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    Ship Rules for Lord of the Rings

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    32 views14 pages

    Ship Rules For Lord of The Rings

    Uploaded by

    philoking38

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    @> OabaPncs, This article provides some unofficial rules and guidelines for taking your games of The Lord of The Rings onto the high seas of Middle-earth and exploring other ways to play the strategy battle game. GETTING YOUR FEET WET Ship battles in The Lord of The Rings ‘game function much like battles on land, and the basic mechanics of the game remain in effect. Ships move in the ‘Movement Phase. Their crews shoot in the Shooting Phase and fight boatding actions in the Fight Phase. Characters can even ence rolls in the same WHEN IS A BOAT A SHIP? According to naval tradition, a ship isa ALL AT SEA, PART ONE Ship Rules for The Lord of The Rings \essel that carries other boats like gigs and long boats, whereas a boat does not. The rules and guidelines published here are for ships exclusively, Please refer to the river rules published in White Diearf 200 for details on using small boats in your games, The ships of Middle-earth use two main types of propulsion: sils and oars. Most of the Free Peoples use sail exclusively, while the Corsairs of Umbar use a combination ‘of sail and oar power. ‘The ships of Middle-earth also vary in size and shape. The smaller the ship the more maneuverable itis, but in turn, smaller ships are less durable, On the following page is a chart that outlines the general _uidelnes for ship size, inelucing the ship's length in inches, minimum and ‘maximum crew sizes, defense values, and batter points. This information determines hhow the ship maves, how many erew i takes to man the ship, how powerful the ship isin a ram, and how much d the vessel can take before sinking Please note that these general guidelines Ship Se | Length Ship's Complement* are designed to help players incorpor ships into their ‘Other ship designs are possible, if both players agree to the rules. A ship's beam (width) can be only as wide as half the ship's length, For example, the maximum width of an 18" boat would be 9 Notes + Cavalry model ar general ot and o ps, Tn ahs, cvalry cannot i on shige, + Large retire ke on Sips bt cannot Be used 1 sal the sip. Max. Crew Point Sue | Defense** | Batter Points ‘Small 8-12" 5/25 models 150 points 8 8 Medium | 12-24" 8/40 models 300 points 8 16 Large 24" 10/50 models 500 points 9 24 ‘The Sips Complement colums ince the minmm abd maximum numberof model that ea rw sip "Comins of Unbar ships ald #1 tothe defense value de lsd inthe hips contacon ake up s Ta of 0m abd count as five modes toward the maxinum nuke of models lowed on a stip. Large Creatures ya transport tp, nd even ten the Res wll moun forthe sea voyage 1, SHIP’S COMPLEMENT ‘The Ship's Complement is made up of Mariners who are responsible for operating the ship as well as Warriors (or Marines) ‘who are charged with fighting and protecting the ship should it be boarded. “Mariners can take part in defending their ship. However, the Marine foroes on board know little about how to sail the vessel they ae stationed on: ‘The Ship's Complement can include ‘most of the models you ean find in any ‘of The Lord of The Rings rules manuals and supplements. Please use the following guidelines to work out your Ship's Complement, +A Ship's Complement must include at Jeast one Captain or named Hero 9 ead it. ‘Evil Ship's Complements cannot include Gollum, Mimaki or Fell ‘Beasts. Grima Wormtongve can be included only if Saruman is inthe same Ship's Complement +A Ship's Complement taking Heroes that have rules related toa specific location always count as being ‘Beyond the Borders of Theit Realm.” + Named Heroes can be taken only once. + An Evil Ship's Complement can include up to one Troll +A Good Ship's Complement cannot include Gwaihir or any Ents, + No more than half ofthe total points ofthe Ship's Complement can be spent on Heroes. “+ No more than a third ofthe total models ofthe Ship's Complement can be armed with missile weapons. Note that troops ike Trolls that can use terrain features as missle weapons cannot do so at sea, + Up toa third ofthe total points ofthe ‘Ship’s Complement can be spent on Siege Engines, + Atleast third ofthe total models ofthe ‘Ship’s Complement must be Mariners, Descriptions, points Coss, and statistics {or Mariners can be found atthe end of this article, Reganlless of size or movement type, sip must have model hat ata its crew in order {to move. The crew ae the Mariners responsible for operating the ship. Each tum, the controling player mast nominate a number of Marines equal to or greater than the minimum erew size to operat the sip and do nothing else. For instance, small ship Jha a minimam crew of 5.1 the small ship contained 12 silors, 7 could shoot missile ‘weapons (they had any), while the remaining 5 Mariners crewed