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Skirmish/Gears 40k Rules

WH40K 
4K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  CaptainSarathai 
#1 ·
A few years ago, I wrote up a set of Skirmish-based rules for 40k, which focused on smaller battles with more tactical and immersive gameplay. Since then, the rules have been lost to the depths of LO, and my friends and local gamers who have also picked up on these rules, have suggested ways to clarify, streamline, and enhance the rules.
Initially these rules were based on the Gears of War series, thus the name ‘Gears 40k’ (or G40k) was adopted. This name will appear in the rules, referring to this variation of traditional WH40k.
Choosing Your Team
G40k is based on much smaller armies than WH40k. Rather than full squads, G40k relies on a 150pt Team, divided into Combat Units of at least 15pts. Most games are engagements between two teams, although players with more time, models, and interest, may wish to increase this value to include multiple teams per side.

Rules Ignored – Minimum Squad Size, Force Organization Chart*

- Players select a team of 150pts from their armybook. You are still bound to the Force Organization chart however, meaning that you must have at least 2 Combat Units from the Troops Section, and no more than 3 units each from Elite, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. Unlike WH40K, HQ choices are optional, and limited to only one choice per team.

- A Combat Unit is defined as any number of models adding up to a minimum of 15pts, chosen from the same squad. A group of 3 Imperial Guardsmen for 5pts each is a single Combat Unit. Two Tactical Marines (15pts each, total 30pts) could be taken as a single Combat Unit, or broken down into two 1-man Combat Units.

- A Combat Unit is allowed to take any upgrades that would normally be allowed for a full squad. For example, the 3 Guardsmen could carry a special weapon if they desired. Sergeants may be taken in a Combat Unit that includes at least 2 models. To determine the cost of a sergeant upgrade, multiply the cost of additional models by the number present in the base squad, then subtract this value from the base cost.
Example – a Tactical Squad is 1 Sergeant and 4 Marines for 85pts. Additional Marines may be purchased for +15pts/model. To determine the cost of a sergeant – 15x5 = 75, 85-75 = 10pts. Therefore, the upgrade to sergeant costs 10pts.

For units which don’t allow you to field additional models (Imperial Guard squads for example), simply divide the number of models in the squad by the base cost (this will also determine the cost per model), and treat the upgrade to Sergeant as being free.

Restrictions
Players may not select any models with more than a single wound, except for the single optional HQ choice, which may have 2 wounds.
Players may not select any vehicle with more than 34pts total armor value (Front+Side+Rear), or the Flier special rule.

Preparing For Battle
Tables should be 3’x3’ or 4’x’4 for games between 2 squads. For games including additional squads, increase the size to 4’x4’ to 6’x4’. In any case, the field should feature very dense terrain. Jungle or Urban themes are most popular.

Deploying Teams
Players roll off for deployment as usual. The player deploying first then chooses a point anywhere on the table within 12” of any table edge. The player deploying second then chooses a point at least 24” inches away from the first.
The player who chose to deploy first then places each of their Combat Units within 12” of their chosen point. The player who chose to deploy second places their Combat Units within 12” of their chosen point, and no closer than 12” to any enemy model.

The Turn
G40k does not use the same “I go- you go” format as WH40k. Instead, at the start of each turn, both players will roll a D6 for each of their Combat Units, and add the lowest initiative value in the unit.
Combat Units are then activated in order, starting with the highest scoring units first. If two units from different teams are tied, then the players roll off on a D6 and the winning player chooses which squad will activate first.

There is no order to the turn phases (Move, Shoot, Assault) in G40k. Rather, once a Combat Unit is activated, each model gains 3 Actions, and may expend 1 Action to act in any of the phases. Once a model spends an Action Point, you must complete all of their actions before moving on to another model in the Unit.
Actions which preclude another (such as moving and firing a heavy weapon) are still mutually exclusive. If you fire a heavy weapon in your first action, you cannot choose Move for any of your remaining actions.

- Unit Coherency: Unlike 40k, unit coherency between members of a Combat Unit in G40k is increases to 6” and is only important when the unit is activated. If a Combat Unit is activated and the members are more than 6” apart (either by blunders in the previous turn, or by casualties inflicted) each model in the Combat Unit loses 1 Action point and are at -1Ld for the turn.

