the rest of the unit does not exist).

Warpath: The Rules

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Melee If your activating unit has charged an enemy unit, then your warriors must now strike against the enemies that they have charged – we call this ‘Melee’, but we we also refer to it as ‘combat’ or ‘close combat’. In reality the enemy warriors would also be fighting back against yours, but for the sake of playability, we imagine that the impetus of the charge means your men are doing most of the attacking. If the enemy is not destroyed, your men will fall back and brace themselves, because their foes are very likely to soon charge back in to avenge their fallen comrades.

Determine Attacking Models Any model that is in base contact with at least one model in the target unit must attack with its close combat weapons.

Attacking and Hitting the Target Each attacking model has an Attacks (Att) value that shows you how many dice you roll when it attacks in Melee. Roll that many dice for each attacking model. Your attacking model’s dice rolls, after applying any modifiers that apply, must score a number equal to or higher than their To Hit (Hit) value in order to hit their targets. Discard any dice that score less than that.

Modifiers A number of factors can make a hit more or less likely to happen. The most common are: • -1  defensive positions/disrupted charge. The majority of the models in the target unit are behind an

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obstacle and/or the chargers’ move meant that one or more models moved through any areas of difficult terrain or over obstacles. • +1 target suppressed. The target unit was Suppressed when it was charged. For each of these factors, add or deduct the modifier from the score rolled by the dice. For example, if your models normally need a 4+ to hit, but are attacking an enemy that was Suppressed when it was charged, they hit on 3+ instead. Any dice that rolls a 1 is always a miss, regardless regardless of modifiers. However, if modifiers to the roll mean that the attackers would need more than 6 to hit, they can still attack. In order to hit, however, you need to first roll a six and then roll again and score score a 4 or more (no modifiers apply to this second roll).

Damaging the Target After discarding any dice that missed, pick up the remaining dice and roll them again, to try to damage the enemy models. The number your attackers need to damage their targets is equal to, or higher than, the targets’ Defence value. This roll can sometimes be modified by special rules. For example, some units (like most Armoured units) have a Defence value of 7 or more, so they cannot be damaged unless the attacker has some positive modifiers to this roll. There may be some weapons which have different modifiers than others. You should roll these separately or perhaps use different coloured dice to distinguish them. Any dice that rolls a 1 always fails to damage, regardless of modifiers.

Effects of Damage – Casualties For each hit that scores damage, you remove one of the models in the target unit. This is done in a strict sequence, following the rules below. Note that the rules are given in order of importance. • You cannot take the unit’s Leader until there are no other models left – he’s always the last to die. This represents other troopers in the unit taking on the role (and gear) of the Leader if he is killed. • You cannot take any models that stand out from the normal troopers (e.g. models carrying support weapons, etc.) until all of the normal troopers have been removed. This represents other troopers in the unit picking up the weapons of the specially armed trooper if he is killed. • You must try as much as possible not to break the target unit’s formation. • First you must take any models that are in contact with your own models, then you must take any models not in base contact with your models.

Testing Nerve Nerve At the end of each Melee, once all models have attacked and casualties have been removed, you immediately test the Nerve of the enemy unit that your unit inflicted enough damage on (see the Nerve section). This test will determine whether the enemies will stand or be destroyed; see Regrouping below. Note that in Melee, results of

‘Suppressed’ count as ‘Destroyed’ instead, as described below.

Regrouping At the end of the Melee and after any Nerve tests have been resolved, if your unit managed to destroy the enemy it was fighting, it can either stay where it is or move up to  D6”  D6” in any direction, following following all of the rules for a normal move. If, on the other hand, your unit did not manage to destroy its enemies, you must pull back. Immediately execute a full   D6” move following all of the normal rules, except that your models must attempt to return towards the position they started the charge from. As you do this, you must ensure that your models end up in formation  and more than 1” away from any enemy model (you might occasionally occasionally have to move them further than the dice roll would allow to clear the enemy unit). The enemy models are left in place.

Disordered If a unit is not destroyed by a charging enemy, it is automatically Disordered. Place a Disordered marker next to it. In its next activation, the unit cannot shoot or use any other ranged attack. After their next Activation Test, whether it is successful or failed, the Disordered marker is automatically discarded.

Melee Weapons Unlike ranged weapons, melee weapons do not have a profile, but normally confer a special rule to the model wielding them. For some common melee weapons special rules, see the Special Rules section on page 51. The Rules

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Nerve As a unit accumulates damage, it will become more and more likely to lose cohesion, until eventually it will turn tail and run from the field, never to return.

When to Test If the unit you are activating shoots or charges an enemy unit and kills at least 50% of their current numbers (calculated at the point your unit first activated), you have inflicted a serious amount of damage and can now test their Nerve. This of course means that it gets increasingly easier to cause Nerve tests on enemies units as they reduce in size. For example, an enemy unit that consists of ten warriors suffers four casualties from the fire of one of your units. That is not enough to make them test. However, there are now only six warriors in the enemy unit, which means that your next unit to attack them only needs to inflict three casualties (i.e. 50% of six) to force a Nerve test.

How to Test Each unit has two numbers under its Nerve value. The first number is the unit’s Suppression limit, the second number is its Destruction limit. To test the Nerve of an enemy unit, roll 2D6 and add to the result result any modifiers that apply (from Special rules, etc.). This is the total you’re using to ‘attack’ the enemy unit’s Nerve. This total is then compared with the Nerve values of the enemy unit.

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Results If the total is equal to or higher than the enemy unit’s Destruction limit, the unit suffers a Destroyed!   result (see below). If the total is lower than the Destruction limit, but equal to or higher than the Suppression limit, the unit suffers from a Suppressed result (see below). If the total is lower than the unit’s Suppression limit, the unit is Steady, which means it is completely unaffected and continues to fight on as normal. Do remember that if the Steady result is caused by a melee attack, the Steady unit still needs to be marked as Disordered, as explained in the Melee section. For example, let’s let’s say you are testing against the Nerve of an enemy unit that has a Nerve of 8/10. If you roll a seven or less, the enemy unit will be Steady. Steady. If you roll an eight or nine, the enemy unit will be Suppressed. If you roll a ten or more, the enemy unit uni t is Destroyed.

Suppressed The unit continues to fight, but drops to the ground and a nd takes cover. cover. This makes the unit more difficult to activate, as explained in the Activation section. If the Nerve test is caused by melee attacks, the unit treats Suppressed results as Destroyed! instead – lying flat on the ground is not a great

defence against melee opponents, so the unit surrenders instead and is either slaughtered on the spot or taken prisoner (or devoured, depending on the enemy…).

Destroyed! The unit is scattered and runs for the hills or surrenders to the enemy. To all intents and purposes it is Destroyed remove it from the game.

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 Armo  Armoured Units its Armoured units (or ‘Armour’ for short) follow the rules as given previously, except that they consist of a single model and use the exceptions listed here below.

Diagram F – Manoeuvre

Armour with Speed 12 moves 7", pivots, then moves another 5".

Armour Movement Armoured units move in a very different way from other units. So when moving an Armoured unit, you can give do one of the following: following:

Halt This is just the same as any other unit – the Armoured unit remains stationary.

Hard Turn The Armoured unit moves by simply pivoting around its centre to face any direction. See Diagram E.

Diagram Diagram E – Hard Turn

Manoeuvre The Armoured unit moves at normal speed – this is always straight forward or straight backwards up to its Speed in inches. At any point during this move (i.e. before or after moving, or anywhere anywh ere along the move), the Armoured unit can also make a single pivot around its centre of up to 90 degrees from its original facing. See Diagram F.

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Full Speed The Armoured unit advances straight forward, forward, without any pivot, up to double its Speed in inches. See Diagram G. This prevents it from shooting that turn, just like moving At The Double for non-armoured units.

Diagram G – Full Speed Armour with Speed 12 can move Full Speed forward up to 24". 12"

24"

Collisions & Overruns You will have noticed that Armoured units cannot charge. Just as normal, they cannot move into contact with other units, friends and foe, as this is simply too dangerous. However, when they are moving at Full Speed, they are allowed to move into contact with enemy Armoured units (smash!). They are also allowed to move right through Infantry and other units (squash!), and they have a Crushing Strength   value specifically for this purpose... read on.

Collisions In a Collision, an Armoured unit moves at Full Speed into contact with another Armoured unit and then stops. A Collision causes D6 automatic hits on both vehicles. Roll a separate die for each vehicle and roll for damage against both your and the enemy’s Armoured unit using the appropriate Crushing Strength   value for each vehicle. If any unit is damaged in the process, take a Nerve test for them, including against your own unit!

