winter war strategems

8/4/2019 Winter War Strategems

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Cities of Death

Visions of desolate, ruined, war-torn cityscapes covered in snow and ice are very evocative,conjuring up images of snipers shivering beneath their greatcoats or guns freezing up as they

fire.

Lost in the Snow A driving blizzard can make a disaster of a relatively simple deployment - marker beacons

are no longer visible, communications are disrupted and visibility drops to almost nothing.

Units (friendly and enemy) deploying to the battlefield via Deep Strike or Outflank suffer -1

to their reserve rolls. Additionally, units that Deep Strike roll 3D6 for scatter, rather than2D6.

Freezing Fog

Visibility across the battlefield has been drastically reduced, leaving the combatants to

blindly guess at enemy positions.

Use the Night Fighting scenario special rule from the main rulebook to represent the freezing

fog. Note, however, that searchlights cannot be used, as they are unable to penetrate the

swirling mists. Additionally, assault grenades have no effect in this game - the assaulting

troops cannot see the defenders clearly enough to glean full advantage from their grenades.

Roll a dice at the start of each game turn - if you roll under the turn number, the fog lifts and

the stratagem no longer applies.



Snowdrifts The wind has driven snow and ice into the confines of the ruins, creating vast frozen drifts

that are treacherous to traverse.

All city ruins count as dangerous terrain. Furthermore, units must roll an extra dice for alldifficult terrain tests in city ruins, and discard the highest result. If this stratagem is used in

the same game as the Lost in the Snow stratagem then roll a D6 for each city ruin at the start

of each player turn. On a roll of 1, that ruin is treated as impassable terrain for the rest of the

game. Any units in that ruin must immediately move out of the ruin - any model unable to do

so for any reason is overwhelmed by the mounting snowdrifts and removed from play.

Freezing Flood An icy river has burst its banks somewhere near the battlefield - its chill waters could sweep

the battlefield at any point.

The Freezing Flood is rolled for at the start of each game turn exactly as if it were a unit inreserve - it cannot arrive on the first game turn, but will arrive on the second game turn on a

4+ and then on a 3+ in the next turn and so on. Immediately as the Freezing Flood arrives,

only units on the first or higher floors of buildings are safe. Roll a D6 for every unit at

'ground' level. On a 2 or more, the unit is swept away by the chill waters. All models in the

squad are removed as a casualties. Once the Freezing Flood's onset has been resolved, the

water level subsides, leaving the entire battlefield to be treated as difficult terrain. Vehicles

are unaffected.

Frozen Engines Unprepared vehicles can quickly succumb to the effects of the extreme cold. The enemy's

vehicles are ill-equipped to deal with the sub-zero weather. If their tanks and transports are

left stationary for long they will cease to function as engines seize and axles freeze up.

At the end of each of the enemy player's turns he must roll a D6 for each of the vehicles that

did not move. On a roll of 2+ it has frozen up treat it as having suffered a crew stunned result.



Planetstrike

Planetstrikes are already deadly affairs - when you add sub-zero temperatures and hazardousweather conditions, the death toll can only rise.

Unless otherwise specified, the following stratagems can be used by either the attacker or the

defender.

Approaching Absolute Zero

Stratagem Points: 1

When declared: After the defender has deployed

The temperature is so low that even armour is starting to shatter and flake.

• All armour saves (friendly and enemy) are one point worse than normal.

• All armour values (friendly and enemy) are one point worse than normal.

Razorshard Blizzard

Stratagem Points: 2When declared: After the defender has deployed

Great jagged shards of ice fall from the sky, smashing and shredding all beneath them.

• Roll a D6 at the start of each turn. On score of 4+, a razorshard blizzard sweeps the

battlefield. Roll a D6 for every unit (friendly and enemy) not inside a bastion - the unit takes

that many Strength 6 AP- hits.



Freezing Vapour

Stratagem Points: 2


Extreme cold has rendered the enemy guns unstable and prone to misfiring. A single

shot can clear the barrel, but will it also make the weapon explode?

• The first time each enemy squad makes a shooting attack, all of its weapons are treated as

having the Gets Hot! type. After this first volley has been fired, the weapons return to normal

for the rest of the game.

Fields of Ice

Stratagem Points: 3


The ground is not ground at all, but the surface of a massive frozen lake. The footing is

treacherous already, but it might well get worse if a thaw sets in...

• The entire battlefield is treated as dangerous terrain. In addition, roll a D6 at the start of

each player turn. On a roll of a 1 or 2, all dangerous terrain tests from that point onwards will

suffer a -1 penalty. These penalties are cumulative, although a natural roll of 6 is always a

pass.

