Nuklear Winter '68: Heart Of Darkness
Nuklear Winter '68: Heart Of Darkness Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Components
Heroes
1.1 Heroes represent influential individuals able to bolster a unit's combat effectiveness with their skills. Each Hero counter is color-coded to indicate the faction it belongs to. Heroes are attached to units in the same way as Commanding Officers. Unlike COs, Hero counters are not replaced when the unit they're attached to is eliminated.
Any number of Heroes can be attached to a unit. Any number of Heroes can transfer between friendly, stacked units at the beginning of their activation.
Each Hero has specific skills and/or factor modifiers that can only affect the unit the Hero is attached to. During the Hero's activation any one of his skills can be used as the only action of the unit he's attached to.
Heroes cannot be recruited separately from the units they're attached to. They remain attached to their units when those are recruited (1.4).
Units
1.2 Specialization — During each mission setup in the NW68 original campaign, each faction receives 7 supply points to be spent on AUX Engineering units and equipment (own side and/or Independent), mines, smoke and sandbags.
Medical and Engineering skills, bridging included, can be used during mission setup even in absence of specialized units in a 3-hex radius around every friendly land unit. During the game, Medical and Engineering skills can only be used by specialized units.
Corpses — All infantry units, except for the Undead, leave a Corpses marker in their hex when eliminated. There can only be one Corpses marker in a hex at any given time.
Full-strength Abomination units count as a source of corpses for friendly reanimators. Immediately after being used in this way flip the Abomination counter to its reduced side and mark it as Finished.
Fly Low / FL — Low-flying aircraft are considered to be on the same height level with the terrain they're flying over. Transport-capable aircraft can only load/unload and transport at this altitude level.
Huge / HG — Huge units are considered to be level 1 obstacles that can block the LOS. Huge units can only take cover in, or behind other level 1 terrain (e.g. woods). Huge units spend only 1 MP per hex regardless of the terrain's type and modifiers (e.g. wrecks). Huge units can move through water hexes. Huge units cannot recruit or search, be transported, use objects, and are immune to Terror.
Independents — Independent units and objects can be identified by the counters' light gray background.
Player units can stack with Independent units. This action does not transfer hex control to the player units moving through. Controlled Independent units can exert hex control for their faction.
Uncontrolled Independent units can be recruited, either from the same or from an adjacent hex. Recruited Independent units are considered allied with the recruiting faction and hostile towards the enemy factions.
Friendly controlled Independent units can be released simply by declaring so, in which case they will immediately revert to uncontrolled Independent status. Friendly controlled Independent units can be attacked by other friendly units, in which case they immediately revert to hostile uncontrolled status for the remainder of the game.
Independent units reverted to uncontrolled status do not move out unless forced to (e.g. by radiation, fire). Uncontrolled hostile Independent units will attack enemy units in LOS and range. Uncontrolled hostile Independent units will move by following the shortest route towards the closest enemy unit and assault/attack when in normal range and LOS.
All Independent units rally automatically when activated.
Undead / UD — Undead units are identified by the black armor factor color. Undead units can only take full damage from Fire, Electric and Nuclear sources. Damage dealt by a HE factor is halved, rounded down; damage dealt from any other source is ignored.
Undead units cannot recruit, search, become shaken, and are immune to Terror and Mind Control attempts. Undead units can move through Radiation hexes at +1 MP per hex, without being attacked by Nuclear firepower. Controlled Undead can exert hex control for their faction.
As the first and only action during their activation, reduced Undead units can remove from the map a Corpses marker in their hex, if any, to return to full-strength. This action marks the Undead unit as Finished.
Undead units do not leave Corpses when eliminated.
Recon / RC — Recon units negate the concealment bonus of all enemy units in their LOS. As the first action of their activation, recon units can call in up to two artillery and/or airstrikes, in any combination, against target hexes in LOS. Recon units automatically succeed when searching. Recon units can never be marked as Out Of Contact.
Artillery — Some units, such as the Reich's PzW 42, can act as both transport and artillery units. On-board artillery units without an armor factor, such as the V-2, can be captured by exerting control over their hex.
Supply / SP — Each supply unit generates 1 supply point for their faction while in controlled urban hexes during each Cleanup phase. As an action during the Cleanup phase, supply units can be removed from the map to immediately add their printed SP cost to the faction pool. Supply units cannot exert hex control for their faction.
Transport / TT — Any one ready, friendly infantry unit, Huge excepted, can be loaded into a transporter. While transported, infantry suffers the effects of its transporting unit (e.g. shaken, rallied).
