Legions of Battle Playtest Rules

8/11/2019 Legions of Battle Playtest Rules

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ContentsIntroduction 1Getting stated 2RulesFiguresTiebreaker ruleTroop statistics 3Types of unitsThe stat lineZero rated stats

ArmourWeaponsMounted troopsFront, ank & rear

Command standsLight troopsForming unitsColumns & linesSetting up 6DeploymentLight troops deploymentNumber of turnsTerrain placementRivers & roadsRestricted terrainCompulsory terrainTerrain attributesTurn order 9Initiative phaseMagic phaseCharge phaseMove & re phaseCombat phaseEnd turn phaseInitiative 11Movement 12Normal movementWheelingDoublingRetireReformChargeEvadeRough goingObstacles

Impassable terrainShooting 16Line of sightFiring arcHills & LOSRangeRoll to hitRoll to woundSplitting reDefensive reCasualtiesMoving & ringShooting at characters

Characters & SSU ringDeclaring targetsCasualties 20Multi stand unitsCharacters & SSUUnsteady effects & recoveryClose combat 21Contacting the enemyFlank & rear contactNumber of stands in meleeSupport attacksFighting on two frontsInitiativeRoll to hitCombat to hit modi ersRoll to wound

Applying damageWinner & loserBreak testsMultiple opponentsChange face after meleeT&L tests 28Character T&L effectsTerror T&LWarband T&LMagic T&LModifying T&LTraits & weapons 29Single stand units 33SSU movementSSU ring

SSU combatSSU T&L & break testsSSU & unsteadySSU & charactersSSU base sizeSSU light troopsLight troops 34MovementRough going & obstaclesPassage of linesStat lineEvadeCharacters

SupportDeploymentFiguresWar machines 35Indirect reRangeCharacters 36MovementFiring atIn combatBreak testsT&L testsUnaffected by charactersFlying & aquatic 39Flying movementFlying combatFlying missile reGround movement

AquaticSpecial movement evadeBattle magic 40Mages in battlePlanes of magicMage levelsManaSpellsCasting the spellDispelling spellsMages & armourMagic itemsSpell lists 43

Spell descriptionsMagic missile spellsLasting spell effects

Aura spellsThe heavensThe earthThe underworldThe battle eld 47Terrain featuresImpassable terrain

Arcane terrainVictory & defeat 48

Army points value

Casualties causedBattle eld controlVictory levelScenario speci c rulesPoints system 50Statistic cost

Armour & shield costMissile weapons costTraits & Abilities costMagic & mana costDesigning army lists 52Mounted troops

Army buildingTroop categoriesTroop statistics

Army listsFantasy worldsFigure scalesMagic items 54BannersWeapons

Armour & shieldScrollsPotionsStaffs

Arcane itemsDesigning itemsPoints costFast play sheet 56Counters 58


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IntroduCtIonLegions of Battle are a set of Fantasy wargame rules designedto allow you to ght epic battles between a vast array offantastic creatures and races.

While a lot of the examples are designed around a genericbackground the rules themselves can be tailored to suit anyfantasy setting. The game system is designed to allow you tocreate and eld any troops that you like, limited only by yourimagination and gures available.

The basic game mechanics themselves are simple to pick upand play, this allows special units, characters, abilities andmagic to be added without slowing the game down to a crawl.

Alternate activation phases within a turn means that players onboth sides are kept involved and the game is perfectly suited tolarge battles with multiple players per side.

The basing system has been designed so that fantasy armiesused for other rule systems can be elded without any need torebase gures.

Throughout the rules youll nd lots of examples that help toexplain and clarify the game mechanics. These examples playan important part in showing how the rules work and if you areplanning on ghting a battle but do not have time to read theentire book skimming the examples would be handy.

The design concept pits units against each other rather thanindividual gures and this is re ected in the mass battle feel

that the rules have. After all 100 Goblins ghting against 80Dwarfs is hardly an epic battle so using individual guresand skirmish game mechanics as the basis for a mass battlesystem makes little sense.

Having said that what is a Fantasy Game without an Elric,Gandalf or Conan? Characters such as Heroes or Legends,Magicians and Monsters all have their part to play. Some arepowerful enough to take on entire enemy units themselves,others controlling the battle, using their magical ability ordirecting units into combat.

The unit design and points system given at the end of the rulesallow you to create pretty much anything you fancy. It remainsconsistent throughout all races and units so there are noof cial lists, no gure restrictions, no must have super units orcharacters.

The rules have been designed to allow you to customise rulesand create your own fantasy settings by using Legions of Battleas a starting point. The game mechanics and troop designsystem are very exible - how you use them is up to you!

Mark SimsStone 2011

Throughout the rules you will nd additional information inboxes such as this.

Designers notes tend to explain why a speci c rule hasbeen written in a certain way, how it can impact the gameand what options there are for amendments or variants.Examples can sometimes be added here to expand onthose given in the main text. Youll also nd background

uff that I felt like adding or just things that come to mindas I write the rules.

I c i h la c Over the last 12 months the Legions of Battle rules have been through more versions than I care to think about. This nal versionhas not been playtested as much as I would like so I have decided to make it available as a free PDF rather than sell it and haveto release version 2 (or possibly even 8) before it worked properly.

There are almost certainly going to be some contradictions, typos and mistakes throughout these rules, please let me know whenyou nd some!

There is a Legions of Battle section on the Crusader Publishing forum and I hope to use that to cover the changes and additionsthat are needed.

www.crusaderpublishing.com

Finally, while this rule set has been made available as a freePDF the exclusive copyright remains with Mark Sims, please donot reproduce or redistribute in any way.

Mark Sims 2011

tHAnKs!Thank you to Ronnie and Joshat Mantic Games who kindlysent me all of the gure imagesused in these rules.

www.manticgames.com


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troop stAtIstICst f u iThere are three distinct types of units in Legions of Battle -Characters, Multi Stand Units and Single Stand Units. Eachof these will have its own speci c rules but on the whole theyfollow the standard game rules given here.

th s a LiUnit Name - The name of the unit and the number of standsthat make up the unit, either 1, 4 or 6 for units or C forcharacter.

Points per stand - This is the value per stand with just the stats,equipment and abilities listed without any of the upgrades.

Mv - Movement Value in inches. Where there are two numbersthe rst refers to the usual ground movement, the second inbrackets to any special movement. Flying (F), Aquatic (A) orUnderground (U).

Cs (A) - Combat Skill from the worst value of 1 up to the bestvalue of 12. The number in brackets is the amount of attacksthat each stand has in close combat from 1 to 6.

Ms (A) - Missile skill is the starting number on a D6 required tohit a target. From the worst value of 6+ to the best of 1+. Thenumber in brackets is the amount of missile attacks that eachstand may make, from 1 to 3.

If a unit has no missile attack then both of these values will beleft blank. Sometimes a stand will have Special as its missileweapon description, this is most often the case with WarMachines.

Mt - Might, the value used to determine if an attack that hitsis able to cause damage to the target. From a low value of 1to a high of 12. This might is the value used in hand to handattacks and using some thrown weapons. Missile weapons willhave their own Might depending on the type of weapon used.

Pr - Protection is used to stop wounds being in icted on yourtroops. Most often compared to the Might of an attacker.Lowest value of 1 up to a high of 12.

Wd - The number of wounds that each stand has with a lowvalue of 1 to a high of 6.

TL - The Training & Leadership value of the unit, used forformation changes, break tests and various other situationsthroughout the rules. From a low of 1 to a high of 12.

Notes - This is a line below the stats that will list the weapons,armour and traits that the stand has.

Upgrades will show what increases or options may be taken forthis troop type and will also show any additional points cost perstand.

The total points cost of the unit and the number of wounds ithas will be determined by the size of the unit and any upgradesit may have.

Z a s aIn some cases a unit may have a zero rated statistic. In thecase of missile skill and attacks it simply means that unit doesno have any available. With other statistics a zero rating canmean various things.

Zero rated movement means that the unit may not be movedthough it may reform. Other than that it follows all of the usualrules that apply to its other stats and abilities.

Zero rated attacks means that the unit may not make any closecombat attacks. It can still be attacked in the same manner asusual.

Most of the stats have a high value of 6 or 12. This handilytranslates into a 1D6 or 2D6 roll which can be used insome of the advanced or special rules. You may beasked to roll equal to or less than a speci c stat in order to

pass a test or resist the effects of a spell for example.

50mm by 50mm standsshowing a formed stand, a lightstand and a cavalry stand.

40mm by 40mmstands showing a

monster stand and aformed stand.

Assorted character stands ofvarious types and base sizes.

60mm by 80mm stands showingChariot, Giant and War Machine.

