Behemoths
Behemoths are among the largest land- based fighting vehicles in the 27th century. Towering over even super-heavy tanks, these colossi are capable of laying waste to entire formations single-handedly. They also feature exceedingly thick armour, making them nigh-on invulnerable to all but the most powerful weapons, usually those carried by other Behemoths.
To reflect their extreme size and power, Behemoths have a unique set of rules. These are fairly in depth and advanced, so we recommend new players get a few games in before scaling up their battles with the massive Behemoths.
All Behemoths have the Large special rule.
Special rules and Command Cards have no effect on Behemoths unless explicitly mentioned. Commanders in Behemoths may still use Command Cards as normal.
Behemoths have a number associated with them, known as their Spread, measured in inches from the centre of the Behemoth.
Behemoths may enter play as normal (following the normal Deployment rules to represent landing behind the lines by Bulk Lander), or may choose to enter play via Drop-harness. Declare this when deploying the Behemoth's Battlegroup.
Drop-Harness
Drop-harnesses vary in design, but they all operate in a similar manner. Effectively, they are high-thrust, short burn decent arrestors, which slow a Behemoth's free-fall to allow for a safe landing. In this manner, they may be deployed from low-orbit by Strike Carriers. Drop-harnesses detach on landing and are either discarded or return to their point of origin under their own power. They cannot, however, lift a Behemoth back up from the surface.
This method of deployment is risky, especially in dense, urban areas populated by enemies. Infantry units deployed alongside a Behemoth often take to battle with portable scanners able to fully 3D map a limited area. Once these scans are made, damage upon landing is mitigated. Without them, it's not unknown for a Behemoth to sustain critical damage during descent, making for little more than an extremely costly bombardment.
When a Behemoth enters play via Drop- harness, it must be called down with a special Signal action. This can only be done when a Behemoth is In Readiness.
A Signal action counts as two actions for an activation, and may only be done by Infantry squads. Pick a point on the board within 6" of the Infantry unit (or edge of occupied Garrison).
If there are no Infantry units squads left to call down a Behemoth, it misses the battle!
Place the Behemoth on that point. A Behemoth can be placed on top of scenery pieces and friendly and enemy units. Every Destructible scenery piece or squad within its Spread is landed on and takes 2D3 automatic Energy 12 hits (roll once for all affected units). Damage can be dealt to any units in the squad (not just those within the Spread), allocated by the Behemoth's controlling player. Body Cover may be used as normal. Resolve all damage before proceeding with the Behemoth's landing.
Arriving via Drop-harness is a risky manoeuvre, and may cause damage to the Behemoth on landing. When a Behemoth arrives via Drop-harness, after rolling for damage to squads and Scenery pieces, check to see which conditions on the table below are met and roll the total number of dice listed. Each condition can be met multiple times. For every 1-2 rolled, the Behemoth loses 1 Damage Point from a random Zone. Note that any Scenery pieces or squads that were destroyed by the Behemoth landing are removed before consulting the table.
| Condition | Number of Dice per Instance |
|---|---|
| Landed on Impassable Scenery | 5 |
| Landed on Tough scenery | 2 |
| Landed within 3" of an enemy squad | 2 |
| Landed on a unit | 1 |
| Landed within R(C) and line of sight of an AA weapon. | 1 |
If there are any Impassable Scenery pieces left on the board within the Behemoth's Spread after resolving these hits, the controlling player moves the Behemoth a minimum distance until it is clear. The controlling player then moves any units within its Spread a minimum distance so that the Behemoth can be placed.
Behemoths that enter via Drop-harness cannot be activated that round.
For example, a Behemoth lands via Drop-harness on top of 2 Impassable scenery pieces, 4 units, and within 3" of 3 enemy squads. Upon landing the Behemoth destroys one of the Impassable scenery pieces, and 2 of the units it lands on. After this is resolved, the Behemoth must roll a total of 10 dice (5 for the Impassable scenery piece, 2 for the units underneath it, and 3 for the enemy squads within 3 ).
From those rolls it takes 3 points of damage which are randomly allocated to different Zones. The controlling player then moves the Behemoth a minimum distance away from the Impassable scenery piece. Any units under it are then moved, and finally it is placed, ready to begin the game.
Behemoths & Moving
These war engines are so large that an entire battle may be going on underneath them, but caution should be taken by anyone foolish enough to wander under a Behemoth's feet!
