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IRON COW 2103AD

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6mm science fiction
armoured warfare rules
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by Steve Blease

(print friendly version)

© Wessex Games 1995, 2002, 2011

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to James Clay, Simon Evans, David Manley and Nigel Phillips for playtesting. Tony
Francis for support and models, Jon Tuffley and Martin Goddard for additional support.
Special thanks to Karen for all her patience. These rules are dedicated to my stepson
Nigel...

CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Background 3
Power blocs 4
Major conflicts 7
Second Secessionist War 2047AD 7
First Antarctic War 2065AD 7
Mon Olympus War 2069AD 7
Indo-Khallistani War 2078AD 8
Sri Lankan War 2078AD 8
Second Antarctic War 2082AD 8
Second Russian Civil War 2088AD 8
Gulf War 2095AD 9
Papua New Guinea War 2099AD 9
Arabian War 2100AD 9
The European War 2101AD 9
Playing the game 9
Scale 10
Organisation 10
Unit integrity 11
Electronic warfare 11
Orders 12
Jamming 13
Initiative 14
The move 14
Firing 14
Statistical tables 16
Artillery 19
Terrain 20
Visibility 20
Morale 20
Aersopace craft 22
Ambushes 24
National characteristics 25
AmRep marine armored regiment 25
AmRep air cavalry regiment 26
CDSU people’s naval infantry regiment 26
CDSU people’s guards shock regiment 27
EuroFed colonial legion regiment 27
Van Kliestmann mercenary regiment 28
Scenarios 29
Model availability 30
Designers notes 30

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 ++ Major Henri Marchelle lowered the vis-aid from his eyes and smiled despite the
bitter wind that chapped his face. Standing tall in the turret of his Monsabert grav
tank he could see ahead the road was clear and his objective undefended. For once
fortune had favoured the forces of the European Federation and the damn
Northerners had been caught cold. Ahead lay the only remaining bridge across the
River Moder that could carry the substantial weight of the Aoun class cybertanks
that EuroFed command believed could finally turn this war their way.

Marchelle took a deep breath and issued the order, “Advance!” Glancing around he
could see his platoon’s tanks begin to edge forward, their camouflaged hulls
battered and worn from months of campaigning; at last he thought…

With a deafening crash the ground erupted in a geyser of dirt and vegetation.
“Incoming!!” Marchelle dropped hurriedly into his tank and snapped the hatch
closed over his head. “Report!” he barked.

“ONESS artillery sir. Estimate one battery…”

Marchelle slammed his fist against his viewfinder. The enemy had not been caught
cold at all. Merde! ++

INTRODUCTION

Iron Cow 2130AD is a simple set of wargames rules designed to allow you to play science
fiction wargames with 6mm (also called 1/300th or Epic) scale miniatures. Designed as an
ideal starting point for newcomers to the hobby before moving on to more complex and
detailed sets of rules, we hope that the simple mechanisms of the rules will appeal and
prove flexible enough that more experienced gamers will enjoy playing the odd game or
two with them.

Iron Cow 2103AD is set in a futuristic hypothetical background which is inspired from
current political developments and no doubt will seem familiar to many players. However
should you wish to use a totally different background, whether it be based on a favourite
film or book, some other game system, or one of your own invention, feel free. The hobby
of fantasy and science fiction wargaming is one that allows for individual gamers to do
what they wish and feel that players should make use of their own imaginations and not be
restricted to what the rulebook says. You do not have to rigidly stick to a particular
manufacturer’s figures and vehicles for their game – look around, you will find better
models from many manufacturers (and they’ll probably be cheaper to boot).

++ JUST IN! FIREFIGHT BETWEEN AMREP FORCES AND SAC PEACEKEEPERS IN WEST AFRICA.
EXCLUSIVE WARZONE FOOTAGE IN 30! ++

BACKGROUND

In the mid-twenty-second century the Solar System has been carved up between various
power blocs who by various means, both diplomatic and military, attempt to gain the upper
hand.

Earth itself has been ravaged by the effects of nuclear war in Central Asia, the Middle East
and Siberia as well as ecological disasters across much of the globe. In certain parts of
central and north Africa, Asia and Latin America, civilisation has regressed and indeed in
3

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 some cases collapsed altogether, with the remaining inhabitants living in tribal or feudal
environments. Cannibalism is widespread in many regions. The major power blocs have
effectively abandoned these regions as they have no material or political worth.

Colonies have been founded on a number of planets and moons of the Solar System, and
whilst extra-terrestrial colonisation is still in its early stages it has not prevented man’s
greed following him from Earth and already battles and wars have polluted these new
worlds.

What follows is a brief description of the main power blocs and major wars in the last fifty
years up to 2103AD.

++ NEWS FROM MARS. POLISH ONESS TANK TROOPS CAPTURE EUROFED SUPPLY BASE NEAR
OLYMPUS MONS. MORE LATER IN THIS BULLETIN ++

POWER BLOCS

AMERICAN REPUBLIC

The American Republic (AmRep) is a military dictatorship that arose out of the Second
Secessionist War of 2047 and controls most of the Eastern seaboard of North America.

The military controls every aspect of day-to-day life, and citizenship and its accordant
benefits can only be gained by serving a five-year period in the armed forces with a
minimum two-year requirement of frontline service.

Access to resources are limited, especially food following the ecological disaster which
turned the central plains of the continent into a huge dustbowl. Consequently there are
strict controls on population which does limit available manpower for the AmRep military.
This has led to a great emphasis being placed on technological development and robotics
with the AmRep military being the first power to deploy robotic infantry (A.I’s) onto the
22nd century battlefield. The AmRep military further supplements its military strength by
employing the private armies of hired Private Military Contractors when necessary.

++ COMING NEXT, AMAZING VID OF AMREP ROBOT INFANTRY IN ACTION NEAR DANILOVA
CRATER ON VENUS ++

CHINESE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST UNION

The People’s Republic of China expanded industrially through the early half of the 21st
century, building up its military before embarking on a series of expansion wars across
South East Asia with mixed success against the likes of India, Vietnam and the Indonesian
Republic.

Progress northward was restricted by the nuclear and biological contamination resulted
from the Mongolian War, however the Chinese did seize large tracts of Russian Eastern
Siberia as the Russians plunged into disarray and civil war.

The political set up of the Chinese Democratic Socialist Union (CDSU), as the PRC
renamed itself in 2059,, can be confusing to outsiders but is based on a trimutive of the
military, the state Communist party and semi-autonomous regions where regional
governors have a degree of domestic independence but defer to the centre on foreign and
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 military matters. This policy has led to China successfully incorporating new territories into
the Union (such as Vietnam) without the need to overtly conquer and occupy them.

++ CHINESE FORCES LAUNCH PUNITIVE RAID AGAINST PMC’S GUARDING URANIUM MINES IN
ALASKA – PRESS RED IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ++

EUROPEAN FEDERATION

The remnants of the old European Union which fell apart following French led actions in
Brazil and Mongolia officially became the European Federation (EuroFed) in 2046.

EuroFed members maintain a façade of national independence but effectively the political
entity is a French dominated power bloc with limited democratic rights for citizens to elect
senators to the EuroFed parliament in Paris. The Parliament is a bureaucratic nightmare
but in reality exercises limited powers, real control being in the hands of the President and
the Council of Ministers.

Militarily EuroFed forces are fully intergrated under French command but do include a
number of specific elite national units such as the Italian Ariete Armoured Regiment and
the Spanish Legion as well as trans-national European units of mixed nationality.

++ EUROFED LEGION FORCES AMBUSHED BY SANGALAN LIBERATION ARMY FORCES IN

CENTRAL AFRICA. SHOCKING REPORT FROM OUR EMBED CREW ON THE HOUR ++

INDONESIAN REPUBLIC

The rise of Indonesia as a major player on the world scene, notably in South East Asia,
took many by surprise in the mid 21st century, but a return to military rule and a pressing
need to capture as much of the region’s dwindling resources led to wars with India, the
CDSU and the Pacific Federation in a period of fifty years.

