BATTLESTORM:
Rules Clarifications

The following answers are from the game's publisher, and hence are "official." If you have any rules questions, please send them to the editor, and we'll work with the publisher to find out the official answers.

On pg. 13, Declaration, it says that the activating player may declare an attack on his opponent. Am I correct in presuming that if he declares an attack, he must designate the unit he would attack?

A: Yes.

Can a player declare attacks against non-units - individual heroes or leaders, portions of units, etc.?

A: A unit (individual or squad) may only attack one unit (which may be an individual or a group).  A declaration may only be made against a unit that you could conceivably attack.  If you can only attack one unit you may only declare one unit.  You may declare a unit farther away than you can reach ... because your opponent might counter-charge.

On pg. 16, Troop Selection, it limits the army to having a certain percentage of allies or mercenaries. Which troops are available as mercenaries? as allies?

A: We are currently hashing out the exact answer to this question.  For now, an ally would mean some other race or army.  (Elves in the dwarf army, for example.)

Which characters count as "monsters" with regard to the Troop Selection rules? Is the list on pg. 127 inclusive?

A: Not all inclusive.

Should players just use their best judgment?

A: Sounds fair to me. I suppose I could/should make a list.  Monsters would be creatures (except dragons) that are not in the normal army list.

pg. 18, Deployment Limits - Nothing seems to constrain players to keep armies on their side of the table when placing units. Seems like you could end up with a jumble of units from both sides all mixed together. Is this the design intention?

A: The closest you can place is the middle of the board.  You cannot place on the enemy's half of the board. (Your question caused me to grab my copy and note that it does not specifically state this. D'oh!)

Let's say that unit A wants to advance close enough to enter into melee combat with unit B, but that unit B is equipped with XL (extra-large) weapons (range up to 1"). How close can unit A get to unit B? Must it stop at the attack radius, or can it close to base-to-base contact or even to Wrestling range?

A: Technically, unit A can attack at up to an inch away, so that's when and where B suffers casualties.  In practice,  we would move B up to A's base and then pull B's casualties from the back rank because B will fill ranks and then close after suffering casualties.

Same question, but let's say unit A has the XL weapons this time. Does this affect how close it can come during movement?

A: Same, in reverse.

I'm a little confused. When you move the models into base-to-base contact, is this for convenience and they are still considered to be at XL range, or do you consider them at closer range?

A: At the Shenandoah Valley Game Guild (where Battlestorm was birthed), we usually (but not always) move the miniatures back and forth each turn.   As in

"s" = miniature with short weapon
"l" = miniature with long weapon

"sl" = base to base contact
"s  l" = slightly separated

They impact:

TURN 1

sss  lll
sss  lll
sss  lll

At the "l" range.  "s' takes casualities and steps up.

TURN 1 - AFTER "l" ATTACKS

ssslll
  sslll
  sslll

Then "s" attacks and "l" takes casualties.

TURN 1 - AFTER "s" ATTACKS

ssslll
  ssll
  ssll

Then on the next turn "s" attacks first because he is already within "l"'s reach.  Therefore "l' takes casualties and the survivers back up and attack.

TURN 2 - AFTER "s" ATTACKS

sssll
  ssl
  ssl

After backing up "l" gets return fire.

TURN 2 - AFTER "l" ATTACKS

ss  ll
  s  l
  s  l

Does the weapon radius matter? For instance, if the "long" weapon was medium range (base-to-base contact, normally), do you still separate the figures? Does the separation represent the actual range of the longer weapon, or is it a memory device to indicate the combatants are now at the longest of the available weapon ranges?

A:A little of both.  But it's mainly a memory crutch.

With regard to Order of Precedence, pg. 20, what happens when multiple units activate in the same round? Do all units follow the Order of Precedence together, or does each unit finish its own "sub turn" using the Order of Precedence independently?

A: All movement occurs, then all combat. So when multiple units activate, the Order of Precedence applies to all activated units.

That gets back to my question, then - it gets activated during Movement (step 6 of the Order of Precedence), can it go back to Step 1 to search, or to Step 3 to declare attacks, or can it only do Steps 6 and below?

A: That unit goes back to step 1 and then catches up and then the Order of Precedence continues.

If a unit is activated during a round - for instance, activated by proximity during the Movement phase - what happens if that unit wants to perform an action which comes earlier in the Order of Precedence? For instance, can it Search or Declare Attack?

A: Proximity activated units attack during the normal movement phase. The unit that is moving takes casualties before it arrives at its destination, if the proximity activated unit attacks from its current position.  If the proximity activated unit decides to move (and/or attack this or another unit), the proximity activated unit falls into the Order of Precedence.

How do you tell the difference on the tabletop between being at Small or Medium range, since both are "base to base" contact?

A: Memory? ;^)

On the chart on pg. 31, it says that Wrestling has no effective range. What does this mean? How close are units placed if they are fighting at this range?

A: Models rarely wrestle ... but ...  if a dragon is using his body weapon, his head "overlaps" the opponent's base.  Size W is "closer than base to base."

Also on the chart on pg. 31, there looks to be a typo - there is an * marking a footnote on projectiles, but there is also a * marking a footnote on "base to base" - is there a missing footnote?

A: There is no missing footnote ... there is an extra asterick.  Ignore the asterick after "base to base".

What is the difference, if any, between attack radius and weapon reach?

A: None that I can remember.

In the diagram on pg. 31, do the shaded areas indicate attack radius or weapon reach?

A: Both (see above).

pg. 40, Inspiration - How do leaders get Inspiration points?

A: Leadership stat minus 20 (for example, if a figure has a Leadership of 21, it has 1 Inspiration point.

pg. 107, Weapon Table - This lists the attack radius for normal weapons, but how do you rate things like claws, fangs, and tail weapons?

A: On our tabletop, we generally treat all body weapons as size W. Change this at your own discretion.