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Introductory novellette Cadwallon was more than a week’s march away. Many perils awaited them before then… The forest of Allyvie was not as safe as the Elves claimed. The first rays of Lahn, the sun, warm up the still sleepy faces of this small squad charged with escorting Alahel. The Messenger could hear the distant roar of one of the river Amillan’s many waterfalls. A scout broke Alahel’s reverie. The Reaper had found a village one kilometre ahead. The village greeted the men with a heavy silence. There was no smoking chimney, no sign of life. Alahel, quiet and careful, told his men to stay close and to be prepared for anything. The houses’ doors were open. In some, tables were laid. The hamlet’s inhabitants had left in haste. He had heard of similar cases with Wolfen attacks, but here it was different : nothing had been rampaged. The Messenger had no time to unravel this mystery, he had a mission to carry out. As he came out of a house, he had the unpleasant feeling of being watched. He was not the only one : his men, veterans of many campaigns, seemed nervous too. All of a sudden, the bell of the village’s tiny church tolled wildly as if it were the end of times… Skeletons and scraggy zombies came out of cellars, sheds, wells and the graveyards’ tombs. Alahel ordered his men to get out of this deadly trap as quickly as possible. But within moments, the troops of the Lion were surrounded. The Archers and Reapers managed to shoot down a few of these macabre puppets, but nothing seemed to be able to stop their progression. Alahel easily guessed the villagers’ fate. The flesh of some of the living-dead had not yet started to rot. Their foul smell was not yet strong enough to betray them. All around him, it was only grunts, painful sighs and horrified expressions. The damned of Acheron, the accursed barony, were well-known to the Lions of Alahan. None of the Messenger’s soldiers gave in to panic. Instinctively, they formed a square around the marksmen and moved forward trying to keep in formation. The Paladins’ sacred swords and the soldiers’ spears easily cut through shredded clothes, soft flesh and fragile bone. But for each fallen dead, two more took its place. Alahel opened the way trying to keep all his concentration. The ballet of his sword Deliverance and that of his sacred spear easily broke the disorganised ranks of the grimacing horde. Behind him, a Sword Player protected an injured Spearman cut off from the rest of the group with his life. A rusty scythe bit deeply in his leg. His scream of rage filled the air before dying out… The masses of the dead were diminishing when a rider mounted on a terrifying war-horse suddenly came out of the forest, a macabre sword drawn clear. With a single powerful charge, he forced his way through to the heart of the battle and with one blow killed a soldier of the Light. Not a single drop of blood came to taint his brothers’ clothes. The monstrous sword of bone and Darkness, a Carnage Blade, had already drunk the vital fluid. It was made easy now for the few remaining living-dead to launch themselves into the open wound made to the square by the terrible charge of their lord : a Crâne Warrior riding a war-horse of Darkness. The soldiers of the Lion found themselves separated from each other and facing odds of more than three to one. Alahel drew from his inner strength in an attempt to join his men and help them, but he was himself overwhelmed by Morbid Puppets armed with clubs. While the ridiculous puppets fell before him, his soldiers were dying needlessly. Rage was gradually building in the Messenger’s heart slowly bending his will. Soon his fencing became whirling, powerful but imprecise. Each of Alahel’s blows sent a slave of Darkness back to Hell. The Crâne Warrior was watching, impassive… The Champion of Darkness defiantly pointed at Alahel with his Carnage Blade. The Puppets moved away as the infernal mount charged again. The King’s Messenger dodged the terrible Blade at the last moment and drove Deliverance deeply in the putrid flank of his enemy’s beast. The rider and his mount crashed to the ground a dozen metres away in a clash of thunder. Unfortunately, the Messenger had not had the strength to withdraw his weapon from the zombie war-horse’s body... But he still had his spear, and especially his bow. He planted his spear and put a knee to the ground. The Crâne stood up, slowly, disoriented by his terrible fall. His helmet crowned with ram horns had fallen, revealing a putrefied face and sparse hair. Deep in his empty sockets danced the twin flames of Death and Damnation. Alahel had a slight hesitation as he drew his arc. This face seemed familiar… The Crâne charged giving a guttural moan full of imprecations and hate. The arrow buried itself deeply in his breast where his heart should have been. Alahel had barely the time to switcher to his sacred spear before parrying a blow of spectacular force. Had he not already been kneeling he would have been sent sprawling to the ground. The Messenger circled his opponent to recover Deliverance, to no avail. The Crâne was on him in a single stride. The Champion of Death had no care for his own safeguard, his blows would shatter stone. Alahel pushed his prowess beyond his limits to escape harm. Finally, he managed to get hold of his weapon. It was at this moment that Alahel saw that parts of the Crâne Warrior’s armour came from the armour of a Knight of the Lion. But the Crâne Warrior revealed in turn an axe in his free hand. Doubt overcame Alahel. This sinister opponent was toying with him. What new trick had he in store for him ? The two Champions exchanged a long look. Alahel contemplated all of Death’s blackness in the eyes of his enemy. The obvious suddenly dawned on the Alahan Messenger : The war-axe whistled past Alahel’s ears and stuck in a door frame, reminding him not to turn back. “I promise you, Tharn, that I will return and free you of the Evil gnawing at you… “
(Note that a copy of these rules are provided with every blister and boxed set purchased) You have just acquired a figurine intended for the war game RAG’NAROK. This game stages vast armies, from numerous peoples, who confront each other on epic battlegrounds for the dominion or the survival of their species. For you to be able to play with the RAG’NAROK figurines, here are the CONFRONTATION game rules. CONFRONTATION is a game which marks the beginning of RAG’NAROK in skirmishes with often crucial consequences.