++ INDONESIAN ARMOUR SMASHED IN MAJOR BATTLE AT MOUTHS OF FLY RIVER BY PAC FED
FORCES. OUR TALKING HEADS ASK IF THIS IS THE END OF INDONESIAN EXPANSIONISM IN
DEBATE ON CHANNEL 667 ++

KHALLISTANI LEAGUE

The Khallistani League (or Harakat-iInquilabi-i-Islami to give it is correct name), is a league

of fundamentalist Islamic nations in the Middle East and Central Asia that arose out of the
nuclear ruins of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in the early 2050’s. Whilst their
military is two or three generations behind that of the major political players in the world
stage, the League has managed to expand its territory by subterfuge and lightning military
attacks on its neighbours, capturing Pakistan in 2088 whilst India was distracted by
Indonesian aggression in the Andaman Islands. Only a pre-emptive nuclear strike on
Khallistani troops massing in Kashmir averted the prospect of the League invading the
sub-continent. The League has now turned its sights to the Saudi Empire and freeing
Mecca from the “imperialist unbelievers”.

++ INTERWEB FOOTAGE SHOWING KHALLISTANI GUERILLAS IN ACTION AGAINST NEO-SOVS IN

UKRAINE RAD ZONE MOST POPULAR VID ON U-TOOB ++

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 NEO-SOVIET REPUBLIC

The civil war which ripped the Russian Federation apart after its victory against EuroFed
forces in the Mongolian War should not have come as unexpected given much of the
country suffered in the aftermath of the war due to the damage to Russia’s infrastructure
and the biological annihilation of its agricultural regions. The eventual victory and
consolidation of power under Warmaster Kutuzov led to a military dictatorship displaying
the trappings of the old-Soviet Union, regarded by much of the population as Russia’s
finest hour, and the creation of the Neo-Soviet Republic in 2079.

++ NEO-SOV MERCS RESIST SAC FORCES IN BITTER FIREFIGHT NORTH OF MOSI-OA-TUNYA.

KREMLIN RELEASES GRAPHIC VID. WE SHOW IT ON THE HOUR ++

ORGANISATION OF NORTH EUROPEAN SOVEREIGN STATES

The countries that split away from the European Union in 2046 soon realized that it was
imperative to maintain some degree of support for each other given the clearly apparent
imperialistic policy exhibited by the decision makers in Paris. This resulted in the creation
of the Organisation of North European Sovereign States (ONESS), a loose political
grouping with economic and military ties.

In many ways from a military perspective ONESS operates like the long defunct NATO,
with countries pledging military support for one another in the event of attack and
operating under a combined military command structure.

Whilst ONESS armies do share items of equipment and there is a high degree of
standardization of equipment across some of the smaller armies, there is an obvious
element of uniqueness between countries, especially the larger ONESS countries such as
the English Republic and the German Federation.

ONESS equipment is generally state of the art, possibly slightly behind some of the more
recent AmRep designs. Like AmRep, ONESS struggles to maintain its civil population due
to limited food resource with a consequent impact on manpower availability for its armed
forces. This has led to much work on genetic modification and development and ONESS is
one of the first powers to introduce genetic infantry (Gen:I) onto the battlefield to reinforce
regular troops.

++ ENGLISH ARMY GENETIC INFANTRY SEIZE AMREP WATER STATIONS AT PLANUM AUSTRALE
ON MARS. IS THIS THE END OF AM REP COLONIASTAION IN THE SOUTH ON THE RED PLANET?
OUR TALKING HEADS DEBATE AND WATCH EXCLUSIVE HELMET CAM FOOTAGE ON CHANNEL
616 ++

PACIFIC FEDERATION

Arising out of overt Indonesian aggression in the mid 22nd century, the Pacific Federation
(PacFed) stretches from Australia and New Zealand across the Pacific Territories to
Hawaii. The PacFed military is very high tech making great use of new anti-grav
technologies that allow its army to fight over land and water with ease. Major wars have
been fought recently against Argentina in the Antarctic and the Indonesian Republic in
Papua New Guinea.

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 ++ G’DAY BRUCE! PACFED GRAV TANKS SWEEP ACROSS ADÉILLE LAND CAPTURING SEVERAL
KEY EUROFED ANATARCTIC INSTALLATIONS. WE SPEAK TO OUR EMBED CREW WITH THE
PENGUIN KILLERS IN FIVE – DON’T MISS IT ++

SOUTH AFRICAN COMMONWEALTH

The ecological disaster which afflicted the planet in the 21st century was worse felt in
Africa with the Great Famine killing millions and civilization collapsing in many areas.
South Africa was fortunate in surviving the worst of the disaster and was able to maintain
enough military strength to resist First World Private Military Contractors (mercenaries)
that invested the continent to grab as much resources as they could for their industrial and
political masters. Building on this strength South Africa expanded along the Indian Ocean
coast creating the South African Commonwealth (SAC).

The SAC military is tasked with protecting the SAC from attacks by mercenary units and
the forces of warlords that inhabit the uncivilized regions as well as to try and bring
humanitarian relief to the natives of these regions. Of late SAC forces have engaged
Saudi and Khallistani forces in East Africa and resisted Indonesian raids on Madagascar.

++ HUMANITARIAN RELIEF OR BACKDOOR EMPIRE BUILDING? OUR TAKING HEADS LOOK AT

RECENT SAC OPERATION IN CENTRAL AFRICA AND ASK HOW HUMANE RELIEF AT THE END OF
A RAIL GUN REALLY IS? YOU CAN JOIN IN THE DEBATE BY GOING INTERACTIVE ON CHANNEL
622 ++

MAJOR CONFLICTS

SECOND SECESSIONIST WAR 2047AD

Economic recession, ecological disaster destroying the central farmlands and the increase
in influence of the military-industrial complex in Washington D.C. eventually led to a
number of western states seceding from the union, inevitably leading to war. Despite two
years on intense conflict, Union forces were unable to bring the western secessionists to
heel resulting in the military seizing power in the east and creating the American Republic.

++ HONOURING THE HEROES! AM REP MILITARY PARADE ON 54TH ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING

OF THE REPUBLIC. YOU TOO CAN HAIL THE GENERAL-CHIEF BY PRESSING RED NOW! ++

FIRST ANTARCTIC WAR 2065AD

Argentinean attempts to reinforce its claim for Antártida Argentina on the southern
continent where resisted by English Republic forces aided by PacFed units. After a year of
conflict in bitter conditions all permanent Argentinean bases in Antarctica were seized by
the English Republic.

++ ANHILIATION IN ANTARCTICA! OUR TALKING HEADS LOOK AT THE LESSONS THE ARGIES
DIDN’T LEARN BY TAKING ON THE ENGLISH REPUBLIC. CHANNEL 602 FOR MORE HISTRO-VID
OF THE CONFLICT INCLUDING THE NUKING OF BASE BELGRANO II ++

MON OLYMPUS WAR 2069AD

EuroFed seized a Brazilian colony on Mars as a precursor to trying to gain hegemony over
the Red Planet. Both ONESS and the American Republic dispatched forces to Mars to
engage the EuroFed occupying forces, eventually defeating them and liberating the colony

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 in 2071AD (although this is eventually sold to AmRep by the Brazilians). ONESS, the
American Republic and the European Federation established military bases on Mars and
begin to colonise the planet.

++ RED BLOOD ON THE RED PLANET! SEE HOW THE MILITARY HAS DEVELOPED WEAPONS AND
TACTICS TO FIGHT OUR BATTLES ON MARS IN OUR SPECIAL REPORT ON THE HOUR – DON’T MISS
IT! ++
INDO-KHALLISTANI WAR 2078AD

The secular Pakistani government was overthrown after years of civil war and the new
Fundamentalist Islamist government joined the Khallistani League. With a build up of
Khallistani forces on the Kashmiri border and increasing anti-Hindu rhetoric from the
League the Indians launched a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Khallistani forces averting
the imminent invasion. A series of battles were fought between India and the League
across the frontier over the following several months.

