Endless Swarm

Game Summary
1. Each player first selects a 500 point army list from any agreed upon set of rules for Warhammer
40k, except only 1 Troop choice is required, no HQ or second troop are mandatory.
2. Next the players randomly select, or agree upon a mission to play, each mission is different and
can be used to influence your choices during list construction. I highly recommend bringing a
variety of weapons and units as the enemy force will be wildly varied, and you don’t want to be
caught against a flying monster with no big guns!
3. Follow the rules for table setup in the mission description. Usually this will include a piece of
terrain called “The Fortress” see the section regarding that further down for more explanation.
4. Draw objective cards and follow their instructions if the mission calls for them.
5. Follow the mission rules for starting your deployment onto the board.
6. Follow the mission rules for enemy starting deployment.
7. Play the game! (see further rules for turn structure, and keep in mind objectives and mission
rules that may change play)
8. After the game check to see if anyone has earned victory points, and follow the rules on
spending them. This allows you to upgrade units, and create heroic characters that survive.
9. Note down characters and changes to keep for the next game.

Turn Structure
This game follows a similar structure to a normal game of 40k however with a few key differences. First
of all after 1 player takes his turn, he draws 1 or more monster cards and follows their instructions.
Then if he has any monsters on the table that he owns, they will get their turn. Then play passes to the
next player who takes his turn, and then draws new monsters, and plays his monsters. See play
structure below:

1. Player A begins as the first player.

2. Player A takes his normal 40k turn, Movement, Shooting, Assault etc.
3. Player A now begins his monster phase; he follows the rules for drawing new monster cards.
4. Player A now plays a turn for any monsters that he has drawn that are currently on the table.
5. Play would now pass to Player B who would take his turn, and then his monster phase.
6. If this were a two player game, this would now be 1 completed Game Turn.
The Fortress
Most missions use a fortress placed somewhere on the table, often directly in the center. This piece of
terrain should be quite large, and is best suited to something along the lines of the fortress of
redemption model from GW range. This building allows for 3 units to be stationed on the roof
barricades, in three separate areas, along with another small unit on the tower top. They can also house
a unit in each bunker, and one in the halls between, allowing for a heavily fortified position. This
building is treated as a fortress of redemption from the main rules however its weapons are inert unless
you pay the points upgrades for them, in which case the player who paid the points owns them and may
fire them. If you do not have a Fortress of Redemption, then make a similar structure however you can.

Threat Level
The threat level is a measure of the level of danger the players are currently in. A mission will start you
at a specific Threat Level, and often there will be mission, or objectives that can alter it allowing you to
diminish the danger, or making it increase. Additionally on each monster card is a listing for its rules at
each level. Threat Levels range from 1 being the lowest to 4 being the highest. Additionally the type
and amount of monsters that attack each turn is based on a bit of luck, and the current Threat Level.

Monster Decks
The monster decks are split into three separate decks, the Troop deck, the Special deck, and the
Monster deck. The troop deck contains 35 cards filled with a variety of basic troopers that make up the
bulk of enemies the players will face. Meanwhile the Special deck contains 35 stronger threats with
usually some specific special rules or weapons that make them varied wildly in purpose, and effect, but
often more dangerous than a basic Troop card. Finally you have the Monster deck, which contains 10
monstrous creatures with weapons of titanic power, and a variety of special rules. Each time it is a
players monster phase, or other times when a rules calls for you to do so, you will need to draw from
one or more of these decks, follow the rules below for that:

Threat Level 1: Draw a Troop card.

Threat Level 2: Roll a dice if the result is 4 or higher, draw a Special card, otherwise draw a Troop card.

Threat Level 3: Roll a dice, if the result is 1 draw a Special card, otherwise draw a Special and Troop card.

