DEATH CORPS

DEATH KORPS OF KRIEG WARGAME RULES

INTRODUCTION
“The planet of Krieg was purged in a 500 year campaign of nuclear warfare…”

The intention of these rules is to simulate large scale battles on the planet of Krieg in the WH40K
universe. They are based on the simple devise that defensive firepower is superior to any massed
concentration of infantry. This means a smart general must make use of manoeuvre, terrain, artillery
and armour assets, as well as psychic powers and weapons of mass destruction, in order to mount
successful attacks without suffering prohibitive losses. There is no points system included, in order
to encourage scenario and campaign play.

The rules owe very much to the Operation Brevity rules set, which were available for free online
since at least the early 00s.

Scale

Death Corps is meant to reproduce high level command of the immensely destructive theater of
Krieg. (But could of course be used for other conflicts as well, with or without modifications.)
While units are large formations, figure scale is much higher than the ground scale, allowing some
painting spectacle.

• 10 centimeters on the table top represent about 1000 meters of ground in real life.

• One base of miniatures represent one battalion of fighting troops and their supply and
support personnel. This means about 500 – 1000 thousand infantry or about 50 armoured
vehicles or guns. Certain elite troops or super heavy vehicles represent smaller formations
that still operate as battalions.

• One turn of the game represents about 6 hours in of real world action. Do note that a lot of
this time will be spent by the units waiting, preparing for action and reforming after action,
meaning the troops actually are in combat action for a rather short interval of this time.
Usually three turns will be considered to be in good light conditions with one turn being a
”night” turn with reduced activity from most units.

• The game is supposed to be played with 6-8 or 3 mm miniatures, but larger scales (most
likely 10-12 or 15-18mm) can be used if desired with the same base sizes. The main
problem with larger scales will be that some armoured vehicles might be too large to fit the
basing conventions, but players are encouraged to make their own solutions to these
problems if they wish.

Dice
Death Corps is played with D10s (ten sided dice) to resolve game mechanics. This allows for
greater differentiation of unit capabilities and tactical circumstances than with the more traditional
D6.

Spirit of the Game

DEATH CORPS is a game that uses some unusual conventions and a scale much larger than most
popular rules. The nature of the stands and the time scale means a lot of action is abstracted. This
means you might often have to fudge things when evaluating units interacting with terrain and
distances, rather than measuring down to the millimeter. In short, be generous toward your
opponent and in return don’t abuse the generosity they show you.

Always be upfront with information your opponent player has about your forces – unless this is
covered by Fog of War optional rules. You are allowed to pre-measure distances and the like since
your units all have maps, radios, rangefinders and so on. If you make a mistake when moving troops
and want to take it back, you should do this before any dice are rolled. If not, you can chalk it up to
failures of command and control, maps having been misread or any of the mishaps that might
happen in large scale warfare.

THE BATTALION
”He who deploys the largest battalions will suffer the heaviest casualties.”

- Death Korps Tactical Maxim

The battalion is the basic playing piece you will move and fight with across the battlefield. It has a
number of characteristics to differentiate its strengths and weaknesses.

Size

Size indicates the measurements of the stand itself. There are two sizes of stands used, large and
small.

• Large stands measure 6 cm wide and 4 cm deep. Most full strength line battalions of
infantry and tanks will be large stands.

• Small stands measure 4 x 4 cm. Special and support troops such as artillery, elite infantry or
weapons companies will often be small stands, but sometimes regular line battalions that are
under strength can also be small.

Strength

Strength measures how many troops and vehicles are in the battalion. Full strength units can sustain
more casualties before becoming combat ineffective.

• Full strength units are up to 1000 infantry, 100 vehicles or 24 guns strong. They usually use
large size bases and have two step losses.

• Under strength units are about half to 2/3 that strength and use small bases. They have one
step loss.
 • Some full strength units use small bases. These are most often elite special or support units.
They can have one or two step losses.

Firepower

Firepower points shows how much effective fire the battalion can put out across the ground in front
of it. There are three levels of Firepower.

• Firepower 1: Most understrength battalions only have 1 FP point.

• Firepower 2: Full strength battalions put out a decent amount of fire, but some small
battalions can also have this level of FP, for example heavy tanks or weapons companies.

