FAST-PACED TACTICAL

MINIATURES COMBAT

QUICKPLAY
 CREDITS
QUICKPLAY RULES BY C H R I S BIRCH
BASED ON THE ORIGINAL RULES BY
K R Z YS Z TO F R AC Z YŃ S K I
R A FA Ł Z E R Y C H • R O B E Y J E N K I N S
EDITOR & LAYOUT PHOTOGRAPHS MINIATURE DESIGNS
Richard L Gale Fátima Martín Pérez Stéphane Chasseloup,
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Jane Robertson Christian Quinot Kamil Boruc, Giorgio Espinos,
GRAPHIC DESIGN PAINTERS Krzysztof Raczyński, Mariusz Klat,
Krzysztof Raczyński Callum France, Rosie Williams, Chris ‘Chrispy’ Peacey,
Julian Jeratsch Colin Grayson, Sean Bullough

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PRINCIPAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER LEAD PRODUCTION OPERATIVE COORDINATOR
Michal E. Cross Jake Pink, Miles Turner Hollie Shepperson

2
 CONTENTS
WELCOME 4 THE TURN 10
RULES 5 1. INITIATIVE 10
ACTION TOKENS 10
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY 5
2. DEPLOYMENT 11
SCALE 5
3. ACTIONS 11
MEASUREMENTS 5
MOVE 11
MINIATURES 6 SHOOT 12
OTHER SOURCES OF MINIATURES 6 ADVANCING FIRE 12
BASES 6 AIMED SHOT 12
DEFINITIONS OF GAME MECHANICS 7 SHOOTING EXAMPLE 13
MOBILITY 7 GUARD 13
FIREPOWER 7 DO NOTHING 13
ARMOUR 7 4. SITUATION UPDATE 13
DEFENCE 7 5. TURN SUMMARY 13
DAMAGE BAR 7 VICTORY 13
LINE OF SIGHT 7
TERRAIN 14
ABILITIES 7
MOBILITY CHARACTERISTICS 14
ELEMENT TYPE 7
ACTION 8 LOS TERRAIN CHARACTERISTICS 15
ACTIVATION 8 COMMON TERRAIN ELEMENTS 16
AUGMENT DICE 8 COMBAT MISSIONS 17
ATTACK DICE 8 SCALE OF CONFLICT 17
DEFENCE ROLL 8 TABLE SIZE 17
CRITICAL HITS 8 TERRAIN 17
SUCCESSFUL ATTACK 8 VICTORY POINTS 17
FAILED ATTACK 8 MISSION OBJECTIVES 17
COVER 9
MISSION: PATROL ENCOUNTER 18
PARTIAL COVER 9
DAMAGE 9 ELEMENTS 19
DAMAGE STATUS 9 WEAPONS AND ABILITIES 19
CAUSE AND EFFECT 9 PERFORMANCE UPGRADES 20
MEASURING DISTANCES 9 ELEMENT CARDS 21

Modiphius Entertainment Ltd,

39 Harwood Road, London, SW6 4QP
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel +44 207 736 7020
Product Number: MUH1680117
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Hardwar is copyright Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the
author and publisher except where specifically permitted by law. Artwork and graphics ©Modiphius
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The Modiphius logo is a registered trademark of Modiphius Entertainment Ltd., 2022. Any unauthorised
use of copyrighted material is illegal. Any trademarked names are used in a fictional manner; no
infringement is intended. This is a work of fiction. Any similarity wih actual people and events, past or
present, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

3
 WELCOME TO HARDWAR
HARDWAR – also known as Hardware Warfare, press campaigns. In 2080, the international press
a type of warfare fought by privately owned, mostly community coined the catchy term “hardwar”
remotely operated armoured assets engaged to describe the nature of this conflict due to the
in fast-moving, small-scale actions against the proliferation of autonomous and AI-controlled
orthodox military, police, and security forces and, military assets, from small flyers to large armoured
on occasion, against rival commercial forces, vehicles. With the rise of the drone pilot, frustrated
either independently or in conjunction with a larger orthodox military commanders have consistently
corporate-military strategy. damned Hardwar assets as “smart-cans”, “RTS
toys”, “FPS extensions”, or “R/C troopers”, among
The word “hardwar” (the abbreviation of hardware
many other names.
warfare) originates from the conflicts of the
mid to late 21st century that saw the increasing
 Universal Encyclopedia, Canal 2225 Edition
deployment of remotely controlled drone weapon
systems alongside social media and political

