Zrute Alliance

I. Introduction

About 150 years ago, an alien spaceship appeared in orbit around the Dran colony world of Marzipon IV. They identified themselves as Zrutes, and demanded the detailed formulae used for the orbits of the Marzipon weather satellites. The Dran refused, and in less than an hour, their satellites had been blasted into dust, and a team of Zrutes in high-tech battle suits were well on the way to conquering the colony. A few Dran took to the hills and lived to tell the story.

A month later, a similar ship arrived at the human colony of New Paris, making similar demands. The colonists quickly gave up the information without a fight. The aliens verified its correctness and returned to the depths of space without another word.

Much of what we know about the Zrute Alliance is guesswork, but we know for certain that they regard knowledge, especially technical knowledge, as the greatest treasure of all. They have sent scout ships halfway across the galaxy to investigate rumors of an alien derelict ship. When they attack, they prefer worlds that are high-tech (with secrets they can steal) and low in population (so they can conquer without a lengthy, destructive war). This zeal for knowledge can work against them; the Dran avenged their Marzipon colony by broadcasting detuned subspace frequencies at the Zrute ship, and when the aliens moved to investigate, they sailed straight into a Dran trap.

Another unusual trait among the Zrutes is that, unlike most aggressive races, they are willing to sign peace treaties when it suits their purposes. They have never broken a treaty. But they have a pattern of provoking so many "incidents" that the other party renounces the treaty, or simply retreats from the disputed area.

A Zrute looks something like a brightly-colored Earth salamander, standing 1-1/2 meters tall, with tentacles instead of arms. They were originally a water-dwelling species, and their battle suits are filled with water to keep them comfortable. And it is these battle suits (the "Zrute suits," as the StarMarines have irreverently named them) that make the Zrute army different from others.

Zrutes use no vehicles. Every unit in their armies is a foot soldier, equipped with one of a dizzying variety of battle suits -- light suits, heavy suits, flying suits, heavy-weapons suits, and some which have no counterpart in any other army. This limits them to some extent, but it gives them great flexibility, and an advantage in numbers as well. Zrutes prefer to attack from cover rather than charge across a battlefield. They take as many prisoners as they can; those with technical knowledge are treated well, and any others are killed outright.

The borders of all Zrute counters and markers are blue & white.

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

• Normal Suits are the basic Zrute foot soldier.
• Runner Suits are light soldiers that move amazingly fast.
• Stealth Suits are almost impossible to target.
• Bounding Suits can take quick flying leaps.
• Melee Suits are heavily-armored close-combat suits.
• Drone Suits are remote-controlled heavy suits.
• Weapons Suits are equipped to use heavy weapons.
• Flying Suits wear short-range jet packs on their backs.
• Airlift Suits can carry another Zrute through the air.
• UltraSuits are basically combat walkers.
• QuadSuits are four-legged combat walkers.
• White Suits are battlefield medics and suit fixers.
• Command Suits (Commander-1's and 2's) provide leadership to the foot soldiers. Every formation bigger than a crew must have a commander.

III. Zrute Soldiers

Zrutes suffer a -2 penalty on morale if they have to make a separation check.

Zrutes will quickly attack an enemy Doctor-unit once they see him healing any wounded.

III-a. Forming an Army

Squadron must contain 3 crews and at least one Commander-1. At least one crew must be normal suits, and none of the three can be the same type, except for normal suits. Heavy-weapons soldiers cannot be part of a squadron. It can optionally include up to 2 each of UltraSuits and QuadSuits, a White Suit, and a Hero.

Platoon must contain 3 full Squadrons, including at least four different kinds of special suits, plus a team of Weapons Suits, a Commander-2, and a Commander-1. It can optionally include unlimited UltraSuits, QuadSuits, White Suits, and Heroes.

III-b. Soldier Types

Name:	Normal Suit
Type:	Basic soldier

This battle suit is roughly equivalent to StarMarine battle armor -- fairly tough, and not too mobile. Like all Zrute suits, it features fully flexible arms, instead of jointed arms, to accommodate the Zrutes' tentacles.

