The Swarm

I. Introduction

The Swarm first appeared in the outskirts of the Gamma Sector about sixty years ago. They left a trail of blackened, lifeless planets behind them as they spread from world to world, stripping all resources and eradicating all life before moving on. We cannot communicate with them; they do not communicate in any known way. All we can do is try to stop them before they overrun the entire galaxy.

The Swarm are a heterogeneous race; each creature serves a different function, from close-combat soldiers to living spaceships. Although the various creatures in the Swarm take many different forms, they all share a common genetic heritage. This, and several other factors, makes us believe that the Swarm was genetically engineered as a living weapons system by some unknown race, which then lost control of them. Perhaps the creator race was destroyed by an enemy; maybe part of the Swarm moved out of communications range. Whatever the reason, the Swarm ravages mindlessly onward across space, waiting for a "cease-fire" command that will never come.

Every member of the Swarm is a living entity, even the ones we classify as vehicles. All their weaponry is biological and built into each creature. The smallest things (the StarMarine generic term for a Swarm organism) are nearly mindless, and are guided by more intelligent things, which in turn receive direction from higher-order things yet. Some of our xenobiologists believe there is a master intelligence that guides the entire Swarm, but this is pure conjecture.

In battle, the Swarm sweep across the battlefield at frightening speed, with each thing performing its special task. Some things are made for close combat; others are anti-armor specialists, and some launch long-ranged attacks. They never suffer from morale failure. The only weakness in the Swarm is their leader units; kill those, and the others become much less effective.

The borders of all Swarm counters and markers are orange and white.

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

II. Troop & Vehicle Summary

• Blue Runners are fast, cheap killers of soldiers.
• Red Runners are similar to the Blue Runner, but better at piercing armor.
• Dragons are living flame-throwers.
• Racers are very fast snake-like creatures.
• Hoppers take flying leaps onto enemy units.
• Spitters launch blobs of caustic, toxic liquid.
• Eggs seek out vehicles and explode against them.
• Balloons float over the battlefield and drop on anything they can.
• Vets heal wounded things.
• Leaders (Guides and Docents) provide leadership to the lesser things. Every formation must have a leader.
• Gargantua is a living combat walker.
• Blinder is a fast runner with a double attack.
• Egg-Layer creates a new Egg every turn.
• Balloon-Man creates a new Balloon every turn.
• Hulk is a living tank.

III. Swarm Soldiers

Swarm soldiers and vehicles do not have to make separation checks, as most other races' units do. But their strict hierarchical leadership structure places a different restriction on them. Any thing that is not in the leadership range of a leader thing becomes uncontrolled.

An uncontrolled thing cannot be given any kind of orders. It simply goes berserk, moving toward and attacking the nearest enemy unit, whether it can effectively attack that unit or not. If more than one enemy is equally close, it will attack the one it is facing; if nothing is directly in front of it, it will turn to the right until it is facing an enemy, even if this means ignoring a juicy target just to its left. If nothing is in attack range, it will close in on the nearest enemy until something is in range, again preferring units it is facing, turning to the right if necessary. If one full move will not bring anything into attack range, the thing will freeze in place without moving, until something gets close enough. If a thing enters a leader's leadership range, it is no longer uncontrolled.

Swarm things will kill enemy Doctor units if they can, and will finish off enemy wounded if a Doctor might heal them; otherwise, they kill the wounded at the end of the battle.

There is no individuality in the Swarm, so there are no Swarm hero units, and soldier units cannot be given special attributes like other armies' units. Swarm units never have to make morale checks.

III-a. Forming an Army

Squad must contain 3 different teams of either Dragons, Racers, Hoppers, or Runners (either kind); at least one team must be Runners. The squad also needs at least one Guide. It can optionally include up to 5 vehicle-type things and a Vet.

Platoon must contain 3 full Squads, including at least one team each of Dragons, Racers, Hoppers, and both kinds of Runners, plus a team of Spitters, a Docent, and a Guide. It can optionally include unlimited vehicle-type things and Vets.

III-b. Soldier Types

Name:	Blue Runner
Type:	Basic soldier

Blue Runners are fast, vicious, and cheap. They are optimized for close combat with lightly-armored soldiers; their twin bio-blades inflict savage wounds. Blue Runners can stack two to a hex.

Name:	Red Runner
Type:	Basic soldier

Red Runners are similar to Blue Runners, but their bio-blades are more like spears than swords, making them better at piercing armor. Red Runners can stack two to a hex.

Name:	Dragon
Type:	Heavy soldier

Dragons bear little resemblance to the dragons of Earth, but they share two characteristics -- they both are heavily armored, and they both breathe fire. Swarm Dragon fire isn't just hot, it is also toxic and somewhat caustic. These living flame-throwers can usually be found in the thick of battle.

Name:	Racer
Type:	Light soldier

Snake-like Racers are the opposite of Dragons; they are light and amazingly fast, even by Swarm standards. Their knife-edged jaws can shear through light armor.

Name:	Hopper
Type:	Semi-airborne soldier

Hoppers move and attack unlike anything else. Each turn, a Hopper can leap 2-4 hexes in a straight line, over any other unit or terrain. The hex it lands in can be empty, or it can contain an enemy unit. If it lands on an enemy, the impact (and the Hopper's claws) does a hop attack to one enemy in that hex. The Hopper can turn 1-2 hex faces before it hops, but not after a hop until the next movement phase. If it doesn't hop, it can move slowly along the ground, but can still turn two hex faces as part of its move, and can lash an adjacent foe with its tentacles. A Hopper is -1 on its attack rolls against large vehicles.