Dwarf Warriors (4 or 6) Points per stand ***

MV Cs (A) Ms (A) Mt Pr Wd TL

4 5 (3) - (-) 5 8 3 8

Hand Weapon, Medium Armour, Shield, Steadfast


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Zero rated combat skill means that the unit may not make anyattacks in close combat and in addition it will automatically behit by any enemy that attacks it - no die roll is required.

Zero rated Might means that the stand has no chance to woundthe enemy in close combat though special attacks can causeeffects other than wounds.

Zero rated Protection means that any hit applied against theunit will automatically cause a wound with no die roll required.

Wounds may not be zero rated - without any wounds at alla stand would not exist! Even inanimate objects such asbuildings, doors or walls will have a number of wounds.

Training and Leadership may be zero rated. Any T&L roll willalways fail and any break test roll against this units T&L willalways succeed. A T&L of zero does not stop the unit using theT&L of nearby characters as usual.

A m Armour can be added to increase the protection of varioustroop types. Effectively troops are starting with a basic

toughness and adding armour to increase their protection.

A Troll is tougher than a Goblin and they will have differentstarting Protection values but if you give either of them a shieldit will simply add +1 to their PR stat.

As an example a Norse Dwarf warrior with no armour or shieldhas a basic protection of 5. If we add a shield and mediumarmour his protection increases by 3 points to 8 and this is thevalue that the unit would have on its stat line.

Supposing he was a Dwarf Huscarl instead, his basic protection or toughness without armour would be a 6 ratherthan 5, this would give a nal PR of 9 in medium armour andshield.

W aLike armour, weapons are added to the basic statistics oftroops, some weapons will add special abilities to a stand,others simply allow it to make an attack in close combat. Allweapons are detailed on the stat line but not all of them will

add any special rules or abilities.

For example a human ranger has a bow and sword as hisweapons. The bow will have a speci c range and effectivenessbut the sword is just listed as a hand weapon that has nospeci c rule associated with it.

Unlike armour the weapon details and effects are not addeddirectly to the stats of the stand. Instead it is up to the playersto keep track of the various weapons and the bonuses orpenalties that may apply. For example Great Weapons add +1to the wound roll but this is not indicated on the stat line, ratherit is shown by the Great Weapons entry in the notes section.

M tThe stats given are for the entire stand. If it is a single gure orcharacter then they are obviously for just that gure but whenthere are multiple gures on a base the stats still apply to thestand - not each gure on it.

When it comes to mounted troops the basic stats may bealtered to re ect the extra ability that being mounted gives totroops. The stat line still shows the details for the entire stand,not the rider and the mount separately.

Depending on the type of mount they may add to Might,

Protection, Attacks, Movement and even Combat Skill. Moredetails are given in the army list and points chapters.

The values for the mount are added at the design stage andthe unit stat line, as well as its points cost, will show the totalvalues for the riders and mounts combined.

F , Fla k & r a Each unit will have a front, ank and rear, this applies to multistand units, single stand units and characters. The facingis important to determine a units charge arc, whether it isattacked in ank or rear, who it may choose to shoot at and soon.

Some traits or weapons may not apply bonuses to all thefacings of a unit. It is up to players to make sure that any traitapplies when a unit is contacted in the ank or rear.

C mma s a

A m pr BLight +1Medium +2Heavy +3Shield +1Light Barding (Mount) +1

Heavy Barding (Mount) +2

The statistics for all units and characters are presentedin the same format. The physical stats are shown as wellas any special abilities and upgrades that the unit maytake at the army design stage. Throughout the rules thisinformation is referred to as the stat line.

Dwarf Tuskers (4) **** Points per stand

MV Cs (A) Ms (A) Mt Pr Wd TL

8 6 (4) - (-) 6 9 4 8

Hand Weapon, Lance, Medium Armour, Shield, Trample (1)

Shock (2), Mounted.


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Single stand units (SSU) are, not surprisingly given the name,made up of just one stand. This could represent a singleDragon, a war Machine and crew or a host of ghosts.

Each unit has a number of wounds and when that number isequalled it is removed from the table. Throughout the battleunits will slowly become weaker as they lose casualtiesuntil they become unsteady and then break and ee or aredestroyed entirely. Stands are not physically removed from theunit as casualties are taken.

Characters act independently and are not formed into units.

C l m a Li

The 4 or 6 stands that make up a unit may either be deployedwide or deep, for game purposes this is referred to as eitherline or column.

A column allows a unit to occupy a smaller frontage and therear ranks can support those in front. It also takes up lessspace and so it is possible to mass more than one columnonto a line. A line allows the maximum amount of stands toght or re but can occupy a lot of space and be awkward tomanoeuvre.

Units will always count as having some sort of command standbut the statistics for them are exactly the same as for the restof the stands. A command stand is generally placed in the frontcentre of the unit.

In a game sense every unit is always assumed to have acommand stand included and they have no special rulesapplied to them. They do look nice though.

Ligh t

Some units may be Light Troops and they can be representedby different numbers of gures per stand or simply designatedas such at the army and unit design stage.

It is up to players whether they want to base light troopsdifferently or whether to keep them the same as other formedtroops. So long as the opposing player is made aware of thestatus of the unit the owner can simply use what they haveavailable.

Individual gures can be used to represent light troops andthese should be spaced so that they take up the correspondingamount of space that the stands would take.

F mi g u iEach multi stand unit is made up of four or six stands. Thearmy lists and design chapters determine whether a unit canbe created with 4 or 6 stands. It is mostly left to the players

to decide but some certain units may be restricted. It is theseunits that form the blocks that you control on the battle eld.

Sod that, Im not rebasing!

Well, luckily you dont have to. While the game mechanicsin Legions of Battle use multiple gure stands to calculatering, casualties, attacks and wounds the actual sizesof these stands t perfectly with other popular fantasysystems already in use.

A 40mm by 40mm stand with 4 goblins on it has exactlythe same footprint as 4 goblins on 20mm by 20mm bases.Many people already use movement trays for their gameswith individually based gures and it is simply a matter of

using them for these rules too.

Where light troops are represented you just need to spacethe gures out. So.....

NO REBASING REQUIRED!

Each multi stand unit starts the battle with 4 stands or 6stands. A mass or horde of troops is simply representedby having lots of units!

4 standsin line.

4 standsin column

6 stands in line.

6 standsin column

Fla k

r a

Front

FLa k


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settInG upd l mUnless a speci c scenario states otherwise the basicdeployment rules for the game are as follows.

Both sides will set up the battle eld terrain according to therules later in this chapter and then roll randomly to see onwhich side of the table they deploy.

Both players then roll randomly to determine who places therst unit or character. They then place one unit or characteranywhere in its deployment zone. The other player then doesthe same by deploying any one of his units or characters in hisdeployment zone. The rst player then deploys another unitand or character so on until both sides have deployed all oftheir troops.

Each character, multi stand or single stand unit counts as onepiece for placement purposes.

In all of these cases there must be enough space to fullydeploy the unit or character. You are not allowed to changethe position, facing or formation of something once it has beendeployed unless a speci c rule or trait states otherwise.

Some troops may not have to be deployed on table because ofspecial traits or abilities, in this case the owning player states

that they do not have to be placed on table but this will countas a unit deployment.

Ligh t d l mLight troops can be set up anywhere within your deploymentarea regardless of how close this is to the edge of the table

edges or middle. They must still be deployed more than 12away from any enemy unit.

n mb f tRather than having a set number of turns there is a chance thatthe battle will end after a certain number of turns have passed.This has the advantage of ensuring that neither side can knowexactly when things will come to an end and avoid last turntactics.

At the end of the sixth turn roll 1D6, if the score is one thenthe game ends immediately, if not it carries on into the seventhturn. At the end of the seventh turn roll a D6, if the score is oneto ve the game ends, if not then it carries on into an eighthturn. The game will end at the end of the eighth turn, there isno die roll required.

t ai plac m

There are lots of different ways that a game can be set up- from a stand up ght to speci c scenarios or simply usingall of the scenery and gures you have.

There are obvious ways that you can change thesedeployment rules. A few simple suggestions includehidden deployment using a screen, sketch maps, cards orrandom unit arrival. There are plenty of scenario ideas youcan use, from fantasy lms or literature to historical battlesor campaigns.

Basically you dont just have to settle for lining your troopsup and charging at each other every time you play.

3"

12"

12"

3"

3"

3"

3"

3"

si A d l m

si B d l m

The table shown here is 6 feet wide by4 deep. Apart from light troops bothsides must deploy over 12 away fromthe central line that splits the table in

two. This means that all main bodytroops from both sides start 24 or moreaway from each other.

Except for light troops nobody maybe set up within 3 of the side or rearedges of the table. There is nothing tostop them entering these positions afterthe game has started but edge hoggingshould be avoided at deployment.