When doing so, you must ensure that they can clear the entire unit and end their move at least 1” away from any enemy unit, just as normal. If this is impossible and your Armoured unit stops over enemy models, move these models as little as possible to make room for your Armoured unit. See Diagram H. Immediately after finishing the move, the Armoured unit makes D6 Melee attacks against every enemy unit it moved over, representing a combination of soldiers being run over and the demoralising effect of having to run away from an armoured behemoth. These attacks always hit on a 4+, regardless of any modifier. Roll to damage as normal for any hits caused, using the Crushing Strength  value of the armoured unit. Test the Nerve of any enemy unit taking enough damage as described in the Nerve section (and remember, these are Melee attacks!).

Diagram Diagram H – Overrun Overrun

It goes without saying that it’s much better to launch your hardest vehicles against flimsy low-Defence enemy Armoured units than the other way around, otherwise you risk inflicting more damage against yourself than the enemy.

t t L t t

Overruns

Terrain and Armour

When moving at Full Speed, Armoured units are allowed to move through enemy Infantry, Heroes and Ordnance units (but not other Armoured units, see Collisions).

Armoured units move at normal speed across any type of terrain other than Blocking Terrain. However, if they move at Full Speed across an Obstacle or into an area of Difficult Terrain, roll a die The Rules

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as soon as they come into contact with the Obstacle or as soon as they th ey are fully inside the area of Difficult Terrain. On the roll of a 1, the unit is Immobilised (see Damaged – Immobilised, opposite).

Shooting Against Armour Armoured units are normally more vulnerable to enemy fire coming from their flanks and rear, as their armour is normally thicker at the front and their more delicate parts, like the engine, tracks, fuel tanks, are more exposed to fire coming from the side and especially the back. When shooting against an Armoured unit, work out if the shots are coming from the front, flank or posterior arc of the target. In order to determine where these arcs lie, use two imaginary lines crossing perpendicularly on the centre of your vehicle,, as shown in Diagram I. vehicle

Diagram I – Armoured Unit Unit Arcs Arcs Front Arc 90° Left Arc

Right Arc

Prolong these imaginary lines until it’s clear which direction the shots are coming from. In the case of units comprising of several models, you will have to resolve their fire in separate batches according to which facing they are targeting. Any weapon and unit that has the Piercing  special  special rule (i.e. very powerful weapons) will count its Piercing  bonus   bonus as one higher (+1) if its shots are coming from the flank of the target, or two higher (+2) if coming from the posterior arc. Weapons and units without the Piercing  Weapons special rule NEVER get these bonuses as they are simply too weak to penetrate armour, regardless of the direction their shots come from.

Obvious Targets As they are very large and not very good at making use of cover, any units firing at an Armoured unit benefit from an additional +1 modifier to hit. For the same reason, Armoured units never benefit from the ‘Suppressed’ –1 modifier to be hit. A suppressed tank is  just as big as one that isn’t.

Posterior Arc

Finally, Armoured units only count as in cover if at least 50% of the model is in cover from the point of view of the majority of the firers.

Tough to Kill! All Armoured units have the Tough   (n) special rule, as described on page 49).

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This basically means they are not removed when they suffer the first point of damage, but only when they have accumulated an amount of damage equal to (n).

dagage or from a failed Nerve test), roll a die. On a 4+, the model is removed as normal. On a 3 or less, the model is left in place as a blazing/smoking hulk and becomes Blocking Terrain for the rest of the game.

All Armoured units are Tough   (3), except if their entry specifies otherwise.

Armoured Units Shooting

Damaged – Immobilised

Independent Fire

If an Armoured unit has the Tough   (n) special rule, every time you score a point of damage on it, roll a die. On a 4+, the vehicle is Immobilised. Whatever the result, you should now also make a Nerve test against the damaged unit – see page 36.

Thanks to their advanced fire control systems (or numerous crew), Armoured units can split their fire against different targets. This means that you fire each weapon carried by the vehicle separately and in any order you like –  just declar declare e all of the targe targets ts befor before e starting to fire any weapon.

If a vehicle is Immobilised for any reason, it must remain stationary for the rest of the game and can only Halt.

Destroyed When you destroy an enemy Armoured unit (either by removing its last point of

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Arc of Fire Each weapon on an Armoured unit can only be fired at targets that lie at least partially partial ly in one or more of the unit’s unit ’s arcs (see Diagram I). Each of an Armoured unit’s weapons has a notation showing in which arc it can be fired. These can be [F] for the Front arc, [L] for the Left arc, [R] for the Right arc, [P] for the Posterior arc. Some weapons can be fired in multiple arcs, and this will be indicated as, for example, [F/L/R], or even [A] for weapons that can be fired All Around (so 360 degrees).

Line of Sight Work out the line of sight of each weapon (and cover of its target) by looking along its barrel.

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When working out the line of sight of a vehicle’s guns, always assume that they are free to swivel, traverse and otherwise move as much as the design of the model indicates. If you have glued your tank’s turret in a fixed position, for example, still assume that it can rotate all around.

Melee Against Armoured Units Hitting Armoured units When rolling to hit an Armoured unit in Melee, the following to hit modifiers apply instead of the normal ones: • –2  fast moving target. The target is not Immobilised and moved over 12” in its previous activation.

• +2 stationary target. The target performed a Halt or Hard Turn in its previous activation or is Immobilised.

If the target moved up to 12”, including performing a Hard Turn, no modifiers apply and the attacker rolls to hit as normal.

However, it is much easier to find weak spots in a vehicle’s armour at point blank range, so any weapon and unit that has the Crushing Strength   special rule (i.e. very powerful attacks) will count its damage bonus as two higher (+2) when attacking a stationary armoured unit (as defined above). For example, a model with Crushing Strength   (2) counts as Crushing Strength  (4).  (4).

Damaging Armoured Units In Melee, there are no bonuses for attacking an Armoured unit in the flank or posterior arcs, as the attackers are clambering all over the enemy vehicle.

No Disorder Unlike other units, if an Armoured unit survives a melee, it is not Disordered and it is free to act normally in its following activation.

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Nerve Tests for Armoured Units If you inflict one or more points of damage on a Tough (n)   armoured unit, and the unit is not destroyed, you immediately test its Nerve, just like when you inflict 50% casualties on an infantry unit.

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All Armoured units are Steadfast , unless otherwise noted. If an Armoured unit is Destroyed  by a Nerve test, roll as normal to see whether the model is left in place (i.e. the crew have abandoned it) or not (i.e. the crew have hurriedly driven it off the field, or abandoned it and blown it up).

Ordnance Ordnance units follow the main Infantry rules as given earlier, but have a few exceptions. We thought it convenient to sum up all such unique rules in a separate section, so that they are easier to find.

Movement All Ordnance units have the Lumbering  special rule, and an d therefore cannot cannot move At The Double. In addition, they are not allowed to Charge. Ordnance units treat all  type   type of terrain as Blocking Terrain. They can be deployed in areas of difficult terrain, but in that case they can only Halt for the rest of the game.

Shooting As they are so bulky, Ordnance units have the Reload!  rule.  rule. When an Ordnance unit fires, first pivot the gun around its centre to face its intended target (this does not count as moving), and then check its line of sight along the barrel of the gun.

Tough to Kill! All Ordnance units are Tough  (3),  (3), except if their entry specifies otherwise.

Melee When attacking an Ordnance unit, models always receive an additional +1 to hit, as artillery crew are not well equipped for close combat. As they cannot move At The Double or Charge, Ordnance units must move at normal Speed when they are Disordered – they are attempting to redeploy under cover from friendly units. If they cannot move when Disordered (they could have been deployed inside an area of terrain, for example), they become Suppressed instead. Note that Ordnance units are not very good at getting out of the way of Overrunning armoured units. The player rolls two dice to determine how many attack his overrunning vehicle gets against the Ordnance unit and chooses the highest of the two results – crunch!

Nerve If you inflict one or more points of damage on a Tough (n)   Ordnance unit, and the unit is not Destroyed, you immediately test its Nerve, just like when you inflict at least 50% casualties on an Infantry unit.

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Heroes and Monsters Heroes and Monsters follow the main Infantry rules ru les as given previously, except that they consist of a single model and use the exceptions listed below.

Tough to Kill!

Shooting

If you inflict one or more points of damage on a Tough (n)  Hero  Hero or Monster, and it is not Destroyed, immediately test its Nerve, just like when inflicting at least 50% casualties on an Infantry unit.

Monsters (and not Heroes!) are Obvious Targets as described for Armoured units.

All Heroes and Monsters are Tough  (3),  (3), except except if their entry specifies otherwise.

Nerve

 Trransports  T Some units (normally Armour or Monsters) have the ability of carrying squads of infantry into battle. If a unit has the Transport (n)   special rule, it can transport any number of units of Infantry, and/or Heroes, up to a total number of models equal to (n).

