Core Rules

2. concepts and essentials

In this chapter, you will learn some of the basic and essential concepts you will need to know when playing Dark Age. If you ever have any questions not found in this rulebook regarding Dark Age, feel free to stop by the website, http://www.dark-age.com, and visit the forum. There you will find many interesting articles on the varying aspects of this hobby including specific articles on the different tactics you can use in the game of Dark Age and plenty of useful downloads.
BATTLEFIELD

Game Play Definitions

Argument Stopper

What You Need To Play You need something to play on, a table or any playing surface will do, typically 4 x 4. - To play the game you need a number of Dark Age miniatures to represent your chosen Forcelist. Each Dark Age miniature comes with a round plastic base to not only help the piece stand, but also used throughout the rules to represent the Units footprint on the Battlefield. Dark Age requires a standard Inches/Foot

- Tabletop war games are just that: games. Although making every attempt to cover all possible scenarios and keep game play as smooth as possible, circumstances may arise during game play not covered by the rules. If at any point you or your opponent have a dispute on a topic and cannot reach an agreement, simply roll one d20 each. The player that makes a lowest roll wins the decision and the game continues. This will allow you to keep your game flowing smoothly. You can always discuss the ruling after the game for future reference. When this occurs, please post the question on the Dark Age forums for a more official ruling.

DARK AGE MINIATURES

TAPE MEASURE (FT)

Tape Measure.

20-SIDED DICE

Used throughout Dark Age, roll twenty sided dice (d20s) to determine the outcome of statistic rolls and general game play. Multiple dice of different colors are preferable, making different rolls easier to distinguish.

- All measurements in Dark Age are in inches (in). When measuring the distance between two Units, always measure the shortest possible distance between the two Miniatures Bases. When determining Movement, measure from the nearest point in the desired direction on the Miniatures Base, up to the correct distance. Then move the Unit, placing the same point of the base at that location. There is no pre-measuring in Dark Age. If you measure a distance, you must follow through with the action. NOTE: Round all fractions down.
Measuring Die Rolls - Dark Age utilizes a d20 for all game determinations.

By design, rolling lower is better than rolling higher.

Critical Success and Critical Failure

want to use terrain such as miniature-scale hills, rivers, bridges, fences, buildings, and other landscapes.

TERRAIN To add life to your Dark Age miniature game you will

- Rolling a 1 on the die results in a Critical Success and rolling a 20 is a Critical Failure. Most tests have special stipulations for handling such critical rolls.

COUNTERS, CARDS, & TEMPLATES Dark Age makes use of various counters and templates. You can find these at the back of this book. If you decide to use your own Counters and/or Cards, ensure they are clearly representative, and that your opponent knows what they represent before setting up the game. The game of Dark Age uses various game effects that are explained later. With a few exceptions, most counters can be classified into two different types: Warning and Hazard.

Lowest to Highest - If a Unit must make multiple die rolls for one action, such as Armor Saves, make all of these die rolls at once. Consider them to occur in order from the lowest result to the highest. If you only have one d20, you should note your results down and resolve them in order of lowest to highest as above. NOTE: As the die rolls are taken from lowest to highest, if a player rolls both a 1 and a 20, the roll of 1 would take precedence over the 20. Scatter Roll

Warning Counters represent a Game Effect that has a positive effect on a Unit and looks like this: Hazard Counters represent a detrimental Game Effect and can be identified by this: The Forcelist book or applicable Force book will list any Special or Weapon Abilities that have Game Effects and will be identified by one or both of the following symbols A and B.

- A Scatter Roll is a single d20 roll. Each facet, or side, of a d20 is a triangle shape and the direction of the Scatter is the direction of the triangle point above the number rolled. It is best to roll your Scatter die close to the intended target area to make direction determinations easier.

Target Number (TN) - The Target Number (TN) is the number needed for a successful outcome on any die roll. Determine a TN with one or more Statistics and any situational modifiers that may apply to the specific action performed. If the result is equal to or lower than the TN, you are successful. The TN is calculated for anything that requires a die roll including attacks, Saves, Fear or Panic test, etc.

13

Concepts & Essentials

Army - An Army is the primary and most general classification for combatants in Dark Age. These often refer to a race or nation (e.g. Forsaken, Dragyri, Skarrd, Brood, etc.). Each Army contains one or more sub-types, called Forcelists. Forcelist (Force) - The Forcelist provides details on all of the

Units that make up the Force you field on any particular Scenario. Each Forcelists entries describe Units Statistics, Abilities, and Weapons for use in the game of Dark Age. Additional books have even more Forcelists to expand the world of Dark Age further. NOTE: You may only use one Forcelist per 1,000 points. In games from 1,001 2,000 points, you may combine up to two Forcelists from the same Army. In games 2,001 3,000 points you may combine up to three Forcelists from the same Army, etc.
Unit -

Armor (AR) - Armor (AR) is the amount of protection the Unit has against most attacks. This can be due to protective equipment, or natural protection from a tough hide, fur, scales, or mutation. Subtract the PW of a hit from a Units AR when making an AR Save. NOTE: The Unit attempting to avoid damage makes an AR Save, not the Unit causing damage. Thus, AR Saves ignore any Attackers TN modifiers. Move or Movement (MV) - Movement (MV) measures the number of inches the Unit may travel per AP spent. Terrain and obstructions can sometimes modify this amount. Psyche (PS)

Dark Age represents forces on the Battlefield by Miniatures, referred to as Units. A Unit is a single Miniature. Grouped into two different categories, Units are either Individuals or Squads. Therefore, the term Unit may refer to an Individual or a single member of a Squad. - Individuals are Units that activate on their own.

- The Psyche (PS) statistic indicates the Units bravery and willpower. Units with high PS are less likely to suffer from Fear or Panic. They are also more likely to resist some Castings.
Health Points (HP)

- Health Points (HP) show the amount of damage a Unit can withstand before Dying or removing it from play.

Point Value (PV) Individual

Squad - Squads are teams of Units that move and attack as a group. A Squad may contain a Leader who generally has different Statistics. Unit Card

- Point Value (PV) is the worth of each Unit in the game. This statistic balances the Forces to ensure every player has an equal chance of winning. Before a game begins, players decide the total Point Value for the game.

Special Abilities

- Using a Unit Card in Dark Age is a fast way of learning and remembering your Units Statistics, Weapons, and Special Abilities. A Unit Card also helps keep track of which Units have completed their activation each Game Turn. See example, center. the Unit can shoot, attack, Cast, resist damage, move, and function in the harsh world of Dark Age. The following Statistics describe the fundamental attributes of a Unit used in Dark Age.
Size (SZ)

Unit Statistics - Each Unit has Statistics to represent how well

- Abilities are the representation of a Units special talents that other Units may not share. Some Units have the ability to attack multiple times, while others have the ability to use a Casting. Special and Weapon Abilities can be found in the appropriate Forcelist section. Special Abilities supersede or modify how the standard rules apply to the Unit.

- Size (SZ) shows the physical size of a Unit in the world of Dark Age. The Size groups are Tiny, Small, Medium, Large and Huge. See chart, below. Size Correlates to Base Size Tiny, Small, Medium = Small Base (30mm) Large = Medium Base (40mm) Huge = Large Base (50mm)

Action Points (AP) - Action Points (AP) represent the amount of activity a Unit can participate in during its Activation. A Unit spends an AP in order to perform single actions such as Movement, using weapons, abilities, and castings. Defense (DF) - Defense (DF) is a Units ability to avoid an attack. Add this number to an attackers AS when the target of an Assault (AS).

14

Concepts & Essentials

Squad Size

- Each Forcelist provides you with the Units Squad Size. This statistic is either Individual or provides details on the number of Units allowed in a single Squad. If the Squad Size is Individual, you pay the PV for each Unit. Individuals may not become part of a Squad unless a Special Ability states otherwise. If the Unit is part of a Squad, it must adhere to the minimum and maximum Squad Size restriction usually referenced. Squads must have at least as many Units as the minimum listed, and no more than the maximum number of Units listed. The Point Value for any type of Squad is always per Unit, and totaled accordingly. Understanding the Symbols The following symbols from left to right are: Size, Squad Size, and Availability. Size T = Tiny, S=Small, M=Medium, L=Large, H-Huge Squad Size Typically you will see one of these two symbols; the first is for a Squad and the Squads minimum and maximum size will be listed, the second denotes an Individual. Availability The asterik is typically used in reference to an Individual and means that the Individual is Unique. Sometimes it may represent a Special Rule concerning the availability. The other two show how many squads may be taken per Force inregard to the Point Value of the Force. The second symbol denotes that you may take One Squad per 1,000 points. The third symbol denotes that you may take Two Squads per 1,000 points.

Example: 2: Availability: Up to 2 per Soul Warden of the Ice Caste. This means that you may only ever field this Squad or Individual if you also have a Soul Warden. For each Soul Warden you may have up to two of this Squad or Individual. Weapon Statistics - The following statistics describe the fundamental attributes of weapons used in Dark Age.
Attack Groups (AG) - Weapons and attacks segregate into groups. These groups are marked in the Unit description as Attack Group 1, Attack Group 2, etc. Attack Groups show attacks that may be used for 1 AP. When an AP is spent, choose any Attack Group you would like to attack with and make one roll for each entry in the group. Each time an AP is spent you may chose a different group. If an Attack Group has more than one attack listed in it, you must designate the target for all attacks before making any rolls. If you wish, you are not required to make all the attacks in an Attack Group. Example 1: Chitin has two Toxic Cleavers in Attack Group #1. Chitin is in Base to Base (BtB) contact with Bane #1 and Bane #2. If Chitin attacks Bane #1 only, she should roll two dice, and resolve the rolls from lowest to highest. If Chitin splits the attacks between Bane #1 and Bane #2, either roll two separate attacks by rolling two different colored dice indicating which die is for Bane #1 and which die is for Bane #2, or you could declare intentions to attack Bane #1 first and Bane #2 second, then resolve your die roll lowest to highest.

Example 2: X-Cess has a Sword and two daggers in Attack Group #1. X-Cess is in BtB with Buzzblade #1, #2, and #3. If X-Cess attacks Buzzblade #1, she should roll three dice at the same time, one die separate from the other two to denote the Sword. If X-Cess attacks Buzzblade #1, #2, and #3, either roll three separate attacks, or roll three different colored dice indicating which die is for Buzzblade #1, #2, and #3 plus note which attack will be the sword. Example 3: A Ratchet has Chitin Club (KP 12) & Chitin Short Sword (Paralyzing Poison) in Attack Group #1. The Ratchet is in BtB with Bane #1 and Bane #2. If the Ratchet attacks Bane #1 you should either roll two separate attacks, denoting which weapon you are using (because they have different abilities) or roll two different colored dice indicating which die is which weapon. If the Ratchet splits the attacks between Bane #1 and Bane #2, either roll two separate attacks, or roll two different colored dice indicating which die is for Bane #1 and which die is for Bane #2. Note the weapons used as they have different abilities. NOTE: Die Rolls always occur lowest to highest. This means even if you roll a 20 on your attack, it is the last occurring attack, and it does not supersede the other attacks Example: Deadlock fires at a Spearslave with her machine pistols. She rolls an 8 and a 20. Resolve rolls lowest to highest. The Spearslave first must make an AR Save, then Dedlock must roll for the AR Save from the MAL

Availability - Availability is a limitation on the number of Individuals or Squads that you can have in your Dark Age Force. Availability restrictions range from required Game Size to needing other specific Units in your Force before allowing the Units purchase. If the listed Availability is Unique then you may only ever take one of those Units or Squads per Force. Example 1: Availability: 1 per 1000 points. This means that you may only have one of these Individuals every 1000 points, or portion thereof, which your Force is worth. If you are playing Forces of up to 1000 points, you may therefore take one of these Units, and you may choose a second one of these Units if you are playing 1001 2000 points, and so on. The same would be true for the number of Squads with an Availability: 1 Squad per 1000 points.

15

Concepts & Essentials

Weapon Name

- Weapons in Dark Age have their own statistics to represent their effectiveness against other Units, as well as how effectively their users wield them. As different Units may carry the same weapons, only the weapon statistics written on a Units card applies to that particular Unit.

