SotonShades
12-15-2011, 07:35 PM
Hello dearest, darkest denizens of BoLS
No-longer Sotonshades here (having recently moved away from Southampton/soton) with a blast from the past. While moving house I rediscovered a well read, extremely battered printed PDF from an old White Dwarf article from the end of 3rd Edition 40k (or it might have been 4th Ed. but I don't believe so), aimed at giving you more varied missions for pick-up games of our favourite table top wargame. Not only were there three different deployment types (as we have now) but a total of 10 missions! Makes our current 3 seem a little... short sighted, shall we say. But wait; there's more! Rather than one player rolling for a mission, both players roll. This means while you may be fighting to defend the objectives nearest you, your opponant might be just doing his level best to simply assasinate your general.
Back in the day I remembered having a lot of fun with these missions (especially as all we ever played back then at the store were variations on Cleanse... ask your local Longfang for an explanation if you don't remember this venerable mission!) I figure if it worked way back then, why couldn't it work now? Well, aside from a few changes to rule, it looks like it pretty much does. Here, for your gaming pleasure, I present
The Rules of Engagement
Objective Markers
Rules of Engagement requires that each player has two objective markers. This gives players the oppertunity to make items relating to their army. All measurements are taken from the centre of the marker, so the exact size does not matter (though a 60mm round base is recommended). Objective markers do not block line of sight and are never considered difficult terrain, regardless of how the model looks.
Armies and Terrain
Armies are chosen from the normal Force Organisation Chart. Points values should be decided by both players beforehand. While Rules of Engagement works for any size game, it has been our experience that 1500 points is the optimum for exciting, well-paced games.
Terrain should be deployed in any mutually agreed upon manner, covering roughly 25% of the board and should be divided equally between Line Of Sight blocking terrain that provides cover (such as woods or ruins), terrain that provides cover but does not block LOS (barricades, craters, scrubland and rubble) and terrain that blocks LOS completely (hills, rocky outcrops and buildings for example); as you would for a normal game chosen from the missions in the BRB.
Deployment
To determine deployment type, roll a D6 and consult the chart below. Players then roll off, with the player that rolled the highest choosing which deployment zone to set-up in, however they do not deploy their forces yet.
1-2 Pitched Battle
3-4 Spearhead
5-6 Recon
Pitched Battle
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6518297827_02fbf8be43_z.jpg
Each Deployment Zone is 12" on from the long board edges.
Spearhead
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6518297913_40506d7484_z.jpg
The table is divided into quarters, formed by drawing two perpendicular imaginary lines through the centre of the board. No models may be deployed within 12" of the centre of the board. The winner of the roll off may choose any of the table quarters as his own, with his opponant taking the opposite quarter.
Recon
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6518297985_87f8db904d_z.jpg
Mark points 18" away from opposite corners and connect them with two parrallel imaginary lines, as shown in the diagram above. The resulting corridor is no man's land, with the deployment zones being either side of it.
Place Objective Markers
Starting with the player who won the roll off for Deployment Zones, players take it in turns to place their objective markers on the board. Each player must place one objective marker in their deployment zone and one in No-Man's Land; the area of the board that isn't either player's deployment zone. Each objective marker must be farther than 6" from any table edge and must be at least 18" away from any other objective markers. Players alternate until all 4 objective markers have been deployed.
After all the objective markers have been deployed each player rolls a scatter dice for their markers. If a 'Hit' is rolled, the marker remains in place. If an arrow is rolled, the marker moves D6 inches in the direction shown. Note, this may mean that markers end up within 6" of a table edge or 18" of another marker.
Players should be aware that you will be randomly determining which, if any, of the objective markers you need to control to win the game/ Placement is therefore crucial as you may end up haveing to defend the objectives you place, or likewise attack you enemy's markers.
Scenario Missions
After all terrain and objective markers have been set-up, it is time to determine your orders! Each player rolls 2D6 and consults the chart below. Both players should tell their opponant which mission the rolled, what their objectives are and which special rules are in effect for them.
2 --- Assassinate
3 --- Sabotage
4 --- Lightning Raid
5 --- Foothold
6 --- Hold Out
7 --- Firebase
8 --- Bridgehead
9 --- Rescue
10 --- Unconventional Warefare
11 --- Hold the Line
12 --- Bombardment
Assasinate
Objective 1: You must destroy the enemy general. If a player has more than one HQ choice that may act as general, they must nominate before the game which model is their general.
