Dragon

Vol. VI, No. 1

A new breed of bug

by Ben Crowell
Chitin: I (KITE-un), Metagamings
MicroGame#2, portrays a battle between
two competing hives of giant insects,
both of which desperately need food
the years harvest as well as the bodies of
friends or enemies slain in combat.
The Low Hacker is a suggested new
type of unit for Chitin: I, designed to introduce guerrilla warfare to the game.
Low Hackers are warrior units, midway
between Basics and Termagants in their
capabilities and Iimitations. In appearance, they are distinguishable from Basics only by their hands/claws, which are
well-suited for hacking, and by their
chameleon-like ability to blend in with
their surroundings.
Because of this camouflage ability,
unique among the unit types in the
game, Low Hackers receive bonuses to
their combat strength when on defense.
(When a Low Hacker is being attacked,
the enemy units spend more time
searching for it and keeping track of its
whereabouts than actually engaging in
combat against it.)
Combat: Low Hackers have a base
combat strength of one per unit, up to a
maximum of 3 for a 3-unit counter. Each
stack containing at least one Low Hacker
counter receives a bonus to its combat
strength when on defense, the amount
depending on what type of terrain the
stack is in.
Rivers are not considered when computing defense adds. (A hex containing a
river that flows through a plain is considered a plain hex, not a river hex.)

Defense add
per stack
+1
+2
+3
+4

Terrain
Plains
Slope
Forest
Forest & Slope

It is important to remember that these

adds are taken not on a per-unit basis,
but for each entire stack. A stack of two
single-unit Low Hacker counters and a
single-unit Gantua counter does not
have a defensive rating of 18 in a Forest &
Slope hex; it has a rating of 10 (4 for the
Gantua, 1 for each of the LH units, and a
+4 bonus for the entire stack because of
the terrain).
Low Hackers located behind attacking

units (see rule 7.05, Enemy Units in Rear

Hexes) will cause the attacker to eliminate two units instead of the usual one
after combat.
Low Hackers are unaffected by zones
of control, except for ZOCs exerted by
other LH units. Normal units are forced
to take evasive action (spend an extra
movement point) when they enter a ZOC,
but Low Hackers do this all the time
anyway.
Low Hackers can never be disrupted,
but may stack with other unit types
which can be. This tactic can be risky,
though: It is assumed that units which
can be disrupted (all other ground warrior types) are those which are relatively
less intelligent, and which therefore may

Make your own counters

The two rows of counters reproduced below can be
used to add the Low Hacker to Chitin: I. There are
nine counters provided for each side, three each of
one-, two- and three-unit strengths.

To make the counter rows into usable playing pieces, first cut out or photocopy the section of this page
containing the counters. Before separating the individual counters, glue the entire section to a piece of
stiff cardboard or other type of backing
material (self-adhesive vinyl floor tile is
highly recommended for this purpose).
When the backing is securely in place,
individual counters can be cut out using
scissors or a straight edge and a hobby
knife.

30

Dragon

July 1981

be stupid enough to give away a Hackers

position. There is a 1 in 6 chance per turn
that a Low Hacker which stacks with a
disruptable unit will lose its defense bonus for that turn. This chance of being
given away should be rolled separately
for each disruptable counter in a stack.
Movement: Low Hackers have a movement ability unlike that of any other unit
in the game. LH counters are allowed
two moves of 4 movement points each,
one during normal movement and one
immediately after the attack phase. This
simulates the fact that Low Hackers usually attack lone enemy units by surprise,
gaining some extra time to disappear
back into the forest (typically) before the
body is discovered.
Low Hackers move through rough terrain at a cost of 1 movement point per
hex entered, just like Low Renders. For
stacking, treat Low Hackers as Basics.

