OVER THERE!

The Modern Skirmish Wargame

by Evan Anhorn

Basic Rules, Version 2.5

 OVER THERE!
The Modern Skirmish Wargame

Special Thanks to Gloria and Adrian

Playtesters: Abraham J. Edelheit, Adrian Anhorn, Alex “Big Hagar”, Gloria McKinney, Ian Clinton, Mike
Clinton, Owen Marston, Patrick Manhatton, Rick Clapp, Sevya Edmiston, Steve “SeattleRedGamer”

© Copyright 2008 Evan Anhorn. All Rights Reserved.

This book is protected under international treaties Publisher ’s Note:

and copyright laws of the United States of America. This is a work of fiction. Names,
No part of this book may be reproduced, without the characters, places and incidents either are
express written consent of the author. Permission is the product of the author’s imagination or
granted to the purchaser of this product to reproduce are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
sections of this book for personal use only. Sale or to actual persons, living or dead, events or
trade of such reproductions is strictly prohibited. locales is entirely coincidental.
Games
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Credits 1 Section 5: Scatter Dice 12

Table of Contents 2 Section 6: Mission Resolve 13

Who Wins? 13
Basic Rules 3
Setting up the Game 3 Section 7: Alternate Ways to Play 13
Elements 3 Fog of War 13
Charateristics 4 Scaled Elements 13
Good Order, Shaken and Panicked 4
Testing Characteristics 4

Section 1: The Game Round 4

The Activation Sequence 5
Elements 5
Groups 5
Groups and Stress 5
Splitting and Regrouping 6
Morale Problems and the Rally Test 6
Break Point 6
Leadership 6
Fall Back! 6

Section 2: Action! 7
Movement 7
Reload 8
Melee 8
Ranged Attack 8
Point Blank 8
The Kill Zone 8
Concealment and Cover 9
Gone to Ground 9
Hit the Deck! 9
Weaponry Statistics 9

Section 3: Damage, or “I’m Hit!” 9

Allocating Damage 10

Section 4: Advanced Weaponry 10

Automatic Attacks 10
Area Effect and Auto Attacks 10
Recoil 10
Ammunition and Auto Attacks 11
Suppression from Auto and Blast 11
Blast Attacks 11
High Explosive 11
Blast Attacks against Vehicles 11