Objective 2: You must control one enemy Objective Marker.
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Infiltrate.
Sabotage
Objective: You must destroy both enemy Objective Markers in close combat. Every non-vehicle unit carries the charges for this task but you can only use them to destroy enemy objective markers. To destroy an objective, a unit must end your movement phase in base-to-base contact with it and spend their entire assault phase doing nothing other than setting the charges. At the end of your assault phase, the objective is destroyed. The destoryed objective cannot be controlled by either side and should be removed from the table after the assault phase.
Special Rules: Infiltrate.
Lightning Raid
Objective 1: You must have two units above 50% or two mobile vehicle in the enemy deployment zone at the end of the game.
Objective 2: You must control any one enemy objective marker.
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Infiltrate.
Foothold
Objective: You must control BOTH enemy objective markers
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Infiltrate.
Hold Out
Objective: You must control BOTH of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: None.
Firebase
Objective: You must control any two objective markers.
Special Rules: None.
Bridgehead
Objective 1: You must control any one of your objective markers.
Objective 2: You must control any one of the enemy objective markers.
Special Rules: Infiltrate.
Rescue
Objective 1: You must rescue one enemy objective marker. To do this, any non-vehicle unit in your army must spend one full movement phase in base-to-base contact with the objective marker to recover data, gather information etc. Once this has been done, the item has been rescued. The Objective marker stays where it is and can be controlled by either side.
Objective 2: You must control one of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: Infiltrate.
Unconventional Warfare
Objective: You must control any two randomly determined objective markers. Randomise by numbering the markers and rolling two D6. On a 5 or 6 you may choose which objective marker you wish to control.
Special Rules: Deep Strike.
Hold the Line
Objective 1: You must have more friendly units than enemy units in your deployment zone at the end of the game.
Objective 2: You mst control one of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: None.
Bombardment
Objective 1: You must reduce all enemy non-vehicle units to under 50%.
Objective 2: You must control one of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: Preliminary Bombardment.
At the start of the game (after deployment, but before the first turn) roll a D6 for each non-vehicle unit in the enemy army. On a 6, that unit takes D6 wounds, with armour and invulnerable saves (but not cover saves) allowed. The unit must also pass a leadership test or be pinned for their first turn. This includes units embarked in transport vehicles. Units held in reserve are not effected by Preliminary Bombardment.
Deploy Forces and First Turn
The player who won the roll off and chose the deployment zone deploys his army first, keeping any units they wish to in Reserve. Any units that are able to Deep Strike can only do so if the mission allows, even if they are normally allowed to regardless of if the mission allows (such as Space Marine Terminators.) The only exception to this rule are units that can ONLY deploy via Deep Strike, such as Space Marine Drop Pods and Tyranid Mysetic Spores, which Deep Strike normally. Similarly, units with the Infiltrate USR can only do so if the mission allows. Additionally, units with the Infiltrate or Scout USRs can only Outflank if the mission has the Infiltrate special rule.
The player who deployed first gets the first turn. The other player, however, may attempt to steal the initiative on a D6 roll of 6.
Controlling Objective Markers
Many of the missions require you to control one or more of the objective markers. To control an objective marker, you must have more MODELS from units from your Troops allowance than the enemy within 3" of the centre of the objective marker. Models that have gone to ground/pinned or are falling back do not count for the purpose of controlling objectives. Units with the Swarm Special rule, or any unit that has any other special rule which specifies that it never counts as a scoring unit, likewise cannot control an objective marker. Vehicles with a base front armour higher than 12 count as two models for the purpose of controlling objective markers.
Ending the Game
Rules of Engagement games last a random number of turns - between five and seven. At the end of game turn 5, a player must roll a D6. On a 3+, a game turn 6 is played. If this is the case, at the end of game turn 6, a player must roll another dice. This time, on a 4+ a game turn 7 is played. At the end of game turn 7 the game ends automatically.
Victory Conditions
The player who achieves the most objectives from their mission wins the game. If both players have achieved the same number, the game is a tactical draw. As always, wiping out your opponant is an automatic victory, regardless of objectives.
