This document is Copyright (C) 1997 by Christopher A. Goodwin. All rights reserved. Battle Cattle is a trademark of Wingnut Games, and is used without permission. Car Wars is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games and is used without permission. Use of these trademarks herein is not intended as a legal challenge to the authority and ownership of their owners.
These rules make Battle Cattle a lot more Car Wars-ish, but what the heck. The game obviously was based quite a bit on Car Wars. Feel free to ignore them if you think they take away from the spirit of Battle Cattle.
Add two armor locations: Top and Underside. Optionally, reduce the weight per side of armor by 25%.
Legs are protected by underside armor. Individual legs are targeted at -4; the cow's underside may not otherwise be targeted. Damage to legs is halved, but keep track of the damage to each leg. When a leg takes enough damage (based on the size of the cow; see the table below) that leg is destroyed. A cow with one leg destroyed is at -1 to all tipping rolls. If all of the legs on a cow's left or right side are destroyed, then the cow is tipped for the rest of the game. If the cow's front legs are destroyed, then it may not move, but may still fire weapons. A cow with its back legs destroyed is reduced to movement by dragging itself along at half of its normal movement (round up), and takes 1d6 damage if it moves more than 1 space per turn.
Cows may mount additional legs at $750 and 50 pounds per, up to a maximum of two additional legs. Each additional leg provides +1 TDN; destroyed extra legs do not provide their bonus (obviously). (Note that this replaces the Fifth Leg rules.) Increase the cost of Bionic Legs by +25% per extra leg the cow possesses. (Bionic legs have 10 HP each, regardless of the cow's size, and damage to bionic legs is not counted against the cow's total.)
| Cow Size: | Leg HP: | |
| Light | 3 HP/leg | |
| Medium | 5 HP/leg | |
| Heavy | 8 HP/leg | |
| Extra Heavy | 10 HP/leg |
Internal weapon mounts do away with the need to buy a harness. The big disadvantage of internal mounts is that every slot worth of internally mounted weapons reduces the cow's HP by 2d6. A cow reduced to 0 HP in this manner at creation must be returned to the drawing board, and internally mounted weapons must be removed until the cow's HP reach 1 or greater. Bionic legs reduce the cow's HP by 1d6 per leg.
Turrets are top mounted, and allow the weapons mounted therein a 360 degree arc of fire. Weapons in a turret must be linked if they are to be fired together. Turret weapons may be networked with side mounted weapons. Turret weapons are destroyed when the top armor is destroyed. Turrets themselves take up slots, but the slots they provide do not count against the cow's total.
Turrets may be mounted internally or on harnesses, but a cow may have no more than one turret. Light cows may only mount small turrets. Weapons in a turret must point in the same direction. Turrets may only be used if the optional weapon ammunition rules (see below) are also being used.
Small Turret: Cost $1000, weight 100, takes 2 slots, provides 1 slot.
Large Turret: Cost $1500, weight 150, takes 3 slots, provides 2 slots.
Each weapon noted below comes with a full load of ammunition. Micromissile Launchers and Grenade Launcher loads are noted in the rules. Rockets are one-shot and lasers have infinite ammunition.
| Weapon: | Ammunition: | |
| Machine Gun | 20 shots | |
| Vulcan Machine Gun | 20 shots | |
| Heavy Machine Gun | 10 shots | |
| Flamethrower | 10 shots | |
| Recoilless Rifle | 10 shots | |
| Autocannon | 10 shots |
A full extra magazine for a weapon provides a full load for that weapon, takes up 1 slot, costs $150 plus 1/10 the cost of the weapon, and weighs 25 pounds plus 1/10 the weight of the weapon. Extra magazines for turret weapons need not be placed in the turret. An extra magazine is destroyed when the weapon it is attached to is destroyed. Extra magazines for the Micromissile Launcher cost $150 plus the refill cost and weigh 25 pounds plus the refill weight; extra magazines for a Grenade Launcher cost $150 plus the cost of the grenades and hold 3 grenades; they weigh 25 pounds plus the weight of the grenades.
Cost: $2000
Maximum Weight: 5000 pounds
Size: Extra Heavy
Moo-vement: 10 (6 if the total weight is above 3000 pounds)
HP: 55
TDN: 3 (can never get up if tipped)
40 internal slots.
The Slaughter Truck has a Steer-ing Wheel built in. If it uses any of its MP toward turning, it must make a tipping roll at the end of the turn, -1 for each MP used toward turning. These penalties to its TDN last until the start of its next move. The Slaughter Truck may not turn more than one hexside/corner without moving. The Slaughter Truck always moves last during the turn.
The Slaughter Truck's object is to carry a cow carcass off the field. To do this, it must back up to the carcass (the player must make a loud "BEEP-BEEP" sound as it does this) and spend a full turn stopped. At the end of this turn, the cow carcass is inside. A carcass takes up a number of slots equal to its maximum load/100. Note that the truck must leave weight and space capacity for the carcass, and any weapons not left behind take up their weight and space capacity as well.
