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44 WARHAMMER BORDER PATROL

WARHAMMERBORDER PATROL

Warhammer games in under an hour

Che Webster takes us through theWarhammer equivalent of 40k in40 minutes Warhammer BorderPatrol. This shorter game isperfect for a lunch time, or whenyou don't have space to set up afull battle

WHERE TO START?The first thing in getting a faster gameis to play a smaller scenario and focuson making the experience exciting andchallenging into the bargain.

Warhammer Border Patrol is built aroundthe idea of meeting engagements betweentwo expeditionary forces. The really cleverbit is in the scenarios which featureseeking to capture a key position, itemor building rather than simply bashing theopponent.

All the time it is vital to remember the spiritof the game and try to resist the urge to doextreme things to your army this is all

about patrol type forces not the awe-inspiring massed horde with the bigbeasties and gribblies.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENTEach player will need a Warhammer armythat conforms to the special limitationsbelow:

You must choose an army of not morethan 500 points.

You must have a single Hero to leadthe force, but the Hero may not be anArmy Battle Standard Bearer.

The army must consist of at least twounits and no more than four units(excluding the Hero).

You must have at least one Core choice.

Che: Having played Warhammer formany years, one of the most frequentchallenges has always been findingenough time in which to play a goodgame regularly. With the burdens of work,home life, family commitments and thelike it can be tricky to get the three ormore hours needed to play a leisurely2,000 points game.

Inspired by Tim Eaglings work for theWarhammer 40,000 game (40K in 40Minutes), we set out to come up with asolution to playing a good game ofWarhammer in under an hour.

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www.games-workshop.com/clubs 45

You may take one choice of either

Special or Rare Units, but not both.

You must include at least one infantry

unit of 10+ models.

No unit may be larger than 25 models.

No unit may carry a magical standard.

No single model may cost more than

125 points.

An army may have no more than one

chariot or war machine. This also

applies to choices that allow more than

one item per pick, like Goblin WolfChariots. You may only buy one

per choice.

Here are a couple of army specific notes:

Bretonnians do not have their ArmyBattle Standard Bearer.

Tomb Kings must have a Liche Priest asthe Hero. He will also act as the General.However, the Liche Priest is allowed tobe purchased with up to 165 points.

Tomb Kings may have more than oneChariot.

A Vampire Thrall may lead a VampireCounts army.

SCENARIOS

The key to the quality of these games is in thescenario. We have come up with several thatwork and have included a couple of examples

on the next page. However, here are thebroad guidelines on how to get the most from

a scenario so you can design your own:

Use a gaming space of around 3' by 4',using the short edges to deploy along.This gives you a nice depth but limits the

flank manoeuvring for such small armies.

Have a definite purpose to the scenario,preferably a sudden death type ending.

This will keep the game brief and focusedinstead of devolving into a shooting contest.

Try to theme the scenario to the armies

you use if you can. Keep the scenerysparse but use two or three nice featureson the battlefield.

Mark Chambers

DWARFS

Ben: I used Dwarfs in thiscampaign as I was interested

to see how they wouldperform in the small but fastand brutal 500 points arena.As an average Dwarf Warrioris only 7 points even if youtool them up, they are stillrelatively cheap and allowquite a bit of flexibility.Unfortunately they are aboutas fast as a sedated snail so Ihave taken a bit of firepowerto try and stop any would-besneaky flanking manoeuvres.

Ben Ward

VAMPIRE COUNTS

Mark: Undead are aterrible foe to fight at 500points as the whole armycauses fear and has thepotential to raise moremodels during the battle.I chose a NecromancerChampion to make this areal possibility, a unit ofGhouls, a unit of cheapZombies and a unit ofSkeleton Warriors withspears, and three Fell Batsto fly over my opponentand slow them down.