50-50 chance of attacking it even if it is

an ally. Such an attack against a friendly
LH unit is conducted using the attacking
units disrupted combat strength, with
the Low Hackers defense computed as
usual, counting defense adds for terrain.
The 50-50 chance may be determined for
each LH unit, each stack, or for all the
units involved at once, as players see fit.
Sample scenario: Harvest Chits A, B,
and D are placed in hexes 1107, 1615,
and 1409, respectively. Side A consists
of 20 strength points of Basics and
ground warriors (not including Low
Hackers) plus 10 units of Low Hackers,
placed anywhere in megahexes F, A, and

Command control: Low Hackers are

able to exercise command control just
like Basics, but they forfeit one point of
their defense add for every stack they
control on a certain turn, up to the limit
of the original defense add. (For example, a LH in clear terrain exercising
command control over two other stacks
still only loses a single point from its
combat factor on defense.)
Flying units and Low Hackers: A Low
Hacker in a hex adjacent to a unit being
attacked by an air unit is not counted as
part of the defense, like other units
would be. If an air unit attacks a Low
Hacker, the LH does not receive its normal defense add for terrain.
Optional rule 1: Air units may fly reconnaissance, being used to expose the
presence of Low Hackers but not able to
take part in combat in the same turn.
This allows the air units allies on the
ground to attack a stack containing a
Low Hacker without counting the Low
Hackers usual defense add for terrain.
One flying unit is needed for each stack
so exposed. The flier, the stack containing the Hacker, and the attacking forces
must all be in the same megahex.
Optional rule 2: Since most insects locate and distinguish between their
friends and enemies by smell, it is assumed that Low Hackers are odorless.
Because of this odorless characteristic
and the generally unpredictable nature
of a disrupted unit, it is possible that a
disrupted warrior unit will mistake a
friendly LH unit for an enemy. All units
disrupted by the absence of command
control (not by a combat result) which
end their movement with a Low Hacker
in one of their front hexes will have

31

C before play begins. Side B has six

Workers plus 48 strength points of
ground warriors no Low Hackers
and Basics, started at the bottom edge of
the map. Side A has a maximum of 3
Plunge units, while Side B may have as
many as 6.
Side B begins the game by moving its
forces onto the map. At the end of every
turn taken by Side B except for its first
turn, Side A gets 3 victory points until
Side B has grabbed all the Harvest Chits
and either gotten them off the map or
killed off all the opposition. Side A loses
1 victory point per dead unit, but Side B
loses 4 victory points for each of its units
which are killed.

THE ARCH REAPER

The Reaper is the result of several hundred generations of selected breeding
from a mutant Phlanx. The resulting creature has a vestigial horn, two sicklelike appendages with which it can attack at close quarters, and a bifurcated tail
covered in spikes. The Reaper can use its enormously strong tail to hurl these
spikes at its opponents.
The Reaper has the following statistics: CS 3 (disrupted, 2), movement 4. The
Reaper must expend 2 MPs to enter river or rough terrain, and one to enter any
plain hex.
The Reaper will not stack with any units except for Basics and Workers.
After all of its spikes have been expended, it may stack with other Reapers.
Each Reaper counter has one dot and represents a single Reaper. Reapers are
intelligent enough not to need the command control provided by Basics.
Reapers have two volleys of spikes. These volleys may both be used in the same
round, but in that case must be used against the same target. Each volley has a
CS of 8 (or if the Reaper is disrupted, 4). Players will want to number Reaper
counters so that they can keep track of remaining volleys.
Volleys may be fired at a range of up to 4 against enemy ground units. If a
Reaper is attacking an adjacent enemy, it may use its regular CS, its volleys,
or combine the two. If a Reaper is attacking a non-adjacent enemy, then it will
not suffer any adverse combat results unless it is attacking another Reaper also
using ranged combat. If the Reaper combines its attack with friendly ground
troops, the friendly troops will be affected by any adverse results of the attack.
Reapers may use their volleys against Plunges within the same megahex. If the
Plunges are split into two groups, the Reaper may only attack one group. If a
Reaper uses both volleys against Plunges, it receives one combat add. Plunges
receive one combat add each when they attack disrupted Reapers.
For play balance and record-keeping purposes, the number of Reapers should
be kept limited. The following are suggested maximum numbers of Reapers for
each scenario, in addition to regular forces: Basic or Small - 2, Intermediate - 3,
Bitter End - 4, Armageddon - 6.
Optional rule: if a friendly unit is adjacent to a Reapers target and between the
Reaper and its target, then the Reaper may not attack. If an enemy unit is in such
a position, then the ranged CS of the Reaper is halved, but any negative combat
result is applied to the intervening unit. If friendly units are also involved in
such an attack, they suffer the negative combat results as well. Under this
rule, Reapers may not combine attacks with friendly Plunges against enemy
Plunges.