I was playing with dinosaurs all afternoon and the realised I’d never taken my Biblical Skirmish rules for a spin, my poor Abramites and Elamites had been looking at each other in the bottom of a box and never managed to get their hands dirty!
Unfortunately the terrain I used made it hard to get good pictures of the action, needless to say that the Abramites came out on top in the end. Here’s one picture of the action half way through:
The rules held up well and were certainly speedy, resolving the action rather quickly and satisfyingly. So here are the rules I used, they’re still an early draft:
BIBLE BASHERS: ANCIENT SKIRMISH WARGAMING
BUILDING A FORCE
Each force begins with a Leader; this figure is always a hero and costs 0 points. Then the player has 10 points to recruit the rest of their force. Heroes cost 3 points, sergeants 2 and troops 1. Each recruited figure and the leader is also assigned a battlefield role. They can be a Fighter, Thrower or Shooter. Fighters can only attack enemies in base to base contact but get a +1 modifier to all their combat rolls, Throwers can attack enemies that are up to 12”away, and Shooters can attack enemies up to 24” away but get a -1 modifier to all of their combat rolls.
An example force could be the following:
Leader – Abram – Fighter (0pts)
Sergeant – Joab – Thrower (2pts)
Sergeant – Simeon – Fighter (2pts)
3x Troops – Shooters (3pts)
3x Troops – Fighters (3pts)
You can also select two buffs from the following list to add more personality to your force; you cannot pick the same buff twice. Buffs are applied force wide, so all your figures benefit from the selected buffs.
STRONG – Add 1 to all offensive combat rolls.
TOUGH – Add 1 to all defensive combat rolls.
SWIFT – Add 3 to all movement rolls.
HUNTER – When a thrower or shooter attacks they get an additional 3” of range.
LEADERSHIP – Heroes and Sergeants can issue orders to other figures up to 15” away.
RESOURCEFUL – You can have 11 points to construct your force instead of 10.
GIANTS – If you select this buff all members of your force are giants and you cannot select a second buff. Each member of your force costs 1 additional point (excluding your leader), and your force benefits from the Strong, Tough, Swift buffs and in addition each figure can take 1 more point of damage before being killed.
SETTING UP THE GAME
In order to play the game you will require the following – a gaming area of 2’ by 2’, six six-sided dice (three per player), and a tape measure with inches, and gaming terrain such as obstacles are a good idea to make the playing area more interesting. Each player will also require a force constructed as above.
At the start of the game forces are deployed according to whichever scenario is being played. Once forces are deployed, if the scenario designates one player as the attacker and one as the defender then the attacker takes the first turn. If the scenario does not, then players roll off to determine who goes first.
PLAYING THE GAME
When it is a player’s turn they roll a die to determine which figures they are able to activate:
| DIE ROLL | ACTIVATES | ORDERS |
| 1 | Trooper | N/A |
| 2 | Sergeant
|
1 Trooper |
| 3 | ||
| 4 | Hero
|
1 Trooper, 1 Sergeant, or for the full activation 3 Troopers |
| 5 | ||
| 6 |
The table above sums up activation, on a roll of 1 you can activate 1 trooper, when a figure is activated they get 1 movement action and 1 combat action. On a 2 or 3 you can activate a sergeant, if the sergeant forgoes one of their actions they can instead issue an order to a trooper within 12”, they can forgo both of their actions to activate 2 troopers within 12”. A hero is a little more complicated, they activate on a 4,5 or 6, and by forgoing one of their actions can order a trooper or sergeant within 12”, equally by forgoing both they can activate two sergeants within 12”, and if they forgo both and activate only troopers they can activate 3.
MOVEMENT
When a figure performs a move action they can move up to 2D6”. If the figure does not perform a combat action or issue any orders, they can move an additional 1D6”. Movement penalties should be applied as are sensible in regards to your own gaming terrain.
COMBAT
A figure can only attack an enemy that is in range. A fighter can only attack enemies in base to base contact; a thrower can attack enemies within 12” and a shooter within 24”. Roll a die for the attacker and a different die for the defender adding any of the following modifiers:
ATTACKER
Hero +2
Sergeant +1
Fighter +1
Shooter -1
Charged +1
A figure gains the charge bonus only if they attack an enemy in base to base contact and were not in base to base with any enemies at the start of their activation.
DEFENDER
Hero +2
Sergeant +1
Fighter +1
Shooter -1
Cover +1
A figure gains the cover bonus if they are being attacked from distance and are partially obscured from the view of the attacker. If they are not visible at all then they cannot be attacked.
Once the dice have been rolled and any applicable modifiers added, if the attacker scores double or more than double the defender’s score then the defender is killed. If the attacker scores more than the defender but less than double, then the defender takes 1 point of damage. A trooper can take two points of damage before being killed, a sergeant 3 points and a hero 4. If the result is a draw or the defender wins the roll, then neither side suffers any ill effects, however if the defender scores double, or more than double than the attacker, and the defender could attack the attacker (within 24” for shooters, 12” for throwers or base to base for fighters) then the attacker takes 1 point of damage.
WINNING THE GAME
The game ends when one side has lost all of its heroes, the other side being the victor. Or when one side has lost half of its figures the other side being the victor.
Deathzap 