R ange (RN)

- The Range (RN) statistic is the maximum distance at which the weapon can hit a target. Ranges are always in inches (in). If the weapon is for Close Assault only, it will be marked with a CA. - Malfunction (MAL) is a common occurrence in a world of such poorly maintained weapons as Dark Age. Weapons created with unstable technology usually have MAL statistics to show the danger of using it. On a roll equal to or greater than the MAL number something has gone wrong and the weapon has backfired, vented gasses, recoiled unexpectedly or something similarly bad. The Unit using the weapon suffers an immediate hit by its own attack. In some situations, it is possible for a weapon to both MAL and still hit its target. Simple weapons like swords do not usually have a MAL statistic, so they will be marked with a - and thus can never MAL. Some weapons have special MAL effects found on the Unit Cards or in the Weapon Abilities section of the Forcelist.

Malfunction (MAL)

- Assault (AS) shows the combat ability of a Unit with this particular weapon or attack. This Statistic reflects the Units training and ability, plus the inherent accuracy of the weapon. Add the AS stat to the targets DF to find the TN for an attack.
Assault (AS) R ate of Fire (RF) - Rate of Fire (RF) is the maximum number of uses in one Game Turn of this weapon. A - in this field means the weapon has no limit on the maximum usage per Game Turn. Power (PW) - Power (PW) is the strength of a weapons attack. Subtract this number from the targets AR to find the TN for AR Saves. PW is a result of both the strength of the wielding Unit and the sheer brutality of the weapon (Thus, different weapons with the same name may have different PW statistics). A Power Multiplier, indicated by an x and a second number indicates how many AR Saves to avoid any Damage. A PW with no multiplier requires only a single AR Save. The PW of an attack never drops below 0. An attack with a PW of 0 automatically fails, stopping any follow up Assaults; i.e. an Assault or Armor Save roll is not even made.

Notes - In the Notes you will find Weapon Abilities and other useful information. E.g., the Coils Morning Stick has the Ability to Knock Prone (KP). Weapon Abilities are in the appropriate section of each Forcelist. Special Abilities supersede or modify how the standard rules apply to the Unit.

16

Core Rules

Before playing a game of Dark Age, the players involved need to decide what kind of game they wish to play. This includes game size, scenarios or victory conditions, special terrain rules, or any house rules.
1. Determine Size Of Game

3. Getting Started
1 Spirit Lord 1 Frostbite 2 Blizzards (2 x 80 pts) 12 Spearslaves

Example: Paul and Dean decide to play for about 45 minutes, so they agree to play a quick 500-point game. Each of them then looks at what miniatures they have bought and cross-references those with the Units PVs, available in their Forcelist. Paul plays Dragyri Ice Caste and chooses the following Forcelist: 135 pts 75 pts 160 pts 120 pts Total = 490 pts

Usually the first step is to decide how big a game to play, often dictated by the time available to the players. Given allotted time, the players will agree on how many points they will allocate for choosing their Forces. Greater point totals allow for larger / more elite units in each Force. Some recommended point totals, and their corresponding game times, are listed below. These are, however, estimated times and you will find game times changing for varying reasons (such as becoming more proficient with the rules). Player Amount Point Totals 2 Players 2 Players 2 Players 3+ Players 500 points 750 points 1000 points 400 points Durations 45 minutes 60 minutes 90 minutes 60 minutes

Dean plays Saint Mark and chooses the following Forcelist: 1 Saint Mark 1 Hephzibah 1 Junker 4 Shades (4 x 50 pts)
Large Scale Games

135 pts 90 pts 65 pts 200 pts Total = 490 pts

2. Determine a Scenario

Scenarios, in the majority of cases, will simulate a meeting engagement where two Forces square off with the goal of eliminating their opposition. However, players are free to develop whatever scenarios they wish to play such as defending a location, protecting a person or asset, attempting to escape an ambush, etc. There are a number of Scenarios the players can choose from later in this book. Each player can choose which scenario they wish to play or they may randomly roll for their Scenario. Whatever Scenario you wish to play, all participating players need to agree to the specific conditions and rules before the game begins. If you want to play a game not using a particular Scenario a default Kill em All game may be played. The game ends after 8 Game Turns, add up the Points Values of all the Casualties on both sides. The Player with the lowest casualty total is the winner.
3. Select Units for Play

In games larger than 1000 points, you may combine two Forcelists of the same Army type. When combining Army Forcelists, the cost of the primary Forcelist will come from the first 1000 points. The cost of the secondary Forcelist Units will come out of the next 1000 points/remaining points, etc. All special rules of the Forcelists still apply (e.g. Honor Before Combat). Example: David wants to play a 1500- point game. He plays Forsaken. He decides to take St. Mark in his primary Forcelist and St. Mary for his secondary. Davids List Primary List Second List St. Mark St. Mary 1 Saint Mark 135 pts 1 Saint Mary 130 pts 1 Reaver 75 pts 1 Contradiction 70 pts 1 Field Medic 55 pts 3 Clergy Ann 180 pts 3 Junkers 195 pts 2 Flense 120 pts 3S pts 4 Banes & Leader 205 pts 3 Coils & Leader 185 pts Total = 1000 pts Total = 500 pts

Once you and your opponents have selected the size of game to play, you can then proceed with choosing the makeup of your Force. Using the points available to you refer to your Forcelist. Each listing has a Point Value or PV. Total up their PVs to make sure you do not exceed, even by one point, the total points available to you. This simulates the resources available for support. Availability and Squad Size restrictions on Units will also factor into your decisions regarding which Units to take. You may only purchase Units from selected Forcelists for your Army based on the game size.

17

Getting Started
Brian plays Dragyri. He chooses Ice Caste as his primary Forcelist, and Air Caste as his secondary Forcelist. Brians List Primary List Second List Ice Caste Air Caste 1 Luckkit-kaii 180pts 1 Yovanka 1 Soul Warden 80 pts 3 Whispers 1 Ice Elemental 190 pts 7 Spearslaves 1 Frostbite 75 pts 7 Spearslaves 2 Blizzards 160 pts 1 Slave Taskmaster 35 pts 14 Spearslaves 140 pts 14 Spearslaves 140 pts Total = 1000 pts

130 pts 225 pts 70 pts 70 pts

Total = 495 pts

Lay Out Unit Cards

If you are following the recommendation to use Dark Age Unit Cards, then after selecting your Units, simply place each Unit Card face up on or near the table so that you will have them handy for your Game.
4. Setting Up The Battlefield

A large component of any tabletop wargame is the tabletop itself. Many players enjoy creating and collecting custom built terrain. Miniature railroad terrain, homemade supplies, and common hardware supplies also work perfectly. Specific scenery and even whole gaming tables are available from various reputable retailers around the globe; many will be perfect for your Dark Age games. There are a couple of recommended ways of setting up the Battlefield in a fair way for you and your opponent. Obviously, you may use your own method instead. It is recommended to have at least ten terrain pieces on your table. OPTION 1 Set aside an appropriate amount of terrain for the battlefield size, 2-3 pieces for every 1x1 section of the battlefield. Players take turns laying down pieces of terrain on the table until all terrain pieces have been placed. OPTION 2 One player sets up the Battlefield, while the other players roll off to decide what deployment zone(s) to use. The other player(s) choose in order of lowest to highest, the player who setup the terrain always chooses last. Ultimately, the aim is to make sure that you and your opponents are satisfied with the fairness of the Battlefield before the game begins.
5. Deployment

The player with the lowest roll Deploys one Individual or one Squad, then the player with the next lowest roll Deploys one Individual or one Squad, and so on. When all players have finished Deployment, roll Initiative and begin the game. The player who won the roll for Deployment may choose to make another player Deploy first, and can even specify exactly which Individual or Squad that player must Deploy. Only the Deployment winner can do this and by doing so they swap places with the player they choose to Deploy first. Example: David, Brian, and Marbella are playing a game of Dark Age. They each roll a d20 for Deployment. David rolls a 6, Brian rolls 15 and Marbella gets a 12. David is the Deployment winner, however he chooses to make Brian Deploy first instead (He can also chose exactly which Squad or Individual Brian has to Deploy). David trades places with Brian, changing the Deployment order: first Brian, then Marbella, and finally David. NOTE: You may not force a Unit to Deploy that has an Ability that modifies their deployment e.g., Infiltrate or Assassination.
6. Determine House Rules

The recommended table size for a game of Dark Age is 4 x 4. The Deployment Zone for a game with two Forces is a rectangle extending 6 onto the playing board and stopping 12 from the outside edges of the board on opposing sides of the table. This leaves 36 between the two Deployment Zones (see the accompanying diagram). Once Deployment Zones are marked, all players roll a d20 to see whom Deploys first.

Almost everyone has House Rules, and your games of Dark Age are bound to have their own as well. House Rules could be as simple as declaring all rivers are shallow and do not limit Movement for your Forces. Or, perhaps you and your friends may want to allow one re-roll per game. Your House Rules are fine and you are even encouraged to use them. If you do, please stop by the Dark Age website and post them for discussion. The only set rule for using House Rules in Dark Age is: if you do not tell your opponent(s) your House Rules at the beginning of the game, then you cannot use them. All players must both agree on their use before the game begins.
7. Play the Game

Now that you have assembled your Forces and prepared your Battlefield, it is time to dive into the action! A Game Turn is one full Turn of play for each player. The Game Turn is broken down into steps that allow each player to use every aspect of their Forcelist.

18

Core Rules

Game Turn Phases are broken into the following steps:

4. the game turn

Activation Phase
Activate A Unit

PHASE 1 Preparation Phase Lingering Effects stage PHASE 2 Initiative Phase Players roll d20s: Lowest roll wins Initiative. PHASE 3 Activation Phase Select a Squad or Individual. Activate one Unit and use all of that Units Action Points (AP). If selecting a Squad, Activate one Unit in that Squad and use all its AP. Continue Activating Units in the Squad until all have Activated. Repeat this Phase passing play to the next player in Initiative order until all players have activated all of their Units PHASE 4 End of Game Turn Return to the first phase and repeat until the game ends. Prepar ation Phase
Lingering Effects Stage

Game play passes from player to player in Initiative order with each player choosing a single Squad or Individual to Activate. Players may not choose to activate a Squad or Individual who already activated this turn. If a player has no Units left to Activate, control passes to the next player in Initiative order who still has Units yet to Activate. This repeats until all of the Units in all of the players Forcelists activate once. All Units must be Activated, if a Unit may not be Activated for any reason other than any Special Rules then it must be Removed From Play. End of Game Turn When all of the players Units have activated, the Activation phase is complete and a new Game Turn will begin. Check Victory conditions (If you are using them). Proceed back to the Preparation Phase and begin the next Game Turn.

Effects or special rules may carry over from the previous Game Turn, referred to as Lingering Effects. These Effects are resolved at this time. Some counters, like Poison or Hold, remain in play during the Lingering Effect stage. These counters have special rules for removing them in the Forcelist. Check the rules for all counters before removing them from play. If multiple Lingering Effects must resolve and the outcomes may affect each other, each player rolls a d20 to determine which will happen first. The lowest rolling player determines who will resolve which Lingering Effect first. This goes between the players, in die roll order from lowest to highest, until every Effect has been resolved. Initiative Phase Initiative is the order players will take their Activation Phase. Players determine this order by each rolling a d20 and comparing their results. Game play then proceeds starting with the player with the lowest result and ending with the player with the highest. The player who won may choose to make another player go first and can even specify exactly which Individual or Squad that player must Activate. Only the Initiative winner can do this and by doing so, they trade places with the player they have chosen to activate a Squad or Individual first. Example: Each player rolls a d20. The results are David rolls a 13, Marbella rolls 12, and Brian gets 8. This means that Brian won Initiative and the order of the Game Turn: Brian followed by Marbella and then David. Brian could Activate one of his own Units now as he won Initiative, but Brian decides to make Marbella go first and chooses to make her Activate her Bane Squad. When Marbella is done with that Squad, the Game Turn then passes to Brian because Brian took Marbellas place in the Initiative order.

