The Move:

Who does what and when during a move is dictated by whichever player has the Initiative for the move, and during the move he is called Player A, the player without the Initiative, Player B. If Player A looses the Initiative at the start of the next move, he becomes Player B, his successful opponent Player A.

Player A moves their Fireteams.

Player A may then fire any or all of their Fireteams, if they wish.

Player B moves.

Player A may fire any remaining Fireteams that have not fired this move.

Player B fires.

Firing:

Firing is done on a simple percentage chance to hit basis by rolling a D100. A D100 is essentially just two D10's thrown together with one dice representing tens, the other units (it is a good idea if you have different coloured dice, say red for tens and black for units). By reading the scores of both you will get a score between 01% and 100%. eg. if you roll a 4 on the tens dice and a 6 on the units dice you have scored 46%.

Whereas on a D10 the roll of 0 = 10, when using two D10 as a D100, a score of 0 = zero. eg. if you roll 5 on the tens dice and 0 on the units dice you have scored 50% and if you roll 0 on the tens dice and 6 on the units, you have rolled 06%. The only exception is if you roll 0 on both dice and this signifies a score of 100%.

When using a percentage based system such as High Crusade's firing charts, you have to throw a score of less than or equal to the percentage chance to succeed. eg. if the chance of hitting something is given as 45%, you need to roll equal to or lower than to hit the target. A score higher is regarded as a miss.

When firing in High Crusade, you need to measure the distance between the figure firing and the target the figure is aiming at. When you have this figure, look up the weapon details for the weapons the firer is using on the table below and read across until you come to the range band your distance measurement falls in. There you will find a figure such as the following; 65/4.

The first figure (here 65) is the basic percentage chance you have of your figure successfully hitting the target at the distance you have measured. Here you will need to roll 65 or less on a D100 to hit it.

The second figure is the penetration or kill factor. This represents the actual power of the shot being fired by the weapon at a given range. Here it is 4. This figure has to be higher than or equal to the targets defence factor (given below) for you to be able to kill it. If the target has a defence factor of 5, whilst you would be able to hit the target, you wouldnąt be able to kill it. However if it is 4 or less, then a successful hit, will kill the target.

A target that is successfully hit and killed, is removed from the table.

Defence Factors:

Weapons Table:

The above table provides you with all the information you need for the most common of infantry small arms used in the Ion Age universe. If you are unsure exactly what your troops are carrying, it is worth noting that most Crusaders carry the Ingrave assault rifle (ar), with Crusader officers carrying the Schmitwess machine-pistol (mpi) or Schmitwess sub-machine gun (smg). The Levy usually carry the Kalass 76D rifle, though officers may be seen with the Schmitwess smg. The Shia Khan Legion tend to carry the Eggtimer ar, their officers relying on the Popcorn handgun, with Pioneers carrying the Pagan smg. Infiltrators carry a mix of Shia Khan weaponry, as do Orcs, though they sometimes carry weapons of their own manufacture in the form of bolt guns, rather than weapons from the official Shia Khan arsenal.

As with the Defence factors, the percentage chance of hitting a target can also be subject to modifiers, and the following should be added to and/or subtracted to the basic percentage figure. Exactly what applies depends on the firers orders for that move and the targets. Note that all factors that are applicable to a situation should be added to and subtracted from the basic percentage figure:

Heavy Weapons:

Heavy Weapons are treated in exactly the same way as normal small arms fire is worked out in the same manner. The only difference is that heavy weapons can often kill more than just the one enemy trooper small arms can. Heavy weapons use a template dependent on the type of heavy weapon being used and any figure (or part of) that falls with a heavy weapon template is treated as a target.

There are two types of heavy weapons template. The first is the support weapon template that is conical shaped, the point being placed at the tip of the firers' weapon directly forward. This represents the area that is covered by a burst of fire from a sectional weapon. Weapons using this template include Heavy Lasers, 40mm Plasma Cannon, Fire Projectors and Battlemaster Chain Guns. The other template is the missile weapons template, and is a circular template, that is place over the point that the firer is aiming at. All models or parts of, falling within the circle, are treated as targets.

Because you will need different size templates for the 15mm and 25mm game, you will need to make your own out of card, or some similar strong material (eg. clear perspex). Details of what the templates should look like are provided below.

Hand to Hand Combat:

Close combat should be an extremely rare occurrence of the battlefield, after all the generals equipped your troops with rifles to shoot each other, not bash each other over the head with. However, the possibility of hand to hand combat does exist, and this occurs when both sides troops have finished their respective movement and opposing troops end up with their bases touching.

Hand to hand combat is decided by each player rolling a D10 and is almost invariably fatal for one of the participants. Some troops are good at engaging in this form of fighting, others are not, so the following modifiers should be added or subtracted to your dice roll.

eg. a Free Companies Crusader carrying a 40mm Plasma Cannon ends up in base to base contact with an Orc carrying a Bolt Gun. The Crusader rolls 7 and the Orc 5. The Crusader adds 1 because he is a Crusader, but then has to deduct 2 because of the weapon he is carrying, so ends up with a final score of 6. The Orc takes his 5 and adds on 3, because Orcs are naturally vicious and dirty fighters. The Crusader loses and is removed from play as a casualty.

If the scores are equal after the application of the modifiers, then the combat is regarded as a draw, and both figures remain on the table.

© Wessex Games 1994, 2000