++ ACCESS EMBED REPORTS OF 1ST SKINNER’S HORSE ARMOUR IN ACTION AGAINST

KHALLISTANI FORCES ON THE INTERWEB. PRESS RED IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ++

SRI LANKAN WAR 2078AD

Taking advantage of the conflict on India’s northern border, the Indonesian Federation
launched an unexpected attack on Sri Lanka and seized control from the Indian Army
which had occupied the island for the previous three decades. The Indonesian Army
landed forces on the eastern seaboard of the sub-continent but this incursion was largely
resisted by the Indian Army, although they were unable to completely force the
Indonesians from the mainland.

++ FIGHTING A TWO-FRONT WAR! TALKING HEAD DEBATE ON INDIA’S PERFORMANCE IN THE

WARS AGAINST THE KHALLISTANIS AND INDONESIANS. CHANNEL 676 FOR A HEATED
DISCUSSION ++

SECOND ANTARCTIC WAR 2082AD

War broke out between PacFed and EuroFed over mineral exploration rights on the
borders of their respective territories. With EuroFed Adéille Land surrounded on both sides
by PacFed territory, Paris allied itself with Argentina with the promise of PacFed territory. A
series of major battles were fought across the ice lands of Antarctica before the Pacific
Federation defeated both EuroFed and Argentinean forces by 2084AD.

++ PACFED ARMOUR HAMMERS ARGIES IN THE ANTARCTIC! SEE EXCLUSIVE BATTLEFIELD

FOOTAGE IN FIVE ONLY ON THIS NEWS-VID CHANNEL ++

SECOND RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR 2088AD

As the century entered its last couple of decades, ONESS became increasingly concerned
with the rise of the Neo-Soviets in European Russia and launched a series of military
expeditions into the East European Rad Zone to forestall any Neo-Soviet expansion plans.
The Khallistani League took the opportunity presented by the ONESS distraction to launch
its own invasion of the Ukraine rad-zone engaging in a series of bitter battles with Neo-
Soviet forces around Kiev and Chernoybl. The war eventually petered out into a stalemate
by 2095AD as the ONESS forces withdrew back into Poland.

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 ++ BLOODBATH IN THE UKRAINE RAD ZONE! HARROWING REPORT FROM NEO-SOVIET
AFFILIATE EMBED IN THIRTY. NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED ++

GULF WAR 2095AD

In an attempt to curtail the expanding Khallistaini League AmRep and Indian forces
launched and invasion of the Persian Gulf region and established a series of beachheads
along the southern coastal region of Iran. Intense fighting continued for several years
before the AmRep-Indian Expeditionary Force withdrew in 2099AD claiming a strategic
victory.

++ SOX NEWS GOLD PREM SUBCRIBERS CAN ACCESS AMREP REMOTE WEAPONS PLATFORMS
VIA INTERACTIVE AT SPECIAL RATE. JUST PRESS INTERAVTIVE BUTTON NOW FOR YOUR
CHANCE TO SHOOT A KHALISTANI FANATIC! ++

PAPUA NEW GUINEA WAR 2099AD

Indonesian expansionism ground to a halt during the three years of the Papua New
Guinea War, when the Republic’s army came up against the might of the Pacific
Federation. A war typified by rapid movement utilizing the capabilities of grav tanks to
island hop, the Indonesians were eventually defeated after four years and retired to pre-
war boundaries.

++ INDONESIAN FORCES SMASHED BY PACFED COUNTER-OFFENSIVE IN FENI ISLANDS. FOLLOW

ONGOING MILITARY OPERATIONS BY GOING INTERACTIVE NOW ++

ARABIAN WAR 2100AD

Following the withdrawl of the AmRep-Indian armies from Southern Iran, the Khallistani
League launched a massive invasion across the Persian Gulf into the Saudi Empire. The
holy war to liberate religious sites from the Saudis was initially successful but faltered as
the Saudi’s hired military units from the American Republic and South African
Commonwealth, as well as a number of PMC’s.

++ EXCLUSIVE VID FROM SAUD DESERT EMPIRE JUST IN - SO HOT YOU CAN STILL SEE THE
RADIOACTIVE GLOW FROM FALKENBERG PMC TAC-NUC STRIKE ON SEPRATISTS IN AL JAWF
CITY!

THE EUROPEAN WAR 2101AD

Tensions between the European Federation and ONESS exploded into war with EuroFed
forces launching a major offensive into Western Germany in 2101AD. Three years of
heavy warfare ended in stalemate with minimal boundary changes between the two power
blocs and hundreds of thousands dead.

++ JUST IN! EUROFED OFFENSIVE ON RUHR FALTERS AS ENGLISH GEN:I TROOPS SEIZE VITAL
RHINE BRIDGES. ONGOING LIVE BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE FROM EMBED AND TROOPER HELM-
CAM VIA THE RED BUTTON NOW ++

PLAYING THE GAME

To play Iron Cow 2103AD you will a selection of miniatures (see Organisation below to
see how many you will need), a tape measure, two ten sided dice (called D10’s and

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 available from any good games shop) and ideally one four sided dice, though a six sided
one will do. Then all you need is a clear area to play a game on and some items of
scenery.

++ NEO-SOVIET FORCES LAUNCH COUNTER-OFFENSIVE IN EAST EURO RAD-ZONE! MORE AS WE

GET IT! ++

SCALE

We recommend that you use 6mm scale models and figures (6mm is also called 1:285th in
the US, 1/300th in the UK and Epic in Nottingham; whatever it’s all pretty much one and
the same). Various manufacturers produce miniatures in this scale, but for this particular
background we would suggest you try the likes of Brigade Models (who produce the
‘official’ Iron Cow range), Ground Zero Games or Irregular Miniatures (to name but three).

++ WIPEOUT IN A WHITEOUT! MORE HISTORIC VID FOOTAGE OF ENGLISH VICTORY IN

ANTARCTIC AGAINST THE ARGIES ON THE HOUR! ++

ORGANISATION

For the purposes of our game you should organize your figures into military units. The size
of your force will depend on your resources and games of Iron Cow 2103AD can be fought
quite successfully between forces comprised of a small number of sections or one or two
platoons (in fact we would recommend that you start by playing a few games with smaller
forces before moving on to larger actions). We suggest you build your force up collecting
platoons one at a time, which over a period will grow into the basic Regiment formation,
which is probably the largest you will be able to field effectively on a large sized table. The
composition and invariably the name of a Regiment unit will differ (sometimes quite
drastically) from army to army, but for the purposes of the basic game we shall use a
standard composition as follows (some players prefer to replace HQ APC’s in Tank
Squadrons with HQ Tanks which is fine):

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 ++ SOUTH AFRICAN FORCES IN RETREAT AT RUVUMA FOLLOWING ENGAGEMENT WITH
STARKWOOD PMC FORCES. NEWS ON RISING STARKWOOD SHARE PRICE IN FIVE ++

A base (fireteam) of Infantry (or Militia – see National Characteristics below) should
consist of two to four individual figures mounted on a small base. Two bases make a
section (or squad). You can replace one infantry base base per section with an AT (anti-
tank) base if you wish.

To start with we suggest that you use the standard Regiment and Platoon compositions for
your first few games, however should you wish to build up your forces along more
nationalistic lines then please refer to the section on National Characteristics below.

For the purposes of our game sections can operate independently from its parent platoon,
however it must have a Command APC with it if it is to receive fresh orders during the
game (see Orders below). The APC has to be within 5cm of one element of the unit to
count as attached to any unit. A HQ APC can be detached from the Brigade HQ unit for
this purpose but if this happens it can no longer act as a HQ APC and loses its ability to
issue orders and jam enemy ones (see Orders below).