THE BEGINNING
The turn of the 22nd century was a time of great progression for
the human race, space exploration, scientific and technological
advancements. It was also the time of neo-colonialism, and a new order
emerging from the pyres of the old world. It was the time for a new
breed of war – the Hardwar.
Hardwar recreates near-future ground battlefields, providing
straightforward rules for a fast-paced tactical experience in a relatively
hard science fiction setting. Hardwar takes into account not only
classic armoured warfare, enriched with fictional combat assets
like walkers (or ‘hardbots’) and spaceships, but also futuristic
predictions of combat evolution: the importance of cybernetic
warfare, a decline in the number of human soldiers
(now replaced with AI algorithms), a rise of sentient
combat swarms and electronic fog of war, and the
experimental development of new exotic weapons,
to name a few.
This quickplay rulebook streamlines
many of the mechanics in the full core
book, presenting only cut down rules in
most places. The goal is to allow you to
quickly experience the core mechanics
and gameplay before moving on to the
full extended rules which offer many more combat
options, skills, and assets. The full rules will cover ECW, custom
elements, solo and co-op play, campaigns, introduces both
Line of Fire and Area of Fire, Area of Vision (which makes
positioning much more important), and lots more possible
actions, terrain, and skills. You’ll find rules for flyers, flaws, and
heroes, and a lot more.
So grab some minis, a pile of D12s and prepare for battle!

4
RULES
WHAT YOU NEED TO SCALE
PLAY HARDWAR Hardwar is designed for our range of miniatures
Apart from these rules, commanders will need a few in 6mm / 1:285 scale. You could also use your own
things before they can get started. Here is a handy 6mm minis, or use 10mm or larger scale vehicles that
list of a few points that will be elaborated on below: you have in your collection, although you would then
want to increase the size of the table and could try
■ 10-12 twelve-sided dice, called ‘D12s’
doubling the distances in inches.
■ A tape measure marked in inches

■ 4 Miniatures per side, representing combat

MEASUREMENTS
elements (more for longer games and more In Hardwar we
tactical options) measure distances
in inches (″), and
■ A handful of small dice or counters
this is used for all
representing damage points, Smokescreens, tabletop distances
Vulnerable and Exhausted elements and heights. We
■ A print-out of the cards on page 21 as refer to base sizes in
reference for your elements’ stats millimetres (mm) since
bases are typically
■ A pen or pencil to mark off damage on the available in metric
elements (or use dice) measurements.
■ A flat surface of 2x2′ (61cm x 61cm) to represent
the battlefield, with a few terrain pieces such as
trees, buildings, and hills.

5
 MINIATURES
Commanders will also need battlegroups to
command. A fun and exciting game can be
had with forces of just four units (called
‘elements’ in these rules), and a sample
force is included on page 21.
For those with large collections and
the vision of mighty armies clashing
in an epic conflict, the rules will
comfortably accommodate forces of
twenty or more elements per side or
more, if you don’t mind slower gameplay.
Example of a
Find out more about the full Hardwar miniatures 50mm base
range at hardwarminiatures.com
Example of a 40mm base

Other sources of BASES

miniatures Ranges and distances are measured from base edge
If you want to bring previously owned miniatures to base edge. If you have vehicles without a base,
from other manufacturers, there is a lot of room for then measure to the nearest physical part of the
alternative, historical silhouettes in Generic, Custom, model. Any round base with a diameter large enough
or Experimental elements. Such anachronic vehicles to accommodate your miniature is fine.
are perfectly okay on the fringes of Earth in the
Hardwar era. In some instances, oblong bases may be required to
better accommodate the footprint of a mini.
If commanders prefer polygon-shaped bases
(squares, hexes, octagons, etc), it is perfectly okay to
use them as well but, with base-to-base measurement,
corners may give additional advantage to elements
shooting through them, providing shorter ranges.

