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What kind of rules do you use for jungle fighting?

The old Catachan codex was so-so in dealing with the complexities of jungle warfare. A couple items I use/will be using:

Booby trap. D6 traps or purchase with points. Use counters - some marked dummy, some real. When opponent moves within 6" Flip counter - dummies are removed
real booby trap scatters d6, a hit puts device next to closest enemy figure. Resolve. Accute senses roll a 4+ to detect - boobytrap placed but not triggered and discoverer moves d3 away.
(it can still detonate if within 1" of another figure)


Ambush - troop /eilte choice may be placed in same method as boobytrap. Use dummy counters and 6" range. Roll scatter and 2d6- BS place troops.
Roll leadership test, if passed, they may shoot or assault at init10 if fleet/assault equipped. Resolve shooting or assault immediately during enemy move phase. Hit and run may be used.

Cover starts at a 5+ and for every 6 inches of jungle you gain a +1 - Missiles are next to useless. Mortars- blast weapons fire in arcs and the 5+ cover is used.
Flamers-templates still ignore cover, yet do not remove it.

Spotting - LOS 6" +D6, Snipers, Vehicles, Lazcannon, AC get 6" +2D6 for optics. One winding road goes through jungle, vehicle is on the middle.

I did a fun scenario, a Catacahan 6x6 AC "Mamba" with Heavy flamer/AutoCannon pintel hvy bolter(all on a turret) has broken down. Squad de-bussed (crew can abandon but then guns cant be used)
Another 6x6 Mamba w/squad is in reserves. Catachans have to rescue troops/crew and leave. Crew can only walk until nid contact. Likewise vehicles move cautious until contact.

Nids have 6 steelers, 3 raveners, and another 3 raveners. Ravs have rending+scything+thorax deathspitters. Ravs are in Feed. Nids place on any edge 6"


Everything was quiet until the first group of ravs hit. Steelers used the road part way from one end, other raves from other end. Steelers wound up shot to pieces,
while one brood of ravners shredded the troops outside the disabled Mamba. The Reserves arrived just in time to blast 2 Ravs while the survivor failed to Pen the disabled Mamba (this would have killed the crew) The remaing rav succombed to a hail of AC+ Bolter shots

The last group of ravs, having slogged down in the jungle managed to catch the new Mamba and failed to kill it. A rain of fire and flamer reduced the ravs to ashes. As the Mamba had debussed its troops just in time.

A good jungle fight is my second fav concept after a dense urban battlefield.

The idea of the ambush counters is good, and booby trap counters would be fun as well.

You could simply write up a "Jungle Fight" custom scenario as a framwork. I would say 2-3 times normal terrain density as per rulebook but the additonal has to all be jungle pieces (and any amount of the usual amount may be as well).

I would roll once on the mysterious terrain table for foress/woods and have the roll appy to all forests on the board each game.

I would take a cue from suppliments like Planet Strike and Cities of Death and come up with a list of jungle fighting themed stratagems that each side can choose from. For example ambush and booby traps could be two of them, and you could add a bunch more as you saw fit. In fact a number of the stratagems from those two books could be borrowed or modified for use. Each side then gets stratagem points to buy them rather than using army building points. I like the stratagem system and was actually hoping we would have seen it becom a part of the core rules in 6th.

I would use the mechanic similar to he new night fighting mechanic to represent the effect of shooting through increasing amounts of jungle. f you ar enot familiar with how it works you get an increasing bonus to your cover saves the further away you are. This would seem to work for what you are trying to represent. What would be nasty is that it could stack with actual night fighting...

Now I want to play a jungle fight...

I checked Cof D but did not purchase yet. Yes, dense terrain is most suitable to nids and orks. A real bear for vehicles.

I also want to include swamps and water. My Catachan vehicles are amphib, and the tables would change/add damage to swamped/sunk.

You could Ork up some cool air boats too.

Nids would favor ravners and trygons as their serpentine bodies would dash through the water - perhaps faster than on land. (keep beast- MTC)
Zoeys would still hover, and gaunts, steelers, and rippers would scurry everywhere.

Other nids would bog down, so a prime or tyrant would need to have a beast body or take wings(which exposes them to more crashes into trees). Fexes - forget it.


To keep jungle terrain simple, its all jungle. Dense, nasty. Nids would have their own booby traps - deadly native flora and fauna. Exploding toads!
For terrain I normally use a cloth in jungle cammo scheme - Green, OD, black, brown. Mark a road/path with tape.... black felt for water, or declair particular colors open. Its cheap, reusable, and easily transported.

An ambush would be a squad/troop type, maybe an elite, nothing like a lictor taking a soldier then disappearing back into the woods. Ymgaryls would be especially nasty popping out of nowhere.

One thing for ambushes, when you appear, take a leadership test, if passed, you can assault Init 10. That is what ambushes do.

Here's a couple rule mods we are going to try out;

Nids (anyone) with fleet or beasts,


On the turn they arrive (deep strike or spore) units may choose one: Shoot, Run, or Assault.

If assault is chosen, Roll 1D6 plus initiative for atacker and defender. If failed, assault stops and no other action this turn,
If passed, assault proceeds as normal. Attacker may still fail a MTC and not assault.

Defender response will now be a d6 not 6". (they may not be prepared- stumbling over dead...equipment)

These options better allow for the fog of war, where a chance is still a chance, yet the better abled, can seize victory by either charging into an unprepared enemy
or suffering fire from an alerted position.

It actually gives ravener and lictors the ability to do what they are supposed to do - pop up and slaughter, or in the case of hit and run, a lictor can take someone out and disappear.



Lictors may be taken as a brood, but move and function independently (remember synapse -lurk rule)


Biovores, Pyrovores, Venomthropes may be taken as support units (single figure) for every 15 gaunt (T or H) troop choice. A brood of 30 could have 2 support units.
A pure brood 3x may be taken as an elite,heavy choice.


Synapse creatures have coherancy to 12" (warriors, zoenthropes)

Monsters have coherancy one base diameter. (larger diameter for ovals-trygon....)