++ THE ART OF WAR! OUR TALKING HEADS ON C&C ON THE OFF WORLD BATTLEFIELD ON
CHANNEL 635 ++

UNIT INTEGRITY

In war, individual tanks and soldiers do not wander around the battlefield, but stick with
their units. To simulate this in Iron Cow 2103AD, Sections and Troops must maintain what
is known as Unit Integrity.

For a Section or Troop to maintain Unit Integrity each vehicle (or squad base) must be
within 5cm of at least one other.

Unit Integrity is important as should it be broken, the effectiveness of the vehicles in the
unit is reduced.

Should Unit Integrity be broken (sat one vehicle is destroyed and a gap over 5cm appears
between the remaining models), then all movement and firing is subject to a minus 25%
modifier.

However, once Section or Troop regains Unit Integrity, ie. all vehicles or squads move so
the gaps is closed and they are all within 5cm of one other model, then they are no longer
regarded as broken and the modifier no longer applies.

++ DEATH AND GLORY – LIFE OF A c22ND CAVALRY OFFICER! EXCLUSIVE OFFER ON MEMOIRS
OF COLONEL ‘MAD’ MATT HARTLEY! GET YOUR VID-SLATE BY PRESSING RED NOW ++

ELECTRONIC WARFARE

As you will see below, the issuing of Orders to your units is a vital part of Iron Cow
2103AD, and your ability to issue the correct orders when they are needed will determine
whether you win or lose! All orders are transmitted electronically by radio and unfortunately
are susceptible to enemy use of Electronic Warfare (EW) Jammers, which can prevent
your side getting sit orders through, or even result in false orders being given!

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 To determine how many EW Jammers each side has, both players must roll a D4 and
whatever the score, that is the number of EW Jammers they have at their disposal
throughout the game (if you do not have a D4, roll a normal D6 and ignore any score of 5
or 6, rolling again of that occurs.

Your EW Jammers are represented on the table by the HQ APC’s in your HQ Unit. So, if
you roll 2 on a D4 and have two EW Jammers, two of your four HQ APC’s can also act as
EW Jammers. The jammer capability must be allocated to a particular vehicle prior to
starting the game and if the vehicle is destroyed then the EW Jammer capability is lost
with that vehicle.

++ EMBED WITH E-WAR – EXLCUSIVE REPORT FROM THE ZEELAND FRONT ON HOW SUPERIOR
ELECTRONIC WARFARE CAPABILITY IS TURNING THE TIDE FOR ONESS. LEARN MORE – PRESS
RED NOW ++

ORDERS

Soldiers do not by nature just do their own thing in a battle. Sure they don’t need much
inclination to fire, but move towards the enemy when it’s safer to remain in their nice little
foxhole? You must be joking… However they will if you order them to do so, and this is
your role as commander.

At the start of each turn you must issue your squadrons/platoons/batteries (or detached
troops/sections) with an order. These are represented by small counters marked with
either Advance, Cautious Advance, Static, Regroup or Aircraft. If you do not issue a unit
with an order then they will follow the order from the previous turn (or if they have not
received an order in the game they will remain Static). The issuing of the correct orders at
the right time is vital for your success and is an art that you will gain after many a battle…

You can only issue orders from your HQ APC’s and they can only issue one order per turn.
For units to receive an order they must have a Command Vehicle with them (or a HQ APC
detached from the HQ Unit for the purpose of acting as a Command Vehicle).

Detached HQ APC’s cannot issue orders or jam them. They can only receive them for the
unit to which they are attached.

Advance: this order means that your unit will move up to 100% (but not less than 60%) of
its movement allowance in any direction you wish (see Statistical Tables for details of
movement allowances). Vehicles and troops advancing are regarded to be moving as fast
as they can from A to B and as such are unable to fire with any degree of accuracy and
present easy targets for your opponent (the exact modifications are note in the Firing
section of the rules).

Cautious Advance: this order means that troops can advance up to 50% of their
movement allowance, but not less than 10% in any direction you wish. Vehicles and troops
cautiously advancing are deemed to be making short rushes of movement before taking
cover. Whilst this means they cannot cover as much ground as a normal Advance order,
they are no so easy to hit and can fire more accurately.

Static: this order means your unit cannot move. Static units and troops are regarded as
taking advantage of any cover that can be found. As they are not moving, Static units are

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 very hard to hit and very accurate when firing. Infantry stands can only get in or out of
vehicles that are Static.

Regroup: this order only applies if you are using the optional Morale rules and is
explained in the Morale section.

Airstrike: this order only applies if you are using the optional Aerospace rules and is
explained in the Aerospace section.

You will need to make yourself a selection of counters from card marked with the above (or
recognisable abbreviations such as Adv, Ct. Adv, St, Rgp and Air) and we suggest you
make one complete set of five for each HQ APC under your control. Ensure that you only
write on one side and leave the other blank.

To issue a unit with an order, you select one of the five order counters above and place the
counter face down (blank side up) next to the unit. An order cannot be changed once it has
been placed on the table. When both players have placed their orders next to their units,
then they should all be revealed. These orders dictate the actions of the units for the
forthcoming move.

++ OUTNUMBERED INDIAN FORCES LAUNCH DESPARATE COUNTER-ATTACK AGAINST

INDONESIAN BRIDGEHEAD SOUTH OF CHENNAI. FOLLOW LIVE SATELLITE FEED EXCLUSIVELY
RIGHT NOW BY PRESSING BLUE ++

JAMMING

Once the orders have been revealed, the players may attempt to jam the enemy’s orders
by using his Electronic Warfare Jammers, the number of which was decided by a dice roll
earlier. Each player can only attempt to jam the orders to the same number of units as he
has Electronic Warfare Jammers (if you only have two Jammers, you can only attempt to
jam two of the orders the enemy has issued).

To see if the attempted jam is successful both players roll a D10 (remember ona D10 0 =
10 not zero). Should the defender score equal or higher than the player attempting to jam,
then the attempt has failed. If however the defenders score is lower, then the jam has
succeeded.

If the jam is successful, you then need to throw another D10 and apply the result as
follows:

1, 2 or 3 The jammer can remove the enemy order and replace it with one of
their own choosing (eg. replace a Static order with an Advance one).
4 to 10 The unit will ignore the new order and follow the one last received.

A jammed Airstrike order merely results in an airstrike not arriving (see Aerospace
section below).

++ BLUE ON BLUE VID AS AMREP EAGLE AEROSPACE FIGHTERS TARGET MARINE ARMOUR.
MISTAKE OR E-HACK BY ZEIRACORP PMC MERCS? OUR TALKING HEADS ARE DEBATING ON
CHANNEL 649 RIGHT NOW ++

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 INITIATIVE

To decide which player moves and fires first you need to find out who has the Initiative. To
calculate the Initiative both players roll a D10 and add the following modifiers dependent
on the army they are playing with.

American Republic +5
Chinese Democratic Socialist Union +4
European Federation +5
Indonesian Republic +3
Khallistani League +3
ONESS +4
South African Commonwealth +5

The player with the highest modified score gains the Initiative for that turn (ties should be
re-rolled).

Regiments within an army can exhibit different characteristics than the rest of the force
(eg. elite regiments) and different initiative modifiers to the basic ones above for some
units can be found in the National Characteristics section below.

Gaining the Initiative can be very important in a battle as it allows the player with it to move
and fire first if they choose or wait to see what his opponent does first.

++ SAC HUMANITARIAN CONVOY AMBUSHED BY SLAVERS IN BUNYORO. A WASTED EFFORT?

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MILITARY BY GOING INTERACTIVE RIGHT
NOW ++

THE MOVE

Who does what and when during a move is dictated by the player who wins the Initiative.
This player decides whether he wishes to be Player A or Player for this turn. He can make
this choice each turn (alternating between being Player A and B each turn if he wishes) as
long as he retains the Initiative.