6
DEFINITIONS OF GAME Defence [d]
MECHANICS Most elements have some degree of active
countermeasures designed to minimize the
Class [C]
impact of an enemy’s attack, be it active
The first stat to be aware of is the element’s countermeasures or electronic defence systems,
Class or ‘C’. It can be described as the size of the as well as resources to fix or ameliorate structural
element, or in some cases, its ‘threat class’. An damage and injury. D represents an element’s
element’s C has several functions in the game, but countermeasures, electronics, and its ability to
the most important is to dictate how many points recover from enemy action.
an element costs to include in your battlegroup,
closely followed by calculating the element’s An element’s D is the number of dice rolled to
damage points by multiplying the C by two. make a Defence roll against enemy shooting (see
page 12), it is also used in a few Special Actions
For narrative purposes, we can assume that C1 like Self-Repair.
elements are considered ‘Light’, C2 are ‘Medium’,
C3 are ‘Heavy’ and C4 are ‘Siege/Assault’ Class. Damage Bar
Everything above can be considered Super-Heavy.
Every time an element suffers damage, mark off a
number of boxes on the Damage Bar. The Damage
mobility [m] Bar represents an overall deterioration of the
The Mobility stat, ‘M’, describes how quickly an element due to damage. Alternatively, you can use
element can move. There are two basic types of small dice or counters to track the damage next to
movement, Cautious and Patrol, described in detail the model or on the sheet itself. If you have several
on page 11. Cautious allows for slow movement with models of the same type, you can have multiple
full awareness of the battlefield, while Patrol allows sheets or use separate dice.
for faster speeds at the risk of some Defensive ability.
Line of Sight [LOS]
Firepower [f] If an element can draw a straight line between any
An element’s ‘F’ represents a mix of its volume of part of itself or its base from the model to any part
fire, its range, and its accuracy, reflecting the fact of an opposing element or its base, it is said to
that, in Hardwar, very few elements carry a single have LOS and can make an attack on that element.
form of ranged attack. Elements may tote heavy LOS may be blocked by Cover modifiers from
cannons as well as short-range defensive systems intervening terrain.
and high-volume light weapons.
The full rules have more detailed rules detailing how
An element’s F is the base number of dice it rolls the facing of a unit can affect what it can shoot at and
when shooting. Some elements will carry special defend from.
weapons that can increase or decrease this number
or convey some other effect to the shooting action. ABILITIES
Abilities are special rules that are part of element
Armour [a] stats. They modify basic rules, add performance
This stat represents the durability of the element’s bonuses, or upgrade some actions.
passive defence, referred to as its Armour.
‘A’ represents how hard an element is to damage. Element Type
Enemies shooting at a target element must add There are four types of elements: Walker, Vehicle,
the target’s Armour to their range to get the target Troopers, and Aircraft. Troopers and Aircraft are not
number to hit (see page 12). covered in this quickplay ruleset.

7
 ACTION Defence Roll
Every turn, an element may perform two actions. A Defence Roll is performed in a similar way to an
Available actions are represented by Action Tokens Attack Roll, except that the pool of D12 available
placed next to the element at the beginning of the is equal to the defender’s D value, modified by all
turn. Some assets in the full rules may increase the applicable conditions and special rules. This roll
number of actions the element may perform, while also benefits from Augmented Dice.
some in-game effects of terrain or skills may reduce
The pool of Attack Dice results should be compared
that number.
with the Pool of Defence Dice results. Every
Defence Die that scores the same result as Attack
ACTIVATION
Die cancels it out – both dice should be removed
A segment of a turn, in which one element may from their respective pools. Remember! Augment
perform its actions. Activations alternate between Dice rolled and countered with a Defence Roll are
commanders, one element at a time. Outside of its removed BEFORE they generate additional dice.
own activation, an element may only react to the
opposing active element via the Guard action. Critical Hits
Augment Dice Critical hits occur when an Attack or Combat
Roll produces at least one twin pair of results not
Every die that rolls a 12 explodes, enabling the roll
cancelled by a D roll. To build a critical hit, this pair
of an additional die, the Augment Die. The result of
must be used together in one Damage Pool. This
Augment Die is added to the Attack Roll pool, and if it
adds another point of damage.
again rolls 12, another Augment Die is rolled, its result
added to the pool, and so on, until there are no more Example: A Firepower 4 Attack produces results
natural 12s rolled. Augment Dice are used both in 6, 6, 4, 7 at a distance of 8″ with a target that has
Attack Rolls, Combat Rolls, and Defence Rolls. If both Armour 2 for a total target of 10. Let’s assume the
the Attack and Defence Roll result in 12s, they cancel Defending element rolled their Defence dice and did
each other out before Augment Dice are added. not cancel any of the attacking dice. The attacking
player decides to assign 6 & 6 to one group, and 7
Attack Roll & 4 to another. The first has sufficient range (total of
The Attack Roll is one of the basic tests in Hardwar. 12 vs 10″) to be a successful hit and is also critical,
To perform an Attack Roll, a player takes the doing a total of 2 points of damage, while the other
Firepower (F) of the attacking element, and rolls is a hit (total of 10 or more) so inflicts just one point
that many 12-sided dice. The result is a pool of of damage, for a total of 3 points of damage.
numbers from 1 to 12. Each natural 12 counts as an
Augmented Die. An Attack Roll is countered with SUCCESSFUL ATTACK
a Defence Roll (see below). The Critical Hits rule is A Successful Attack means an Attack that scored 1 or
applied during an Attack Roll. more succesful hits.
The target number is simple: total the distance
between the two elements in inches; add 1 for every FAILED ATTACK
inch of light terrain (wooden buildings, trees) the A Failed Attack means an Attack that failed to score
attack passes through, or +3 for partial heavier cover a single hit.
(see page 9), adding the defender’s Armour value (A).
It is good practice to roll both Attack and Defence
The final total is the target threshold to meet in pools simultaneously to speed up the game and to
the result pool in order to apply at least one point use different colour dice for Attack and Defence for
of damage. For every grouping of any number of ease of identification.
D12s that meets or exceeds the threshold, one hit
is applied. For every pair of dice showing the same
number, included in the same result pool, this counts
as a critical hit and adds another point of damage.
See the shooting section on page 12 for more details.