• Firepower 3: Only exceptionally powerful battalions have 3 FP points. These are usually
super heavy vehicles or off world mercenaries with superior tech.

Anti-tank Rating

Most battalions have at least some organic heavy weapons with which to engage armoured targets.
The presence of special antitank battalions can significantly enhance a battle group's resistance to
tank or robot attack.

• Light – Most man portable heavy weapons or vehicle mounted anti-personnel weapons are
classified as Light AT. While not effective against heavier targets, it is better than nothing.

• Medium – Most main battle tank weapons and vehicle mounted missiles are classified as
medium AT. Good enough against opponents of similar weight it still struggles against
superheavies.

• Heavy – Superior or specialized vehicle mounted cannons and superior missiles are
classified as Heavy AT. Standard armaments of most superheavy tanks or robots fall within
this category.

• Super Heavy – Specialized weapons carried by superheavy weapon platforms, meant to

engage and destroy even the most well protected tanks and giant robots are classed as Super
Heavy AT.

Range

The distance in cm that the battalion can spot and engage enemy units. Note that due to the high
ground and troop scale of the game, this range is counted only where the entire battalion can attack
as a team and is thus a bit shorter than the theoretical maximum range of individual sub units and
individual weapons.

• Most infantry battalions will have a range of 15 cm.

• Most vehicles and support battalions will have a range of 20 cm.

• Battalions with superheavy weapons may have a range of up to 40 cm.

• Artillery can have ranges of over 100 cm. Their range is more important to measure for
counterbattery fire at off table support batteries.
Anti Aircraft Ratings

Aircraft and fast moving skimmers are a constant threat to ground battalions. The AA rating
measures how strong its air defence weapons are.

• Improvised – 0 AA points, the battalion has only its ground role heavy weapons to bring to
bear against aerial targets.

• Light – 1 AA point, the battalion has man portable missiles or vehicle mounted AA cannons.

• Medium – 2 AA points, vehicle mounted SAM systems or superior AA cannons.

• Strong – 3 AA points, superior missiles or energy AA cannons.

Type

Depending on type, the battalion will react differently to fire and have different advantages and
disadvantages in combat.

• Infantry
Battalions made up mostly of foot soldiers. Mechanized battalions still count as infantry but
have higher movement and sometimes light armour. Infantry battalions are easy to pin down
with fire, but can be surprisingly resilient, especially if deployed in defensible terrain.

• Tanks
Units made up of armoured combat vehicles. A variant are combat robots and mechas, which
are better movers in terrain and not as vulnerable to infantry in built up areas. Tank
battalions are harder to stop with fire, but if caught out are more likely to quickly suffer
casualties as the vehicles can't spread out and go to ground as easily as infantry. However,
they have armour that can negate a lot of incoming fire.

• Cavalry
Cavalry battalions are a rarity but still used on Krieg. They are hard to pin down but very
vulnerable to well directed fire. They are used on Krieg in lieu of proper mechanized troops
and are very capable as fast movers in difficult terrain.

• Artillery
Towed or self propelled gun platforms providing fire support indirectly. Easy to spot and
knock out for most other troop types, but can fire across entire battlefields. Some very heavy
types may have light armour protection.

• Gunships
Gunship wings are always small stands and have one Step Loss. They operate differently
than other units, being able to move quickly to give fire support where needed. Only AA
attacks from ground units, or fire from other Gunships can engage them.

Armour Rating

Usually only Tank units have an armour rating. This means any successful hit against the battalion
must roll to bypass its armour before getting to roll for casualties. This means armoured battalions
have much increased survivability unless the enemy has access to good antitank weapons.
 • Light – Light tanks or inferior main battle tanks and heavy IFVs. Also most combat robots
under 10 feet of height.

• Medium – Most main battle tanks and combat robots up to 30 feet in height.

• Heavy – Superior MBTs or very heavily armoured vehicles and combat robots up to 60 feet
in height.

• Super Heavy – Well armoured superheavy tanks and battle robots over 60 feet in height.

Troop Quality

The troop quality rating incorporates both experience and morale. Less seasoned troops expose
themselves to much more fire and low morale troops disintegrate quicker when pressed.

• Poor: +1 to hit for enemy fire. Many Krieg formations are hastily raised, often from cloning
vats, and rushed into battle as soon as they are needed rather than when they are ready.
Before a unit has learned the ropes, its inexperience will cause it to suffer heavy casualties.