2
 Over There! Basic Rules
Welcome to Over There!, the modern skirmish between 1 and 12 soldiers, depending on the role of
wargame. This is a tabletop strategy game that that element. If you are playing a specific historical
attempts to recreate the physics, psychology and period, it might be useful to do a little research and
friction of the modern and future battlefield, all while find out how many soldiers a certain nation had in
remaining quick to play, simple to learn and virtually a squad, what their equipment was and any other
chart free! particularities.
As suggested already, elements are formed
What do I need to play? before the game when both players are determining
For a quick game, all you will need is a what forces should be present for the battle. Once
handful of dice (a dozen should do), a measuring tape, an element has been collected, you must assign the
and a tabletop with scenery and models. You should soldiers in the element their characteristics; their
also cut out the counters at the back of this document Skill, Morale, and Initiative, as explained below. All
for use as tokens. soldiers in the same element automatically share the
Since the scenario at the end of this document same characteristics, so you only need to assign a
happens to portray a theoretical battle in Afghanistan, single set of characteristics per element. Note that
having American and Afghani soldiers as your models each soldier must be assigned to one and only one
would be ideal. If you do not have these models, element before the game begins.
simply proxy any other models you have into the After you have given the soldiers of an element
game. The standard scale of Over There! is 20-28mm, their characteristics, you must assign each soldier
where models are about an inch tall. For this scale, all a weapon. If you are using appropriate miniatures,
distance is measured in inches. If you would rather simply go by whatever weapon the miniature is
play with 10-15mm models, simply convert 1 inch to 1 modelled with. Otherwise, make it clear to your
centimeter and use centimeters for your distances. opponent who has what. If any element has any
special traits (like Recce or Irregular), you should
Setting up the Game assign those now as well.
To set up a game, first each player must agree Lastly, one soldier in each element is (usually)
on the forces that will be used in the battle. Over nominated as the Leader of that element, although
There! is meant to portray the tides of battle, where two or even three Leaders in a single element is
commanders rarely get all the resources they want, possible. The Leader is a special soldier that affects
and firefights are hardly ever between evenly matched how coordinated and effective the element is during
opponents. We find that a point system is inimical to combat. It is quite possible for militia forces or
this playstyle. Thus most battles should be scenarios, undrilled troops to have no element Leader.
with things like mission objectives and terrain
bringing balance to uneven sides. If you are new to
this type of game, please read the section on setting up
scenarios after you get a firm grip on the rules.
After the forces have been determined, the M4 Assault Rifle
table is then set up in any agreeable fashion. The
Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy
defender deploys his army first, followed by the
attacker. The players are now ready to begin the first
round of the game! A Note on Scale
The ground scale for Over There! is 1 inch = 2 meters. If you
are using the smaller centimeter scale, then 1 cm = 2 meters.
Elements The time scale is 6 seconds per round, or roughly 1 to 2
In Over There!, an element represents the seconds per action die spent. All measures of time, distance
smallest military organization on the battlefield, be and speed in Over There! are very close to their real world
it a squad of infantry, an artillery crew or a special equivalents, so do not be surprised if your model’s rifle can
shoot right across the table!
weapons team. Usually, an element should contain
“Over There!” The Modern Skirmish Wargame, Copyright © 2008 by Evan Anhorn
Characteristics Testing Characteristics
Each soldier in the game has two basic You will often be required to “test” against a
characteristics and one combined characteristic. As soldier or element’s characteristics (to reload weapons,
mentioned before, all soldiers in the same element to rally and so on). To do this, simply roll 1d6; if the
always share the same characteristics. result is equal or less than the characteristic, then you
The first statistic is Skill, which is always have passed. If the result is higher, then you have
a number between 2 and 5. Skill represents a failed. Note that since a soldier’s Initiative can change
soldier’s experience and training. A Skill statistic of over the course of the game, you must be sure to use
4 is reserved for hardened veterans, while Skill 3 is the soldier’s current Initiative when testing Initiative.
appropriate for regular troops and 2 is appropriate Thus, if the US Marine rifleman from earlier were
for untrained militia. Skill is used when taking Skill panicked (using his third Initiative), he would have to
tests, such as when a soldier must reload a weapon. A roll a 2 or less on 1d6 to pass an Initiative test.
Skill of 3 is used by default, although a scenario could
assign soldiers a different Skill rating.
The second statistic is Morale, which is also 1.0 The Game Round
always a number between 2 and 5. Like Skill, a higher Over There! is played out in rounds. Each
Morale characteristic is always better than a lesser round consists in the players taking turns activating
one. Morale 4 could represent the most enthusiastic groups of soldiers in their armies. Once one side has
and fearless troops, while 3 could represent confident no more groups to activate, the round ends.
troops and 2 could be demoralized troops. A Morale The game starts with one player as the “active
of 3 is used by default, although a scenario could player”, designated by the scenario. If playing without
assign soldiers a different Morale rating. a scenario, the attacker starts as active player, or the
The third and final statistic is Initiative, two players simply dice for it. During a game round,
representing general battlefield cohesiveness and the active player activates and acts with his groups,
efficiency. Initiative is a three part statistic that is one by one, resolving each activation before moving
determined using the soldier’s assigned Skill and on to the next. Once a group has been successfully
Morale ratings. To find the first Initiative score, activated, it may not be nominated for activation again
simply take the soldier’s Skill or Morale (whichever this round (a handy token can help keep track of this).
is higher) and add 1. The second part of Initiative is If the active player runs out of groups to
the soldier’s Skill or Morale (whichever is lower). activate, or fails an activation roll, he hands over
Finally, the third part of Initiative is the soldier’s Skill initiative to his opponent. The opponent is now
or Morale (whichever is lower) minus 1. Initiative is considered the active player and can now do the same,
used for activation, actions and more. activating his groups one by one. If the opponent runs
As an example, here is the complete profile of out of groups to activate, or fails an activation roll,
a modern day US Marine rifleman: then the initiative is handed back to the first player
and so on. If initiative is handed back to a player who
US Marine Rifleman has already activated all of his groups, then the round
is over. Remove all activation tokens and resolve any
Skill: 4 Morale: 3 “End of Round” effects. A new round begins with that
Initiative: 5/3/2 player as active player.
At the beginning of a round, you are active player.
You nominate one of your groups to activate and successfully
activate it. You continue to activate your groups, one by one,
Good Order, Shaken and Panicked until you get to your last group. Unfortunately, they fail their
At the start of the game, the first and highest activation roll due to battlefield stress and you must hand over
Initiative value is used, as the element is considered to initiative to your opponent (as you have failed an activation
attempt). He successfully activates his only three groups,
be in “Good Order”. Later, panic and stress can force
one by one, and then hands initiative back to you (as he has
a squad to use the second or even third lesser Initiative no more groups to activate). You only have one group left to
values, as the squad becomes Shaken or Panicked, activate. If they fail, the round will end and a new round will
respectively. Only by fully rallying will a shaken or begin (with your opponent as active player). If they activate
panicked squad be able to return to good order. successfully, the round will end after they act.
4
 1.2 Groups
The Activation Sequence A group is a subdivision of an element, and
When a group of soldiers is nominated for is formed by all soldiers of the same element who
activation, a strict sequence is followed to see if are connected by an unbroken chain, from soldier
they activate or not. Nominating a group also to soldier. The maximum distance between any
provides secondary benefits, as it gives them a soldier in this chain is equal to the soldier’s Skill
chance to rally and recover from stress. Only characteristic. This is called “cohesion distance”.
groups that have not yet successfully activated this
Below is an example of soldiers of the same element
round can be nominated for activation.
forming groups.
1) The active player nominates one of his groups that
has not yet been activated this round.

