The Victors

I. Introduction

The Victors are a fairly old race. Their empire is small, in terms of stars, but densely populated. Their Trader spaceships are a common sight throughout inhabited space, coming and going with cargoes and profits for their owners. But other races are not welcome on Victor worlds without an invitation. They like their privacy, and see any invasion of that privacy as an affront. They also have a complex code of honor that other races can't seem to avoid breaking. And once the Victors are offended, they won't rest until their honor is satisfied, which usually means a brief, bloody war.

"Victor" isn't what they call themselves; humans have a hard time pronouncing their language. The first scout ship to contact them described them as VCTR, which stood for "Vertically Challenged Tripedal Race," and soon everyone pronounced the abbreviation as "Victor." They stand about a meter tall, walk on three legs (due to their high-gravity homeworld), wear long beards, and favor bright clothing with lots of metallic decorations.

In battle, the Victors like armor. Lots of armor. Their armies are slow-moving, hard-hitting, and hard to hurt, because even their average foot soldiers are encased in thick armor plating. Their vehicles are also slow, heavily armed, and fearful to behold; a Victor Battle Train can be the biggest land vehicle in existence. A Victor attack is an unsubtle, slow-motion charge that steamrollers the enemy into submission or flight. Victors never pursue a retreating enemy once they have achieved their goals; they just plunder the battlefield, dig in against a counterattack, and prepare for their next advance.

The Victors' base color is yellow.

The basic specifications of each unit and weapon are listed in tables at the end of this rule book. A general description of the units and weapons, along with specifics about special rules, takes up most of the book.

II. Troop & Vehicle Summary

• Walkers are the basic Victor foot soldier.
• Thumpers wear extra-heavy armor and seek close combat.
• Sledders ride one-man skimmers.
• Lobbers are Victors equipped to use heavy weapons.
• Sappers are Walkers with special equipment for making and removing obstacles.
• Doctors are unarmed combat physicians who heal wounds on the battlefield.
• Engineers can fix damaged vehicles, enabling them to keep fighting.
• Leaders (Chiefs and Bosses) provide leadership to the foot soldiers. Every formation bigger than a team must have a leader.
• Striders are small combat walkers, armed to the teeth.
• Racers are small personnel carriers.
• Hammers are battle tanks, Victor style.
• Diggers carry soldiers in safety while moving underground.
• Battle Trains are the biggest vehicles in existence anywhere. They are made of modules to serve any purpose on the battlefield.

III. Victor Soldiers

Victors are fearless in battle. They suffer no penalty on their separation checks.

Victors leave enemy Healer units strictly alone. Whether they kill enemy wounded or not seems to depend on the Victor in command; some are merciful, some are bloodthirsty.

Because the Victors are so slow-moving, they are at -2 on the die roll when dicing for initiative.

III-a. Forming an Army

Squad must contain 3 teams and a Chief. At least one team must be walkers, and no two teams can be the same type, except for walkers. Heavy-weapons soldiers cannot be part of a squad. It can optionally include up to four vehicles, a Doctor, an Engineer, and a Hero.

Troop must contain 3 full squads, including one team each of Thumpers, Sledders, and Sappers, plus a team of Lobbers, a Boss, and a Chief. It can optionally include unlimited vehicles, Doctors, Engineers, and Heroes.

III-b. Soldier Types

Name:	Walker
Type:	Basic soldier

Walkers are your basic foot soldiers, which will make up the biggest part of your army. They can carry any hand, light or medium Victor weapon. Normally, three of each team will carry Thunderguns, and the fourth will carry something else. Their armor is quite thick for a basic soldier.

Name:	Thumper
Type:	Heavy soldier

Thumpers are heavy foot soldiers, encased in thick powered suits of battle armor. They are almost always armed for hand-to-hand combat. They are your bulldozers, soaking up enemy fire while your less-heavily-protected troops advance. Only the bravest Victors become Thumpers, so these troops are unusually resistant to morale failure.

Name:	Sledder
Type:	Light soldier

Sledders ride tiny skimmer-type vehicles, not much bigger than a surfboard. They control these by shifting their body weight, leaving their hands free for weapons fire. They carry only light weapons, usually Tomiguns. The Victors use them to exploit weaknesses in the enemy lines.

Name:	Lobber
Type:	Heavy-weapon soldier

Lobbers are Victors with special armor to let them aim and handle heavy weapons. They can also wield smaller weapons, though there is little reason for them to do so. A Lobber cannot move and fire in the same turn; it takes a few moments to change the weapon from travel configuration to firing configuration.