TYPE No. M WS BS S T W I A Ld Save Notes Pts each Pts total

HERO

Lucius GoreL2 Wizard, Necromancy

CORE

Skeleton WarriorsGores Spears

Zombies Gores Servants

Musician

Ghouls Gores Claws

Fell Bats Gores Wings

1 4 3 3 3 3 2 3 1 7 0 100 1002nd Level Mage, Fear

12 4 2 2 3 3 1 2 1 3 6+ 9 108Spears/Shields, Fear

17 4 2 0 3 3 1 0 1 2 0 6 102Spears/Shields, Fear

1 4 2 0 3 3 1 0 1 2 0 10 10Braindead, Fear

15 4 3 0 3 4 1 3 2 6 0 8 120Poison Attacks, Skirmishers, Fear

3 1 3 0 3 3 2 3 2 6 0 20 60Flying unit , Fear

TYPE No. M WS BS S T W I A Ld Save Notes Pts each Pts total

HERO

RunesmithNorgrim, Nognoggin

SPECIAL

Bolt Thrower

CORE

Warriors

Standard Bearer

Warriors

Veteran

Standard

Crossbowmen

1 3 5 4 4 4 2 2 2 9 5+ 78 78Hand Weapon, Gromril Arm

11 3 4 3 3 4 1 4 1 9 4+ 9 99Hand Weapon, H Armour, Shield

1 3 4 3 3 4 1 4 1 9 4+ 19 1910 3 4 3 3 4 1 1 1 9 5+ 10 100Double-handed W'pon, H Armour1 3 4 3 3 4 1 1 1 9 5+ 20 20Double-handed W'pon, H Armour1 4 3 0 4 4 1 1 3 8 5+ 20 20Double-handed W'pon, H Armour

10 4 3 0 4 4 1 1 3 8 6+ 12 120Hand Weapon, CBow, L Armour

45453 Crew, Hand Weapon, L Armour

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46 WARHAMMER BORDER PATROL

In this scenario, a special adaptation forBorder Patrol, two forces are split in anattempt each to outflank the other. Thegenerals must coordinate their splitpatrolling forces and lay claim to thebattlefield.

BATTLEFIELDUse no more than 4' by 3' of battle table. Usethe long edges for deployment giving a wide,shallow battlefield. The deployment areasshould be 18'' apart, and allow for 12'' to eachflank.

DEPLOYMENT Before any deployment, each player

assigns up to one third of their army (inpoints) to be a flanking force. Each playermust put at least 50 points into the flankingforce. Units cannot be split between thetwo forces. The player must also writedown whether these are flanking to the leftor the right.

The players roll a dice each, the highestscorer is allowed to choose a table edge.

Each player rolls a dice and the highestscorer may decide whether to begindeploying first or second.

Taking it in turns, each player deploys oneunit at a time, no closer than 18'' to theenemy deployment zone. Units can be nocloser than 12'' to the neutral table edges.

All war machines in a players army aredeployed at the same time, though theymay be deployed in different parts of thebattlefield.

Champions are deployed with their unit.All other characters are deployed after allother units in a players army, all at thesame time.

Scouting units are not deployed with therest of the units. Instead they are placed onthe table after all units in both armies havebeen deployed, as described in the rulesfor Scouts.

WHO GOES FIRST?Both players roll a dice, the player whofinished their deployment first may add+1 to their dice roll. The player who scoreshighest may choose whether to go first orsecond (re-roll ties).

LENGTH OF GAME

The game lasts six turns.

SPECIAL RULESAt the start of each players third turn, theystart to roll to see if the their flanking forcehas arrived. Roll a dice. On a roll of 4+ theflanking force turns up. If it does not turnup, roll again at the start of subsequentturns, adding +1 to the dice roll after thefirst. Thus, they will turn up on a 3+ on thefourth turn, 2+ on the fifth turn, and so on).

The units in the flanking force move on fromthe table edge nominated before the battle, inthe opponents half of the table. Units may notcharge on the same turn that they move ontothe table, but do not count as starting theirmove within 8'' of the enemy and so may

march. You do not have to move all units on atthe same time; units that are left off the tablecan move on in subsequent Movement phases.

VICTORY CONDITIONSThe standard Victory Points are used todetermine the winner.

This scenario is adapted from the rulebook(pages 207-208) and is ideal for Border Patrolgames. The two expeditions meet to capture asingle objective and deny ground to theenemy. In our games we have used temples,shrines, supply buildings, tunnel entrancesand important hills as examples of goodobjectives. The key is to make a piece ofscenery the clear target and then play thescenario as written with the following change:

Use no more than 4' by 3' of battle table.Deploy along the thin edges, giving a deepnarrow battlefield.

BATTLEFIELDThe objective is placed in the middle of thebattlefield. This could be a treasure-filledtomb, a keep, village, hill, or anything elseyou think appropriate to fight over.

DEPLOYMENT

Both players roll a dice, the player whoscores highest may choose which side ofthe table to deploy on.

The players roll a dice, the highest scorermay choose whether to start deploying firstor second.

Taking it in turns, each player deploys one

unit at a time, at least 18" from theopposing deployment zone.

All war machines in a players army aredeployed at the same time, though they canbe deployed in different parts of thebattlefield.

Champions are deployed with their unit, allother characters in the army are deployedafter all other units, all at the same time.Characters may start the battle with units if

you wish.

Scouting units are not deployed with therest of the units. Instead they are placed onthe table after all units in both armies havebeen deployed, as described in the rules forScouts.