RACKHAM takes the greatest care at every stage of the design and the making of each of your figurines. For best results when painting your figurines, we recommend the use of a modelling knife, as well as a selection of small paint brushes and acrylic modelling paint. Before you start painting your figurines, remove all metal excess with your modelling knife, with the blade facing outwards, to prevent hurting yourself. Then apply a black or white undercoat. Once both stages completed, you are ready to start painting your figurine. The Reference card supplied in the blister can be used as a painting guide or you may wish to invent your own colour schemes to give a personal touch to your army.
Each figurine’s characteristics and attributes are summed up on a card called a Reference card. Some warriors have several cards : these describe artefacts or special capacities reserved to them.
The characteristics of each figurine are represented by pictograms followed by numbers. These pictograms are identical for each army. The name indicates the type of troop the warrior belongs to. Some warriors have their own name and are called CHARACTERS.
DEFENCE / DEF. : the first rating includes dodging, the parrying techniques and the defence equipment. AIM : capacity to efficiently use a long distance weapon. Some fighters do not have a number associated with Aim : this means that they cannot fire. The weapon used, its range in cm and its own Strength are indicated in the Equipment part of the Reference card. COURAGE / COU. : this rating symbolises the bravery, the composure and the fortitude of the warrior when faced with terrifying creatures. Courage is opposite to Fear. FEAR : some creatures, by their repulsive or horrible nature, are capable of spreading panic within the enemy’s ranks and possess a rating in Fear. Fear is opposite to Courage. DISCIPLINE / DIS. : this characteristic reflects willpower, tactical ability and military strategy. Disciplined warriors are excellent soldiers who react rapidly to orders or who know how to efficiently lead their troops. POWER / POW. : Power is the sum of occult knowledge and spell casting ability. Only Magicians and certain creatures possess Power. Power is not used in the CONFRONTATION rules but is fundamental to INCANTATION. FAITH : the supplement DIVINATION is devoted to the various aspects of Faith. Faith represents the intimate link that ties a believer to his god. The higher the ratings, the more the believer will be able to accomplish Miracles. Only the Faithful and certain creatures possess scores in Faith. EQUIPMENT includes the weapons, armours and objects carried by the figurine. Some troops have special equipment. Other rarer artefacts have formidable powers and belong to Characters. ABILITIES indicate the particular capacities that the figurine possesses. You will find the list of the main Abilities at the end of this booklet. RANK symbolises the position or status of the warrior within his army. There are eight ranks in the hierarchy. Irregular : the figurine is not a proper soldier. ARMY POINTS / A.P. measure the warrior’s value. The higher the number, the more powerful the fighter. This evaluation allows to balance the forces that will confront each other.
Four different sizes exist for the figurines and scenery elements. These have influence, in particular on Firing and Physical Feats. Small : Dwarf Bombardier, Familiar, Goblin Brat, Mid-Nor Dwarf, No-Dan-Kar Goblin, Tir-Na-Bor Dwarf. The Equipment and posture are not taken into account in the size of a figurine.
War-staff and Character miniatures, except Magicians and Faithful, come with precut counters. These counters will allow you to quickly identify the condition and wound level of a fighter on the Battleground. Two other counters will give you the opportunity to create Trap effects.
In some cases, players will have to make a die roll regarding a particular characteristic. This test determines if an action is a success or a failure. To make a characteristic roll, all you have to do is roll a D6 and add the result of the die to the score in the relevant characteristic. If the die result is 6, you may immediately re-roll the die and add the new result to the previous total. You may re-roll the die as long as you get a 6. This does not apply to Damage rolls. This rule goes also for a re-rolled 6 : a 6 followed by a 1 ends up to be a failure as well. It may happen, in some cases, that a characteristic’s score drops under 0. This eventuality is perfectly acceptable, except for Resilience / RES. If a fighter’s Resilience drops under 0, he is then considered KILLED OUTRIGHT and immediately removed from the Battleground.
The only necessary elements are a game surface, called the Battleground, and several 6 sided dice (D6) to résolve characteristic rolls.
Once the Battleground is set up, it is divided into two equal sections, called deployment areas. Each player then décides on which side he will place his troops. The fairest way to choose sides consists in rolling a die. The player with the highest score gets to choose his deployment area. This method forces Under no circumstances may a figurine be deployed in order to be able to Charge or Engage an enemy figurine in the first round. This rule does not take into account magical artefacts, spells and Abilities which affect the Movement. The first Confrontation round can now begin...
A Confrontation round is divided in game phases which symbolise all of the fighters’ actions. Each game round is divided into three phases which always follow each other in the same order. 1. Movement 2. Firing 3. Hand to hand combat
The player who wins the Tactical Roll : - picks up the first card. Each player, in turn, picks up a card, and may choose to keep it as a Reserve card according to the Approach rules. There are no limits to the number of Reserve cards a player can activate simultaneously. A Reserve card is activated when a figurine can be moved. The activation of a Reserve card cannot interrupt an enemy’s Movement. The figurines represented by the card can move. A figurine does not have to use its whole Movement rate, and can even stand still ! A warrior who engages an enemy in a fray after a move, must be placed in total base to base contact with his opponent. The figurine’s base size determines the maximum nimber of opponents that can be engaged with it : - Infantry / 25 x 25 : 4 opponents.