Ravages prepare to assist their Reaver against Mongo.

19

Core Rules

Action Points (AP)

5. game play
Movement Penalties

Action Points (AP) represent the amount of activity a Unit can participate in during its Activation. A Unit spends APs to perform single actions such as Movement or using weapons, Abilities, and Castings. Units also spend APs to perform special movement such as going Prone, standing up, Climbing, and Jumping. Any unused APs are lost (unless the Unit goes On Hold). You are, however, allowed to spend APs in any way you choose for the current Game Turn. Once a Unit spends all its APs, it cannot perform any further actions this Game Turn. You can do multiple actions in a Game Turn if you have the APs to do so, but these actions must take place in the same Game Turn. E.g., a Unit may move, shoot, and move again. It may also shoot, move, and jump; however, you must have the AP to carry out all the actions. NOTE: Although Units are forced to activate every Game Turn, Units are not forced to use all of their APs. They may choose to Activate, do nothing and end their Activation. If a Unit does this, you may not activate it again that Game Turn regardless of how many APs it has left.
Attack & Firing Arc

Unit into BtB contract with an enemy Unit is a Charge. NOTE: Units cannot end their Movement with their base overlapping another Units base. Movement Penalties represent certain terrain features that naturally slow a Unit down, wasting some of their MV. Only apply the largest penalty per AP if moving through multiple terrain types. NOTE: A Unit can always move at least 1 by spending an AP, MOVEMENT PENALTIES STEPS 1) 2) 3) 4) Spend 1 AP and Measure the distance the Unit is able to move. Identify the largest Movement Penalty. Apply largest penalty to this APs MV. Move the Unit.

Units have a 360 Attack and Firing Arc. It is not necessary to have Unit facing its target in either Close Assualt (CA) or with a Ranged Assault (RA), you may turn your Unit to face its target for free if desired.
Line of Sight (LOS)

unless the terrain is Impassible. Example: Frederick wants to move his Broodling over sand, through a river, and into heavy jungle to attack a Spearslave. There is 3 of sand, 3 of river, and 2 of jungle between the Broodling and the Spearslave. The sand terrain remains Open, while the river is Rough, and the jungle declared Dangerous. Frederick spends 1AP and measures the distance the Unit is able to move (7). The Broodling moves through sand and the river applying a 1 MV to his 7 of MV for a total Movement of 6. Frederick spends a second AP and measures the distance the Unit is able to move (7). The Broodling moves through river and jungle too, applying a 2 MV to its 7 of MV for a total Movement of 5. OPEN Green fields or sandy deserts are examples of open ground. Although not entirely flat, these areas are open enough that a Unit can move without penalty. ROUGH This terrain can be moved through at a slightly reduced pace. Such terrain includes swamps, areas of heavy snowfall, or wooded areas. Units moving through these features cannot move at full speed. The MV penalty demonstrates the problems to Movement due to dangers and impediments like low hanging limbs, deep snow, flowing water, or sheer elevation changes. Rough terrain incurs a -1 MV penalty. DANGEROUS This terrain is dense or treacherous to the point of forcing the Unit to slow down considerably. This can include treacherous mountain passes, heavy jungle, or ice-covered sections of rock. Dangerous terrain incurs a -2 MV penalty.

Units have a Line of Sight (LOS) of 360. A Unit must clearly see its target Unit. This means that, there must be an unobstructed path from some part of the attacking Unit to some part of the target Unit. Other Units, both friendly and enemy, block this path up to the topmost height of the intervening Unit and for the width of its Miniatures Base. Some Dark Age miniatures have elaborate poses, which elevate them into the air or lay them flat on the ground. These poses do not apply to any game mechanics. If players disagree on LOS to a Unit because of its Miniatures pose, use a less elaborate Miniature of the same Size (preferably the same Unit type if you have one). Likewise, flags, banners, weapons, etc. do not count for LOS purposes when targeting a Unit. When determining LOS make a straight line from any point of the attacking Unit to any point on the target Unit as described above. If that line crosses another Unit (Units of smaller Size do not block LOS but provide Cover) or terrain piece, then the attacking Unit does not have LOS to its target.
Movement

Units may spend AP to move on the Battlefield. For every AP spent on Movement, the Unit may move in any direction up to their MV statistic as measured in inches (in). Moving Units may turn freely as long as the total linear Movement does not exceed their MV. The Unit does not have to use its entire MV statistic in a given action, but any remaining unused distance is wasted. Spending an AP on Movement that brings a

20

Game Play

IMPASSIBLE This terrain is not passable for a Unit on the ground. The only way to cross this terrain is the air or in some cases through a special Movement type such as Climbing, Jumping, etc. SMALL OBSTACLES (SO) These include fences, low walls, hedges, barrels, and crates...anything that is as tall as a Unit when Prone, or less. These objects are not large enough to stop Movement but they do take time to cross. A SO costs -1 MV point to cross it or, if there is enough space for the Units base, to be climbed upon and clear the edge. NOTE: SO 1MV is in addition to Movement Penalties.
Stairs and Ladders

MOVEMENT TABLE OPEN No Penalty ROUGH -1 MV DANGEROUS -2 MV Green fields, sandy deserts, open ground, etc. Swamps, heavy snowfall, wooded, moving water, etc. Mountains, heavy jungle, Marshes, ice covered, etc.

Stairs and ladders make moving up hills and walls easier. Stairs or ladders avoid normal Movement Penalties for Climbing, Rough and Dangerous terrain. NOTE: Declare and agree upon all terrain areas before the game starts.
Moving Through Units

IMPASSABLE May only pass by Air, Jumping, or Special Ability. SMALL OBSTACLES -1 MV STAIRS AND LADDERS MOVING THROUGH UNITS Low walls, barrels, crates, etc.

Units may move through other Units in the same friendly Forcelist, as long as the moving Unit has an equal or larger Size than the stationary Unit. A Unit may not move through a Unit from an enemy Forcelist. Units cannot end their Movement with their base overlapping another Units base. A Unit may not move the base of another Unit to make room for its own. NOTE: Units may move through Dying Units regardless of Size, or friendly/enemy Forcelist.
Movement Off The Table

Stairs or ladders avoid normal Movement Penalties for Climbing, Rough and Dangerous terrain. Friendly Force Only Moving Units Size is larger Yes. Moving Units Size is equal size Yes. Moving Units Size is smaller No.

Knocking a Unit off, running off, flying off (Scatter), or even moving voluntarily off the Battlefield occurs in some cases. If a Scatter or an action from another player forces the Unit off the Battlefield, they may move back onto the Battlefield during the next Lingering Effects Stage. The Units player places the Unit back on the Battlefield edge at the spot where it left the table. The Unit may not spend any AP during the Game Turn

FORCED OFF THE A Unit forced off the Battlefield moves TABLE back onto the table at the spot where it left the Battlefield during the next Lingering Effects Stage. Unit(s) may not spend AP during the Game Turn they return. INTENTIONALLY OFF THE TABLE Remove a Unit voluntarily moving off Battlefield from play, counting it as Casualties for Victory purposes.

that it comes back on, it must instead wait until the following Game Turn to spend AP. Voluntary movement off the table, is considered retreating. Remove Units that intentionally move off the table, and count them as Casualties for Victory purposes. Special Movement
Climbing

There may be terrain features on the Battlefield that Units may want to get on top of or climb over, such as buildings, tall trees, cliff faces, etc. You must agree on climbable Terrain before the game begins. The rate at which a Unit can climb is 1 for every 2 of normal MV. When a Unit clears the edge of a climb, place them standing on top of the climbed object.

21

Game Play

It is possible to spend all of a Units AP Climbing and not reach the top of a terrain feature or, being unable to clear the edge properly, for any reason. When this occurs, the Unit ends its Activation Hanging from the terrain and must continue Climbing during its next Activation. While Hanging the Unit is very vulnerable. Attacks against Hanging Units receive a +4 to the Assaults Target Number. If the Unit takes Damage or is Knocked Prone while Hanging, it automatically falls (see Falling). NOTE: Units may climb down terrain features as well, following all the rules for Climbing upward. Example: A Coil wishes to climb a small embankment. The embankment is 3 high. The Coil starts its Activation at the bottom of the climb and has an MV of 3. After spending 2 AP it completes the climb, placing the Coil atop the embankment.
Falling

SPECIAL MOVEMENT CLIMBING MV per AP spent. All attacks against Climbing Units receiver a +4 TN bonus. FALLING Falling Units suffer a PW 1 per 1 height. Falling Units are Knocked Prone. Falling onto another Unit causes both to take full Falling damage, and both Units are Knocked Prone. JUMPING MV per AP spent. PRONE Going Prone 1 AP. Standing from Prone 1 AP.

A Unit that Falls from being hit while Climbing, is knocked off a high place, or for whatever reason finds that their feet are no longer on solid ground will take Falling damage and be Knocked Prone. Fall damage is PW 1 per inch for any Fall. Falls shorter than a Units height when Prone do not cause a Damage roll. Units taking Falling damage make an AR Save as per normal. If a Unit happens to fall onto another Unit below it, then both Units take the same PW hit as the falling Unit would have, had it hit the ground. Both Units must make AR Saves to avoid taking Damage. Falling Units are Prone when they land and should they land on another Unit, place both Prone. Falling is not a Charge. NOTE: You may purposefully fall. Example: A Coil shoots a Deaths Device, while it Climbs up a small cliff face. The Coil manages to damage the Deaths Device and now he will Fall. The player measures the distance fallen (3 in), this will be a PW 3 hit (3 = 3 PW). The Deaths Device now subtracts that number from his AR of 20 (20 - 3 = 17). The Deaths Device rolls his a die and score an 19.. Unfortunately for him, that is not 17 or less. The Deaths Device will now take 1 HP of Damage from the Fall in addition to the Damage the Coil inflicted, and considered Prone.
Jumping

Prone

A Unit may go Prone willingly, be Knocked Prone because of a weapons effect or may be Dying and therefore considered to be in a Prone position. Prone is considered being down on one knee, lying down, or similar recumbent stance. It costs 1 AP to go Prone willingly, and 1 AP to stand from a Prone position. A Unit will do this to reduce its exposure to enemy RA (Ranged Assault receives a -2 TN penalty). Going Prone, however, exposes them to CA (Close Assault attackers receive +2 AS versus Prone targets). Conversely, the Prone Unit itself has a more difficult time attacking in CA (Prone attackers receive -2 AS for making any CA while they are Prone). PRONE UNITS A Prone Units MV statistic is halved (rounding down with a minimum of 1), and may not Jump or Climb. RA against a Prone Unit suffers a -2 TN penalty. CA against a Prone Unit gains a +2 AS bonus. Prone Units making CA suffer a -2 AS penalty. A Prone Unit may not Charge. Medium, Small, or Tiny Size Prone Units are 1 tall. Large and Huge Size Prone Units are 2 tall. While atop a SO Units may not willingly go Prone. Units inside Impassible terrain may never be Prone.

A Unit can Jump up to half its MV statistic (rounded down, minimum 1) in inches (in) per AP spent. The height of the Jump is 1 inch, unless a Unit has an Ability that affects this. Jumping is used to clear small Impassible terrain features. NOTE: You may purposefully jump off terrain to fall. Example: A Unit wishes to cross an impassable fissure that is 2 across. A Unit with MV 3 would spend 2 AP to Jump the fissure. The Unit could Jump a total of 2in across (1in per AP spent). The Unit would also jump 1 high.

