Home Forums Sci Fi General Sci-Fi Horizon Wars – the Official Rules Question Thread

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  • #44980
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    In response to public demand, I am hereby instituting an official Horizon Wars rules question thread, here on TWW.  Henceforth, this thread shall be updated with response to rules questions and the responses of the designer will be considered official until such time as the designer realizes he was wrong and changes his mind to something else.  At which point this thread will be altered to reflect the designer’s opinion.

    We have always been at war with East Asia.  We have always been allies with Oceania.

    Go.

    ACTIONS & REACTIONS

    Moving

    Q. Can elements Deep Deploy directly into a building?

    A. Yes.

    Shooting

    Q. Can an infantry element shoot the building it is occupying?

    A. Yes.  The range is considered to be 0.

    Q. Can an element whose F has been reduced to 0 shoot using Guide Fire?

    A. Yes, but it still counts as being ineffective.

    Charges

    Q. Can you perform a charge in the same activation in which you perform a Rapid move?

    A. Yes.

    Q. What sort of movement is a charge?

    A. A charge is an action in its own right.  It does not count as a Move or Move & Shoot.  It must be performed in a straight line and may be no longer than twice the element’s current M value.

    Q. Is the charge bonus based on the movement in that activation or the movement in the charge action?

    A. The charge action.

    Q. What happens when the two elements in a charge have a drawn result?

    A. Each takes half the dice value as damage, as normal.  The active element is moved 1″ as if it had lost.

    Q. Can a vehicle charge a building?

    A. No.

    Q. Can infantry charge a building?

    A. No, but they can charge another infantry element inside a building.

    Q. Can a mech or kaiju charge a building?

    A. Yes.  Buildings are treated as P2 vehicles for the purposes of charging and have A8, so will be turned into ruins if they take a total of 8 or more damage.  Mechs cannot target an infantry element occupying a building with a charge.

    Q. When resolving a charge inside a building and the loser isn’t destroyed, does the loser leave the building?

    A. Only infantry can occupy buildings, so a charge inside a building can only be resolved between two infantry elements.  The loser is always destroyed.

    Reactions

    Q. Can every enemy element with LOS to the active element react to it?

    A. Yes.

    Q. If an element has reacted to an enemy action earlier in the turn and then uses his remaining action token to activate, does this count as a first action (in which case the enemy can react to it) or a second (in which case they can’t)?

    A. It counts as the element’s first action.  A reaction does not count as an action.

     

    AIRCRAFT

    Q. May aircraft enter play at any altitude?

    A. Yes.  During deployment and when entering from reserve or after having disengaged, the commander may select any altitude from 1-5 for the aircraft.  Aircraft may not, however, enter play at Altitude 0 (ground level) or at Altitude 6 (disengaged).

    Q.  May aircraft with the VTOL upgrade move at less than Mv without being subject to stall tests?

    A. No.

    TERRAIN

    Q. Do you have to be in contact with a tree that is part of an area designated as “forest” in order to benefit from cover from the forest?

    A. Yes.  However, note that the terrain type defined in the rules is “forest” not “woods”.  This is deliberate and is intended to represent an area of wilderness or a nature reserve which permits the free movement of military forces.  If you want to represent denser woods that are accessible to infantry but not to vehicles, I recommend defining them as buildings rather than as forests.

    MUSTERING

    Q. In the wording for the stealth suite upgrade for mechs, it refers to “opposing mechs”.  Should this be “opposing elements”?

    A. Yes, it should.

    Q. If I take, say a Hvy Cav or Lt Cav CHQ, I seem to be able to build armies that are much more potent than ones with, say, a Lt Inf CHQ.  Is this right?

    A. Yes.  HW battlegroups are not necessarily balanced or fair.  This is intentional and is an opportunity for commanders to tailor their battlegroup to the level of challenge they want from their battle.   If, however, you’d like a more competitive, balanced gaming experience, try the New Adventures supplement which expands on the momentum system in the main rulebook and adds intelligence as a handicap system.

    SUPPLEMENTS

    You can see the latest supplements and everything available for Horizon Wars here:

    http://www.precinctomega.co.uk/downloads/

    Last updated 11th November 2016.

    #44984
    Avatar photoBen Rose
    Participant

    FIRST! Hurray.

    Dear Mr. Jenkins,

    I have a quick question about aircraft. When an aircraft starts the game on the board, or enters from reserve, can it be flying at any altitude? Also, if a aircraft leaves the board and enters reserve, when it comes back again, can it be at any altitude? Or must it enter at the altitude it left?

    Big fan of Horizon Wars. It’s one of the most refreshing approaches to wargaming I’ve seen in years. I look forward to further expansions in future, or indeed other gaming systems.

    Kind regards,
    Ben

    #45100
    Avatar photoBen Rose
    Participant

    Thanks!