• Regular: 0 hit modifier. Units with a stable core of veterans are skilled and motivated
enough to not suffer from the more obvious dangers of the battle field. The less skilled
troopers will try to follow their lead.

• Elite: -1 to hit for enemy fire. Very few units are skilled and motivated enough to be called
elites. Such battalions are harder to destroy than others, since they expose themselves to less
danger, and reform into new ad hoc sub units as needed when under pressure.

Move

The movement rate of the battalion depends on its type and the terrain it moves through. Foot
infantry are slow bu no much affected by rough terrain. Mechanized units can move quite quickly
over open terrain, but fare worse over difficult ground unless they are walkers. Cavalry are not as
fast as motorized units, but have decent terrain crossing capacity. See the movement section of the
rules for specific movement rates.

Traits

Many battalions have special traits due to equipment or training that do not fit into the normal
ratings. These are listed under the Traits heading with the special rules for each trait.

Assault Troops – positive modifier to kill rolls when fighting in base contact with enemy stands.

Bunker Buster

Close Support – The stand may fire Direct Fire through friendly stands.

Energy Weapons – special AT weapon grade that cancels the effects of power armour.

Fearless – the stand is not reduced to 0 Firepower when Pinned, instead its Firepower is halved.

Power Armour – special armour grade available to Infantry and Mech Infantry. It reduces hits and
casualties but does not give a separate save.

Shielded – The unit has some form of powerful energy shielding and is not vulnerable to Energy
Weapons or Atomic attacks. (Note that this is only large and powerful shields such as void shields,
atomantic shielding and strong ion or flare shields.)

Walkers – tank units may be classed as Walkers. This means they are bipedal walking war
machines. Walkers are more tactically flexible than tracked or wheeled tanks and do not suffer any
combat penalties in Urban Terrain when fighting Infantry.

Other traits may be added as play testing proceeds.

THE BATTLE GROUP

”A clenched fist breaks your foe, but the open hand of peace will be broken.”

- Traditional Krieg wordstead

Battalions are organized into Battlegroups. The battalions of the BG activate and fight together
during the game turn. An average BG consists of about four to eight battalions, corresponding to
regimental combat groups, brigades or kampfgruppen.

The Command Post

Each Battlegroup has a command post, represented by a small officer stand, or flag. This stand does
not fight or get shot at, but is used to show if the Battlegroup is ready for action or not. At the start
of a game turn all your Battlegroups will have a command post stand to indicate they are ready for
action.

Battle Group Readiness Rating

This rating indicates how likely your the Battlegroup is to keep on fighting for extended periods of
time. Better trained, led and motivated Battlegroups are more capable of extended action, making
them far more effective than more sluggish formations. Ample supplies and clear lines of
communication also help them to keep going, so be careful not to get cut off by the enemy! Most
Battlegroups will have rather mediocre command readiness, elite units being rare and often smaller
than less flexible ones.

Readiness Roll to retain readiness

Passive 10+
Methodical 9+
Mediocre 8+
Quick 7+
Thrusting 6+

Constituent Battalions

The battalions making up the Battlegroup. A normal infantry Battlegroup would have three or four
infantry battalions and one or two artillery battalions in support. The first battalion is often at full
strength, but sometimes other battalions are not.
Cohesion Distance

The maximum distance the battalions of the BG may be spread apart from each other. All battalions
must be in a chain of cohesion to at least one other battalion of the same BG. If this is broken, the
battlegroup suffers a – 2 to its roll to retain readiness and the battalions of the smaller group ”cut
off” from cohesion cannot recover casualties until cohesion is restored. If the same number of
battalions are cut off, both suffer the penalties. There are three levels of Cohesion Distance:

• Rigid: 10 cm cohesion distance

• Flexible: 20 cm cohesion distance

• Roving: 40 cm cohesion distance

THE CORPS
“My Korps/My Korps
Your Korps/Your Korps
Death Korps/DEATH KORPS”

- Traditional Krieg Running Chant

A number of Battlegroups form a Corps. Each Corps has a Corps Headquarters that is used for
various high command purposes.

The Corps

Two to six Battlegroups together form a Corps. The Corps has a Supply Depot stand and a Corps
Commander stand.

