Hi all!

Here's another little sumptin' I found while setting up my computer anew. I wrote them this summer while preparing the WaW-Venus book with Stefan (Ljungqvist). The rules are 100% non-playetested. You are hereby warned. Hope you like them.

Thomas

It's the Age of the Second Corporate War. The Solar System is set ablaze by conflicts. From the deep jungles of Venus to the doughpits of Mars; in the deep caverns on Mercury and in the asteroid belts, new battles are lost and won every day. Battles among the corporations, and battles with the Dark Legion. It is war without end. Darkness has once more descended on mankind. There is no peace to be found.

On Venus, large scale wars are fought with small units. In a terrain where the troops barely see 10 feet in front of themselves, where vegetation is so dense that a gunshot can't be heard 100 meters away, communication between the small units and their home base is crucial to coordinate the war. In-field-commanders will have to be directed towards the enemy my their home base. The home base knows the enemy's positions based on reports from the in-field-commanders. This very special for Venus, and thus the Headquarters unit, or command unit as it's also called, has been developed to cope with this.

The HQ unit consists of the commander, be it the lowly lieutenant or the high ranking general, his bodyguard, a communications officer, and a medic. The bodyguard is made up of a sniper, and two veteran soldiers. In all a 5 man squad.

Throughout the Solar System's numerous warzones, commanders take to the fields to lead their troops to victory -- or defeat. Each military force have their own headquarters, mobile fire bases and command points for the commanders at various levels.

The size of the forces commanded by a Headquarters Unit varies tremendously. It all depends on the situation and the depletion of the force. Some Headquarters' command the four squads, but many may command only two or three squads due to none-replaced losses on the battlefield. Others will have a command of up to seven or eight squads (even ten squads have been known to occur) due to attrition among the force’s officers.

In the real Mutant Chronicles Universe there are Headquarters commanding Headquarters at lower levels of the military hierarchy, but this is really outside the scope of this game. Warzone is a skirmish game, not a fully fledged tactical army game.

SPECIAL RULES
On the battlefield the HQ Unit acts as a regular squad (see Warzone page 40-41) with the Commander as squad leader.

HQ Units always benefit from the respective forces' Corporate Special Abilities, i.e. Capitol's Air Strikes and Helicopter Deployment; Bauhaus' Reliability and The Moment Has Come!; Mishima's Banzai Charge; Imperial's To The Last Warrior and Seize the Initative; and finally Cybertronic's Immunity to Art and Dark Symmetry.

All special rules applicable to the unit's troop type applies to the HQ Unit, too. An Advisor never benefit from the troop type special rules.

Structure
The HQ Unit does not count as a squad. It is counted as an individual model. You may only field one HQ Unit regardless of the total size of your force. A HQ Unit may never be fielded with troops from leaderless units.

A Headquarters Unit always contains the Commander, his Bodyguard, a Communications Officer, a Medic, and a Sniper. These are picked from your corporation’s force list. An advisor may be present in the unit. He is an individual picked from either the Cartel or the Brotherhood force list (see Advisors below).

Cost
The Cost of an HQ Unit is the total of all models in the unit plus 20 points.

COMMANDER

--**--
«Request Denied»
The trials and tribulations had been hard and many. Leftenant Gruber felt like he had been pulling back for ages. He had requested an airlift, but his request had been denied. He had to lead his plutone on a retreat through the dense Venusian jungle.

It was no easy thing commanding a plutone. In a way he was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand he received orders from the company telling him what to do. On the other hand he saw the agony and pain written in the grim expressions of the Hussars in his commanded. It was like nothing he had ever previously experienced.

And the Dark Legions’ ambushes had increased even more. If that was humanly possible. Which was sort of the point. It wasn’t humanly possible. The Legion weren’t human, but his men were. He had requested support from other units in the area, but the request had been denied.

He looked about. His men really were weary. While he was trying to establish contact with the HQ of Centauri kompagnie, his Hussars were taking a well earned rest. A rest that would only last so very short. It was Müller who made them aware of the assault by the fact that he had tumbled to the ground - dead. Hit by a maggot bullet. The maggots were already spreading like cancer. Leftenant Gruber spotted the enemy. Not that it was all that difficult. Raving through the jungle, the Legionnaires were everything but hard to spot. He had raised his Kampfkanone, ready to shoot when his communications officer got contact with company headquarters.