Mounting Up Units can be deployed directly inside a Transport during Deployment, when it’s their turn to be deployed. Otherwise a unit can mount up by being activated and then move to within 1” of a Transport. Transported units are removed from the table – clearly mark which unit is inside which transport for your opponent to see (sometimes, players like to leave the Leader model on top of, or next to the vehicle as a reminder). Transported units cease to exist from the point of view of the game until they Dismount. While they are transported, they can do nothing and cannot suffer any damage. However, if their Transport is destroyed, each unit on board at the

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time immediately suffers D6 hits with Piercing   (1). If it survives the damage (and possible Nerve test), it then receives a “Done!” marker. If the Transport model is removed as a result, the transported units are placed in the Transport’s place. If the Transport model remains (as a blazing hulk) the transported units are immediately placed around it and, as much as possible, with all of their models within 1” of the hulk, and in formation.

Dismounting Transported units cannot be activated while transported, unless you want them to Dismount from the transport. Transported units cannot Dismount from a transport that moved at Full Speed that same Turn. For a transported unit to Dismount, you must attempt to activate it. If successful, the unit is placed so that all of its models are in formation and within 3” of the Transport. The unit must then make a normal Move (no Charging or moving At The Double), and counts as moving even if they decide not to move any further.

Special Rules Units, or entire armies, sometimes possess what we call ‘Special Rules’. Each of these special rules is an exception to the normal rules. The most common of them are listed here, but we will undoubtedly add more to this list at a later date. Bulky Size matters. The unit cannot be transported. Craven Not everyone is i s cut out to be a warrior wa rrior... ... If the unit wants to Charge, roll a die. On a result 2+ the Charge proceeds as normal. On a 1, the unit ‘misunderstands’ the order and Halts instead.

Crushing Strength (n) This rule is used to represent the devastating effects of Melee hits from creatures of terrible strength, or equipped with specialised close combat weaponry. weaponry. All Melee hits inflicted by the unit have a +(n) modifier when rolling to damage. Elite Elite creatures are true masters of the art of war. Whenever the unit rolls to hit, it can reroll one of the dice that failed to hit. Fast Zooooooooooommmmm!!! When moving At The Double or at Full Speed, this unit trebles trebles its Speed rather than doubling it. Headstrong “I’ve got no time to bleed.”  When you are trying to activate this unit when it is Suppressed,

you can re-roll the die for shaking off the effects of Suppression and successfully activating. Immobile The unit is so heavy that it cannot move under its own power, or it is simply built into a defensive position. This unit must always ‘Halt’ when activated and cannot move. If forced to move by any reason, it is destroyed. Infiltration The unit is extremely extremely adept at infiltrating and acting behind enemy lines. During your Deployment, you can place this unit up anywhere on the table outside of the enemy’s Deployment area and more than 12” from any enemy unit that has already deployed. Inspiring The bravery of a heroic individual, the presence of a feared superior officer or indeed the mind-link of some controlling alien creature, are all factors that contribute to make troops fight that much harder and helps them retain momentum during an attack. If the unit itself, or any friendly unit within 6” of it, fails an Activation Test, you can choose to immediately re-roll the die. The second result stands. This ability can only be used once per Turn though, so choose wisely!

Note that this re-roll is initial Activation test only, a Suppressed unit still has an additional roll to pass as normal.

for the and that to make the test,

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Jump Troops Some troops use anti-grav personal systems, jump jets, short-range teleporterss and other more exotic gear teleporter allowing them to cross the battlefield at speed. The unit can move normally on the ground using its Speed value, or can activate its  jump  ju mp je jets ts.. IfIf it do does es so so,, its its Spe Speed ed ch chan ange gess to 9 (so, 18” when moving At The Double or when Charging), and it can move over anything without penalties (enemy units, Blocking Terrain, areas of Difficult Terrain, etc.), but still cannot land on top of Blocking Terrain or within 1” of another unit. If it Charges using its jump jets, in the ensuing Melee it does not suffer the -1 to hit penalty for charging a defensive position or for a disrupted charge.

Lumbering Some machineries of war are not built for speed, but more than compensate for it with firepower. The unit cannot move At The Double or at Full Speed. When Charging, it does so at normal speed and not at double speed.

When mounting and dismounting from a transport, Jump Troops must move on the ground using their normal Speed value and cannot do so and use their jump jets.

Recon This unit is trained to range ahead of the main force, scouting the terrain and gathering information. The unit can make a single At The Double or Full Speed move after all Deployment is finished, but before the players roll for the Initiative on Turn 1.

 

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Steadfast No retreat! No surrender! The unit treats Suppressed results on Nerve tests as Steady instead, including in Melee. Stealthy The unit is extremely adept at hiding, or benefits from thermo-optical screening. Enemies shooting against the unit suffer an additional -1 to hit modifier.

If both armies have units with this rule, roll a die. The highest scorer decides who begins to move one of his Recon units first, then the players alternate until all Recon units have been moved. Tough (n) Some models that form a unit of their own, like armoured vehicles, heroes, monsters and artillery pieces, can take quite some punishment and keep fighting. Models with this rule are not removed when they suffer their first point of damage, but rather when they have taken a number of points of damage equal to the number in the brackets. This means that you must keep track of the amount of damage they suffer during the game, by writing it down or using damage counters. counters.

an activation, the enemy will test its Nerve, as described on page 36. Vicious The unit’s attacks are lethal – poisoned, corrosive or infected with a highly virulent pathogen. Whenever the unit rolls to damage, it can re-roll one of the dice that failed to damage. Zap! (n) This represents all sort of assorted alien mind-burning powers and other exotericc modes of attack. exoteri The model has a ranged attack. This attack has a Firepower equal to (n), a range of 24”, always hits on 4+ (regardless of modifiers) and is Piercing (1) .

Whenever one of these models suffers one or more points of damage during

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Armour Special Rules The following special rules are normally given to armoured units. Hoverer Used for vehicles that can fly at low altitude, hover in stationary flight and land vertically vertically at will, much like a helicopter or anti-grav gunship. The unit moves over anything without penalties (Blocking Terrain, Difficult Terrain, enemy units, etc.), but cannot land on top of them. In addition the unit cannot Overrun enemy units, and it can only initiate a Collision against enemy units that also have this rule. The unit can be charged only if it’s already Immobilised.

The unit also has the Nimble   special rule. Nimble Used for vehicles with little or no armour, this rule makes the unit much more manoeuvrable. If moving at normal speed, the unit can make a single extra ‘Hard Turn’ move at any point during its movement. movement. Open Top Used for vehicles that have soft skin and/or have no cover at all, so that the crew are exposed to enemy fire. Open Top armoured units have a considerably lower Def value, and are not Steadfast , as the enemy attacks can easily cut down the crew or force them to duck for cover inside their vehicle. This does make them very vulnerable in melee, where a Suppressed result would destroy them as normal.

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Units transported aboard Open Top transports can be activated even when they don’t Dismount. If you do that, up to three transported models can fire – temporarily place the models on the transporting model in order to work out their line of sight and range. If the transport has already already been activated and has moved at normal speed, the passengers can shoot as normal. However, if the transport has already been activated and has moved at Full Speed, the passengers cannot shoot. In addition, transported units can move At The Double and even Charge after Dismounting from an Open Top unit instead of being forced to make a normal Move. However, they charge at their normal Speed, rather than doubling it. Stabilised This vehicle is designed to fire its weapons on the move. If this unit moves at Full Speed, it can still fire one of its weapons (except for weapons with the Reload!  special  special rule).

Weapons Special Rules The following special rules represent a variety of weapon effects and capabilities. Blast (n) Booooooommmmm!!!  Roll to hit normally. Then, any hit caused is multiplied by the number indicated in the bracket before rolling to damage. Howitzer Some flexible weapons can either be fired directly at the enemy or used to bombard very distant targets. The weapon may either be fired normally or by using the Indirect Fire  special rule. Declare before you fire. Indirect fire The weapon fires its shots in high arcing trajectories. Receiving coordinates from observers in orbit, the operator can engage targets it cannot see. However, he cannot fire at enemies who get too close. The weapon’s shots never suffer any to hit modifiers for range or cover. However, it can never target units within 12”.

In addition, the weapon may be fired at targets that the operator cannot see, but in this case it will suffer an additional -1 To Hit modifier. Piercing (n) This rule is given to high-powered ranged attacks that have a better chance of penetrating the armour of enemy units.

All hits inflicted by the weapon have a +(n) modifier when rolling to damage. Pistol Pistols have the great advantage that they can be used both at a range and in melee, making them extremely flexible weapons. A model armed with a pistol has one extra Attack in Melee.