The Supply Depot

The Supply depot is a large stand representing the nerve center of fuel, munitions, reinforcements,
medical and repair facilities available to the Battlegroups of the corps. The Battlegroups of the
corps need to have uninterrupted lines of supply to the Supply Depot stand in order to function at
full effect. Details for this is found in the Supply Rules section. In some cases the Supply Depot
stand need not be present on table. The depot may be attacked, so guard it well.

The Corps Command Stand

The Corps commander is represented by a small size stand. The stand may be placed by the corps'
supply depot to increase reinforcements and the deployment of Army level Assets or with a
Battlegroup's command stand in order to give a bonus to its readiness rating during the turn.

The Army
“Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction”

- Old Earth song of dissent, ca 970.M1

The Corps under your command forms an Army. Army level highquarters are not represented by
any models or stands, being assumed to occupy safe command bunkers well behind the front lines.

Army Initiative

Your army headquarters has an Initiative Rating indicating the bonus it gets when trying to seize the
initiative or to interrupt an enemy activation.

Army Assets

Once per turn army assets can be assigned to your sector of the theatre. These may be called in by a
Corps Commander who is currently stationed by their Corp's Supply Depot.

• Air attacks
• WMD strike
• Divisional assault
• Strategic Reinforcements
• Deep recon
• Tunnel attack
• Airdrop
• Sabotage
• Assassination

PLAYING THE GAME

“T’is but a checkerboard of night and days
Where God with men for checkers plays
He moves, he checks, he slays
And one by one us back into the coffer lays”

- Old Earth Poem, ca 900.M1

The Game Turn

The game is played through a number of turns. In each turn the opposing players activate and fight
with their Battlegroups. When all Battlegroups have been activated the turn moves into its end
phase.

Four turns comprise a single day of operations. At the end of each day a number of army level tasks
are carried out, such as reinforcements and rebuilding of lost battalions.

Turn Sequence

Each turn is divided into a number of phases. Go through the phases in the designated order.
1. Preparation Phase

• Remove one step loss from every battalion in reserve posture.

• Add the Battlegroup Command Stand to each battlegroup on the table.
• Place your Corps Commanders either with their respective Supply Depot, or next to a
Battlegroup Commander in their Corps.
• Select which artillery battalions if any you want to be dedicated to counter battery fire for
the turn. Artillery battalions that have been earmarked for counter battery fire may not fire
regular support fire this turn.
• Secretly pick the Army Asset you want to be able to play during the turn, if you placed a
Corps Commander at any Corps Depot.

2. Initiative Phase

• Determine who goes first in the upcoming Activation Phase. Normally initiative goes to the
player with the most Battlegroups in play. If both players have the same number of
Battlegroups in play, roll off to see who goes first, adding the Army Initiative modifier to
each player's roll.

3. Activation Phase

The Activation Phase is the where the meat of the turn is played out. It is divided into several
segments, described below.

1. The player with the initiative picks a Battlegroup to activate OR elects to play their Army
Asset option for the turn. You may only pick battlegroups that still have their command
stand on the table. You may pass your go at activation, letting the opponent go instead, but if
your opponent then passes, the turn will end.

2. Pick a new Posture for the chosen Battlegroup if desired.

3. Move the battalions of the chosen Battlegroup as allowed by Posture.

4. Defensive artillery fire. The non active player gets to fire artillery battalions on any of the
active player's battalions that moved inside detection range of any units eligible to act as
spotters for them.

5. Offensive counter battery fire. The active player may fire counter battery artillery fire
against any artillery battalion that fired in the previous segment. Only battalions dedicated to
counter battery duties may fire counter battery missions.

6. Offensive artillery fire. The active player gets to fire artillery battalions eligible to support
the Battlegroup currently acting.

7. Defensive counter battery fire. The non active player may fire counter battery artillery fire
against any artillery battalion that fired in the previous segment. Only battalions dedicated to
counter battery duties may fire counter battery missions.

8. Defensive direct fire. The non active player gets to fire against any active battalions that
moved into or through the arcs of detection and range of any of the non active player's
battalions.
 9. Offensive direct fire. The active player gets to fire direct fire with any of their moving
battalions against enemy battalions inside their arc of detection and range.