1 Player A moves their units.

2 Player A may then fire any or all of their units.
3 Player B moves.
4 Player A may fire any remaining units that have not fired this turn.
5 Player B fires.

++ ANARCHY IN PORT MOESBY AS INDONESIAN FORCES MOVE OUT! REPORTS FROM THE
BURNING CITY WITHIN THE HOUR ++

FIRING

Firing is done on a simple percentage chance to hit basis by rolling a D100. A D100 is just
two D10’s rolled together with one dice representing tens, the other units (it is a good idea
if you have different coloured dice, say red for tens and black for units). By reading the
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 scores of both you will get a score between 1% and 100% eg, if you roll a 4 on the tens
dice and a 6 on the units dice you have scored 46%.

Whereas on a D10 the roll of 0 = 10, when using two D10 at a D100, a score of 0 = zero
eg. if you roll 5 on the tens dice and 0 on the units dice you have scored 50%. If you roll 0
on the tens dice and 6 on the units you have rolled 6%. The only exception is if you roll 0
on both dice at the same time, this signifies a score of 100%.

When using a percentage based system such as used in Iron Cow 2103AD’s firing charts,
you have to throw a score of less than or equal to the percentage chance to succeed. eg.
if the chance of hitting something is given as 45% you need to roll equal to or lower than
45% to hit the target. A score higher is regarded as a miss.

When firing in Iron Cow 2103AD, you need to measure the distance between the figure
firing and the target at which the figure is aiming. When you have this figure, look up the
weapon details for the firer using the Statistical Tables. Read across until you come to
the range band your distance measurement falls within. There you will find a figure similar
to the following: 65/4.

The first figure (in this example 65) is the basic percentage chance you have of your figure
successfully hitting the target at the distance you have measured. Here you will need to
roll 65 or less on a D100 to hit the target.

The second figure is the penetration or kill factor. This represents the actual power of the
shot being fired by the weapon at a give range. Here it is 4. This figure has to be equal to
or higher than the targets defence factor (given below) for you to be able to kill it. If the
target had a defence factor of 5, whilst you would be able to hit it, you wouldn’t be able to
kill it. However if it is 4 or less, then a successful hit will kill the target.

A target that is successfully hit and killed is removed from the table or a suitable destroyed
marker placed on or next to the model.

Percentage chances, penetration factors and defence factors can be found in the
Statistical Tables.

The percentage chance of hitting a target can also be subject to modifiers and the
following should be added to and/or subtracted from the basic percentage figure. Exactly
what applies depends on the firer’s orders for that move and the target’s. Remember all
factors that are applicable to a situation should be added to and subtracted from the basic
percentage figure.

Order Firer Target

Advance -30% +15%
Cautious Advance -15% 0%
Static 0% -15%
Regroup n/a +25%

Note: if you have a basic hit chance of 65% and a modifier of -30% the new hit chance is
35% (65 – 30) not 45.5% (65 – 30%)

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 When targeting an enemy unit you must fire at the nearest elements first (no targeting your
opponent’s Command units unless he is stupid enough to stick them at the front!)

++ AMREP MARINES CLASH WITH EUROFED LEGION AT HELLAS PLANITIA… VID-FEED FROM
MARS COURTESY OF OUR AMPREP AFFILIATE STATION SOX NEWS SPONSORED BY NANTUCKET
FRIED CHIKUN, IT’S FRICKKIN’ LICKIN’ GOOD! ++

STATISTICAL TABLES

Vehicle stats are provided for the four major power blocs in the Iron Cow 2103AD
universe. Those for the Khallistanis, PacFed, Indonesians and South Africans (as well as
some of the other smaller armies fighting on Earth and the off-planet colonies on the
Moon, Mars and Venus) will be released in a series of planned supplements.

Players are encouraged to design their own vehicles and armies, using those provided in
the rules as a guide. There is no points based construction system mainly because it
would unnecessarily complicate a simple game like Iron Cow 2103AD and the fact that
AFV designers in the real world don’t use them! Constructing new vehicles for the game is
just a matter of common sense and most gamers have enough of that.

++ BOYDS ON MARS – ROLLING HOT WITH THE 2ND ARMOR IN THE PHILIPS CRATER. DOWNLOAD
THIS AMAZING VID-BUSTA STARRING LEGENDARY AMREP VET TURNED VID-STAR DAVE DRAKE
++

American Republic
Type Speed Ranges (mm) %/Penetration Defence AA
(mm) Factor Factor
50 150 300 450 600 750 F S R
M82
260 80/16 60/14 45/12 30/10 15/8 5/6 12 10 8 2
Boyd MBT
M90
180 80/24 70/20 65/16 50/14 40/12 20/10 18 14 10 2
Curtis MBT
M41
Baumann 300 80/10 65/8 45/6 25/4 10/2 - 8 6 4 2
APC
M88
220 15/16 45/16 65/16 65/16 50/16 45/16 12 10 8 2
Doherty SPG
AH604
Martindale 500 80/18 60/16 40/12 20/8 - - 6 6 4 -
VTOL
Am Rep
Infantry 120 70/8 45/6 30/4 10/2 - - 1 1 1 2
Squad
Am Rep
120 70/20 45/16 30/10 - - - 1 1 1 -
AT Squad

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 Chinese Democratic Socialist Union
Type Speed Ranges (mm) %/Penetration Defence AA
(mm) Factor Factor
50 150 300 450 600 750 F S R
Zhu De
240 80/18 65/16 55/14 40/12 30/10 10/8 12 10 8 2
MBT
He Long
140 80/24 70/20 65/18 55/16 40/14 20/12 16 12 10 2
MBT
Xie Fang
280 80/10 60/8 40/6 20/4 - - 8 6 4 2
APC
Mao
Zehdong 180 15/12 40/12 60/12 60/12 40/12 40/12 12 10 8 2
SPG
Kim Chaek
500 80/18 60/16 40/12 20/8 - - 8 6 6 -
VTOL
CDSU
Infantry 100 80/8 55/6 40/4 15/2 - - 1 1 1 3
Squad
CDSU
100 80/20 55/16 40/10 - - - 1 1 1 -
AT Squad

European Federation
Type Speed Ranges (mm) %/Penetration Defence AA
(mm) Factor Factor
50 150 300 450 600 750 F S R
Monsabert
280 60/16 50/14 35/12 20/10 10/8 - 10 8 8 3
MBT
Garabaldi
150 80/22 70/18 65/14 50/12 40/10 20/8 14 12 8 2
MBT
Tassigny
260 80/12 60/10 40/8 20/6 - - 8 6 6 3
APC
Glorie
150 15/4 40/14 60/14 60/14 40/14 40/14 12 12 8 2
SPG
Caribou
475 80/16 60/14 40/12 20/8 - - 6 4 4 -
VTOL
EuroFed
Infantry 100 70/8 45/6 30/4 10/2 - - 1 1 1 4
Squad
EuroFed
100 70/20 45/16 30/10 - - - 1 1 1 -
AT Squad

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 Organisation of North European Sovereign States
Type Speed Ranges (mm) %/Penetration Defence AA
(mm) Factor Factor
50 150 300 450 600 750 F S R
Thor
260 80/18 60/14 45/12 35/10 15/8 5/6 12 10 8 2
MBT
Woden
140 80/24 70/20 60/18 45/16 35/14 15/12 18 14 10 3
MBT
Lynx
240 80/8 65/6 40/4 25/2 - - 6 6 4 3
APC
Sigurd
220 15/16 40/16 60/16 60/16 45/16 40/16 12 10 8 2
SPG
Adler
500 80/18 60/16 40/12 20/8 - - 6 6 4 -
VTOL
ONESS
Infantry 120 80/8 60/6 45/4 20/2 - - 1 1 1 2
Squad
ONESS
120 80/20 60/16 45/10 - - - 1 1 1 -
AT Squad