Light troops may deploy anywhere intheir own half of the table so long as itis more than 12 away from any enemytroops - including enemy light troops.


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that area. Apart from rivers and roads the terrain piece must tentirely within its sector. There are no restrictions with regardto proximity to the edge of the table or other terrain pieces.

It is only once all terrain has been rolled for and placed that theplayers should roll to see which side they deploy their troops.This restricts the ability to place bad terrain in your opponentsdeployment area on purpose.

ri a aRivers and roads can occupy the same area as other terrainand they may pass through more than one area.

If the terrain table determines that there is a river or road in a

certain area then that is where it will start. It will enter and exitfrom a table edge, the sector where the river or road will exitthe table is determined randomly. You can do this by simplyallocating a number to each terrain area or edge and rolling adie - its not rocket science.

The road or river will then traverse the battle eld from its startto its end position by passing through the least number ofterrain sectors. How it does this exactly is entirely up to theplayer involved.

The road or river can pass through areas that already havesome other terrain feature and do not prohibit the placement ofterrain into areas that have not yet been rolled for. In additionthe initial starting area can also have a standard terrain featureas well, effectively the stream or river is an extra.

Terrain is placed by both players before determining on whichside of the table they will deploy their forces.

These rules use a random terrain placement system. Todo this you will need to divide the table into sectors. For anaverage 6 foot by 4 foot table this would be six 2 foot squares,the size is not particularly important but it will determine themaximum number of terrain pieces your table will have.

For each sector roll 1D6 - if the total is 1-4 then that area willhold one piece of terrain - you should then roll on the terraintable to see what is actually there.

Players should take it in turns to roll for sectors - the playerrolling the dice gets to place the terrain piece if there is one in

The terrain table should really just be used as a guideline.If it brings up something that doesnt look right, you donthave the scenery for or you just think will make a crap gamethen feel free to ignore it completely!

Having said that a game with really awkward terrain can bea nice change and present both sides with a challenge.

t ai (2d6)2* River or stream plus one bridge or ford per area. Roll 1D6 1-2 = impassable river, 3-6 = stream.

3* Village of D3+1 houses plus a road from this village to a random board edge.

4* Steep hill with 1D3 sides as impassable terrain. Roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large

5 D3 Fields bounded by hedges, fences or walls.6 Wood, roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large

7 Gentle hill, roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large

8 Rough ground, scrub, rocks. Roll 1D6 1-3 = blocks Line of Sight, 4-6 does not block LOS.

9 Marsh, bog, fen or swamp, roll 1D6 1 = small, 2-5 = medium, 6 = large

10* Building and eld bounded by hedges, fences, walls. Farm, Church, Witches House etc.

11* Monument, standing stones, shrine. May have Arcane properties.

12* Fort or tower plus road to random board edge. Roll 1D6, 1-4 on a Medium Hill, 5-6 a large hill.

* Each of these terrain features should only occur once on the battle eld. Re-roll if they come up twice.


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The table above has been broken down into 6 sections, each2 foot by 2 foot. The rst roll is made for location A and thereis a terrain feature which comes up as a 2 meaning there is ariver or stream, a further roll of 5 gives a stream.

The players then need to decide where the stream will owfrom and where to. Area A has 2 sides that it could enterthe board so simply roll a D6 with 1-3 one side, 4-6 the other.In this case it enters from the top as we look at the diagramabove.

To decide where it will exit the board the players allocate thenumbers 1 to 5 to areas B to F respectively and simply roll aD6. The result is a 4 so the stream will ow from A to E andthere is only one edge that it may exit from in area E.

The player that initially rolled the 2 for the stream may decidewhich area it passes through on its way from A to E. This couldeither be through section B or D but it must take the path withthe least number of areas so could not go a meandering routevia C and F for example.

In this case the stream plots its course through A, B and E asshown in the diagram. Each section that the river or stream

passes through has a bridge or ford placed - again by the player that initially rolled the 2.

This concludes the placement for the stream, there may beno more river sections on this battle eld. The terrain rolls forsections A, B and E are carried out as normal and they maycontain other terrain features as well as the stream.

It is worth noting that A has another roll made for it to see if itcontains terrain features in addition to the river.

r ic aiOn the terrain table some of the numbers are followed by anasterisk. This means that there should only be one instanceof that terrain type on the battle eld and the number should bere-rolled if it has already occurred.

C m l t ai

Some scenarios may call for a compulsory terrain piece.Rescuing a Princess from a tower generally means you needsome sort of tower.

A B C

d e F

If this is the case then the terrain piece will automatically beplaced in a certain location as determined by the scenarioor player agreement. There will be no roll to see if additionalterrain is placed in this area. Rivers and roads can still passthrough locations that have compulsory terrain placed in them.

t ai A ib All players should know the properties and location of theterrain on the tabletop unless a scenario states otherwise. Theside of the table that the terrain is located or the player thatplaced it has no impact on the knowledge that both sides have.

Umpire controlled games can have speci c rules and featuresthat are not covered here but they would be dealt with on anindividual basis according to the scenario being played.

Speci c terrain features and their attributes are dealt with onpage 47.


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turn order The game mechanics of Legions of Battle generally involveone player being active while the other reacts. Both sides willcarry out the same phase before moving on to the next. Forexample, both sides have their magic phase, then both willcarry out charges and so on.

Some phases of the turn are carried out at the same time andothers are carried out in sequence with one side nishing all oftheir actions before the other side takes their turn. Each phaseshould be completed in its entirety before moving onto the next.

Full details of these phases will be given in the relevantchapters of the rules.

The Legions of Battle rules try to avoid having to record toomuch information about units, their status and what theyhave done in previous phases. Some things will need to beremembered such as a unit that has moved will suffer ringpenalties and it is up to players to decide how they do this.

In many ways the methods that you use will depend on thenumber of units each player has to control. If you only havea few units it is no problem to remember who has done what,if you happen to be controlling a huge army it may be worthmarking units in some way. Counters are provided on page58 and are also available to download from the CrusaderPublishing web site.

I i ia i phaBoth sides will have a number of initiative cards numberedfrom one to eight that they play randomly each turn. Thenumbers are compared and the side with the highest will gainthe initiative this turn, in case of ties both sides roll D6 withthe highest winning. As cards are used they are discarded,meaning that there is a certain degree of balance to thechances of either side gaining the initiative each turn.

Magic phaThe side that won the initiative may cast spells with any eligibleMage. They may also use their Mana in an attempt to dispelcertain spell effects currently in play.

Once the initiative winner has used all of his Mages then theother side gets to cast their spells and attempt to dispel magiceffects currently in play.

As spells are cast or dispelled Mages use up their availablesupply of Mana. There are various types, realms and levelsof power for spells, items, Mages and innate magical abilities.These are dealt with starting on page 40.

Cha g phaThe side that won the initiative declares all units that are

charging and what their targets are. Some troops must declare charges because of traits or abilities, apart from beingcompulsory these charges are carried out in exactly the samemanner as usual.

These charges are then carried out in full in the order that thecharging player wishes. The reactions of the targets are notedwith options to stand and shoot, evade, hold or counter charge.Those units that are trying to evade will roll now and anyevade movement is carried out at this point. Targets that electto stand and shoot will actually re in their own move & Firephase of the turn.

The turn order for Legions of Battle allows the players tocarry out actions at roughly the same time. Some phasesare simultaneous while others require one side to actwhile the other reacts. This results in a minimum amountof time spent hanging about waiting for other people to dostuff.

t o Initiative Phase Determine initiative, both sides draw initiative cards. D6 roll off for ties.

Magic PhaseInitiative winner casts spells and makes dispell attempts.

Initiative loser casts spells and makes dispell attempts.

Charge PhaseInitiative winner declares charges, targets declare reactions. Carry out charge & reaction.

Initiative loser declares charges, targets declare reactions. Carry out charge & reaction.

Move & Fire PhaseInitiative winner compulsory movement, then normal movement, then ring.

Initiative loser compulsory movement, then normal movement, then ring.

Combat Phase Both sides, simultaneous. Initiative winner chooses order in which melee is fought, apply

results and reforms one by one.End Turn Phase Both sides, simultaneous. Roll for game end from turn 6 onwards.


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The side that lost the initiative now declares charges with anyof their units that have not just reacted to a charge. Sometroops must declare compulsory charges but these are carriedout in exactly the same way as normal charges.

These charges and the reactions of their targets are thencarried out in the same way as they were for the initiativewinner.

Reactions can include Hold, Defensive Fire, Evade or CounterCharge. Certain troop types will have more options thanothers, for example not all troops can choose to evade from acharge and defensive re is only available to those with missileweapons.