Name:	Sapper
Type:	Special soldier

Sappers fill a unique role in the Victor army, similar to the old Seabees of the U.S. Navy in the 20th century -- combat engineers, with a rifle in one hand and a shovel in the other. They carry only light or hand weapons. If a Sapper spends one turn not moving, he can create an Obstacle in the hex he is in (place an Obstacle marker in that hex). A Victor in an Obstacle hex is considered to be in thick cover; this does not apply to other races. Vehicles of any race cannot enter hexes with Obstacles in them. A Sapper can remove an Obstacle by spending one turn (not moving) in the Obstacle hex. They are accustomed to working alone, and do not have to make separation checks.

Name:	Doctor
Type:	Doctor

The Doctor heals the wounded. Each turn, a Doctor can turn one Victor in the same hex (but not himself) or in an adjacent hex, from Wounded to normal.

Name:	Engineer
Type:	Fixer

The Engineer can repair damaged tanks and skimmers anywhere on the battlefield. Each turn, a Engineer can do a level-1 repair on a Victor vehicle in the same hex or in an adjacent hex, or he can do a level-2 repair if he rolls a 3-6. The vehicle cannot move during turns when it is being repaired, although it can attack normally. Exception: an Engineer riding in a Battle Train can fix it while it's moving.

Name:	Chief
Type:	Low leader

The Chief is the most common leader. Troops within 3 hexes of a Chief gain his benefit when facing morale checks. You can buy more Chiefs than you need; these "extra" Chiefs aren't attached to any formation, but can go wherever their leadership and fighting skills are needed.

Name:	Boss
Type:	Medium leader

A Boss must be part of every troop. Troops within 5 hexes of a Boss gain his benefit when facing morale checks.

Name:	Snizi
Type:	Hero

Snizi is an inventive Sledder who has "customized" his sled in some remarkable ways. He can manage a speed of 4 on it, and he has mounted a thundergun on it. This gun can fire straight ahead, at -1 aim, with no impact on Snizi's own shooting. He is a Veteran-level Honcho.

Name:	Bashfall
Type:	Hero

Bashfall joined the ranks of the Thumpers, and they had to make a special armored suit for him because he stands a head taller than most Victors. He is an Elite-level Honcho, with the Tough attribute. He always carries a Two-Handed Axe.

Name:	Thoran
Type:	Hero

Thoran Oakenleg was a fierce Walker until he lost one of his legs in battle with the Norx. He is now fitted with an artificial leg and is restricted to fighting as a Sapper, but he is still fierce. Unlike other Sappers, he carries a medium weapon. He is a Veteran-level Honcho and a deadly shot.

III-c. Soldier Attributes

III-d. Weapons

• Grenades (can carry 1 of these in addition to any other weapon):
• Hand Grenades are short-ranged fragmentation bombs.

• Hand weapons (can carry two of these):
• Thunder Pistol is a lower-powered version of the thundergun.
• Sawglove is a powered circular saw blade mounted on the end of a Victor armored suit. Only Thumpers can use this weapon, which is best against lightly-armored targets.
• Victorax is a nasty battleaxe, not as good as a Dran monomolecular blade, but deadly nonetheless.
• Shield provides extra protection against weapons hits. It gives no attack, but if a weapon is fired at you, it first must pierce the Shield, with an armor rating of 3, before it can even try to hurt you. A Shield can try to stop up to two attacks per turn.

• Light weapons:
• Thundergun is a short-ranged, large-bore slug-thrower, the standard Victor weapon.
• Tomigun is smaller than a thundergun but bigger than a pistol, and capable of automatic fire. It fires twice per turn, at the same hex or at two adjacent targets. This is the preferred weapon of Sledders.
• Grenade Launcher can fire grenades to a good distance. You do not need to buy grenades to use this weapon.
• Two-handed Axe is an enlarged Victorax, used mostly by Thumpers.

• Medium weapons:
• Lightning Gun shoots an electric charge to shock its target.
• Gatling Gun is a multi-barreled thundergun that can fire three times at the same target, or at 2-3 adjacent targets at -1 aim.
• Knee Mortar lobs a small explosive shell in a high arc. This weapon ignores the line-of-sight restriction on firing through occupied hexes. Vehicles cannot use this weapon.
• Dart Gun propels a thin, ultra-hard flechette that can pierce most armor.

• Heavy weapons:
• ESD Cannon is most effective against skimmer vehicles. It builds up an electrostatic discharge within the target; when the charge grounds, the target suffers a serious shock. It does -1 damage to ground vehicles and powered-armor troops, and -2 damage to other soldiers.
• Thunder Cannon is a much-enlarged Thundergun.
• Rocket Pod fires a salvo of unguided rockets into the target hex. The attributes in the Weapons Table are for one rocket; the actual effect depends on how many rockets hit the target. 1-2 rockets can hit a soldier, up to 4 can hit a small vehicle, and 6 can hit a large vehicle. Roll a die; the number that comes up is the number of rockets that hit. If the rolled number is higher than the maximum, treat it as just one hit on a soldier, or reroll against a small vehicle. Treat each rocket hit as a separate attack.
• Wire-Guided Missile is a long-range, accurate way for Victors to hit their targets. Its only flaw is its erratic warhead, which often does not fully explode. Each time you launch a missile, roll a die to determine its attack rating. If its attack roll succeeds, roll to determine its damage. For both of these special rolls, reroll fives and sixes.