Unstable Ground

Stratagem Points: 1

Defender only.

When declared: Directly after a single attacking squad has deep striked onto the board.

Heavy snowfall has covered up the deep chasms that surround the defensive perimeter.

Certain death awaits squads that impact onto what is assumed to be a stable surface but is in

fact a layer of compacted snow.

• Choose an attacking squad that has just deep striked onto the battlefield. All models in the

squad must make an armour save. If they fail the armour save then they remain on the

battlefield as normal. If they pass their armour save then the surface has given way, their bulk

dragging them through the layer of snow and into the chasm beyond, remove the model from

play. A deep-striking vehicle must roll over its front armour value on 3D6 or suffer the same

fate.



Apocalypse

When the apocalypse arrives it matters not if it's on some sun-baked desert planet, in lush

forest or on sub-zero ice-caked worlds. The only time the environment is relevant is if it can

be turned to your advantage.

Intermittent Comms

The extreme cold and treacherous blizzard make communication difficult to the point of

impossible when the ice storm rages at its peak.

When Revealed: At the start of one of the opposing team's turns.

Effect: The members of that team may not speak or communicate in any way about the game

until the end of the Shooting phase. (No speaking, writing or gesticulating of any kind!)

The Mother of All Hailstorms

The battlefield is blighted by a short but deadly ice storm, as hail stones ranging from thesize of bolter rounds to large boulders fall to the ground at great speed.

When revealed: At the start of your Shooting phase.

Effect: Place D3 Apocalyptic Barrage templates anywhere on the battlefield, although they

must be within 12 inches of each other. The hailstorm uses the following Apocalyptic

Barrage (5), Strength 5, AP 5.

Experimental Ice Weapon One of your troops has been armed with an experimental weapon. It looks and works similar

to a flamer but instead of burning prometheum, it sprays a chemical coolant. While not deadly, the coolant can temporarily freeze targets, encasing them in ice and weakening their



armour.

When Revealed: The first time it is used.

Effect: Pick any one model armed with a flamer in your force - he is carrying the

experimental weapon. The weapon is treated like a normal flamer with the following

exceptions; the weapon does not fire the normal flamer template but the hellstorm templateinstead. Models under the template when fired must make a successful Initiative test to dive

out of the way or be sprayed with the coolant. If the test is failed the model has been hit and

becomes frozen in place. Frozen models may not move, shoot nor act in the subsequent

player turn. Additionally, models do not have an armour save when frozen (invulnerable

saves work as normal). If assaulted they are automatically wounded. If only some members

of a squad are frozen, then the active members cannot break squad coherency although they

can otherwise move, shoot and fight as normal.

Models with an armour value cannot dodge the coolant if they are under the template but they

can move and shoot as normal in their next player turn if hit. However, their armour value is

reduced by 3 until the end of the next player turn.

The experimental weapon is unstable, and as such counts as having the Gets Hot! Rule

(although it should be called Gets Cold! in this case).

Frozen Booby Trap A remnant from a previous conflict, this wreckage has remained dormant, frozen by the

elements for decades. Now the arrival of another great war has reactivated the sensors. The

close proximity of enemy troops has started the automated countdown of a rigged plasma

warhead hidden amongst the wreckage.

When Revealed: After deployment.

Effect: After the forces have set up but before the game begins, the owning player places awreckage marker anywhere in no-man's-land. For the wreckage marker we've used a Titan



cockpit in this example but you can use any suitable model in your collection to mark the

area. As soon as any model from either side goes within 10" of the marker the booby trap is

activated. At the start of the following turn roll a D6: on a 3+ the warhead explodes. If it

doesn't explode then roll a D6 at the start of each player turn until it explodes or the game

ends. Treat the exploded warhead exactly like an Apocalyptic explosion as described on page

93 of the Apocalypse book with the wreckage marker at the centre of the blast.

Hypercold Bubble Due to atmospheric anomalies, there are pockets of extreme 'hyper-cold' areas all over the

planet. Should vehicles or troops move into these bubbles of extreme cold they will be frozen

in an instant, as armour shatters and molecules freeze over.

When Revealed: At the start of the battle.

Effect: The owning player nominates an area on the battlefield no more than 12 inches in

length and 8 inches wide as the Hypercold Bubble. This can be based around a terrain feature,

like this petrified forest in the picture above. Any models that enter this area must

immediately take a dangerous terrain test to represent the hyper-cold effect but are removedon the roll of a 1 or 2. Vehicles that enter the area must take a dangerous terrain test, being

affected on a 1 or 2. If they fail, not only are they immobilised but their armour value on all

facings is reduced by 2, as the extreme cold weakens the structure.

winter war strategems

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