WHO GOES FIRST?Both players roll a dice, the player who finishedtheir deployment first may add +1 to their diceroll. The player who scores highest may choosewhether to go first or second (re-roll ties).

LENGTH OF GAMEThe game lasts for a random length. At the endof the fourth turn roll a dice. On a 2 or more,

play a fifth turn. At the end of the fifth turn roll adice again, on a 3 or more play a sixth turn, etc.

SPECIAL RULESThere are no additional special rules.

VICTORY CONDITIONSThe army with the unit closest to the objectiveat the end of the battle wins. Fleeing units,monsters and characters cant capture theobjective. If both players have a unitequidistant from the objective, one playerwins if their unit is worth more than doublethe points value of the closest enemy unit to

the objective. Otherwise itis a draw.

SCENARIO 1: CAPTURE

SCENARIO 2: FLANKING MANOEUVRES

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47

Bretonnians Dwarfs Dogs of WarOrcs &

Goblins

Lizardmen Skaven Chaos Tomb

Kings

Vampire

Counts

Dark

Elves

High

Elves

Wood

Elves

Chaos

Dwarfs

Empire

Empire

Orcs &

Goblins

Lizardmen

Skaven

Chaos

Tomb Kings

Vampire

Counts

Dark Elves

High Elves

Wood Elves

Chaos Dwarfs

Bretonnians

Dwarfs

Dogs of War

B X T X X D X X T D X T T T

T X B X X D X X T T X T T T

X T X B T D X D X X D X X T

X T X T B D D D X X T X X T

X D X D D D D B X X D X X T

T X T X X D X X B T X T D T

D X T X X D X X T B X T D T

X D X D T D D D X X B X X T

T X T X X X X X T T X B T T

T X T X X D X X D D X T B T

T T T T T T T T T T T T T B

D X D D D B X D D D D X D T

X B X T T X D D X X D X X T

X D X X D X B D X X D X X T

TEAM PLAY SPECIAL RULESBorder Patrol games last from 30-45minutes on average, depending on thescenario you play. In addition, we havecome up with some rather neat Team Playrules to allow pairs of players to pulltogether a 1,000 points force and play abattle in around an hour. These rules arethe basis of the Warhammer DoublesTournament and allow for some prettywhacky alliances.

ARMIESPlayers will fight with two armies alliedtogether for the battle. Each army may ally

with only the armies shown on the followingAlliances chart:

Simply cross-reference the races you wishto ally. The following notations represent:

B = Battle Brothers same race, so noproblems.

X = Disallowed cannot ally under anycircumstance.

T = Trusted allies no special rules,alliance is permitted.

D = Distrustful allies permitted, but alliedunits and characters within 6'' of eachother suffer a 1 Leadership penalty(after other modifiers).

You may only select to play with a team-mate who has an army you are permittedto ally with.

Each player is paired with their team-mate,and each will bring an army that conformsto the Border Patrol rules.

Taken together, the players armies shouldtotal no more than 1,000 points, includingtwo Heroes capable of acting as Generals.

Before each battle the General must bedecided using the following rule:

Each player on the team rolls a dice,with the opponents witnessing the roll re-roll any ties.

The highest rolling player will lead thearmy in this battle. Their Hero acts asthe General.

Both forces will react to the General asper the Warhammer rules.

SCENARIOSEach game will use one of the followingScenarios. These can be played on astandard table of any reasonable size.

To determine the Scenario played, roll adice and consult the following table:

D6 Roll Result

1-2 Capture

3-4 Meeting Engagement

5-6 Flank Attack

SCENARIO 1: CAPTURE Use the scenario from the Warhammer

rulebook, pages 207-208.

SCENARIO 1: MEETING ENGAGEMENT Use the scenario from the Warhammer

rulebook, pages 203-204.

SCENARIO 3: FLANK ATTACK

Use the scenario from the Warhammerrulebook, pages 205-206.

PARTING WORDSAfter a few months of playing with theserules I have finally got a regular game in areasonable time. In addition I have retiredmy Dwarf army and started to build a newLizardmen army. In short, painting 500points of models is an easier propositionand you can get some good games inevery week. For me its a lunchtime thingwhich keeps me playing moreWarhammer than I have previouslyimagined possible. Oh, and the gamesare a whole new challenge. Dont believeus? Try it for yourself!

Ches 500 point Lizardmen army begins totake shape.

Once theyre all stuck together, Che beginspainting. A red undercoat is applied first.

Finally, Che bases the models and has thebeginnings of his 500 points army.

A brown wash is then applied, followed bysome red drybrushing on the scales.