So I thought I would write down an early summary of the rules based on the GenCon demo
video
by team Covenant and the
video
by Beast of War. Please watch these videos first, moving pictures are always more interesting than words
Of course, the usual disclaimer : These rules are based on my own interpretation of the videos, summed up to be as factual as possible. If you disagree with any point and think it can be written in a clearer manner, please post below and let me know. The purpose of this post is solely for the benefit of anyone who is interested in the game and would like to know how it works.
So, on to the summary!
Pre-measure is only allowed with the range rule, which measures a straight length of 5 spaces.
Armies are built based on a points system, the points are laid out on the back of each unit's card. See Nalim's post on the screenshots of each card for more detail.
There are also upgrade cards (which must match the "Available Upgrades" detailed) which would provide more benefits at the cost of points. These upgrades sometimes replaces a model in the unit (i.e. musicians, banner carrier, heroes or even a siege unit). Some upgrades are also exhaustible and need to be refreshed using a rally action.
The formation (setup of each unit's tray) matters, as it affects 2 modifiers the unit will have : threat and re-roll.
The length of ranks (the number of front facing trays) is the threat of the unit. The damage result on the attack roll is multiplied by the threat.
The number of ranks (each full row behind the front facing trays) affect the number of re-rolls. 1 additional full rank = 1 additional re-roll.
In short: The higher the threat, the higher the possible damage; The higher the rank, the more consistency the unit has in dealing damage.
(scenarios and other point systems are not fully known at the moment. The demos were run at about 100 points, typical army size is said to be around 200 points).
Runes (double sided tokens) are rolled at the start of each round. In the demo there are 5 runes with the following faces : 2 red/0; 2 red/1 green; 1 blue/1 green; 1 blue/1 blue, 1 green/0. These runes affect some unit's skills through the round (i.e. Uthuk Y'llan Reanimates can regenerate a unit within an existing tray with each green rune at the end of each round).
After the runes are tossed, each players (in secret) sets the action dials for each and all unit simultaneously. Each unit has a primary action dial (which also determines the initiative, the white number on each action), and another dial which is a modifier. The modifier must match the colour of the primary action to take effect, except for the case of white modifiers - this modifier applies to any action.
The normal actions are as follows:
March : Move the unit forward. Can be modified to be a bank or a sharp turn. Can also be modified into a charge.
Shift: Move the unit in any direction. Can be used to disengage.
Reform: Freely rotate the unit to face any direction.
Melee Attack : Attack an engaged enemy.
Ranged Attack : Attack an enemy at range 1-5 and within line of sight.
Rally : Remove all banes and refresh all upgrade cards. If not, receive an inspiration token.
Skill : Activate the unit's skill, detailed on the unit card.
(WIP, to be continued)