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The clue's in the title, asking because I only recently bought a rulebook, and it is not too specific on this subject. Help please?

Same as when it's lower, you subtract the difference, only now the difference is negative. Say I hit you with P+S 19 and you're ARM 16. You'll take 2d6-(-3) damage, or 2d6+3.

I know that sounded a little overly complex, but I wanted to say it like that to show that it fit in the rules without needing anything extra.

So normally if you were to hit me with the ARM 16 and you had a P+S 12 you would deal 2d6+-3 damage? Could you reference the page number in the rulebook?

I don't have it on me, sorry, but yeah, damage is worked out as 2d6+(P+S-ARM). I'm sure someone else can find the page number to confirm.

EDIT: So actually for your example, no. The damage dealt would be 2d6+(12-16) = 2d6-4.

Prime page 65 under Damage

Damage rolls are described on p. 65-66 of HORDES: Primal MkII and the similar area in WARMACHINE: Prime MkII. To summarize, how it works is like this:

1) Damage Roll = 2d6 + POW (+STR if melee)
2) Subtact ARM from this total number.
3) Every point remaining does one damage.

This is abbreviated to ARM - P+S due to mostly order of operations. Damage can be shown as an equation like this:

Damage = 2d6 + P+S - ARM

You can move this around such so that you are pretty much this:
ARM - P+S = 2d6 - Damage

This creates the idea of damage being (dice -n), where n=amount of damage negated by ARM.

So in the example of POW 12 attack v. ARM 16:
16 - 12 = 2d6 - 4

So if you roll a 7 on the damage roll, you do 3 damage.

In the example of a POW 16 attack against ARM 14, it would be:

14 - 16 = 2d6 + 2

And so on. It's more or less straight-up arithmatic. You find the difference of base P+S and ARM, and that is the amount you add or subtract from the dice rolled.

(Here's hoping I got the maths right)

And stuff.

Can't even find it under damage... but thanks for the help so far. In a revised example, a Juggernaut hits a Templar (ARM 19+2 for shield) with his P+S 15 fist. I would roll 2d6-6 for damage. Am I correct or still failing?

That would be correct, actually.

And stuff.

Which rulebook are you using? Both Blaque and I have given you the pages that you are looking for.

The formula would be [P+S of the weapon (if melee) + 2d6] - ARM of target. So you would be correct in this instance.

The rules are for every point you score above the armor value, you deal a point of damage. If your attack's strength is above the armor, it will be dice plus a number.


The Avatar with the Choir bonus hits at P+S21 with his sword.

At the last tournament I took him too I managed to get a run on Garryth. I managed a hit and as Garryth is armor 14(and had no Focus at the time) I was hitting him at dice plus 7 damage.

I am using Warmachine Prime MkII Paperback. It somewhat worries me that a key feature like that couldn't be found. What else could I be missing?

Its there, you just have to understand what they mean.

The rules are that you roll the dice, add your strength, and for every amount you exceed the armor of the target you inflict a point of damage.


If you are str 19 hitting armor 20. You roll two dice and get snake eyes. Add it to your str19 and you get 21. You do 1 point of damage. And unless your attack gets down to a single D6 for damage thats the absolute minimum you could do.

If you are hitting armor 10 with that same attack, the least damage you could possably do would be 11. Or 10 if you get reduced to a single D6.

Check the index in the back of your book. Look under damage and the formulas should be there.

If by "paperback" you mean the full sized rulebooks with the painting section and sample model pages, you've been given the page numbers for those books. If you mean the smaller rulebooks that come with the two player starter boxes, the page number for those is page 45.

Given how important the rule is, it's really quite understated.

There's really only one critical sentence though:

The model takes one damage point for every point of damage that the damage roll exceeds its ARM.

If a model only has one damage box (the default) then it doesn't matter how much more than that one damage point you exceed the ARM. So you'll commonly get into situations that go like so:

A: And that's a hit. It's POW 15 (or 20 or 12 or even 11). What's that guy's ARM, again?
B: ARM 12. No tough or multiple wounds, I'll just take him off now.
A: Okay, moving on to the next one...
because even if you roll snake eyes on the damage dice, that's still two points and can't fail.

 The Wolf Of Fenria wrote:
It somewhat worries me that a key feature like that couldn't be found. What else could I be missing?

It's there.

Damage Roll = 2d6 + POW (+ STR if melee)

Compare this total against the Armor (ARM) of the model suffering the damage. That model takes 1 damage point for every point that the damage roll exceeds the ARM.

2d6+POW (+STR if melee) = x

x-ARM= y (amount of damage dealt). If y is < 0 or = 0, then no damage is dealt.

Ex. I attack something with armor 17 using an Ironclad's melee weapon (not the open fist), which has a P+S of 18. If I roll a 4 and a 2, the damage would work out like this:

7 (from dice) + 18 (which is P+S) = 25
25-17 (armor value) = 8.
Ergo, I deal 8 damage to the model.

It's Pg 65 "Damage Rolls" from the Hordes book and same in Warmachine.

Subtract your Pow or P+S from the targets ARM. If the result is a plus you add it to the damage roll. If its a minus then you subtract it. Simples.