In addition, if the pistol has a Piercing  value, it confers an equivalent Crushing Strength   to all of the model’s Melee attacks. If the model already has Crushing Strength , it will use the highest value available – either its own or the pistol’s – for all of its Melee attacks. Reload! Some powerful weapons need a long time to prepare for firing or to reload once they have fired. The weapon can only be fired if the unit has Halted during this activation. Saturation This rule is used for flame throwers and other attacks where a great gout of incendiary liquid or toxic gas fills an area. This weapon always hits on 4+, regardless of any modifiers. Sniper A weapon designed to hunt and kill enemy Leaders. If the unit remains stationary and fires, this weapon’s shots ignore any cover modifiers and the Stealthy  special  special rule. The Rules

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Reinforcements During Deployment, you can leave up to half of the units in your army behind and not deploy them on the table. These units are your Reinforcements and will be able to arrive later during the game. You don’t need to activate these units during your turn. If you do attempt to activate them, however, you must first take an Activation test as normal and then confirm the activation exactly as you would when activating a Suppressed unit (see page 25). If the Activation test is failed, or you fail to ‘Shake off the effects of Suppression’, Suppression’, the unit will not enter the game that turn and the Initiative passes to the opponent as normal (unless of course this is done during the Final Activations). If at the end of the game the unit is still off the table, it does not count as Destroyed. When a Reinforcing unit is activated, immediately choose an entry point for

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the unit. This can be anywhere on your long table edge or on either short table edge, a number of feet away from your long edge equal to the current turn number (so up to 12” in on Turn 1, up to 24” in on Turn 2 etc.). For example, on your third turn the entry point can be on your long table edge or on either short table edge within three feet of your long edge. If the unit arrives on your fifth turn, it can also enter from the enemy long edge, but within a foot of either corner, or within two feet of the corners if it arrives on your sixth turn (the unit has obviously encircled the enemy position). Place the unit’s Leader in contact with the entry point and position the remaining models in formation around him as normal. Then you must immediately move the unit at normal speed, in the same way as units Dismounting from a transport.

Buildings The way buildings are represented on a wargames table varies enormously, but roughly they can be divided into two categories which we will analyse separately: Devastated Multi-floor Buildings and Solid Buildings. Keep in mind that these are quick rules, to be replaced in the future by a supplement covering the details of fighting in ruined cities.

or above the target, and then the Charge is resolved applying the -1 defensive positions/disrupted charge modifier. If the enemy is destroyed in Melee, the charging unit is moved in their place.

Solid Buildings These are buildings that are still intact and we assume that you are not able to open them and move your models inside them.

Devastated Multi-floor Buildings These are the simplest type of buildings, buildin gs, no more than three-dimensional areas of Difficult Terrain, with several floors still reachable by your models. Of course, we assume that you are able to reach inside this type of building and move your models. As we said, these treacherous placers are Difficult Terrain, unless the players agree otherwise, so movement across them is slow. In addition, any Infantry and Hero models can move up or down a floor by making a move at the double, as we assume there are ruined stairs or ladders, or other climbing implements, implements, or even just piles of rubble, connecting each floor. Always ensure that a unit is completely on one of the floors, as units stretching two or more floors are way too complicated for these quick rules. A unit can declare that it is Charging an enemy that is occupying a floor immediately above or below its present position. The chargers are moved so that they are as close as possible underneath

The simplest solution is to treat these buildings as Blocking Terrain. Otherwise, if you prefer to use them in your games and decide that your models can enter them, you need to treat them as Immobilised Transport vehicles. Before the game you must therefore decide what Defence value and what Transport   value to assign to each solid building on the table. Listed below are some guidelines for Defence values. Wooden hut

7+

Log cabin

8+

Brick house

9+

Concrete building

10+

Bunker

11+ or better

As for Transport  capacity,  capacity, our guideline is to say that a building has a Transport  value of 10 per 6” square section. When Mounting (i.e. entering) and Dismounting (i.e. leaving) from a building, units can only use facings The Rules

53

that have opening large enough for the models to move through – doors, gates, large windows, etc. This means that models must be within 2” of the side of the building that has such openings when entering/leaving buildings. Once inside a building, the unit is assumed to occupy the entire building – all of its floors. Other friendly units can enter the same building up to the Transport   value, but enemy units can no longer enter it and must instead attack the building itself – in other words the building has now turned into one of your Transport vehicles. Units inside buildings can be activated to get out of them and can also be activated to shoot out of them, as

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described in the Open Top  special   special rule (note that buildings do not otherwise have the Open Top  rule).  rule). When shooting out of a building, draw line of sight from any obvious opening. All the rules for attacking Immobilised Armoured units apply, except that any unit shooting at a building always counts as in its front arc. If a building is destroyed, replace it with an area of rubble (Difficult Terrain) and then resolve damage against any unit inside it as you would for transported units if their transport is destroyed. Finally, place any surviving models that were inside the building within this area – these models are automatically Suppressed.

Picking a Force You can play Warpath with just a few units per side, without worrying about the two sides being equally matched. This is great for learning the game, but after you’ve become familiar with the rules and amassed a large collection of models, you might want to try a game where the forces are balanced, so that both players have an equal chance of winning the game.

includes. We call these Irregular units, and they are not ‘Solid units’ because they are not representative of the core, or mainstay force, of their army.

To achieve this, you and your opponent must pick an army before the game. First, agree a maximum total of points, say 2,000 points. Then start picking units from the army lists provided by Mantic. Each unit costs a certain amount of points as listed in its entry in the appropriate army list (including any options like additional weapons). For example, a squad might cost around 100 points.

Allied Armies

As you pick units and include them in your army, keep adding their cost until you have reached the total you agreed. You can of course spend less than the agreed total. The only limit we set to stop ruthless gamers from concocting absurd armies is that for every ‘Solid unit’ in your army (i.e. units of at least 10 infantry models), you can include 1 Ordnance unit, 1 Armoured unit and 1 Hero or Monster. So, for example, including 3 Solid units gives you access to up to 3 Ordnance units, 3 Armoured units and up to 3 Heroes or Monsters.

In addition, if a unit has [1] after its name in the list, it is a ‘Living Legend’ and this means that only one such unit exists and can therefore be only be included in a player’s army once.

You are free to mix units from different races in your army, as long as you always keep in mind that you need a Solid unit of a specific race to include each Ordnance unit, Armoured unit and Hero or Monster of that race. You can also join forces with your friends and play with several allied armies on either or both sides, as long as the points values are balanced (unless you agree otherwise). However, alliances between races that are hated enemies in the Warpath background are not very ‘realistic’, so we have given a specific list of Possible Allies to each army. So please try to follow these guidelines and don’t include units of an army that is not a Possible Ally in your army, unless your opponent agrees, of course.

Note that some units have an asterisk next to their name (for example: Stunts*). This indicates that the unit is never   counted as a ‘Solid unit’, regardless of the number of models it The Rules

55

Game Scenario Scenario 1) Prepare your Forces First of all you and your opponent need to pick armies to an agreed total of points, using the process described in ‘Picking a Force’.

2) Choose a Gaming Area We assume that games of Warpath will be played on a 6x4 foot area, either on a table or another flat surface, like li ke the floor fl oor..

3) Terra Terrain in – Alien Worlds Before the game, you should place some terrain on the battlefield. Try to recreate an evocative landscape of the futuristic/alien world your armies are battling on and always keep in mind that Warpath plays better if there is a good amount of terrain on the table. Ideally, you need a few large pieces of terrain completely blocking the models’ line of sight, so that units have to move around to engage targets. Also, you need a fair amount of smaller terrain that gives your units some cover from enemy fire. Without enough terrain on the table, units might just sit on the edge blasting away at each other, which is not much fun, especially on the receiving receiving side. A good solution is to find a third (and neutral!) person to lay out the terrain for you. As a rule of thumb, try to cover around a third of the table with a mixture of terrain types. During this stage it’s vital that you agree what each piece of terrain is going to count as during the game – is it Blocking Terrain, an Obstacle, a piece of Decorative terrain, or an area

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of Difficult or Impassable terrain? If you are using buildings, agree how you will treat them during the game.

4) Set Time The game lasts 5 turns. At the end of turn 5, the player rolls a die. On a 1-3 the game ends. On a 4-6 an extra turn is played and then the game ends. Of course you can agree to change the number of turns you are going to play for, or instead that you are going to play for a set amount of time (we suggest two hours), after which the game continues until the current turn ends. Alternatively, you could also play a Timed Game, as explained in the Timed Games section of the main rulebook.