Generic Specialist Vehicles and Troop Types

Type Speed Ranges (mm) %/Penetration Defence AA
(mm) Factor Factor
50 150 300 450 600 750 F S R
Missile
Support 280 80/18 60/16 45/14 25/12 10/10 - 8 6 4 -
Vehicle
Anti-Aircraft
240 80/12 65/10 40/8 25/6 10/4 - 12 10 8 6
Defence Tank
Armoured
120 80/36 70/24 50/12 25/6 - - 18 14 10 -
Engineer Tank
Riverine 60
80/18 60/16 45/14 25/12 10/10 - 12 10 8 2
Craft (water)
Power Armour
Infantry 60 80/12 60/10 45/8 20/4 5/2 - 4 4 4 3
Squad
Power Armour
60 80/20 60/16 45/10 - - - 4 4 4 -
AT Squad
Engineer
100 65/8 40/6 25/4 10/2 - - 1 1 1 2
Squad
Militia
Infantry 80 60/8 35/6 20/4 5/2 - - 1 1 1 -
Squad
Militia
80 60/20 35/16 20/10 - - - 1 1 1 -
AT Squad

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 ARTILLERY

Artillery fire is dealt with differently from normal weapons fire. Instead of firing directly at
the enemy, artillery fires indirectly, literally “lobbing” the shell at the enemy. This method of
fire means that artillery can fire over obstacles that block direct fire (see Visibility rules
below). Artillery is very powerful and you use a circular template with a 3cm radius to show
the area on the tabletop which an artillery piece’s shells are covering in a move. You will
need to make your own out of card or some similar strong material (eg. clear perspex).

When an artillery piece fires the template is placed over its point of aim and any model (or
part thereof) within the template is attacked that move. The basic percentage To Hit
chance is contained within the Statistical Tables (above) and is adjusted as follows:

Order Firer Target

Advance -20% -10%
Cautious Advance -10% 0%
Static 0% +15%
Regroup n/a +20%

BATTERY FIRE

An artillery battery can, by option, target all three of its guns at one target point and this is
known as battery fire. By doing this the effectiveness of the attack is increased. The area
under battery fire is twice that covered by a normal artillery attack (ie. you use a 6cm
radius circle) and the To Hit percentage is increased by an additional 10%. If you are using
a National Characteristics unit organisation and it has more than three guns then increase
the additional percentage by 5% per gun. Units with two or less guns cannot use battery
fire.

COUNTER BATTERY FIRE

All this makes artillery a very powerful weapon, but its effectiveness is somewhat negated
by its susceptibility to what is known as counter battery fire. Basically, by use of radar, it is
possible to plot the trajectory of shells being fired back to their point of origin and through
quick thinking, fire your artillery at the enemy.

To simulate this in the game, following an artillery attack, any unfired artillery (regardless of
initiative or firing phase within a move) can initiate counter battery fire against the enemy
unit which has just fired. Only individual pieces can fire (not as a battery) and the attack is
subject to an automatic -15% modifiers (all other modifiers apply as normal).

Artillery cannot attack VTOL’s (see Aerospace craft rules below).

++ BLACKTHORNE PMC FORCES SHELL EUROFED MINING STATION ON APHRODITE TERRA,

VENUS! MANY CASUALTIES! GO INTERACTIVE NOW TO SEE THE WHOLE GORE FEST IN 3D! ++

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 TERRAIN

By and large the landscape, over which your troops will fight, will have little bearing on
your games, until you start to introduce items such as woods, buildings, rivers etc.

These will effect both movement and firing, and the following factors apply to troops
moving through these terrain types or firing at targets within them:

Terrain Type Movement Firing Into

Woods -25% -15%
Jungle -50% -25%
Urban areas -25% -20%
Swamp -50% 0%
Fordable river -25% 0%

Movement of Ground Effect Vehicles (GEV’s – basically hover vehicles) or Anti-Grav

vehicles is not effected by either swamp or fordable river terrain.

You may wish to develop further modifiers for unique non-Terran terrains that your troops
may find themselves fighting across. This is perfectly acceptable providing the effects
apply equally to both sides and both players agree to their use.

++ POLISH ONESS ARMOUR AMBUSHED BY NEO-SOVIETS IN PINSK MARSHES. OUR TALKING

HEADS DISCUSS NEO-SOV TACTICS AGAINST SUPERIOR ONESS HARDWARE ON CHANNEL 611.
PRESS RED TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE COMMIE TACTICS ++

VISIBILITY

If you can draw a straight line between your model and that of the enemy, then your model
can see him. Given the developments in night vision equipment etc, night and smoke have
no effect on reducing visibility. Should you wish to play a game whereby visibility is
reduced somehow (say in a Martian dust storm) then we suggest you enforce a minus
modifier to the firers To Hit percentage base chance. Again effects should apply equally to
both sides and both players agree to their use.

++ DISASTER ON MARS? AMREP ARMOURED REGIMENT REPORTED LOST FOLLOWING DUST

STORM IN HYPERBOREAE UNDAE DUNE FIELDS. WE JOIN S&R VTOLS AFTER THE SPORT ++

MORALE (Optional)

This is an optional rule and we suggest you only use it once you’ve played a few basic
games without it.

Morale provides a realistic mechanism that ensures your troops are not made up of
Sylvester Stallone type characters who blindly follow your every order (no matter how
stupid), regardless of their own personal safety, whilst their white metal comrades die in
droves around them. Soldiers are not robots and despite their job, hope to be alive at the
end of it. Sometimes the desire to remain alive overrides the training to follow orders and
they will break and run.

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 However, as Iron Cow 2103AD is a science fiction set of rules you could say all your
troops on the table have been pumped full of artificial chemicals that suppress their natural
emotions and result in them fighting to the last man. If you want to say this then fine – just
ignore the rules for Morale. If, on the other hand, you’d like to see if you can command a
force that is subject to its own natural emotions and desires, then please use the following
rules.

You will note that we have not attempted to apply any form of morale check on your overall
force (ie. would fresh units blindly charge into battle when they can see the burning
vehicles of the other 75% of the Regiment?). This factor will often be down to the reasons
for the battle itself and it seemed rather incongruous to force units to retire from the battle
when (say) two-thirds of the Regiment has been destroyed, when the Regiment had just
completed their objectives or they were engaged in a bitter last stand. Consequently we
suggest that if you are using the Morale rules, then you exercise a degree of common
sense and prior to the game declare an acceptable percentage of casualties that a
particular Regiment is allowed to suffer to meet its objectives.

Morale is worked out upon, and applied to individual units. You will need to test for Morale
whenever the following circumstances occur:

First time fired at

Unit ambushed (see Ambush rules).
First casualty suffered by unit.
Unit strength falls below 50%

To test for Morale you roll one D10 for the unit and modify the score as follows:

American Republic +4
Chinese Democratic Socialist Union +5
European Federation +3
Indonesian Republic +4
Khallistani League +6
ONESS +5
Pacific Federation +5
South African Commonwealth +4
Unit ambushed -4
Unit shot at for first time -2
First casualty suffered by unit -2
Unit strength falls below 50% -4
For each previous casualty suffered -1
Static following morale test -2
Vehicles attacked by infantry in urban, woods or jungle -3
Infantry attacked by tanks in open -3
Attacked by aerospace craft -2

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 You should apply all appropriate scores eg. A CDSU tank troop is ambushed by Khallistani
forces and suffers its first casualty so it needs to test for Morale. The CDSU player rolls a
D10 and scores a 3. He adds 5 to this because his troops are CDSU, but then has to
deduct 4 because the troop has been ambushed and then a further 2 because it has
suffered its first casualty. The modified score is 3 +5 – 4 – 2 = 2.

If the modified dice roll is 4 or higher then the unit has passed the Morale test and
continues in the game as normal. If however it scores between 0 and 3 (as in our example
CDSU troop has) then it must come to an immediate stop and will not advance or fire
again until it is successfully rallied. If the unit scores less than 0 then it must immediately
make a full Advance move towards its own table edge and cannot fire. They will continue
to do this every move unless the player attempts to rally his unit by issuing a Regroup
order in the Orders phase.