    #45280
    Avatar photoRicky Walker
    Participant

    A question about terrain.  A forest or wooded area doesn’t in itself provide any cover, but the individual model trees placed on a wooded area do provide cover if you are in contact with one. Is this a correct interpretation of the terrain rules? Also, the LOS depends entirely on the placement of the model trees, not on the terrain feature itself?  To me, this would mean that say, a piece of felt representing the forest would provide more cover if you used lots of smaller tree models than if you use a few larger tree models. Personally, I’d like to declare that a wooded area provides, say, partial cover for infantry and the tree models are there just to show that it is in fact a wood/forest, but my regular opponent is quite happy with the rules as they stand, so we can’t agree a house rule for this.

    #45292
    Avatar photoTerry Mason
    Participant

    I have question on the Conventional Forces HQ.

    I read the rules as the CHQ is free when you take a Conventional Commander. CHQ Heavy Cav. I took light cav, heavy infantry and Armoured Artillery to get good discounts on the P plus the compulsory heavy cav for each 5 full points.

    I seemed to have a much stronger force then my opponent who just chose Mechs and Conventional forces.  A  Conventional Force CHQ can take Mechs as well – no other restrictions?

     

    thanks

    #45302
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Updated 23 July 2016

    #45303
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Not so much a rules question, but:

    I seemed to have a much stronger force then my opponent who just chose Mechs and Conventional forces.  A  Conventional Force CHQ can take Mechs as well – no other restrictions?

    Obviously, it depends a bit on what conventional forces your opponent took.  But mechs really are very good.  If a mech-heavy force can’t win against a force with no mechs, then someone isn’t designing or using his mechs properly.

     

    #45308
    Avatar photoRicky Walker
    Participant

    Thanks for the clarification 🙂

    #46591
    Avatar photoJoel Agee
    Participant

    1. A Rapid move cannot be used in the same activation an element shoots. Can a charge be used with a rapid move?

    2. With a charge, what type of movement is available? Any? (Including rapid, if available?)

    3. How many units can react? As many as are currently able to react?

    (I ran a game with kaiju today; I ruled “Yes”, “Any”, and “All”, respectively. The gribbles ate everything, despite desperate reaction shooting.)

    #46644
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Updated 16 August 2016.

    #47123
    Avatar photoDamien Fletcher
    Participant

    We could not find a clear answer in respect of units being charged in a building.

    If the unit in the building loses the charge but is not destroyed are they pushed out of the building in the opposite direction of the unit that charged them ?

    If it is a big building would they be pushed into another section of the building ?

    clarification is greatly appreciated.

    #47329
    Avatar photoDavid Knowles
    Participant

    A couple of questions…

    – Is the bonus for distance moved based on distance moved that turn or in the charge action?
    – Can Mechs (or other big units such as Kaiju) charge a building?

    #47509
    Avatar photoMike
    Keymaster

    Updated.

    #47679
    Avatar photoKatie L
    Participant

    We played our first go at this last night and we found infantry to be Rather Handy. Should “charge it with infantry” really be the weapon of choice for finally dealing with something you’ve been shelling for three turns without much effect or are we doing it wrong?

    (The other less was that trying to track stats with tokens really doesn’t work. We’re going to move to laminated sheets & drymarker pens.)

    #47689
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    On the grounds that that isn’t really a question, I won’t update the OP. However, if you’re foolish enough to let sci-fi infantry, with their fancy short range anti-armour weapons get closer enough to charge your mechs and tanks then you deserve everything you get.

    😉

    #49045
    Avatar photoDavid Knowles
    Participant

    Can elements Deep Deploy directly into a building?

    #49072
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Yes, they can.  OP updated.

    #49073
    Avatar photoDavid Knowles
    Participant

    Also just to check, can an element whose F has been reduced to zero Shoot using Guide Fire?

    #49124
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Updated.  Yes, they can.  It’s an exception to the “if F=0, you can’t shoot” consequence of reaching F0.  But the element still counts as being ineffective.

    #50811
    Avatar photoAndrew Lawson
    Participant

    Hi all, just wondering if you lot could answer me a few rules questions.

    -In the latest FAQ there is a mention that the Agile frame mech upgrade changes the text from “[Replace “Reduce the F of any mech shooting at a mech with an agile frame by 1” with:] An element shooting at a mech”
    Does this kind of change also apply to the Stealth Suite upgrade? It just feels like it should to me.

    -Stealth Suite… presuming there’s no change to the rule, how does it interact with guide fire if the element providing the F is a mech?

    -In the Datawar beta rules you can take an A.I as your CHQ. Since it has no Element type, can we presume it’s not a conventional force CHQ (in the same way a Mech CHQ doesn’t have a requirement on the force structure).

    Also any news or thoughts on changes to the Datawars rules? I love the idea of drones and robots being led by an A.I., but paying out CR to make something a drone/robot means I can’t field an all drone/robot army :/

    #50842
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    The first question is answered.  The second question is answered by the first.  The third question refers to a rules currently in beta-testing, so I won’t provide an answer in the OP, but you’re right: it should be possible to take all-drone/robot armies.  I think in my head I’d already changed those to free upgrades to some extent, so I’ll review it for the final version.