Right, so that is it from me for now. I may add the fluff reasons for the missions at some point, or if asked politely. Have at it and have fun. Feel free to point out if I have missed out something glaringly obvious, or any other comments criticisms. That said, please have a couple of games with these rules before chewing them out too badly :P
Shades
No-longer Sotonshades here (having recently moved away from Southampton/soton) with a blast from the past. While moving house I rediscovered a well read, extremely battered printed PDF from an old White Dwarf article from the end of 3rd Edition 40k (or it might have been 4th Ed. but I don't believe so), aimed at giving you more varied missions for pick-up games of our favourite table top wargame. Not only were there three different deployment types (as we have now) but a total of 10 missions! Makes our current 3 seem a little... short sighted, shall we say. But wait; there's more! Rather than one player rolling for a mission, both players roll. This means while you may be fighting to defend the objectives nearest you, your opponant might be just doing his level best to simply assasinate your general.
Back in the day I remembered having a lot of fun with these missions (especially as all we ever played back then at the store were variations on Cleanse... ask your local Longfang for an explanation if you don't remember this venerable mission!) I figure if it worked way back then, why couldn't it work now? Well, aside from a few changes to rule, it looks like it pretty much does. Here, for your gaming pleasure, I present
The Rules of Engagement
Objective Markers
Rules of Engagement requires that each player has two objective markers. This gives players the oppertunity to make items relating to their army. All measurements are taken from the centre of the marker, so the exact size does not matter (though a 60mm round base is recommended). Objective markers do not block line of sight and are never considered difficult terrain, regardless of how the model looks.
Armies and Terrain
Armies are chosen from the normal Force Organisation Chart. Points values should be decided by both players beforehand. While Rules of Engagement works for any size game, it has been our experience that 1500 points is the optimum for exciting, well-paced games.
Terrain should be deployed in any mutually agreed upon manner, covering roughly 25% of the board and should be divided equally between Line Of Sight blocking terrain that provides cover (such as woods or ruins), terrain that provides cover but does not block LOS (barricades, craters, scrubland and rubble) and terrain that blocks LOS completely (hills, rocky outcrops and buildings for example); as you would for a normal game chosen from the missions in the BRB.
Deployment
To determine deployment type, roll a D6 and consult the chart below. Players then roll off, with the player that rolled the highest choosing which deployment zone to set-up in, however they do not deploy their forces yet.
1-2 Pitched Battle
3-4 Spearhead
5-6 Recon
Pitched Battle
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6518297827_02fbf8be43_z.jpg
Each Deployment Zone is 12" on from the long board edges.
Spearhead
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6518297913_40506d7484_z.jpg
The table is divided into quarters, formed by drawing two perpendicular imaginary lines through the centre of the board. No models may be deployed within 12" of the centre of the board. The winner of the roll off may choose any of the table quarters as his own, with his opponant taking the opposite quarter.
Recon
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6518297985_87f8db904d_z.jpg
Mark points 18" away from opposite corners and connect them with two parrallel imaginary lines, as shown in the diagram above. The resulting corridor is no man's land, with the deployment zones being either side of it.
Place Objective Markers
Starting with the player who won the roll off for Deployment Zones, players take it in turns to place their objective markers on the board. Each player must place one objective marker in their deployment zone and one in No-Man's Land; the area of the board that isn't either player's deployment zone. Each objective marker must be farther than 6" from any table edge and must be at least 18" away from any other objective markers. Players alternate until all 4 objective markers have been deployed.
After all the objective markers have been deployed each player rolls a scatter dice for their markers. If a 'Hit' is rolled, the marker remains in place. If an arrow is rolled, the marker moves D6 inches in the direction shown. Note, this may mean that markers end up within 6" of a table edge or 18" of another marker.
Players should be aware that you will be randomly determining which, if any, of the objective markers you need to control to win the game/ Placement is therefore crucial as you may end up haveing to defend the objectives you place, or likewise attack you enemy's markers.
Scenario Missions
After all terrain and objective markers have been set-up, it is time to determine your orders! Each player rolls 2D6 and consults the chart below. Both players should tell their opponant which mission the rolled, what their objectives are and which special rules are in effect for them.
2 --- Assassinate
3 --- Sabotage
4 --- Lightning Raid
5 --- Foothold
6 --- Hold Out
7 --- Firebase
8 --- Bridgehead
9 --- Rescue
10 --- Unconventional Warefare
11 --- Hold the Line
12 --- Bombardment
Assasinate
Objective 1: You must destroy the enemy general. If a player has more than one HQ choice that may act as general, they must nominate before the game which model is their general.