5) Engagement Brief So, when the game ends, who is going to be the winner? In order to determine that, roll a die now to see what type of game you will be playing: D6

Type of Game

1-2

Meat Grinder

3-4

Scorched Earth

5-6

Total Global Domination

Meat Grinder At the end of the game, add up the cost of all of enemy units you Destroyed. That is your score. Your opponent does the same and you compare scores. If the difference between the scores in favour of a player is at least 20% of the total cost of the armies, that player wins. Otherwise the game is a draw.

For example, in a game where armies are 2,000 points, you need at least 400 points more than the opponent to win. Scorched Earth Place D3+4 Objectives on the battlefield. For objective markers, you should use 25mm round bases, but two pence coins or items of similar size are also fine. Both players roll a die. Whoever scores highest places the first marker, and then players take turns placing the markers. Objective markers must be placed more than 12” from one another, and not in Impassable terrain.

If, at the end of the game you have a unit within 1” of an Objective Marker and no enemies within 1” of it, you control that Objective. A unit can only control a single Objective. Objecti ve. If you control two more Objectives than your opponent, you win, otherwise the game is a draw. If you play on a smaller or larger surface, adjust the number of Objectives as follows: add/remove one Objective for each 2’x2’ section you add/remove from the normal 6’x4’ area. For example, that means using D3+2 Objectives if your surface is 4’x4’, or it means D3+6 Objectives on a 8’x4’ area. Total Global Domination Proceed as for Scorched Earth above but at the end of the game count the points just like in a Meat Grinder game. In addition to points for killing units, any Objective you control at the end of

Player A Set-up Area

12” Middle Line 12”

Player B Set-up Area

the game (as described above) is worth an amount of points equal to 10% of the cost of the armies. For example, in a game where each army is 2,000 points, each Objective is worth 200 points.

6) Deployment Both you and your opponent first place all of your units next to the playing surface for the other player to see. You can also have a look at each other’s army list, to ensure you both understand what force you are going to face. Then both players roll a die. The highest scorer chooses one long edge of the battlefield as his own and then places (or ‘deploys’) ‘deploys’) one of his units on that side of the battlefield, more than 12” from the middle line (see the diagram above). His opponent then does the same on the opposite side of the table. The players keep alternating in doing this until they have deployed all of their units onto the table. You can leave up to half of the units in your army off the table, and any undeployed unit will be treated as a Reinforcement (see page 52).

7) Begin the Game! The Rules

57

 Time  Ti med d Gam ame es We really enjoy playing a game of Warpath in a relaxed atmosphere, along with the accompaniment of epic music, beer, pizza and the unavoidable truculent banter. However, the game is designed so that you can also decide to introduce another dimension to the fight: time. This way you’ll be able to experience some of the pressure of real battle, when snap decisions make the difference between victory or defeat, life or death!

Chess Clocks The best tool for timed tim ed games is a chess clock, a clever device that ensures time is equally divided amongst the players, thus creating the ultimate fair and balanced wargame. Simply agree a number of turns for the game and an amount of time per player, and set the chess clock accordingly. For a 2,000 points game, we suggest sticking to the recommended five turns (plus roll for a sixth) and one hour per player, but it’s up you to find the pace you prefer for your games. Then, after deciding which player begins to Deploy, start that player’s clock. Once he’s finished deploying the first unit, he stops his clock and activates the opponent’s clock, and so on. Once Deployment Deployment is finished, stop both clocks and begin the game by rolling the first Initiative phase. Once the winner of the roll has chosen who has the Initiative, re-start that player’s clock. That player plays until

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he loses the Initiative and then stops his clock and activates the opponent’s clock, and so on. The game ends at the agreed number of turns and victory conditions are worked out as normal. However, if a player runs out of time during any one of his turns, the game ends instantly and his entire army routs – immediately remove all of his remaining units, as if they suffered a Destroyed result, and work out the victory conditions as normal. However, in an Objectivebased game the opponent is allowed to keep moving his units for as many turns as there are left in the game in order to grab Objectives before the victory conditions are worked out.

Other Timers If you don’t have a chess clock clock at hand, don’t worry – the stopwatch in your phone or watch, or even an hourglass or egg timer will do fine. If you use one of these, then each player gets an agreed amount of time per Initiative segment (i.e. from the moment he receives the Initiative to the moment he surrenders it to the opponent). We suggest that each Initiative segment should take five minutes.

If a player runs out of time during his Initiative segment, he can finish the activation of the unit he was in the middle of activating, but his Initiative then ends. Make sure that you also set a time limit for Deployment (30 seconds per unit works fine).

Be Nice! Of course, it’s only fair to stop the chess clock or timer if one of the players is distracted distracte d from the game (by a phone call or the like), or if the players need to check

a rule, an unclear line of sight, etc. It is also best if any unit you Destroy is removed by your opponent, together with any Suppressed, Done or other markers the unit had. By all means, you and your opponent can vary the amount of time you have for your game or your turns according to your own taste, but if you’re like us, you are going to love the pressure created by timed games – after all, in real war one rarely has the luxury of time...

Warpath: The Rules

59

 The  The Corporation Army Special Rules

unit entry. Note that a ‘solid’ that is upgraded to include a heavy weapon team is still ‘solid’.

Command & Control For all models in this list, the Inspiring

In addition, any weapon carried by the heavy

special rule has a range of 12” instead of

weapon team counts as having the Reload! rule.

the usual 6”.

Allies

Heavy Weapon Teams

Marauders, Forge Fathers, Veer-myn,

A heavy weapon team counts as a single

Asterians.

model armed with the weapon stated in the

INFANTRY Marines The Marines are well trained and well equipped – they form the true core of any Corporation Corporation force.

Marines Team

Cost: 50pts

Marines Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Marine

5

4+

1

4+ 8/10

Cost: 120pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Marine

5

4+

1

4+ 8/10

Unit: 4 Marines (laser rifles) and 1 Corporal

Unit: 9 Marines (laser rifles) and 1 Sergeant

(laser rifle).

(laser pistol and energy gauntlet).

Options: One Marine can replace his rifle with

Options:  Up to two Marines can replace their

a heavy laser rifle for +5pts. One Marine can

rifle with a heavy laser rifle for +5pts each.

replace his rifle with a tactical flame unit for

One Marine can replace his rifle with a tactical

+25pts. The Corporal may be replaced by a

flame unit for +25pts.

Sergeant (laser pistol and energy gauntlet) for +20pts.

Marines Platoon

Cost: 240pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Marine

5

4+

1

4+ 8/10

Unit: 18 Marines (laser rifles), 1 Corporal

(laser pistol and energy gauntlet) and 1 Sergeant (laser pistol and energy gauntlet). The Sergeant is the unit’s leader. Options:  Up to four Marines can replace their

rifle with a heavy laser rifle for +5pts each. Up to two Marines can replace their rifle with a tactical flame unit for +25pts each.

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Marine Veterans Marine Veterans are stubborn experts in point defence and have access to heavy weaponry.

Veterans Team

Cost: 60pts

Veterans Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Veteran Veteran

5

4+

1

4+ 9/11

Cost: 145pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Veteran Veteran

5

4+

1

4+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Veterans (laser rifles) and 1 Corporal

Unit: 7 Veterans (laser rifles), one weapon

(laser rifle).

team (burst laser) and 1 Sergeant (laser pistol

Options: Up to two Veterans can replace their

and energy gauntlet).

rifle with a heavy laser rifle for +5pts each. One

Options:  Up to four Veterans can replace their

Veteran can replace his rifle with a tactical flame

rifle with a heavy laser rifle for +5pts each.

unit for +25pts. The Corporal may be replaced

Up to two Veterans can replace their rifle with

by a Sergeant (pistol and energy gauntlet) for

a tactical flame unit for +25pts each. The

+20pts. Two Veterans can be replaced by a single

weapon team can replace their burst laser

heavy weapon team (burst laser) for +5pts. The

with a light laser cannon for +10pts.

heavy weapon team can replace their burst laser with a light laser cannon for +10pts.

Rangers

Heavy Weapons

With drop-packs and high-powered rifles, Rangers

These tripod-mounted weapons support the

specialise in operating behind enemy lines.

Marines with their whithering firepower.

Rangers Team

Cost: 90pts Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Ranger

5

4+

1

4+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Veterans (heavy laser rifles) and 1

Corporal (heavy laser rifle). Special: Elite, Infiltration, Magnetic charges. Options:  Up to two Rangers can replace their

rifle with a tactical flame unit for +20pts each. The Corporal may be replaced by a Sergeant (pistol and energy gauntlet) for +15pts.

Rangers Section

Cost: 200pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Ranger

5

4+

1

4+ 9/11

Unit: 9 Rangers (heavy laser rifles) and 1

Sergeant (laser pistol and energy gauntlet). Special: Elite, Infiltration, Magnetic charges. Options: Up to three Rangers can replace their

rifle with a tactical flame unit for +20pts each. Corporation army list

61

Striders These lightly armoured scout walkers form the vanguard of the Corporation spearheads.

