Bommerz over da Sulphur River
Bommerz over da Sulphur River Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Game
In Bommerz Over Da Sulphur River players take on the role of either the Imperial forces attempting to defend the bridges or the Ork Fighta-Bommerz trying to blow them up. All you need to play are the contents of this PDF, a few Citadel Miniatures and a flat surface to play on such as a table or a bit of floor where you're not going to be disturbed.
What You Get
As well as these rules and eight dice, Bommerz over da Sulphur River includes:
- 3 board sections
- 12 defence counters
- 6 damage markers. These clip onto the stands of the Fighta-Bommerz and Interceptors when they've been damaged by flak or enemy interceptors, as explained later.
YOU WILL NEED 4 Ork Fighta-Bommer and 2 Imperial Thunderbolt Interceptor Citadel models.
Getting Started
First, assemble the Fighta-Bommer and Thunderbolt Interceptor models with superglue as shown on the assembly diagram. The example shown is an Imperial Thunderbolt Interceptor, but both types of craft are assembled in the same way.
While you're waiting for the models to dry, read through the game rules just to get a rough idea of what's going on. Then punch out the defence counters and set up the game. Don't worry too much about getting the rules exactly right in your first game, go back and look again at anything you're unsure about afterwards – it's far more important to get in there and move some pieces about first!
Set Up
The game can be played by up to five players, or by as few as one. For games with two or more players, either decide who will be the Imperial defender or each roll a D6. The player with the highest score is the Imperial player.
Solo Play
1-player: Shuffle the defence counters face down and place one on each of the bridges and one on each of the spaces marked with an Imperial eagle. Set up the four Bommerz in the starting spaces.
2-players: One player commands the Imperial defenders, the other is the Ork player. The Imperial player shuffles the defence counters face down and picks six at random. He can examine them and then must place two on each board, in any space (no more than one per space). The Ork player gets four Fighta-Bommerz in the starting spaces.
3-players: As above but with two Ork players with two Bommerz each.
4-players: Three Ork players with one Fighta-Bommer each, the first one destroyed gets the spare Fighta-Bommer OR treat as solo game and the players get 1 Fighta-Bommer each.
5-players: Four Ork players, one Fighta-Bommer each.
Bommer Start
The Ork player gets four Fighta-Bommerz in the starting spaces (see the multiplayer set-up above for the other player counts).
Defence Counters
INTERCEPTOR: "Diving out of the sun, guns chattering in raucous challenge, an Imperial Thunderbolt fighter bars the way."
Whenever a Fighta-Bommer and a Thunderbolt Interceptor occupy the same space they must fight a Dogfight by rolling a D6 each (re-roll ties). The player scoring highest is the winner and may drive off the loser one space in any direction. If the winner beats the loser by 3 or more the loser also suffers a point of damage.
An Interceptor can move 1-6 spaces in the Imperial player's move.
LASER: "A giant defence laser attempts to lock on and obliterate the Fighta-Bommerz as they snake past."
The laser may only attack a Fighta-Bommer if it is face up when the Fighta-Bommer enters the space it is in. If it is, the Fighta-Bommer must Dodge by rolling a D6 and equalling or beating its Speed. Failure brings instant destruction! Either way the laser flips face down again once it has fired, and the Fighta-Bommer may keep moving if it survives. The laser may not move.
FLAK: "Deadly tracer shells and explosions rake the skies."
Any Fighta-Bommerz which enter a space containing Flak can be attacked. Roll the number of D6 indicated on the counter; each dice which equals or beats the Fighta-Bommer's Speed scores a hit.
- 1 Hit: Fighta-Bommer Driven Off one space in a direction decided by the Imperium player. Its move ends.
- 2 Hits: Fighta-Bommer is Driven Off as above and suffers 1 point of damage.
- 3 Hits: Fighta-Bommer is shot down.
Flak counters (not the flak which defends each bridge) can move one space in the Imperial player's move. If a flak defence counter is positioned on a bridge, roll all the flak dice together when it fires.
ROCK SPIRES: "Rock spires loom out of the mist threatening to claw the hurtling Fighta-Bommerz out of the sky."
Any Fighta-Bommerz or Thunderbolt Interceptors which move into a space containing Rock Spires must Dodge by rolling a D6 and equalling or beating their Speed. If they fail they suffer 1 point of damage, otherwise they escape unscathed. In either case they can continue moving. Rock Spires may not move.
The Turn
The game is played out in a series of turns. Each turn is split into the Ork player's move and the Imperial player's move, all the Orks completing their entire move before the Imperials fight back. The Orks always go first.
Ork Player's Move
Each Fighta-Bommer's controlling player rolls two D6 and picks one for their Speed (put a green dice next to the base as a reminder). A Fighta-Bommer's speed represents the maximum number of spaces it can move that turn, though it can move less if desired. Fighta-Bommerz are subject to the following rules.
- A Fighta-Bommer can only move from space to space along the links indicated on the map.
- If a Fighta-Bommer enters a space containing a defence counter, flip the counter over and work out its effects as detailed below.
- A Fighta-Bommer can't enter a space it has just left unless it is Driven Off by Flak or a Dogfight (see later). As a useful reminder point the tail of the craft towards the space it just came from. Being driven back ends a Fighta-Bommer's move, even if it still has spaces left.
- Only one Fighta-Bommer or Thunderbolt Interceptor can end its move in any given space, but a Fighta-Bommer can pass through a space occupied by another Fighta-Bommer as it moves. Because of this it sometimes matters which Fighta-Bommer moves first – in this case the fastest Fighta-Bommer moves first, then the next fastest and so on.