When moving, units may go directly underneath a Behemoth - should their miniature fit. When judging this, simply use the Behemoth's legs (or leg facsimiles) as where the model sits. Aircraft fly under (or over) in the normal manner.
Behemoths suffer no penalty to their MV value when moving over Tough terrain, and may move over Impassable scenery and units up to half the height of the model.
Behemoths may move through Impassable scenery pieces over half the height of the model, provided they can physically be placed where they end their Moving action. Any Destructible scenery pieces moved through in this way suffer D3 Energy 10 automatic hits. Any of these hits that fail to damage are instead resolved as successful damage rolls against a random zone on the Behemoth. Passive Countermeasures can be used against these as normal.
When moving a Behemoth, pick a point to move it to within its MV value as normal. Measure its Spread from that point. Every Destructible scenery piece or squad (friendly and enemy) within its Spread takes D3 automatic Energy 10 hits (roll once for all affected units). Damage can be dealt to any unit in the squad (not just those within the Spread), allocated by the Behemoth's controlling player. Aircraft cannot be damaged in this way. Body Cover may be used as normal. Resolve all damage before proceeding with the Behemoth's movement.
After resolving this damage, if necessary the controlling player moves their surviving units a minimum distance so that the Behemoth can be placed. A Behemoth can be deliberately used in this way to stomp on its opponents!
Behemoths & Shooting
When targeting a Behemoth, measure to any point within its Spread.
Due to their massive energy banks, Behemoths may use Passive Countermeasures against all hits, regardless of their Energy value.
Weapons with the Area special rule do not place the blast template when targeting a Behemoth. Instead they fire as a normal weapon of that type. Area weapons targeting other units have no effect on Behemoths.
Zones
Behemoths are so large that distinct areas may be targeted and damaged or destroyed.
A Behemoth is split into three zones: Hull, Legs, and Weapons. The main profile of a Behemoth has no Damage value. Instead, each zone has its own Damage points, and may be targeted separately. Keep track of damage on these zones as if they were individual units. Whenever a unit shoots a Behemoth, choose a zone to target.
A zone loses damage points as any other unit, but each zone has a number of Damage Thresholds. Once a zone goes below a Damage Threshold, it is Crippled. Each unit profile will specify what the Damage Thresholds are and the relevant Crippled effects - simply follow the instructions listed whenever it is Crippled. When there are multiple options in a Crippled result (such as a choice of weapons being destroyed) the targeting player chooses which result applies. A single weapon can only target one zone, but can Cripple that zone multiple times with one volley if it is lucky (or particularly powerful).
Note that these Damage Thresholds don't necessarily match exactly on a one-to-one basis - a Behemoth may have only two legs on the miniature, but have four Damage Thresholds on its Legs, representing the total amount of damage the two legs can take.
Every time a Behemoth is Crippled, after resolving the effects, the targeting player chooses 1 other Zone. That Zone loses 1 Damage Point. This can cause further Crippled results, making a chain reaction!
Weapons with the Structural special rule cannot be affected by Crippled results unless specifically mentioned.
A zone may go below a Damage Threshold and then subsequently go back above that Threshold (healing Damage Points for example). In this situation the Crippled result remains, and the Damage Threshold is ignored - each Threshold can only cause one Crippled result. Once a zone is completely destroyed, it cannot replenish damage points.
Destroying Behemoths
A Behemoth may have parts blown off it, but will still be active in the game - albeit at severely reduced efficiency! The only way to truly destroy a Behemoth is to cause irreparable structural harm.
When a Behemoth is reduced to 0 Damage Points on 2 zones, it is destroyed. Roll 1 dice.
On a 2+, the Behemoth explodes in spectacular fashion and all scenery pieces and units (friendly and enemy) within that many inches (measured horizontally) get hit by the explosion and suffer that many Energy 10 automatic hits. Passive Countermeasures and Body Cover may be used as normal against these hits. Leave the Behemoth on the board as Impassable scenery - it still blocks line of sight and movement, but cannot otherwise be interacted with, since it is destroyed.
On a roll of a 1 the primary core collapses and despite all fail-safes, a localised singularity event occurs. Roll again. All scenery pieces and units within that many inches are removed from the board, including the Behemoth itself (and yes, that includes any other Behemoths in range!).