ALTERNATIVE COMBAT SYSTEM

By Tommy "Punk" Fransson

Roll to hit as normal and each hit scored may cause damage. Damage is worked out by rolling a D6 and adding the attackers Strength then subtracting the defenders Toughness plus Wounds or Damage=(D6+S)-(T+W). The final sum is then looked up on the Injury Table to see what damage and effect was caused. You may of course save as normal with armour, this part only uses a different way to work out of damage was casued at all. Note that Wounds are never reduced as they are only a measure of the force needed to bring down the model.

Lay the model face up to represent it being Knocked Down. In your next turns Recovery Phase the model may stand up and may use up to half his normal move, but he may not run or charge. While being knocked down the model may not fight and all successful hits against a Knocked Down model will take him Out of Action. An opponent in base contact with a Knocked Down model may move away from combat if he wishes but not if he is still in base contact with an enemy model that is still standing. If a Knocked Down model stands up in base contact with an enemy there is a hand-to-hand combat situation, but noone count as charging and the model that stands up strikes last regardless of weapon or Initiative.

If you are using the Simultaneous System in the next Recovery Phase the model may stand up on the roll of 4+. He may fight in hand-to-hand combat but need natural 6's to hit.

Lay the model face down as opposed to face up for Knocked Down. In the Recovery Phase turn the model face up and treat it as Knocked Down from then on. While being Stunned the model may not fight and a hit directed against, no need to roll to hit, a Stunned model in will take him Out of Action. An opponent in base contact with a Stunned model may move away from combat if he wishes, but not if he is still in base contact with a model standing up. A model that is stunned may crawl up to 2" in the Movement Phase.

If you are using the Simultaneous System in the next Recovery Phase the model may only be turned into Knocked Down on the roll of 4+. A Stunned model may not fight at all, but may crawl up to 2" in the Movement Phase.

The model is removed from the battle as a well aimed blow takes him out.

Bludgeoning weapons are excellent at knocking people senseless. When using a hammer, staff, mace or club a result of 5-6 is treated as a "Crippled" result.

If WS or BS reaches 0 due to injury effects then the model is immediatly taken "Out of Action" as it is battered into unconsciousness.

CRITICAL HITS

If you roll a natural 6 when rolling To Hit you have caused a Critical Hit which stand a far greater chance of causing damage. Roll on the Critical Hit Table to find out the effect. Note that you do not cause a Critical Hit if you needed a 6 to hit at all. Also a natural 6 on the Injury Roll (D6+S) also causes a Critical Hit. If you manage to roll two Critical Hits add the effects together.

1 The hit sends the defenders weapon flying through the air: The model looses the weapon it is using now and must fight the rest of this battle with a spare weapon or fight barehanded. A model with no weapons that is hit by this Critical Hit add +1 on the Injury Table, note that natural weapons such as claws do not count as bare handed or no weapons.

2-3 The hit shatters the defenders shield: The hit ignores armour and in addition the defender looses its shield for the rest of this battle. If the defender was not equipped with a shield, then in addition add +1 on the Injury Table.

4-5 The hit penetrates the armour and delivers a powerful blow: No armour save is allowed and in addition add +1 on Injury Table

6 The hit penetrates the armour and strikes a vital organ: No armour save is allowed and in addition add +2 on Injury Table

SIMULTANEOUS SYSTEM

In our gaming group we almost always fight a multi-player combat so the normal alternating turn system doesn't work. At the start of each turn each player roll a D20 and place the dice next his rooster sheet or anywhere out of the way. In each phase the player with the highest number acts followed by the next highest number. By rolling the dice at the start of every turn you are never sure when you are going to move and must plan for that.

Of course this causes some problems when the rules assume that your opponent gets a full turn before it's your turn. The combat and magical system suffers from this but I have added rules for both the Alternating System and the Simultaneous System.

KEEPING TRACK OF WOUND EFFECTS

Tuomas Pirinen raised some concerns about wound effects "Keeping track of so many models with different critical effects can be a bit mind-boggling, and very difficult to represent in a way that playability does not suffer."

I agree that it may be too much, especially with very large warbands but there are a number of ways to make sure this system works with a minimum of book keeping. I write my Warbands on a computer and then print out a rooster sheet. I leave enough space to note wound effects and penalties on it. Sometimes I make columns or squares to reserve space for penalty notes. When a model suffers a penalty I add a stripe and if it looses EG a shield I scratch it from the rooster. When I roll to hit I give the rooster a quick glance to see how low the models WS or BS is.

The biggest problem is to keep track of which model suffered how many penalties. If you stick little number stickers (like the ones you get in VHS cassettes) or paint numbers on the bases you can number your rooster, just make sure the number is consistent with the ones in the rooster. A great looking alternative is to name all the models and paint their names on the bases. Im going to do this to a few of my models but I will also use them as characters and champions in my WFB armies. Another trick is to use models which are easily recognisable such as one each of Longbeard, Hammerer, Crossbowman, Thunderer, Miner, Warrior and Trollslayer or include models with different weapons such as a Trollslayer with an axe, a Troll slayer with two axes and a Troll slayer with a doublehanded axe. You could also swap a weapon or two to make unique models. However this prevents you from forming Henchmen groups as they must all be identically armed.

If you make it a habit of looking at your rooster and record changes then it isn't that hard to keep track of things.

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