10. Readiness test. The active player rolls to see if the Battlegroup gets to retain its readiness. If
successful, keep the Battlegroup command stand on table, otherwise remove it.

11. Remove pin markers. Both the active and non active (offensive/defensive) player removes
any pin markers inflicted during the activation.

12. Switch initiative. Now the non active player gets the initiative and starts over the process
from segment 1 of the Activation Phase above.

When there are no more Battlegroups left that have their command stand on the table, or once both
players passes in a row, the Activation Phase is over. Move on to the End Phase.

4. End Phase

In the End Phase, do the following actions in turn:

• Check for victory conditions.

• Check for scenario time limits.
• Deploy scheduled reinforcements onto the table.
• If the turn just played was a Night turn, perform rebuilding of lost battalions.

TACTICAL POSTURE
”You can't be kind of inside your foxhole, vat-meat. Get in or get out!”

- Sergeant Slacht

Each Battlegroup must be in a tactical posture. Posture determines what actions its battalions may
take. The postures are:

• Combat deployment – battalions deployed for combat may move and fire at enemy
battalions as per the normal rules.
• March deployment – battalions deployed for marching move 50% faster in all terrain and
100% faster if moving along a road. They count as having firepower 0 if engaged in combat
and may not attack themselves.
• Reserve deployment – battalions deployed in reserve will recover step losses at the end of
the turn. They count as having firepower 0 if engaged in combat and may not attack
themselves.

Only one Posture per Battlegroup is allowed per activation. The default Posture for each
Battlegroup at the start of the turn is Combat Deployment, but this may be changed at the start of
each activation of that Battlegroup. The only exception to this rule is that reconstituted battalions
appearing at the Battlegroup's Corps Supply Depot may be in March deployment posture in order to
move quickly up to their Battlegroup.

MOVEMENT AND TERRAIN

“And I say to myself,
what a wonderful world”

- Old Krieg Wordstead/Curse

Basic Definitions – Area Terrain and Table Terrain

All terrain in DEATH KORPS is so called area terrain. This means every terrain feature on the table
is a clearly defined zone with clear borders.

A stand must have at least half its area inside a terrain feature in order to be affected by it. If
uncertain, shift a stand so it becomes more apparent.

By default every part of the playing area not covered by an area terrain feature is considered to be
Open Terrain. In this way you can easily build an interesting theater of operations by adding terrain
features to block lines of fire, impede movement and provide cover or concealment for the troops.
This basic terrain type is called the Table Terrain

Of course, the Table Terrain can be changed to have the default terrain covering the base table be
something else. Examples could be:

• Difficult Terrain – for fighting over no man’s land zones where the ground is completely
churned and pocked by craters and sinkholes for miles and miles. Terrain features can then
be added to create zones of more traversible or impassable nature.

• Closed Terrain – for fighting in forest, jungle or vast ruin scapes. Areas of Open Terrain
would create channels of better sight. Difficult terrain features could represent especially
dense areas of forest or scrap. Elevated terrain features would become much needed
observation posts, able to dominate the hemmed in landscape below.

• Urban Terrain – for fighting across hive cities. Devastated areas would be Difficult or even
Impassable Terrain, and Closed Terrain could be used for less densely built up zones such as
oil fields, with elevated features being tall archologies or spires.

Terrain Types
Open Terrain

Any terrain that while it does have undulating ground, small copses of trees or vegetation and even
small clusters of buildings, is still relatively open for the purposes of combat at battalion level. It
imparts no special protection from enemy action, does not restrict lines of sight and fire and incurs
no movement penalties.

Closed Terrain

Any terrain where dense vegetation, significant crags, ravines or gullies, large boulder fields or the
like block line of sight and fire. It gives some protection from enemy action and restricts line of
sight/lines of fire to 5 centimeters. Stands touching the edge of Closed Terrain can see outside of it
and be seen. Stands inside Closed Terrain can’t be seen or attacked from the outside unless the
spotting stand is within 5 cm.
Closed terrain does not have to impede movement, though in many cases it will. If so it is also
designated as being Difficult Ground.

Urban Terrain

Urban Terrain are such areas that are dominated by solid buildings or the ruins of major towns or
cities. They are even more dense than Closed Terrain, and combat between stands inside Urban
Terrain must be in base contact. Stands on the edge of Urban Terrain can see, be seen and engaged
in combat from farther away. However, stands deeper inside Urban Terrain cannot be seen or
targeted by stands outside, and can neither see or target stands outside of it.