the ship It Imppetant to remember that Marines and Siege Engine eres cannot operate the ship, If, at any time, a ship has less minimum nusnber of Mariners the following penalties apply. + Ships with fewer than the minirsam ‘numberof Mariners move at half speed. + Ships with fewer han half the ‘minimam number of Mariners (ound down) may not move at all and are Adit (se below), In summary, models designated as crew in ‘a given tum cannot shoot or fight. They are too busy making the ship move. Thus, cach tum, itis vitally important tonominate which models ae acting as crew and ‘which are not Separate your crewmen visually from the rest ofthe Ship's ‘Complement by ‘moving them such that they touch ‘mast rudder, oF wheel 2, SHIP MOVEMENT Ships of each type and size have different rules for movement, speed, and turing, Sailing Ships. sait-powered boats are the most common ships in Middle-earth “The direction ofthe wind pivotal to sailing ships, and good Captains keep one eye on the enemy and the other on the ‘weather, Even the worst imaginable shift in the wind can be tumed into an advantage by ‘an old sea dog! (Crew, Remember that each sailing ship requires a minimum number of Mariners fo Seer the ship, trim the sails, and earry out the Captain's orders (se above), Speed. All sling ships move up to D6+8" each tum but are subject othe Sailing Special Rules. Elven ships add +2to their sailing speed ‘Maneuyering Under Sail. Changing course while under sails «litle tricky, leven more so for larger ships ‘Turning Radius. A single um consists of pivoting the ship up to 45° and no more. Move Before Turn. Sailing ships cannot tum ona dime. Therefore, before doing ‘ny maneuvering, a ship must frst move ‘aminimam distance, The minimum, distance a ship must move before turing and between tums i listed on the Turning Chart. Number of Turns. Some ships are more maneuverable than others, Smaller craft have an easier time of turning (they aren't tying to redirect all dat mass!) Note that the limitations count per 10" of movement (fraction thereo?). Thus, should a ship ‘move over 10" it may use a second allotment of maneuvers. For example, if ‘medium ship moved 14" in Lum, it could start off by moving 2", turn up to 45°, move another 2", tum again up to 45%, move 6” in 10 and is eligible for another set of ‘maneuvers snd could make two more tums), tum a third time, move 2", tum a fourth time, move 2". The smaller the ship, the more tums it may make, Ship Size ‘Small Medium Large TURNING CHART Move Before Turn Tums per 10" of Movement SAILING SPECIAL RULES ‘Wind Direction, For our purposes, boats Are always positioned withthe wind t one of three celatve directions: bow on, beam, or aster, During a sea battle, its important to mark down the direction of the wind if there are any sailing ships in play (vind direction nutes follow on the next page). Sailing ships ean move fastsr ‘when the wind is aster, and there are ‘movement penalties when ships tur into the wind (bow on}. Wind-Aided Movement, When a sali ‘Ship begins its turn withthe wind aster, it ‘may move an additional D6” (ie., 2068 instead of the usual D648"), A sailing ship that does not begin the tum. withthe wind astem may maneuver to take better advantage of the wind. Determine ‘maximum movement as normal by olling D648", Ifthe ship maneuvers in such a ‘way that the wind is astm before the ship ‘moves more that half its maximum ‘movement for that tum, the ship may add ‘an addtional D3" of movement tothe end ofits move. Sailing into the Wind, Any sailing ship that starts the tum facing into the wind (bow on) moves up to 8" instead of Dbo+8" Any ship that turns into the wind (Gow on) loses D6" from its remaining ‘movement (if any) and may not make any other maneuvers that tur, DETERMINING WIND DIRECTION As the Captain of any sil-powered ship will tell you, Keping an eye on which direction the wind is Blowing is the key o victory. ‘The wind can bea fickle friend and is apt to change just when you most need itat your back. Chats for determining wind direction ‘re on the following page. WIND DIRECTION CHART Nominate a table edge as north, roll a D6, and note the results before play begins. Dé Wind Direction 1 ‘The wind is blowing from the northern table edge. “The wind is blowing from the southern table edge 3 ‘The wind is blowing ffom the westem table edge 4 “The wind is blowing from the eastern table edge. 5 Both players roll a D6, The higher-soring player may choose the rection of the wind. 6 ‘The wind conditions are unusual, Roll another D6. If the result is 1- 3 the winds are light. Deduct 2" from the maximum movement of il sil-powered ships. Ifthe result is 4-6, the winds are strong. Add 2° to the maximum movement ofall sail-powered ships. Roll again, for wind direction. If this result is rolled again, the results are ‘cumulative. Continue rolling until a wind direction is established. Wind Direction During the Game Atte start ofeach game turn after the Ist roll 2D6. On a double, the wind conditions ‘change, Roll on the Changing Winds Chart and apply the results, Roll to check for wind ‘change atthe start of each turn, regardless of how many wind changes there have been. CHANGING WINDS CHART Wind Direction Change 23 “The wind dies down, Deduct 4” from the movement ofall sail powered ships, Note that this resalt lasts this tun only, and then conditions return fo normal 45 The wind changes direction 180°, 61 ‘The wind changes direction 90” ina clockwise direction 810 ‘The wind changes direction 90° in a counter-clockwise direction. 