8
Cover MEASURING DISTANCES
See-through terrain elements like woods, bushes, All distances on the battlefield are measured in
or wooden buildings only partially block LOS, even inches (″). Any part of an inch is rounded up to the
if they are directly in line to the target. Such features next inch, so 6⅓″ is 7″, and 7¾″ is 8″. Distances
add +1 to the effective range for each 1″ of such terrain between objects and game pieces are measured
between the attacker and its target. All fractions are between the closest two points on each object’s base.
rounded up to the nearest full inch value.
Cover-derived modifiers stack. A total value of Cover
of 6+ means that the target is outside LOS. This
includes intervening terrain, smokescreens, dug-in
elements, and similar obstacles.

PARTIAL COVER
A target is in Partial Cover if it is obscured from the
shooting element by a piece or pieces of solid terrain
such as concrete bunkers or buildings. If less than
half of the target is obscured, the effective range
is increased by +1. If half or more of the target is When an element is moving, the distance is measured
obscured, the effective range increases by +3. from and to the same point at the start and end of the
See-through terrain like woods does not provide movement. This idea is more clearly explained in the
partial cover, even if it physically obscures the target. diagram above.
Instead, it provides the usual +1 to the effective range Remember, Hardwar is a futuristic setting, where
to the target per 1″ of intervening see-through terrain. technology allows for access to tactical information
Cover and Partial Cover modifiers stack. for every element. Therefore, commanders are free to
measure and plan all actions and their variants before
DAMAGE the final decision on the course of action.
Every hit that an element suffers causes 1 point of
damage, which is marked on the Damage Bar.
Units with abilities like Self-Repair can repair some
of their damage.

Damage status
DESTROYED – An element is considered Destroyed
when it has taken as many damage points as double
its (C) Class. The Destroyed element is considered a
Wreck and acts as solid terrain for cover purposes.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

All effects caused by all types of attacks are
applied immediately.
Guard reaction effects are simultaneous with the
effects of an action that triggered them.

9
 THE TURN ESTABLISHING INITIATIVE
ALTERNATE ACTIVATIONS
1. INITIATIVE SITUATION UPDATE
TURN SUMMARY
In Hardwar, the commander with the least Elements
remaining on the battlefield goes first. If there is a tie,
each commander rolls a D12 and the highest roller Commanders may not elect to ‘pass’ their chance to
goes first. activate an element.
Each element may be activated once per turn.
ACTION TOKENS In each activation, an element may perform a
Action Tokens represent the number of actions the number of actions equal to their Action Tokens,
element may perform during its activation. In general, usually two. When an element performs an action,
each element has two actions. You can easily use remove one Action Token.
coins, stones, cubes, or official tokens.
Note that, in the full rules of the game, the
At the start of each turn, the commanders should Commanders also conduct an ECW phase prior
place two Action Tokens next to every element. to activations. This has been removed for the
The commanders then alternate in activating purpose of the Quickplay rules.
elements, according to the established initiative.
If one commander has no more elements to activate,
the other commander may continue to activate
elements until all the elements on the table have
been activated.

10
2. DEPLOYMENT MOVE
In Hardwar Quickplay, unless otherwise specified by General rules apply to all available movement-related
mission parameters, elements are deployed touching actions:
the table edge of their side of the 2x2′ board.
■ Elements may pass freely through friendly
During the initial deployment, commanders who elements.
lost the initiative must deploy their battlegroup ■ Elements may not end an Action with their
first. When all of them are placed, the winner of the base or model overlapping another element.
initiative places their own battlegroup on their side
of the board. ■ Elements may not pass through enemy
elements or move into base contact with them.
In the full rules there are special skills and assets, Close Combat or Melee rules are included
such as Orbital Entry or Ambush, that allow for in the full rulebook. We only cover ranged
different kinds of deployment of some elements. combat in the Hardwar Quickplay rules.
■ Elements must adhere to terrain rules for their
3. ACTIONS type of motive type and movement mode.
Each element in the game can perform up to two
■ Most elements can choose from two modes
actions (with a few exceptions) per activation. Each
time an element performs an action, remove one of basic movement:
Action Token from it. An element may only be CAUTIOUS – Mostly used when cautiously
activated once per turn. passing through areas dominated by
All elements in the battleforce must be activated enemy forces, the element is moving slowly,
during each turn, and must use up all available maintaining its situational awareness on all
actions, even if they ‘Do Nothing’. sides. The element may move up to its M
value in inches. In addition, in its following
Actions must be selected from the list below: action during the same activation, including
Guard, the element gains the Alert special rule
MOVE (see page 20).
SHOOT PATROL – The element is moving quickly
AIMED SHOT forward, ready to engage targets of
ADVANCING FIRE opportunity but at a cost to
GUARD its situational awareness.
SPECIAL ACTION The element may move
(e.g. Reload, Smokescreen, Self-Repair) up to 2x its M value but it’s
DO NOTHING (D) Defence is reduced by 1. Add
a Vulnerable Token to the unit to
remind you that it’s D is reduced
by 1 until the end of the Turn.