M & Fi phaThe Move and Fire phase has the initiative winner moving all oftheir troops and then ring with those that are able. After thatis complete the initiative loser will move all of their troops andthen re with those that are able.

Some units or characters may be forced to move in a certainway according to their type or traits. A player is free to choosethe order in which they move units that are under compulsorymovement restrictions. However, those troops that have anycompulsory movement must carry it out before troops that canmove normally. Compulsory charges will already have beencarried out during the charge phase.

Once the side that has the initiative has completed compulsorymoves they may move all of their units that have not carried outcompulsory moves, charged or made a charge reaction.

Once the rst side has moved all of their eligible units theymay re with those that are armed with missile weapons. Ifthe ring unit moved they will suffer penalties to their ring andsome types of movement, or the weapons that the troops have,may not allow any re at all.

Once the initiative winner has completed all of their moving andring it is the initiative losers turn to do the same. Once bothsides have moved and red the phase ends.

Defensive re against chargers is carried out at the same timeas all other ring. The target of the charge can shoot at theirattackers and this is deemed to have happened as they charge

in but the actual die rolls are made at the same time as all theplayers other ring.

Wound effects are applied at this point, this means that acharger could be destroyed by defensive re and no meleewould occur or they could be reduced to unsteady beforecombat begins.

C mba pha All of the charge movement, evade reactions and defensive

re will have been carried out by now and both sides will knowwhich units are in contact and must ght a melee.

Once enemy units or characters are in close combat they maynot break off, split up or change formation in any way. Duringthe combat phase all troops that are in melee will attempt to hit,wound and kill their opponents.

Units that have been destroyed will be removed as the combatis carried out. All of the results of the various combats areapplied in this phase, combats that are drawn or do not endin one side or the other being destroyed will continue into thecombat rounds of subsequent turns.

In some cases the order in which the melee combats arecarried out may be important. If this is the case the player whowon the initiative will decide the order in which to do them.

e t phaIf you have reached the end of turn six or later you will needto roll to see if the battle ends. If not you may roll for re-enforcement, ank march arrival and so on. If you are playinga campaign this is the best time to make sure everyone hasmade a note of units that they have removed from the tableand what their nal status is with regard to casualties.

If a scenario has xed victory conditions they should bechecked at this stage. If the nal turn of the battle has beenreached both sides should calculate their victory points to see

who has won or lost. See page 48 for details of victory anddefeat.

The Move and Fire phase is effectively broken down into3 sub phases for each player. The rst is compulsorymovement , the second is all other normal movementand the third is ring.

The initiative winner carries out these three sub phasesrst and then the initiative loser will carry them out.


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InItIAtIve Initiative is important in Legions of Battle because it determineswhich side casts spells, moves, declares charges and resrst in any given phase. There are both advantages anddisadvantages to winning the initiative. The side that winsthe initiative on any given turn may not pass this over totheir opponent, they must act as the initiative winner for theremainder of the turn whether they want to or not!

Each side will have a set of initiative cards numbered from onethrough to eight. Each turn they randomly choose one of thesecards as their sides initiative score. When both sides havedrawn a card the numbers are compared and the highest gainsthe initiative for that turn. In case of a tie both sides will roll D6and the highest has the initiative, there are no modi ers to this

roll.

Each card may only be used once per battle and once drawnit is discarded. Both sides will still have the same chance of

winning initiative throughout the course of the battle but thisgives more balance to the initiative than a simple die roll.

There are two sets of 8 cards provided on page 58 but youmay not need all of them if the game does not last for the full 8turns. Cards are also available to download from the CrusaderPublishing web site or you can simply use playing cardsnumbered from ace through to eight.

On turn 1 of an Orc vs Humans battle the Orc player randomlydraws a 3 card while the Human player draws his 5 card.The Humans win the initiative for this turn and both of thesecards are discarded.

On turn two the players will draw again but will only have 7cards remaining to pick from. The Orc players draws a 4 as

does the Human player. As this is a tie both sides roll 1D6, theOrc player gets 4 and the Human 2 which means the Orcs willgo rst. The cards are discarded leaving both players with 6cards remaining in their hand for the next turn.

The initiative winner must act rst during the turn, they do nothave the option to decline and force the other player to act rst.

If a scenario or battle is going to last more than 8 turns youllneed to either add some more cards or use an alternative tothe cards - numbered counters drawn from a cup work just aswell.

There are other options for determining the initiativethroughout the game. An obvious one is to roll dice at thestart of each turn. This has the advantage of being simplebut there is always the chance that one side or the otherwill have terrible luck and be at a disadvantage for thewhole game.

Another method is to allow players to choose the initiativecards that are used rather than drawing them randomly.This allows some tactical considerations to come into

play, when to use your high or low cards depending on thecircumstances or your plan.

Unless all players agree otherwise the standard rulesapply but you are welcome to try other systems.


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MoveMentThe movement statistic shows how far in inches a unit orcharacter can move. Different situations, terrain or theproximity of the enemy may increase or decrease this amount.

n mal M mNormal movement includes any forward movement andwheels. A unit may spend any amount of its movement onwheeling any number of times.

Troops may not move forwards and backwards in the samemove, they must choose to do either one or the other. Allstands within a unit must remain in base to base contact andretain their formation throughout the move. If there is notenough space for a unit to pass through a gap it must go roundor reform rst.

Wh li g A multi stand unit, single stand unit or character may wheel asmany times as they like during their movement except whenretiring (see later).

A wheel is performed by keeping either the front left or the frontright corner of the unit in place while the remainder of the unitpivots on that point.

The amount of movement distance used during a wheel iscalculated from the stand that has moved the furthest.

d bli g

Double Movement is for troops that are over 6 away from anyenemy including single stand units and characters. So long asthe moving unit starts, ends and remains more than 6 awayfrom the enemy it may move at double its listed MV.

A doubling unit may not re missile weapons later in this phase,even if they did not double their entire movement allowance.

A doubling unit may retire, they will double their MV fordoubling and then halve it again for retiring - effectively beingleft with their MV as the distance they may retire. They muststill follow all of the standard rules for doubling and retiring.

Doubling is not allowed through rough going or over obstacles

unless the unit is classed as light troops. This applies to singleor multi stand units as well as characters.

r i A multi stand, single stand unit or character may move directlybackwards at half speed though they may not wheel or inclinewhile doing so. You may not combine a retire move with anytype of forward movement.

A unit that is retiring may use double movement. All movementrates and effects are cumulative, this includes doubling,retiring, crossing obstacles and moving through rough terrain.

You could retire across a hedge but could not retire acrossit using double movement (unless you were light troops, seepage 34).

M m i a cNormal MV

Double (outside 6) MV x 2

Charge MV x 2

Evade MV x 2

Rough Going MV x 1 *

Crossing Obstacle MV x 1 *Retire 1/2 MV *** No doubling allowed unless light troops.** Directly backwards along ank lines only.

A unit of cavalry has an MV of 10 and is doubling givingit a total movement allowance of 20 so long as it remainsmore than 6 away from any enemy troops.

They start at A and wheel forward 4 to B, from therethey move 6 to C and then wheel again another 4 to D.Finally they use their last 6 to move to their nal positionE

A

B

C d

e

Movement speeds have been kept fairly generous so thattroops do not spend their entire game plodding towardseach other.

Using Doubling Movement allows anking moves,reserves to be kept and sent to important parts of thebattle or just getting stuck in that much earlier.


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r f mIf a unit wants to change formation or facing then it mustReform. A unit that reforms may not move other than themovement that is required to change to the new facing orformation. Effectively this means that troops use all of theirmovement allowance to reform unless it is a free reform (seelater) or they have the Drilled ability (page 29).

A Reform allows changing formation and/or changing facingas well. These are two separate actions but they may both becarried out during any reform action. A unit that wants to doboth can change facing rst and then reform or it can reformrst and then change facing.

A reform is carried out on the centre front of the unit. A changeof facing is carried out on the centre point of the unit. This isimportant as there must be space to accommodate the newformation, this is not an order to shift the position of units.

A unit may not use a reform to come into contact with theenemy, if the reform movement itself would result in melee

combat then it may not be carried out.

Troops that have reformed may re but will count as havingmoved. Characters and light troops get to freely reform at thestart and end of their movement, this does not stop them fromring but they still suffer the movement penalty for ring, seepage 19 for further details.

Characters may carry out a free reform at the start and end oftheir movement. If they reform but do not move any furtherthey will still count as having moved for purposes of missile remodi ers and restrictions. As a character is only a single standa reform obviously only applies to change of facing rather thanformation.

Light troops have their own rules with regard to reforming andmovement, see page 34 for full details.