CHARGING If the « target » is out of Charge range / M x 2, the warrior must use twice his Movement rating in his target’s direction, and face it. A warrior who has been Charged by an enemy, suffers a –1 penalty to Initiative, Attack and Defence until the end of the round. These penalties are not cumulative if several warriors have Charged the same figurine and cannot bring a characteristic under 0. ENGAGEMENT PHYSICAL FEATS SWIMMING JUMPING CLIMBING Special movements DISENGAGEMENT DODGING INFLUENCE OF FEAR - if the result is strictly greater than your opponent’s Fear, the test is successful and the combat goes on normally. A lesser or equal result is a failure. - if the warrior fails his test when Charged or Engaged by a Fear-inducing creature, he suffers Fear penalties. If the warrior’s Reference card had not yet been activated, he runs away from the frightening creature at double his Movement rate, turning his back to it. He will not Disengage from a combat in which he is Engaged. The Fear-inducing creature must finish its move even if its target has run away. It can designate a new Target if the initial target is out of reach. To reach its new target, it has at its disposal the rest of its Movement rating. It may go on until its Movement rate is exhausted. When a warrior has overcome his Fear facing a frightening creature, he is no longer affected by all creatures with an equal or lower Fear rating, until the end of the game. To succeed on a Rallying Roll does not immunise the fighter against the Fear that made him run away. The Fear-inducing creatures ignore its effects.
During the Firing phase, troops equipped with long distance weapons come into action and may fire at any enemy they see. A figurine’s field of vision is of 180° from the middle of the front side of its base. The line of sight between the marksman and the target must be clear of any obstacles because every element on the Battleground is considered to be a scale representation of what it symbolises. Unless otherwise stated, a figurine may only fire once per round. To be able to fire, a fighter must : - see his target. You may not measure the distance between you and your target before having designated it. The distance between a marksman and his enemy is measured once the player has designer his target. If the target is out of range, the firing results in an automatic failure. In Confrontation, there exist three ranges and four different types of Firing. Other modifiers can also be added. Another particular Aim exists : Counter-Firing.
- Short : 4
- Static Firing : the marksman has not moved. It is the standard firing option. The difficulty is identical to the base test. This does not include possible extra modifiers. It is possible to add the advantages of different Firing types. For example a Dynamic Firing and Rapid Firing. The Initiative may drop below 0 for certain types of Firing.
All modifiers apply to the Aim Roll difficulty : - The target is only partially visible due to scenery or an obstacle of smaller Size… : +1 - Small +1 - The target is engaged in Hand to Hand Combat : If the Aim Roll is a success, determine which figurine is hit between the initial target and all those in base to base contact with it, by rolling one or more D6. - A Small figurine counts as 1 Example : a Goblin Marauder (Small) is engaged by a Rider of Redemption (Large) and a Griffin Spearman (Normal). If a nearby Griffin Fusilier decides to aim at the Goblin, he has only one chance in six to hit his target : 1 + 2 + 3. Note : all Aim modifiers add up. Counter - firing In the Movement phase, if you hold in your Reserve the card of a marksman who is Charged or Engaged by an enemy warrior, you can immediately play the card and declare a Counter-Fire. The Counter-Firing is immediately resolved and the difficulté is fixed automatically at 6. You cannot add the Counter-Firing to a Precision Firing or a Rapid Firing. If the fighter is Charged or Engaged by a Fear-inducing creature, he must first test for Courage before rolling for a Counter-Fire.
THE COMBAT AND THE FRAY SPLITTING COMBAT RESOLUTION 1 - Each player rolls for Initiative for his warrior. The dice are rolled simultaneously. In case of a tie, re-roll the dice until one side takes the advantage. The one with the highest score strikes first : he is the Attacker. His opponent is then called Defender. When several figurines are Engaged in a combat, only one test is done for the whole group. The Initiative of the warrior with the highest rating is then used with a +1 bonus for each additional warrior. The result is applied to all warriors Engaged in this combat. 2 - Once Initiative is determined, players will choose between several combat tactics : they will attack, defend or both. A fighter always has a die for himself plus one per enemy in base to base contact with him. If the combat is a « one-to-one », each player will have two D6 in hand. If the fight is several against one, the player with several warriors takes two D6 per warrior on his side. His opponent takes one D6, plus one additional die per enemy Engaged against him. Each die allows an Attack or a Defence. 3 - The Attacker will then freely set a difficulty level for his Attack, in other words, he will attempt a more or less difficult strike that will be therefore more or less difficult for his opponent to parry. He announces the difficulty that he will try to reach or best with his Attack Roll. If the roll result (ATT + D6) is equal or higher than the difficulty he had decided on, he strikes his opponent. The Defender will then try to avoid the blow. To do this, he rolls for Defence, if he has placed dice in Defence. He must obtain an equal or higher result than the level set by his opponent for his Attack Roll. If he succeeds, he avoids the blow. If he misses, the Attacker will be able to roll for Damage and determine the amount of damage done. Go to stage 4. 4 - To determine damage, the Attacker rolls two D6 for each successful Attack that has not been parried and then checks the Wound Table. The result is applied immediately. 5 - If the Defender still has fit warriors and Attack dice, he can retaliate (go back to stage 3). SUSTAINED DEFENCE - The warrior is faced with several opponents in Hand to Hand Combat. PURSUIT MOVEMENT With a Pursuit Movement, a figurine can Engage and fight new opponents, as long as it can reach enemies that are not yet Engaged or if it can join a combat not yet resolved. In the same way as an Engagement (see Movement phase), a Pursuit Movement is not considered a Charge. A Pursuit Movement is considered a normal Movement and there is no particular modifier and it can lead to Courage Rolls as detailed in the chapter « Influence of Fear ».