Name:	Runner Suit
Type:	Special soldier (light)

Runner suits have their legs augmented to let them run amazingly fast. The technology seems to be similar to the Pelgari Road Runners, and was probably stolen from the Pelgari a few decades ago. Runner suits are at -2 aim if they moved 3 or more hexes in the current turn.

Name:	Bounding Suit
Type:	Special soldier (light)

This odd battle suit is halfway between an airborne and a light suit. Its wearer can jump 2-3 hexes in a straight line, over any enemy or terrain, at will, instead of making its normal move. This jump happens too quickly to be targeted by an enemy, even in Overwatch. The wearer can turn one hex-face before or after jumping, but not both. The jump move can ignore the usual zone-of-control restrictions on movement. The sight of a team of Zrutes bouncing across the battlefield like kangaroos might seem funny, if they weren't armed and dangerous.

Name:	Stealth Suit
Type:	Special soldier

No other race has anything like the Stealth Suit, so we know this is a Zrute invention. It bends light around itself, essentially making itself invisible. In order to target a Stealth Suit, the attacker has to be in Overwatch, and suffers a -2 aim penalty. If the Stealth Suit did not move in its last movement phase, the aim penalty is -3. Overrun attacks against a Stealth Suit always miss. A frag attack can hit it normally.

Name:	Melee Suit
Type:	Special soldier (heavy)

This heavily-armored suit is the choice of those few Zrutes who aren't afraid of hand-to-hand combat. Other Zrutes will often hide behind a team of Melee Suiters, using them for cover.

Name:	Drone Suit
Type:	Special soldier (heavy)

Drone Suits are Melee Suits with no Zrutes inside them; they are remotely controlled by a Zrute with a Drone Controller, which must be no more than 4 hexes away. A Drone that gets too far from the nearest Controller cannot move or fire. The Zrutes use them as moving cover, hiding behind them as they advance; they thus serve the same function as an armored personnel carrier. They never fail morale checks. A Zrute cannot guide Drones and attack in the same turn.

Name:	Weapons Suit
Type:	Heavy-weapon soldier

A Weapons Suit has its heavy weapon built right into the suit, along with aiming equipment. This means that, unlike most heavy-weapons soldiers, a Weapons Suit can move and fire in the same turn.

Name:	Flying Suit
Type:	Airborne soldier

Flying Suits are similar to Normal Suits, with the addition of a rocket backpack. They start the game on the ground. Once per game, they can take off and fly over any enemy or terrain, then land and fight like normal soldiers. They can turn and maneuver in the air; they can move their entire flight-move allowance or only part of it, and they can stay in the air as long as they want. Once they land, they cannot take off again. Flying Suits cannot move on the ground and in the air in the same turn.

Flying Suits cannot fire their weapons while in the air; controlling their rockets takes too much concentration.

Name:	Airlift Suit
Type:	Airborne soldier

The Airlift Suit works just like the Flying Suit, except that its rockets are slower and more powerful. This means the Airlift Suit can carry another Zrute (any except a Melee, Drone, Ultra, or QuadSuit) through the air, and set him down elsewhere. This does not mark the end of the Airlift Suit's flight; this ends only when the Suit itself lands or is shot down. The Zrute who gets carried must enter and stack with the Airlifter before the Airlift takes off, and can move and attack freely as soon as he gets put down. He cannot attack from the air.

Name:	UltraSuit
Type:	Semi-vehicle soldier (walker)

The UltraSuit looks and acts like a heavy war walker. But it's not a vehicle; inside is a Zrute, moving the UltraSuit by moving his legs, and aiming the weapons by moving his arms, as though the monstrous device was just another battle suit. One arm (attacking left/ahead) carries a close-combat weapon, which gets +1 on its attack and damage rolls; the other arm (attacking right/ahead) carries a ranged weapon. Another ranged weapon is mounted on one shoulder, and fires forward. One of these three can be a medium or heavy weapon; the others must be hand or light weapons. The UltraSuit does not suffer a penalty when shot from behind, and it takes no penalty on its separation check. Consider it a small walker-type vehicle for weapons immunities.