Enforcers - Strike Units Fast, tough and lethal, the Enforcers are the ultimate human fighting force.

Enforcers - Assault Units Enforcers assault units favour pistol and combat blades, for close-in work.

Assault Ass ault Team Team

Cost: 120pts

Assault Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Enforcer Enforcer

62

5

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Cost: 240pts Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Enforcer Enforcer

5

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Enforcers (heavy laser pistol) and 1

Unit: 9 Enforcers (heavy laser pistol) and 1

Sergeant (heavy laser pistol).

Sergeant (heavy laser pistol).

Special: Jump Troops, Crushing Strength (1),

Special:  Jump Troops, Crushing Strength (1),

Magnetic charges.

Magnetic charges.

Options:  One Enforcer can replace his pistol

Options: Up to two Enforcers can replace their

with a tactical flame unit for +20pts.

pistol with a tactical flame unit for +20pts each.

 

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Enforcers - Suppression Units Mobile firepower without equal, the multiple heavy weapons of a single Suppression unit are a match for large enemy forces.

ORDNANCE Field Artillery

Cost: 95pts

These really big guns can bombard enemy troops or take out their armour. armour. Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Field Artillery

5

4+

–

5+ 8/10

Unit: 1 artillery piece (field howitzer). Options:  Can replace the field howitzer with a

heavy laser cannon for +20pts.

Corporation army list

63

ARMOUR APC-13 APC-13 ‘Warrior’ ‘Warrior ’

Cost: 130pts

SPA-7 SPA-7 ‘pounder’ ‘pounder ’

The Warrior is the workhorse of the

Batteries of lightly armoured Pounders sit at

Corporation, safely delivering the Marines

the back and shell the enemy positions.

where they are most neeed.

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Warrior

12

4+

–

9+ –/10

Pounder

12

4+

–

7+ 8/10

Unit: 1 Blaster SPA – one field howitzer [F],

Unit: 1 Warrior APC – one burst laser [A], one

one burst laser [F].

burst laser [F].

Special:  Open Top, Crushing Strength (2).

Special: Stabilised, Transport (10), Crushing

Options:  Can replace the field howitzer with a

Strength (4).

multiple rocket launcher for +35pts.

Main Battle Tank MBT-01 MBT-01 ‘Pulverizer’ ‘P ulverizer’

Flame-Thrower Light Tank Flt-8 ‘Firestorm’ Cost: 130pts

Cost: 260pts

Sporting the thickest armour and an

These much feared vehicles rush forward at

impressive array of large guns, the Pulverizer

top speed to drench the enemy positions in

is the main battle tank of the Corporation.

highly volatile flaming liquids.

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Pulverizer

12

4+

–

11+ –/10

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Firestorm

12

4+

–

9+ –/10

Unit: 1 Pulverizer MBT – one heavy laser

Unit: 1 Firestorm FLT – one tactical flame

cannon or close assault gun [A], one burst

weapon [A], one burst laser or tactical flame

laser or tactical flame weapon [F].

weapon [F].

Special: Stabilised, Crushing Strength (6),

Special: Stabilised, Fast, Crushing Strength (4).

Tough (4). Options:  Can replace the burst laser with a

light laser cannon for +10pts. Can buy two burst lasers or two tactical flame weapons (one [R] and one [L]) for +50pts, or two light laser cannons (one [R] and one [L]) for +70pts.

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Cost: 145pts

 

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HEROES AND MONSTERS Commander (Hero)

Cost: 60pts

Fire Ran

Special

These charismatic individuals are the nodes in

Laser rifle

1

24

–

the complex tactical net that coordinates the

Laser pistol

1

12

Pistol

efforts of any Corporation force.

Heavy laser rifle

1

18

Piercing (1)

Heavy laser pistol

1

12 Piercing (1),

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Commander

5

4+

1

4+ 10/12

Unit: 1 Commander (heavy laser pistol).

Pistol Sniper rifle

1

Special: Inspiring (not for Enforcers), Stealthy,

36

Piercing (3),

Sniper, Reload!

Support Grid Relay. Relay.

Tactical flame unit

10

12

Saturation

Options: Can have an energy gauntlet for +20pts.

Burst laser

5

36

Piercing (1)

Light laser cannon

1

36

Piercing (6)

Rocket launcher

1

36

Piercing (5)

Heavy laser cannon

1

72

Piercing (6)

Close assault gun

1

24

Blast (D6),

72

Piercing (5) Howitzer,

Sniper (Hero)

Cost: 50pts

Sudden death! Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Sniper

5

3+

1

4+ 9/11

Unit: 1 Sniper (sniper rifle, laser pistol). Special: Stealthy, Infiltration.

Field howitzer

1

Blast (D6), Piercing (2), Reload! Multiple rocket launcher 2

Options: Can have magnetic charges for +5pts.

72 Indirect Fire,

Blast (D6), Piercing (1), Reload!

Energy gauntlet Enforcer Captain (Hero)

Cost: 60pts

This weapon confers Crushing Strength (5)

The Captains of the Enforcers combine

to all of the model’s Attacks. It cannot be

great leadership qualities with awesome

used in conjunction with a pistol though, so

combat ability.

a model equipped with both must choose Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Captain

5

3+

2

which one to use before he attacks in melee.

6+ 10/12

Unit: 1 Captain (heavy laser pistol).

Magnetic charges

Special: Inspiring, Jump Troops, Crushing

If in melee against an Armoured unit, instead

Strength (2), Magnetic charges.

of attacking normally, the model can make a

Options: Can have an energy gauntlet for +20pts.

single special attack. If this attack hits, the hit is resolved at Crushing Strength (3), or Crushing Strength (5) if the target is stationary.

Support Grid Relay The model counts as armed with a Multiple Rocket Launcher, which he can use only once per game. This represents artillery barrages from offmap artillery, high level bombers or ships in orbit. Army Lists: Corporation

65

 The  The Maraude uders Army Special Rules

Allies Corporation, Forge Fathers, Veer-myn,

Melee Specialists All units in this list have the Crushing Strength (1) special rule, unless otherwise stated in their entry entr y.

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Asterians, Rebs.

Marauders army list

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Weapons Fire Ran

I    N F  A   N T  R Y 

Special

Rifle

1

24

–

Pistol

1

12

Pistol

Stunt gun

1

12

–

Ripper Pistol

2

12

Pistol, Piercing (1)

Machine gun

5

36

Piercing (1)

Anti-tank gun

1

36

Piercing (5)

Flamethrower

10

12

Saturation

Tank killer cannon

1

72

Piercing (6

Big shells cannon

1

72

Howitzer, Blast (D6),

Piercing (2)

Ripper Talon

This weapon confers Crushing Strength (5) to all of the model mod el’s ’s Attacks, as well as the Vicious Vicio us

 O R D  N A   N C  E 

special rule. It cannot be used in conjunction

with a pistol though, so a model equipped with both must choose which one to use before he attacks in melee.

Marauders army list

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 The  The Forge Fathers Army Special Rules

Allies Corporation, Rebs, Marauders, Asterians.

Legendary stubborness All units are Headstrong H eadstrong (except (except for Steadfast S teadfast units, of course).

INFANTRY Steel Warriors Steel Warriors are reliable, heavily armoured and armed with some of the best standard-issue rifles in the galaxy.

Steel Warriors Team

Cost: 75 pts

Steel Warriors Platoon

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Steel Warrior

4

4+

1

5+ 9/11

Cost: 300 pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Steel Warrior

4

4+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Steel Warriors (hailstorm rifle) and 1

Unit: 19 Steel Warriors (hailstorm rifle) and 1

Thane (hailstorm pistol).

Thane (hailstorm pistol).

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

for +25pts. One Steel Warrior can replace his

for +25pts. Up to two Steel Warriors can

rifle with a dragon breath for +25pts.

replace their rifle with a dragon breath for +25pts each. Up to two Steel Warriors can

Steel Warriors Section

Cost: 150 pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Steel Warrior

4

4+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit: 9 Steel Warriors (hailstorm rifle) and 1

Thane (hailstorm pistol). Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

for +25pts. One Steel Warrior can replace his rifle with a dragon breath for +25pts. One Steel Warrior can replace his rifle with a mjolnir missile launcher for +25pts.

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replace their rifle with a mjolnir missile launcher for +25pts each.

Drakkarim The Drakkarim are young Steel Warriors that have received specialised close-range training and weaponry.

Drakkarim Team

Cost: 125 pts

Drakkarim Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Drakkarim

4

4+

1

5+ 9/11

Cost: 250 pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Drakkarim

4

4+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit: 2 Drakkarim (dragon breath), 2

Unit: 4 Drakkarim (dragon breath), 5

Drakkarim (hailstorm rifle or hailstorm pistol)

Drakkarim (hailstorm rifle or hailstorm pistol)

and 1 Thane (hailstorm pistol).

and 1 Thane (hailstorm pistol).

