Armies of Arcana House Rules

As I mentioned in yesterday's battle report, my last game of Armies of Arcana brought with it my critical mass moment - the moment I realized I'd played the Rules As Written enough to form opinions on what I wanted to add or change.

The core of the system will remain untouched for the most part. The only major rule I'm fiddling with (and this has been a house rule from the outset, actually) is to make Missile Immunity somewhat less powerful. The remainder of my house rules are really additions to the system, incorporating some of my favorite elements from Fantasy Warriors: pre-battle scouting (and its effect on terrain placement and army deployment), boasts, omens, time of day and bad light, and a rational victory system (which incorporates elements from the AoA Meeting Engagement scenario as well).

I'm looking forward to giving these additions a whirl at some point in the near future. I've promised myself I won't play another game until I've finished my river tiles, so it might be a little bit, but when it does happen I'll be sure to post pictures and thoughts as always!

Til then, if you want to take a look at my house rules just click on the nekkid necromancer below:

Building Saving Throws for BKC

Inspired by memories of blowing up buildings in my old Space Marine games--along with the fact that I have some nifty Paper Terrain houses that can double as ruins--I came up with this house rule for Blitzkrieg Commander:

Buildings normally count as hard cover, meaning troops inside a building are hit on a 6.

Furthermore, buildings are generally immune to most types of damage. However, they are vulnerable to artillery barrages.

Any time a building comes under fire from artillery (i.e., if a building is covered in whole or in part by a barrage template), it must make a saving throw.

Building saves work the same as for other models with save values, but due to their size and sturdiness buildings roll their saves on 2D6 instead of 1D6.

Saves are as follows:

Wooden structures - 6

Brick or half-timber/half-stone structures - 5

Stone structures - 4

Reinforced concrete structures - 3

If a building fails its save, it is counted as ruined. A ruined building offers only partial cover, meaning troops inside a ruined building are hit on a 5 or 6.

If troops are in a building when that building is ruined, the troops automatically become suppressed. If the troops are already suppressed, they must fall back a number of centimeters equal to the dice total rolled for the failed save.

Building saves should be made after all other hits and suppression results are worked out.

Example: A unit of troops is inside a brick building when the building comes under artillery fire. The troops suffer one hit and become suppressed from the artillery barrage itself. Furthermore, the building fails its save, rolling a "4". As a result, the troops, having become suppressed, must abandon their position in the building and fall back four centimeters.