- If a Fighta-Bommer enters a space containing a Bridge or a Flak unit it may make a Bombing Run before moving on. A Fighta-Bommer may make several bombing runs in its turn if it gets the chance.
Imperial Forces
The Imperial forces are represented by a set of defence counters and the bridges on the board itself. See the box on the facing page for details of the defence counters.
BRIDGES: Include a 1D6 Flak battery (see the defence counter box). The Fighta-Bommerz need to hit the bridges in order to win the game.
Imperial Player's Move
The Imperial player can flip over one defence counter and then move any Interceptor and Flak counters which are face up. Remember that a laser will only attack a Fighta-Bommer if it is already face up, so it may be a good idea to activate a laser. In a solo game the Imperial side will only move Interceptors.
- FLAK MOVES: In solo games, flak is static. In multi-player games it may move up to one space. Flak may not move into a space already occupied by a Fighta-Bommer.
- INTERCEPTORS: Roll two D6 and pick one, moving in the same way as Fighta-Bommerz. In a solo game the Interceptors will always move as fast as possible towards the nearest Fighta-Bommerz and fight a dogfight with them if they can reach.
Events
As the Fighta-Bommerz hurtle up Desolation Valley lots of different events can occur. This is a summary of them.
- DOGFIGHT: Air to air dogfights occur whenever an Interceptor and a Fighta-Bommer are in the same space. They are resolved by the players rolling a D6 each (re-roll ties). The player scoring highest is the winner and the loser is driven off one space in a direction chosen by the winner. If the winner beats the loser by 3 or more the loser also suffers a point of damage. The model which moved into the space can carry on moving if it wins, but otherwise its move ends because it has been driven off.
- DODGE: Rocks and lasers force models to dodge to get past. In order to dodge a player must roll equal to or higher than the model's speed on a D6. If they fail they suffer the consequences. A model can keep moving whether they make a dodge or not, if they are still alive…
- DRIVEN OFF: Flak and dogfights can cause a craft to be driven off into an adjacent space, picked by the player who drove it off (away from the bridges for Orks in a solo game). Place the model so its tail points to the space it just came from. Being driven off ends a model's move.
Damage
Fighta-Bommerz and Interceptors can take 2 points of damage each.
- The 1st point of damage causes the craft to suffer -1 to all dice rolls (movement, dodges, dogfights, bombing).
- The 2nd point of damage destroys the craft.
BOMBING RUNS: If a Fighta-Bommer survives all of the defences in a space it can make a bombing run. A Fighta-Bommer which makes a run rolls two D6, a hit is scored for each dice which equals or beats the Fighta-Bommer's speed.
Flak is destroyed by 1 hit. Bridges are destroyed by a total of 4 hits (use a dice to keep track of the number of hits inflicted on a bridge).
The Second Wave
Once the last of the Fighta-Bommerz has either crashed and burned or left the end of the map, the Ork player(s) can decide to bring on another wave of four more Fighta-Bommerz. Set them up in the starting spaces as before.
In a multi-player game the Imperial player shuffles the remaining defence counters face down (including any which have been destroyed) and draws one new counter which he can place on any board. In a solo game put replacement counters on any of the Imperial starting spaces which are empty. Play then proceeds as before.
Winning and Losing
Once the last Fighta-Bommer has been destroyed or left the board, the game is over and all that remains is to work out who's won. Simply look up what happened to the bridges in relation to how many waves of Fighta-Bommerz the Orks used, on the chart below. If more than one Ork player participated, the person who scored the most hits on bridges is the winner (assuming the Orks gained a victory at all).
| Waves of Fighta-Bommerz | Bridges Damaged | 1 Bridge Destroyed | 2 Bridges Destroyed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 wave of Fighta-Bommerz | Imperial Minor victory. The surviving Ork pilots are roundly jeered by their fellows for their lack of guts. The brave Imperial commander gets a medal! | Ork Minor Victory. The Imperial commander is executed for his miserable incompetence in defending the vital bridges. | Ork Major Victory! The deadly Fighta-Bommerz of the Orks become the bane of Imperial forces on Rynn's world by blasting convoys, encampments and hospitals to pieces. |
| 2 waves of Fighta-Bommerz | Imperial Major victory! The Ork Bommer-leader is reduced to the status of Gretchin slave and sent on the next mine-clearing expedition. | Imperial Minor victory. The Imperial commander is grudgingly commended for his efforts in the face of the Orks' (allegedly) overwhelming numbers. | Ork Minor Victory. The Orks succeed in destroying the bridges, but they are too severely mauled to take advantage of the fact by attacking the Imperial forces with full strength. |
Designer's Notes
Bommerz is a game I wanted to keep dead simple so that it would be easy to pick up and play, but have a few surprises in it here and there. Originally I had all sorts of ideas for game variants, but in the end I thought it would be a lot better to let you make up your own instead of hogging all the fun. Things like 'rolling' the game boards so that once everyone's moved off board 1 you move it up to butt onto board 3 so that the flight up the valley continued as long as there were Fighta-Bommerz alive. Or introducing different kinds of Fighta so some were fast but fragile (+1 on move rolls, but get damaged if beaten by two in a dogfight) or well armoured and slow (can take 2 damage points but get -1 on move rolls) and so on. Don't think that the rules are some kind of intricate machine that you might break if you change anything, it may make the game harder for one side or the other but that's half the fun, isn't it?
Have fun.