Kings of War: Rules (Part 2)

In the last post, I went over the basics behind Kings of War including unit rules, terrain rules, and a few others. In this installment of the Kings of War Rules I want to finish up with all the other basic major rules including playing out a turn. As stated previously, a turn consists of three phases: (1) movement phase; (2) shooting phase; and (3) the melee phase.

Movement Phase
During the movement phase, units move across the board based on the movement order that they are given. There are seven (7) different basic movement orders that can be given to a unit: (1) halt; (2) change facing; (3) advance; (4) back; (5) sidestep; (6) at the double; and (7) charge. The orders are fairly self explanatory. If a unit is given a halt order, then that unit does not move in the movement phase. Change facing allows a unit to pivot around its center to face any direction (though the center of the unit must stay in the same position). Back and sidestep orders allow a unit to move either directly backward or directly to one side up to HALF the unit's movement value (but the unit cannot change facing). The at the double order allows a unit to move at double the unit's speed (or movement value) directly forward without pivoting or changing its facing. An advance order allows a unit to move forward up to its movement speed, but the unit is allowed to make a single pivot around its center up to 90* during the move and finish any of its remaining movement in that direction. A charge order allows a unit to charge an enemy unit.

Additionally, in Kings of War, when moving units, units may move through other friendly units (except when charging) so long at the moving unit does not end its move on top of the friendly unit. However, enemy units cannot be moved through and a unit cannot approach within 1" of an enemy unit except when charging or during a pivot move (so long as the unit finishes the pivot outside of 1" of the enemy unit). Units that pivot can pivot through friendly units, enemy units, and terrain (including blocking terrain) so long as the unit ends the pivot clear of the other units or terrain.

Charges
A charge order is the only way a unit can get into melee contact with an enemy unit. Each unit can charge a single enemy unit (so no charging multiple enemy units) so long as the target unit is in the unit's front arc, the unit can see the target unit (taking into account all height and line of sight restrictions), there is enough space to physically move the unit into base contact with the target unit, and the distance between your unit's LEADER POINT and the target unit's base is less than or equal to TWICE the unit's speed (note that this is not closest point of each unit, but Leader Point of your unit to closest point of enemy unit's base). If all of these conditions are met than you can give your unit the charge order and move your unit into contact with the enemy unit.

When moving charging units, the unit moves forward and can pivot once around the unit's center up to 90*, at any point during the charge movement. The unit, must however, always use the shortest possible route (going around other units and blocking terrain) to reach contact with the enemy unit (so a small unit can't move towards the opposite end of a large unit to gain some tactical bonus). Further, a unit must move through difficult terrain or any obstacle that would normally reduce the unit's movement rather than moving around the terrain to make contact with the unit so that the unit is forced to suffer a penalty in the ensuing melee phase.

Once the unit makes contact, align the charging unit so that it is flush with the target unit and if possible (when not making multiple charges against the same unit) line the charging unit's LEADER POINT with the target unit's LEADER POINT (if in the front) or with the center of the target unit (if charging a flank or rear). One important note, however, is that corner to corner contact does not count as a successful charge. Thus, if the only way you can make contact is by moving your corner to the target unit's corner, then that charge cannot be made.

It is also possible to charge units in the flanks or rear so long as the charging unit's LEADER POINT is in the appropriate arc of the enemy unit at the time the charge is declared. So if a LEADER POINT is in a flank, then the unit will charge into the enemy unit's flank. Same for front and rear. Fairly simple and pretty standard across these types of wargames.

Multiple Unit Charges
In Kings of War it is possible to have multiple units charge the same enemy unit (but not to have one unit charge multiple enemy units). If two units meet all the requirements for charging against the same unit, then both units are allowed to charge that same enemy unit so long as both units can fit into base contact in some manner (examples are provided in the base rulebook). In order to make such a charge, a player just declares a charge with both units (or more) at the same time.

Any units that have charged the same facing will have to share the enemy facing as equal as possible as long as they can fit after all chargers have moved.

Counter Charges
If a unit is charged by an enemy unit in the previous turn, the charged unit may elect to perform a counter-charge on its turn instead of a regular charge. A unit can only make a counter-charge against the unit that charged it in the previous turn. The unit declaring a counter-charge does not need to have line of sight to the unit (so a unit can make a counter-charge against a unit that is in the counter-charging units flank or rear). Rather than making a normal charge move, pivot the unit to face the target's front and then make contact with the unit and align the units as normal. All rules that apply during a charge also apply during a counter-charge, unless otherwise specified.

Shooting Phase
After all units have moved, a player then moves to the shooting phase. Any unit that can shoot due to having ranged weapons can fire their weapons if able. If a unit has more than one ranged weapon, choose the weapon that will be used during that shooting phase as a unit can only use one ranged weapon per turn.

Any unit that moved at the double during the movement phase cannot attack during the shooting phase. Also, units that are in base contact with enemies (i.e. they charged during the movement phase) cannot use or be targeted by ranged attacks unless a special rule otherwise especially allows.

In order to shoot at an enemy unit, pick one unit with ranged weapons and choose a target enemy unit. The target unit must be at least partially in the unit's arc of sight, the unit has line of sight to the target, and the distance between the shooting unit and the target unit is less than or equal to the shooting unit's weapon range. Weapon ranges in Kings of War are fairly standardized at either 36", 24", 18", or 12".

Once a target unit has been chosen and determined to be viable, the shooting unit rolls a number of dice equal to the unit's attack value. The unit's attack roll (with any modifiers that apply) must be equal to or higher than the unit's Ranged Attack value (i.e. rolling "4s" or higher when the unit's Ranged Attack value is 4+). Modifiers for shooting attacks include, but are not limited to, a -1 for moving (i.e. the unit received any movement order other than halt during the movement phase) and a -1 if the target unit is in cover.

