Game Values
Before progressing to the rules of the game, we will categorise the different kinds of troops, and assign suitable game values to each.
Armées
A game of Warmaster is played between two opposing model armies. Each side is controlled by a single player who plans and executes his army’s moves and rolls dice as required to determine the results of movement and fighting.
Stands
The playing pieces of the game are called stands. There are two kinds of stands: 40mm × 20mm unit stands and character stands, often round and 25mm in diameter in order to readily distinguish them from troop stands. (See Odd size character bases if you have characters mounted on larger bases.)
Models are mounted onto the stands so that they form representative bodies of troops or characters. The actual number of models and their positioning is a matter of aesthetic choice and is left up to players.
All unit stands have front, side and rear edges as indicated by the direction faced by the models. It is important that the direction faced by the stand is obvious as in the examples below.
Units
Infantry, cavalry and most other types of troops fight in formations of several stands called units. A number of stands form a regiment of infantry, a squadron of cavalry, a battery of artillery, and so on. All the stands in the same formation are always arranged so they are touching, either side-by-side, one behind the other, or contacting at a point. This is referred to as a formation.
Units usually consist of three stands of the same type but this can vary and sometimes a unit can be just a single stand, as we shall see later.
Up to four units can be temporarily placed together to form a brigade. We’ll be covering brigades in much more detail in the rules that follow.
Characters
In addition to the troops described, armies always include a General and can include other Heroes and Wizards as well. These consist of a single stand which includes the mighty individual as well as assorted helpmates and hangers on. These stands are referred to as characters.
Infantry, cavalry, chariots, monsters, artillery & machines
Broadly speaking, armies consist of infantry, cavalry, chariots, monsters, artillery and machines – this last category includes various oddball devices, as we shall discover.
The rules distinguish between these six types of troops. Monstrous creatures of small to medium size are usually classified as either cavalry or infantry – Ogres are clearly infantry, for instance, although their appearance is no less monstrous for all that.
Infantry stands are always oriented along the long edge of the base as demonstrated by the Empire unit shown above.
Generally speaking, all other troops, including monsters and artillery as well as chariots, cavalry and machines are oriented towards the short edge of the base as demonstrated by the units shown to the right. Any exceptions are indicated in the Army Lists section.
Attacks, hits & armour values
Some troops are better fighters than others, some are better trained, some are more naturally violent and so on. So that we can represent these different qualities in the warriors, monsters and weird creatures that are found in the game, we assign three values to each stand. These are Attacks, Hits and Armour.
| Attacks | Hits | Armour |
|---|---|---|
3 |
3 |
6+ |
↙ |
↓ |
↘ |
This is the basic number of dice rolled in combat – the more dice, the better at fighting the stand is and the more hits it will be able to inflict. |
The number of hits the stand can suffer before it is removed. |
The stand’s Armour value indicates the chance of nullifying hits scored against it. A value of 6+ indicates that a dice roll of 6 is required to nullify a hit, a 5+ that a 5 or 6 is required and so on. A value of 0 means that the stand has no armour. |
Shooting attacks
If troops carry bows or other missile weapons then they will have two Attack dice values divided by a slash, for example 3/1 or 2/2. In this case, the first number is always that used in hand-to-hand combat and the second value is that used for shooting.
| Attacks | |
|---|---|
3/1 |
|
↙ |
↘ |
Close Combat Attack value |
Shooting Attack value |
Command values
Command is another game value and a very important one too! Only characters have a Command value and they use it when issuing orders. Values vary from as low as 7 to as high as 10 but only the very best Generals have a value as high as 10. The higher the value, the more likely you are to be able to order your troops to do what you want them to. More about command in due course.
Points values
Each unit and character in the game is assigned a points value which reflects its worth in the game – the more effective units and characters having an appropriately higher value. Once the battle is finished, the total points value of each side’s casualties determines who wins. Otherwise, points values don’t really affect the rules of play.
A unit’s game values can be conveniently expressed as a single line of statistics or ‘stat line’ as shown below.
| Type | Attack | Hits | Armour | Command | Unit size | Points | Min/max | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cavalry |
4 |
3 |
5+ |
– |
3 |
110 |
–/– |
– |
- Type
-
The types are Infantry, Cavalry, Chariot, Monster, Artillery, Machine, General, Hero, Wizard.
- Attaque
-
Le nombre de dés lancés par chaque socle en combat.
- Points de Vie (PV)
-
Le nombre de touches que peut subir chaque socle de l’unité avant d’être détruit.
- Armure
-
The dice score required to negate a hit inflicted on the unit.
- Commandement (Cdt)
-
The command value of a General, Hero or Wizard.
- Unit size
-
The number of stands in the unit – this is usually 3.
- Min/max
-
This values is used to delimit the number of units and characters that can be chosen for the army – see the Army Lists.
- Points
-
The points value of a unit of that type.
- Special
-
This column indicates if any special rules apply.
Anything else to learn?
Most armies have unique troops of one kind or another, many of which have special rules to reflect their sorcerous and fantastical abilities. You don’t need to know about these to begin with, so don’t worry about them. Later you’ll see that this is what makes each army a different and challenging force to command.
Visibility on the battlefield
During the game, players will want their units to shoot at or charge enemies or evade them. In these, and many other cases, it is important to know if troops can see their enemy and if they can react to them in an effective and cohesive way.
This concept underpins many parts of the game rules – so we’re going to explain it here before anything else. As players we can easily see all that is happening on the battlefield. For our armies things are quite different. Not only is there the matter of distance but also the subtle rise and fall of the ground, the haze of the midday sun, the mist of early morning, the fading twilight, the dust thrown up by rival armies, etc. Due to this, when we talk of units seeing other units, or units being visible, we use these terms in a specific sense. When we say a unit can ‘see’ another, we don’t mean one or two warriors can theoretically see – we mean that the whole unit, including its commanders, is positioned to observe and react cohesively to the presence of the enemy.
Line of sight
A unit can see another if it is possible to draw a straight, uninterrupted line of sight between the front edge of any of the unit’s stands and any part of any stand in the other unit (see Figure 3). It is always the stands themselves that are considered when working out line of sight and not the actual models, which are likely to vary in height in any case. The best way of doing this is to run a straight edge, for example a measuring rule, between the observer and observed.
It is not permitted to draw a line of light over the top of unit stands from either side. These are said to ‘block’ the line of sight (see Figure 4).
Character stands never block line of sight. They represent only a few individuals so it is assumed units see through them as if they were not there. See Generals, Heroes & Wizards.
Some units can see all round – they have 360 degree vision as shown in Figure 5 – and you will find this indicated in the unit’s description. These are invariably either flying units or lightly armed troops that fight in a very loosely organised style, for example, Wolf Riders in the Orc army.
The effect of terrain
Some terrain (such as areas of ruins, hills and woods) block line of sight as described in the Movement rules. In principle, line of sight is blocked where it passes through any kind of terrain feature, but there are appropriate and mostly obvious exceptions. For example, it is always considered possible to see over low linear features such as hedges and low walls (see Figure 6). The section on Terrain explains the rules governing this.
|
The Q&A has a section on Line of Sight with further examples. |