22

Game Play

Prone Units with a Size of Medium, Small, or Tiny have a height of 1. Large and Huge Units have a height of 2. The Prone Unit may only move half of its MV statistic (rounded down, minimum 1), and may not Jump or Climb. Prone Units do not count for Ganging Up bonuses. Prone Units may also not Charge or hold opponents in CA, and enemies may therefore move without suffering an attack from a Prone enemy if a Break Free attempt fails. A Unit moving from Prone to standing while in BtB with another Unit is in CA as normal, but the Movement is not a Charge. NOTE: A Unit may not willingly go Prone on Small Obstacles (SO), and may never go Prone or be Knocked Prone while in Impassible terrain. Special Actions
Holding an Action-On Hold

a tie, and both units have equal DF (5), the tie goes to the attacker. The Deaths Device resolves his attack, then the Ravage (if not Dying or removed from play) resolves its attack.
R A - From Hold

Units not currently in Close Assault (CA) may Hold an action by spending their last 2 AP to Hold 1 AP in reserve for Getting the Jump, Ranged Assault or Evading. It doesnt have to be their last 2 AP but once a Unit has spent these 2 AP they are considered on Hold regardless of any APs left over, if they spend any more APs during that Activation their Hold is wasted. In an On Hold state, the Unit is waiting to react to the enemy. The AP is Held until that Unit is next Activated. If the Held action remains unused when the Unit next Activates, the Held action is lost. As members of a Squad activate individually, it is possible for members of a Squad to Hold an action while other members of their Squad do not. Be sure to use counters to keep track of what Units are on Hold. Getting the Jump, RA-From Hold, or Evading do not count as the Units activation. NOTE: Using the you go first-Initiative rule, you may choose an On Hold Unit to Activate, wasting their Held Action. Example: Mike wins Initiative and forces Eric to activate the On Hold Coil, wasting its Held Action. As the On Hold action was from Game Turn #1, Eric may still activate the Coil normally.
Get the Jump From Hold

If a Unit is On Hold, it may interrupt an action by another Unit in LOS, spending its Held AP to make a Ranged Assault (RA). Before making this RA attempt, the Unit must make a PS check. (Roll equal to, or under, the Units PS. A Unit within its Leaders Sphere of Influence (SOI) may use their PS). If the PS check fails, the Unit may not make the RA and their Held Action is wasted. Ranged Assault from Hold allows you to leverage your Rate of Fire (RF). A Unit on Hold, with RF left to spend, may use this RF even if a new Game Turn starts (but before the Holding Unit Activates). This is the only time when you may carry over unspent RF from the previous Game Turn. Conversely, a Holding Unit without any remaining RF may make a Ranged Assault from Hold after a new Game Turn begins (but before the Holding Unit Activates). This will consume the RF from the current Game Turn as normal. The use of RA from Hold Interrupts a Unit in LOS actions during the Activation phase: You may interrupt a Unit when it activates. You may interrupt any type of movement at anytime. You may stop a Unit spending an AP and resolve your RA from Hold before they spend the AP. You may not interrupt an action that has already started (e.g., multiple weapons in an attack group, AoE weapons that effect multiple targets, etc,. If you allowed the AP to be spent, you must resolve all weapons/effects before the interrupt occurs) NOTE: RA from Hold must still follow Targeting Priority rules. You may interrupt any Unit in your LOS and then attack a different Unit. Example 1: A Soul Searcher activates and is moving from behind a large boulder (Completely Obscured) to behind smaller rubble (Partial Cover). An On Hold Coil has the Soul Searcher in LOS and interrupts the movement before the Soul Searcher reaches the smaller rubble. A Coil has a PS of 12 and must roll a 12 or less for the PS check. The Coil rolls a 10, passing the PS check and may now attempt the RA from hold at the Soul Searcher, or another Unit (Targeting Priority allowing). Example 2: In the first Game Turn, Eric activates a Coil using its first Action Point to move, then using its last two Action Points to go on Hold. During the second Game Turn, Mike activates his Buzzblade and is moving from behind a large boulder (Completely Obscured) to behind smaller rubble (Partial Cover). Eric activates his On Hold Coil to attempt a RA-From Hold. (As the On Hold was from the previous Game Turn) The Coil passes the PS roll, but misses the shot. Eric Activates the Coil (its normal Activation for this Game Turn), but may not shoot again since he has used the RF for this Game Turn.

Get the Jump is the term used for reacting to a Charge using a Held action. When an Enemy Unit spends an AP to Move into Base-to-Base (B2B) contact with an On Hold Unit, the holding Unit may attempt to Get the Jump. Both the Charging and the On Hold Unit roll a d20 adding their own DF statistic to their die rolls. The Unit with the lowest total attacks first. (Tie goes to the lower DF Unit. If both Units have equal DF, tie goes to the Charger). After the Unit who won the Get the Jump first attack is resolved, resolve the losing Units attack (if the Unit is not dying or removed from play) Example: A Deaths Device charges an On Hold Ravage. Both roll d20 and add their DF. Deaths Device rolls a 10 (10 + 5 = 15) and the Ravage rolls a 10 (10 + 5 = 15). As this is

23

Game Play

Example 3: In the first Game Turn, Eric activates a Coil using its first Action Point to make a RA with its Death Disk, then using its last two Action Points to go on Hold. The Death Disk has RF 1, thus the Coil may not use its Held action to make an RA-From Hold in this Game Turn. Eric and Mikes Units have all activated and a new Game Turn begins. During the second Game Turn, Mike activates his Buzzblade and is moving from behind a large boulder (Completely Obscured) to behind smaller rubble (Partial Cover). RF determines the maximum uses of a weapon per Game Turn (and this is a new Game Turn). Thus, Eric may activate his on hold Coil to attempt a RA-From Hold. As the On Hold was from Game Turn #1, Eric may still activate the Coil normally this Game Turn, but cannot use the Death Disk as it has an RF of 1.
Evade - From Hold

Coherency
Individuals

Individuals act alone on the Battlefield. In game play, Individuals are not bound to Coherency.
Squad Coherency

Evade is the term used for reacting to Area of Effect (AoE) attacks. An on Hold Unit hit by an AoE attack must make a PS check. (Roll equal to, or under, the Units PS. A Unit within its Leaders Sphere of Influence (SoI) may use their PS). If the PS check succeeds, the Unit may then move its MV in any direction to attempt to avoid the template. If the Unit does not have enough MV to clear the Area of Effect, it still suffers a hit. The effects of the attack resolve normally from the position the Evading Unit ended its Movement. (There is no pre-measuring, declare the direction the Evading Unit will move and measure the distance.) The Held AP is lost regardless of if the Unit passes its PS check, or if it fails to clear the AoE with its subsequent Movement. Movement in this manner ending in BtB contact with an enemy Unit is not a Charge. Example: A Stream weapon hits an on Hold Forsaken Bane. A Bane has a PS of 12 and must roll a 12 or less for the Bane to Evade the Stream attack. The Bane rolls a 9, passing the PS check, and may now move the Bane up to its MV in inches (3in in this case) in any direction to attempt to clear the Stream template.

Although Units in Squads activate independently, they still follow certain Coherency restrictions. All members of a Squad must remain within 2 of another member of their Squad. Larger Units may separate an additional 1 per Size above Medium and remain in Coherency. In mixed Squads, use the most common Size for determining Coherency limits, with the larger Size resolving ties. Once established, the Coherency limit remains for the game and not recalculated due to Casualties.
Leaders Sphere of Influence (SoI)

Squads with a Leader enjoy slightly more leeway in their Movement. A Squads Leader has a 4 radius Sphere of Influence. Any Squad member may move freely within 4 of their Leader without being Out of Coherency. Should they leave this 4 SoI they must follow normal Coherency rules, i.e. remaining within 2 of another member of their Squad. Squad members who are within their Leaders SoI may also use the Leaders PS stat for any PS checks they may need to take.
Out of Coherency (OOC)

Check for Coherency at the end of the entire Squads Activation. Any Unit who did not participate in a CA and is outside their Coherency limit, will mark the entire Squad as Out of Coherency (OoC). Any Unit in an OoC Squad who did not themselves participate in a CA receives -2 TN on all rolls they make, except AR Saves. This penalty applies until the Squad ends its Activation in Coherency again.

Yovanka leads a Unit of Squalls into battle.

24

Game Play

member is Out of Coherency and did not participate in a CA, the whole Squad would normally receive the -2 TN. Leaders are specially trained as stand-alone fighters in order to direct their Squad in these situations. Leaders never suffer from Lack of Support, or Out of Coherency. Furthermore, any Unit within its Leaders Sphere of Influence (SoI) is also immune to Out of Coherency penalties.
Dying Units and Coherency

Diagram: Five members of a Squad, which includes a Leader (A), separate. The Leaders Sphere of Influence means that two members of the Squad are still in Coherency with Him. However, the last two members of the Squad (D and E) are both outside the Leaders SoI and not within 2 of another Squad member. Therefore, Squad members D and E have a -2 OoC penalty.
Leaders Take Charge

Units reduced to 0 HP or less have suffered a mortal wound and are Dying. Dying Units are immediately removed from play unless another Ability in the game keeps them in play (see relevant Abilities sections in the Forcelists); if the Unit is Dying and remains in play, mark the Unit with a Dying counter. Remove Dying Units from play when the Unit is next Activated. Ignore Dying Units during Coherency checks. Dying Units that later regain HP must be inside Coherency when they Activate or they suffer the -2 OoC penalty until they rejoin their original Squad. The rest of the Units original Squad believes the Unit dead, so they do not receive the -2 for OoC. NOTE: Units removed from play, for any reason, do not count for Coherency checks.
Lack of Support

When Units get scattered, Leaders step up to keep their Squads on track. At the end of a Squads Activation, if any Squad

The last Unit in a Squad is always considered Out of Coherency and receives the -2 for OoC. Trained to fight together, without support Squads do not function as effectively. NOTE: This does not apply if the Squad started with only a single member.

A Bane Leader directs his Banes to fight the foul abominations of the Brood.

25

Core Rules

In this chapter, you will learn how to attack Units in hand-to-hand combat, known as Close Assault (CA). An AP spent on Movement that brings a Unit into BtB contact with an enemy is a Charge. When Units of opposing Forces are in BtB contact, they are in CA. CA Steps To make an attack using a CA weapon, follow these steps:
1. Check RF

6. close assault

RF is the number of times a Unit may use a weapon per Game Turn. Once a weapon has been used as many times as its RF statistic, it may not be used again that Game Turn. Example: The Coils Morning stick has a - in the RF statistic. This means the Unit may Assault with it as many times as the Coil has AP. If however, the weapons RF was 1, the Coil could only attack once per Game Turn with it.
2. Spend AP

Unit receives only 1 Bonus AP. Moving into BtB with a friendly Unit may initiate a CA, but does not gain Charge or Gang Up bonuses. An Assault made with this bonus AP receives a +1 AS and +1 PW bonus to all weapons in the Attack Group used for the Charge attack. A Unit with multiple weapons in an Attack Group may split its Charge attack between multiple Units that they are in CA with. You may only spend the bonus Charge AP on a Close Assault (CA). You may not use the Bonus AP for Casting, Abilities, or to perform any other actions the Unit normally could with an AP. Weapon Abilities are part of the weapon itself, allowing them with this bonus AP. NOTE: If the Charged Unit is Prone, Dying, or removed from play after CA(s) are resolved, the charging Unit may spend additional AP(s) on Movement to reach BtB contact with another enemy, resulting in another Charge.

