Regular Dakkanaut
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I have written an extremely, extremely slimmed down set of rules for an introductory warhammer 40k tournament I'll be helping with in a few weeks. A gaming store I have taken interest in has been trying to find active players in the community (other than me), and we have tried tournaments and painting contests to no avail. So, the owner contrived an idea to get some people who aren't already involved in the game with a day long event. It will start with an "arts-and-crafts" time where a kid will get one of the 3 marine packs and paint their marines however they want with in store paints. Then we will have a series of very short games with the following basic rules. Please tell me if I have missed huge chunks of vital game play. the rules are not the same, but I'm hoping the unique aspects of the WH40K game are captured adequately.
as an example, I played a 2v2 team game at 1000 pts and attempted to teach my teammate the rules along the way. I had a blast cause I knew what was going on, she did not. then we played with these rules and everyone else had a blast (I was barely stimulated). BUT! my teammate said she understood better what was going on in the more complex game, and she was much more interested in seeing what other models there were to choose from. my teamate was about 12-ish? (the shop owner's daughter). and I think that is the target audience:
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Warhammer 40,000 is a futuristic wargame set in the 41st millennium. Humanity as known in the 2nd millennium collapsed ages ago, to be rebuilt in a renaissance of industry and interstellar expansion, and again to collapse into another dark age of technology. The Emperor of mankind united all of Terra and Mars and formed the core of the human empire which has set out on multiple crusades to unite all the human worlds lost during the Dark Age.
In Boot Camp, players may play as the elite super-soldiers of the Imperium known as the Space Marines, or they may play as the rebellious fallen soldiers know as the Chaos Space Marines. The full version of the game includes races such as the technologically advanced Eldar, the ever-feeding Tyranid swarm, the comically effective Orks, and more!
Game set-up
A 2’ x 2’ square gameboard is an adequate size for a boot camp game. Players may arrange the terrain in any mutually agreeable fashion, and pick starting locations. The layout of the gameboard is up to the players and may be arranged to set the storyline of the battle.
Each player will begin with 3 Marines, these marines will always act independently. Their actions and abilities are decided by their owner, with dice (called D6) rolls to determine results.
Starting locations can be opposite table-edges, corners, or areas decided by the players or the game scenario.
Victory conditions are set by the scenario or agreed upon by the players.
The Game Turn
The turns in Warhammer 40k are broken into three fundamental parts. The move phase, the shooting phase, and the assault phase. Each phase must be completed before a player can move onto the next phase, no going back. However, a player need not do something for each phase, for example, he can stand still during the move phase and go on to shooting if he is happy with his marine’s current location.
-Move Phase-
In Boot Camp, all marines may move up to 6” in any direction. This represents a somewhat cautious pace in which we presume the marine is ducking, sprinting, and giving cover fire as needed. The marine may not walk through walls, or climb ledges more than 3” tall, but he may slow down to jump a hedge or work his way through rubble. To represent this, a player choosing to move a marine into, out of, or over a piece of terrain must roll 2 D6 and choose the higher roll for the maximum distance the marine may move.
-Shooting Phase-
Marines are equipped with a weapon called a Boltgun. It fires large-caliber, rocket-propelled, shells which explode on impact. There are literally hundreds of weapons in the 40k universe, ranging from meek laspistols to devastating Earth-Shaker cannons.
In Boot Camp, the battle is fought in a smaller arena than usual Warhammer 40k games. While the effective range of weaponry is something to consider, we will only distinguish 2 different ranges. Short-range, which is anything in sight up to 12” from the edge of the model’s base; and Mid-range, which is anything beyond 12” and in sight of the model. At mid-range, the marine must focus more on aiming, and may therefore only take one shot at a target. At short-range, the marine is more likely to hit his target, and may therefore make 2 shots at that one target. Enemy models are in sight if any part of the model itself can be seen by the marine doing the shooting. We find it best to bend down and get a “model’s-eye-view” of what can be seen. Models partially obscured by terrain will benefit from their defensible position, but this will be discussed in armor saves below.
--To Hit--
The marine firing a weapon must first test to see if he hits his target. Declare which target is being fired at before measuring to see if the target is at short-range or mid-range. For each shot fired, roll a D6. On a 4+ (4, 5, or 6) the marine has hit his target.