Urban Terrain may or may not be classed as Difficult Ground, depending on what road networked is
assumed to be part of it. Ruins however, are always classed as Difficult Ground in addition to being
Urban.

Fortified Terrain

Fortifications are sections of extensively prepared defensive ground. It represents proper trench
networks and mutually supporting bunkers and pillboxes. Temporary prepared positions are not
considered Fortified Terrain, but is instead counted as a tactical factor in combat.

Fortified Terrain gives extraordinary protection against artillery firepower and good protection in
direct fire combat. It is treated exactly as Urban Terrain when it comes to line of sight and fire. It is
always treated as Difficult Ground.

Difficult Ground

Difficult ground encompasses all terrain of other types that for some reason is hard to traverse. This
can be deep snow, soft ash or desert dunes, wet ground, broken ground or Closed or Urban Terrain
lacking proper roads. It does not affect lines of sight/fire or combat.

Impassable Ground

Impassable Ground is such features that prevent the movement of land units completely. It can be
anything from high cliffs to radiated blast zones or rivers of water or toxic sludge. It does not affect
lines of sight or combat in any way, but cannot be moved even partially across or onto by any stands
(exception would be hover tanks or skimmers).

Elevated Ground

Elevated ground are large hills or ridges with substantial elevation above the rest of the battlefield.
They can be Open, Closed, Urban or Fortified, and also be Difficult or have certain sides designated
as Impassable.

Elevated Ground increases the lines of sight and fire for units occupying them by 10 cm, but units
not on Elevated Ground cannot see or engage units on such any farther than normal.

It is not necessary to keep track or ridges or lines of elevation. If a unit is at least partially on
Elevated Ground it gains the bonus to its range automatically. In other words you don’t need to keep
track of which side of a hill a units is on, and they do not block line of sight or fire. Remember that
a unit’s stand is only an approximation of the center of gravity of that unit and that during a turn of
activations and combat it is assumed to send sub-units forwards and to use maneuver and light
artillery and mortars to perform a lot of its offensive actions. This is why you can potentially have
units on opposite sides of Elevated Ground still being able to engage each other in Direct Fire,
unless the Elevated Ground is also for example designated as Closed or Urban Terrain.

Movement
The distance a stand can move depends on its Troop Type, the Tactical Posture its parent
Battlegroup currently is in and the Terrain traveled over.

Stands can move in any direction you wish when moving and end up facing whatever direction you
choose. Measure from the farthest reaching corner or edge.

If moving across more than one Terrain Type during a move, count the worst one for distance
allowed.

Tactical Posture

Combat March
Troop Type
Open Diff Open Diff
Infantry 20cm 20cm 40cm 40cm
Tank/Mech 40cm 20cm 80cm 40cm
Cavalry 30cm 30cm 60cm 60cm
Artillery 20cm 10cm 40cm 20cm

COMBAT
”Losses are acceptable. Losing is not.”

- Strategikon Imperialis

Combat in Death Corps is predicated on the assumption that firepower on the battlefields of the far
future is massive and makes advancing into the face of it quite hard. Massing of troops across a
shorter frontage does allow superior firepower to be projected, but also provides more targets for
the enemy. Merely ramming in a lot of troops is likely to result in high casualties.

Direct Fire Targeting

Every stand that has moved during its activation is an eligible target for enemy fire. Any stand that
wants to attack with Direct Fire counts as moving even if the stand itself wasn't physically moved
during its activation. This represents the troops exposing themselves as they move into firing
positions.

In order to be targeted by any firing stand, the target stand must be within engagement range from
the firing stand. The engagement range is the stand's listed Range rating, modified by terrain.

• Open Terrain: Normal range

 • Closed Terrain: 5 cm range for all fire

• Urban Terrain: Base contact range for all fire

• Firer on higher elevation: + 10 cm range for all direct fire

Fire Arc: Every stand has a 180 degree firing arc measured from its front edge. Any targets outside
of this arc can still be fired at if they are within range, but Firepower counts as 0.