The full rules have more move

options and treat the risks of
moving at speed differently, but
we’ve simplified things for the
purpose of this Quickplay.

11
 SHOOT Indirect Fire
Shooting in Hardwar is quick and easy to resolve: Every element is able to act as a spotter and transmit
coordinates of opposing forces to its Indirect Fire
1. DECLARE THE TARGET – The active elements. To do that, the target element must be in
commander identifies the target of the shooting the LOS of the spotting element. This does not cost
action and checks if the target is in the active an action. The target number is still calculated using
element’s LOS. If it is not, the commander may the range from the attacking element to the target.
choose another target.
2. CHECK RANGE – The range is measured RELOAD (Special Action)
between the closest two points on the active In some situations, such as when an element is
element and its target. This figure is then Exhausted following a Full Strike attack action (see
modified by adding the target’s (A) Armour and page 20), an element must reload its ammo or energy
any Cover (see page 9) and the end result is the capacitors. To do so, the element must perform a
target number. Special Action to Reload before it can make another
3. FIRE! – The active commander performs the attack. If the element performs a Reload, remove the
Attack Roll using the number of dice equal to Exhausted Token.
the active element’s current F. The Augment
Dice rule is applied as well. ADVANCING FIRE
4. INCOMING! – The target may try to defend The action can be performed in either order. An
itself with a Defence Roll. The target’s element may perform a cautious or patrol move
commander rolls a number of dice equal to as part of an Advancing Fire action. The shooting
the target element’s D. Remove one die from follows all the normal requirements and restrictions,
the Attack Roll for every die in the Defence but the element’s F is halved, rounding up, unless the
Roll that exactly matches its result. So if the element has the Alert special rule (see page 20). The
Defence Roll shows a 3 and 8, and the Attack element must declare a visible (within LOS) target
Roll shows 5, 8, 8, the shooting commander before making a move. Therefore, the target must be
must remove one 8 from their results. Augment in the attacker’s LOS at the beginning of this action,
Dice are applied as well, and they cancel no matter if moving or shooting first. The target must
the Augment Dice of the attacker before an be within LOS at the moment of shooting.
additional die is rolled.
AIMED SHOT
5. CALCULATE HITS – Using the remaining
F dice, the active commander must then make While sacrificing mobility for stability, elements can
groups of dice that equal or exceed the target utilize a whole array of targeting systems, making
number. For each group, one hit is scored. Any their fire more accurate.
number of dice can be used in a group. If there If chosen, this action is the only action that can be
are any doubles assigned to a given hit group, performed by the element during its turn. For all
treat that hit as a critical hit for each double, intents and purposes, it is counted as spending
and add one extra hit per double. two Action Tokens to perform ONE action. If the
6. APPLY DAMAGE – The target commander enemy element has a Guard Token, it may React to
now adds the number of hits to the element’s the aiming element action BEFORE aimed attack
damage track. If an element has no damage takes place. The aiming element adds +1 F to its
remaining, it is destroyed. You can remove attack this turn.
the model from the board or leave it there
as wreckage.