The Slaughter Truck's driver weighs 200 pounds and takes up 2 slots; the Truck may also carry a gunner, who weighs 200 pounds and also takes up 2 slots. The gunner may fire a weapon in addition to the driver (but a given weapon may fire no more than once per turn). If either the driver or gunner leaves the Slaughter Truck for whatever reason, they have 10 HP and a move of 6. They may also carry hand weapons (see table below), which take up no space but do take up weight. A human may carry a maximum of 50 pounds. Humans have a TDN of 12 outside the vehicle and are targeted at -3. They are considered Very Light for purposes of rams (simply extrapolate the relevant tables one more place for Very Light).
Tires for the Slaughter Truck each have 20 HP and are targeted at -3. They are outside of all armor. If one front tire is destroyed, any turns in the direction opposite the side the tire was on require an automatic tipping roll (in other words, if the left front tire is destroyed, any turns to the right require a roll, and vice versa). If one rear wheel is destroyed, movement is reduced to half. If any two wheels are destroyed, the Slaughter Truck may not move (but may still fire). Damage to tires is not applied to the Truck's HP.
The first 10 points coming through the Slaughter Truck's front armor destroy the vehicle's engine; in this case, the Slaughter Truck may no longer move. Any damage past this is applied to the driver (or gunner, if applicable; roll randomly to determine which one gets it). Damage applied to the engine does come off the vehicle's HP, but damage applied to the driver or gunner does not. (If the driver is killed, the Truck moves forward the same number of spaces as it did the previous turn; it will continue moving forward this number until either the gunner takes a full turn to shove the driver's body out and take over, the Slaughter Truck hits something, or it tips.)
Please Note: The player running the Slaughter Truck will need to construct the truck using the same rules as for constructing Battle Cattle; the stats given above are only for the chassis of the Slaughter Truck. The rules for building and playing the Slaughter Truck will be expanded with the (eventual) publication of the Cars in Battle Cattle rules.
Driver/Gunner Accessories Chart:
| Item: | Cost: | Weight: | Notes: | ||
| Handgun | $500 | 5 | 1d6 damage, 10 shots, 9 to hit | ||
| Submachine Gun | $1000 | 7 | 2d6 damage, 20 shots, 9 to hit | ||
| Rifle | $800 | 7 | 2d6 damage, 10 shots, 8 to hit | ||
| Body Armor | $1000 | 10 | 5 pts. Kevlar armor for human | ||
| Heavy Body Armor | $2000 | 25 | 10 pts. Kevlar armor for human | ||
| Hand Grenade | $25 | 5 | To hit/damage per p. 37 | ||
| Concussion Grenade | $25 | 5 | To hit/damage per p. 37 |
Note that the Hand Grenade and Concussion Grenade weigh less than their cow counterparts (cownterparts?); this is because the grenades in weapons are fired from a 20 pound sabot, which is discarded as the weapon is fired. Humans obviously don't need to lug around 20 pound pieces of depleted uranium when they carry grenades.
The following accessories may not be used on the Slaughter Truck:
Trigger Horns may only be used on the front of the Slaughter Truck. On all other sides, the Slaughter Truck may use Bumper Triggers (with identical cost and weight to Trigger Horns).
The Slaughter Truck has an additional accessory it may purchase: Righting Lifts. Righting Lifts cost $2500, weigh 150 pounds, and take up 2 internal slots. Righting Lifts allow the Slaughter Truck to get up after it has been tipped. This takes three turns but does not require a dice roll. During the time the Slaughter Truck is getting up, it may not do anything else.
Many, many more accessories are available in the Car Wars game and its supplements by Steve Jackson Games. If you don't already play Car Wars, please check it out.
| Item: | Cost: | Weight: | Damage: | Shots: | Slots: | |||
| Minedropper | $500 | 100 | 1d6 | 10 | 1 | |||
| Spikedropper | $750 | 150 | 1d6 | 10 | 2 | |||
| Cow Flop Dropper | $250 | 0 | Tips | 10 | 1 | |||
| Smokescreen | $650 | 50 | None | 10 | 1 |
The minedropper leaves a mine counter in the space adjacent to the side the weapon is mounted on. Any cow moving through this space sets off a mine on 1-3 on 1d6. Mines do 1d6 damage to the underbody and to each leg (if armor is destroyed).
The spikedropper leaves a spike counter in the space adjacent to the side the weapon is mounted on. Any cow moving through this space steps on a spike on 1-3 on 1d6. Spikes do 1d6 damage to the leg that steps on the spike, bypassing all armor. Bionic legs are immune to spike damage.
The cow flop dropper leaves a cow flop counter in the space adjacent (you get the idea). Any cow moving through this space steps on a cow flop on a 1-4 on 1d6. Stepping on a cow flop requires an immediate tipping roll at -1.
The smokescreen leaves a smoke counter (yadda, yadda). Lasers cannot fire through smoke counters. Also, any cow ending its movement inside a smoke counter is blinded, and the player must turn away from the board until the cow moves out of the smoke.