Name:	QuadSuit
Type:	Semi-vehicle soldier (walker)

The QuadSuit is a four-legged combat walker controlled by two Zrutes, one working the front and the other the back, in the same way the UltraSuit is controlled. The front Zrute can fire either a heavy weapon facing front, or a light weapon in a 360 mount. The rear Zrute can choose a medium weapon on the left or the right side. It never makes separation checks. Treat it as a small walker for weapons immunities, but it behaves more like a medium tank.

Name:	White Suit
Type:	Doctor

The White Suit heals wounds and repairs damaged battle suits. Each turn, a White Suit can turn one Zrute in the same hex (including himself) or in an adjacent hex, from Wounded to normal.

Name:	Commander-1
Type:	Low leader

The Cmdr-1 is the most common leader. Troops within 3 hexes of a Cmdr-1 gain his benefit when facing morale checks.

Name:	Commander-2
Type:	Medium leader

A Cmdr-2 must be part of every platoon. Troops within 4 hexes of a Cmdr-2 gain his benefit when facing morale checks.

Name:	Slassis
Type:	Hero

Slassis is a Veteran Commander-1 who is unusually dexterous with his tentacles. He is able to use a Drone Controller and attack with a hand weapon (an acid pistol) in the same turn. He gets the Tough attribute as well.

Name:	Sarackis
Type:	Hero

This Zrute chose the Weapons Suit as his specialty. He is a veteran-level Cmdr-0 and is a devastatingly-accurate marksman.

Name:	Stoxas
Type:	Hero

Stoxas wears the Airlift Suit, and he flies with such precision that the Zrute he carries can attack from the air. His altitude adds 1 to the range, so an adjacent unit is actually 2 hexes away. The Zrute who is carried can attack normally with any weapon he carries, except close-combat weapons. Stoxas is a veteran Cmdr-0 and is Lucky. He typically spends most of the battle in the air, bringing his "passenger" wherever fire-support is needed.

III-c. Soldier Attributes

III-d. Weapons

• Grenades (can carry 1 of these in addition to any other weapon):
• Acid Grenades are short-ranged bombs that cover their targets with corrosive chemicals.

• Hand weapons (can carry two of these):
• Morningstar is a spiked club made of ultra-hard metal. The first time it scores a hit, it discharges an electric shock that does +1 damage.
• Acid Pistol shoots a stream of corrosives. Think of it as the squirtgun from Hell.
• Drone Controller allows any Zrute to control as many Drone Suits as he can fit into the Controller's four-hex range.

• Light weapons:
• Railbow works like a crossbow, shooting a thick metal dart, but it uses railgun technology for power and speed of firing. It is the standard Zrute soldier's weapon.
• Sound Blaster does physical damage with a concentrated cone of sound. It is most effective against lightly-armored targets. Some atmosphere types can reduce its power.
• Grenade Gun throws acid grenades to a fair distance.
• Acid Gun squirts the same corrosive chemical as an acid grenade. It can fire up to two shots per turn, at one target or at two adjacent targets.

• Medium weapons:
• Power Chisel is a jackhammer with a lengthened stroke and a diamond-hard blade. It is primarily an anti-armor weapon, but it will hurt anything it hits.
• Napalm Projector is an unusually-nasty flame-thrower. It gets +1 range if mounted in an UltraSuit.
• Bolt Launcher is an automatic railbow that can fire up to three times per turn, at up to three adjacent targets. If it doesn't fire all its shots at the same target, it suffers a -1 penalty on its aim.
• Bolt Mortar lobs a metal bolt in a high arc. This weapon ignores the restrictions on line-of-sight and on light cover, since it can fire over obstacles and soldiers. It isn't the most accurate weapon, but its plunging trajectory gives it an advantage in piercing armor. It cannot move and fire in the same turn.

• Heavy weapons:
• Acid-Bomb Launcher fires an air-burst rocket that sprays a wide area with acid. It hits the target hex and two adjacent hexes in a triangle pattern; all three hexes must be in range. It works as a frag weapon.
• Laser-Aimed Missile includes its own laser designator, which makes it one of the most accurate weapons in the galaxy.
• Napalm Launcher shoots an incendiary shell much farther than the napalm projector.
• Rail Cannon is a brute-force weapon for general use.

III-e. Vehicles

IV. Game Tables

V. Revision History