Fliers do not take any movement penalties
Open Hex—Cost 1 Movement for all units to cross
Woods Hex—Cost 2 Movement for Infantry, and 4 Movement for Cavalry
Hills Hex—Cost 2 Movement for all non-fliers
Swamp Hex—Cost 2 Movement for Infantry, 4 Movement for Cavalry
Road Hex—Ground Units (Infantry, Cavalry, Siege) that spend their entire move on a Road Hex may move 1 extra hex
The final Broad Way fortification is at J10—it must be captured for the Alliance to win.
Allied Troops enter the map at A1.
Units may use another unit as a Mount IF the Mount has twice or more the starting hits of the units being carried. For example, a Gobwin with 3 hits may use a creature with 6 or more hits as a mount. This will only be helpful if the larger unit has a higher move value. 3 Gobwins could ride on a Mount with 18 or more hits. Heavy units (units with more than 7 Hits) cannot ride other units.
Garrison units may never move, even on mounts.
Design Your Force:
As in the Comic, Units have four stats – Move, Attack, Defence, and Hits.
Move is the number of hexes a unit can move on the strategic map – Value 0 to 5.
Attack is the Combat value of the unit, whether attacking or being attacked.
Defence has changed in this game. It now represents the Armour/Dodge value of the unit. It is the capacity of the unit to avoid taking hits. Basically, a value of 5 means that 5 out of 8 hits against a stack will be ignored.
Hits are the amount of damage a unit can take before being croaked. Hits are restored to full at the beginning of the side’s turn.
For the purposes of this game, Players will design their own unit types. Each Player can have up to five distinct unit types, each with their own stats. These cannot be changed as the game progresses, so be careful in design.
Some simple rules on design:
1. Movement of 0 is Garrison. Movement of 1 or 2 is Infantry; Movement of 3-5 is Cavalry. Units may not have move higher than 5 in this game. Flying is no longer based on move, it is now a Special.
2. Units may not have Attack values more than one and half times hits (rounded up) – So a unit with 3 hits could have 5 attacks.
3. Units may have a defence value between 0 and 5, but may not have defence higher than hits.
4. Hits are related to size. So a unit with 1 hit is tiny (like a bat or bird), 3 is small (like a Gobwin), 5 is average (like a Human or Elf), 10 is big (Horse or Twoll), 20 is large (Dwagon or Golem), 30 is huge (Giants, etc). A unit may have more than 30 hits, but the costs involved will be ridiculous.
5. The cost of the unit is equal to all the following formula:
Cost = [(HITS²/4)+(ATTACK+DEFENCE)] x0.5+[(HITS x MOVE)x0.5]+SPECIAL
Special is [5+(Hits+Attack*Defence)] for Scouts, 20 for Commanders. Special = Attack for ranged.
Special is (Hits*Move*.25) per Terrain Capability, Special is (Hits*Move*.5) for Flying.
Special is (Attack) for Siege.
Each Player has 500 points worth of units at the beginning of the game. Players must post their unit types and stats on the forum.
Commanders:
A Commander is a unit, like Ansom or Zamussels in the Comic. Each Player must have at least one Commander.
In the Comic, Commanders are all roughly “Human”. Therefore, no Commander may have more than 6 hits, or less than 3.
In addition, Commanders have a “Level”. When the Commander is created, the GM will determine the level – on a d10, 1-2 is level 1, 3-5 level 2, 6-7 level 3, 8-9 level 4, 10 level 5.
Each time a Commander is in a winning combat (ie, inflicts more hits than the opponent), the Commander gains 1 experience point. The Commander may go to the next level if they have experience points equal to the next level (ie, to go from level 3 to 4, the Commander must have 4 experience points).
Commanders increase the attack and defence values of the units they are stacked with, and may issue orders. Only units in the same hex as a Commander may move in a turn.
Combat:
In the comic, Parson says that Combat in Erfworld has a simple mechanic, and the key to victory is multipliers, not addition. The following system attempts to replicate that.
Units fight together in Stacks. In Combat, Total all ATTACK values points for the first eight units in the stack. Flyers may not stack with non-Flyers (unless the non-Flyers are using the Flyers as Mounts).