Unless shaken, transported infantry grants +1 AV to its transporting unit's attacks. Transported infantry cannot be targeted separately from its transporter, either by direct or indirect attacks and effects.
Transporting units can move up to 1/2 speed, rounded down, and load/unload/attack in any order.
Objects
1.3 Object is a generic term that refers both to weapons (e.g. MG 42) and equipment (e.g. the First Aid Kit). Any number of objects can be carried by an infantry unit, but only one can be used at a time.
Charred Heart — The Charred Heart is a special equipment that cannot be bought as AUX during mission setup. The infantry unit carrying the Charred Heart is considered to be Undead, as indicated by the black colored armor factor on the counter.
While carried, the Charred Heart pulsates with dark energy that deals 1 hit to every unit not in cover (i.e. appropriately protective terrain) in a 3-hex radius around it as the first action during the carrying unit's activation. The carrying unit is not affected by the dark aura, but its allied units are.
All units are overwhelmed by fear and cannot voluntarily enter the Charred Heart's 3-hex dark aura. Even if in cover, units caught inside the dark aura that are able to move out must do so during their following activation.
The Charred Heart can be dropped, picked-up or exchanged between friendly units stacked together. While on the ground, the Heart's dark aura is inactive. Infantry units able to carry equipment can move in and pick the Charred Heart up. The Charred Heart cannot be destroyed by any means.
Electric / EL — All AP/HE damage dealt from an electric source is fully applied to Undead units, as well as other regular targets. Electric weapons are subjected to weather effects (1.8).
Fire / FR — All AP/HE damage dealt from a fire source is fully applied to Undead units, as well as other regular targets. Fire weapons are subjected to weather effects. Fire-placing weapons cannot be used during group attacks, either in a leading or a supporting role.
Skills
1.4 Skill Ranges — Skill icons placed on the on the center of a counter indicate a long-range skill. Long-range skills can target any hex in LOS. Skill icons in the bottom row of a counter indicate close-range skills. Close-range skills can only target their own hex or one of the adjacent hexes.
Long-range skills can be used during enemy activations to target active units when they move into hexes in LOS.
Active Skills — Active skills must be checked for success against the active unit's CO/2IC ERR factor by rolling 2d6. CO bonuses can be added to the roll, effectively marking the CO unit as Finished regardless of the result. Units without a CO/2IC are automatically successful.
A roll result higher than the CO's ERR represents a successful attempt, in which case the skill's effect is immediately applied. A roll result equal to, or lower than the CO's ERR represents a failed attempt, in which case nothing happens. Regardless of the roll result, the active unit must be marked as Finished following the attempt. Shaken units cannot use their skills.
Recruit — Infantry and Heroes, except for the Undead and Huge, can recruit uncontrolled Independent units. Units can be recruited either from the same, or from an adjacent hex regardless of the Independent unit's strength status.
Recruiting is an active skill. Terror units, Heroes and units without a CO are automatically successful. A successful recruitment immediately attaches the Independent unit to the recruiter's formation. Heroes remain attached to their units when those are recruited. Following a successful recruitment attempt, both units must be marked as Finished. In the case of a failed attempt only the recruiting unit must be marked as Finished.
Search — Infantry and Heroes, except for the Undead and Huge, can carry out a search action either from the same, or from an adjacent hex. Search is an active skill. Recon units, Heroes and units without a CO are automatically successful. A successful search immediately reveals the info/object. Regardless of the search attempt result, the unit carrying out the search must be marked as Finished afterwards.
Mind Control / MC — The mind control skill can transfer the control of any one infantry unit in LOS regardless of its strength status. Friendly units can be mind-controlled. Mind control is an active skill that requires a roll check against the controller's CO ERR factor. Undead and Terror units are immune to mind control attempts.
Following a successful attempt, the mind-controlled unit can be used to carry out any one action or skill that it is capable of. The mind-controlled unit can only attack, or be moved through hexes in the controller's LOS. Both the controller and the mind-controlled unit must be marked as Finished afterwards.
Slay / SL — Slay is an active skill that requires a roll check against the controller's CO ERR factor. The slaying skill can only be used during a slayer's assault against a valid target. Following a successful attempt, the target of the slayer's assault is immediately eliminated.
Charge / CH — A charging unit's attack factor during assaults is equal to the number of hexes it moves through before entering target hex. The assaulting unit must follow the shortest route to its target when charging. The +2 AV assault bonus and any other relevant bonuses are added to the attack formula. Non-shaken transported infantry grants +1 AV to a charging unit's assault.