III-e. Vehicles

Name:	Strider
Type:	Small ground vehicle (walker)

The Strider is a one-man walking weapons carrier. It moves on three legs, just like its driver, and carries three weapons (one hand, one light/medium, one heavy). It can use two weapons per turn, or one if it's a close-combat weapon. Close-combat weapons are at +2 on attack rolls. The Strider does not suffer any penalty when shot from the rear.

Name:	Racer
Type:	Small ground vehicle

Only the Victors would call a vehicle with a speed of 3 a Racer, but it's the fastest thing they have. Racers carry a light weapon firing front, because front is the only direction they expect to see targets. The Racer's role is to get the slow-moving Victor ground soldiers into battle quickly, then run back for more. It has the remarkable ability to move as fast in reverse as forward, so it doesn't need to turn around when it returns from the lines for more troops.

Name:	Hammer
Type:	Large ground vehicle (supertank)

When the Victors build tanks, they build 'em big. The Hammer bristles with weapons and is as heavily armored as you'd expect a Victor vehicle to be. A Hammer carries two heavy weapons (left and right), two medium weapons (360 and front), and a light weapon (rear/left/right).

Name:	Digger
Type:	Large ground vehicle

The Digger is an armored personnel carrier, with room inside for two teams of Victor soldiers. It carries no weapons. What makes it unique is its ability to tunnel underground. It can move anywhere except under deep water at its normal movement rate, and it cannot be attacked in any way while underground. To go under, the Digger must spend one turn without moving, during which soldiers cannot enter or leave it. It goes through an identical process when returning to the surface, which must happen in an empty hex, but soldiers can exit the Digger as soon as it emerges. Its tunnels collapse behind it as it moves, so other units can't follow it underground.

Once a Digger goes underground, take its counter off the map. Write its map and hex number on a piece of paper. Each time it moves, write the new location. When it's ready to emerge, put its counter back on the map. This way, there can be no accusations of misconduct in regard to moving a hidden unit -- your paper trail shows exactly how the Digger got from point "A" to point "B."

Name:	Battle Train
Type:	Large ground vehicle

There is nothing in the galaxy like a Victor Battle Train. The Victors use these monstrous vehicles only when ultimate firepower is needed -- a full-sized Battle Train is bigger than many spaceships. Battle Trains are made of modules linked together; the more modules you use, the more the Train costs, and the more damage it can do. A Train can be as short as three modules, or as long as you can afford to make it.

• Plow is an extra-heavily armored "front" for the train, with a heavy weapon in front, a medium in a turret on top, and two light weapons on the left and right. A Battle Train can have only one Plow module, which must be at the front. Shooting at the first module of a Train without a Plow gives +1 on the attack roll. Plows are considered supertanks.
• Engine provides power for the entire Train, but carries no weapons. It has room for one Engineer, who can repair any damaged module in the Train without leaving its armored protection. He can move to any car inside the Train in one turn, and, unlike other vehicles, the Train can move while he repairs damaged modules. A Train without an Engine cannot move if any of its cars are immobilized by damage.
• Tender uses an obsolete Pelgari device to enclose its entire Train in a deflector shield. This raises each module's armor rating by +1. A Train can have more than one Tender, but only one can affect the train's armor at a time.
• Antitank Car has a medium weapon in a 360 turret and a heavy and a medium weapon on each side.
• Reaper Car carries six light weapons, three on each side, and a medium weapon in a 360 turret.
• Pullman Car is a personnel-carrier module, with room inside for three teams of Victors, and four firing ports on each side for the soldiers' light and medium weapons.
• Caboose eliminates the rear-armor weak spot, and carries a medium weapon firing rear, another on top, and light weapons left and right. A Battle Train can have only one Caboose module, which must be at the rear.

When shooting at a Battle Train, the attacker must choose which module he is shooting at. If a module is immobile because of damage, and the Train has no Engine, the Battle Train cannot move. Should a module in the middle of the Train be destroyed, it takes one turn for the rest of the Train to catch up with the front (which must not move) and reconnect. A Train with less than three modules cannot move. A Train with enough modules can split itself into smaller Trains, at will or as a result of damage, as long as each has at least three modules.

IV. Game Tables

V. Revision History