12 Gusis, Add 4” to the maximum movement of all sail-powered ships ‘nd then conditions return to normal ‘This result lasts this turn only ROWED SHIPS ‘The rules for oarcrven ships are relatively straightforvard. The dreaded Cofsais of ‘Umbar make great use of oar power and se galley laves to row the vessels If a ship has cars and sis, the Capain can decide at the beginning of his Movement Phase to use his sail (and therefore his ship counts 2s a sailing ship thet tum) or his oars anc se the rules set out below. A Ship Captain cannct switch the means of propulsion halfway through his tam, Crew, Remember hat each rowed stip requires a minimum number of erento steer and keep the vessel's rowers in one speed. All oardriven ships can move up t0 5" a tum but ean guin more speed with the Double Tine special rule, OAR-DRIVEN SPECIAL RULES DoubleTine, Before moving an oa-powered ship, the contlling playee may cll fora burst of frenzied rowing in onde 020 very ikl ina stag iether tram an enemy ort gt out ofa iht spot. When he ships moving at Double Time oa one turn ‘may be made, See the chat below to detemine the adctional movement aforded bby moving at Double Time DOUBLE TIME Ship Type | Addl Movement Small D643" Medium -+D612! Large +641" Note, Yo csnnot lor Double Tine overeat 2 rms ina ro. Ae ei tes of peel fc ronessnesd a at recover thir eagth oto replace sted or ded saves, ————— ee MANEUVERING BY OARS. ‘Oar-driven ships get one free tum of vp to 45% each round, Any additional turns cost onr-driven ships 2” of ‘movement. Unlike sailing ships, ‘oar-driven ships do not ned to travel any distance between turns and can tum on the spot atthe start oftheir Movement Phase. Remember that the Wind bs no effect ‘on oar-driven ships, unless they are being used as suing ships ona given tum. In addition, ships with oars can bbe owed backward up to 5" tum, ADRIFT Drifting occurs when a ship does not tse any method of propulsion or does ‘ot have enough Mariners to crew it and therefore is “dead in the wate.” When a ship drifts it moves D3" in the dicection of the wind, There are many reasons a ship may be Adrift. The number of crew could be below half the minimum complement, “The crew could be too busy Fighting oF shooting ranged Weapons to stil dhe ship properly ATTACKING SHIPS ‘The ships of Middle-earth do not have batteries of cannons, and very few ships ‘actually have any Siege Engines mounted ‘on them. Those few ships that do have Siege Engines will often mount a catapult ‘or bolt thrower on their deck. These spon ae fixed in a forward position to fire from the ship’s bow. Unless the ‘weapon can swivel like the Avenger Bolt Thrower, all Siege Engines have a fre are of 45", If Siege Engines are used, ships count as Batilefield Targets in determining scatter. The Siege Engine operator can choose to target the ship or the ew: Ii the shot hits the ship, remember to rol on the Batter Chatto see if a wound is caused, If the shot hits any erew (which is possible with catapults), then those ‘models follow the normal rules for being hit with a Siege Engine RAMMING SPEED Ramming is favored method of attack used almost exclusively by the Corsairs of Umbar, whose ships are designed to ram. Other vessels may afempt to ram, However, ramming is viewed as « desperate tactic, as the ramming ship can easily damage itself as badly as its enemy, A ship attempting to ram ean do no more than a single tm of 45° or less in the tum itintends to ram the enemy ship. The two factors tat determine whether damage is ‘caused are distance traveled (the build-up ‘of momentum!) and the sizeof the ship. A ship’s Base Ste attack i listed 0 ath fora ramming the Ship's Base Strength (Chat, For every inch taveled before sriking the target, the ramming ship adds “+110 its Base Strength up to a maximum, Strength of 10. ‘Thus, a medium ship that has traveled 4 to hit its target would strike at $71 Ifthe am wounds successfully, determine how ‘many automatic batter points are caused to ‘the target ship's hl SHIP’S BASE STRENGTH Ship Size Base Strength Small 2 Medium 3 Large 4 BATTER POINTS INFLICTED Ship Sire Small D4 Medium D641 Large 206 Crushing Your Own Ship. The ship doing the ramming also places itself in great danger, [the ships are the same size or the ship being rammed is smaller, the ramming vessel only takes a hit on aroll of S+. IF the ramming ship is smaller, it Wil take

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