Objective 2: You must control one enemy Objective Marker.
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Infiltrate.
Sabotage
Objective: You must destroy both enemy Objective Markers in close combat. Every non-vehicle unit carries the charges for this task but you can only use them to destroy enemy objective markers. To destroy an objective, a unit must end your movement phase in base-to-base contact with it and spend their entire assault phase doing nothing other than setting the charges. At the end of your assault phase, the objective is destroyed. The destoryed objective cannot be controlled by either side and should be removed from the table after the assault phase.
Special Rules: Infiltrate.
Lightning Raid
Objective 1: You must have two units above 50% or two mobile vehicle in the enemy deployment zone at the end of the game.
Objective 2: You must control any one enemy objective marker.
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Infiltrate.
Foothold
Objective: You must control BOTH enemy objective markers
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Infiltrate.
Hold Out
Objective: You must control BOTH of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: None.
Firebase
Objective: You must control any two objective markers.
Special Rules: None.
Bridgehead
Objective 1: You must control any one of your objective markers.
Objective 2: You must control any one of the enemy objective markers.
Special Rules: Infiltrate.
Rescue
Objective 1: You must rescue one enemy objective marker. To do this, any non-vehicle unit in your army must spend one full movement phase in base-to-base contact with the objective marker to recover data, gather information etc. Once this has been done, the item has been rescued. The Objective marker stays where it is and can be controlled by either side.
Objective 2: You must control one of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: Infiltrate.
Unconventional Warfare
Objective: You must control any two randomly determined objective markers. Randomise by numbering the markers and rolling two D6. On a 5 or 6 you may choose which objective marker you wish to control.
Special Rules: Deep Strike.
Hold the Line
Objective 1: You must have more friendly units than enemy units in your deployment zone at the end of the game.
Objective 2: You mst control one of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: None.
Bombardment
Objective 1: You must reduce all enemy non-vehicle units to under 50%.
Objective 2: You must control one of your own objective markers.
Special Rules: Preliminary Bombardment.
At the start of the game (after deployment, but before the first turn) roll a D6 for each non-vehicle unit in the enemy army. On a 6, that unit takes D6 wounds, with armour and invulnerable saves (but not cover saves) allowed. The unit must also pass a leadership test or be pinned for their first turn. This includes units embarked in transport vehicles. Units held in reserve are not effected by Preliminary Bombardment.
Deploy Forces and First Turn
The player who won the roll off and chose the deployment zone deploys his army first, keeping any units they wish to in Reserve. Any units that are able to Deep Strike can only do so if the mission allows, even if they are normally allowed to regardless of if the mission allows (such as Space Marine Terminators.) The only exception to this rule are units that can ONLY deploy via Deep Strike, such as Space Marine Drop Pods and Tyranid Mysetic Spores, which Deep Strike normally. Similarly, units with the Infiltrate USR can only do so if the mission allows. Additionally, units with the Infiltrate or Scout USRs can only Outflank if the mission has the Infiltrate special rule.
The player who deployed first gets the first turn. The other player, however, may attempt to steal the initiative on a D6 roll of 6.
Controlling Objective Markers
Many of the missions require you to control one or more of the objective markers. To control an objective marker, you must have more MODELS from units from your Troops allowance than the enemy within 3" of the centre of the objective marker. Models that have gone to ground/pinned or are falling back do not count for the purpose of controlling objectives. Units with the Swarm Special rule, or any unit that has any other special rule which specifies that it never counts as a scoring unit, likewise cannot control an objective marker. Vehicles with a base front armour higher than 12 count as two models for the purpose of controlling objective markers.
Ending the Game
Rules of Engagement games last a random number of turns - between five and seven. At the end of game turn 5, a player must roll a D6. On a 3+, a game turn 6 is played. If this is the case, at the end of game turn 6, a player must roll another dice. This time, on a 4+ a game turn 7 is played. At the end of game turn 7 the game ends automatically.
Victory Conditions
The player who achieves the most objectives from their mission wins the game. If both players have achieved the same number, the game is a tactical draw. As always, wiping out your opponant is an automatic victory, regardless of objectives.
Right, so that is it from me for now. I may add the fluff reasons for the missions at some point, or if asked politely. Have at it and have fun. Feel free to point out if I have missed out something glaringly obvious, or any other comments criticisms. That said, please have a couple of games with these rules before chewing them out too badly :P
Shades