Threat Level 4: If there is no Monster card active or delayed, draw one, otherwise treat as Threat level 3.
Monster Cards
Each monster card will always contain all the rules on it which you need to play it with. They are often
copies of small to medium sized units drawn up from the Tyranid codex, with some rules pulled out to
keep the game faster and simpler. For example Synapse is not needed as a rule, because these missions
all take place with so much Tyranid presence around that it can be assumed the hive mind is incredibly
strong in the area, thus we can skip that rule and keep the game moving along. So pay attention to the
card versions as they may not include some rules that a unit or model may normally get! Also note that
all the Tyranid models are treated as Fearless unless otherwise noted.

After seeing their stat lines, and special abilities, a card will also show you what its rules are on each
Threat Level. This is only applied when the card is first drawn. It is suggested that each player bring
some colored dice, so that when you play a monster card you can mark it with your color dice, helping
you remember you own it, and also so you can set the dice to be the threat number that you were at
when you drew it.

Let’s run down a quick example of drawing and playing a unit, by first examining a basic card.
Let’s examine what each element on this card does in detail. First would be the units name, and stat
line, this lets us keep from having to look up unit statistics.

Next we can see its weapon profile, and after that is any special rules this creature has. Keep in mind
some rule are different; see the Monster Behavior section below.

Next is the Threat Levels, which tells us what upgrades, and how many models the unit has depending
on what the current threat level is. For this unit, if the card is drawn on Threat Level 1, then you would
deploy 16 models using normal mission rules, with no delay, and no upgrades. “D” is the delay, delay
indicates that the unit does not deploy this turn, but will come on in the number of turns equal to its
Delay value. This is effectively a unit in reserve and will follow rules for deployment when its delay is
done.

Finally you have the Upgrades section which indicates what upgrades this unit comes with, if this unit
were deployed during a Threat Level 2, than it would have 20 models with no upgrades, however during
threat level 3 it would have 16 models with poisoned close combat attacks.

We suggest printing out the cards for the decks in the numbers listed below, but feel free to change the
decks, or add new cards, to vary up game play. We also suggest gluing the print outs to magic cards, as
they are formatted for that.

See the Monster deck folder for multiple formatted exports of the cards.

Troop deck: 15 Termagant, 15 Hormagaunt, 10 Ripper Swarm, 10 Genestealers, 10 Warriors.

Special deck: 3 of each special card.

Monster deck: 2 of each Monster.

Monster Behavior & Spawning

All monsters behavior is the same unless otherwise stated on their card. Tyranid creatures will always
Move as close to, shoot at, and then assault, the closest model possible. Keep in mind that a unit that
was newly brought into play is not allowed to assault this turn, unless it has both deep strike, and
infiltrate.

Most missions will explain where various Spawn Points are on the table top. When a monster card is
deployed, you roll a scatter dice, and follow the arrow to that point on the table edge. Then deploy this
unit at the spawn point closest to this spot on the table edge.

There are a few more caveats to these rules, firstly if a unit has the Deep Strike special rule, then it will
deep strike onto the table with a few exceptions. Firstly you roll the scatter dice for deployment as
normal, and then find the closest enemy this unit could harm from that point. Now place the first model
in the unit 6 inches away from that model, so if they hit, the unit will be 6 inches away from it. Next
follow the deep strike rules as normal, except that there are no deep strike mishaps, simply move the
models the minimum needed to make them no longer mishap.

Additionally Infiltrate works differently as well. If a unit has Infiltrate it will deploy normally, and then
advance its speed once for free, effectively giving it a free movement phase. Note that it cannot run
using this movement, and on its normal turn it will not have counted as moving yet.

Finally if a unit has both Deep Strike and Infiltrate, it will use the above rules for Deep Striking, and then
be allowed to move, shoot, and assault as though it did not deep strike.

Also note that all the Monster Deck cards are Monstrous Creatures and have those additional rules.