REGROUPING

To successfully rally the unit, the player must issue the unit with a Regroup order in the
Orders phase and roll a modified score of 6 or higher on a D10. If he scores less then the
attempt to regroup has failed and the unit and either remains static or retreating as it was
previously doing.

A successfully rallied unit will remain Static for the remainder of the move whilst it
reorganises itself. During this move it received the benefits of being regarded as Static
target for the move, but cannot fire any weapons during a regroup move. Next move it can
be ordered around as normal.

If during a regroup move the enemy inflicts further casualties on the unit, then it
automatically routs (regardless of whether it was retreating or static after failing its Morale
test), and makes a full Advance move towards its own table edge and will continue to do
so until the unit leaves the table or it is successfully regrouped.

++ RELIGIOUS FANATASISM OR SPACED OUT ON WAKKI-BAKKI? OUR TALKING HEADS LOOK AT

KHALLISTANI SUCCESSES AGAINST SUPERIOR HI-TECH FORCES ON CHANNEL 647 ++

AEROSPACE CRAFT (Optional)

The introduction of aerospace craft into the game is one best left until you have fought a
number of battles. Used correctly aerospace craft can be devastating against both infantry
and vehicles.

There are twp types of craft we need to consider. First off there are fixed wing craft that will
fly onto the board, drop their payload and then fly back off to their base. Secondly there
are vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft such as helicopters and aircraft like the
Harrier jump jet. VTOL’s in the future will be (by and large) a combination of the Harrier
and helicopter in the form of the jetcopter.

VTOLS

VTOLs operate rather like flying tanks except they are quicker when moving across the
battlefield and are not affected by terrain, however they are not as well armoured as tanks
and can be vulnerable if they don’t make use of cover like hills and woods. VTOLs are
organised in flights of three with a command VTOL and they are used in exactly the same
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 fashion as any other vehicles. The only restriction is that if VTOLs fly off the table, they
cannot return. VTOL’s can be targeted by units using their standard armament.

FIXED WING CRAFT

Fixed wing craft do not remain in the table for the games and their presence has to be
requested by putting in an Airstrike order issued by one of your HQ APC’s. The counter is
placed next to the HQ APC that issued it and revealed when all other orders are turned.
The player that issued the order then secretly rolls a D4 and notes the score. This number
represents the turn on which the aerospace craft will arrive. They arrive in a flight of three.

When the aerospace craft arrive the controlling player must nominate the target point that
they wish to attack and the speed they will be attacking it at (individual aerospace craft
may attack separate targets and at differing speeds if the player so wishes). These speeds
are Slow, Medium or Fast. The slower you fly the easier it is to hit the target, but the easier
it is to be hit as well.

As you will have seen on the Statistical Charts, most vehicles have some form of anti-
aircraft capability which they use against fixed wing craft (not VTOLs). Prior to an
aerospace craft attacking a unit, the unit can try and shoot it down. To do this each vehicle
in the target template (see below) must roll equal to or less than its AA figure on a D10.
The die roll is modified according to the speed of the aerospace craft:

Slow speed +2
Normal speed 0
Fast speed -2

If the roll is successful the aerospace craft is destroyed and cannot attack its target.

If the craft is not destroyed then it can pursue its attack. The aerospace craft can attack
the target from any direction it wishes and uses the artillery barrage template to see how
many individual models fall into range of its munitions. This template represents the area
that the aerospace craft’s payload covers when dropped.

The attacking player then places the template over the target and rolls his percentage dice
for each individual model (or part of) within the template. The basic To Hit percentage for a
fixed wing craft attack is 60% and is modified as follows:

Slow speed +15%

Normal speed 0%
Fast speed -15%

If the target model is hit following the rolling of the percentage dice then it is automatically
destroyed regardless of its Defence Factor. Aerospace payloads are very powerful…

The number of airstrikes that a player has at his disposal eachis decided upon as part of
the scenario or on a random roll of a D4 by both players if they so wish.

VTOLs cannot be the target of an airstrike.

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 ++ CRISPY CRITTERS! WE JOIN ONESS AEROSPACE FORCES ON AIRSTRIKES AGAINS NEO-SOV
FORCES IN EASTERN RAD ZONE IN FIVE! WE JUST LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE
MORNING HERE ON YOUR FAVOURITE VID-NUZ STATION! ++

AMBUSHES (Optional)

This is another optional rules and one best used only when you have a referee to oversee
the game (unless you have a very sporting opponent!).

Ambushes occur when units conceal themselves from the enemy and open fire at close
range, totally surprising the enemy. Whether an ambush could occur will depend on the
type of game you are playing and will normally only occur when one side is defending and
the other attacking.

If you wish to conceal units you must do this prior to the start of the game. With the
referee’s supervision, draw a quick sketch map of the battlefield and accurately mark
where your concealed unit(s) is based. A concealed unit need not be placed in woods or
buildings, though it is more beneficial to do so. The actual models representing the
concealed unit are not placed on the battlefield yet.

An enemy unit can only be ambushed if it is shot at under 150mm. An attack from any
further range is not counted as an ambush and the player firing does not gain any of the
benefits ambushing gives. An attack from outside 150mm is treated as a normal attack and
once a concealed unit fires it no longer counts as concealed and must be placed on the
board as normal.

An ambush occurs during the normal firing period of a move and the player making the
ambush must declare they are doing so by putting his concealed unit on the tabletop and
pointing out the unit they are ambushing.

Prior to working out casualties on the enemy unit, the enemy player has the opportunity to
see if he spotted the concealed unit before the ambush occurred and that his troops where
not totally surprised.

To do this they should roll a D10 and adjust the score with the following modifiers:

American Republic +2
Chinese Democratic Socialist Union +1
European Federation +2
Indonesian Republic +2
Khallistani League 0
ONESS +1
Pacific Federation +1
South African Commonwealth +2
Concealed unit not hidden in building, woods or jungle -2

To successfully spot the ambush before it occurs the ambushed player must roll a modified
score of 8 or more on a D10. If they succeed then the ambusher gains none of the benefits

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 of the ambush and calculates their fire as they would for a normal Static attack (which in
itself can be pretty devastating!). A spotted ambush attempt also means that the attacked
player can, if he has the opportunity left to him that move, return fire (he cannot do this if
he has already fired).
Should the ambushed player not spot the ambush, then the ambusher can add a further
%5 to his basic To Hit chance and the enemy unit will have to undertake a Morale check
on any surviving unit members. Further, an ambushed unit cannot return fire that move,
even if it successfully survives a Morale check.
++ DEATH IN THE GREEN ZONE! PACFED ARMOURED UNITS SUFFER INCREASING CASUALTIES
IN BATTLES AGAINST INDONESIAN GUERILLAS IN PNG JUNGLE. PRESS RED FOR MORE ++

NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
A mentioned in Organisation above, unit composition can vary from nation to nation. This
is because different armies have different ideas on how battles should be fought or they
may be constrained by the amount of tanks, APCs or infantry available to them. To inject
this into the game we have included some optional Regiment organisations for you to
consider using. None of these are super units (even the ones with lots of tanks!) and their
success will dependent on a number of factors, not least the terrain. Unless stated
otherwise below, the composition of a squadron, platoon etc is the same as the generic
unit organisation as described under Organisation above eg. the Mechanised Infantry
Platoon in the AmRep Air Cavalry Regiment has one Command APC and three sections of
two APC’s and two infantry bases each.
Further, because some units within an army are better (or worse) than others, we have
included different morale figures for certain units where applicable:
++ ONESS ENGLISH 1ST AIRBORNE GRAV-CHUTE INTO EUROFED R&R BASE NEAR BRADBURY
SPACEPORT. NEW FOOTAGE FROM MARS AFTER THESE WORDS FROM OUR SPONSORS ++

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 SCENARIOS

When it comes to playing your games of Iron Cow 2103AD we think you’ll find them all the
more enjoyable if you develop a little bit of background to the battle and a reason for it to
be fought. Battles are rarely fought because two opposing forces just happened to turn up
at the same place at the same time. Doing this is known as creating a scenario and what
follows are some ideas for you to try out. You’ll find more ideas just from watching films on
TV, reading books on real battles from history or those that appear in games magazines
and journals.