--To Wound--
Even if a shot hits its target, it won’t necessarily incapacitate the enemy. It might graze the target’s thigh, or cause a flesh wound that won’t stop a soldier in the heat of battle. For each successful hit, roll another D6. Again, on a roll of 4+, the soldier being hit will suffer a wound to a vital location capable of taking him out of the battle.
--Armor Saves--
The technology of the 41st millennium is based on machinery and devices from the Golden Age of humanity’s past. The elite super-soldiers of the Imperium, are not only strong, and disciplined, but also tough and armored against the harshness of combat. They have been equipped with sacred Power Armor, which is capable of deflecting all but the most gruesome weaponry. To represent this, the controller of a model suffering a wound from shooting may attempt to make a saving throw by rolling a D6. On a roll of 4+, the marine’s armor holds, and the potentially wounding shot is deflected. If the armor save is failed, the marine suffering the sound is removed from play.
A model in cover is one that is partially obscured from the view of the shooter. The model in cover gains a benefit to his saving throw. To represent this, the model in cover will pass an armor save on a roll of 3+ instead of 4+.
--Running instead of Shooting--
A Marine may choose to move faster during his turn, at the expense of any meaningful shooting. If the controlling player chooses to, a marine may Run rather than Shoot during the shooting phase. The player rolls a single D6 and may move the marine up to that many more inches regardless of terrain. A marine who opts to run may not shoot or assault (discussed below) since all his attention is on where he is going.
-Assault Phase-
A large part of combat is played out in hand-to-hand combat and in heroic melee engagements. Even in the 41st Millenium, the fanciest gun in the galaxy won’t help you if your opponent is bashing your guts out with a rock. Each space marine is armed with a Chainsword, which has a whirring chainblade capable of biting through armor and flesh with ease.
If a marine is within 6” of an enemy model at the end of the move phase, and the marine did not run during the shooting phase, then the marine may charge the last distance and engage the enemy in close combat. If the marine fired during the shooting phase, he may only charge at the enemy to which he fired. The target of a charge must be decided before measurements are made, and if the marine is not within 6”, then the marine may not move any further that turn. If the target is within charge range, then simply move the marine into base-to-base contact to show their engagement.
Intervening terrain may slow the marine down while he attempts to engage the enemy. If terrain lies directly between the assaulting marine and his opponent, then another difficult terrain test must be made. In the same way as in the moving phase, roll 2 D6 and use the higher dice to determine the max distance the marine may move to engage his enemy. If the distance to get into base-to-base contact is greater than the marine’s difficult terrain movement, then the marine has stumbled along the way and failed to engage the enemy in hand-to-hand; the marine may not move any further that turn.
Marines are trained super soldiers of the imperium, they excel in hand-to-hand fighting, and are therefore capable of making 2 attacks during every assault phase. Assaults represent both opponent’s attempts to incapacitate their foe. Therefore, both marines may make their attacks during the assault phase, and for simplicity’s sake both marine’s attacks are made at the same time. A Marine that charges into combat has momentum carrying him into the fight, and therefore receives an additional bonus attack on the turn he charges into close combat.
--To Hit--
Similar to shooting, a marine must first hit his opponent in an assault. Roll a D6 for each attack the marine can make during assault, on a 4+, that hit is successful. In the event that more than one enemy is available to be hit during an assault phase, the marine must choose which enemies he will attack before rolling To Hit. The marine may divide these assault attacks between any enemy models with which he is in base-to-base contact.
--To Wound--
A successful hit may still not incapacitate a foe, therefore, for each successful hit in close combat, roll another D6. On a roll of 4+, the enemy has received a wound.
--Armor Saves--
The same armor which can turn aside a shot from a boltgun can also protect the marine from harm during a hand-to-hand fight. For each wound the marine suffers, his controlling player may attempt an armor save. On a D6 roll of 4+, the marine’s armor deflects the blow, and the marine stays in the fight.
--Resolution--
If at the end of the assault phase, a marine is still engaged in combat, then the fight is carried through to the next assault phase. The engaged marines may not move or shoot or take part in any activities other than the struggle in which they are currently engaged. Also, no players may shoot into the marines locked in the assault. However, additional marines may move into the assault during their assault phase exactly as if they were charging into an enemy.
If a marine defeats his opponent and is not himself wounded in the process, he may immediately move up to 3” to take advantage of cover or get to a safer location at the end of the assault phase.
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