Chronicles of Blood is a solitaire wargame developed by Crystal Star Games. It’s a fantasy mass battles game where the basic unit is the regiment, represented by several figures on a base. It’s an amazingly clever and elegant design, which you should check yourself because it is absolutely free. You can find it in DriveThruRPG to name just one.

Anyway, I’ve been playing the game quite a bit, and decided to add a few clearer rules for my games regarding some stuff. The game is vague in some aspects, and I enjoy that, but since I love dwelling in game design I thought I’d make the hacks available to anyone interested. These are not clarifications to the rules. More like tweaks I enjoy to make it a bit more solid, and maybe even limited. Always a good thing when playing a solitaire game.

I will be updating this article, mainly with new profiles as I need them, so be sure the check back whenever I post an update on a regular post.

Remember, these are not clarifications to the rules nor official words from the publisher, just fan work.

Rules

Line of sight

LOS determines what a regiment can see. LOS extends to the sides of the regiment from the front side in a 45 degree angle. If you use any kind of template for pivoting the regiments you can use the same one to determine the LOS angle.

A regiment can only charge an enemy that was in LOS at the start of its activation. A regiment can only shoot using Archery if the target is within its LOS and it is not completely obstructed. Other regiments and terrain such as woods and hills block LOS, while shallow terrain like rivers do not.

A regiment completely on top of a hill can trace its LOS over other regiments, but not over other hills or woods. A regiment inside woods or ruins can see outside and be seen in return.

Movement

Straight & sweep
A regiment can move up to its Speed in a straight line or a sweep. This is basically a diagonal move without changing the regiment’s facing. However, a regiment can only end its sweep move with its front side completely within its original position’s LOS. Any sharper sweep and the regiment would require a change of formation or risk disruption. This simply means regiments can move diagonally, but in an angle not greater than 45 degrees.

Side step
A regiment can make a side step move during its activation. It moves up to 10cm to either side (just one, not both in the same move) maintaining the same facing. The regiment cannot pivot during a side step move.

Reform
A regiment can make a reform action during its activation. The regiment can change its facing freely staying in place, and no further movement is allowed.

Charges
Any regiment ending its move in contact with an enemy regiment is by definition charging. Regiments can only charge enemies that are in its LOS at the start of their activation. Charge contact can only be made with the front side of the charging regiment’s base, against one of the target’s sides (any side, just not a corner). Neither the rear, nor sides, nor any corner of the charger can be used to contact an enemy regiment. A regiment must stop at least 1cm away from an enemy if it cannot charge it. It is perfectly normal to pivot after moving in contact with an enemy using a corner, if the regiment has enough Speed left (“closing the door” move in other wargames rules).

Cover

A regiment completely inside terrain that provides cover, like woods or ruins, gains +1 Armor while in the terrain against Archery.


LOS and Cover

Multiple combat

If a regiment’s move ends with its front side in contact with two or more enemies after charging then you’ve got yourself a multime combat. Remember only the sides of enemies’ bases can be charged (any side) and corner contact doesn’t count.

When there is more than one regiment fighting on one side simply roll both Fight dice, add modifiers separately and choose the higher number. If this is enough to beat the opponent’s roll then each regiment rolls its own Damage die and Wounds separately. If the side with multiple regiments loses the combat both are moved back 2cm and the lone regiment chooses which regiment to wound. If a tie, then every regiment in the combat takes one wound.

Lone monsters

Monsters are big and scary creatures. Monster regiments use the regular basing (and movement rules) for the armies. However, some of the biggest monsters come with their own bases. These are lone monsters not limited by the drills of military movement. They can move freely without the need to pivot, retreat, or side step. They have 360 degree LOS.

Army banner bearer hero

The army banner bearer carries the army or alliance colors and represents the rally point for the whole army.

A regiment that has an army banner bearer benefits from an increase in their Morale battle stat like a regular banner (see Heroes of the Battlefield p. 1). Additionally, it allows any friendly regiment within 15cm, including itself, to reroll a failed Morale roll once per turn.