2) If the group has morale problems (has stress 4”

tokens and/or is shaken or panicked), the group 3”
must immediately take a rally test. After any rally
Soldier 3
test is resolved, go to Step 3.

3) The group may now attempt to activate. If the

2”
group has no morale problems (no stress tokens Soldier 2
Soldier 4
and is in good order) and has concealment against
all visible enemies, it activates automatically.
Otherwise, it must make an activation test. To
take an activation test, roll one die and compare
it to the current initiative value of the group. If
the group has an equal or higher current initiative
Soldier 1
value than the die roll, it activates successfully (go
to step 4). Otherwise, it fails (go to step 5).
American Infantry Squad (1 Element)
4) Each soldier in the activated group now acts Skill: 3 Morale: 3
independently. Once all activated soldiers have Initiative: 4/3/2
acted, set the Take Cover level of the group. If
you still have unactivated groups, go to step 1 for In this example, four soldiers of the same element
a new group. Otherwise, go to step 5. form two different groups. The three soldiers on the left are
within cohesion distance of one another (maximum 3 inches,
5) Either the active player has failed an activation for Skill 3). The fourth soldier, on the right, is outside of
roll or run out of groups to activate. In either cohesion distance (being 4 inches away) and thus forms his
own group, how lonely!
case, the opponent becomes active player. If the
opponent has no further groups to activate, the
round ends and he becomes active player in the 1.2.1 Groups and Stress
new round. Before beginning the new round, When a soldier generates Stress tokens
resolve any End of Round effects and remove all (usually by being fired upon), these Stress tokens go
activation tokens. to the soldier’s group. Later, upon failing a Rally test,
these Stress tokens may cause the group’s Initiative
1.1 Elements to be reduced (to Shaken or Panicked). Therefore, it
The element is the larger subset of the group. is quite possible that different groups in your army
Elements represent one army unit, be it a squad, a have different Initiative statuses and thus use different
team, a section or so on. The soldiers of an element current Initiatives characteristics. Different initiative
are one group when they are near each other, and statuses are marked with the tokens at the end of
can break into many groups as they spread out. Two this book. Use “Shaken” when the group is shaken,
groups may only regroup with each other if they are “Panicked” when the group is panicked and no token
originally from the same element. when the group is in good order.
5
1.3 Splitting and Regrouping If the group is in Good Order when it fails the
Later, due to movement or casualties, it could rally test, its break point is equal to its middle initia-
be the case that one or more soldiers have left cohe- tive value (i.e., the initiative value it has when Shak-
sion of former groups or entered cohesion with new en), or the number of unwounded soldiers in the group
groups. When soldiers leave a group and form a new (whichever is less). If the group is Shaken when it
group, the player must split the Stress tokens as evenly fails the rally test, it’s break point is equal to it’s mid-
as possible between the two groups. The new group dle initiative value plus it’s worst initiative value (i.e.,
takes the same Initiative status as their former group. the sum of it’s Shaken and Panicked initiative), or the
Likewise, when soldiers join groups (by moving number of unwounded soldiers in the group (which-
within cohesion distance of another group from the ever is less). Consider a group of 6 infantry:
same element), simply pool the Stress tokens between The soldiers in the group have Skill 4, Morale 3 and
the groups. If the two groups have different Initia- Initiative 5/3/2. The group’s break point while in Good Order
tive states, the new combined Initiative state for the is 3. When Shaken, the group’s break point is 5 (3+2). If the
group was reduced to 3 infantry, it’s Good Order break point
group is Shaken (otherwise they keep the same state). would be 3 and it’s Shaken break point would also be 3 (due to
Groups may split at any time, but regrouping is only the reduced size of the group).
resolved as an end of the round effect.
If the group is Panicked and fails a Rally test,
1.4 Morale Problems and the Rally Test it must take a Rout Test. To take a Rout test, roll 1d6
Whenever a group is nominated for activation, and add the number of Stress tokens to the roll. If this
you must check if the group has morale problems. A is greater than the number of soldiers in the group, the
group is considered to have morale problems if it has group routs and is removed from the board. Wounded
accumulated Stress tokens (usually an effect of being soldiers (as described later) count towards this number
fired on) and/or the group is either Shaken or Pan- if they do not outnumber the unwounded soldiers. If
icked. If a group falls into any of these categories, it a group Routs and the nearest non-panicked group is
must take a Rally test before activating. friendly, the routed group is considered to have with-
To take a rally test for a group, simply test one drawn from the battlefield. If the nearest non-pan-
die against the group’s Morale characteristic, as de- icked group is enemy, then the routed group is consid-
scribed in the section on Testing Characteristics. That ered to have surrendered to the enemy and counts as
is, roll 1d6 and if the result is equal to or less than the casualty for scenario purposes.
group’s Morale characteristic, the test is passed (other-
wise it is failed). If the test is successful and the group 1.6 Leadership
has Stress tokens, then remove a number of Stress A leader coordinates the fireteams in his squad
tokens equal to the result of the die roll. If the test is to work together towards a single objective. A leader
successful and the group did not have any Stress, then can spend his entire round’s activation to take a Skill
increase the group’s Initiative status by one level. Test on 1d6. If this test is passed, a nearby group from
If the test is failed and the group has no Stress the same element as the leader, in Command Distance
tokens, then the test has no further effect. If the test is and line of sight, may activate automatically (if they
failed and the group does have Stress tokens, then the are the next to be nominated for activation), no need
group’s break point must be checked; there is a chance for an activation test.
they will drop a level of initiative or even withdraw
from the battle entirely. 1.7 Fall Back!
Before taking an activation test, a group may
1.5 Break Point nominate to Fall Back! With a Fall Back! order,
A group’s Break Point represents the amount the group automatically activates as long as it is not
of stress it can cope with before losing confidence. If surrounded by enemies. Reduce the group’s Take
a group with stress equal to or greater than its break Cover level so that the soldiers in the group have at
point fails a rally test, it will drop a level of initiative least one free action die. Each soldier must spend