On the first Assault of an Attack Group, subtract 1 AP from the Units remaining AP to attempt the CA (All CA attacks require a Unit to spend 1 AP, unless otherwise stated). The APs spent for the attack are lost whether or not the attack succeeds. If the Unit does not have the AP to spend, the Assault cannot occur.
3. Select a Valid Target

Example: Saint Mark moves into BtB contact with a Dragyri Soul Searcher. Saint Mark has 4 AP and spends 1 to bring him into CA with the Soul Searcher. Saint Mark gets a bonus AP to use for a CA. Saint Mark spends his bonus AP to make an attack with his Cutter Arm, and receives +1 to both the AS and the PW of the Arm. Saint Mark still has 3 AP remaining for his Activation.
Ganging Up

A Unit must be in BtB contact with another Unit in order to make a CA attack (unless the Unit or its Weapon possesses an Ability that says otherwise). If a Unit is in BtB with multiple other Units, it may choose any of the Units to Assault. Under certain conditions it is permissible to even target your own Units. Such an act of desperation would have far-reaching consequences after the battle, of course. If a Friendly Unit attacks and Removes From Play another Friendly Unit the opponent receives VPs for the attack equal to the PV of the removed Unit. A Friendly Unit may not attack another Friendly Unit that has a higher PS.
4. Determine TN

All Units gain +1 AS and +1 PW for every friendly Unit in BtB with the same target. This bonus is cumulative with the bonus received for Charging and any other bonuses the CA may receive. NOTE: The attacking Unit does not gain a Ganging Up Bonus for itself.
5. Add CA Modifiers

Circumstances in combat can affect how difficult a target is To Hit. Special circumstances have blanket adjustments to all Target Numbers (TN) except AR Saves, such as Out of Coherency (OoC), or Fear. Players calculate any appropriate CA modifiers and apply them to the TN.
6. Roll D20

The player determines the attacking Units TN. First, apply any modifiers to the attacking weapons Assault (AS). Then, add the defending Units DF to the AS of the attackers weapon to determine the TN. Example: The Coil has Charged a Dragyri Spearslave in CA. The Coil adds its weapons AS, plus a +1 AS Charge bonus. The Coils morning stick has an AS of 4, and the Slave has a DF of 6. The TN would therefore be 11 (4 + 1 + 6 = 11).
Charging

After you determine your TN including any modifiers, roll a d20. If the roll is higher than the TN, then the CA fails to hit. If the roll is equal to or lower than the TN, you are successful in hitting your target. The target Unit will then have to make an AR Save to avoid taking damage.
CA Critical Hits and Failures

To initiate CA, a Unit spends an AP on Movement to reach BtB contact with an enemy. The term for this is a Charge. The Charging Unit will receive a bonus AP, in essence, a free Assault. A Unit ending in BtB contact with more than one

When making a CA, a roll of a 1 is a Critical Hit. Critical Hits automatically succeed and negate all AR Saves. Likewise, all Weapon Abilities of the attack also succeed. A roll of a 20, conversely, is a Critical Failure. Critical Failures automatically miss. Furthermore, they cost the attacking Unit 1 additional AP (This penalty is not carried over to the next Game Turn if the critical failure was the Units last AP). The weapon may also Malfunction (MAL) if applicable.

26

Close Assault

NOTE:

If a Player wishes, they may choose to convert their Critical Hit to a normal success forcing the target to make an AR Save (all Weapon Abilities still automatically succeed). CA MODIFIERS CHARGING +1 AS and +1 PW + bonus AP. GANGING UP +1 AS and +1 PW for every other friendly Unit in BtB with the same target. PRONE TARGET +2 AS. PRONE ATTACKER -2 AS. DYING +4 AS (not cumulative with Prone).

Breaking Free From CA On occasion, a player may wish to remove a Unit from a particularly dangerous CA entanglement. In game terms, this is when you use Movement while in BtB contact with an enemy Unit. While arguably cowardly, and certainly dangerous, Units can walk away from a fight. When moving out of CA, the Unit becomes more vulnerable to other attacks. A Unit may counter this by Distracting their opponent:
DISTR ACT The Unit attempts to flee without being hit by Distracting its opponent(s). To move a Unit out of CA, you must first declare your intention to Distract and spend 1 AP. Choose 1 CA weapon and roll against each enemy Unit in the CA. Enemy Units not hit receive a bonus AP they may immediately use to execute their own CA before any further Distract rolls are made. Enemy Units hit by a Distract roll do not take damage, that Unit has been Distracted and does not receive a bonus AP.

Diagram: Luckkit-kaii is in BtB with three Banes. They are all eligible targets for his Axe Arc Attack. The Axe Arc has a 2 range so first measure 2 out from the center of his base, this is easily enough to hit all 3 Banes but doesnt reach any Units behind them. Luckkit-kaii rolls a CA against the first Bane. The Axe Arc has an AS of 11 plus the Banes DF of 6 = TN 17. He rolls a 14, and hits. Now the Bane gets to roll an AR Save, if he passes he will not take any damage and the Axe Arc will not hit the next Bane in line. If the first Bane fails his AR Save however, he takes the damage of the attack and Luckkit-Kaii rolls a CA on the next Bane in line (with a -2 to the PW). Special CA Rules
Arc Attacks

BREAK FREE FROM CA 1. Spend 1 AP and declare a Distract attempt. 2. Roll against each enemy Unit in CA: To Distract, choose one weapon and roll as a CA. 3. Any Unit not Distracted receives a bonus AP To immediately execute a CA. 4. The Breaking Unit (if not Dying) may then move up to its MV statistic (for no additional AP) After resolving all Distract attempts, the Unit breaking free (if not Dying) may move up to its MV statistic (for no additional AP) and complete its Activation normally. The moving Unit may not, however, enter CA with any of the Units it Broke Free from for the remainder of its Activation. NOTE: Units may still not move through enemy Units when attempting to Break Free from CA.

27

Arc attacks are sweeping Close Assaults made on multiple target Units. The Assault is a 180 Arc from any point on the Units base. The player chooses the direction of the attack, right to left or left to right. The area impacted extends outward from the center of the attacking Units Base for 2 inches. The Unit spends the 1 AP needed for the Arc Attack and then measures out the range of the Arc to identify affected Units. Roll a CA for each Unit, friendly or enemy, resolving damage before moving on to the next. NOTE: The first roll is the only one that can Malfunction (MAL). For the first Unit hit, apply the PW of the weapon and resolve damage as normal. The PW of the attacking weapon reduces from the impact of every victim, so the attack receives a 2 PW before being applied to each successive Unit. This is cumulative with each Unit hit by the Arc Attack. If the attack has a Weapon Ability with its own TN (e.g., KP (15)), it also receives a -2 to the Abilitys TN for each Unit after the first that is hit by the Arc Attack. You can find more on Knock Prone (KP) in the relevant Abilities section. The Arc attack will only halt if it hits a Unit and fails to Wound or fails a Weapon Ability TN. NOTE: When using an Arc weapon on a Charge, all attacks gain +1 AS, +1PW.

Close Assault

Reach (RE)

Reach weapons represent large axes, long poles, whips or any weapon capable of a limited reach. This allows a Reach (RE) weapon to make Close Assault (CA) and short Ranged Assault (RA) attacks. REACH CLOSE ASSAULT Resolve as a normal CA except RE weapons make Breaking from CA harder. In order to Break from CA without being attacked by a Unit with a Reach weapon, the Breaking Unit must make two successful checks. If either fail, the Breaking Unit is attacked as normal. Only one free attack generates even if both attempts fail.

REACH RANGED ASSAULT A weapon with Reach will have RE followed by a number in parentheses in the RN field of the weapons statistics e.g., RE (2). The number in parentheses is RA range, in inches. Reach Ranged Assaults resolve as a normal RA, see below, and they also may use the Fire from Hold action. RE weapons may RA when in Base-to-Base contact with an enemy Unit. They may also make Ranged Assaults over Units of equal or lesser Size with no penalty and they ignore the Target Priorities and Firing into CA rules. NOTE: If an Ability like Pin or KP are on a RE weapon from Ranged Assault, if the Unit Breaks the Pin or stands from the KP they are not considered in BtB contact.

Luck kit-kaii utilizes a screen of Slaves to get the best use of his Reach Attack.

28

Core Rules

In this chapter, you will learn how your Units attack with ranged weapons, known as making a Ranged Assault (RA). R A Steps To make an attack using a RA weapon, follow these steps:
1. Check RF

7. Ranged assault
NOTE:

You must target the closest visible Enemy Unit in your Threat Zone even if it is not currently in Line of Sight. Example: Threat Zone Units within Threat Zone (10) A-Tempest Cover (-4 TN) B-Tempest - In open (no modifiers) C- Soul Searcher - In open (no modifiers)

RF is the number of times a Unit may use a weapon per Game Turn. Once a weapon has been used as many times as its RF statistic, it may not be used again that Game Turn. NOTE: You may not use a RA weapon when you are in BtB contact with an enemy Unit.
2. Spend AP

On the first Assault of an Attack Group, when making a RA, you must spend the AP before determining a Valid Target. You must guess if your desired target will be Valid, or not, before spending the AP. Subtract 1 AP from the Units remaining AP to attempt the RA (All Ranged Assaults require a Unit to spend 1 AP unless otherwise stated in the Notes). The APs spent for the attack are lost whether or not the RA succeeds. Remember that there is no pre-measuring in Dark Age so if you declare a Ranged Attack and then measure the distance to be further than the weapons maximum RN, the AP for the attack is wasted.
3. Select a Valid Target

A Battlefield is a chaotic place. Targets come and go in the blink of an eye. Units caught in the middle of the Battlefield must react to threats and target enemies. First and foremost are considerations of survival from imminent threats. As such, there are some basic rules for what targets a Unit may attempt to attack with a Ranged weapon. To perform a RA, you must find a Valid Target within your Line Of Sight. The second stipulation for a Valid Target is that it must be within the RN of your weapon. You must guess if the target is within Range. After you guess you must measure. Again, spend the AP for the attack regardless of whether it was truly in Range or not. Targeting Priorities-Threat Zone A Unit can make a RA at any Unit to which it has a clear Line of Sight (LOS). A Units Threat Zone is an area that extends 10 from its Base in all directions. A Unit making a Ranged Assault with one or more enemies in its Threat Zone must target the closest visible enemy Unit in its Threat Zone with at least one attack of the chosen Attack Group. Even if the enemy Unit is in Cover, panicked, or Prone it is a Valid Target unless totally obscured by Terrain. If the closest Enemy Unit has any negative TN modifiers to hit (such as Cover, panicked, CA, Prone, etc.), and there are other Enemy Units within the Threat Zone, then the attacker may choose the Unit with the least RA modifiers. If there are no Enemy Units within the Threat Zone, then the attacking Unit may target any Unit in its Line of Sight. You may ignore Dying Enemy Units within your Threat Zone.

Diagram: A Squad of Coils finds itself with three possible targets, a Squad of Tempests, a Squad of Soul Searchers, and Luckkit-kai. The Coils may choose to ignore Tempest A, even though she is the closest Unit, as she is in greater Cover than other models in the Threat Zone. Should they choose to fire the Coils have three choices: Tempest A (closest but with Cover), Tempest B (no Cover) or Soul Searchers C (no Cover). They may not target Luckkit-kaii or any other Soul Searchers outside of the Threat Zone, as there are other targets within the 10 area.
4. Determine TN

The attacking player determines the TN. First, apply any modifiers to either the attacking weapons Assault (AS) or the target Units Defense (DF) statistics. Then, add the defending Units DF to the AS of the attackers weapon to determine the TN. Example: The Coil has decided to make a RA against a Dragyri Spearslave with his Death Disk. The Coil adds his Death Disks AS to the Slaves DF to get the TN. The Death Disk has an AS of 5 and the Slave has a DF of 6. The TN would therefore be 11 (5 + 6 = 11), assuming there were no other modifiers.

29

Ranged Assault

5. Add R A Modifiers

Cover and Range can modify the TN of a Ranged Assault (RA). The following sections explain the various modifiers that may apply to the TN: RN Modifiers The TN is modified by -1 for every full 4 of Range between the attacking Unit and the target. Example: If a Coil were making a RA against a Dragyri Slingslave that is 12 away, he would suffer a -3 to his RA TN. If the Slingslave were 20 from the Coil, it would be at -5 TN. Cover Modifiers Players must agree upon the terrain types that provide Cover before the game begins. Cover can be anywhere between the Unit making a RA and the target Unit. At any given time, a Unit may only receive one type of Cover modifier (largest modifier). OUT OF COVER The Unit is standing completely in the Open. This means there is a clear and unobstructed LOS between the Unit PARTIAL COVER This is if a Unit is obscured but 50% or less covered by scenery or other Units. Examples of partial cover are small rocks and bushes, ammo boxes and crates, etc. *Partial Cover results in a -2 TN of the Unit making a RA. COVER This is provided if a Unit is more than 50% covered by any objects that obscure the target Unit. Some examples of Cover are high walls, steel grates, doorframes, other Units, large boulders, etc. *Cover results in a -4 TN of the Unit making a RA. FIRING THROUGH GAPS For a Unit to make a RA between other Units on the Battlefield, there must be a gap wide enough to draw a straight line without going over any Units base. If the base of either of the Units obscures any part of the target, a 4 TN Cover penalty applies regardless of how obscured the target actually is. FIRING OVER UNITS To make a RA over another Unit, the intervening Unit must be a Size smaller than either the Unit attempting the RA, or the target. If this obscures the target in any way a 4 TN applies to the attack attempt. COMPLETELY OBSCURED Cannot draw Line of Site to that Unit at all and all attacks automatically fail. (With the exception of certain Abilities that say otherwise). TERRAIN STANDS Terrain Stands are pieces of terrain constructed on large base sheets to represent clumps of thick but not Impassable terrain. Some examples of

Terrain Stands are a copse of trees, a group of rocks, or twisted steel beam stands. This type of terrain blocks Line of Sight (LOS) if they are over 4 thick. Units more than 4 inside these Stands are ineligible targets for Ranged Assault, nor may they RA outwards themselves. Units that are not 4 or more inside the stand receive Cover (Unless agreed upon otherwise before the game begins). The players should decide which scenery pieces count as Terrain Stands before the game begins.