Engineering / EN — Engineering units can build bridges over water hexes at a cost of 7 supply points, or they can either repair or destroy existing bridges at a cost of 1 supply point. Depending on the action, the Bridge counter must be flipped to its relevant side.
Engineering units can repair reduced friendly vehicles, including their own, at a cost of 1 supply point. The repaired unit has its counter flipped back to the full-strength side.
Engineering units can lay one Sandbags, Smoke L1 or Mines marker in their hex once per activation. Engineering units can remove from the map any one Weapon, Equipment, Corpses, Wreck, Sandbags or Mines marker in their hex once per activation.
Heal / HL — Healing units can return one reduced friendly infantry unit, including their own, back to its full-strength side at a costs of 1 supply point. Undead units cannot be healed.
Pyrokinesis / FR — Pyro units can place one terrain appropriate Fire marker (see Terrain). The Fire marker thus placed immediately attack all the units in its hex with the appropriate attack factor.
Reanimate / RA — Reanimator units can replace one Corpses marker with a Reanimated unit. The Reanimated unit is immediately attached to the reanimator's formation and marked as Finished. The White Hand reanimators create Skinless instead of Reanimated.
Reanimator units can return one reduced Undead unit, including their own, back to its full-strength side at a cost of 1 supply point. Regular infantry units cannot be reanimated.
Telekinesis / TK — Telekinesis units can take control of one object or unit in LOS, regardless of its strength status, and move it hex by hex to any other hex in LOS. Units moved by Telekinesis can be targeted by opportunity attacks. Both units must be marked as Finished afterwards.
Terror / TR — Terror units can mark any one unit in LOS as shaken and Finished. Undead, Huge and other Terror units are immune to Terror. Terror units automatically succeed when attempting to recruit uncontrolled Independent units.
Events
1.5 Whenever an Event marker is drawn from the cup roll 3d6 and compare the result against the Events table. The event affects one player chosen at random.
(W), (M) – Wewelsburg, Magdeburg. If more than one map is in play, the player affected by a beneficial event may choose the map where the event takes place. Harmful events affect a map chosen at random if more than one are in play.
No opportunity attacks are allowed against the attacking units during events. The attacking units must be removed from the map immediately after the attacks are resolved.
Attacks are carried out by enemy unit types in play, or by random enemy ones if not applicable. Units entering the game on enemy occupied hexes do so by assaulting those hexes.
Events Table
- 3 – A Ravager is placed on hex Q9 (W), or the Wurmking on hex J7 (M).
- 4 – Zealots are placed on hexes G3, E7, V13 (W), or Skinless on hexes J7, J10, Q7 (M).
- 5 – Two own infantry units of your choice, except for Huge, are placed on any of your setup hexes. The units can be attached to any of your formations.
- 6 – All of your units on hill hexes are attacked by Scourges / A-6 Intruders, one airstrike per hex.
- 7 – Two of your dismounted infantry units, chosen at random, are attacked with biological agents (1.3.1).
- 8 – All flammable hexes occupied by your units are set on Fire L2. The Fire markers are not removed from the map following the attacks.
- 9 – All units on road hexes are attacked by Mines. Mines must be checked for depletion following all the attacks.
- 10 – All units in urban hexes are assaulted by Zealots with Miniguns, or Spetsnaz with incendiary ammo, one unit per hex.
- 11 – Rally any one of your shaken units, or mark any one friendly unit with High Morale if none are shaken.
- 12 – Return any one of your reduced units to full strength, or mark any one friendly unit with High Morale if none are reduced.
- 13 – All Corpses are replaced by uncontrolled hostile Reanimated. Controlled Reanimated revert to uncontrolled hostile Reanimated status.
Auxiliary
1.6 Auxiliary (AUX) indicates units, Heroes and objects acquired by a faction other than those supplied by the scenario. Players can only acquire auxiliary markers belonging to their own faction, or from the Independents faction.
Auxiliary markers have the supply points (SP) cost printed on the top right corner. Although counters from the original game don't have a printed SP cost they can be bought as AUX. Any supply points not spent during scenario setup are added to the faction pool to be used during the game.
SETUP / Auxiliary units can only be placed on mission setup hexes. AUX heroes, weapons and equipment must be equipped to friendly units. OBA, mines, sandbags or airstrikes must be added to the faction pool to be used during the game. Bridge-related actions such as building, repairing and destroying a bridge can be carried out during mission setup by paying the appropriate SP cost.
| AUXILIARY | SP COST | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Hero | 5 | Own side / Independent |
| Unit | 5 | Own side / Independent |
| Bridge | 5 | Build |
| OBA Nuclear | 5 | |
| OBA Barrage | 3 | |
| OBA Biological | 3 | |
| OBA Chemical | 3 | |
| OBA Smoke | 3 | |
| Weapon / Equipment |
Terrain
1.7 MAGDEBURG / The following hexes are considered to be part of the city of Magdeburg: the graveyard (M9, urban terrain and a permanent source of corpses), the park (J10, woods terrain), the square (K9, clear terrain).