Commander Bonuses – for each level of the Commander in the stack, increase the Command Bonus by 0.1. Commanders do not have to be listed in the first 8 units to add this bonus. If there is no Commander, the Bonus remains at 1.0.
The Chief Warlord is a Special Commander. In any hex with a Chief Warlord, the Leadership bonus of all Allied stacks is increased by 0.1.
Terrain Bonus – Some terrain increases Defence values. Fortifications also increase this number. In attack, this is always 0. In Defence, Open is 0, Hills and Woods are 1, Swamps are 2. Fortifications use a separate set of rules, listed later. Flying units never get Terrain Bonuses, and always count this as a 0. Total Defence values for all units in the stack, and then divide by the number of units to get the average. Add in any the Terrain Bonus. This is the number of enemy attacks negated by armour, dodge, fortifications, etc. {So Average Defence of 4 and Terrain Bonus of 1 means that 5 out of 8 hits will be negated}.
Woods & Flyers: in the Comic, Flying units may not be attacked by ground units in woods unless the ground unit is “Woods” capable.
Ranged units on the Defensive inflict hits before the enemy has a chance to attack. Ranged units on the offensive may inflict hits, and, if the unit has move remaining, may leave the hex before the opposing stack retaliates. If a ranged unit attacks a ranged unit, combat is simultaneous. In order to use a ranged attack, the entire stack must be ranged. Non-Ranged Commanders may add a Leadership bonus only to a stack of Ranged units – obviously do not use their Attacks. Ranged stacks must always choose to engage an enemy ranged stack (if possible) before attacking a non-ranged stack.
Special Bonus – Specials include Dancefighting, Ditto-Mancy, etc. Default is 1.0. Rules for these will come as the game develops. In each combat after the first, this Special Bonus is halved. That is, a stack is attacked by two stacks. In the second calculation, the Defender’s special bonus value drops to 0.5. In a third combat, the value would drop to 0.25, and so on.
The only exception to this is if the Defending unit succeeds in ‘wiping out’ the attacking stack – ie, all attacking units are croaked. In this event, the Defending stack acts as though it had not fought any combats.
Ambush Bonus – units that enter a hex without scouting can be ambushed. The Ambush value ranges from 1.0 (no ambush) to 2.0 (ambush).
Random Number – not every combat point means a hit. The Random Number adds a bit of luck to the mix. On (2d6+8)/20, 2 is 50%, 7 is 75%, 12 is 100%, etc.
Use the following formula to work out how many hits have been inflicted on the enemy:
Hits = Total Attack X Command Bonus X Special Bonus X Ambush Bonus X Random Number X (8 - Opposition Average Defence - Terrain Bonus) / 8
Round result down to nearest whole number.
Special Retaliation: When a hex contains more than one stack, each stack may protect another stack once per turn, dealing a modest amount of extra retaliation. The Special bonus for Special Retaliation is usually 50%. However, melee infantry stacks cannot use their Special Retaliation against ranged units, melee infantry can use their Special Retaliation against melee fliers which engage ground units, and while ranged stacks can use their Special Retaliation in any combat, if they use it in a combat which has one or more melee stacks, their Special bonus against the enemy stack is only at 25%, and they attack their own stack with a Special bonus of 12.5%.
There must be a Warlord in the hex to use Special Retaliation.
The opposing stack takes the number of hits inflicted. Units are destroyed based on their stacking order – first unit listed takes maximum hits, before the next is wounded.
Exception – a stack led in attack by a Commander may direct hits at any unit in the opposing stack, but the unit takes TWICE as many hits to croak as it normally would. Opposing Commanders take FOUR TIMES as many hits to croak as normal if targeted. Obviously the first unit in a stack will never need to be targeted.
The Alliance Turn:
The Alliance turn is broken into two phases – Scout, and Move / Combat. At the beginning of the game, the Alliance players will elect one of their own to be Chief Warlord. It is the responsibility of the Chief to declare an end to the Scout Phase, and to the Move / Combat phase, which will end the turn. In the event that a Player has not posted orders within 72 hours (three days) of the beginning of a phase, the Chief Warlord may issue orders on their behalf and end the Phase.