Name:	Spitter
Type:	Heavy-weapon soldier

Spitters bear some resemblance to Dragons, but their attack is different. A Spitter can spew out a blob of highly-corrosive acid gel to a fairly long range. This gel can eat through any known armor, and reacts with carbon-based materials to form a deadly gas. Pelgari deflector shields are somewhat effective against this vile stuff; Spitter attacks against Pelgari units are at -1 on the attack roll.

Name:	Egg
Type:	Kamikaze soldier

Eggs are two-foot-diameter balls of chemical packets on legs. They are laid by an Egg-Layer (you cannot buy them individually) and, once laid, try to locate a vehicle, preferably a large one, within 6 hexes. If they find such a vehicle, they will run toward it, taking the shortest unobstructed path, until they can throw themselves onto it. This attack, which happens during the movement phase, causes the chemicals in their body to mix and explode, destroying the Egg and doing serious damage to the vehicle. If the Egg's attack roll misses, the Egg is unharmed and remains in the hex it was in. If they aren't pursuing a vehicle, and a soldier attacks them from 4 hexes away or less, they will throw themselves on that soldier; otherwise, they will remain dormant, waiting for a target to come within range. Once an Egg finds a target, it will not stop pursuing it or change targets until the target or the Egg is destroyed, unless the target moves more than 6 hexes away. Eggs do not have to be controlled by a leader unit; only an Egg-Layer can control them at all. They are -1 on attacks against skimmer vehicles. Eggs can stack two to a hex.

Name:	Balloon
Type:	Kamikaze soldier

Balloons are floating balls of gas, with packets of a vile chemical similar to that used by the Spitter. They are laid by a Balloon-Man (you cannot buy them individually) and are also controlled by a Balloon-Man; other leader units cannot control them. The Balloon-Man will cause the Balloons to float slowly over the battlefield until they enter a hex occupied by an enemy, at which point the Balloon will rupture and drop on the enemy unit, covering him with acid gel. This attack happens during the movement phase, and destroys the Balloon. If the Balloon's attack roll misses, the Balloon is still destroyed. They are -1 on attack rolls against targets which moved 4 hexes or more the last time they moved. A Balloon which becomes uncontrolled will move at random (roll on the Scatter Table), and will drop on the first enemy it can. A unit does not have to be in Overwatch to shoot a Balloon, but still suffers the -1 attack-roll penalty for shooting at an airborne unit. The Balloon's height adds 1 to the range when attacked.

Name:	Vet
Type:	Doctor

The Vet secretes fluids from its extremities that promote rapid healing in Swarm things; they are toxic to most other life forms. Each turn, a Vet can turn one thing in the same hex (including itself), or in an adjacent hex, from Wounded to normal. If the Vet becomes uncontrolled, it will seek an enemy to attack, and won't heal the wounded.

Name:	Guide
Type:	Low leader

The Guide is the most common leader. It controls things within four hexes. Like other Swarm leaders, it is naturally armored and can squirt a stream of acid gel. Extra Guides are provided with the counter sheets, since a Swarm formation can never have too much leadership. Swarm leaders never become uncontrolled.

Name:	Docent
Type:	Medium leader

A Docent must be part of every platoon. It controls things within six hexes. One extra Docent is included with the counter sheets, to help control large formations.

III-c. Soldier Attributes

III-d. Weapons

III-e. Vehicles

Name:	Gargantua
Type:	Large ground vehicle (walker)

This monstrosity stomps across the battlefield on two legs. Plates of hardened skin give it natural armor, and its arms end in a pincer-like claw and a sickle-shaped blade. It can attack with both arms in a turn, at different targets, or at the same target if attacking a vehicle.

Name:	Blinder
Type:	Small ground vehicle

The Blinder is named for its blinding speed. The Swarm uses them the same way the StarMarines use their speederbikes. A Blinder has a tough hide and two blade-tipped arms to slash at its enemies. It can attack twice in a turn, at the same or different opponents.

Name:	Egg-Layer
Type:	Large ground vehicle

Egg-Layers are big, slow-moving creatures that create one Egg each turn. The Egg-Layer must move, and the Egg appears in the hex that the Layer just left. An Egg that has just been laid cannot move during the current turn. The Layer has an egg-control range of 3; it will usually use this control to hold one or more Eggs back, then release them in a mass attack. It can spray acid out of its prehensile nose. An Egg-layer that becomes uncontrolled will seek the nearest enemy and attack, but cannot lay or control Eggs.

Name:	Balloon-Man
Type:	Large ground vehicle

Balloon-Men are similar in appearance to Egg-Layers. They lay an egg each turn, which inflates into a Balloon. The Balloon-Man must move, and the Balloon appears in the hex that the Man just left. A Balloon that has just been laid cannot move in the current turn. A Balloon-Man can control Balloons to a range of 6 hexes, and can spray acid out of its prehensile nose. A Balloon-man that becomes uncontrolled will seek the nearest enemy and attack, but cannot lay or control Balloons.

Name:	Hulk
Type:	Large ground vehicle

The Hulk is most StarMarines' worst nightmare. Its spiky legs can do overrun attacks just like a tank, and it has four acid-shooting tentacles on its back, which can attack the same or different opponents. Its armor is nearly impenetrable, and its toughness is unbelievable. Its main purpose is to draw fire away from the other things, rather than to cause destruction on its own.

IV. Game Tables

V. Revision History