- Ammo/Fatigue: Models may take any action multiple times during their turn (for example, 2 or more Move Actions). However, the first time you attempt to repeat an action, you must pass a leadership test. If you attempt the same action again (3 move actions in a single turn, for example) you must pass a Leadership test at half leadership. If a leadership test caused by Ammo/Fatigue is failed, the model stops in place, and loses any remaining action points for the turn.
Example – a Guardsman is attempting his second Move action in a turn. He rolls his leadership and passes it. For his third action, he attempts to Move again. This time he rolls at half leadership and fails. The guardsman stops in place, no doubt struggling to catch his breath.

- Independent Character Command Range: A Combat Unit may use the leadership of an HQ choice if they are in coherency and any member of the Unit is within 12” of the character. Otherwise, Combat Units containing a Sergeant may use his LD value as long as they are in Coherency.

The Movement Action
This is unchanged from WH40k. Infantry moves 6” etc, difficult terrain still slows you, and are you are still bound by Dangerous Terrain tests.

- Conform to Cover: A model may conform to cover by being in base-contact with it, and turning their back to the cover. This represents models kneeling or crouching behind a piece of cover, so use your head – an 8’ tall Marine probably wouldn’t be able to hide behind a street curb, for example.
Models which have Conformed to Cover in this turn may still be shot at. However any successful wounds will not be counted against the model, but rather, will force a Pinning Test. You may be required to pass multiple Pinning Tests in a turn because of this rule. This represents suppression fire.
Models which begin the turn Conformed to Cover are considered invisible to any enemy that would have to draw LoS through the piece of terrain the model is conformed to.

The Shoot Action
This is also unchanged from WH40k. All weapon rules still hold. Remember however that if a model has moved prior to shooting, or fires a weapon before moving, certain rules may apply. A model who rapid-fires at 24” for example, will not be able to take a Move action in that same turn.
Models may still ‘Run’ as a Shoot Action, allowing you to possibly gain a few extra inches of movement without having to take a Fatigue test.

- Splitting Fire: A model capable of firing multiple shots may use 2 Shoot Actions (LD check required as normal for Fatigue/Ammo) to split those shots between any targets within 6” of each other (you may pre measure). However, a model must be hit (though not necessarily wounded) before you can fire on the next model you have chosen.
Example: A Marine with a Heavy Bolter (3 shots) is firing on a Guardsman, a Storm Trooper, and a Veteran. He fires on the Guardsman and hits him, but fails to wound. He must now fire on the Storm Trooper. The first shot misses, so he rolls to hit with the third shot and wounds him. Because the Marine has used all 3 shots, the Veteran is safe.

- Called Shots: If a model targets the same enemy as another model from the same Combat Unit, he gains a +1 to hit. This bonus is not cumulative; the most a model will ever gain by firing at a “called” model is +1, regardless of how many friendly models have fired at it.
The Called Shots rule also allows a model to fire at an enemy who began the turn Conformed to Cover, just as if that enemy had Conformed in this turn (as described in the Movement Action section), if another model in the Combat Unit with LoS fires at it first.

- Camping: Models which remained stationary during their previous activation grant a +1 bonus to any model attempting to shoot them. This is not cumulative with the +1 from ‘Called Shots’.

- Wounded Models: If a model loses its final wound in the shooting phase, it is not removed from play immediately. Instead, place the model on its side (unless the strength of the attack was double the toughness of the target, in which case remove it entirely).
If a friendly model moves into base-contact with a model downed in this way, it may expend an action to stand the model back up. Models stood up this way will lose 1 Action Point the next time they are activated. Multiwound models return to play with only 1 wound.
If an enemy model moves into contact with a downed model, remove the downed model immediately – imagine the enemy finishing him off in a suitably ruthless manner. Also, a model which is merely hit (no need to wound, although cover saves are allowed) are automatically removed from play.