THE LAST STAND

EuroFed forces are in headlong retreat on the Belgian border following defeat in a major
engagement by ONESS forces. A HQ unit attempts to rally individual troops and sections
from a EuroFed Regiment as it retreats across the board. Two fresh ONESS Tank
Squadrons enter the field of play D6 moves later.

++ AMAZING VID FROM EMBED WITH ONESS 7TH ARMOUR AS THEY THROUGH SMASH EUROFED
DEFENCES AT STRASBOURG COMING UP WITHIN THE HOUR AFTER THIS LATEST CELEBRITY
NEWZ ++

TAKING GROUND

Using the Ambush rules in a largely urbanised table, a force of AmRep troops comprising
of a HQ unit, tank squadron and mechanised infantry platoon attempt to hold off a CDSU
Tank Regiment in Manchuria.

++ FUBAR IN FIBUA! CHINESE FORCES GRIND TO A HALT IN PRIMORSKY KRAI. AMREP HELM-
CAM FOOTAGE OF BATTLES NOW ON INTERWEB ++

THE SMELL OF NAPALM

Using the Aerospace Craft rules, on Mars a CDSU forces of five VTOL flights and three
airstrikes attempts to destroy a retreating ONESS Regiment which must cross the board.

++ DEATH FROM ABOVE!! RARE AND EXCLUSIVE GUN CAMERA FOOTAGE FROM CDSU ZHENG-
SHENG AEROSPACE FIGHTERS OPERATING IN AMUR OBLAST ENCLAVE WITHIN THE HOUR ++

MEETING ENGAGEMENT

Historically a very unusual type of battle as two forces literally bump into each other, but a
very common type of wargame. Spice it up a bit by having each side rolls a D6 to see on
which move their individual squadrons and platoons arrive and designate an objective (say
a small village) that has to be captured and held by both sides. An interesting game, with
diverse styles of forces such as EuroFed and ONESS.

++ EUROFED AND ONESS ARMOUR CLASHES IN SPONTANEOUS BATTLE NEAR RIVER ILL IN
VOSGES MOUNTAINS. CASUALTIES HIGH. PRESS INTERACTIVE FOR LIVE FEED FROM THE
FRONTLINE NOW ++

29

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 A BRIDGE TOO FAR
A platoon of AmRep power armour infantry (without APC’s) have landed behind Eurofed
lines in Morocco. Holding an important bridge they have to repulse EuroFed attacks unit
AmRep armour can reach them 6+D3 moves into the game.
++ HEROIC LAST STAND BY AMREP 82ND AIRBORNE IN DESERT. MORE AFTER THESE
IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM OUR SPONSORS… ++

MODEL AVAILABILITY
There are a large number of manufacturers that produce miniatures that can be used in
Iron Cow 2103AD. What follows are some of the URL’s of a few (if someone is not on this
list, it doesn’t mean they are not worth checking out!)
www.brigademodels.co.uk
www.darkrealminiatures.com
www.groundzerogames.net
www.irregularminiatures.co.uk
www.scotiagrendel.com
++ AMREP COMMAND ON VENUS CALLS FOR URGENT REINFORCEMENTS TO TACKLE GROWING
EUROFED FORCE. OUR TALKING HEADS DEBATE THE NEED ON CHANNEL 650 RIGHT NOW ++

DESIGNER’S NOTES
This edition of Iron Cow is not the long anticipated second edition but a small run reprint of
the highly popular first edition first printed in 1995 (albeit now with some minor
modifications). Iron Cow has been out of print for a couple of years now, not due to any
lack of popularity (indeed we are regularly asked when will the second edition be available
by existing players and those that want to try it out for the first time), but due to pressure of
work on the author and the sad fact I get distracted by playing games with orcs dressed up
in a variety of historical costumes.
The main reason Iron Cow has not just been reprinted was that the original edition was
geared towards a specific range of miniatures that are largely unavailable today and that
they were originally set in the same background the author and Jon Tuffley developed for
Ground Zero Games wargames series starting with the excellent Full Thrust. With GZG
issuing a second edition of their own excellent 6mm SF armour rules, Dirtside, using the
same background, I decided to write a second edition taking on board some of the
feedback I’d received from Iron Cow players and setting it in a new background.
Then the orcs took over… 
Since then I have been somewhat distracted by Panzerfäuste and our highly popular VSF
flter rules Aeronef. I also decided that the new background I wrote was in some respects
too similar to that I’d helped Jon develop and with the genesis if a more radical one in mind
I scrapped it.
However as another year went by with Iron Cow out of print and work on the second
edition (to be called Iron Cow 2136AD) not started, I made the decision to make the
original edition available again, but with background elements taken from the one I initially
designed and had previewed to some extent in a scenario I wrote for the SFSFW journal
Ragnarok back in late 1996.
30

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)

 So here is Iron Cow 2103AD, not so much a second edition, but version 1.1 – I hope new
gamers like it and have as much fun as existing players do and the existing gamers find
the new vehicles, background and odd new rules worth the purchasE price.
Finally, there was one more motivation in getting Iron Cow back in print – the death of my
stepson Nigel Phillips at Christmas 2001. Nige and I enjoyed many games of Iron Cow
when he visited us and Iron Cow 2103AD is dedicated to him and the fun we had playing
the original game…
DESIGNER’S NOTES (part two)
So here we are once more… It’s over seven years since I wrote the above and fourteen
since we first released Iron Cow and who knows when we’ll get around to that long-
promised 2nd edition! (You can blame the success of the VSF games this time) 
In all seriousness it may be some time and there is not great imperative as the core Iron
Cow system works fine and the game still does what it says on the tin – it allows you to put
a lot of tanks on the table and blow them up in an evening and still have time for a pint
afterwards (age and local licensing laws permitting).
There are some changes to this PDF version (1.2?) to the paper rulebook (version 1.1) but
nothing major. They mainly relate to the background section. I realised we were only a
year away from some of the events in the timeline so took the decision not to include it in
the same format but instead provided some detail on the major powers and brief overviews
of the major wars of the last fifty years of Iron Cow history (so if Saudi and Egyptian forces
don’t invade Sudan and Ethiopia in 2011 it doesn’t really matter!).
The second decision was one planned for a while and was to restrict the background to
the Solar System! Whilst there may be some cries of indignation from some SF gamers
there struck me as little point in having games set on Epsilon Indi IV if most gamers tables
still looked like Surrey! Anyway the Solar System is a big place and if you want alien
environments to fight on then the Moon, Mars and Venus will give you more than enough
problems …
There are some odd little tweaks to the rules to clarify things but no major changes from
what was or was supposed to be and games between owners of the paper and PDF
editions should not cause any problems (if there is a dispute the PDF version tops the
paper one).
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy playing Iron Cow we do have some plans to better support the
game going forward thanks to the possibilities offered by the PDF market so please come
and join the WGSF Yahoo Group to keep up to date with developments for Iron Cow and
its sister games…

Steve Blease

++ AND FINALLY… AMREP COMMAND DENIES GREENPEACE REPORTS THAT ITS UNITS
OBLITERATED ARCHEALOGICAL EVIDENCE OF EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE AT SYRTIS MAJOR
WHEN IT FIRED A TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPON AT EUROFED FORCES. WELL BOB, IF THERE
WERE LITTLE GREEN MEN ON MARS, THEY’LL CERTAINLY BE GLOWING GREEN TONIGHT… ++

31

Andrew Weaver (Order #31962919)