Lines of Fire: Measure the line of fire from the closest point of the firing stand to the closest point
of the target stand. You may not fire through friendly stands with Direct fire, unless the firing stand
is a Close Support capable unit or an Artillery unit firing a barrage.

Resolving Combat:

In Death Corps you do not assign the fire from firers to just one enemy target. Instead, look at each
target in turn and see how many eligible firing stands has that target in range. Each firing stand able
to engage the target adds its Firepower to an attack against the target.

To be clear, every battalion adds its firepower against every eligible target within range from it.
Unless there are fire coordination issues this means that battalions get to shoot at multiple targets,
and every battalion within in range of eligible targets get to pool their firepower against each and
every individual target.

Fire Coordination

In order to shoot with more than one battalion at each target, the firing battalions must be within
Cohesion distance from each other, and must belong to the same Battlegroup.

Count up firepower

Each battalion eligible to fire at a target adds its Firepower to the Firepower Pool. Do not make a
separate attack with each firing battalion at a single target, as this would lead to extra dice being
fired.

Firepower Dice in Firepower Pool

0 1
1 2
2 3
3-5 4
6 - 10 5
11+ 6

Roll to Pin

After finding how many dice to roll, roll these. Every die that comes up equal to or higher than the
Hit number of the target's Type is a Pin.

Target Type Hit Number

Infantry 6+
Mech Infantry 7+
Tanks 8+
Cavalry 6+
Artillery 5+

Modifiers to dice roll

Target is Infantry/Mech in Closed Terrain - 1*

Target is in prepared positions – 1*
Target is Elite Quality – 1
Target is non-powered armour Inf/Mech closing to base contact +1
Target is Poor Quality +1

* Do not count this modifier in Close Assaults/base contact

A target that is hit normally immediately becomes Pinned. This means the incoming fire has
disrupted the battalion and temporarily stopped it from advancing further or acting as a cohesive
unit. It also means that it is now an easier target for further hits and may suffer heavy casualties
from such. Once Pinned a battalion is marked with a small token or cotton puff to show its status for
the rest of the combat. Pinned battalions are reduced to Firepower 0.

Pin results are not cumulative, but each hit against an already Pinned battalion may cause serious
casualties. For each additional hit beyond the first one, go on to roll for breaching the target's
armour if applicable and then to cause step losses.

Roll to breach armour

In case of an armoured target – usually Tank Type battalions, but sometimes Artillery or Mech
Infantry – you must first roll to breach its armour. The breaching roll number for each hit is found
by comparing the target's Armour rating to the firer's Anti-Tank rating on the following table. Take
the highest AT rating among the firers and then modify it if there are other firers with a worse
rating.

Armour Rating

AT Rating Light Medium Heavy Superheavy

Light 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+
Medium 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+
Heavy 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+
Superheavy 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+

Types of AT in Firepower dice pool

Best – 2 to breaching roll
Most – 1 to breaching roll
All + 0

Best means that less than half of the battalions firing have the level of AT weaponry.
Most means that at least half the battalions firing have the level of AT weaponry.
All means that all the firing battalions have the indicated level of AT weaponry.

Tactical Modifiers
Unsupported non-walker Tanks/Arty vs. Infantry/Mech Inf in Close terrain + 1 to breaching roll
Unsupported non-walker Tanks/Arty vs. Infantry/Mech Inf in Urban terrain +2 to breaching roll

Roll to inflict casualties

Each hit against an already Pinned battalion that has not been stopped by armour may inflict
casualties. Roll one die for each such hit. If the number comes up equal to or higher than the Step
Loss Number, the hit battalion takes one Step Loss. Battalions that are reduced to zero Step Losses
are removed from the table and placed in the casualty zone. Such battalions are not necessarily
wiped out but have taken enough losses to render them combat ineffective. Some of them may be
rebuilt and returned to play in later turns.

Target Type Step Loss Number

Infantry 8+
Mech Infantry 7+
Tanks 6+
Cavalry 6+
Artillery 5+

Step Loss Number modifiers

Target is Power Armoured Inf/Mech Inf + 1
Energy Weapons - 1
Target in base contact – 1
Attacker is Assault Troops in base contact – 1 (cumulative with the above)
Target is unsupported Inf/Mech Inf vs Tanks in Open Terrain - 1
Target in prepared positions + 1
Target is Inf/Mech Inf in Urban terrain + 1

Movement Into Combat

In order to move into combat, a stand simply moves into firing range for its own weapons. All
targets must also be within the stand’s frontal 180 degrees firing arc. This often means that the stand
will also be within range and arc of the stand/s it is attacking.

