Army Of Zero Rules

The Rules

Army Of Zero is a combat game for two players. Each player commands a squad of 10 characters, whose mission is to defeat the other squad in mortal combat.

Setting Up

Give each player a die. Each player also gets two Attack Cards (with the sword on) and 1 Defend Card (with the shield on) - these are the Combat Cards. (There is a spare Attack Card and a spare Defend Card in case you lose one.)

The remaining 84 cards are the Character Cards. Take the Character Cards and shuffle them well. Deal 10 Character Cards face down to each player. The remaining Character Cards won't be used in this game, so put them to one side.

Your 10 Character Cards make up your squad. You can look at your Character Cards, and arrange them in whatever order you want. Then place them in a pile, face down, in front of you. This pile is called your Squad Pile. Once the Squad Pile has been put down on the table, the player cannot change the order.

Abilities

Each character has has four abilities: SPEED, COMBAT, WEAPON and ARMOUR. Abilities are rated with a number between -2 (very bad) and +2 (very good). The outcome of each round of combat is determined by matching one character's abilities against the other. For instance:

• When both characters attack at the same time, match one character's SPEED against his opponent's SPEED. This determines whose blow lands first.
• When one character is attacking and the other is trying to dodge or fend off the blow, match the attacker's COMBAT skill against his opponent's COMBAT skill. This test determines whether the blow lands.
• When a blow lands, match the attacker's WEAPON against his opponent's ARMOUR. This determines whether the blow slays the opponent. To test an ability, both players roll a die, and add on their appropriate ability score to determine the result.

For example, suppose that Thegn Ceznor lands a blow on Guardian Burnley; Burnley hopes that his armour will save him. To find out whether it does, Ceznor rolls a die and adds on his WEAPON score, while Burnley rolls a die and adds on his ARMOUR score. Unless Burnley can score more than Ceznor, the weapon will get past the armour and Burnley will be killed.

Ceznor has a very powerful weapon: his WEAPON score is 2. He rolls a 2, giving him a total score of 2+2 = 4.

Burnley's armour is not so good: his ARMOUR score is -1. Burnley rolls a 3, giving him a total score of 3-1 = 2.

Ceznor's total score is greater than Burnley's, so the weapon strikes home. Ceznor is victorious and Burnley is out of the game.

Playing The Game

Each player turns their top Character Card face up. The two characters revealed now battle each other. The defeated character will be out of the game, and the victorious character will progress to the next round.

For each battle, take the following steps until one character is defeated.

1. Each player can choose whether their character will attack or defend in this round, based on the Combat Cards that they are currently holding. Each selects one of the Combat Cards from their hand and places it face down on the table.
   
   You can defend at any time, but no character is allowed to attack more than twice in a row. After attacking twice in a row, they must defend in the next round. If you can guess your opponent's next move, it may give you an advantage in making your own choice. The Combat Cards are used to keep track of this rule.
   
   On the count of three, both players turn their Combat Cards face up.
   
   If both players have played their Defend Card, go straight to step 2.
   
   If one player has played their Defend Card and the other has played their Attack Card, go straight to step 3.
   
   If both players have played their Attack Card, go straight to step 4.
2. Both characters have held back from the fight, and they are warily circling each other. No combat takes place: you can skip straight to step 7.
3. One character has attempted to hit the other, and the other has tried to defend themselves. To see if the attack was successful, each player rolls a die, and adds on their COMBAT score. If the attacker's total score is equal to or greater than the defender's total score, then a blow was landed (Army Of Zero's rule is that if there's a draw, the attacker wins): go to step 6.
   
   If the defender's total score is greater than the attacker's, go to step 7.
4. Both characters have attempted to strike at the same time. The advantage is with the quickest character, and so the players roll the dice to see who gets the blow in first. Each player rolls a die and adds their character's SPEED score. If both players end up with the same total, go straight to step 5.
   
   Otherwise, whoever scored the highest total managed to land a blow on their opponent. Unfortunately for the other player, there is no opportunity for the victim to defend themselves, because they were trying to attack when the blow landed. Go to step 6.
5. Both characters land a blow at the same instant! Either character has a chance to overcome their opponent.
   
   The first player rolls his die and adds their WEAPON score, while the second player rolls one die and adds their ARMOUR score. If the total WEAPON score is equal to or higher than the total ARMOUR score, then the second player's character is killed. (Remember the Army Of Zero rule: if it’s a draw, the attacker wins.)
   
   But whatever happens, the first player's character is in danger too because both characters struck at the same time. So the second player rolls a die and adds their WEAPON score, while the first player rolls a die and adds their ARMOUR score. If the total WEAPON score is equal to or higher than the total ARMOUR score, the first player's character is killed.
   
   If either character died, go immediately to step 8.
6. The attacking player landed a blow, but will their weapon be powerful enough to overcome their opponent's armour? The attacking player rolls a die and adds their character's WEAPON score, while the defending player rolls a die and adds their character's ARMOUR score. If the total WEAPON score is equal to or higher than the total ARMOUR score, then the second player's character is killed: go immediately to step 8. Otherwise, the armour withstood the blow. Carry on to step 7.
7. Any player who just played a Defend Card should pick up all their Combat Cards and return them to their hand. If the Combat Card that you just played was an Attack Card, don't pick up any of your Combat Cards that are already on the table. This makes sure that you can defend whenever you like, but you can't attack more twice in a row. Go to step 1 again.
8. Any defeated characters are out of the game: put them out of the way until the end of the game. Any surviving characters go through to the next round, so put your surviving characters to one side, ready for the next round. Each player picks up all their Combat Cards.

The confrontation is now over. If both players still have characters in their Squad Pile, each player turns over the next card in the Squad Pile, and the two characters revealed have their own confrontation, following the same steps as above.

This continues until either player has no more characters in their Squad Pile.

When either player has no more characters in their Squad Pile, each player gathers up any surviving characters, together with any unused characters in their Squad Pile. These cards become the player's Squad Pile for the next round. Each player can secretly order their new Squad Pile in any order that they like before putting the Squad Pile face down on the table. Once the Squad Pile has been put down on the table, the player cannot change the order.

Note that, after the first phase, the two players might not have equal number of cards in their Squad Pile. Cards towards the bottom of the larger Squad Pile might not get used in the next round.

Victory

When a player has defeated all his opponent's characters, that player is the winner.