(either from Good Order to Shaken, or from Shaken all actions on movement away from visible enemies.
to Panicked). If it was already panicked, there is a Do not set the group’s Take Cover level after it is
chance the group will flee the battlefield. activated.
6
 movement roll, as indicated. If remaining movement
2.0 Action! points are not enough to move another inch, then they
When a group activates, each soldier in the
are lost if they cannot be otherwise spent.
group receives a number of action dice equal to the
Certain obstacles may also cost actions to
group’s current Initiative statistic. These are, you
move through, as detailed below:
guessed it, used to act! Each model in a group may
act differently from the next, but you should generally
Maneuver Cost
try to remain in group cohesion once the dust settles.
Opening a door or window 1
At the beginning of the game, and immediately
Swapping weapons with a wounded soldier 1
after a group has taken all of its actions for that round,
Jumping through an open window 2
the group sets a Take Cover level (usually any where
Leaping over a low wall, fence or similar 2
from 0-6), representing how much they are taking
Leaping over crevasse (1” or less) 2
cover for the next round. When the time comes, set an
Climbing on/into a vehicle 2
extra die next to the group to denote this.
Climb a 10 foot ladder 3
When a group activates, the group’s Take
Bashing in a jammed door 3
Cover level is applied as a penalty to the number of
Picking up/dropping a wounded soldier 3
actions each soldier in that group receives. Simply
reduce the number of available actions by the current
Whenever a soldier wishes to attempt one
Take Cover level. The benefits of taking cover are
of these maneuvers, he may spend any number of
described in the Ranged Attack section.
available actions to reduce the cost of the maneuver.
To take an action, the acting soldier declares
If the maneuver still has a cost after this, roll a number
the action (and any particulars about it), spends any
of dice equal to the remaining cost of the maneuver.
number of available action dice and rolls the spent
The result is deducted from any remaining movement
dice together to determine the result. A soldier may
points. If the result is greater than the number of
take any and all of these actions in a round (action
remaining movement points, the soldier fails the
dice permitting) and in any order. The four common
action and loses all remaining movement points.
actions are explained below:
Otherwise the maneuver succeeds and the soldier
continues moving as desired.
2.1 Movement
When taking a movement action, you may For example, an American soldier is attempting some
roll any number of available action dice and move maneuvers. He has 5 actions available. First, he spends 3
up to a distance equal to roll along any traversable actions to pick up one of his wounded squad mates. With his
remaining 2 actions he declares a movement into a house.
route. When a soldier in a group declares a movement Rolling 2d6 for movement, he gets 11. The house is 7 inches,
action, but before the spent action dice are rolled, so he has 4 movement points remaining once reaching the
other soldiers in the same group may spend the same front door. He wants to open the door, but has no actions, so
amount of action dice to follow the first soldier. In simply dices the remaining cost. Rolling 1d6 for Cost 1 results
this case, roll the movement dice for the first soldier in a 3; he opens the door and moves 1” into the house. If the
result were 5, he would not open the door and would lose all
and move the soldier and all those following the same movement (the door was stuck and wouldn’t budge!).
distance along the same route.
Terrain may slow movement, sometimes
costing extra movement points to traverse. The most
common difficult terrain modifiers are given here:
Easy Going 1” per Movement Point
Grassy fields and paved streets!
Difficult Going 1” per 2 full Movement Points
Deep water, thick vegetation, rubble, ascending stairs.
Very Difficult Going 1” per 3 full Movement Points
Deep snow, dense jungle, heavy rubble, swampland.
When moving through such terrain, each
inch of movement costs more points from the total
Photo Courtesy U.S. Army
7
2.2 Reload At the end of every round, resolve each melee
The Reload action is taken when a soldier’s combat before beginning the new round. First, take
weapon has run out of ammunition. To take a reload a rally test for any groups with soldiers in melee.
action, spend any number of available action dice and Second, each player makes a single melee attack roll
roll the dice together. Work out each die in the roll as for each melee combat in turn. To make a melee
a Skill test for the acting soldier (see the section on attack roll for one side, roll a number of dice equal to
Testing Characteristics). To successfully reload the the highest current initiative on that side, plus 1 for
weapon, the soldier must have passed a number of each additional friendly soldier in the combat past the
these Reload dice equal to the weapon’s Reload rating. first. Compare the attack rolls of each side against
All weapons have a generic reload rating, given here: each other as if they were both ranged attack rolls (the
side with the highest dice doing damage as normal).
Weapon Reload Rating
Hand Weapons 1
Melee attack rolls always explode in the same way as
Handguns, fully automatic pistols, revolvers. ranged attack rolls within the Kill Zone.
Two-handed Weapons 2 An US Marine charges into a melee with three
Rifles, submachine guns, mortars. insurgents and another American. The marine “breaks off”
Heavy Weapons 3 his target and they fight alone. At the end of the round, after
Machineguns, cannons (80mm and smaller). resolving Rally tests for each group, the lone insurgent and
Light Artillery 4 marine each make a Melee attack roll against each other;
Cannons (81mm-125mm). each side rolls their Initiative in dice and both get the highest
Heavy Artillery 5 die, meaning no damage is done as the two wrestle for control.
Cannons (greater than 125mm).
Unlike other actions, reloading does not 2.4 Ranged Attack
conflict with taking cover. When a soldier activates, The Ranged Attack action is taken when a
he immediately gains a number of free action dice to soldier fires upon an enemy. To make a Ranged
Reload equal to his Take Cover level. These dice may Attack, you must declare a target enemy group, spend
only be spent on Reload actions. any number of available action dice and roll the dice
Additionally, any soldier may assist another together. The opponent must then make a defense
soldier of the same group in reloading his weapon, roll for the targeted group, determining defense dice
as long as the first soldier has not yet acted and is in according to the soldier in the group that is easiest
physical contact with the reloading soldier. The first to hit. If the attack has the highest die, the attack
soldier forfeits all action for the round to provide the succeeds. If the defense has the highest die, or its a
second soldier with a free action die that may only be tie, the attack misses completely. To make a defense
spent on reloading his weapon. roll, simply roll the following number of dice together:

2.3 Melee 1d6 for every range band the target falls distance from
the attacker or source of the attack.
When a soldier moves into physical contact
with an enemy soldier, both soldiers immediately +1d6 for every level of Take Cover the target has
become “locked” in melee until one side is routed, (maximum +1d6 if the target has no Concealment from
the attack or +0d6 if the attack is point blank).
wounded or KIA. The fight between the two soldiers
is known as a melee combat. If a soldier moves into +1d6 if the target’s Concealment is Hard Cover.
an existing melee combat with multiple enemies,
he breaks off a single enemy to form a new melee 2.4.1 Point Blank
combat. If a soldier moves into a melee combat with a If an attacker is within 6” of a target, the
single enemy, he fights alongside any friendly soldiers target is not considered to have concealment from
against the lone opponent. the attacker and doesn’t add his Take Cover dice to
While locked in Melee, a soldier cannot defense rolls against ranged attacks by the attacker.
attempt any actions, doesn’t activate with his group
and is considered to have a Take Cover level of zero. 2.4.2 The Kill Zone
Any ranged attack directed against a melee combat If an attacker is within 12” of his infantry
affects all combatants (each makes a separate defense target, every 6 rolled in his attack roll “explodes”,
roll against the initial attack roll). allowing him to throw another 1d6 into the attack roll.
8
2.4.2 Concealment and Cover The second value is Damage (or Dmg), which
A target has concealment against an attack appears as a modifier (such as x3). This is a measure
if a line drawn from the attacker to the target passes of armour penetration, and only applies when the
through terrain or obstacles that obscures at least weapon is firing at hard targets like vehicles.
one third of the targeted model. To check if there is The final statistic is Malfunction (or Malf).
concealment, it may be necessary to go down to eye After every single attack with a ranged weapon, the
level and look from one point to the other. attacker must roll one die. If the result is equal to or
Concealment gives the defender full benefit higher than the Malf rating, then the weapon has run
from multiple levels of Take Cover and comes in out of ammo, jammed or generally failed and cannot
two types. The first type of concealment is called be used again until it is reloaded with Reload actions.
Soft Cover, which is concealment that could not Malf can be modified when taking automatic attacks,
stop a bullet. This includes tall grasses, shrubs and meaning even weapons with Malf higher than 6+ can
hedgerows, and gives no further benefit than being fail this roll.
concealment. The second type is Hard Cover, which is Additionally, most weapons have one or more
concealment that could stop a bullet (including stone special rules. An example of a complete weapon is
walls, vehicles, sandbags and rubble). In addition to given below:
the normal benefits of concealment, Hard Cover gives Weapon Rng Dmg Malf Special
the defender an additional +1d6 to all defense rolls. M4 Assault Rifle 40” x3 7+ Auto 3