ROAD / RIVER / The road and river hexes are considered as such even if the graphical representation does not cover the center of the hex.
WATER / Huge land units can move through water hexes at a cost of 2 MP per hex.
BRIDGE / The bridge represents a passable road segment over a water hex. Destroyed bridges, indicated by the red bridge background without an armor factor printed on the markers, represent impassable road segments over water hexes. Destroyed bridges can be repaired by engineering units at a cost of 1 SP.
SMOKE / Smoke only affects ranged combat, it does not affect defenders during assaults. Smoke L1 adds +1 DV to the defending units when the LOS is traced in, out or through the hex. Smoke L2 is thick enough to block the LOS traced in, out or through the hex.
FIRE / Fire is placed as fire L2 on flammable terrain and as fire L1 on non-flammable terrain hexes. During the Cleanup phase all the objects on the ground in fire hexes must be removed from the map. These include weapons, equipment, corpses, wrecks, sandbags and mines.
During the Cleanup phase all the existing fire L1 markers must be removed from the map. Following that, all the flammable hexes adjacent to fire L2 must be marked with fire L1 markers. Finally, all the fire L2 markers must be reduced to fire L1.
RADIATION / Black/White Hand infantry and the Undead are not affected by radiation and can move through at +1 MP per hex. Units immune to radiation can be affected by Nuclear attacks.
Terrain Table
| Terrain | Movement (Infantry) | Movement (Vehicle) | Defense (Infantry) | Defense (Vehicle) | Level | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | L1 Non-Fl. |
| Corpses | – | – | +1 | – | – | L1 Non-Fl. |
| Crop Field | 2 | 1 | +1 | – | – | L2 Flammable |
| Hill | +1 | +1 |
- The dark background indicates vehicle modifiers.
- Hill values represent uphill movement and defensive modifiers.
[Diagram in the source: an elevation view of the terrain levels showing a hill, woods, a line-of-sight example and fire arcs, labelled with hex columns A to F.]
Weather
1.8 During each Cleanup phase, 1d6 must be rolled to check for a change in weather conditions. Weather checks must be made separately for each map in play. Weather effects (e.g. fire, radiation) and modifiers only affect the map they're on. Weather does not affect underground units. Forecasted weather (i.e. mission-scripted) supersedes the Cleanup phase weather checks.
- On a 1-2 roll result the existing weather conditions worsen and a new Weather marker must be randomly chosen. The existing weather marker, if any, must be used in the draw. The new weather effects (e.g. fire during Heatwave) must be applied immediately.
- On a 3-4 roll result the existing weather conditions remain unchanged. The existing weather marker, if any, remains in play. The existing weather effects are not re-applied (e.g. no new fire during Heatwave).
- On a 5-6 roll result the existing weather conditions improve. The existing weather marker, if any, must be removed and the game continues with no weather in play as clear sky.
ACID RAIN / Fire and electric weapons cannot be used while the Acid Rain is in play. Existing fire markers, regardless of level, must be removed from the map immediately after the Acid Rain starts. Fire cannot be placed on a map affected by Acid Rain.
DARKNESS / During each Cleanup phase while the Darkness is in play, units on, or flying over the Magdeburg and Holterberg hills receive 1 hit each. No artillery/airstrike attacks, ranged attacks or ranged skills can be used while the Darkness is in play.
FOG / Three Smoke L2 markers must be placed on 3 hexes chosen at random immediately after the Fog appears. Smoke markers are neither reduced nor removed from the map during the Cleanup phase while the Fog is in play. Ranges are halved, rounded down, for all the artillery and ranged attacks.
HEATWAVE / Three terrain-appropriate Fire markers must be placed on 3 hexes chosen at random. Fire L2 must be placed on flammable terrain and fire L1 on non-flammable terrain.
Fire markers are neither reduced nor removed from the map during the Cleanup phase while the Heatwave is in play. During the Cleanup phase while the Heatwave is in play fire L2 spreads to adjacent flammable hexes increasing any existing fire L1 to fire L2 but never higher than that.