Victory Points
Victory Points are awarded based on mission objectives completed at the end of a game, and also on
additional objective cards that may award them. In addition to this some Monster Cards may have
victory points or other rewards on them. All Monster Deck cards are worth 3 Victory Points to each
player, and all Special Deck cards are worth 1 Victory Point to each player.

If at the end of a game you have achieved victory as per the mission rules, then you may roll for each
unit lost during the game. On a result of 1 on this dice roll, the unit is dead and is not eligible for victory
points, if the unit had victory points spent on it previously they are now lost unless otherwise stated. On
a result of 2-5 the unit is injured but eligible for victory points to be spent upon it. If the unit is an
independent character with multiple wounds or creatures with multiple wounds, it will start the next
game with 1 wound missing on each model in the unit. If the unit is a vehicle it will start with 1 less hull
point. Finally if the unit is neither, it will start suffering from a strength 3 hit for each model in the unit.
This represents the unit having been seriously injured and possibly losing a few men, taking some heavy
vehicle damage, or being wounded. Remember this is only for the next game, although it can happen
again if it gets wiped out, when you achieve victory and get the same dice result.

If at the end of the game you have failed to achieve victory, then any units lost are slain, and their
upgrades are lost with them. Surviving units however are still eligible to receive upgrades from any
Victory Points you may have earned though alternate objectives and kills.

Keep in mind you may also spend your victory points on a unit, without picking any upgrade. This is
called Saving Experience. If for example you have 3 points left after spending, and nothing seems
interesting at 3 points, but at 5 a unit might get what you want, you may spend the 3 now to get
nothing, noting it down on their sheet. Then once you earn 2 more in the next battle you could spend 2
plus the 3 on this unit from Saved Experience to get the 5 point upgrade.
Spending Victory Points
Now that we understand how they work, let’s examine what we can purchase with our Victory Points.

Each type of unit can get separate types of upgrades. Often this can be a simple USR addition, or a stat
improvement, however you will need to consult the tables below to determine which upgrades you can
get.

Independent Characters may purchase from the following list of options:

5 Victory Points 10 Victory Points 15 Victory Points 20 Victory Points

+1 Initiative +1 Wounds +1 Toughness Flesh Bane
+1 WS +1 Strength Shrouded
+1 BS +1 Attacks No Instant Death
Stealth Hatred Feel No Pain (5+)
Furious Charge Preferred Enemy
Stubborn Rending

Vehicles can purchase upgrades from the following list:

5 Victory Points 10 Victory Points 15 Victory Points 20 Victory Points

+1 WS +1 Hull Point +1 To all Armor Values Flesh Bane
+1 BS Sky fire Shrouded It will not Die
Interceptor Hatred Re-roll damage results
+1 Initiative Preferred Enemy
Stealth +1 Attacks
Furious Charge Rending

Any non-vehicle, non-Independent Character, may purchase from the following list:

10 Victory Points 15 Victory Points 20 Victory Points 25 Victory Points

+1 Initiative Rending +1 Toughness Flesh Bane
+1 WS +1 Strength Shrouded
+1 BS +1 Attacks Feel No Pain (5+)
Stealth Hatred
Interceptor Preferred Enemy
Stubborn Sky Fire
Move through Cover
Event Cards
Some missions, objectives, and monsters and even upgrades can call upon a player to draw and play an
Event Card. Event Cards are optional parts of the game that make it a bit more random. Each card
contains some special Event that will occur and change the game in some way.

The most common is an environment event card. Only 1 of these kinds of cards can be in play at a time
and if another is played the first is discarded. An environment Event card may make it night fighting, or
make shooting harder, or make the ground difficult terrain etc.

There is however a variety of other Event Cards that can be drawn that have instant resolutions, some
good for the players, some bad. Often the bad ones contain a way to gain additional Victory Points, or
just flat out grant you additional Victory Points, granting additional reward if you succeed in the face of
adversity.

Keep in mind Event Cards are optional, if any card asks you to play a card, you can simply choose not to
use events.