2.4.3 Gone to Ground

If a group has concealment from an attacker 3.0 Damage, (or “I’m Hit!”)
and a Take Cover equal to or greater than their current When making a ranged attack roll against
Initiative, they may not be targeted at all by Ranged infantry, compare each individual die of the attack
Attacks from that attacker. The group is considered to roll to each die of the defense roll. If the defender
have “Gone to Ground”. has the highest single die, or if neither side has the
highest single die (due to a tie), the attack misses. If
2.4.4 Hit the Deck! the attacker has the highest single die, or highest dice,
Normally, Take Cover levels are set before the consult the following table for damage:
game and after a group has acted. Additionally, after • Tied or Defender has Highest Dice
any ranged attack is resolved, the targeted group may No damage! The attack grazes past the soldier, barely
Hit the Deck! They may immediately increase their breaking skin, tearing clothes or ricocheting off the
Take Cover level (this is not an action and does not helmet. The attack has no effect.
require the group to be active), although the surprise
causes the group to gain stress. Roll 2 dice; the group • Highest 1d6
gains a number of stress tokens equal to the lesser of Injured! The attack inflicts light damage upon the
the two dice. Groups may also Hit the Deck! when soldier, slowing his squad, causing panic but not
an artillery strike scatters (the placement effectively generally threatening the soldier’s life. Add one Stress
token to the target’s group.
counts as a ranged attack for this effect).
• Highest 2d6
2.4.5 Weaponry Statistics Wounded! The attack disables the soldier, taking him
Ranged weapons have three statistics. The first out of the fight. Put the model on its side (counting it as
is the Range (or Rng), which accounts for accuracy. wounded) and add one Stress token to the target’s group.
When making an attack, each band of this distance The soldier may not act for the rest of the game, but
the target falls distant from the attack provides the counts as having a Take Cover level of 1 and being Gone
defender with an additional defense die. No weapon to Ground whenever possible.
may ever fire beyond the 5th range band and Rng is
capped at 50” for non-scoped weapons. • Highest 3d6 or more
KIA! The attack results in a casualty. Add two Stress
For example, if a Rng 25” weapon targets an enemy
tokens to the target’s group (if there is a group left) and
52” away, the enemy receives 3 extra dice to his defense roll
remove the model from the board as casualty.
for being so distant.
9
3.1 Allocating Damage rolling to hit. The targeted player may choose the
Normally, a ranged attack simply targets an target (and thus center) of the area effect among
enemy group and the defender makes a defense roll the closest, easiest to hit targets that also makes the
for the group as per the easiest to hit member of best use of the area effect (i.e. affects the greatest
the group. If the damage from the attack results in number of models). When this is not obvious, simply
wounded or KIA, the actual hit must be randomly prioritize the requirements in the above order (as long
allocated to a member of the group. The attacker as the attack covers at least two models). If the area
rolls 1d6. Counting away from the closest visible effect cannot cover at least two models in the targeted
target (to that attacking model) up to the result of the group, the damage is allocated as per a normal attack.
die roll determines which enemy gets hit. If the die Once an enemy is targeted, one attack roll is
roll is higher than the number of visible targets in the made for the entire attack, as normal. The original
target group, simply continue the count again from the target and all models that fall under the area effect
closest. Attacks that have area effects (as described radius must then make individual defense rolls
below) are allocated differently. against the one attack roll, just as if they had been the
intended target of the attack. Recalculate line of sight,
concealement, range and hard cover from the attacker
4.0 Advanced Weaponry to each model for each defense roll. If the attacker
The normal ranged attack rules above describe does not have line of sight to a model that falls within
all single shot firearms, like rifles and pistols. Some the area effect radius, then the attack does not affect
weapons that are very common on the modern that model.
battlefield, work very differently, however. Once you
For example, a soldier declares a full automatic
are comfortable with basic firearms, move on to these
ranged attack with his Auto 2 assault rifle. He picks an enemy
rules to train with automatic weapons and explosives. group and spends one action die for the ranged attack action
and decides to use both of his two available burst dice; 1
4.1 Automatic Attacks added to the attack roll and 1 for area effect. Because of the
Weapons that have the Auto special rule may 1” area effect, the opponent must pick the target soldier. The
attacker now rolls 2d6 for his attack roll, 1 die from the action
be fired in one of two ways. When taking a normal
pool and 1 burst die from the Auto value of the weapon. The
“aimed” attack, the attacker may re-roll the attack roll targets must now each make defense rolls against this.
once if the previous attack roll has no effect (i.e. it
does not have one or more of the highest dice). This is 4.3 Recoil
called a semi-automatic attack. By default, all Auto weapons have a Recoil
Alternatively, Auto weapons may make a value of 3. This means that every third burst die
full automatic attack. This works just like a normal gained from the Auto value of a weapon for a ranged
ranged attack, except that the attacker may spend one attack must be spent on area effect. Occasionally, a
(and only one) action on the attack. Before rolling, weapon may list a different Recoil value in its Special
the attacker may add any number of “burst dice” to the Rules, which is used instead. Follow the normal rules
attack roll up to the Auto value of the weapon. Thus, for Area Effect when spending these burst dice.
if a weapon has Auto 2, a ranged attack could roll 3d6
(1 action die plus 2 burst dice). Instead of being added
to the attack roll, burst dice may instead be spent to
give a full automatic attack an area effect or increase
its area effect, as explained below.