In the world of CONFRONTATION there exist extremely powerful individuals. These Characters are particularly tough and have survived many battles, forging friendships and forming mortal rivalries in the course of their destiny. They are distinguished in that they have their own name. The particular status of these Characters gives them unique Abilities reserved to them. MULTIPLE ATTACKS AND DEFENCES THE COUNTER-ATTACK The Magicians and the Faithful cannot Counter-Attack. The Warrior-Mages and Warrior-Monks can Counter-Attack, even if they are not Characters.
While the armies of Alahan and Acheron are battling in the distance, a small Lion detachment lead by the Red Lioness attempts to reach the battlefield. As they get to the surroundings of a nearby wood they are attacked by a few scattered living-dead. With a terrifying howl, a Wolfen Zombie Charges a Paladin. The Paladin is within Charging distance of the Wolfen Zombie. Before the Acheron player moves his figurine, the Alahan player rolls for Courage to determine whether his Paladin succumbs to Fear or resists it. The Paladin’s Courage characteristic rates 5 while the Fear score of the Wolfen Zombie is 8. The Paladin has to roll 4 or more on his D6 in order to best the Fear rating of his opponent. The Alahan Player rolls 5 and therefore gets a total Courage result of 9 / 5 (COU) + 4 (die result). The brave Paladin knows no fear and will not flee. He suffers no penalties due to Fear but as he is Charged he suffers a –1 penalty to Initiative, Attack and Defence until the end of the round. The figurine of the Wolfen Zombie is moved and placed in total base to base contact with the Paladin’s base. The two fighters are now in Hand to Hand Combat. At this point, each player does an Initiative test to determine which one will take the advantage over his opponent. The Acheron player rolls a 2, which gives him a total of 5 / 3 ( INI ) + 2 (die result). The Alahan player also rolls a 2 for a total of 4 / 3 (INI) + 2 (die result) – 1 (Charge penalty). His score being lower, the Alahan player has to place his dice first. As it is a one to one combat, each figurine has two D6. Cautious, the Alahan player chooses to place one D6 in Attack and the other in Defence. Seeing this, the Acheron player, quite confident in his fighter’s strength, places both dice in Attack. The Wolfen Zombie wounds his enemy. The Acheron player rolls two D6 to determine the damage caused by the Attack of the fierce creature. The dice show a 3 and a 6 which adds up to 9 + STR 13 (the Wolfen Zombie’s Strength) - RES 7 (the Paladin’s Resilience) = 15. The players read the Wound Table at the end of this booklet. The smallest result locates the Wound : 3 / the Torso . The final result is 15 in the Torso : a Critical Wound. The Wound effects are immediate : all the Paladin’s D6 results on INI, ATT, DEF and AIM will be reduced by 3 points until the end of the game. Diminished but still standing, the Paladin is ready to Attack in turn… At a short distance from there, the Red Lioness has been Charged by 4 Zombies and has just gained the Initiative. The Zombies have two D6 each, that is a total of 8 dice. Hoping to eliminate the Lion Heroin by outnumbering her, the Acheron player places all his dice in Attack. The Red Lioness has one D6 + one additional die for each enemy in base to base contact with her. That is a total of five D6. The Alahan player chooses to place two D6 in Attack and three in Defence. The Zombies having placed no dice in Defence, the Alahan player chooses the lowest Difficulty level : that is 8. The Attack rating of the Red Lioness is indeed 7 – 1 due to the Charge penalty and a result of 1 on a characteristic roll is an automatic failure. The Lion player rolls his 2 dice and gets a 1 and a 5. Only one of his Attacks succeeds. When rolling for Damage, the Red Lioness manages to Kill Outright one of the Zombies on a double thanks to her Sacred Sword. The three surviving Zombies can now Attack. The Acheron player has only 6 dice left. He chooses a difficulty level of 7. He rolls all his dice simultaneously and gets 6, 2, 5, 6, 2 and 3. The Attack characteristic of the Zombies rates 4. The Acheron player needed at least a 3 to reach the difficulty level of 7 that he had fixed. Four of his Attacks are then successful. The Red Lioness must now attempt to parry the blows. The Alahan player rolls his 3 Defence D6 and gets 1, 4 and 3. The Lioness’ Defence rating is 6 – 1 due to the Charge. Two of the Zombies’ Attacks are parried. As she succeeded in parrying at least one Attack, the Red Lioness may attempt a Sustained Defence. The difficulty level is equal to the initial difficulty increased by 2 points, that is 9. The Lion player rolls a die and gets a 5. Another Attack is parried. After this first successful Sustained Defence, the Red Lioness can attempt to parry the last Attack. The difficulty is now increased by 4 points, that is 11. The Lion player will have to get a 6 on this roll in order to successfully parry. Will Fortune smile once more on the Red Lioness...