Cha g A charge is declared by a unit that wants to close to engagean enemy in hand to hand combat. It must have a valid targetto declare a charge - this means there must be an enemy inrange, Line of Sight and valid charge arc.

Charge arcs are 45 degrees either side of straight ahead,exactly the same as the ring arcs. The charger must be able

to see some portion of the target otherwise it is not a validcharge target.

A 4 stand unit changingformation from line tocolumn. B & C remain in

place while stands A & Dmove to the back rank.

Changing from column toline would simply reversethe process. B stays stilland A is moved alongside it,the same applies to C & D.

A 6 stand line changes to a column by three of its standremaining in place and the other three moving to the backrank. Which three stands remain in place is up to the

player.

Changing from column to line reverses this process with a player deciding which side the back stand will deploy to.

A B C d

B C

d A

A B C d e F

A

B C d

e F A B

C d e

FOR

3

A unit of LesserLizardmen have a MV of6. If they choose to retirethey can move directlybackwards upto 3. They

may not combine this retiremovement with any kind offorward movement.

Note that retire restrictions are quite strict. Allowing sometroops to retire at all is quite generous and restricting aretire to directly backwards ensures a minimum of dickingabout with units shuf ing around in their positions.

Examples of units that have changed facing. Each standremains in place while the facing of that stand is changed.

B C

d A

B C

d A

A B C d e F

A B C d e F

A

B C d

e F A

B C d

e F


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The target of a charge has the option to Hold, Stand and Fire,Counter Charge or in some cases Evade.

The charging player must declare all units that are attemptingto charge and then may carry them out one by one in any orderthey like. This means that they could declare a charge witha unit that is currently blocked but could do so once anothercharge has been carried out. This is generally the case whenone friendly unit is in front of another and the owning playerwants them both to charge.

No matter what the order that the chargers are being movedin a unit must have some part of the target within line of sightwhen a charge is declared.

If a charge fails for any reason and cannot reach its target then

the charging unit is moved as far as possible towards its targetand then halted. It may not move or re in the next phase.

e a A unit that has been charged may have the option to evade.Light Troops, troops with the Feigned Flight ability and allcharacters may opt to evade as a reaction to a charge.

The chance of the unit being able to evade before it iscontacted by the chargers depends on its T&L. It must pass aT&L test if it decides to attempt to evade from a charge.

If the test is passed the unit may immediately face away andmove its full evade speed directly away from the chargingenemy unit.

A unit of Elf Rangers (T&L 9, MV 8) are charged from 9 awayby a unit of Orc Boar Riders (MV 9). The Elf player makes aT&L test, if they pass they may immediately face away from thecharge and evade their full 16 away, if they fail they must holdin their current position.

If the evade fails then the chargers are moved into contactimmediately, the evading unit gets no chance to move, redefensively, counter charge or reform.

If the target unit managed to evade then the charger now has 2options open to it.

Halt on the spot. It can halt its charge on the spot where theevading troops ed from. If this is the case the unit counts ashaving conducted a failed charge, it may not move any furtherduring this charge and may not move or re in the next phase.

Continue its charge. It can continue to charge against anothertarget to the full extent of its charge movement if there are valid

targets still within its charge reach and arc. It can also continueits charge movement even if there are no other valid targetswithin reach.

It is possible for the charging troops to contact other enemyunits or even the original target of their charge if that targetsevade movement was not enough to outdistance the chargersmovement.

r gh G i gRough going counts as any terrain that could slow movementsuch as woods, swamps, rocky ground, building areas etc. Anyrough ground stops troops from using double movement.

Certain types of rough ground may also have special effects,such as woods making mounted troops unsteady or swampsnot affecting troops that have the Aquatic movement ability,

The Human Slingers get to evade away 10 and aremoved to their nal position facing away from theGoblins. Unfortunately this only puts them 13 awayfrom the Wolf Riders who have a massive 20 chargemovement. The Wolf Riders can either move 3 forwardand halt at the point where the slingers evaded from orcontinue their charge into the rear of the sling unit.

3

10

A unit of Goblin WolfRiders (MV 10) arecharging against a Unitof Human Slingers withthe Feigned Flightability (T&L 6, MV 5)from 3 away. TheHumans decide toevade and attempt aT&L test. They requirea 6 or less on 2D6 andscore 4 so they manageto evade the initialcharge.

BC

Red units 1 and 2 may both declare charges even thoughunit 2s charge is currently blocked by unit 1. As the Red

player can move his chargers in any order he simply

declares that 1 will charge against enemy unit A, thischarge movement is carried out and then that leaves unit2 open to charge against unit B.

Should it subsequently be discovered that unit 2 cannotcontact its target B because A is still blocking it forexample (as would almost certainly be the case here),then it would count as a failed charge. The unit would bemoved as far as possible and then halted, it would notbe able to move or re in the next phase as it counts ashaving charged.

It is the Red playerscharge phase. Thecharacter may notdeclare a chargebecause it does nothave a valid LOS toany target.

A

1

23


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speci c details can be found in The Battle eld chapter of therules on page 47.

Units may reform, wheel, charge, evade or retire through roughgoing. While any part of a stand occupies or passes throughrough ground the unit, single stand unit or character may notuse double movement. Some special traits and abilities mayoverride these rules, see pages 29-32 for details.

While double movement is not allowed over obstacles chargeand evade movement speed is not affected.

ob acl A unit that has to pass over an obstacle may not use doublemovement, other than this it is free to move as usual thoughsome obstacles may cause further effects to certain troopstypes. For further details see The Battle eld chapter (page 47).

Units can reform, wheel, charge, evade or retire over obstacles. A unit may reform while it is over, in or on top of rough going oran obstacle but may never enter impassable terrain.

While any part of a stand straddles or rests on an obstaclethe unit, single stand unit or character may not use doublemovement. Some special traits and abilities may overridethese rules, see page 29 for details.

While double movement is not allowed over obstacles chargeand evade movement speed is not affected.

When measuring the charge distance to a target that is behindan obstacle the actual target must be within reach, not just theterrain feature that they happen to be behind.

A unit of 4 stands of Dwarfs has a MV of 5 and advancesdirectly ahead and this takes part of the unit through woodswhich count as rough going. This means that it cannot usedouble movement.

The unit moves forward 1 to the edge of the wood and thentravels 3.5 through woodland and has 1/2 of movement

left at the other side. This is not enough to clear the woodscompletely, the back of the left most stand is still within thewoods. This means that the dwarf unit will not be able touse double movement next turn either, even though it onlyhas a small part of the rough ground to pass through.

1

3.5

0.5

A

B

Im a abl t aiNo troops may enter terrain that is impassable to them underany circumstances. They may still cross if they have a speci cmovement trait such as ying or aquatic movement.

Where compulsory movement would force a unit to move overimpassable terrain they are simply blocked by it in the samemanner as they are for friendly units.

A

B

6

A unit of human archers has an MV of 6. To advancethey need to cross a hedge so they are not allowed to usedouble movement.

With the example on the left the unit is simply movedforward its 6 movement distance, as it has not doubled itmay still re if it would be able to do so normally.

A

B

6

In the example on the right the archers would not be able touse double movement this turn because they are crossinga hedge. They would also not be able to use it next turnas they begin on the hedge and still have their movementrestricted by the obstacle.


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sHootInGShooting takes place after a player has moved all of his troopsin the Move and Fire phase. The initiative winner moves all oftheir troops and then they will re with any of their troops thathave missile weapons and a valid target.

Once all of the initiative winners movement and ring iscomplete it is the initiative losers turn to move their troops.Once this movement is complete they can re with troops thatare armed with missile weapons and have a valid target.

This means that ring is not simultaneous, casualties causedare applied immediately.

Missile armed troops may shoot at targets so long as they arewithin both range and line of sight (LOS). Each stand will havea number of missile attacks listed on its stat line, this can befrom one to three. If there is no number listed then that standmay not make any missile attacks.

War Machines re in this phase at the same time as othertroops though they may use slightly different rules forcalculating hits and wounds caused. See page 35 for details.

Fi i g A c Arc of re calculations are made per stand rather than by thewhole unit. This could mean that a unit can only re with some

of its stands. Each stand has a 45 degree ring arc to its frontno matter what the type of troops or the base size.

Li f sigh

To re at a target there must be a valid line of sight (LOS). Thisis calculated per stand ring, to be able to re the stand mustbe able to trace a LOS to any point of the target.

Scenery, friendly or enemy units, magical effects or visibilityrestrictions can all block line of sight to a target. Some rules,such as indirect re war machines do not count enemy orfriendly troops as an obstacle for LOS. These cases are dealtwith in the relevant parts of the rules on page 35.

Hill a LosTroops on hills may have the ability to re over friends,enemies or obstructions. There will be an amount of deadground where the target cannot be shot at.