4.2 Area Effect and Auto Attacks

Full automatic attacks can create area effect
by covering a wider area with less focused fire. This
is simply a circle that spreads out from the intended
target a distance equal to the number of burst dice
spent on area effect. When making an Auto attack
with an area effect, the attack must be directed before Photo Courtesy U.S. Army
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4.4 Ammunition and Auto Attacks total is higher, the explosive lands at the designated
When making a Malfunction test after a full point. If the defense roll total is higher, the explosive
automatic Ranged Attack action, the Malf test die scatters a distance equal to the difference between the
gains an added modifier equal to the number of burst defense roll total and the attack roll total, in a random
dice used in the attack plus one for each full automatic direction (as described below).
attack already attempted by the same weapon this Once the position of the attack is determined,
round since the last successful Reload action. Thus, trace a line from the attacker to the new location.
an Malf 7+, Auto 3 weapon that uses two burst dice Unless the weapon fires in a steep arc (such as a
in an attack and has made two other full automatic hand grenade or a mortar), the attack will hit the
attacks this round will add +4 to its subsequent Malf first obstacle (vehicle or terrain feature) between
check (+2 for the recent two burst dice used, and +2 the attacker and the new location (using your best
for the previous two full automatic attacks). judgment). The attack is then given an area effect
equal to its Blast value and a second attack is rolled.
4.5 Suppression from Auto and Blast Attacks To make the blast attack roll, the attacker rolls
Automatic and Blast attacks both have the dice equal to the Blast value of the weapon. Any
ability to cause extra stress to their targets. After target in the area effect must make a separate defense
resolving an automatic or blast attack roll, generate roll against this one attack, recalculating line of sight,
one additional stress token for the target of the attack. concealment and hard cover for each target from the
This may not raise the stress of the target group higher center of the explosion (instead of from the attacker).
than the Auto or Blast value of the weapon (if it This second attack ignores concealment from soft
would, the extra stress token is not generated). cover and counts as first range band. Resolve each
defense roll like a normal attack, except rules like The
Kill Zone and Point Blank do not apply.
For example, an insurgent fighter fires a rocket
propelled grenade (a weapon with Blast 3) at an American
soldier. The first ranged attack is made, resulting in an attack
roll of 7 and defense roll of 17. The attack misses, causing
the grenade to scatter in a random direction 10” from the
American soldier. No obstacle lies between the insurgent
fighter and the new location, so the attack lands at this new
point. Unfortunately, the attack has scattered within 3” of
another nearby American soldier. The grenade explodes and
the second attack roll is made against the American soldier.

Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy 4.7 High Explosive

While the area effect from a normal Blast
4.6 Blast Attacks weapon has only a single “blast” ranged band,
Weapons with the Blast special rule create weapons with the HE (or, “High Explosive”) special
explosions upon impact. The area effect from these rule have a number of blast bands equal to the Blast
attacks is similar to that of an automatic attack, but value of the weapon. Each band is the same distance
works a little differently. For Blast weapons, there are as the first (equal to the Blast value of the weapon)
two attack rolls: a to hit and a blast roll. The first roll and counts as an additional range band for defense
is used to determine where the attack hits and works a rolls. The number of range bands a HE Blast has
little differently than a normal ranged attack. is never limited by the normal max of 5 for ranged
First, the attacker chooses a point exactly 1” weapons, so a Blast 6 weapon with the HE special rule
away from a target soldier. The attacker then makes would have 6 range bands of 6 inches each and would
a normal attack roll and the defender makes a normal extend a total of 36 inches.
defense roll for that target soldier. Once the dice are
rolled, they are read differently, however; instead of 4.8 Blast Attacks against Vehicles
comparing the highest die, compare the total sum of Blast attacks work slightly differently against
the attack roll and the defense roll. If the attack roll vehicles. If the first attack roll is greater than the
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defense, this indicates a direct hit; the Blast dice are
simply rolled and added to the measure of success. If
a Blast attack scatters directly onto a vehicle, the Blast
dice are rolled for an automatic measure of success (no
defense roll necessary). Unless otherwise noted, Blast
attacks always have Damage x3 against vehicles, and
all HE attacks beyond the first blast range band count
as small arms.