Diagram: A Coil Squad is attempting to target a Squad of Spearslaves. The Closest Slave (C) is 3 inside the first Terrain Stand, Coil A is outside of the second Terrain Stand and thus may target Slave C (with appropriate Cover modifiers). Coil B however, is 2 inside the second Terrain Stand and the total amount of Terrain Stand between Coil B and Slave C is 5, thus Coil B may not fire at the Spearslaves.
NOTE:

Cover bonuses do not stack for any reason. Always just apply the largest penalty.

30

Ranged Assault

Aiming

A Unit may spend 2 AP to make a RA instead of 1 to Aim at a target Unit. The Aimed RA gains a +2 bonus to their AS. A Unit can make more than one Aimed RA as long as the weapons RF permits two or more shots, and the Unit has enough AP to pay for both (2 AP for each). NOTE: Aiming affects all weapons in the Attack Group used in the RA. Example 1: A Coils Death Disk costs 1 AP to fire. An Aimed RA with the Death Disk costs 2 AP, total. The Aimed RA receives a +2 to the TN. Example 2: A Weaponsmiths Gods Wraith Rifle costs 1 AP to fire Attack Group #3. An Aimed RA with the Gods Wraith Rifle costs 2 AP, total. The Aimed RA receives a +2 to all three attacks in Assault Group #3.
6. Roll D20

Special R A Rules
Firing Into a CA

In the swirling chaos of combat, risky shots are sometimes necessary to save comrades. However, these shots can go awry and other Units involved into CA may take the hit instead. Despite all this, you may fire into CA. When firing into a CA, the attackers TN is modified by -2, this modifier is cumulative to any other modifiers, such as Range, Aiming, etc. For each additional Unit in CA with the target add an additional -2 modifier. There is no Friendly Fire so if the attack misses the intended target it is missed and complete the attacking Units Activation if applicable. Example: A Bane franticly defends itself in CA with a two Dragyri Spearslaves 7 away from a Coil. The Coil attempts to assist the Bane by firing into the CA. First, the Coil picks his target Unit and works out the TN. In this case, the Coils AS is 5, the Spearslaves DF is 6. Factor in the RN modifier is 1 and then apply the 4 (-2 for the first slave plus -2 for the second slave) for Firing into CA, for a TN to hit the first Spearslave of 6.

After you determine your TN including any modifiers, roll a d20. If the roll is higher than the TN, then the RA fails to hit. If the roll is equal to or lower than the TN, you are successful in hitting your target. The target Unit will then have to make an AR Save to avoid taking damage. RA MODIFIERS
RANGE

PARTIAL COVER COVER FIRING THROUGH GAPS FIRING OVER UNITS TERRAIN STANDS

INDIRECT AIMING PRONE

-1 to TN penalty for each full 4 inches. -2 to TN, Cover penalty. -4 to TN, Cover penalty. -4 to TN, Cover penalty. -4 to TN, Cover penalty. -4 to TN, Cover penalty based on terrain type. Blocks LOS if 4+inches thick. -2 TN penalty. +2 TN bonus. -2 to TN penalty.

R A Critical Hits and Failures

When making a RA, a roll of a 1 is a Critical Hit. Critical Hits automatically succeed and negate all AR Saves. Likewise, all Weapon Abilities of the attack also succeed. A roll of a 20, conversely, is a Critical Failure. Critical Failures automatically miss. Furthermore, they cost the attacking Unit 1 additional AP (This penalty is not carried over to the next Game Turn if the critical failure was the Units last AP). The weapon may also Malfunction (MAL) if applicable. NOTE: If a Player wishes, they may choose to convert their Critical Hit to a normal success forcing the target to make an AR Save (all Weapon Abilities still automatically succeed).

A Unit of Coils attempt to help the Warwind by firing into combat.

31

Ranged Assault

Indirect Attacks

Blast (BL) Attacks

Some weapons allow RAs at Units that not visible through a normal LoS check. The Indirect Ability indicates weapons capable of such attacks. An Indirect attack requires a Spotter, who must have LoS to the target Unit, to use signals directing the attackers Assault. First, the AP for the attempt is spent. In order to make an Indirect Attack, the Unit making the RA and the Spotter may not be further apart than the attacking Units PS in inches. Next, measure the distance from the attacking Unit to the target Unit. If this distance exceeds the weapons maximum RN then the shot is wasted. The indirect shot is made with the firing Units AS with that weapon but any Cover modifiers are based on the Spotters perspective. There is an additional -2 TN for making an Indirect Attack. NOTE: Indirect shots must be able to land on their target so Indirect shots will not penetrate Architecture or other similar scenery.

This is a large Blast radius such as from a grenade. A Blast (X) label in its RN or Notes specifies a Blast weapon. Each possesses an accompanying number, e.g. BL (2). The number specifies the radius in inches (in) that the Blast affects from the target Point of Impact. All Units whose Bases are at least partially within the Blast radius suffer the effects of the attack. Find examples of all templates at the back of this rulebook.
Targeting a Blast Attack

Units making Blast Attacks do not target other Units; instead, they target a specific point on the Battlefield called the Point of Impact (PoI). This PoI may be anywhere within their normal Line of Sight including another Units Base. Units making Blast attacks may ignore normal Targeting Priority rules and the PoI may be anywhere within their normal Line of Sight. The DF of the PoI is always 3 and never affected by Cover modifiers (range and other modifiers are taken into account as normal). NOTE: While the Blast templates are circular, the Blasts themselves are spherical. Should a Blast go off at a point such as the base of wall, with a Unit standing on top, use the radius of the Blast attack for the height the Blast reaches.
Scattering Blast Attacks

Diagram: A Squad of Ravages is behind a 3in high wall and has no Line of Sight to an approaching Soul Searcher. A nearby Bane attempts to act as a Spotter. Ravage A spends the AP for the attempt and chooses his PoI. Measuring the distance between him and the PoI, it is within the maximum RN of the Ravages attack. As there is no Cover or RN modifier the Ravage will just have the 2 TN to the attempt. Ravage B attempts to do the same but finds itself 14in away from the Spotter, which is more than their PS of 13, and thus cannot make the attempt.
Area Of Effect (AoE) Weapons

Blast attacks generally dont just go away on a failed roll, but will Impact somewhere that they were not intended to. Roll a Scatter Roll to find where the new Point of Impact is. Divide the number rolled by 2 (rounding down) to find the number of inches the PoI Scatters, place the template in the new position, and work out the results as normal. The maximum a Blast can Scatter is half the distance between the Attacking Unit and the targeted PoI (rounded down). If a Blast weapons Point of Impact Scatters to a point further than maximum Scatter, the extra distance is ignored and the template is placed at the point of maximum Scatter. NOTE: If intervening terrain causes the final position of a scattered Blast to be out of LoS for the attacker (or its spotter), center the template at the point where the LoS ends.
Blast Attacks Critical Success And Failure

Some weapons are more powerful than normal and may impact a large area. These will usually be of the type Blast, Stream, or Spray. Examples of these are explosives, grenades, poisonous gas, irradiated clouds, etc. The Weapons statistics clearly note these types of attacks. Consult the following rules to see how to resolve each type of attack.

When making a Blast attack, a 1 automatically succeeds and called a Critical Success. The closest Unit under the template to the Point of Impact receives no AR Save and suffers all extra effects. Calculate the Damage for all other Units normally. On a roll of a 20, the Unit making the Blast attack loses an additional AP (This penalty is not carried over to the next Game Turn if the critical failure was the Units last AP). The weapon may also Malfunction (MAL) if applicable.
MAL of Blast Attacks

When a MAL occurs with a Blast weapon, center the Blast template over the Unit making the RA, then resolve the attack as normal.

32

Ranged Assault

a MAL find the new direction of the attack by making a Scatter Roll, and then place the template pointing so that the topmost point of the template is facing in the direction of the Scatter. The attacking Unit automatically suffers a hit and the normal rules for Units under, or touched by, the template apply.
Area of Effect Weapons and Terr ain

Even though these weapons use a template that does not mean they can penetrate terrain that completely obscures a Unit. You must have a Valid Target to use an AoE weapon. Should the AoE template cross terrain that that would normally prevent targeting then the effect stops there even if the template touches the Unit. Example: Two Soul Searchers are behind a large boulder (Completely Obscured) with a Deaths Device in front of the boulder. A Firestorm uses a Stream Attack on the Deaths Device (which is a Valid Target within Arc of Fire, LOS, range and closest in Threat Zone.) The template also touches the Soul Searchers. As the Soul Searchers are Completely Obscured they are not effected by the Stream attack.
Firing AoE Weapons into CA

Diagram: A Ravage attempts to throw a grenade amongst a Squad of Spearslaves. He chooses his Point of Impact, rolls and misses. He now makes a Scatter Roll. The roll comes up a 13 and the triangle points towards a Squad of Soul Searchers. The Point of Impact is moved 6 (13 / 2, round down) in the direction of the triangle on the d20, placing the grenade template at the new PoI.
Spr ay(SP) / Stream (ST) Attacks

Area of Effect weapons do not follow the rules for Firing into CA as they utilize either a PoI or a placed template to resolve their attacks. AoE weapons must follow their normal targeting rules and work out the attack as normal.

Spray Attacks are short, directional attacks that are cone shaped. Stream Attacks are longer, almost rectangular shaped directional attacks. Both use a template. Spray and Stream Attacks hit every Unit touched by the template, starting with a point at the edge of the attacking Units Base and extending to a rounded edge at the end of the template. The Unit with the Spray or Stream weapon must choose a target Unit and follow normal Targeting Priority rules. They must then place their template so that nearest point of the template touches the closest part of the attacking Units base. The centerline of the template must cross through the center of the target Units base (or as close as possible). As Spray / Stream attacks simply place templates, a Ranged Assault roll is not necessary to hit. A die is rolled however, to determine if Critical Successes or Critical Failures occur (Critical Failures only result in a loss of AP, not a miss). Spray / Stream weapons that have a MAL number also consult the d20 to see if the weapon Malfunctions (This is a straight unmodified d20 roll against the weapons MAL). NOTE: While the templates are flat, the effects are cone-shaped. Should a template targeting one Unit also have the potential of overlapping another Unit stood upon a wall, rotate the template to determine the height/depth the template reaches.
MAL of Spr ay / Stream Attacks

Even though these weapons have a designated Area of Effect, they still have the capability to Malfunction. On

Hoj and his merry bunch line up quite nicely for the Firstorms flame throwers.