12
Shooting Example DO NOTHING
Tom’s light hardbot (F3) shoots at Rose’s medium Sometimes commanders may want an element to
tank element. Tom checks that they are in the perform no action. To do so, simply remove an Action
hardbot’s LOS (they are) and measures the range, Token as normal. If a commander declares the ‘Do
which is 8″. The target has no cover and an Armour Nothing’ action, opposing elements may react as
of 3, so the target number is 11. They roll their dice normal, if they can draw LOS to it.
and score 11, 7, and 4. Rose’s tank has a D of 2, so
Note that an element may also perform a Cautious
she rolls two dice and gets 11 and 2.
Move of 0″ instead of Doing Nothing. In this case,
Rose’s 11 exactly matches Tom’s 11, so Tom’s 11 is the element gains the benefit of having performed a
removed from his F roll. He is left with 7 and 4, which cautious move (gaining the Alert special rule) but this
together make 11 – just enough to score one hit. Had does not count as a ‘Do Nothing’ action.
Rose rolled 8 instead of 11, Tom would have had two
groups: one of one 11, and one of 7 and 4, both of 4. SITUATION UPDATE
which equal or exceed the effective range, giving
When all activations are resolved, it is time to update
him two hits.
the situation before the turn summary can begin.
All of the remaining tokens for Guard, Vulnerable,
GUARD and Smokescreen are removed from the table. Note
A Guard action can only be performed as the that Exhausted Tokens remain until removed by the
LAST ACTION during activation. Entering Guard Element taking a Reload Special Action.
mode allows for a Reaction. An element in ‘Guard’
mode saves its second action as a reaction to be 5. TURN SUMMARY
used later in the turn, outside its activation segment.
Right after the situation update, it is time for a turn
To indicate this, the commander removes the
summary before a new turn begins. Commanders
second Action Token and places a Guard Token next
update their Action Tokens pool to account for
to the element.
casualties and check if anyone has achieved mission
A Guard Token is removed after the first reaction, or objectives, therefore becoming the winner. This is also
at the end of the turn, whichever comes first. the moment when one of the commanders may yield
and forfeit the game.
GUARD REACTIONS
Once an element has fully resolved its action, any VICTORY
and all opposing elements in Guard mode that are Before the battle, commanders agree on the number
able to draw a LOS to the active element during of turns the game will be played, or it is decided for
any part of its action may react to it. The controlling them by the chosen mission. If, at the end of the last
commander of a reacting element may remove the turn, both sides are still active, it is time to decide
Guard Token from the element and may perform one who is the winner of the engagement depending on
of the following reactions: Move or Shoot. the scenario being played.
Each element in Guard mode may react only once
per turn. After any opposing elements have reacted,
the active element may then perform its next action.
During the reaction, all shooting actions for both
sides occur simultaneously, but the reacting element
measures the distance to the last known visible
position of the active element. Shoot reactions are
made at half F rounded up unless the unit has the
Alert special rule.
Elements in Guard mode cannot react to elements
other than active enemy elements within LOS.

13
 TERRAIN
Each terrain type differs in movement restrictions or MOBILITY
difficulties. The full rules include many more terrain CHARACTERISTICS
types; we have kept it simple for the purposes of the
Quickplay rules.
PAVED
Paved terrain allows for fast and efficient travel for
It is always worth having some terrain pieces to make all types of units, but especially Wheeled vehicles.
battles much more interesting. For a simple setup
game, it is perfectly fine to treat all obstacles as All ground elements gain +1 M when traveling
indestructible and opaque in terms of LOS, and Plain entirely on Paved terrain.
in terms of Movement, or Impassable if elements
Elements with the Rapid special ability may move
cannot be placed on or within them and remain
up to x3 using a Patrol movement action as long as
stable. Alternatively, a few wooden farm buildings
all of the movement is in straight line with no more
and trees let you keep the Cover rules simple.
than one facing change.

TERRAIN SPECIAL RULES In addition, all Wheeled elements gain the Rapid
special rule, even if they do not possess that
Terrain used in battles may vary greatly from table to
ability, as long as their entire movement is through
table, depending on the commander’s tastes, vision,
Paved terrain.
and access.
PLAIN
Plain terrain is the default type of terrain. It is usually
flat, but hills can also share characteristics of plain
terrain. Travelling through plain terrain does not
enable any specific rules. It can be represented
by permafrost, glacier, savannah, fields, meadows,
plateaus, beaches, etc.

14
ROUGH TERRAIN LOS TERRAIN
Elements may move in, out, or through rough terrain CHARACTERISTICS
at any rate, but their M is reduced by -1 during a Terrain features may change the Line of Sight. Some
Move Action that at least partially passes through may totally block them, some may only interfere,
Rough terrain. Rough terrain may represent sand and sometimes they may have an impact on firing
dunes, scrub, a ford, hedges, cattle fences, etc. abilities. The full rules have more detailed rules for
Line of Sight and Line of Fire that affect combat. The
Tracked vehicles treat Rough terrain as Plain for the Quickplay rules only deal with LOS.
purposes of Mobility.
SOLID
DIFFICULT
Terrain features with this characteristic block LOS.
Elements may move in, out, or through Difficult This term usually applies to terrain features like
terrain at any rate, but their M is reduced by -1 hills, rocks, cliffs, etc., but also to concrete buildings
during any Move Action that at least partially passes and fortifications.
through Difficult terrain.
In addition, if an element moves at a Rapid rate OPEN STRUCTURE
and any part of its movement passes into, out of, The ruins of skyscrapers, factories, pipelines,
or through Difficult terrain, roll a D12. If the result is malls, but also plywood/glasshouses, etc., can be
less than the total distance moved in the action, the described with this term. Open structures are treated
element suffers a hit. as terrain, providing partial cover; i.e. elements
Advancing Fire actions may not be performed whilst behind or within the Open Structure are subject to
moving through a difficult terrain. Difficult terrain may the Partial Cover rules, regardless of whether they
be represented by mild rubble, a steep slope, a gully, touch the terrain piece or are behind it.
a large ditch, etc.
FOLIAGE
Tracked vehicles treat Difficult terrain as Rough for
the purposes of Mobility. This characteristic can also be applied to plant life
like bushes, scrub, trees, etc. Foliage increases the
effective range to target behind it by + 1″ per 1″ of
SLOPE / HILL
LOS/LOF covered in Foliage.
Slopes are terrain undulations, with the sides gentle
enough to traverse without trouble. They introduce 6″ of foliage along the LOS blocks the LOS/LOF
no additional rules to movement as long as a based completely, regardless of whether the element is
mini can be placed on the slope without falling or still visible.
sliding down.