5.0 Scatter Dice

As explained in the Blast Attacks section,
explosive attacks that do not successfully hit their
original target will scatter. To determine the direction
of scatter, simply roll two dice near the original
targeted point. The attack is shifted in the direction
of the larger die result towards the smaller, from the
original target. If doubles are rolled, simply re-roll the
dice until they are different. For an example of scatter
dice, see the diagram below:

Point of Origin

er
catt
on of S
Directi

Photo Courtesy U.S. Army

12
 6.0 Mission Resolve 7.0 Alternate ways to play
A game of Over There! can end in many Here are some optional rules that are simple,
different ways, including playing to a set number of yet change the feel of the game quite a bit.
rounds, playing until a certain scenario objective is
achieved and so on. Optionally, the players may agree 7.1 Fog of War
before the game starts to use the rules for Mission Over There! uses a hybrid “I Go-You Go”
Resolve, to determine when the game is over. activation system which may not be everybody’s cup
Mission Resolve represents an army-wide of tea. This alternate setup allows you to play with
breakpoint. At the end of any round when one side an activation deck for a more random, unpredictable
has lost more than half of its Mission Resolve, it must battle. You will need a deck of poker cards for this.
retire from the field, ceding victory to the opponent. Before the game, one side takes all the black
Before the game begins, each side must cards and the other takes the red. Players then assign
determine their Mission Resolve value for the each element in their army to one number (Aces count
scenario. Usually, each element is worth at least 1 as 1) and writes this down on a roster. Up to three
point of Mission Resolve. Tactical objectives (such face cards of one suit can be assigned to a commander
as a church tower) can also be worth 1 or more points as bonus order cards. Unused cards are dropped
while you control them (this may or may not also be from the game, and the remaining cards are shuffled
true for your opponent). together with a single Joker card into an activation
When a element is brought down to half deck. During a round, the players play through the
strength from wounds and KIA’s, you lose its value in deck until they reach the Joker card, when the deck is
Mission Resolve. If it is completely wiped out, you reshuffled and the next round begins.
lose twice the Mission Resolve instead. These values When a card assigned to an element is
can be tweaked according to the scenario you are revealed, the controlling player may immediately
playing (perhaps no resolve is lost for withdrawal, but go through the activation sequence for one group in
double for surrendering etc). that element. As normal, no model can be activated
Generally, Mission Resolve should be close to twice in a single round. Instead of their usual benefit,
equal for both sides. commanders provide order cards. When one of these
face cards is revealed, the commander may nominate
6.1 Who Wins? any friendly group in command to activate.
Over There! is primarily a scenario-based Playing with the Fog of War rules also gives
game, so conditions for success are usually given. If access to the special scenario rules “Airpower” and
not playing with a pre-written scenario, then there are “Artillery Strikes”. Unused face cards can also be
many other ways to determine the winner. If using the thrown in the deck to represent different scenario
above Mission Resolve rules, an army will break when events (vehicles breaking down, reinforcements
it loses enough resolve. If neither side fails Mission arriving etc).
Resolve, then a neutral third party can arbitrate who
seems to have won the conflict. In some cases, it may 7.2 Scaled Elements
be obvious which side has won. Otherwise, creating Although the rules as written presume a squad
objectives before the game may be useful. In this sized element, and suggest platoon sized engagements,
case, you could also use a system of pre-written orders Over There! is designed to cover many different
for each element, to better simulate small unit tactics. levels of engagement. To change the scope of a game,
Only elements who did not significantly deviate simply alter the number of soldiers in an element
from their fairly elaborate written orders would count and tweak break points. A small skirmish battle
towards a successful objective. between two squads of 12 soldiers each could feature
There are many ways to decide the winner of a individual fireteams of 3 soldiers as independent
game of Over There!, although the point of the game elements. Likewise, for larger engagements, try larger
is to have fun. Although this is an extremely tactical elements (like one element for two anti-tank guns).
game, it is not at all meant to be a competitive game, Any combination is possible, although it is suggested
so relax, roll some dice and enjoy yourself. an element generally have between 1 and 15 soldiers.

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