If there is at least 4 space between the obstruction and thetarget then it may be red at, otherwise that target is blockedfor LOS purposes.

ra gThe range to the target is calculated per stand, this may resultin some of the stands being in different range brackets or somewithin range while others are out. If this is the case split the reinto two groups of to hit rolls with different modi ers.

A stand needs to be in range of at least part of the target unit tobe able to re at it.

r ll HiTo hit their target the ring troops roll a D6 for each attack andneed to score equal to or greater than the missile skill valueshown on their stat line. Modi ers may apply to these rolls andthis will affect the chances hitting.

The ring unit or stand, the target, the number of missileattacks and any appropriate modi ers or abilities should all bedeclared before any die rolls are made.

All modi ers are cumulative unless stated otherwise.

Unless stated otherwise inspecial rules, traits or abilitiesthe re arc is always 45 degreeseither side of straight ahead nomatter what type of stand or unit.

To be able to re at atarget a stand mustbe able to hit at least

part of the target unit.In this case only 3 ofthe 4 stands in unit Bwould be able to shootat unit A.

A

B


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r ll WWhen it has been determined whether the shot hits or not theplayer will roll to see if the hits cause wounds on the target.To do this the ring weapons Might is compared to the targetsProtection.

The Might of the ring troops themselves is only taken intoaccount when using some thrown weapons. Otherwise theMight of the missile weapon itself will determine the chance ofa hit causing a wound. See the Missile weapon Table on thefollowing page.

If your Might is double or more the opponents Protectionyou need to roll a 2+ on a D6 to wound.

If you have greater than your opponents value but notdouble then you need to roll 3+ on a D6.

If the values are equal then you need 4+ on a D6.

If you have less than your opponents value but more thanhalf then you need 5+ on a D6.

If you have half or less your opponents value then youneed to roll a 6+ on a D6 to wound your opponent.

The amount of wounds that are caused are then marked offagainst the target unit. There are no saving rolls for the targetthough some special traits, such as regeneration, may allowtroops to ignore some wounds.

Any wound effects, such as causing the target to becomeunsteady, are applied immediately.

If the unit has moved before ring it will suffer a -1 to hitmodi er to the die roll. Troops armed with some types ofweapons may not re at all if they have moved.

If the ring unit is currently unsteady for any reason they

will suffer -1 to hit.

If the target is at long range a -1 modi er is applied.Range is measured per stand so some may have thismodi er while others do not.

If the target is small a -2 modi er applies or if medium a-1 modi er applies instead. A small or medium target onlyapplies to certain character types and never to multi orsingle stand units, see pages 31 and 36 for full details.

If the target is in light cover the to hit roll is modi ed by-1 point. Should the target be in heavy cover the covermodi er increases to a -2 to the die roll instead of -1.

No matter what the starting skill or the modi ers that areapplied a roll of 1 will always miss and a roll of 6 will always hitunless advanced or special rules state otherwise. There maybe some instances where an attack automatically hits and inthat case there is no die roll made. These cases will be clearlystated in the item or trait description.

t W (Mt vs pr)MT is double or more PR 2+MT is greater than PR 3+MT is equal to PR 4+MT is less than PR 5+MT is half or less PR 6+

The Might of a shortbow is 4, the Elveshave Medium Armourand Shields which givesthem a Protection Valueof 7.

The MT of 4 is less thanthe PR of 7 but it is nothalf or less. This meansthat the Goblin playerwill need rolls of 5+ on aD6 to wound the Elves.

A

B

14

The Goblin player rolls 3D6 (one D6 for each hit) andthe results are 3,5,6 for 2 wounds on the Elf unit. Thesewounds are applied immediately.

Fi i g t Hi M ifiFiHas moved -1

Is unsteady -1

ta gIs at long range -1

Is a medium / small target * -1 / -2

Has light / heavy cover * -1 / -2

* Only one or the other can apply.

Unit B is 4 stands ofGoblins with short bows,a missile skill of 5+ and2 attacks per stand.It has not moved andshoots at unit A.

Its starting to hit numberis 5+ but as it is ringat long range it suffersa -1 modi er to the dieroll meaning it needs 6to hit.

A

B

14

The Goblins will roll 8D6 and any result of 6 will be a hiton the Elf unit A. The actual die rolls result in 3 hits onthe target.


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d f i FiThis is carried out when a unit armed with missile weapons ischarged and chooses the Stand and Shoot reaction.

The re is carried out during the move & re phase at the same

time as all of the other ring from this player. If the chargersare destroyed by this re then they are removed before initiating close combat.

The angle of the charge may well mean that not all of thedefending stands can get to re. The defenders will be ableto re if they could shoot at the chargers at any point duringthe charge movement when they were in range, arc and lineof sight. Players should be sure to make a mental note of whocan re while carrying out charges.

A unit in combat may not re missile weapons, even if there arestands that have clear line of sight to targets other than the onethey are ghting against. For ring purposes the entire unit is

deemed to be in close combat if any part of it is in contact withthe enemy.

Ca al iEach stand in Legions of Battle has a number of wounds,multiplying this by the number of stands within the unit willdetermine how many wounds the entire unit has.

As units accumulate wounds they will become less effective.When a multi stand or single stand unit has taken half or moreof its total wounds it will count as Unsteady and will sufferpenalties for melee and missile re. Any wounds taken can

be marked by the use of wound counters or noted on the armyroster sheet.

Characters do not become unsteady when they are reducedto half or less of their starting number of wounds. See thecharacter rules starting on page 36.

Any unit that is unsteady must be marked as such so that bothsides know which units are affected. Counters are suppliedon page 58 and also available to download from the CrusaderPublishing web site www.crusaderpublishing.com.

s li i g fi A missile armed unit may split its re at up to 2 targets if theyare within range and line of sight. It always has this option,even if it has one unit entirely within its arc of re and range.

It may not split re at more than 2 enemy units, even if thismeans that some stands may not re at any target.

An individual stand, whether part of a unit or not, may neversplit its re, this means that a single stand unit or charactermust always re at a single target.

The player owning the unit must declare where all of its missileattacks are being directed before any dice are rolled by thatring unit. The targets must be valid at this stage of the ringphase, you cannot declare re at a target that you think willbecome valid, due to destroying another unit blocking your lineof sight for example.

W a Cl L g Migh pts

Light Crossbow 12 24 5 19Heavy Crossbow* 15 30 6 26Handgun* 9 18 6 23Sling 9 18 4 13Bow 12 24 4 14Short Bow 9 18 4 13Longbow 15 30 6 26Elf Bow 18 36 5 22Javelins 6 - 4 11Darts 9 - 3 9Thrown Axes 6 - 5 16* Heavy Crossbow and Handguns may not move and re.

v mi The Vermin archer unit can

split its re against 2 of thethree targets so long as theyhave the range and LOS.

The character can re at anyof the targets regardless ofwhat the unit does.

A

B C

No matter which target it picks the Vermin could onlyre at unit C with 2 of their 3 stands. All targets and thestands that are ring at them must be declared before anydice are rolled.


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Full rules for applying casualties, making targets unsteady ordestroying them entirely are given in the next chapter. Thesesame game mechanics will apply to melee, missile re andmagic.

M i g a Fi i gEven the slightest movement counts when considering themove and re modi ers, this includes the free reform that lighttroops and characters are entitled to. Some weapons do notallow a unit to re after they have moved, these are HeavyCrossbows and Handguns which are marked * on the missileweapons table.

Some movement options stop any ring from a unit no matterwhat weapons they are armed with, others will simply impartthe -1 to hit penalty for having moved prior to ring.

If a unit uses doubling movement it may not re, even if itdoes not use its full double allowance.

If a unit evades a charge it may not re, regardless ofwhether the evade was successful or not.

A unit that has declared a charge, whether it results incontact with the enemy or not, may not re.

If a unit reforms it may re. They will suffer the -1 penaltyfor having moved and red and if armed with heavycrossbow or handgun would still not be able to re as theyhave moved.

The free reform that characters or light troops are allowed

at the start and end of their movement will not stop themfrom ring. It does still count as movement so will result inthe -1 moving and ring penalty or, if they are armed withheavy crossbow or handgun, would mean they could notre as they have moved.

sh i g a Cha acCharacters have additional to hit target modi ers according totheir base size but line of sight, ring arc and range restrictionsapply as usual. Full details of shooting at characters is givenon page 36.

Cha ac & ssu fi i gCharacters and single stand units follow all of the usual rulesfor ring, they must have a valid line of sight and range to theirtarget. No one stand can split its missile attacks no matter howmany missile attacks it has listed on its stat line.