15
 COMMON TERRAIN FOREST
ELEMENTS Any clearly delineated area on the battlefield may be
designated as a Forest (including the whole table).
BUILDINGS
Evergreens or deciduous, height up to 2-3″, long and
A terrain piece that depicts an intact building and wide as needed.
which is around 2x2x2″ may be treated as an intact
building. Larger terrain pieces depicting intact Characteristics: DIFFICULT.
buildings must be clearly divided into sections of
similar size, which are treated as separate buildings HEDGE
under these rules. Height up to 1″, length 4-5″ per section, max 1″ wide.
Buildings are generally considered IMPASSABLE Characteristics: ROUGH.
and SOLID, but if players wish so, they may have
additional characteristics. Most buildings are durable RUBBLE Or RUINS
enough to support up to a C5 element and has (A)
A patch of rocks or other debris scattered on
Armour 5 with a damage track of 5. Alternatively,
otherwise plain terrain.
you could assign different structures different Class
Ratings. For example, a small office building could Characteristics: ROUGH.
be C2 with a damage track of 4, versus an armoured
bunker being C4, damage track 8. RIVER
An element occupying a building may draw LOS from 1-2″ wide for small channels and creeks, 3-6″ for
any part of that building in any direction. Likewise, any medium, and 6-12″ for large rivers.
other element may draw LOS to the element in the Depth 1-3″.
building if it can draw LOS to any part of the building.
Characteristics: ROUGH (creek) / DIFFICULT
If a building is reduced to 0 on its damage track, the (medium river).
building becomes Ruins and any element inside is
destroyed. An element shooting at a target inside a
building must declare whether it is shooting at the
building or at the element inside.

16
COMBAT MISSIONS
Any game of Hardwar is a confrontation: two or TERRAIN
more sides meeting in a decisive engagement of The different sections describe who should
tactical and strategic importance to all participants. place terrain pieces in certain areas of the table.
Generally speaking, more terrain pieces will deliver
SCALE OF CONFLICT more tactical opportunities, but also a longer play
The first thing to decide upon is the Force Class each experience. As a rule of thumb, one 4x4″ piece or 3-4
player will have to spend on their army. Hardwar is smaller pieces of a similar footprint per square foot of
designed to be a quick game, with anything from the table is the perfect median for terrain saturation.
four up to a couple of dozen elements per side. You If players agree otherwise, they can use more or less
can play with more, but be aware that turns will take terrain at their own convenience.
longer with more elements on the table.
VICTORY POINTS
TABLE SIZE In most cases, Victory Points (VP) are scored when
You can play Hardwar on a table of almost any the opposing element is destroyed. Usually, they are
size or shape, but the default for the mission that calculated as 1 VP per 1C of the destroyed element.
follows is 2x2′ (61x61cm). You’ll want larger tables
for larger forces. MISSION OBJECTIVES
Victory Points also may be awarded as bonuses for
achieving some mission objectives. Those can be the
auxiliary or main source of VP.