Abilities Some fighters possess particular faculties, sometimes innate, sometimes acquired after long training : Abilities. When a warrior possesses special Abilities they are mentioned on his Reference card. Each of their effects are explained below. Some Abilities are given with varied numbers indicated / X, as for Leadership or Regeneration. For example, Leadership / 10 means a leadership range of 10 cm. Regeneration / 5 means a success for a result of 5 or more. Additional limb : a warrior who possesses Additional limbs can strengthen his offensive or defensive power by striking an opponent on all sides or by defending himself with relentlessness. This Ability is activated before the Initiative Roll, in the Hand to Hand Combat phase. The warrior may invert his scores in Attack and Defence. These effects last until the end of the round. Alliance / X : whether by affinity, by chance or simply by interest, a fighter who possesses this Ability may join a people or a Path of Alliance referred to as X. He is counted as an Ally. Ambidextrous : Ambidextrous warriors can skilfully wield two weapons simultaneously, which makes them truly formidable. Ambidextrous fighters can Counter-Attack without any penalty. They gain one Attack die for each successful Defence. Ambidextrous cannot be used at the same time as the Counter-Attack or the Sustained Defence. Assassin : Assassins are warriors trained to carry out lightning Attacks as powerful as they are precise. An Assassin who Charges his victim rolls three dice for the first Damage Roll against it. He will choose the two dice most suitable to détermine the gravity of the Damage inflicted. An « Assassin » is immune to the effects of this Ability. Born killer : a Born killer’s survival instinct is honed to the extreme. In Hand to Hand Combat, he may add a die to those he normally has. For a Born killer, a 1 is not an automatic failure on a Courage Roll. Bravery : the valorous warriors who possess the Bravery Ability do not count a 1 on a Courage Roll as an automatic failure. A 5 equals a 6 on a Courage Roll and can therefore be re-rolled as such. Brutal : some warriors are real brutes who deal blows of rare violence, very difficult to parry. A 5 equals a 6 on an Attack Roll and can therefore be re-rolled as such. For them, a 1 rolled after a re-roll Brutish charge : the Brutish charge is a combat technique which enables the use of one’s body weight as a means of attack. A warrior who possesses this Ability has an additional Attack die against the target he has Charged. This Ability has no effect during an Engagement or a Pursuit Movement. Colossal : Colossal creatures ignore Wound penalties. When they are killed, do not remove them from the game... But apply the effects of a « Serious Wound ». Kill them once more and they will suffer a « Critical Wound ». They will have to be killed a third time to be dead for good. Enormous : Enormous creatures ignore Wound penalties. When they are killed, do not remove them from the game... But apply the effects of a « Critical Wound ». Kill them once more and they will be dead for good. Fanaticism : for a Fanatic a 5 equals a 6 on a Discipline Roll and can therefore be re-rolled as such. When a Fanatic fails a Courage test, he must attempt a Discipline Roll at the same difficulty level in order not to run away. He will still suffer the effects of Fear and will not be able to Charge or Engage the creature that scared him. Fencer : Fencers have few equals in the mastery of the use of arms. They ignore the minimum level given by the Defence characteristic of the opponent when rolling for Attack. Gigantic : Gigantic creatures ignore Wound penalties. When they are killed, do not remove them from the game... But apply the effects of a « Light Wound ». Kill them a second time and they will suffer a « Serious Wound » and a third time for a « Critical Wound ». The fourth time they will be dead for good. Harassment : Harassment allows a warrior to anticipate the Firing phase by firing during the Movement phase if his Movement type allows it. If he chooses to do so, he will not be able to opt for Rapid Firing or Precision Firing. Once he has fired, the warrior can finish his Movement and can even Engage an enemy in Hand to Hand Combat ! If the warrior chooses to fire in the Movement phase, he will not be able to fire in the Firing phase. Hard-boiled : when a warrior rolls for Damage against a Hard-boiled fighter, the effects of the Wound are read one line higher on the Wound Table. It is not possible to go higher than the first line of the table. Hard-boiled does not apply against Exceptional Wounds (doubles) and the result KILLED OUTRIGHT on the Wound Table. Instinctive firing : fighters trained to this type of firing can shoot after having moved a longer distance than their Movement, or having accomplished a Physical Feat. They can only do it at Short Distance and with a difficulty raised by + 3. They can also choose their target when firing in a fray. Leadership / X : all warriors within distance / X of the figurine with this Ability may use its scores in Courage, Fear and Discipline if they have to test one of these characteristics. In the context of Alliances, only the « Leader’s » people may benefit from these effects. All figurines within Leadership / X of a Standard-bearer gain a +1 bonus on Courage Rolls. All figurines within distance / X of a Musician gain a + 1 bonus on Discipline Rolls. Leadership does not spread Fear to fighters who have a Courage rating on their Reference card and vice versa. Leap : some creatures on Aarklash have learned to move by leaping. They are able to cross in a single Leap a distance equal to half their Movement rate, ignoring all obstacles, even a figurine, if their height is not bigger than their Movement characteristic in cm. A figurine can make two Leaps per turn, no matter the type of Movement. It is not possible to Leap when doing a Physical Feat. Living-dead : by its very nature, a Living-dead creature ignores the effects of Fear. The Living-dead’s nature is even so terrifying that a warrior with this Ability can frighten an enemy who causes Fear ! Against a Living-dead, a figurine that causes Fear is no longer immune. His Fear characteristic becomes Courage. A Living-dead is not subject to Discipline for he is under the influence of superior entities. When he has to roll for Discipline, his Discipline characteristic is considered to be 0. A Living-dead cannot drown : he does not suffer