COMBAT

Defense Skill (DS)

    Is a new skill that heroes and monsters have. It indicates the ability of the hero to parry incoming blows (shields increase the DS of heroes), or to dodge them (Elves and Halflings have high DS). The rule is simple: while the Weapon Skill increases the chance of hitting opponents (and is used to write down the close combat hitting table of each hero or monster), the Defense Skill of opponents is what you look up in your to-hit table to see what dice roll is required to hit them. In practice what used to be WS is now divided in an "aggressive" WS, still called WS and a "defensive" WS, called DS. I invented this rule because in the old system you could not have a hero like a Halfling, that is not really very good at handling weapons, but is small and quick to the point that it is difficult to hit him.

Unarmed Combat

    Many spells and skills focus on disarming opponents, and in many situations heroes would be stripped of their equipment (if taken captive...), and this required new rules. The damage dice caused by unarmed heroes is determined in the weapon table as for fist attacks. However in the case of monsters this may be different as Skaven or Orcs would use their claws, while other villains would bite or use horns if unarmed, in the bestiary section the amount of dd (damage dice) each monster causes when unarmed is written in the equipment section.

Ranged Attacks

I have decided to change the table used for ranged attacks to the following one, (notice how the ranges have been changed):

* your BS is too low to ever hope for a critic at this range.

Moving in Combat and Placement of miniatures

• DEATH ZONES: For making the use of other rules simpler the death zone of a model is always limited to the four adjacent non-diagonal squares (as shown in the diagram). Long weapons do NOT increase this area to the diagonal squares (the rules that apply to long weapons will be detailed later on), and as usual large creatures have larger death zones.

• FACING: The new rules that apply to combat often take into account the direction each model in the combat is facing in, this means that all miniatures must be placed facing a precise cardinal direction (not diagonal). Players may rotate their models at will, at no movement cost, to face any direction they like. The only important rule that applies to facing is that you must always immediately turn to face the first enemy model that enters your death zone. When two models of opposite factions are adjacent and facing each other they are said to be engaged in close combat. Engaged models do not have a death zone (as stated in the rulebook), and it is possible to move past them without having to stop.

In this diagram you can see how A runs to engage B in close combat. Since B was facing down he has to immediately turn to face his new opponent. Notice, moreover, how once A and B are facing each other they stop exerting a death zone around them, so that other models may pass by them without having to stop.

• EVADING A COMBAT: It is not possible to simply move away from a model you are engaged in close combat with. When two models are engaged in combat and one of them wants to break out of the fight he is said to be evading the combat. There are three situations in which this may occur:

1) A wants to evade from a combat with B to move into a square adjacent to C and attack it this turn, or simply to flee as far away from B as possible as it is a too powerful opponent. It is important to notice how the very moment A faces away from B they both start having a death zone again. This means that if B were attacked by another opponent on the side or rear he would immediately turn to face it when A turns around (since you must always turn to face the first enemy model in your death zone).
2) A attempts to evade from B so that it may turn to face C. This situation may occur to avoid being attacked from the rear by a powerful enemy, or also to get rid of a weakened enemy so as to reduce the penalties for being surrounded (rules for rear attacks and surrounding opponents are detailed later on). This diagram shows particularly well the way death zones are being created and cancelled as the facing of the models changes.
3) A wishes to evade from B so that it may quickly fire with a ranged weapon at C. The moment A turns away both A and B get back their death zone. In the diagram since nobody else is involved in the combat A must immediately turn to face B after it has shot. If an enemy model were attacking B from the rear or side, B would have immediately turned away from A, leaving A free from any combat.

There are two ways in which a combat may be evaded:

• STEALTH (St): Stealth (abbreviated to St) is a new attribute, is represents the swiftness and cunning of the character. To evade a combat this way a d12 must be rolled, if the result is lower or equal to the current Stealth value of the hero he has evaded successfully. If the dice roll exceeds the character's Stealth he may not evade from the combat and the enemy he is facing immediately gains a free attack as he sees the chance to strike at his distracted foe. Attempting to evade this way doesn't count as an action for this turn, the model that attempted to evade is still allowed to attack the model he is facing. This is by far the most common and practical way to evade from a combat.
• CRITICAL HIT: If you score a critical hit against your opponent you may choose to forfeit your free attack and automatically evade from combat instead. Remember that, because you already attacked in your turn, you are not allowed to move towards another enemy and attack it in this turn. You may, however, move away, turn to face another enemy, or quickly fire at another opponent as explained above.

