SPECIAL RULES
CLOSE QUARTERS ACTION
“ I’m getting multiple contacts, closing fast on our positions. Ready assault weapons
and prepare for close quarters action.
” GAME LENGTH
A close quarters action is one that is fought at
very short range. Although most battles are
fought on open battlefields, the warriors of the
41st Millennium are frequently called upon to
fight battles in much denser terrain. Such close
quarters actions may take place in the confined
corridors of a massive spacecraft, the
labyrinthine depths of a hive city, or in the thick
jungles of a death world. What these deadly
environments have in common, along with
thousands of others just like them, is that
visibility is restricted to a few yards. Combats on
such battlefields are swift and brutal, and
casualties, especially amongst the attacking
forces, are terrifyingly high.
This special Warhammer 40,000 Battle Mission
recreates these deadly close-ranged combats. One
player is the attacker, who has been ordered to clear
the defender from an area of dense terrain, where
visibility is limited to a few dozen feet at best. This is no
easy task – the defenders start the battle in a very
strong position, and will invariably get the drop on the
attackers as they move forward. To compensate for this
the attackers are stronger than the defenders, and
must make their weight of numbers count. Lives can’t
be squandered needlessly, however, as every last man
will be needed to capture the mission objective.
ARMY SELECTION & FORCE
ORGANISATION CHARTS
In this scenario one player is the attacker and the other
the defender. Decide between yourselves who will take
each role, or roll-off to decide.
The attacker receives half as many points again as the
defender in this scenario. For example, if the defender
had 500 points, then the attacker would have 750
points, and if the defender had 1000 points, the
attacker would receive 1500, and so on.
Units are selected using the following force
organisation charts:
edge, just like units moving in from reserve. Note that
only attacking units placed in reserve may enter the
game by Deep Strike.
This mission uses the Reserves and Deep Strike rules. In
addition the following special rules must be used:
The mission lasts a random number of turns. At the
No Outflanking: The attacker may not outflank.
Unit Type Attacker Defender end of Turn 5, the attacker rolls a dice. On a roll of a 1 Defensive Fire: The defenders have set up deadly
HQ 1-2 0-2 the game ends, and on a 2+ the battle continues. If ambushes and fire-traps. To represent this the attacker’s
Elites 1-3 0-2 this is the case the attacker must roll again at the end and defender’s Shooting phases are swapped around.
Troops 1-6 2-6 of Turn 6, and this time on a 4+ the game continues. If I.e. the defender shoots after the attacker has moved,
Fast Attack 0-3 0-1 the battle continues into Turn 7, then the attacker rolls and the attacker shoots after the defender has moved!
Heavy Support 0-3 0-3 again at the end of the turn, and this time the battle Note that units can still run instead of shooting.
will only continue on a roll of 6. At the end of Turn 8,
TABLE SET-UP the game ends automatically. The sequence of play for a game turn is thus:
Close quarters action needs to be played amidst very Attacker Moves
dense terrain. Lines of sight should be no greater than When the battle ends, all units that are falling back are Defender Shoots (and runs)
12", and often much less. Because of this, you’ll want removed and count as destroyed before victory Attacker Assaults
to use at least two or three times as much terrain as conditions are worked out. Defender Moves
you normally would. One way to achieve this is to halve Attacker Shoots (and runs)
the size of the table you normally play on, but then set VICTORY CONDITIONS Defender Assaults
up all of the terrain in your collection. Alternatively you If the defender controls the objective at the end of the
may want to draw out a tunnel complex on large game, they win. If the attacker controls the objective, To keep things simple, units may assault different units
sheets or paper, or scratch-build suitable terrain for this or it is contested, the attacker wins. The objective is to those they fired at in the Shooting phase, and all
mission. So long as you end up with a battlefield controlled if there is at least one scoring unit, and no units are assumed to have been stationary in their
covered with dense terrain, with plenty of places to enemy unit of any kind, within 3" of it. Movement phase for the purposes of shooting.
hide, you won’t go far wrong!
DEPLOYMENT
Once the terrain is set up, randomly select one table
edge. This is the edge that the attacking forces will
enter from on their first turn. The defenders set up
first, anywhere on the table that is more than 12" from
the attacker’s table edge. No defending units may be
placed in reserve. The defender must then set up an
objective marker. This must be placed anywhere on the
table that is more than 6" away from a table edge.
The attacker does not set up any units on the table.
Instead he must split his army into two contingents;
one of these will arrive on the first turn, and the other
is held in reserve. He may place any number of units in
either contingent (so all of the attackers could arrive on
Turn 1, all be placed in reserve, or a combination.)
FIRST TURN
The attacker always takes the first turn in this mission.
All units that were placed in the contingent to enter on
Turn 1 must enter play in the Movement phase of the
attacker’s first turn by moving in from their own table