RADWIND / Three Radiation markers must be placed on 3 hexes chosen at random immediately after the Radwind starts. Existing Radiation markers must be moved 1 hex in a random direction immediately after the Radwind starts. Radiation markers must be moved 1 hex in a random direction during each Cleanup phase while the Radwind is in play.
All the Smoke markers, regardless of level, must be removed from the map when the Radwind starts. Smoke cannot be placed on a map affected by Radwind.
SANDSTORM / Airstrikes are not possible while the Sandstorm is in play.
The Gameplay
2.0 The Independent side is not taken into account when determining the total number of activation markers drawn per turn. As long as there is at least one uncontrolled Independent unit on the map, the Independent AMs must be added to the cup during the Cleanup phase.
The Independent AMs are taken into account when considering the 'no more than two consecutive AMs in a row per faction' rule. The allied factions' AMs (e.g. during scenarios 9 and 10) do break each other's activation streaks.
Game Setup
- Objective and Control markers are placed on the map.
- Players receive scenario assigned units and set them on the map.
- Auxiliary (AUX) markers may be acquired and set up.
- Scenario-assigned units and equipment not placed on the map must be set aside as pool.
- Activation and Event markers are added to the cup.
Actions Phase
- Finished markers are removed from the active formation's units.
- 2IC may assume command.
- Out Of Contact units are marked as such.
- CO/2IC unit may attempt to rally the shaken units in their formation. The CO bonus may be used or lent by the CO unit to all the rally attempts without the CO unit being marked as Finished.
- CO and/or Recon units may call up to 2 artillery and/or airstrikes, in any combination, against targets in LOS.
- Weapons and equipment may be dropped/picked up from the ground. Heroes, weapons and equipment may be freely exchanged between stacked units.
None of the pre-actions listed so far can mark the active unit as Finished.
- Either an action (e.g. move, attack, transport) may be carried out or a skill (e.g. recruit, heal) be used with any one formation unit not marked as Finished. The CO bonus may be used or lent by the CO unit, effectively marking the CO unit as Finished.
The active unit must be marked as Finished immediately after it carries out an action or uses a skill.
Cleanup
- All the Finished and Chemical markers must be removed from the map.
- All the Smoke and Fire markers must be reduced by one level each by following both their specific rules and according to the weather currently in play.
- 2IC may assume command.
- Supply units can either generate one supply point each or be removed from the map to receive a number of supply points equal to their printed SP cost.
- Auxiliary markers may be acquired and set up.
- The Weather for the next turn must be determined.
- All the Activation markers for the formations in play, as well as the Event markers must be returned to the cup.
Combat
2.1 Assault / Attack factors without a printed range value can only be used to assault, both in leading and supporting roles.
Fire / Newly placed Fire markers, regardless source (e.g. weapon, skill, weather), immediately attack all the units in the hex with the appropriate attack factor. Terrain and/or concealment defensive bonuses are not added to units attacked by fire.
Units already in a fire hex can be attacked by fire again. Whenever a new Fire L1 marker is placed on an existing fire L1 hex it increases the fire to level 2, but never higher than that. Fire can only increase to level 2 in flammable hexes.
Fire-placing weapons cannot be used in assaults or any form of grouped combat. Units are only attacked by fire/mines when they move into the hex, not while they stay in or move out.
Shaken / For units which cannot be affected by it (e.g. Terror, Undead), although the marker is not placed on them, shaken still counts as a step when dealing hits.
Independent / Player units can assist stacked, uncontrolled Independent units defend during enemy assaults.
Combat Results / All the Weapon and Equipment markers carried by infantry in a destroyed transporting unit must be removed from the game, except for the Charred Heart.
A High Morale unit loses its marker instead of being marked as shaken. Following that, the unit receives damage as usual.
Scenarios
Tx – Indicates the turn during which the specified formation will enter the game.
* – Indicates a unit attached to the formation. The attached unit can be taken from any other formation.
+ – Indicates a unit or an object whose use is dictated by previous events during the campaign. The '+' marked units and objects are used by default during regular scenarios.
w/ – Short form for 'with', it indicates mandatory CO, hero, weapon or equipment attachment or transporter load status.
(r) – Indicates a unit starting the game on its reduced side.
(1) – This formation will activate first during the first turn. The game continues with random activations afterwards.
Players must set their units in the scenario-listed order. Unless instructed otherwise, every formation that has a CO in its order of battle, must receive a CO marker. Unless instructed otherwise, the assigned CO, Weapon, Equipment and Hero markers can be attached to any appropriate unit.
Playing a campaign consists of playing the scenarios in chronological order while keeping track of each scenario success results. Destroyed auxiliary units are not available to their original formations for subsequent scenarios during the campaign.