17
 PATROL ENCOUNTER TERRAIN
We have provided a sample mission for these rules, Suggested saturation is 4x4″ per sqft. Both
but feel free to create your own. commanders must agree on the quantity and size of
terrain used in this kind of engagement. Each player
The two forces are aggressively patrolling the
takes half of the terrain pieces agreed upon and both
contested territory when they come across each
place them alternately, in the mutually agreed order.
other. The conflict is not ideal, yet both commanders
are forced to hold the ground until nearby
reinforcements can arrive.
BUDGET
The battle lasts 6 turns.
SET-UP
For a Force Class of 15 or less, use a 3x3′ table.
OBJECTIVE
For Force Class up to 25 use a 4x4′ table. Both commanders receive similar orders – destroy
For Force Class greater than 25 use a 4x6′ table. as many enemy elements as possible with minimal
losses.
The starting force is a Force Class of 11 and we
recommend a 2x2′ table for a quick game.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Here’s a rough guide to how long a game should 1. The side that eliminates ALL enemy forces
take: while still having at least one active element on
FORCE CLASS GAME LENGTH the table is considered the Victor, regardless
of actual Victory Points scored. If there are no
15 30 Minutes active elements at the end of the game on both
20 45 Minutes sides, the battle is considered a draw.
30 90 Minutes 2. For every enemy element destroyed by the
end of the game, a commander adds its Class
value to their Victory pool. For every unit lost
in battle, a commander subtracts its Class
value from their Victory pool. The side with
more Victory Points is the Victor. In case of a
draw, no side is victorious.

18
ELEMENTS
WEAPONS AND ABILITIES SMART
Weapons equipped with smart ammunition can
MOTIVE TYPES attack targets WITHOUT the LOS at -1 F, as long
In general, each type of element has only one type as the Line of Fire does not pass through any
of movement: Impenetrable obstacles such as concrete buildings.
All Cover modifiers apply. Elements with Smart
■ TRACKED – Tracked vehicles are still the
ammunition can fire at targets even if a cumulative
mainstay of armed forces. They ignore Rough
Cover modifier is 6 or higher.
terrain and treat Difficult terrain as Rough.
■ WALKER – Walkers are usually bipedal, but Rapid
sometimes they are quadrupeds or even
The element may move up to three times its M in a
hexa- or octopods. Most often, this category
straight line. Only one facing change is allowed in
refers to Hardbots.
Rapid movement, and only at the beginning or end of
the movement. Turning mid-movement is not allowed
INDIRECT FIRE except on Paved terrain. Add a Vulnerable Token to
Indirect Fire systems can attack targets without line the unit so it suffers -1 D until the end of the turn.
of sight as long as one friendly element has LOS to
the target. For the purpose of range, distance to the Smokescreen
target is counted from the FIRING unit.
An element can create a smokescreen around itself
If the element has no LOS to target, it may still as an action. Place a Smokescreen Token next to the
perform an attack with half of F. unit. Until the end of the game turn, the element’s
Cover is increased by +3, in addition to any other
ION CANNON bonuses from cover, etc.
In addition to normal damage, an Ion Cannon attack
removes one remaining action from the target. If a
XMG
target Element has the Guard Token, this is removed. An Extreme Machine Gun is a walker-size machine
gun with a bore similar to medium tank cannons.
RAILGUN This reduces the D of the target by 1 for the purpose
of its attack resolution.
If an attack inflicts any damage, add a second point
of damage.

19
 PERFORMANCE should be marked with an Exhausted Token. After
UPGRADES a successful Reload, the token is removed and F is
restored. This token remains with the element after
ALERT the end of the turn until it is removed.
An Alert element always has a 360° arc of vision
(AOV). A unit’s F is never halved when shooting with GUNNERY CONTROLLER
an Advancing Fire or Reaction: Shoot. In a Shoot action, this element may split its F
between two targets and roll to hit separately
ASSISTED TARGETING with the allocated dice. This may not be used with
This element may re-roll a single F die after the Advancing Fire or Reaction: Shoot.
target’s D roll. The second roll replaces the first even
if it is worse. The result of the D roll also applies to GRASPING MANIPULATORS
the re-rolled dice. Grasping Manipulators are installed only on Walkers.
In the full rules, they are used to hold Hardbot-scale
FULL STRIKE
weapons and for close combat.
A given element is able to unleash all available
weapon systems in one devastating attack against BRACING MASS
a single target. After a single use of that ability, the
element is Exhausted, as its energy capacitors are This element’s construction makes it very stable
drained, barrels are overheated, and ammo and during movement. It may use its full F value for any
missile racks depleted. Advancing Fire action.

The element gains +2 F in one attack costing two Self-Repair

actions, but its D is reduced by 2, even if it goes
If the element has any damage, it can spend an
down to 0. The Element cannot take a Shoot,
action to repair one point of damage.
Advancing Fire, or Full Strike action again before
restoring F by taking the Reload Action. The element

NAME element
TYPE

CLASS
MOBILITY

FIREPOWER

ARMOUR image

DEFENCE
TOTAL
DAMAGE BAR

weapons Damage Dice

& abilities
element data card You could use this
space for a dice to show
remaining damage
Cursive text refers to the motive type.
Bold text refers to the installed armament upgrade – if there is none, the element is considered
to be equipped with a basic projectile weapon, like a tank cannon. If an element has two or
more weapon upgrades installed, only one can be used during a single attack.

20
21
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