The Assault Action
Models are no longer Locked in Combat like they are in WH40k. They may elect to take a Move Action to move out of base-contact with the enemy. However, if engaged in base-contact with an enemy, they must choose to take either a move action, or an Assault action.
Models which move away from combat provoke an Attack of Opportunity from their opponent, who gets to roll 1 attack to hit and to wound as normal.
Models that choose an Assault Action will fight a single round of Close Combat as normal under the WH40K rules. There is no more 2” rule though – engaged models must be in base-contact.
This makes Assaults in G40k very violent, dangerous affairs, as it’s possible to fight 6 rounds of combat in a single turn.
Models who suffer their final wound during an Assault action are automatically removed from play. Close combat is a brutal event, and kills are more thorough than a simple shooting attack.

Scoring a Game
Although you can play any of the standard WH40k missions using G40K rules, you should substitute Kill Points for the following scoring method:
+1pt for every model downed
+1pt for every model removed from play
+1pt for any model removed from play automatically (cumulative with +1 for removing from play)

Well, there it is. I hope that some of you might try the game out. As always, go ahead and provide criticism or propose changes for the rules system, or just let me know what Team you used and how the battle went for you.
 
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#4 ·
Dark Eldar Massacred them :) we used really dense urban terrain for that was quiet funny, i find its really hard to use heavy weapons like dark lances in this game though and the 3 actions really limit an army that relies on speed like dark eldar, but theres ways around it :)

The second game was catachans vs chaos marines, with the chaos marines winning because he decided to take a few too many special weapons lol

After playtesting it is very well put together and thought out, but maybe look over the action rule and see if you can figure something else out with that but thats all I found slightly wrong with it. Also its a good idea to use markers or tracking on a piece of paper, we found even though theres only a few models on the board when activating and going through actions the battle can get hectic so we had green markers for models activated, red for ones that had already been activated and used their actions, yellow for movement, orange for models that have fired, and if they were in assault we already knew haha...

The markers were a system we used in inquisitor to make tracking easy ie:if a model had an orange marker next to it and was holding a heavy weapon we knew it couldnt move
 
#5 ·
I would love to try this out and will be proposing it to my friend tomorrow. The whole activation thing doesn't seem too bad. It's a lot like Warmahordes wherein each models has it's own activation. I do have to question how certain rules like Hit and Run work. Would they just be able to move 3d6" at the end of a round of combat like normal? For example, marine (A) charges Seraphim (C) after all is said and done, there are no wounds. Would Seraphim (C) then be able to pass an initiative test to try and move 3d6"? What about the rest of her combat squad?

How exactly does fleet transfer over into this type of game or does using a shooting action to run still prohibit a charge?
In a similar fashion, how does non charging movement in the assault phase work like Warp Spiders, Eldar Jet Bikes, and Jet Packs?
I'm assuming Bikes and jump infantry still move 12-24" or is there a restriction?
Again in a similar fashion, Can one of those models make turbo boost for each movement action taken?

What about scouts/infiltrators/outflanking?
 
#6 ·
It is alot like WarmaHordes to a degree, It's not as complex though

As for your questions, I think a quick run through the rule book is in order haha. If the author would like to correct me if he does not see this as fitting feel free to add to or decline some of the following rules:
Hit and Run is part of the Assault phase so I assume it would be an extended part of the Assault action taken, if there is a model with hit and run but the squad doesnt have this same special rule they cannot use it ie: like stubborn units, etc in 40k

Fleet is now just a different run move so giving up your shooting phase to run would be acceptable, I think this is already covered in the rules above

Again the same with Warp Spiders movement in the assault phase I think just giving up your assault phase to move would suffice, unless the author would like to rearrange this so you need to take a leadership test?

Your playing on a standard board for about 1000 points some players even use this size for 1500 points, I would assume you can still move up to 24" per turn, and as such should be able to turbo boost

As for the scouts and infiltrators, etc you still have deployment zones, set up, etc so I don't see why scouts, infiltrators or out flanking should be a problem
 
#9 ·
I'll go through these posts one at a time. Strange that it took a while for anyone to catch on to this type of game. Here we go:

SWAY - good to read up on the report. The speed issue was something that we looked into, but at the end of the day we determined that in traditional 40k, every army has the same potential movement speed of 6", and that every army is allowed 1 movement phase per turn. Having 3 potential movement phases at 6" is no different. Where "fast" armies become truly terrifying is in cases where a unit has the 'Fleet' USR. More on that later though.