This means that a character or war machine will only ever beable to target a single enemy unit or character.

d cla i g a g As has already been mentioned in the splitting re section all

stands from the same unit must declare their targets beforeany dice are rolled. This does not mean that all units have todeclare their targets before any missile re is carried out.

Where more than one unit, single stand unit or character isring these are activated one unit at a time and the effects ofthat units re is calculated before moving on to the next unit,single stand unit or character.

This means that re from a unit could destroy a target, revealanother target that was previously screened, kill a characterand so on and these effects are applied before any other unitbegins its ring.

C b w A

In the example above it is the blue players section ofthe move and re phase. Both of the crossbow unitsremained stationary during the movement part of the

phase so they may re.

Both the Wolf Rider and the Goblin foot units are withinrange but the Wold Riders block line of sight to theGoblins behind them. The blue player does not haveto declare that both units A and B are ring at the WolfRiders, he can re with one unit, apply the effects andthen decide what he wants to re at with the second unit.

In this example the re from unit A destroys the WolfRiders who are immediately removed. This then givesunit B LOS to the Goblins who may now be declared asthe target of re.

W lf ri

G bli

C b w B


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CAsuALtIesEach stand in Legions of Battle has a number of wounds,multiplying this by the number of stands within the unit willdetermine how many wounds the entire unit has.

As wounds are caused on a unit it will lose effectiveness duringcombat and with missile re. This lowering of combat abilitycan represent not only the actual loss of troops from the unitbut also a disordering and/or morale effect as well.

As such there are no Morale Tests for units when they losetroops to missile re, in melee or to magic. The numberof wounds that a unit has and the loses that it can absorbeffectively represents the combat value of that unit as a whole,not simply a representation of the number of troops that it

happens to contain.

M l i a i As multi stand units accumulate wounds they will become lesseffective. When a multi stand unit has taken half or more of itstotal wounds it will count as Unsteady and will suffer penaltiesduring melee and missile re. Any wounds taken can bemarked by the use of wound counters placed next to the unit ornoted on the army roster sheet.

Any unit that is unsteady must be marked as such so thatboth sides know which units are affected. As wounds aretaken stands are not removed from the unit, it will keep its full

amount of stands until it is routed.

Cha ac & ssuCharacters and single stand units do not become unsteadywhen they are reduced to half or less of their starting number

of wounds. See the character rules on page 36 and the singlestand unit (SSU) rules on page 33.

u a ff c & c Unsteady units suffer a -1 to hit in combat and with missile re.

The usual way in which a unit can recover from being Unsteadyis to increase the amount of wounds that it has remaining. If aspell, item or effect can increase the multi stand units woundsto above half then that unit can remove its Unsteady status.Should it be reduced to half or less wounds again later on itwill, once again, become Unsteady.

Some magic may cancel the Unsteady effects while the spellor item is effective. Details will be given with the speci c item,spell or ability.

Unsteady counters are supplied on page 58 and also availableto download from the Crusader Publishing web site www.crusaderpublishing.com.

A Norse Dwarf Warrior stand is represented by 4 gureson a 40mm by 40mm base and it has 4 wounds. A NorseDwarf Huscarl stand has the same number of gures andbase size but it has 5 wounds per stand.

This is not just because the Huscarls are tougher (thatis included in their higher starting Protection value) butthat the unit can take more punishment before becomingUnsteady or breaking.

C b w

The blue player has the initiative and res at the Goblin Archer unit. These Goblins have 3 wounds per stand andso the unit has a total of 12 wounds.

The crossbow re is particularly effective and the Goblinslose a total of 7 wounds, they are now counted asUnsteady.

During the Goblin players move and re phase theseGoblins will still shoot with their usual number of attacks

per stand, still apply all of the standard ring rules butwill suffer an additional -1 on their to hit roll for beingUnsteady.

G bli A ch

s p e a r m e n

A Dwarf Huscarl unit has 4 stands, each of which has 5wounds, therefore the unit has 20 wounds in total. Whenit has been reduced to only 10 wounds or less remaining itwill be counted as Unsteady.

If the unit were to somehow have wounds healed so that itrecovered to having 11 or more wounds remaining it wouldlose its Unsteady status.


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CLose CoMBAtIn close combat enemy units, single stand units and charactersthat are in base to base contact will attack each other. Eachstand will have a number of attacks and the relative sizes,formations and positions of the units will determine how thesestands ght. Each side will roll to hit and then convert thesehits into wounds, as wounds are taken they are marked againstthe enemy and may cause the target to become Unsteady.The side that wins the combat will then roll to see if they canbreak the enemy by rolling against the losers T&L, this is calleda Break Test.

In some cases it may be important the order in which you carryout melees. If this is the case the player who won the initiativethis turn will decide the order in which to do them.

A unit in combat may never choose not to attack the enemy,the player must roll in an attempt to hit and kill.

C ac i g h m Charging is dealt with in the movement chapter on page 13.When the attacker contacts the enemy they should conform tothe target if this is possible.

If it is not possible to conform then the units should be movedinto contact as much as possible, stands may count asoverlaps and rear ranks may ght in support.

Fla k a r a C acTo count as a charge into the ank or rear at least one wholestand of the front rank of the charging unit must start its chargein the ank or rear zone of the target.

n mb f s a i M lWhen two units engage in combat the actual bases that contacteach other determines who ghts. In Legions of Battle standsght against each other rather than gures.

Both sides will ght with any stands that are physically incontact, including corner to corner. In addition one standon either ank may be added as an overlap that can ght incombat the same as those that are physically in contact.

A unit that is ghting to ank or rear uses the number of standsthat are facing the enemy to determine who may ght, theiropponent will use this amount plus the usual overlap of one ortwo stands if applicable.

For example a 4 stand line could ght to the front or rear with 4stands, however, if it was ghting to its ank it would only ght

with the one stand.

Where a unit is ghting multiple opponents the overlap standsare calculated on a unit by unit basis, this may mean that amulti stand unit could ght with overlaps against more than oneopponent.

Wheeling in to conform to the enemy after a charge canbring up lots of awkward situations, this is especially thecase with long line formations.

The Legions of Battle game mechanics try to pit unitsagainst each other rather than individual gures or stands.

As such you may need to assume troops are in contactif the physical representation of your stands or scenerydoes not let the bases actually touch.

Adding an overlap stand on either ank representsthe troops lapping around to join in the combat. Whilethe bases are not physically moved the extra attacksrepresent the advantage given to a unit that overlaps itsopponent. This is one reason why, with some exceptions,

units would ght wide rather than deep.

Front

Fla k

r a

Unit A is charging against the front of thetarget. Unit B and C are charging the ankand unit D is charging the rear.

B

C

A

Fla k d


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s A ack A unit in column has two ranks and may add extra attacks toeach stand that is engaged in close combat to its front whetherthe stand is in contact or acting as an overlap. Each secondrank stand can add half of its listed attacks (round down).These support attacks must be against the same target that thefront stand is attacking.

Support attacks are calculated per stand and then addedtogether and not the other way around.

For example a column has 4 stands, each with 3 attacks. Therear rank will be able to use their attacks in support of thosein front. Each support stand will get half of its 3 attacks so 1.5rounded down to 1 each giving 2 support attacks in total. Youwould not add up the attacks and then half them, this wouldresult in 3+3=6 halved to 3 extra attacks.

Light troops do not get to bene t from the support rule. If anyunit is being attacked in ank or rear, is attacking or occupyingbuildings or is attacking obstacles then it cannot gain supportattacks.

Figh i g w f

If a stand is in a position where it can ght against two or moreenemy units then it must choose which one to ght against. Astand may not split its attacks in any way, any one stand mayonly ght in one direction. The choice of where to attack mustbe made before any dice are rolled.

I i ia iUnless a trait or special rule states otherwise all attacks occurat the same time. For the sake of simplicity one player shouldcomplete all of their attacks and make a note of the resultsbefore the other player calculates theirs.

With simultaneous attacks it is possible that two units coulddestroy each other in combat. This represents the destructionof the unit as a ghting force rather than every single ghter onboth sides being killed at exactly the same time!

In multi unit combats where players have a choice and needto declare the target that a stand is attacking it is always theinitiative winner that must declare rst.

In the top example the columncontacts three of the enemystands. The column will ghtwith two stands, its entirefront rank, while the line ghtswith four stands, the three incontact plus an overlap.

In the middle example thecolumn contacts two enemystands and would ght withboth. The line would ght withthe two stands in contact plusone more as an overlap.

In the bottom example onlyone of the column stands isin contact with the line. Thecolumn would ght with twostands, the one in contact plus

an overlap while the line wouldalso ght with two stands.

In each of the 3 cases the rearrank of the columns would getsupport attacks.

While the bottom situation isobviously better for the columncharges should still be directedat the centre of a target tocontact as many stands as

possible.

