Warhammer Quest

Alternative Armour Rules

Peter Haresnape

Personally, I think that the basic armour rules are all right, as long as the warriors don't get too stupid, though I know that there are plenty of rules floating around for moderating armour.

I was working on an update for the Pit Fighter's armour, but ended up with a new system. Here are my rules…

Armour

The Armourer supplies armour (which is why they call him that). Armour is worn on the torso, upper arms and often the lower body, though not always the legs. In my rules, armour has the effect of adding to the toughness of the wearer, as it deflects or absorbs the blow. However, it is entirely possible that the sneaky old Monsters might aim their blows at a part of the body not covered by armour. Thus, if the Monster rolls a 6 on the to hit roll, as well as any other effects, the hit bypasses armour. This is usually because it has scored a hit on the head. Thus, one needs…

Helmets

A helmet only adds a toughness bonus if the blow to be blocked scored a 6 to hit. If so, it bypasses the rest of the armour, and so this is the only armour deduction made.

Shields

A warrior can try to block an enemy's attack with his shield (should he have one). Please note that there are three types of attack in this case.

Magical Attacks- these are spells, or traps, or attacks made with magical items like the Doom Fire Ring. However, attacks made with a magical weapon (for example) are not included in this.
Magical Attacks cannot be deflected with a shield. I'm sorry, but no.
Ballistic Attacks- arrows, crossbow bolts, spears, rocks, custard pies and gunpowder weapons come under this category. Ballistic Attacks can be avoided with a shield. The effect is that the warrior gains the basic toughness bonus of the shield against such attacks (as well as other armour, when applicable). In other words, nothing changes here.
Hand to hand attacks- or melee attacks, those made with hand-held weapon, like a spear, sword or halberd, or Magical Weapon. Attacks made by animals and such also count. Hand to hand attack can be deflected with a shield, or absorbed. To deflect, the warrior must roll over a certain number… shall we say 5+? If the Warrior's WS is two or more points higher, this is a 4+, and if two points lower, 6+. If this roll succeeds, the blow is turned completely, causing no damage. If it fails, the blow causes damage, unmodified for the shield. If the warrior decides to use his shield to absorb something of the impact, he may simply add the Toughness Bonus to his own. He may not use both in a turn (i.e. he must deflect or absorb all incoming attacks). In addition, the shield cannot be used to deflect or absorb blows if they were made with a 6 to hit.

Miscellaneous Armour

There are various other bits and bobs of armour floating around, either from the character packs, or from the Treasure Vaults. Here is how I have interpreted them into this system. Please note that it probably doesn't mesh beautifully with other systems out there, so you may have to execute a bit of GM authority.

Gorget- a warrior wearing a Gorget gains the +1 Toughness bonus (only?) against attacks made with a 6 to hit, as it protects a vulnerable part of the body. If this is adopted, I'd suggest giving the Witch Hunter the equivalent of furs, giving him +1 Toughness however he was hit. Note that the Gorget would be worn as well as a helmet, and so should probably be restricted to the Witch Hunter.
Pit Fighter armour… oh golly. Well, let's just follow the normal rules for now.
Knightly Armour- This includes a Helmet, so gives its Toughness bonus consistently. The Knight may buy or acquire another Helmet as he chooses.
Breastplate- this would count as Armour, and I don't think the Warrior Priest gets to wear helmets, which puts him at a disadvantage. Oh well, let's say that his shiny bald head distracts all Monsters, and if they roll a 6 they are temporarily blinded, and strike with less force…?
Elf Shield- this is specially designed to deflect blows, and so has the stated effect. For the rest of the turn it deflects as normal, but the first is automatic. I suppose it could be used to absorb, with a toughness of 1. However, when used to absorb, roll 1D6. On a roll of 1 it shatters under them impact, absorbing the entire blow but being destroyed. A trip to the Master Craftsman is needed…
Elf Helm- the warrior can declare that he is 'taking the blow on his helm' as normal. Follow the normal rules if so. Otherwise, it merely adds +1 Toughness against a to hit roll of 6, as normal.

It should be fairly obvious what does and doesn't work regarding treasure. Most of the armour is only 'body armour', and so has no effect on a roll of 6. Assume that all of the helmets give the toughness bonus on a roll of 6. The shields also follow the above rules, allowing a deflection or absorption. What follows are the pieces of armour that I think need explanation.

Armour of Fortune- I once was running a game with too many players to keep track of, and failed to notice that my Trollslayer was wearing this… he regretted it later though. Assume that this works as normal, intercepting all of the hits, even when made with a 6 to hit.
Armour of Dargan- this armour is bypassed on a natural to hit of 6, as you'd expect.

Dragon Helm- this gives +2 Toughness against fire-based attacks, and +1 Toughness against attacks made with a 6.

Enchanted Shield (?)- this is the shield on the treasure card, which I believe absorbs 1D6 wounds, exploding on a roll of 1. Use this rule to determine the Toughness bonus each time, and also count a roll of 1 on the deflection roll as an exploded result.

I'd just like to mention that these rules are neither playtested or balanced (probably), but they seem to make sense. I have written them in about half an hour with a minimum of thought, so don't depend too much on them. As with many things, it is important to strike a balance between 'lifelike' and 'too complicated, lets go play tiddly winks'. There are basically two rules presented here. The first is the splitting of armour into Armour (for 2-5) and Helmets (for 6's). The second is the idea of parrying with a shield. Actually, I think that there are rules for parrying in Mordheim, but I can't quote them, so I'll leave it up to someone else to rewrite this in their own image…

Peter Haresnape
25th September 2003
"Bigger Tables! Better Choices! More Rules!"