As far as Activation is concerned (not sure if you were doing it this way or not) once a Combat Unit is activated, each individual within that unit is given 3 actions. One member might spend their three actions taking a Move, Shoot, and Assault, while another might Move twice and then Shoot a weapon. Initially we were rolling initiative for every model, but decided to implement Combat Units specifically for armies like Guard, who could easily put 30 models together in a single team. Combat Units have become a choice made during the armybuilding section that allows a commander a bit of flex in the organization of his models. Combat Units don't necessarily have to come from the same Codex Unit, they are just a 15+pt division within your team. The point of Combat Unit is that models you would rather have operating together will all Activate at the same time, rather than potentially being broken up by enemy activations or activations of non-related models from their own team. Larger, more autonomous models tend to benefit from "going solo", so that they can operate more than 6" from friendlies and can break up and react to enemy Activations.

IKbuh - The actions are still mutually exclusive, just like 40k. Therefore if you choose to burn a Shoot action to 'Run', you cannot make an Assault in the same turn. This is where 'Fleet' becomes so powerful - a model can easily cover the maximum 18" movement without ever taking a leadership test. They Move6", then RunD6, then Assault6".
As for Hit&Run, yes, that Seraphim would be able to potentially leap out of combat after taking an Initiative Test. Again, this is beneficial as it lets her move away without having to activate again, and without risking an Attack of Opportunity. The rest of her Combat Unit would have to remain stationary, unless they also have Hit&Run and are also engaged in an Assault action.
To that end, Assault actions are the only time that both engaged models are essentially "activated". Both models will benefit from any Assault-based rules that they have, can activate any special rules (Force Weapons, Hit&Run, etc).

Non-charging Assault moves are still allowed, just like they would be in traditional 40k. It is similar to Fleet - a unit could Move twice, and then use their Jet Pack to cover an additional 6" as an 'Assault' action. If, for some reason, you even wanted to take a Move and then 2 Assault actions you could, just remember that you would have to test at LD for your second Assault (as per ammo/fatigue).

Bikes and Jetbikes using their Turbo Boost is something that we haven't really dealt with. Initially we were going to limit vehicles with the 'Fast' special rule. Part of the problem that we've had with both Fast, Turbo, and Jump Infantry is that they can potentially cover 36" in their movement phase. For bikes, a lot of this was mitigated by the nature of the terrain (a unit on a second story building is pretty safe from bikers) but Jump Infantry is a different story. Most players have been left to work this out on their own, and while some feel that the 36" move is fair and tactical, most have limited these "special" moves to just 1 per turn. So a biker can Boost once, and then Move two more times if he desires (and assuming he makes the LD tests - he still has fuel to worry about after all).

Flanking/Scouting/Infiltrate are all the same as in 40k. You do still have a deployment zone, albeit it is usually a circular one, so you can still move out of it with Infiltrators, you can still deploy Scouts out of it, and your Flankers will still show up on a board edge. When players deploy Flankers, we generally declare the 'friendly' edge as the closest long edge to your deployment zone, or leave it to player choice.

airjamy - G40k is meant to be played in the same spirit as games of KillTeam, with an air of storytelling and roleplay rather than just out-and-out competitiveness. I suppose that in cases like that I could impose limitations on the number of vehicles allowed in a game (I might do that) but there have been great games between players who fielded several vehicles. Two personal favorites of mine were a duel between three "teams" of Dreadnoughts and three teams of IG Sentinels, and a game where one of the player fielded several razorbacks (at cost of course) against an army of Tau Battlesuits in a sort of "ambush the motorcade" style.
The same could be said for SWAY's Chaos Marine friend - yes, you can take several special weapons if you wanted, but try to keep an air of fairness about the game. If it is truly a problem, I would suggest adopting a similar method to the one used by Killzone:
0-2 'Heavy' weapons
0-2 weapons with 3 or more shots
0-2 weapons with AP2 or less
0-1 vehicle