Gruber made a quick estimate of the number of Legionnaires. Too many for his plutone to handle. He had to request artillery support. «Centauri Prime. Centauri Prime. This is Centauri Four calling, Requesting immediate artillery support. I repeat: requesting immediate artillery support. Over.» Through a cracking line a voice answered: «How many men have you left Centauri Four? Over.»

Gruber winced. He knew what kompagnie HQ’s answer was to be as he replied: «Two full squads and then some. Over.»

When the answer came through, it was exactly like he had imagined. He was mouthing the words as they came through. «Request denied.» The story of his life, and now - with the onslaught of the Legionnaires - most probably his death.
--**--

The commander is an individual model chosen from your corporation's force list. He is the overall commander of your force. The commander’s prime function on the battlefield is to - well - to command the men under his command. He also responsible to at all times keep in touch with the headquarters directly above him in the hierarchy. He is the man to execute the plans of the high ranking officers, but he is also the man to take care of his men and see to that they don’t have to take any unnecessary risks.

Still, it is also the commanders job to knowingly order his men to certain death. Sometimes that is the price to pay for an overall victory. As such the commander’s job is maybe one of the hardest jobs on the battlefield.

Special Rules
The individual model acts as squad leader for the HQ Unit. He is per se no longer an individual model in the sense that he is part of a squad, but it acts as an individual model in every other respect (see Warzone p.41). In fact, fielding him with the HQ Unit even increases his capacity to command his forces. Squads within 12" of the HQ Unit may use the individual's Leadership during panic and rout tests.

Since the Commander is the highest ranking officer on the battlefield, he may Give Orders to other individuals with higher Leadership.

Equipment
The Commander is equipped as described for his troop type in Warzone.

Structure
The Commander is bought as an ordinary individual, chosen from your corporation’s force list. You may not use an individual model for which there are no regular model equivalents (like the Mishima’s Deathbringer, Imperial’s Rams Air Cav, etc).

BODYGUARD

--**--
«So Spoke Inquisitor Gabriel»
I was over the moon to fight with Captain Clayborough in his headquarters unit. I was finally no longer fighting with every Tom, Dick and Harry of the Defense Forces. I was where I belonged; fighting with the elite of the regiment.

Together with a certain Staff Sergeant Duncan, a daft fellow from the 2nd Morgan Regulars, we formed the bodyguard of the HQ unit. Accompanying us, Captain and his men from Her Serenity's 1st Regiment of Fussiliers ñ known as the Footsies among the regulars was Inquisitor Gabriel. I'm not sure why he was to serve with us, but there must have been a reason.

On a hill above the battlefield Captain Clayborough said we should take up our positions. "For increased overview of the battlefield," he said. On the fields below I could see our troops advancing. The flash of the odd Hellfire, the smell of the Wyrmbreath. There is nothing like the smell of Wyrmbreath in the morning!

Positioning myself near the Captain to show my loyalty, I raised my binoculars to take a closer look at the trenches crisscrossing the battlefield. The Footsies and Duncan took up positions behind some rocky outcrops. From the trenches on the other side of the battlefield, Undead Legionnaires - not Capitol troopers as we had expected - emerged from the trenches. Behind them other of the monstrosities of the Dark Legion. I was stunned.

None of us had expected to run into the Dark Legion, least of all Captain Clayborough.

"We will charge the monstrosities to defend mankind!" proclaimed Inquisitor Gabriel.

"We will what?!" exclaimed the Captain. "Not with my command, you won't! My chaps stay here with me." He was a rather brusque man, the Captain.

"Yes, we will! By the powers invested in me by the Codex Cardinalis I command thee to follow me hither in a charge down these hills."

"By Nate I won't! Over my dead body," was the Captain’s unfortunate reply.

"As you wish," said Gabriel raising his Nemesis.

BOOM!!!

Then we charged down the hill.
--**--

The Bodyguard consists of two veteran soldiers hand-picked by the commander. They have usually served under his command ever since he was a sergeant, and he has come to know and trust them. In some circumstances, they’re just soldiers who’ve been given the position in honor of their performances on the battlefield.

Regardless of how they became part of the Commander’s Bodyguard, their main objective on the battlefield is to defend the Commander with their lives, letting him spend all his energy on commanding his troops. This is of course not always possible, but it’s still their main objective.

