BackSource: Warhammer: The Old World Online Rules Index

Disruptive Weather
URL Copied!

Large battles in the Old World can take many hours to resolve, and weather conditions can change several times during their course, mitigating their more extreme effects. Smaller battles, by contrast, can be quite brief affairs, and extreme weather conditions can have a far greater impact.

When using Disruptive Weather in your games, roll a D6 and consult the table below before deployment begins. The resulting weather effect remains in play for the duration of the game:

Disruptive Weather Table

D6

Result

1

Heavy Downpour: Heavy rain has turned the dry earth into an almost inescapable quagmire.
All units suffer a -1 modifier to their Movement characteristic (to a minimum of 1), and units with the Swiftstride special rule are unable to use it.
Even units with the Fly (X) special rule are affected, struggling to free themselves from the mud.

2

Fierce Gale: Wind roars across the battlefield, hampering the effectiveness of even the most potent ranged weapons. Reduce the range of all missile weapons with a Strength of 5 or less by 6" (to a minimum of 3").

3

Scorching Heat: From clear skies the sun's rays beat relentlessly down upon the land. At the beginning of each Start of Turn sub-phase, the active player rolls a D6 for each unit in their army. On the roll of a 1, that unit has succumbed to the heat. D3 models must pass a Toughness test or lose a single Wound. Units wearing heavy armour, full plate armour or barding succumb on a roll of 1 or 2.

4

Lightning Strikes: Thunder rumbles and bolts of lightning strike from darkened storm clouds. At the beginning of each Start of Turn sub-phase, the active player rolls a D6. On a roll of 1-2, lightning strikes a single randomly determined unit belonging to that player. A unit struck by lightning suffers D6 strength 4 hits, each with an AP of -1.

5

Dust Devil: A swirling wind storm rages across the battlefield, throwing dust and debris into the air.
Place a 3" blast template, representing the dust devil, in the centre of the battlefield and scatter it 2D6". The dust devil scatters D6" during every Start of Turn sub-phase. Should the dust devil scatter onto a unit, move it by the smallest amount possible, in any direction, so that it can be placed on the battlefield, not touching the bases of any models. Any unit that moves through the dust devil, or that the dust devil moves over, suffers a -1 modifier to its Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill characteristics (to a minimum of 1) until the next Start of Turn sub-phase.

6

Freezing Winds: Cold winds batter the battlefield, slowing warriors and making them reluctant to advance. At the beginning of each Start of Turn sub-phase, the active player rolls a D6 for each unit in their army. On a roll of 2+, the unit may act as normal. However, on a roll of a 1, the unit must make a Leadership test before moving, shooting, casting spells or declaring a charge. If this test is failed, the unit huddles against the cold and refuses to act. Compulsory moves, such as fleeing or Giving Ground, are unaffected.

Previous - Using Random Happenings

Next - Wilderness Terrain