Any dice that rolls a "1" is always a miss regardless of modifiers. Further, due to modifies, a unit can need a number higher than a "6" to hit an enemy unit, in such a case a roll of a "6" still counts as a hit, but the unit making the shooting attack only rolls half the number of its attacks, rounding down.

Cover
In cases where the target unit is only partially visible to a shooting unit because of terrain or intervening units, the target unit may receive a cover bonus from the shooting attacks. A target unit is considered to be in cover if at least half the unit's base is within difficult terrain or line of sight to at least half the unit is blocked or passes over intervening units or terrain that have a smaller height than the firing unit or target unit (so small units can provide cover for large units rather than blocking line of sight completely).

Damaging the Target
In order to damage the target unit, re-roll all the dice that successfully hit the target. The number needed to damage the enemy unit on the die roll is equal to or higher than the target's Defense value. Any die roll of a "1" is always a failure.

For each successful hit that damages an enemy unit, mark the target unit with a point of damage (by placing dice or some other marker behind the unit). These markers represent the physical damage the unit has taken throughout the course of the game and will determine the modifier to any Nerve roll the unit makes.

At the shooting phase, any unit that has suffered a point of damage must have its Nerve tested. Testing a unit's Nerve determines whether the damaged unit stands, wavers, or runs away from the battlefield. Nerve will be described in-depth in another section.

Melee (or Combat) Phase
Units that successfully charged an enemy unit make melee attacks during the melee phase of the turn. Choose a unit that is in combat and roll a number of dice equal to the unit's Attack value (double the number of attacks if the unit is in the enemy unit's flank and triple the number of attacks if the unit is in the enemy unit's rear). The number on the die necessary to hit the enemy unit is the unit's Melee value.

If a unit charged through difficult terrain then the charging unit is considered Hindered and suffers a -1 modifier on the to hit rolls. A unit that is counter-charging is never considered Hindered regardless of being in difficult terrain.

Just like with Ranged Attacks a roll of a "1" to hit is always a miss.

After rolling to hit, re-roll all successful hits to see if the enemy unit is damaged just like with damaging the target with Ranged Attacks. Always use the enemy unit's defense value plus any modifiers to determine the appropriate number needed to wound the enemy unit. Just like with Ranged Attacks, any unit damaged during the Melee Phase must have its Nerve tested.

At the end of each combat, the charging unit may perform several different actions. If the enemy unit was routed as a result of the Nerve test (i.e. removed from the board), then the charging unit can either: (1) stay where it is and pivot around its center to face any direction; (2) move d6" directly forward (the unit must move the full distance); or (3) move directly backwards d3". However, if the enemy unit has not been routed then the charging unit must be moved backwards 1" so that it is no longer in contact with the enemy unit.

Disordered Units
Any unit that suffered at least one point of damage in the melee phase is considered Disordered. Disordered units will stay disordered until the end of the unit's following turn. Disordered units cannot use any form of ranged attack including any magical attacks.

Testing Nerve
Any unit that suffers damage must take a Nerve test at the end of each phase in which it took damage except for the melee phase were Nerve tests are immediate. To test a units Nerve, roll 2d6 and add the total number of wounds that the unit has suffered throughout the battle (not just that turn). Each unit has two Nerve values. The first is the Wavering limit and the second is the Routing limit. If the number rolled on 2d6 plus damage is less than either number, then the unit passes its Nerve test and the unit is fine.

If the number rolled on the 2d6 plus damage is equal to or greater than the Waivering limit (the first number listed, if a number is listed) then the unit is Wavering. Wavering units cannot be given at the double, advance, charge, or sidestep movement orders (though the unit can still change facing or move backwards). Further, the unit is considered Disordered so that the unit cannot shoot with any ranged attacks for that turn.

If the number rolled on the 2d6 plus damage is equal to or greater than the Routing limit, then the unit is routed and is removed from the battlefield.

If a double "6" is rolled on the 2d6, even if the unit is not routed or wavered (because of high Nerve values), the unit still suffers a Wavering result. Additionally, if a double "1" is rolled on the 2d6 the unit passes the Nerve test regardless of the damage that the unit has suffered.

War Engines
War Engines, because of their nature, have special rules. War Engines cannot move at the double or charge another unit. Similarly, when moving, War Engines treat obstacle terrain as blocking terrain. War Engines also have a set range of 48" for their shooting attacks unless otherwise stated in the unit's special rules. Further, any unit attacking a War Engine automatically triples the number of attacks against the War Engine.

Individuals
Individual units has similar special rules because of their nature. Individual units can pivot to face any direction before giving the unit a movement order (so it can completely turn around before charging an enemy it couldn't previously see) and individual units never block line of sight. All individuals have the Nimble special rule (the unit can make an additional 90* pivot during a charge and does not suffer from the -1 to hit for moving and shooting). Units shooting at an individual unit suffer a -1 modifier in addition to any other modifiers. Individual units also always turn to face any unit that has charged them so that enemy units can never double or triple their attacks against an individual unit. Similarly, the individual unit does not double or triple its own attacks against enemy units (except for War Engines).

Special Rules
Several units or armies have special rules which are listed in the Kings of War rulebook. These rules include things like giving bonus modifiers to hit or wound enemy units, bonuses to Nerve, or even the ability to gain back wounds. It is the special rules of the units and armies that really show the difference between the various armies in Kings of War and should be looked at carefully when choosing in army.

Next time, we examine the actual army list building rules of Kinds of War as I go through several of my old armies to fit them into the Kings of War system. Until next time, keep up the hobby work.