    Main delay to finalizing a lot of these rules is that I want to illustrate them properly with painted miniatures, but I don’t own suitable miniatures…

    #50958
    Avatar photoAndrew Lawson
    Participant

    Sorry I can’t see where the answer to my question has been posted. Could someone point it out to me, or did you mean I answered my own question?

    #50960
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Q. In the wording for the stealth suite upgrade for mechs, it refers to “opposing mechs”.  Should this be “opposing elements”?

    A. Yes, it should.

    #51464

    I bought the rules, have a game set up, but I can’t find anything in the rules about weapon ranges. I’m just saying I can’t find it, not that it isn’t there 🙂

    #51466
    Avatar photoKatie L
    Participant

    There aren’t any range limits — it just gets harder and harder to hit something as it’s further away because of the adding-up-the-dice-results mechanic.

    #51469
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Thank you for asking, Sid.  I replied on YouTube as well.  Katie is correct: there are no absolute weapon ranges (I detest such things!).  You roll your Facebook dice, and try to beat the range, plus Armour, plus cover, to the target.  For each dice group that succeeds, you get one hit.  If you just follow the rules in the book, you should work it out, so I’ll not update the questions.

    Regards,

    Robey

    #51474

    Doh, thank you for that

    Sid

    #51813
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Here’s one: VTOL Aircraft may hover, and may take off and land vertically. In level flight, may they go less than stall speed or are they subject to stalling once in motion?

    The real-world abilities of VTOL aircraft notwithstanding, I wondered whether this might be a balancing thing, or a misreading on my part?

    #51819
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    No, they can’t, and I’ve updated the OP accordingly.  It’s not a balancing mechanic per se so much as a mechanical to make players think tactically about how they choose and use their aircraft upgrades.

    Rotary aircraft can operate as gunships and spotters, which is what rotary aircraft do IRL, whilst VTOL aircraft can swoop in at low altitude, drop a bunch of SF and then rocket out of there at high speed to provide air support, but they can’t so easily hang around in VTOL mode, because they have to do it at altitude 1, making them much more vulnerable to enemy fire.

    R.

    #51821
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    So REALLY, if we’re splitting hairs, the VTOL ability is really STOVL, and a true gunship or continuously-vectored thrust aerodyne would not be possible in HW.

    I’m more curious than anything – all my aircraft are either conventional/transat or STOVL vehicles. But I’m not clear on where a rotary wing or jet-thrust low-speed vehicle, like a high tech Apache or Super Cobra would fit in the lineup.

    And also, what about gravships? Do antigrav aircraft gain stall speed exemption, since they’re already breaking aerodynamic rules by, you know, existing, as a thing that exists?

    Im trying to gauge the intent, not to game the system, that’s all.

    #52134
    Avatar photoAndy W
    Participant

    I understand that Morale wasn’t included in the core rules by design, or any form of pinning / suppression, which one might find elsewhere.

    Fine by me, but there are some down the club already considering house rules….

    I was wondering if the HW collective had any thoughts?

    Perhaps hits reducing action tokens?

    Cheers,

    Wilf

     

    #52143
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    My thinking is that STOVL aircraft pilots aren’t dumb enough to land in a hot zone.  However, I suppose then I have to justify why regular aircraft have rules for TO&L,  to which the answer is: because people expected them.  It should be quite easy to make up your own STOVL rules by amalgamating the rules for regular and rotary aircraft (Mb of +2, cannot hover for more than one action and able to perform a bank as a take-off action, say, just off the top of my head).

    I’m working on a set of advanced rules, so this could be something to incorporate.

    #52146
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Best place to find the HW collective is on Facebook.  I see such rules as being very much part of the damage process.  However, I did trial (and abandon, I hasten to add) some morale rules that applied only to infantry type elements.  These allowed these elements to acquire negative M through damage.  They could move a (positive, obviously) distance equal to their -M as long as it was towards a building and didn’t take them closer to an enemy element.

    #52216
    Avatar photoRob Goodfellow
    Participant

    If an element has reacted to an enemy action earlier in the turn and then uses his second action token to activate, does this count as his first action (in which case the enemy can react to it) or his second (in which case they can’t)?

    #52249
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Updated.  Many thanks for all the questions.

    Regards,

    Robey

    #54775
    Avatar photoMike Adams
    Participant

    Can you confirm what happens when following a charge the dice rolls are drawn?

    #54783
    Avatar photoRobey Jenkins
    Participant

    Answered.  Yes, both elements take damage as normal, of course.  The question is really which of them (if either) moves.  After much pondering and checking back on original drafts etc, I have ruled that the active (charging) element should be forced to move.  The movement is representative of whichever has suffered the worst “shock” in the combat, and I decided that the charging element meeting an equal and opposite force should be the one most shocked by the experience, given the advantage it will normally have enjoyed as a result of its charge bonus.

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