There can be an advantage toclipping a target but playersshould avoid doing this on

purpose.

B

A

A B

A

B

Unit A is ghting to front andank. Stand C can attack blueunit B or C, the choice is up tothe owning player. Stand Dmust ght unit C and stand Amust ght unit B.

Unit A gets no support attacksbecause it is attacked in theank so stand B has no effect.

Unit B would ght with 3stands, unit C would ght with2 stands which would bothbene t from support attacks.

B

C

A

B

dC

A


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r ll t HiUnits and characters will roll a D6 for each attack to see if theyhit the enemy. This is done by comparing the Combat Skill ofthe attacker and that of the defender to nd a starting to hitnumber and then applying any combat modi ers that either

side may have.

For each attack the player needs to roll a D6 and get equalto or greater than their modi ed to hit number. A roll of 6 willalways hit and a roll of 1 will always miss no matter whatmodi ers are applied.

The starting to hit numbers depend on the relative CombatSkills of the combatants and the to hit table shows how you willcalculate this. These rules follow the same basic mechanics asfor wounding targets with shooting so they should be fairly easyto get the hang of.

If you have double or more your opponents value you

need to roll a 2+ on a D6 to score a hit.

If you have greater than your opponents value but notdouble then you need to roll 3+ on a D6 to hit.

If the values are equal then you need 4+ on a D6 to hit.

If you have less than your opponents value but more thanhalf then you need 5+ on a D6 to hit.

If you have half or less your opponents value then youneed to roll a 6+ on a D6 to hit your opponent.

A unit of Skeletons with CS of 3 are ghting against LizardfolkElite Warriors with CS of 6. The Skeleton CS is half or lessthat of the Lizardfolk so their starting to hit number is a 6+. The

Lizardfolk CS is double or more that of the Skeletons so theirstarting to hit number is a 2+.

If the Combat Skill is modi ed in any way it may never be

greater than 12 or less than 1. For stands with zero rated statssee page 3.

Among its other traits The Terrible Swift Sword adds +4 CS tothe wielder. If they started with a CS of 6 it would be increasedto 10 but if they started with a CS of 10 it could only beincreased to a maximum CS of 12.

C mba t HIt M ifiThe combat modi ers table shows the modi ers that can beapplied to the basic to hit chance. Modi ers will increase ordecrease the chance of a hit being scored. A roll of 6 willalways hit and a roll of 1 will always miss no matter what thenal modi ed to hit number happens to be.

Each plus from the combat modi er table will increase thechance of hitting while each minus will decrease the chance.Where the modi er has *, ** or *** next to it there are additionaleffects applied to the combat.

* Against opponents defending obstacles or buildings youcannot get supporting attacks from your rear ranks.

** The charge bonus does not apply if the charge is directedagainst units behind obstacles or in buildings.

*** If you are attacking an enemy in the ank or rear then theycannot get any supporting attacks against any opponent.

Some spells, items or traits may give positive or negativecombat advantages and these are dealt with in the relevantchapters. Unless stated otherwise all modi ers are cumulative.

C mba m ifi eff cOpponent is Unsteady +1Opponent is Uphill -1Opponent is Defending Obstacle * -1

Opponent is Defending Building * -2

You are Unsteady -1

You Charged into Combat ** +1You are Attacking in Flank *** +1You are Attacking in Rear *** +2

The starting to hit chances for one side will also tell youwhat the chances are for your opponent. Suppose youhave double or more your opponents CS it follows thatthey must have half or less of yours. This means you canimmediately tell that your chance is going to be 2+ to hitwhile theirs is going to be 6 to hit. Think of it as a set ofscales, as one side gets lower the other gets higher.

d6 t Hi (Cs Cs)CS is double or more enemy CS 2+CS is greater than enemy CS 3+CS is equal to enemy CS 4+CS is less than enemy CS 5+CS is half or less enemy CS 6+


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ll t WOnce you have determined the number of hits you will needto see whether these wound the target. This is done usingthe same method as for missile re wounds. There may bemodi ers to the roll for various weapons or abilities but youare comparing Might against Protection for the basic woundchance.

The protection value is a combination of the starting

toughness of troops plus any bonus they may have fromarmour or shields. This is generally already calculated on thestat line but things like magic or traits can sometimes modifythe PR of the target. The Might of the attacker may alsopossibly be modi ed by special traits or magic.

Great Weapons or units with Lances that have charged will beable to add a +1 modi er to their roll to wound. For full detailssee the relevant entries in the traits and weapons chapter onpage 32.

If the Might or Protection is modi ed in any way it may never be

greater than 12 or less than 1. For stands with zero rated statssee page 3.

The Headsmans Axe is a magical great axe that adds +2 tothe Might of the wielder. As it is a great weapon it will also adda +1 modi er to the to kill roll.

A l i g amagEach stand in Legions of Battle has a number of wounds,multiplying the number of stands in the unit by the amount ofwounds it has will determine the number of wounds that a unithas. Any wounds that are taken are marked by the use of

wound counters or noted on the army roster sheet according toa players preference. Stands are not removed until the wholeunit, character or single stand unit is destroyed.

As units accumulate wounds they will come to a point wherethey become unsteady and are less effective in combat.When a unit reaches half strength or less in wounds it becomesunsteady. It will suffer a modi er of -1 to hit in melee andmissile re and opponents will gain a +1 to hit them in melee.Only multi stand units become unsteady at half wounds, singlestand units and characters are not affected by this rule.

Once a unit has lost all of its wounds it is destroyed, wiped out,routed or broken. No matter how you describe it the unit is no

longer an effective ghting force and is removed from the table.

A unit that is broken in melee is also destroyed, it may be that

da k el

H maContinuing the example from above, both sides ght with3 stands each. The Humans managed to get 5 hits whilethe Dark Elves did 6. Both units have a Might of 4 but theHumans have a Protection of 6 while the Dark Elves areunarmoured and only have a PR of 4.

The 5 hits that the Humans caused will be converted towounds on a D6 roll of 4 or more, this is because theirMight (4) is equal to the Dark Elf Protection value (4). The

actual rolls are 2,4,4,5,6 for 4 wounds.The 6 hits caused by the Dark Elves will have a startingto wound chance of 5 or more, this is because their Mightof 4 is less than the Human Protection of 6 but not half orless.

However, the Dark Elves are armed with great weaponswhich adds +1 to the wound roll so they will need D6 rollsof 4+ to wound the Human spearmen. Their rolls are1,3,3,4,6,6 for 3 wounds in total.

t W (Mt vs pr)MT is double or more PR 2+MT is greater than PR 3+MT is equal to PR 4+MT is less than PR 5+MT is half or less PR 6+

The Combat system uses the same mechanics to calculatethe chance to wound a target as the shooting system.Relative might and protection are compared with each otherand the starting score needed on 1D6 is shown.

da k el

H ma

A unit of CS 5 Dark Elves (blue) armed with greatweapons and defending a hill are charged by a unit of CS4 Human Spearmen (red).

The starting to hit number for the Humans is calculated as5+, this is because their CS is lower that of the Dark Elvesbut not half or less. The starting to hit number for the DarkElves is 3+ because their CS is greater than that of theHumans but not double or more.

Calculating the Human to hit chance rst. Their opponentsare uphill giving a -1 to hit modi er but charging intocombat adds a +1 modi er. The chance to score a hit is

thus 5 (starting chance) -1 (opponent uphill) +1 (chargedinto combat) for a nal to hit number of 5 or more on a D6.

The Dark Elf to hit number has no modi ers, being uphillmakes it harder for the opponent to hit rather than makingit easier for the Dark Elves to hit. This means that the nalto hit number for the Dark Elf unit is 3 or more on a D6.


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all of the troops are killed, run down or captured but just aslikely that many are broken, routed and eeing. Either way,regardless of the number of wounds it has remaining, thetroops cease to be an effective combat unit and are simplyremoved from the table.

If a unit loses its last wound in melee it is removed before anybreak tests are rolled but as attacks are simultaneous it will stillhave a chance to ght.

Wi & l Once the casualties have been determined it is time to seewhich side has won and which has lost. This is simply acomparison of the number of casualties that each side hascaused.

Wounds that have been saved by traits such as regenerationdo not count towards the total caused. Wounds over andabove the number needed to completely destroy a multi standunit, a single stand unit or kill a character do apply to thecombat resolution.

If the result is the same then neither side has won, the melee isdrawn and will continue next round.

If one side has scored more in combat resolution than the otherthen it has won that melee round. It must now try to break theenemy by rolling 2D6 and scoring greater than their opponentsT&L stat.

This die roll is modi ed by the amount that the combat waswon by, the greater the victory the more chance the enemy willhave of being broken.

In some cases there may be no roll required - this

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