An army banner bearer increases the points value of a regiment by 4 points. A regiment can have either a regular banner or an army banner, not both, and of course not more than one. Only one regiment per army can have an army banner.

Special rules

Huge
A regiment can be so big it can be seen from all over the battlefield. Some monsters and war machines are the most common examples.

A huge regiment can see and be seen over other regiments and scenery. It does not half its Speed while moving through terrain, but it also doesn’t gain the cover Armor bonus while on terrain that provides it.

Rock Lobber
Some machines or monsters can throw massive rocks at the enemy creating all sorts of chaos. Rock Lobber is a variation of the Archery special rule.

A regiment with this rule may shoot at an enemy regiment within the distance listed in brackets with the Rock Lobber special rule (eg, 40cm, 50cm, etc). The shooting regiment must have LOS to the target. If the target is in range and can be seen, roll the shooting regiment’s Fight die. If the result is 4+ the shot hits. Otherwise it’s a miss.

Roll a d6 for damage and deduct the target’s Armour stat for the target regiment and every regiment within 5cm of the target (both enemy and friendly). Roll different dice for each.

If the shot was over half of the Rock Lobber range away deduct a further -1 from the damage. The remaining total is the number of Wounds the regiments lose.

Pathfinders
Some troops spend most of their time hiding from the enemy, using terrain to their advantage to strike at the right moment. They know the lays of the battlefield and move fast where they are needed.

Pathfinders do not half their Speed stat while moving through rough terrain.

Profiles

These are a few profiles I did for my games based on the existing ones. The formula is pretty easy to work out and they have worked well in play too. Take into account I play Middle-earth games with these rules.

Dark

Stone Giant. Lone Monster – S 15cm – F d10 – D d8 – A 4 – M d6 – W 8 – P 14 – Special: Huge.

Cave Trolls. Monsters – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 3 – M d4 – W 6 – P 8 – Special: Rock Lobber (30cm)

Goblin Spearmen. Goblin Infantry – S 15cm – F d4 – D d6 – A 1 – M d4 – W 5 – P 3 – Special: Spears

Uruk-hai Warrior.  Uruk-hai Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 3 – M d6 – W 6 – P 8

Uruk-hai Pikemen. Uruk-hai Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 2 – M d6 – W 6 – P 8 – Special: Spears

Uruk-hai Scouts. Uruk-hai Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 1 – M d6 – W 6 – P 8 – Special: Archery (50cm), Scout

Wild Wargs. Warg Cavalry – S 25cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 1 – M d4 – W 6 – P 8 – Special: Scout, Charge!

Warg Riders. Warg Cavalry – S 25cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 2 – M d4 – W 6 – P 8 – Special: Charge!

Light

High Elf Spearmen. Elf Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 2 – M d8 – W 5 – P 8 – Special: Spears

High Elf Archers. Elf Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 1 – M d8 – W 5 – P 7 – Special: Archery (60cm)

Gondor Spearmen. Human Infantry – S 15cm – F d6 – D d6 – A 2 – M d6 – W 5 – P 6 – Special: Spears

Gondor Warriors. Human Infantry – S 15cm – F d6 – D d6 – A 2 – M d6 – W 5 – P 5

Gondor Archers. Human Infantry – S 15cm – F d6 – D d6 – A 1 – M d6 – W 5 – P 5 – Special: Archery (50cm)

Gondor Scouts. Human Infantry – S 15cm – F d6 – D d6 – A 0 – M d6 – W 5 – P 5 – Special: Skirmishers, Archery (50cm)

Gondor Knights. Human Cavalry – S 25cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 3 – M d6 – W 5 – P 9 – Special: Charge!

Vault Wardens. Dwarf Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 4 – M d8 – W 6 – P 11 – Special: Spears

Stone Thrower. Dwarf Infantry – S 15cm – F d8 – D d6 – A 1 – M d8 – W5 – P 8 – Special: Archery (90cm)*

*Note: The dwarf stone thrower is more akin a ballista than a catapult, therefore it has Archery rather than Rock Lobber.