33

Core Rules

Now that you have learned all about how to hit your opponent, it is time to learn how to Damage them. Units hit with RA, CA, some Castings, and other effects make AR Saves or suffer Damage.
Armor (AR) Saves

8. damage

After a successful hit, the target Unit must make an AR Save (if applicable). The weapon, or Casting has hit the target Unit but it may not lose any HP. AR can save a target from the nastiest of weapons or spells. Armor is not only the protective clothing a Unit wears, but can also represent other factors such as a natural hide, mutation, or the effect of certain drugs. To determine the TN, the player subtracts the weapons PW and any modifiers from the target Units AR. If the defending player rolls equal to or less than this TN, the target Unit takes no damage. NOTE: The Unit attempting to avoid damage makes an AR Save, not the Unit causing damage. Example: A Bane has successfully hit a Soul Warden with his Double Mace. The Double Mace has a PW of 4; the Soul Wardens AR is 16. The Soul Warden must now roll equal to or under his modified AR Save of 12 (16 4 = 12). If the Soul Warden succeeds, he will not take Damage. If the Soul Warden fails, he will have to Apply Damage
Power Multipliers

includes making Saves against Damage that exceeds their AR rating (for special cases involving PW multipliers see Overkill below). Similarly, a roll of a 20 automatically fails the AR Save and all possible Damage, including that from any Weapon Abilities. If the player rolls a 20 (Critical Failure) on an AR Save, the target Unit loses an additional HP. This represents an attack hitting a vital area. For weapons with a PW multiplier each 20 rolled on the AR Save causes the loss of 1 additional HP. NOTE: When making multiple AR Saves due to Power Multipliers, a 1 negates all damage and effects. However, when making multiple AR saves due to multiple weapon attacks, a 1 only negates one attack. Example 1: A Ravage makes a RA with a grenade, with Knock Prone, at a Soul Warden and hits. The Soul Warden rolls a d20 AR Save and the result is a 1. The Soul Warden takes no Damage, and does not have any chance of being Knocked Prone.

Example 2: A Ravage makes a RA with a grenade, with Knock Prone, at a Soul Warden, and hits. The Soul Warden rolls a d20 AR Save and the result is a 20. The Soul Warden now loses 1 HP, plus another HP for the Critical Failure, and is automatically Knocked Prone. Example 3: A Deaths Device attacks a Bane and hits. The Bane must now make an AR Save against a PW 10x2, the Bane rolls a 1 and a 20. The 1 negates all damage and effects. Example 4: A Soul Searcher attacks a Bane and hits with both attacks. The Bane must now make two AR saves against PW 7. The Bane rolls a 1 and a 20. The Critical Success (1) negates all damage and effects of one attack, and the Critical Failure (20) has the Bane lose 1 additional HP, and suffer all weapon effects.
Overkill

Designed to defeat armor, some weapons are much harder to survive. An x multiplier indicates these in their PW statistic (e.g., PW 6x2). This multiplier indicates the number of AR Saves the target must make to avoid damage. The defending player rolls all of the indicated AR Save attempts at the same time and assumes that they occurred in order, from lowest to highest. If any of the rolls fail, then the AR Save has failed. The exception to this is: if any of the dice rolled are a 1. In which case, you avoid all possible effects. Keep in mind that a roll of 20 would result in a critical AR failure as shown later in this Chapter. NOTE: As the die rolls are taken from lowest to highest, if a player rolls both a 1 and a 20, the roll of 1 would take precedence and all possible effects are ignored, including the extra effects of rolling a 20. Example: A Forsaken Coil fires a Death Disk at a Dragyri Soul Searcher. The Death Disk has a PW of 6x2, meaning that two AR Saves are required. The player must pass both to avoid taking damage. On a roll of a 1, the second AR Save is not important because a 1 saves against all Damage. In this example, the Soul Searchers AR is 16 meaning the Soul Searcher would need to roll 10 or less on both dice to make a successful save.
Critical Successes and Failures on an AR Save

Sometimes being lucky just isnt enough to defeat the overwhelming might of a weapons PW, or the extreme situation of being severely Ganged Up on. To show this, if the TN for an AR Save is 1 or less and the attacking weapon has a PW multiplier, then a single 1 is not lucky enough to save you. In these cases, you must roll a 1 for each multiplier. Example: A Sister of Compassion (AR 13) franticly defends herself in a CA, by three Spearslaves. A nearby Deaths Device decides to charge the Sister from behind, as well. He hits and determines the TN for the AR Save. The Deaths Devices weapon is PW 10x2, he gains +1 for each Spearslave, and +1 for the Charge. This makes his total PW 14x2 and the Sister now has to make two -1 AR Saves to avoid damage. In this case, a single 1 on either die is not enough to save her from this overwhelming attack and she must be lucky enough to roll as many 1s as the multiplier (which is two). Unless she rolls a double 1 she takes the Damage of the attack as normal.

When making AR Saves, a roll of a 1 automatically succeeds and negates all Damage that the attack could cause, including the effects of any Abilities. The roll of 1

34

Damage

Apply Damage

All attacks not saved by an AR check remove 1 HP each time they Damage a target. This is the standard damage but Abilities or Critical Failures on AR Saves (rolling a 20) can cause more. For attacks with Power Multipliers, the defending Unit does not lose HP for each failed roll. 1 HP is lost if any of the rolls fail (this may be modified by Abilities or Critical Failures). NOTE: Every Critical AR Save failure made against a Power Multiplier weapon adds 1 to the Damage taken.
Dying Units

Splitter crossbows hits, and fails both AR Saves, one with a Critical Failure of a 20. This drops Mark to 3 HP and means he has now taken twice his original HP in Damage. Regardless of any other Units Abilities, Immediately remove St. Mark from play. Example 3: Late in a game, St. Mark is on 1 HP. He suffers a hit from a Soul Splitters crossbow and fails his AR Save. This drops Mark to 0 HP and he is Dying. Since there are no Abilities in play that will keep Mark in play, the player removes him from play immediately. Example 4: A Soul Splitter hits a Firestorm who fails her Kaboom! check, and her AR Save. She receives a Fire (12) counter, and is Dying. As this Forcelist also has a Field Medic, her abilities Just a Flesh Wound and Hang In There Boys keeps the Firestorm in play. Spearslaves Activate and end their Movement in BtB with the Firestorm. The Field Medic Activates, moves around the Spearslaves, and restores 1 HP on the Firestorm. The Firestorm is still Prone and is now in CA with the Spearslaves. The Firestorm will resolve the Fire (12) counter normally next Lingering Effects stage.

Units reduced to 0 HP or less have suffered a mortal wound and are Dying. Dying Units are immediately removed from play unless a scenario condition or another friendly Ability in the game keeps them in play (see relevant Abilities section in the Forcelists); if the Unit is Dying and remains in play, mark the Unit with a Dying counter. Remove Units with Dying counters from play when they next Activate. If at any point a Dying Unit has lost twice its original HP it is immediately removed from play. Units wounded to this extreme point are beyond any recovery. A Dying Unit that has its HP raised back to 1 is still considered Prone. Units may move through a Dying Unit. You may not end your Movement with your Base overlapping the Dying Unit. Dying Units do not obscure LoS, nor provide Cover to other Units. They may be ignored if within your Threat Zone, and do not count as a Unit in CA. Dying Units do not gain bonus CA attacks for Cowardice Will not Be Tolerated and ignore them for purposes of Breaking Free from CA. Coherency checks ignore Dying Units. If a Dying Unit regains HP later they must be inside Coherency when they Activate, or they suffer the -2 OoC until they rejoin their original Squad. Dying Units keep and resolve all counters normally. Dying Units are considered Prone with one exception; they are even more vulnerable to CA. Any Unit making a CA against a Dying Unit gains +4 TN instead of the normal +2. Charge and Gang up Bonuses affect Dying Units. At the end of a game, and for the purposes of Panic, Dying Units count as casualties. If a Dying Unit is revived prior to the Squads Activation and brings the Squad Size to above half, or more, of their original Squad Size (rounded down), remove the Panic counter. Example 1: Late in a game, St. Mark is on 1 HP. He suffers a hit from a Soul Splitters crossbow and fails his AR Save. This drops Mark to 0 HP and he is Dying, As this Force also has a Field Medic, her Abilities Just a Flesh Wound and Hang In There Boys keeps Mark in play. St. Mark is Dying and given a Dying counter. The player will remove Mark from play during his next Activation if he is still dying. Example 2: A Dying St. Mark suffers two more Soul

A Unit of Ravages hold a choke point from a ravaging Skarrd horde.

35

Core Rules

Mor ale Tests

9. morale
Panic

Combat in the world of Dark Age is a violent and shockingly quick experience that can test the mettle of the most tempered warriors. Unexpected casualties, unknown and terrifying enemies, and horrific environmental conditions are but a few of the things that can break the will of combatants and turn the tide of battle. When these circumstances occur, the Units affected must test to see if they stand their ground or suffer the debilitating effects of broken Morale. This can include Fear or outright Panic. Make a Morale test by rolling equal to or under the Units PS statistic on a d20. Units within their Leaders SoI may use their Leaders PS statistic as normal.
Fear

Squad Coherency. Individuals may spend 1 AP to remove a Fear Counter from an affected Squad/Unit, the Individual must be within 8 and have LoS to an affected Unit or Unit of a Squad. If the Individual Unit passes a PS test, remove one Fear counter. If you remove all Fear counters, all Fear effects immediately expire. The Squad does not receive any more Fear counters caused by the same Unit. Fear effects are not cumulative from multiple Units that cause Fear or from repeated effects from the same Unit. Panic is an emotional state caused when a Squad sustains heavy casualties or an Individual suffers grievous wounds. A Squad receives a Panic counter when reduced to half, or less, of their original Squad Size (rounded down). An Individual receives a Panic Counter when reduced to half, or less, of their original HP (rounded down). Take a Panic test every time a Squad or Individual Activates and has a Panic counter. Only In Coherency Units count for this check e.g. a Squad of 8 Banes splits into two groups of four. When Activated, each group will act as if they were a Squad of 4 for Panic purposes. To make a Panic test, the Squad or Individual must roll equal to or under their PS on a d20. If the Panic test is successful, remove their Panic counter and they may act normally. Once a Squad or Individual makes a successful Panic test, they do not need to make any further Panic tests for the rest of the game. When a Panic test fails, the affected Units simply break ranks and must escape the battle by any means possible. To represent this, make a Scatter Roll, the direction the Panicked Units will move is set using the Panic Counter arrow. Panicked Units will continue to move in that direction until they recover from Panic, Die, or Leave the Table Edge. All members of a Squad will run in the same direction. Panicked Units must use all available AP to move in the set direction by the shortest possible path, and must move their full MV in inches for every AP spent. Panicked Units may only use AP for Movement. Panicked Units will only deviate from this direct path to avoid Terrain that is Impassible and even then, they will go around, or over, the Terrain feature via the shortest route. Panicked Units may move through any other Units (Including enemy Units or Units of a greater Size). However, any Unit they move through will get a free CA attack against them (See Cowardice will not be Tolerated below). Units that were already in CA when becoming Panicked are also subject to the Cowardice will not be Tolerated rule, i.e. they will move in the direction of their Panic counter and their opponent will automatically get a free CA against them. Note: If a panicked unit is not Removed From Play or leaves the battlefield it must make a Panic Check each subsequent activation.

