Fault Zone

White Dwarf 457 - October 2020 | p63-64

It is a desperate commander indeed who seeks to pass a Fault Zone, for it is a place in constant turmoil, rife with tectonic activity that has wracked its battlefields for millennia. The rumbling ground can crack and split without warning, rending great chasms that can swallow battle formations whole.

When fighting a battle in a Fault Zone, the following rules apply:

Fracture Tokens

This Theatre of War uses fracture tokens to represent weak points in the earth caused by the local populace’s mining activities. Over the course of the game, fault lines will open between these fracture tokens, endangering those lying along their path.

Before the battle, after the battlefield has been created, the players roll off. Starting with the winner, players alternate placing fracture tokens on the battlefield until each has placed three tokens. Each fracture token must be placed more than 9" away from any other fracture token. Each player assigns the numbers 1-3 to the fracture tokens that they placed.

Fault Lines

At the start of each battle round, the players must determine which, if any, fault lines have opened up on the surface. The number of fault lines that open at the start of that battle round is based on the battle round number, as shown in the table below:

BATTLE ROUND | FAULT LINES THAT OPEN

1 | 0

2-3 | 1

4+ | 2

When a fault line opens, each player rolls one D3 to determine one of the fracture tokens that they placed at the start of the battle. The fault line that opens up then runs between these two points.

Draw a straight line from the center of one of these fracture tokens to the center of the other. Each unit (excluding TITANIC units or units that can FLY) that lies beneath this line falls foul of the fault line and becomes affected by it. If a TITANIC unit lies beneath this line, roll one D6: on a 4+, that unit also falls foul of the fault line and becomes affected by it. Each unit can only fall foul of one fault line per battle round. Each time a unit becomes affected by a fault line, roll on the Tectonic Effect table to see what happens to it.

Open fault lines then remain open for the remainder of the battle (if, when rolling to see if a new fault line opens, an open fault line already runs between the two fracture tokens rolled, then roll again to see if the units on the line fall foul of the fault line, as described above).

Each time a model in a unit (excluding TITANIC units or units that can FLY) makes an Advance move or charge move across any open fault lines, roll one D6: on a 1 that model’s unit suffers 1 mortal wound.

D6 | TECTONIC EFFECT

1 | Catastrophic Collapse

The ground cracks and a chasm yawns wide. Warriors who do not plummet to their doom must clamber back to relative safety.

This unit suffers 2D3 mortal wounds. Until the end of the battle round, halve the result of any Advance or charge rolls made for this unit.

2 | Deadly Fall

A fissure splits the ground. While many warriors jump out of harm’s way, not all are so lucky.

This unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Until the end of the battle round, halve the result of any Advance or charge rolls made for this unit.

3 - 4 | Unsteady Footing

The ground trembles with pent-up fury, knocking warriors from their feet and rattling crews within vehicles.

Until the end of the battle round, halve the Move characteristic of models in this unit.

5 - 6 | Shaken

The battlefield shakes with rage, and whilst some can keep their footing, their aim is thrown off by the tectonic upheaval.

Until the end of the battle round, each time a model in this unit makes an attack, subtract 1 from that attack’s hit roll.

Fracture Tokens

Fault Lines

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