In order to move around the flank of an enemy stand and not suffer fire on the way in, the
moving/attacking stand must start its move outside of the defending stand’s arc of fire and range.
The moving cannot move through/across the stationary stand’s arc of fire without exposing itself to
fire.

In other words, you can’t move right past an enemy stand, into its flank and thereby reduce its
Firepower against your moving stand to 0 while passing through its arc and range of fire. If you do
so, mark the stand or stands doing so so you remember they will be subjected to the full firepower
of the defending stands that activation. In coming activations, if the outflanked stand does no move,
your outflanking stands are only attacked by a Firepower of 0 from the outflanked stand. If your
outflanking stand moves away to not attack the stand which arc of fire you’re now outside of, you
don’t get attacked by it at all.

[Insert explanatory diagrams here]

Assault Combats
Combat while in base contact with an enemy stand counts as a close assault. If a stand moving into
base contact is Pinned by defensive fire, the attack does not count as a close assault and the moving
stand must be moved back 1 centimeter away from the intended target, along the path it took going
in.

Assaults are fought by alternating rounds of fire between the stands in contact until one is
destroyed, the attacker is pinned or the defender chooses to retreat. These rounds of combat are
fought immediately outside of the rest of the turn/phase order.

• After both defender and attacker have had one round of Direct Fire combat, the defender
may choose to retreat, moving up to one half move directly away from the attacker, which
ends the assault.

• If the defender opts to stay, exchange another round of combat with Direct Fire first from
the defender and then the attacker. If the attacker is pinned, this ends the combat and the
attacker is moved 1 cm away as when trying to move into base contact above. If the attacker
is not pinned the defender again chooses whether to retreat or not.

• Repeat this process until the close assault is finished by an attacker pinned, defender retreat
or either side being destroyed due to Step losses.

Wave Attacks

The attacker in an assault can use a Wave Attack by having another stand in rear edge base contact
with leading stand that makes it into close assault. This rearward stand does not add any Firepower
in the combat. If the front stand is pinned or destroyed, the rear stand can immediately swap places
with it if pinned, or move into its place if the leading stand is destroyed. The rearward stand that is
now in base contact can continue the assault.

Up to two stands may follow a leading stand like this, making up a three wave assault column.

Supported Tanks/Inf

Tanks and Infantry get bonuses in combat against each other in Open and Urban Terrain
respectively. In order to not suffer these penalties they need to be Supported.

Friendly tanks can support Infantry in Open Terrain, and Infantry can support Tanks in Urban
Terrain.

To count as supporting a friendly stand, the supporting stand must be within 1 cm of the supported
stand.

Support Fire Battalions

Certain stands have the Close Support rule and can give supporting fire to other stands. Close
Support stands can fire through friendly stands. If the supporting stand is in base contact with a
friendly stand, it can measure its Range from the front edge of the stand it is in contact with.

Gunships

Gunship wings are not moved as ground battalions. They are instead put in support of a
Battlegroup.
Adds Firepower at whatever point the player wishes during the direct fire phases. However, Anti-
Air fire is fired against any Battlegroup where Gunships are adding fire support before their
Firepower gets added to the Direct Fire rolls.

Prepared Positions

Army Assets
Air attacks

WMD strike

Tactical Nuke 20 cm diameter blast, inflicts 2 step losses on Infantry, Mech Infantry, Cavalry and
Artillery. 1 Step loss on Tanks and Infantry with Power Armour
Can be shot down
May not be used two turns in a row
Every use after the second allows the enemy to launch one free Tac Nuke of their own
Limit the use of Tac Nukes if they ruin the game for you

Chemical Barrage 20 x 10 cm persistent marker, lasts 4 turns

Inflicts 2 Step Losses, modified as follows
Tanks and Mech Inf -1
Elite Troops Quality -1
Inside Fortifications -1

Divisional assault

Strategic Reinforcements

Deep recon

Tunnel attack

Airdrop

Sabotage

Assassination

Supplies

Rebuilding Lost Battalions