Light Wounds for failing a Feat Roll when trying to swim. Mercenary : a Mercenary warrior goes into the service of anyone ready to meet the price. A Mercenary can fight alongside any army. He is then considered an Ally. This Ability is void if he fights amongst his own people. Mutagenic / X : some peoples use stimulants that they inject into their own organism in order to increase their capacities. Before the Tactical Roll of each round, you may choose one Mutagenic fighter for every 100 A.P. of « Mutagenic » warriors in your army. The artefacts, spells, miracles and Experience cards of the « Mutagenic » fighters are to be included in this total. You must choose these figurines before anything else occurs in this round, such as Spell casting or applying any artefact’s effect. For each chosen figurine, you can roll a die at anytime. The result + X is the amount of points you can add to one or more of his characteristics. You do not have to distribute the points immediately, but Mutagenic cannot modify a roll already made. Mutagenic cannot modify Power or any aspects of Faith. A figurine with the Leadership Ability cannot pass on his modified Courage / Fear and Discipline ratings. A figurine can only benefit from one die each round, except if under the effect of a spell, a miracle or an artefact. All Mutagenic dice of one figurine are rolled at the same time. The effects of the stimulant end with the round. A natural or modified result of 1 on a Mutagenic Roll (that is if you roll a 1 or if you get a 1 by adding your die result to X) will be an automatic failure and will therefore grant no bonus. You may not re-roll a 6 on a Mutagenic Roll. Possessed : some fighters are no longer the masters of their destiny. They are inhabited by an entity which consumes their mind and influences their acts. The Wound penalties are considered to be one degree lower. For example, a Serious Wound will inflict the same penalties as a Light Wound. Rallying cry : once a game, the warrior capable of a Rallying cry can inspire his troops to acts of heroism. All the fighters of his people are immune to Fear until the end of the game round. The fighters who where fleeing are automatically rallied and can act normally again. Rapidity : they may have long legs or a fast running pace, either way, warriors with the Rapidity Ability move at an extremely rapid rate. They can triple their Movement for any Movement type even when fleeing under the influence of Fear. Regeneration / X : at the end of every round, a creature which has suffered Wounds can attempt to regenerate. Roll a die, on a result equal to / X or more, the effects are decreased one level. A Critical Wound becomes a Serious Wound for example. You may re-roll the die each time you roll a success. Reminder : « STUNNED » and « KILLED OUTRIGHT » are not Wounds, they cannot be regenerated. Reinforcement : some peoples have the capacity to send Reinforcements during a game. Each warrior with this Ability who is numbered amongst the losses is placed on the side of the table. At the beginning of each round, roll a D6. On a 5 or a 6, you may take back the figurine with the lowest A.P. and place it anywhere on the Battleground. It cannot be placed in base to base contact with an opponent. On a 1 or a 2, the figurine with the lowest A.P. will lose the Reinforcement Ability. It will not be allowed to come back before the term of the game. Righteous : some warriors know their destiny. The Righteous walk the enigmatic path of Truth, Harmony or unfathomable Darkness. Nothing can make them sway. A Righteous is immune to any form of Fear of any kind, even of magical or divine essence, and cannot pass under the enemy’s control by any means. Scout : during the Approach, the Reference cards of each army’s Scouts are shuffled in a different pile. When the main Approach pile is exhausted, the Scouts are then deployed, in the same way. A Scout can be deployed anywhere on the Battleground, even in the enemy’s line of sight. The Scouts can be deployed in order to Charge an enemy in the first round, but out of Walking distance of any enemy already deployed. Sharp shooter : they may have a steady hand, years of training or be blessed by divine grace. Sharp shooters rarely miss their target. For them, an Aim Roll is not an automatic failure on a natural or modified result of 1 even after re-rolling the die. Survival instinct : the self-preservation instinct is so strong with the warrior who possesses this Ability that Death will have to come in person to claim him. Before any Damage Roll that will apply to him, roll a D6 : on a result of 6, this wound will be automatically declared void. Vivacity : lightning reflexes are the hall mark of warriors with this Ability. For them, an Initiative or Feat Roll is not an failure on a natural or modified result of 1 even after re-rolling the die. War cry / X : when charging an enemy to engage him in Hand to Hand Combat, the warrior lets out a cry of hate. This cry gives him a level of Fear equal to / X when he Charges. This allows him to fight a Fear-inducing creature witloof having to test for Courage. The War cry can only be used when Charging. The fighter will still use his Courage rating to resist Fear against a Living-dead. War fury : a fighter affected by War fury is plunged into a state of uncontrolled destructive madness. This Ability is activated before the Initiative Roll, in the Hand to Hand Combat phase. The warrior may have an additional die in Hand to Hand Combat, but all his dice are then automatically placed in Attack. These effects last until the end of the round. War-horse : some riders have trained their mounts as war-horses to help them in combat. In Hand to Hand Combat, the war-horse gives an additional combat die which is added to those his rider can normally have. This extra die is not added during a Charge. Troops mounted on a War-horse may Dodge. War-staff : a War-staff consists of a Character with the Leadership Ability, a Standard-bearer and a Musician. All fighters within Leadership distance of any of the three members of the War-staff may use the Courage / Fear and Discipline scores of the Character + 2. In this case, the Leadership Ability is without effect except during the Approach phase. Every War-staff member must be within Leadership distance of at least one of the two other members for the War-staff bonus to possibly apply. The bonuses gained through the War-staff Ability can be taken into account during the Approach.