*Something of note for vehicles - tanks and skimmers etc will add all movement together when determining if they can shoot. Therefore a Razorback cannot make a Move action of 6", another Move of 6", and then fire it's weapons as though it only moved at Cruising Speed (it moved 12", Flat-Out). The movement bands for Stationary, Cruising, and Flat-Out still apply, and are mutually exclusive. Vehicles are also only allowed to take each action twice in a turn. You cannot Move three times, for example, or Shoot three times. This rule is to help balance vehicles like the Predator who could potentially hold stationary at the end of a street and put 30 shots down range in a single turn, or Vindicators who could level a city-block in a single activation. As vehicles have no LD-value, they do not have to take Ammo/Fatigue checks, as it is assumed that they have enough fuel and ammunition to outlast a simple skirmish.
 
#10 ·
2nd game, Chaos Marines vs Dark Eldar. We tried something new which was activating each unit individually but rolling for initiative by initiative order, ie wychs I6 got first roll, I4 Chaos marines got like 3rd roll from memory haha...

Ok so what happened was the way we done it we jotted down what squads had what initiative so wychs first I6, they roll a 5, next the warriors I5 they rolled a 3, Chaos marines I4 they rolled a 4, so initiative went wyches, chaos marines, warriors, if this makes sense?

Was thinking for our next game of implementing something from dark heresy which is you take the initiative (AG in DH) and roll the die and add the initiative to the dice roll to determine initiative order... Do you think this could be implemented into the game?

@ Captain Sarathai: I just used common sense really lol. Basically I see it as these rules are just another supplement and anything included here not covered by the rulebook should then revert to the rulebook for clarification. As for the turbo boost, I think using it once is sufficient as theres no real need for it to be used more than once, also if your comparing it to things like fleet you have to remember you only get to do it once in 40k why would you need/want it more than once in a skirmish?

Have you play tested this in say 1000-1500point format?
 
#11 ·
Was thinking for our next game of implementing something from dark heresy which is you take the initiative (AG in DH) and roll the die and add the initiative to the dice roll to determine initiative order... Do you think this could be implemented into the game?
The Turn
G40k does not use the same “I go- you go” format as WH40k. Instead, at the start of each turn, both players will roll a D6 for each of their Combat Units, and add the lowest initiative value in the unit.
Combat Units are then activated in order, starting with the highest scoring units first. If two units from different teams are tied, then the players roll off on a D6 and the winning player chooses which squad will activate first.
That's how the game was written - you add the lowest Initiative Value of the Combat Unit to the die roll.

Have you play tested this in say 1000-1500point format?
The largest game that we've ever played was a 600pt game, which featured two players per side, each playing 2, 150pt Teams. Time became an issue, as did organization - keeping track of which models were Conformed, bleeding out, who was in each Combat Unit, who could benefit from who's Leadership, it all became a nightmare. Fortunately, with 2 players running the armies it was a bit easier since you only had to manage the "usual" 300pt Team, but it still got hectic.
It also gave us a pretty good idea of how and why 40k progressed from Skirmish-based 'Rogue Trader' and 2nd Ed, up to the comparatively massive games that we're playing now. Detail is great, but it can bog down a game when people start wanting to put 60 infantry and 5 vehicles on the table.

I came up with another "game" after this one, which I considered 'the way to fix 40k', in my mind. It borrowed a little from this game - the turn structure was the same for example, but you used full-sized Codex units, the whole unit took the same action, nobody could repeat actions, there was no conforming to cover, and we added an "area of awareness" to the units - giving them what amounted to flanks and a field of fire. This game was incredibly fun, but it didn't take off quite as well. I think it was because people saw it as a direct threat or change from 40k, whereas G40K is a harmless "sub game" like Mordheim or Necromunda.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, I'm not entirely sure what his post was getting at - if it were in the fantasy section I'd have deleted it under suspect of trolling. He posted in an Adeptus Arbites thread too, and rather than give any genuine help or relevant info it looks like he just Googled something vaguely related to the topic and copypasted. Don't read too much into it, but thanks guys for keeping this on the top of the board, lol.
Has anyone else played a G40k game lately? I played one last week with my GK against the Wolves, and got mauled. Canis Wolfriders are no fun, I promise you that.
 
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