Scout Phase:
Players may create units with a special scout ability.
In the Scout phase, any scout unit in the same hex as a Commander may be given orders to inspect a string of adjacent hexes equal to the unit’s move plus one-half the unit's move. The unit remains in the original hex – it simply inspects the hexes (how it does this is left entirely up to your imagination). The Scout unit moves in the Movement phase.
In the Scout Phase, players give orders to their scout units. Once the Chief Warlord declares an end to the Scout Phase, the GM will examine the orders and update the map with information from hexes inspected. Scout units may then move their full allowance in the Move / Combat phase.
Figure 1:
Scout unit S has three move, and has the following orders – inspect NW (Northwest), inspect SW (Southwest), inspect S (South).
Scout unit S2 has two move, and has the following orders – inspect SW, inspect SE.
Both units remain in the starting hex, and may move 3 and 2 hexes respectively in the Move / Combat phase.
During the Scout Phase, the Chief Warlord may be given a number of points to distribute between the players. The Players may then nominate a set of units to “pop” at the beginning of the Scout Phase. These units pop in either B10 or i10.
Move and Combat Phase:
Once the GM has reported on the actions of scouts, the Movement and Combat phase begins. Players may issue orders to units in the same hex as a Commander. Units may move into any hex, but if a unit moves into a hex that has not been scouted, it may be ambushed if enemy forces are present.
Commanders may move units to pass on orders to other units – so a stack at a distance could be reached by another unit that passes on instructions.
Commanders may move into a hex, issue orders to units there, and then move on again.
Units may be sent to attack enemy units. Players should use the spreadsheet provided to calculate the combat results. Each Unit may attack once per turn.
Units gain advantages by stacking together. It is possible to attack the same stack multiple times, but each stack in a hex must be attacked before any stack is attacked more than once.
For Example:
A hex contains two stacks – Stack “A” of 8 gobwins, and stack “B” of 6 gobwins.
In order for Alliance troops to attack Stack “A” twice, stack “B” must be attacked at least once.
Players may move in any order, and may move and fight with all or some of their units at any one time.
If a stack has movement left after combat, it may move to an adjacent hex.
End of Turn:
The Alliance turn ends when the Chief Warlord declares it over. The Chief Warlord should post on the forum and send a Private Message to the GM. At the end of the Alliance turn, all units on both sides that have partial hits are healed.
Opposition Turn:
The forces of Gobwin Bump move at the discretion of the GM. Any results that impact on the Alliance players will be posted on the forum. Once the Gobwin Bump turn is over, the Alliance players may begin their Scout phase.
Fortification Rules:
Fortifications provide a Defence bonus of (Hits*.02) to the units inside—this is a bonus of +1 per 50 Hits. This can—and does—cause units’ defence to rise above 8, making them invulnerable. This represents whether a wall is breached or not.
When a hex is scouted, the Hits of the Fortification(s) in that hex is(are) listed with the scouting results.
Fortifications have Hits, but no Attack, Move, or Defence score. Units with the Siege special can attack Fortifications.
Fliers can attack units inside fortifications, and the units inside have a Defence bonus of +2 in, which can be greater or less than the fortification’s Hits.
A Fortification is either defined as a “Wall” or a “Tower,” Walls can be attacked from the six hexes bordering them and Towers can be attacked only from within the hex they are in. Walls exist on all 6 hexsides, and each hexside has an independent number of Hits. A Tower destroyed when its Hits reach 0.
Walls prevent units from entering a hex, and a Tower hex costs all move for non-fliers to enter while held by Gobwin Knob.
Fortifications, once captured by the Alliance, can be repaired for pop points, with 1 pop point healing 1 Hit of the fortification.
More than one Fortification can exist in a hex. If this is the case, when such a hex is scouted, the stacks will be specified as being in one Fortification or another.
When a Fortification is held by the Alliance, it acts as an Road Hex for purposes of Move, and provides Defence bonuses to the Alliance units inside.