Authority : a fighter with this Ability may not be a strategy genius, but has nevertheless a powerful aura of authority. When a fighter with Authority is involved in a fray, he chooses in what way the combats are split and in what order they will be resolved. A fray is a compact group of fighters in base to base contact with each other. The player who has won the Tactical Roll at the beginning of the round decides if all the combats of the fray at stake are resolved before or after the other frays. Assuming there are several frays each with a fighter with Authority, the player who has won the Tactical Roll decides the resolution order. If a same fray has enemy Authorities, this Ability has no effect. Bane / X : through a strange gift of destiny or driven by a terrible hatred, the fighter with this Ability is capable of inflicting an enormous amount of damage to a particular type of individuals. When he rolls for Damage against his Bane, Damage is read one line lower on the Wound Table. It is not possible to go lower than the last line. Examples : Bane / Acheron, Bane / Fanatic, Bane / Elite… Blood brother / X : this Ability illustrates the deep relationship that can tie two fighters who have time and again come close to death together. When one of your Characters has this Ability, he can call upon his Blood brother for a battle of importance. The A.P. cost of each of them is reduced by 25 % rounded up. This includes all artefacts, spells and miracles that might be chosen. But if one happens to die, his Blood brother takes away one point from all his dice rolls until the end of the game. This penalty does not apply to Damage Rolls. Consciousness : a fighter with the Consciousness Ability may have extremely sharp senses, a mysterious gift or be simply highly attuned to his environment. Whatever the case, he can Charge an enemy he could not see at the beginning of his move. He also ignores the effects of the Assassin Ability and can detect Scouts who are within Charging distance. Desperate : a Desperate has nothing to lose, either because he has already lost everything, or because he never had anything. A Desperate does not know Fear. Penalties due to the Influence of Fear are transformed into bonuses, and he will never run away. A Desperate can even Charge or Engage freely Dreadful : creatures with the Dreadful Ability are particularly repulsive or disturbing. Their enemies must always test their Courage against their Fear, even if they have previously resisted it or if they have overcome a superior Fear. Fierce : the Fierce are insensitive to pain, their fighting frenzy seems to prevent it. They are capable of enduring the most terrible blows and keep fighting. When a Fierce is KILLED OUTRIGHT do not remove him from the game. He is considered Critically Wounded and stays on the Battleground until the end of the round, no matter the damage he takes until his metabolism finally betrays him. Fierce is ineffective against any game element which removes a fighter from the game. Flight : Flying creatures have two Movement ratings. The first one represents the ground Movement and follows the normal Movement rules. The second indicates air Movement and represents the rapidity with which the creature can move about in the sky. There are three height Levels : Hardened : some soldiers have lived so long amidst the battlefields that war has become their reason to live. Characters who master this Ability consider a 5 as a 6 on any dice roll, and can therefore re-roll it as such. Hardened has no effect on the Damage Rolls. It cannot be gained as a Supernatural Gift or as an Elixir. Hyperian : Light fills the soul and blood of its children, the Hyperians. These individuals, through fate or choice, have been appointed to carry out the virtue and fury of the Principle of Clarity to deepest Darkness. The Hyperians are extremely rare and many of them have no idea of the origin of their strange power. A Hyperian fighter is immune to any form of Fear. The Hyperians naturally repel creatures with a Fear rate on their Reference card : these treat the Hyperians’ Courage rate as if it were Fear and their own Fear as Courage. This rule also applies to the Living-dead, but not to Constructs. This unique power can not be passed on by Leadership. The Cynwäll Elves are instinctively friendly with the Hyperians as if their destinies were linked. They can ally on any Battleground. Incarnation : a warrior to whom this Ability is given doubles his A.P. rating. But he has now become a Character with all the advantages this status brings. Any non-Character can be given this Ability. Immunity / X : Immunities are magical or natural properties which protect certain fighters. A figurine with this Ability cannot be harmed by the element symbolized by X or is immune to Wounds located in the part of the body X. Implacable / X : an Implacable who unleashes his fury will do anything to slaughter his opponents. Such a warrior can carry out up to X additional Pursuit Movements in the same round. Master strike / X : the most disciplined and most ferocious warriors have learned to concentrate all their energy in a split second and deal blows capable of splitting rock. A fighter with this Ability can attempt Master strikes in the same way as a Character. If one of his Master strikes strikes true, his Strength is increased by X for the following Damage Roll, and only for this one. Pariah : a Pariah has long ago forsaken his people, either on his own initiative or by obligation. Even if he sometimes still fights alongside his former brothers, being a Pariah prevents him from taking advantage of the Leadership Ability from any figurine that is not itself a Pariah. Personal enemy / X : the causes that fuel the conflicts on Aarklash are numerous. But there is one which causes more deaths than hurricanes : hate. If a Character deals with his Personal enemy and kills him outright, he automatically heals all his Wounds. He also « steals » an Ability from his enemy, which he chooses and will be able to make use of until the end of the battle. Stateless : the Stateless do not belong to any people, to any country… They only obey to their own rules. Their destiny lies elsewhere. A Stateless can join any army. The fighter will adapt so well to his environment that he will adopt the Ability most widespread within his new hosts’ ranks at the beginning of the battle. He can only acquire in this manner the Abilities mentioned in the Confrontation section. For Abilities with varied numbers indicated / X, as for Leadership, Regeneration, Mutagenic or