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

for +25pts. Up to two Drakkarim can replace

for +25pts. Up to five Drakkarim can replace

their rifle/pistol with a dragon breath for

their rifle/pistol with a dragon breath for

+25pts each.

+25pts each.

Thorgarim The mighty heat-hammers of the Thorgarim are the bane of enemy heavy armour.

Thorgarim Team

Cost: 155 pts

Thorgarim Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Thorgarim

4

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Cost: 330 pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Thorgarim

4

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Thorgarim (heat hammer) and 1 Thane

Unit: 9 Thorgarim (heat hammer) and 1 Thane

(hailstorm pistol).

(hailstorm pistol).

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

for +25pts.

for +25pts.

Stormrage Veterans These elite veterans are entrusted with an awesome amount of firepower.

Stormrage Veterans Team Cost: 185 pts

Stormrage Vet Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Stormrage Veteran Veteran 4

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Cost: 395 pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Stormrage Veteran Veteran 4

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Veterans (hailstorm autocannon or

Unit: 8 Veterans (hailstorm autocannon or

heat cannon, in any combination) and 1 Thane

heat cannon, in any combination), 1 Veteran

(hailstorm pistol).

(mjolnir missile launcher) and 1 Thane

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

(hailstorm pistol).

for +25pts.

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

for +25pts. Forge Fathers army list

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Godhammer Veterans

Forge Guard

Stormrage veterans that specialise in the

Equipped with heavy combat exoskeletons,

use of the Mjolnir missile launcher.

the Forge Guards are unstoppable.

Godhammer Vet Team

Cost: 185 pts

Forge Guard Guar d Team Team

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Storm

4

3+

1

5+ 9/11

Cost: 220 pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Forge Guard

4

3+

1

6+ 9/11

Unit: 4 Thunders (mjolnir missile launcher)

Unit: 4 Forge Guards (heat hammer and

and 1 Thane (hailstorm pistol).

hailstorm rifle) and 1 Thane (heat hammer

Options:  The Thane can have a heat hammer

and hailstorm rifle).

for +25pts.

Options:  One Forge Guard can replace his rifle

with a hailstorm autocannon or heat cannon for +25pts.

Valkyr* The wealthiest and most deranged Brokkr ride loud, custom motorbikes into battle.

Brokkr* The hard-working miners of Forge Fathers society take to battle with reckless ferocity.

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ORDNANCE

ARMOUR

Forge Fathers army list

73

HEROES AND MONSTERS Huscarl (Hero)

Cost: 60 pts

Iron Ancestor (Monster)

Cost: 160 pts

The heroes of the Forge Fathers are renowned

A walking tank, with armour, weaponry and

for their courage and stubborness.

attitude to match.

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Huscarl

4

3+

2

5+ 10/12

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Iron Ancestor

4

4+

2

10+ 10/12

Unit: 1 Huscarl (hailstorm pistol).

Unit: 1 Iron Ancestor (double hailstorm

Special: Inspiring.

autocannon).

Options:  Can have a heat hammer for +25pts.

Special: Crushing Strength (7).

Can upgrade his pistol to a brace of hailstorm

Options: Can replace the double hailstorm

pistols for +10pts (counts as a ‘double

autocannon with a double heat cannon,

hailstorm pistol’). Can have a Force Dome for

double dragon breath or double mjolnir

+25pts. Can wear a ‘Forge Guard battlesuit’

missile launcher for free. Can have a Force

(which includes a heat hammer and hailstorm

Dome for +40pts.

rifle, and increases his Def to 6+) for +35pts.

Thor pattern. The Iron Ancestor can freely

replace the double hailstorm autocannon with a second melee arm, increasing its Attacks to 4.

Chief Brokkr (Hero)

Cost: 60 pts

Doomstorm pattern. The Iron Ancestor can

Only the meanest, toughest, craziest Brokkr

freely replace replace the melee arm with a second

can aspire to the title of Chief Brokkr.

double hailstorm cannon, lowering its

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Chief Brokkr

5

3+

3

Crushing Strength to (1).

4+ –/12

Unit: 1 Chief Brokkr (hailstorm pistol).

Fire Ran

Special

Special: Inspiring (Brokkrs only), Steadfast.

Hailstorm rifle

1

24

Options:  Can have a heat hammer for +25pts.

Hailstorm pistol

1

12 Piercing (1),

Can ride a Valkyr bike (gaining Speed 10 and the Recon and Fast rules) for +40pts.

Piercing (1) Piercing Pistol

Dragon breath

10

12 Piercing (1), Saturation

Weapons Double Weapon A ‘Double’ version of one of the weapons above counts as a single weapon with double the Firepower shown.

Force Dome The enemy must reroll all successful rolls to damage for ranged attacks that hit this unit.

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Hailstorm autocannon3 autocannon3

36

Piercing (2)

Heat cannon

1

24

Piercing (7)

Mjolnir missil missile e launche launcherr1

48

Pierc Pi ercing ing (5 (5))

Surtr

36

Blast (D3),

1

Piercing (7) Jotun

12

48

Piercing (2)

Heat Hammer This weapon confers Crushing Strength (6) to all of the model’s Attacks. It cannot be used in conjunction with a pistol, so a model equipped with both must choose which one to use before he attacks in melee.

 Ve  Veer�m �myn yn Army Special Rules

They came from below! The unit is always left behind as a Reinforcement,

The Rat Pack

together with any transported unit. When it

All units in this list have the following rule,

arrives, it emerges from the ground (this counts

unless their entry specifies otherwise. Veer-

as a Manoeuvre). The unit is placed anywhere

myn units benefit from a +1 modifier to their

on the table, except for Impassable Terrain. If

Nerve (both values) for each friendly Veer-myn

that space is occupied by other units (including

unit within 6”, up to a maximum of +4. Note that

immobile units), move them as little as possible

transported units do count for this purpose –

to make space for the emerging unit, until

measure the range from their vehicle.

they are 1” away from it, and then immediately resolve this either as a Collision, leaving the

For example, a unit of Night-crawlers on its

dislodged armoured unit(s) in contact with the

own is a pretty unimpressive Nerve 6/8, but

emerging unit, or an Overrun, as appropriate.

if it had two other friendly Veer-myn units within 6”, it would count as Nerve 8/10.

Allies Corporation, Marauders, Rebs, Asterians.

INFANTRY Night-Crawlers Vicious ratmen equipped with scavenged armour, they form the bulk of the Veer-myn armies.

Night-Crawlers Team

Cost: 50pts

Night-Crawlers Night-Crawlers Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Night-crawler

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Cost: 130pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Night-crawler

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Unit: 4 Night-Crawlers (ray-gun) and 1 Master

Unit: 8 Night-Crawlers (ray-gun), 1

(ray-pistol).

Exterminator (chem-thrower) and 1 Master

Options:  The Master can have a combat drill

(ray-pistol). The Master is the unit’s leader. leader.

for +10pts. The Master can be replaced by an

Options:  The Master can have a combat

Exterminator with a super-drill (unit leader)

drill for +10pts. The Exterminator can freely

for +30pts. The Exterminator can freely

replace his chem-thrower with a super-drill.

replace his super-drill with a chem-thrower. chem-thrower. Exterminators (chem-thrower) and 2 Masters

Night-Crawlers Night-Crawlers Platoon

Cost: 260pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Night-crawler

6

4+

1

4+

Unit: 16 Night-Crawlers (ray-gun), 2

6/8

(ray-pistol). One Master is the unit’s leader. leader. Options:  The Masters can have a combat drill

for +10pts each. The Exterminators can freely replace their chem-thrower with a super-drill. Veer-myn army list

75

Stalkers These assault troops surrender their ray-guns for pistols and blades.

Stalkers Team

Cost: 50pts

Stalkers Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Stalker

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Cost: 130pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Stalker

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Unit: 4 Stalkers (ray-pistol) and 1 Master

Unit: 8 Stalkers (ray-pistol), 1 Exterminator

(ray-pistol).

(super-drill) and 1 Master (ray-pistol). The

Options:  The Master can have a combat drill

Master is the unit’s leader.

for +10pts. The Master can be replaced by an

Options:  The Master can have a combat

Exterminator with a super-drill (unit leader)

drill for +10pts. The Exterminator can freely

for +30pts. The Exterminator can freely

replace his super-drill with a chem-thrower. chem-thrower.

replace his super-drill with a chem-thrower. chem-thrower.