Fear is a strong emotion that can cause the most powerful warrior to doubt himself and his abilities. Fear alone is not enough to debilitate a Unit completely. It is a common emotion on a violent Battlefield, but it can cause hesitation and reduce a Units effectiveness. FEAR FEAR TEST 1. Check 8 radius for Units that may be affected. 2. If the Fear causing Unit has a higher PS than the affected units, the affected Units receive a Fear Counter. FEAR COUNTER EFFECTS 1. All TNs for the affected Unit are at -2, except AR saves. 2. Effects last until the counter is removed or the Fear Causing Unit moves out of Fear range. NOTE: Fear is not cumulative and a Unit never suffers more than -2 TN for Fear at any one time. This does not mean that a Unit cannot have more than one Fear counter from different Fear-causing Units however. Units must remove all counters before the -2 TN for Fear no longer applies. A Unit that causes Fear has the Ability Cause Fear listed in its statistics. Fear affects all enemy Units within a 8 radius centered on the Unit with Cause Fear. Units that Activate within the 8 radius of a Fear-Causing Unit, or Units that move into the Fear radius receive a Fear Counter if their PS is lower than the Fear causing Units PS. Every Unit in a Squad is affected by Fear the instant a member of the Squad moves into the Fear radius. All Units affected by Fear receive a -2 TN (except AR saves). If the Squad contains a Leader Unit that has a PS value higher than that of the Fear Causing Unit, the Squad will not receive a Fear Counter. The Leader need not be in the 8 radius of the Fear Causing Unit, but must be in

36

Morale

PANIC TEST 1. Determine if a Unit has to test for Panic: If a Squad is reduced to half its starting Squad Size or less (rounded down). If an Individual is reduced to half its starting HP or less (rounded down). 2. Immediately upon its next Activation and before it spends any AP it must make a Panic test. 3. Make a Panic test by rolling equal to or under the Units PS (or the Leaders PS if the Unit is within its Leaders SoI). Success No Effect they may now act as normal and the Individual or Squad does not need to test for Panic for the rest of the game. Failure Individual or Squad becomes Panicked. 4. Make a Scatter Roll for the direction that the Panicked Units must move. Use the Panic counter to mark the direction. 5. Panicked Units will use all available AP to move in this direction. Panicked units in CA will be subject to the Cowardice will not be Tolerated rule. 6. Panicked Units re-test at the beginning of their Activation, every Game Turn until: they succeed, Die, or leave the field of play. NOTE: Remove Panicked Units from play when they move off the Battlefield. They count as Casualties for Victory purposes.
Cowardice will not be Toler ated

Diagram: A Squad of Coils finds themselves Panicked. They make a Scatter Roll and the triangle on the d20 points towards a Squad of Banes. Ignore the number on rolled on the d20. When Activated the Coils use all 3 AP to move in the direction of the triangle, with an MV of 3 this means they move 9. Coil A and Coil B each pass through the Base of a Bane while Coil C does not. The Banes must make an attack on the Coils that pass through their base. Even though the Banes may make more than one attack per AP, ignore this for the purpose of this attack, they may only make their single best attack against the fleeing Coils.
R allying Troops

The world of Dark Age is not a gentle place. If at any time a Panicked Unit contacts a non-Panicked Unit (from any Forcelist) of equal Size or larger, the non-Panicked Unit makes one bonus CA attack against the Panicked Unit. Even Units that are on the same Forcelist will not tolerate cowards and they must attack the Panicked Units. You must use the Units best weapon for the free CA (for this the best weapon is defined as the weapon with the highest PW). Weapons with a Power Multiplier use that also e.g., a PW 3x2 weapon counts as a PW 6 weapon for purposes of defining best weapon, but a PW 3x2 weapon when actually making the attack). Units affected by this rule do not make Break Free tests and thus may not attempt to Distract the attack. NOTE: This is not a free AP, it is only a free CA thus you may only choose your best CA weapon and make an attack with it.

Individuals can spend AP to let Squads or Individuals roll a Panic or Fear test. If an Individual is within 8 of a Squad or Individual affected by Fear or Panic (The Rallying Individual only needs to be within 8 of one member of a Squad to make the Rally attempt), they may spend an AP to allow that Squad or Individual to re-take the test immediately, using the PS of the Rallying Unit. An Individual can make only one Rally attempt in a Game Turn. The Rallying Individual must have a higher PS than the Squad or Individual they are attempting to Rally in order to try a Rally test (If a Squad has a Leader then the Individual making the Rally attempt must have a higher PS than the Leader). If the Rally attempt fails, the Squad or Individual is still affected by Panic or Fear and will still be affected by anything associated with being in that state. Any Rally attempts do not affect a Panicked Units own test, and they still make a Fear or Panic check as normal in their own Activation. A Rally test works on a Unit with a Panic or Fear counter, regardless of whether they have suffered from these effects yet. Example: A Squad of Coils has been reduced to half, or less, of their original Squad Size, and are marked with a Panic counter. They will make a Panic test at the start of their next Activation. Before their next Activation, Saint Mark moves within 8 and attempts to Rally them. Even though the Coils have not suffered from any ill effects or even made their Panic test yet they still make an immediate test to lose the counter.

37

Core Rules

Statistics

10. casting
R ange (RN)

Used to describe the mystical, mental, and/or biological abilities used in Dark Age such as Foci, Psychogenics, Bio-Gens, etc. This information appears in the appropriate Forcelist. Below is an example of a Focus Card:
Description

The word Normal here means that you follow the normal rules for a MAL weapon, i.e. Caster takes the hit. Range (RN) is the distance the Casting may be Cast. Self - The Casting either solely affects the Caster in some way or it is centered on the Caster. SP or ST means that the Casting uses a Stream or Spray template. A number represents the range, in inches measured from the Caster that the effect may reach. NOTE: Having a RN in inches does not mean the Caster cannot target itself. Using a Casting To Use a Casting you must perform the following steps:
1. Check The RF

Here you will find a description of the Casting itself and any Special Effects it may have.
Assault (AS) / Target Number (TN)

Each Casting has either an AS or a TN statistic to show the difficulty of a particular Casting. Casting uses the Casters PS; the TN may also have a number in parentheses, e.g. PS (2). Subtract this number from the Casters PS stat for purposes of the test.
R ate of Fire (RF)

RF is the maximum number of uses in one Game Turn of this Casting. A - means there is no limit on the number of uses per Game Turn.
Power (PW)

Castings create a wide array of effects represented in the PW Statistic. A number in this field represents a physical effect, which will require an AR Save from the target Unit on a successful hit. NOTE: Physical effects follow the Rules for RA Modifiers. A PS in this field represents a Psyche effect requiring PS test from the target Unit to avoid its effects. This may also have a number in parentheses, e.g. PS (2). This number is subtracted from the targets TN for this save.

RF is the maximum number of uses in one Game Turn of this Casting. Factors such as casting time or the difficulty in handling the energy needed for the Casting make rapid use difficult. Once a Casting has been used as many times as its RF statistic, it may not be used again that Game Turn. Unless an Ability says otherwise, a Unit may not perform a Casting from Hold.
2. Spend AP

A - in this field will follow the relevant Description and Notes to find out what effects the Casting has. NOTE: - effects are not affected by the Rules for RA Modifiers.
Malfunction (MAL)

When performing a Casting, you must spend the AP before determining a Valid Target. You must guess if your desired target will be Valid, or not, before spending the AP. Subtract 1 AP from the Units remaining AP to attempt the Casting (All Castings require a Unit to spend 1 AP unless otherwise stated in the Notes). The APs spent for the attempt are lost whether or not the Casting succeeds. Remember that there is no pre-measuring in Dark Age so if you declare a Casting and then measure the distance to be further than the effects maximum RN, the AP for the attack is wasted.
3. Select a Valid Target

Some Castings are particularly difficult to get right and may go wrong in some way. The MAL represents this possibility, and works in the same way as a weapons MAL number (If the d20 roll is equal to or higher than this number then a MAL has occurred). There is also a MAL description to describe what happens when the Casting goes wrong.

To perform a Casting, you must find a Valid Target within your Units Line of Sight. The second stipulation for a Valid Target is that it must be within the RN of your Casting. You must guess if the target is within Range. After you guess, you must measure. Again, spend the AP for the Casting regardless of whether it was truly in Range or not.

38

Casting

Measure R ange (in inches) to Target

Measure from the Casting Units Base to the target point (whether another Unit or a PoI). If the range is equal to or under the RN of the Casting, roll to check for success. If the measurement shows that the target point is out of range, the attempt has failed and the AP for the attempt is wasted. NOTE: There is no pre-measuring in Dark Age and this affects Castings as well. If a Casting has a physical effect or -, you must pick the Unit or PoI first before any measuring. Example: A Soul Warden would like to Cast Ice Wall. The Player first places the Ice Wall template where he would like it to be and then measures the distance from the Soul Wardens Base to the closest point on the Ice Wall template. If this is further than the 12 RN of Ice Wall, then the Casting attempt has failed and the AP is wasted.
4. Determine Casting TN

attempt more than one Aimed Casting per Game Turn as long as the Casting Unit has the APs left and the Casting has a high enough RF. NOTE: Aiming affects all weapons in the Attack Group used in the Casting. Only Castings with a Physical Effect may be aimed.
5. Roll D20

After you determine your TN including any modifiers, roll a d20. If the roll is higher than the TN, then the Casting fails to hit. If the roll is equal to or lower than the TN, you are successful in hitting your target. If the target is a Unit, it may then have to make a PS or an AR Save to avoid the Castings Effects.
Casting Critical Hits and Failures

To make a Casting TN check, roll a d20. A roll of equal to or under the TN is a success; a roll higher than the TN is a failure. NOTE: Any Castings that incur an AR or PS save are considered to be a Physical Effect and are affected by all RA modifers. Example 1: A Soul Warden (PS 16) casts Glacial Spike (PS(8)) at a Bane (DF 6) 8 away, behind small rocks (Partial Cover). As Glacial Spike is a Physical Effect it requires an AR Save and is affected by the rules for RA modifiers. The Soul Warden determines his casting TN: Soul Warden PS 16 Glacial Dart PS(8) = 8 + Bane (DF 6) = 14 - RN modifier (-2) = 12 - Partial Cover (-2) = 10. The final TN is 10. The Soul Warden rolls a 10 for a successful hit. The Bane now must make an AR Save against a PW 8. Example 2: A Tribal Father (PS 18) casts Provoking Ridicule (PS(8)) at a Bane (DF 6) 12 away, behind small rocks (Partial Cover). The Tribal Father determines his Casting TN: Tribal Father PS 18 - Provoking Ridicule PS(8) = 10 + Bane (DF 6) = 16 - 2 (Partial Cover) -3 (RN Modifier). The Final TN is 11. The Tribal Father rolls a 10 for a successful hit. The Bane now must make an PS save against a PS(4). Example 3: A Soul Warden (PS 16) casts Ice Patch (PS). He picks a PoI 12 away. As Ice Patch is an - Effect it ignores the rules for RA modifiers. Soul Warden determines his Casting TN: Soul Warden PS 16 - Ice Patch (PS) = 16. The Final TN is 16. Soul Warden rolls a 14 for a successful attempt. The BL (3) template is now centered on the PoI and the effects of KP (15) is resolved (if any Units are under the template).
Aiming a Casting

When making a RA, a roll of a 1 is a Critical Hit. Critical Hits automatically succeed and negate all Saves. Likewise, all additional Abilities of the Casting also succeed. A roll of a 20, conversely, is a Critical Failure. Critical Failures automatically miss. Furthermore, they cost the Unit 1 additional AP (This penalty is not carried over to the next Game Turn if the critical failure was the Units last AP). The Casting may also Malfunction (MAL) if applicable. NOTE: If a Player wishes, they may choose to convert their Critical Hit to a normal success forcing the target to make a Save (all Abilities still automatically succeed).
6. Check for MAL

Whether or not the Casting roll fails, there is a chance for a MAL. If the d20 roll is equal to or over the MAL stat of a Casting then it has Malfunctioned. Check the MAL listing in the Casting listing for the effect. NOTE: In some situations, it is possible for a Casting to both MAL and still hit its target.
7. Target Unit Rolls AR or PS Save

The target Unit may save against some Castings with a PS Save. Other Castings simulate Physical Effects requiring an AR Save in place of a PS Save. For either type of Save, take the target Units relevant statistic and subtract either the PS (x) number (for PS Saves) or the PW stat (For AR Saves) to get the TN. The d20 roll to Save must be equal to or under this number to avoid the effects of the Casting.
8. Apply Damage or Effects of Casting

A Casting Unit may spend an additional AP to make an Aimed Casting attempt. The Aimed attempt gains a +2 bonus to the TN. For a Casting that does not affect a target point (such as those targeting on the Casting Unit) the Aiming represents a moment or two of extra concentration. Units may

If the target Unit fails an AR Save against a Casting that simulates a Physical Effect, the target Unit loses 1 HP (Unless the Casting or Focus has an Ability that says otherwise, e.g. Extreme Damage (ED). For all other Castings, refer to the relevant entries in the Forcelist. NOTE: A Unit may only be under the effects of one friendly and one enemy Casting at any time. If a Unit is hit by a Casting that has a different effect, it supersedes the older effect.

39