Equipment
The Bodyguards are armed as described in their force list.

Structure
The Bodyguard consists of two soldiers from the same force list as the Commander. They must be of the same troop type as their Commander, and you may not choose to use squad leaders for the Bodyguard.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Special Rules
The Communications Officer is equipped with a communicator. As long as the communicator is working (it may be affected by the Malfunction Gift) the force has an additional +3 to Initiative. It’s only the Communications Officer who’s able to use the communicator. If he’s killed, nobody else can use it, and subsequently the Initiative bonus is lost.

Equipment
The Communications Officer is armed as described in Warzone, and he’s equipped with a communicator at an additional Cost of 5 points.

Structure
The Communications Officer must be a squad leader of the same troop type as the Commander. E.g. if the Commander was a Blood Beret Captain, the Communications Officer must be a Blood Beret Sergeant.

MEDIC

Among the many screams and sounds of pain on the battlefields, the most used must be "Medic!". Medics are sorely needed soldiers, and soldiers they are. Usually picked from the hardiest veterans, their duty is to patch up wounded comrades and to make sure those seriously wounded are stabilized and taken care of when the battle is over.

It's a dangerous job - but someone's got to do it. Soldiers put their faith in the Medics, and an unspoken battlefield rule is never to target one if possible. Still, the Medic's job is extremely dangerous. It's not always too easy to spot the red cross on his shoulder pad, nor is it always too easy not to let one's anger and fear bear on the closest enemy - and no-one can claim the Medic not in the middle of the storm.

Fighting the Dark Legion is another matter entirely. They know no laws and respect no conventions. Killing a Medic is in their twisted minds the only logical course of action.

The many Medics serving in the corporations' forces are dedicated soldiers in no way inferior to their comrades' in fighting capabilities, devoted to saving as many lives as possible.

Special Rules
The same as those for War Medics in Dawn of War p.36. If your force is a Cybertronic force, though, the Medic is replaced with a Dr. Diana (DoW p.43).

Equipment
As described in Dawn of War.
Structure
Always fielded as part of the Headquarters Unit.

SNIPER

--**--
«Honorary Captain Jungle Bump, CAF»
My Momma tole me I knew how to shoot before I knew how to walk. Back at the farm Pops used to tell me how to handle the gun. Shootin' at empty cans, I soon advanced to shootin' our hens and pigs. Nothin' could stop me when I was in the mood for some shootin'.

"He'll be an expert marksman one day, Martha," Pops used to say to comfort my Momma. It didn't help her much...

Neither did the fact I became an expert marksman help me much. I sure got off that backwater ranch back in the Freedom lands. Got rid of them tobacco chewin' yokels. Away from the hillbillies. Right where I never wanted to be - in the line of fire.

Don't ask me how I got here, or why. All I know is them men with shinin' medals and nice uniforms came past our ranch one day. They told me I could become one of them if I volunteered for the Capitol Armed Forces.

Sure theeng. I kissed my Momma goodbye, and traded that sorry place I had called home for a series of equally sorry places – army camps. First some sorry barracks for three months of trainin'. Then to another sorry barrack for another six months of "specialization". As if I needed that! I knew how to shoot, that’s for sure..

So - havin' finished all this sorry schooling theeng, I was sent to fight in the Venusian jungle. Big deal. All people ever asked of me was: "Pick off the enemy as they approach." Big deal. These targets were way larger than any hen or tin can. Easy prey.

I was awarded tons of medals, promoted, and got to visit the President. Why? Just for shootin' at easy targets? I don't know. My Momma always told me to do my best, so I did my best.
--**--

The support troop Snipers are always associated with a squad, serving alongside other troopers. They are not the lone wolves oft associated with snipers. Neither are they trained assassins. They are merely expert marksmen.

Despite the fact only individuals may be armed with Sniper Rifles, the support troop Sniper is not to be counted as an individual.

Special Rules
The Sniper is trained to handle the Sniper Rifle, and is an expert marksman with the Crack Shot special heroic ability. He is also trained to remain calm under pressure. As such he can pick off any enemy model within line of sight.

Equipment
The Sniper is always armed with one of his corporation's Sniper Rifles (i.e. Sniper Rifles from their respective corporation's armories, not the General Armory), and a sidearm.

Structure
The Sniper must be a regular trooper of the same troop type as the Commander.