Stalkers Platoon

Cost: 260pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Stalker

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Unit: 16 Stalkers (ray-pistol), 2 Exterminators

(super-drill) and 2 Masters (ray-pistol). One Master is the unit’s leader. Options:  The Masters can have a combat drill

for +10pts each. The Exterminators can freely replace their super-drill with a chem-thrower. chem-thrower.

Nightmares The elite troops of the Veer-myn, the Nightmares excel at short-range firepower.

Nightmares Team

Cost: 140pts

Nightmares Section

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Nightmare

76

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Cost: 280pts

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Nightmare

6

4+

1

4+

6/8

Unit: 3 Nightmares (chem-burner and combat

Unit: 7 Nightmares (chem-burner and combat

drill), 1 Exterminator (chem-thrower) and 1

drill), 2 Exterminators (chem-thrower) and 1

Master (chem-burner and combat drill).

Master (chem-burner and combat drill).

Options:  The Exterminator can freely replace

Options: The Exterminator can freely replace

his chem-thrower with a super-drill.

his chem-thrower with a super-drill.

 

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Scourgers

Gougers

The chem-lasers of the Scourgers make short

Gougers’ super-drills are possibly the deadliest

work of enemy vehicles and heavy infantry.

close combat weapons known to the Corporation.

Ravenous Horde

Shredders

These chittering, frenzied masses of dog-sized

Huge, mutated, insane rat-humanoids whose

super-rats devour the wounded of both sides.

hands have been replaced with super-drills.

ORDNANCE Blaster

Cost: 90pts

The sheer amount of toxic chemicals that this wicked weapon can unleash is enough to vaporize entire enemy regiments. Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Blaster

6

4+

–

5+

6/8

Unit: 1 Blaster (heavy chem-thrower). Options:  Can replace the heavy chem-thrower

with a heavy chem-laser for +20pts.

Veer-myn army list

77

ARMOUR

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HEROES AND MONSTERS Night Spawn (Hero)

Cost: 95pts

 

FireRan FireRan

Special

The largest, fattest rat-men have access to the

Ray-gun

1 18

Piercing (1)

best weapons and armour the Veer-myn can

Ray-pistol

1 12

Piercing (1)

lay their hands on.

Chem-burner

4 12

Piercing (2), Saturation

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Night Spawn

6

3+

3

5+

6/8

Chem-thrower

8 12

Unit: 1 Night Spawn (chem-burner and

Piercing (2), Saturation

super-drill).

Chem-laser

1 12

Piercing (6)

Special:  Inspiring, Crushing Strength (1).

Heavy chem-thrower 16 24

Piercing (2), Saturation

Heavy chem-laser

Night Terror (Monster)

1 24

Piercing (6), Blast (D3)

Cost: 120pts

This tragic monster is no more than a mountain of flesh, whrithing with grasping

Combat Drill

tentacles, snarling heads and malformed

A combat drill confers the Crushing Strength

limbs – its behavior is utterly unpredictable.

(1) and Vicious special rules to the model

Spd Hit Att Def Ner

Night Terror

6

4+ 3D6* 5+

using it in melee.

6/8

Unit: 1 Night Terror.

Super-drill

Special:  Crushing Strength (4), Tough (5),

In melee, instead of attacking normally, the

Craven, Headstrong.

model can make a single special attack. If

*roll for the number of attacks before rolling

this attack hits, the hit is resol resolved ved at Crushing

to hit each time it attacks.

Strength (5). If the roll to damage is a 6, the drill inflcits a point of damage and you can roll to damage again. Keep inflicting damage and rolling to damage until you fail to roll a 6 to damage.

Paired Super-drills These work like a super-drill (see above), except that the model makes 2 special attacks to begin with, rolling to hit as normal for both.

Veer-myn army list

79

Other Races Rebs The absolute and iron-fisted imperialism of

other, a small but effective rebel armed

the Corporation has turned humanity into the

force has recently initiated a campaign

arch-enemy of many of the other intelligent

of ambitious hit-and-run actions against

races that populate the galaxy. A secret

Corporation outposts.

Resistance movement has formed; its ranks swelled by vengeful freedom fighters, survivors

Calling

themselves

‘The

Rebs’

(which

of races whose worlds have been annihilated,

originally was a disparaging term used by

disenchanted Corporation personnel, and

Corporation troops), these heterogeneous

everybody else that has grown to resent the

volunteers form an army that is as eclectic

Corporation’s expansionism.

in weaponry, fighting style and technological level as in the number of different races that

After only a few centuries, this organization

compose its ranks. What the Rebs lack in

has grown to encompass two different

cohesion, however, they more than make up

levels. On one hand, it has a vast network

in motivation, as they are convinced they are

of operatives that attempt to undermine the

fighting a long war of liberation to eventually

authority of the Corporation from the inside

rid the galaxy from the Corporation, or the

through sabotage and propaganda. On the

‘Evil Empire’, as they often call it.

Z’zor

80

Not long ago, Corporation explorer-ships

proving fruitless. This is an enemy that is

made contact with a new race inhabiting the

different from anything the Corporation or

furthest reaches of the galaxy. To say that

indeed any of the other races has faced

they have disturbed a hornet’s nest is a major

before – much like bees that are defending

understatement, but it’s nevertheless a quite

their colony, the immense swarms of the

accurate description of the events that followed.

insect-like Z’zor never stop their attacks

The vessels themselves were attacked with

until they have eliminated the enemy or have been themselves themselves completely wiped out.

a fury without precedent and destroyed…

They cannot be reasoned or bargained with,

and so was the military rescue fleet sent by

nor can they be bribed. In fact all attempts

the Corporation… and so were the adjoining

at communication have been ignored and

systems, whose population paid the ultimate

the unfortunate envoys and their escorting

price for the Corporation’s insatiable desire

troops had to fight desperate battles against

to expand its domains.

an apparently endless mass of enemies.

Now a massive containment operation

And yet, these are no mindless beasts. In

is in place, but all attempts at cordoning

many occasions they have shown signs of

and blockading the Z’zor homeworlds are

cunning and intelligence in both the grand

www.manticgames.com

strategy of their invasion plans and the battlefield reactions of their many and differently specialised fighting creatures. creatures. And dumb animals don’t build spacecraft…

Other Races

81

Asterians Even before Man began its space age, there

analyzing it, they have managed to prove the

had been reports of mysterious beings and

existence existenc e of an alien race using a technology

fey creatures appearing to a few individuals.

so advanced that they can easily appear to

Such sightings are common in the culture of

have supernatural powers.

all of the races that inhabit the galaxy, not  just the human race. race.

Any attempt at capturing them, or merely communicate with them has led to hopeless

Stories abound in the entire Milky Way

chases, where the pursuing Corporation craft

about abductions of single persons or entire

have quickly lost trace of their elusive quarry,

communities, the disappearance of ships

and always in regions of space surrounding

into some sectors of space, or even strange

a black hole. This has led to believe that the

incidents where a ship has arrived to a

so-called Asterians must make use of these

spaceport on autopilot, without its crew crew..

singularities to travel across the galaxy, possibly inhabiting a different dimension on

The most extreme cases have seen the

the ‘other side’. Innumerable probes have

populace of entire planets or even the

been launched into these black holes, but

personnel of military outposts and bases

no useful data has ever been retrieved. The

vanish, leaving behind only the tiniest signs of

mystery of the Asterians remains unsolved,

resistance. resistanc e. The Corporation’ Corporation’ss best scientists

as more and more systems report attacks

have studied this evidence on a galactic scale.

by unidentified aliens that hit and disappear

Compiling this information for centuries and

before reinforcements can be b e brought to bear b ear..

*** CLASSIFIED CLA SSIFIED MESSAGE MESSAGE TO CORPORA CORPOR ATION CENTRAL *** FAO HEAD OF BIO-WEAPONS RESEARCH – New Czechia Source: Intelligence Unit Tau Eridani – en route to Bio-Weapons Research Outp ost 51. Mission: investigating sudden loss of all communication from maximum-security laborator y. As we approached system 51, we had a report that an escape escap e shuttle from the laborator y had reached the headquarters of the 35th Marines Mar ines Batallion stationed on Tallaxia. Two days later we lost contact with the Marines Marine s and soon the entire planet went silent. silent . We changed course and are now orbiting orb iting Tallaxia in stealth mode. Information from the surface is confused and contradictory. contradictor y. All settlements on the planet’s surface show sign of conflict. Several ships have left the main starports and are heading for nearby systems. Suspected outbreak. We will continue to monitor the situation. We advise interception and quarantine or destruction of all vessels ve ssels leaving Tallaxia. We request an Enforcers Long Patrol detachment to blockade the system. If the outbreak outb reak is confirmed, we will be forced to Disinfect the planet and its moons. Awaiting authorization to deploy Disinfection assets... End of transmission

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