War cry apply the value X most widespread within the army. Toxic / X : there are many ways to kill or to defend oneself on Aarklash. Many creatures make use of toxic substances capable of neutralising their predators… or victims. Each round, before the Tactical Roll, you can choose a Toxic warrior for every, even incomplete, 100 A.P. of warriors in your army who possess this Ability. The Toxic warriors’ artefacts, spells, miracles and Experience cards are to be added to this total. The figurines must be chosen at the beginning of the Movement phase. Place a D6 next to every chosen figurine. This D6 is called the Toxic D6. Once each round, just before an Aim or Attack Roll, one of the chosen warriors will be able to replace one of his Aim or Attack dice with his Toxic D6. If the action accompli shed with the D6 causes a Damage Roll, his target immediately takes a second Damage Roll with a Strength equal to X. Living-dead, Constructs and Immortal beings are immune to this Ability. Wound table Roll two D6. The lowest result locates the Wound. Reminder : 6’s are not re-rolled on a Damage roll, If the Damage roll is a double, it is an Exceptional Wound. An Exceptional Wound does not take into account Strength and Resilience, it’s a Wound with no modifiers. EXCEPTIONAL WOUNDS : When a figurine is wounded, the number indicated by the die rolled for its INI, ATT, DEF and AIM is modified in the following way, before it is added to the relevant characteristic : Stunned : -1 until the end of the round If the final result of the die (after a re-rolled 6 as the case may be) is lower or equal to 1, the action is a failure. Example : An Alahan Paladin has a Critical Wound. He chooses to attack with a difficulty of 6. His Attack rating is 4. He must then get a final result of 2 on his Attack die. Due to the Wound penalty of -3, he must roll a 5 or higher to succeed (5 - 3 = 2). If an already wounded fighter is wounded again, and this new Wound is more serious than the previous one, apply the effects of the new Wound. If the new Wound is less or equally serious, the previous Wound is worsened by one level. Movement table The ground is encumbered : forest, shallow water, brushwood… / Each encumbered cm counts for 2. The peoples After a long period of peace, war breaks out all over the continent of Aarklash. The number of skirmishes is increasing, announcing an era of Darkness and carnage. All the peoples of Aarklash have waited long for this sanguinary age and are preparing for it. Some name it the Last Judgement, others Armageddon or Resurrection… But all know it under the name of Rag’Narok, the dusk of the centuries. The Lions of Alahan, protectors of Justice and Light, fight to re-establish order and prosperity on Aarklash. But their land is threatened by the hordes of the damned who have returned from the Underworld. The Necromancers of the Order of the Ram open portals of Darkness from Acheron, the dead world. The inexorable legions of living-dead which pour out mark only the beginning of their terrible power ! The Cynwäll Elves and their majestic dragons wake from their long meditation to rediscover a world that has almost forgotten them ! Who knows what kind of Magic animates their strange feats... The Dwarfs of Tir-Nâ-Bor refuse fatality and prepare for Argg-Am-Ork, the end of their age. Living inside the Aegis mountains, they forge weapons and armours capable of driving back the one they steadfastly wait for : Death itself. The disciples of the Griffin Empire of Akkylannie have raised an army for a new Crusade in order to find their prophet’s tomb. They will purify the world with the fire of the One Truth of their god, Merin… The Orcs of Bran-Ô-Kor are the youngest and most vigorous people of Aarklash. Nothing seems to be able to stop the powerful warriors of the God Jackal. Once a leader is chosen, they will surge across the world to satisfy their vengeance. The Alchemists of Dirz and their bio-mechanical warriors watch their enemies patiently from the Syharhalna desert. At their Commodores’ sign, they will release the horrors dormant in their laboratories and establish a new order on Aarklash. The Akkyshan Elves of the Forest of Webs have a heart as black as night. The Black Widows prepare to sacrifice Aarklash on Lilith’s altar, the goddess of Blackness. The Wolfen are the greatest predators on Aarklash. It is folly to believe that in them a portion of humanity has ever existed. This mysterious people considers others as prey. They will weave the names of their victims on long Strips of Whispers and howl their victories to Yllia, the Moon, until the end of time. The peoples of Aarklash believe the Goblins of No-Dan-Kar want to conquer the world. For the Goblins, it is already done ! Wherever you go, they will be there before you. It has even been said that they have trained Trolls... Who will be strong enough to resist the tide of the God Rat ? The Daïkinee Elves, victims of a strange malediction, seek to reach the world of Fayes before their extinction. But is not their salvation elsewhere ? May those who believe them vulnerable be wary, for their soldiers have many lives… The Kelts of the Avagddu plains, fierce nomadic warriors, seek the Ard Ri, the mighty king who will reunite them once again and guide them on the path of the Goddess Danu. Will he come forth from the Sessairs, the Drunes or from yet another clan ? The Dwarves of Mid-Nor, puppets of pure evil made of flesh and terror, gather around the Despot. None knows how deep their underground labyrinths are. Down to the centre of the earth The Devourers of Vile-Tis have strayed from their Wolfen brothers and the Goddess Yllia. Their loyalty goes only to the one who has opened their eyes and guides them on the road of lies and vengeance, a spirit warrior whose powers know no boundaries : Vile-Tis, the Beast. The alliances The Aarklash continent has entered an era of war which promises to be long… Faced with the horrors of the conflict, some peoples have common interests or similar philosophies which enable them to ally to face the greatest perils. According to the army you play, certain alliances will be possible if it suits the story or scenario. Be careful ! Your army may not count more than 30% in A.P. of Allies or Mercenaries from The Meandering Path of Darkness
The Lions of Alahan : Griffins, Cynwälls, Sessairs.
The Daïkinee Elves : Wolfen Other peoples observe Aarklash with eager eyes, awaiting the best moment to join the conflict. And you ? Within the shadows, the gods watch.
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