These are the basic rules that apply during combat at all times. They may seem complicated at first but are really quite simple when applied a couple of times.

Special attacks and Combat situations

• SURROUNDING: A model counts as having his Defense Skill (DS) reduced by one point for each enemy above the first one that is attacking him. This means that if you are surrounded by three creatures you will count as having a DS of 2 less than your usual one against all of their attacks. This special rule was created to increase the power of weak creatures, such as goblins or skaven, that usually come in large numbers.
• CHARGES: A charge is declared if the entire move you do to reach an opponent to attack is perfectly in a straight line (i.e. you didn't need to turn even once to get to it) and at least two squares long. If this occurs the you are at +1 to hit the charged enemy model for this turn only.
• REAR ATTACKS: Rear attacks exploit the weaknesses of enemies that are showing their backs at you, and can prove to be the key for defeating tough and powerful opponents. If you move towards an opponent and finish your movement in the square that is directly behind it your attack counts as a rear attack. Note that if the enemy was not engaged in combat with anybody it must immediately turn to face you, but you still get the bonuses for a rear attack for this turn alone. If the enemy model is already engaged in combat it will not turn (unless it chooses to evade during its turn, of course), and the rules for rear attacks will continue being followed. Rear attacks deal one extra DD to the victim as the striker seeks out vulnerable faults in his opponent's defenses.
• LONG WEAPONS: The rules that applied to long weapons were not compatible with the new rules I created, and for this reason had to be changed completely in the following way. First of all, as stated above, long weapons do NOT increase the user's death zone. Long weapons may not be used to attack diagonally an enemy that is not already engaged in close combat with another model. This means that if you want to attack with a long weapon an isolated enemy you must enter its death zone and attack it from a cardinal direction (not diagonally). The diagonal attack may only be used against an opponent that is already engaged in combat, and it reflects the attacker keeping safety distance while striking at one of two close combat fighters. In this situation the attacker with the long weapon is not even properly engaged in combat with the enemy he is attacking, and doesn't need to evade (but will have to immediately turn to face the first enemy that enters his death zone). The enemy he is attacking may not evade in order to face him as he is just too far away, and diagonal attacks do count when following the rules for Surrounding opponents.

MONSTER SPECIAL RULES

In the Bestiary section plenty of new rules have been invented for monsters, as they certainly add a more challenging edge to a combat than a "+1WS" or "+2DD" can.

• Spells (X): Y: Now that a complete list of spells from numerous colleges is available, when a monster is capable of casting spells X stands for the college (Dark, Amethyst...), while Y stands for the list of actual spells (Fireball, Wall of Darkness...).

• Infestation: This rule usually applies to small creatures that overwhelm opponents by sheer force of numbers. Although these creatures usually cannot attack diagonally, they do count as attackers when following the rules for Surrounding opponents even if they are in a diagonal square. In this way a hero surrounded by, say 8 Nurglings, will wave his DS reduced by 7 against all attacks, although only the four directly adjacent ones will actually be attacking him!

• Backstab: The special rule of thieves, Backstab is also applied to sneaky enemies, such as Skaven gutter runners or Dark elf assassins. This rule states that if you attack an enemy at the rear you roll 2 extra damage dice rather than the usual one.

• Run Amok: Usually particularly stupid and dumb enemies follow these rules. Such monsters must roll their Bravery at the beginning of each turn or run amok. A creature that runs amok moves to attack the closest model, friend or foe, within 5 squares (select randomly if there are more than one model at the same distance). If no model is within five squares, the creature stands in place and bellows and roars, waiting for something to come close enough to butcher. Certain races of monsters have specialists called beastmasters, who cancel the rules for run amok for creatures within a certain range (may vary) as long as they are alive, of course.

• Panic: This rule applies to slaves and generally cowardly enemies. Each turn creatures subject to panic must roll their Bravery or flee (running) as far away as possible from all enemies, opening doors in the process if necessary. Some races have slavemasters and certain leaders who cancel out the rules for panic (within a certain given range) as long as they are alive.