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Early Access, Version 2 08/03/2023

This is an early access “rules only” copy of Hobgoblin for the purposes of QA
and Playtesting. The finished product will contain a deep narrative setting and
many more illustrations exploring the endless catacombs of the Rotvärlden.

TM

©ELECTI STUDIO 2023 All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced without permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. law.
The glint of a sword raised
CRE DITS

to strike. Loose gravel thrown Author and Game Designer,

Mike Hutchinson
Graphic Design and
by bone-white skeletal hooves. Layout, Greg Horton
Lead Editor, David Hoobyar
Editor, Stuart Warren
The sweeping movement of a Illustration, CROM
Logo, ZO @x1123x__
ragged inky robe. The whistling slice
M E D I A CO N TAC T
of the mounted revenant’s [email protected]

sword. The scarlet arc of blood, erupting

from the guardsman’s neck. Squelching wetness

at the blade’s removal. Mail and iron plate strike

the stone with a clatter. A piercing,

breathless shriek from between

marble teeth. The resonant blast

of a nearby warhorn. A hellish horde surges

forward to ecstatic slaughter.

The din of hopeless battle.

J O I N US
ONLI NE H ERE
I

WE LCOM E
Hobgoblin is a game of brutal fantasy battles waged
TH E G A M E
through an endless maze of interwoven tunnels, caverns
and catacombs forever growing downwards beneath the
Hobgoblin is a brutal old school fantasy wargame for
dead, frozen surface of the world.
people who want to put all their miniatures out on the
The underground realms of the Rotvärlden have
table in sweeping battlelines and see them die in glorious
been thrown into chaos by the discovery of the Cursed
battle without needing to set aside a whole day to play.
Artefacts. Each grants the bearer the power to manifest
Your army is made up of rectangular units, which
vast magical armies, but at a terrible cost: draining their
must each be given a unit type (such as Light Infantry
life-force and allowing the long-dead creators of these
or Heavy Cavalry). The unit’s type determines their
artefacts to slowly possess them. The doomed inheritors
manoeuvrability and the target numbers needed to
of these ancient heirlooms become known as The
fight with and against them. Units can be customised by
Haunted. As more Cursed Artefacts are discovered, this
purchasing keywords (either Strengths or Weaknesses)
new power tears the underworld apart.
which raise or lower the unit’s cost and provide special
Consumed by ancient malevolence, The Haunted
rules.
prosecute bloody campaigns of conquest through
Units throw ten dice when attacking in close
cavern-cities of this nocturnal world, as the ice carries a
combat, and five when shooting (although various
tide of shambling undead down into the realms and an
special rules can change that). The target number chart
even more primordial evil probes the magical veil at the
gives the roll needed for one unit type to hit another.
root of the world.
If an attack dice equals or beats the target number, the
Beset by frozen dead from above, infernal demons
target receives a Doom Token.
from below, and the bloodthirsty warmongering of
Once a unit has Doom equal or above its Courage
the Haunted, Rotvärlden is a twilight world, lit only
(normally ten) they are Broken. Broken units cause
by torches, luminous fungus and the burning of
further Doom tokens to be spread around in the Doom
subterranean kingdoms at the hands of evil warriors.
Phase, before they get removed and their controller gets
a consolation prize of two Mercury Tokens, used to cast
magic, or a Fortune Card, used to turn the tide of the
battle.

Early Access 5 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
TH E WORL D The Stenhål, a nightmare
of endless stone
The Rotvärlden is a subterranean world of claustrophobic The majority of the civilised races occupy the temperate

corridors connecting cavernous voids that house mighty Stenhål region of the underworld, where the air isn’t

cities, lightless underground oceans, and yet stranger baking and the water isn’t frozen. Densely populated,

sights. tightly knotted kingdoms and tribes wrestle for

Below the cold, desolate surface lie the frozen territory in the great caverns and the cramped tunnels
catacombs of Isvärlden, a region crawling with the that connect them..
prowling, frozen dead. Deeper still are the great realms From vast smoke-belching mining operations of
of the Stenhål, a nightmare of endless stone that houses the Copper Dwarves, to shining elven cities floating
a thousand warring kingdoms. Further down, and upon stygian underground oceans, to cavernous ghob
warmer, is the Nattsvamp, a tropical belt teeming with strongholds of iron and stone, the people of the Stenhål
slimy nocturnal life. At the lowest (and hottest) levels, live various but ever-nocturnal lives.
are the abyssal kingdoms of the Eldvärlden, home
to wicked, corrupted peoples. Below it lie the roiling Nattsvamp, the Slime Forests
magma seas of the Eldhål, whence hordes of fire demons On the margins between the Stenhål and the Eldvärlden
swarm; held in check by an ancient barrier that even there is a tropical region. Near Lizzadrel, after its long
now strains and buckles. journey down from the Bleakwater, the river Gursh
empties into the Kobi basin in eighty-mile-wide
Isvärlden, the frozen catacombs waterfalls. Here, the air is hot and moist. The cavern
Most mortal creatures in the Rotvärlden live deep systems buzz with subterranean life. Giant insects
underground. The closer to the surface one travels, infest mycelial bayous and eyeless lizards blindly graze
the colder and more perilous it becomes. Sinister and lush algae swamps. Kaleidoscopic forests of buboes,
wicked things, such as hobgoblins, ice elves, or the mushrooms and fungi of every type imaginable fill the
twisted citadels of necromancers, reside there. The caves and galleries, teeming with life illuminated by the
Isvärlden is dotted with the quiet sepulchral remnants faint, bioluminescent glows.
of the first cities: bastions created just after the arrival
of the ice forced life underground. Many of them are
magnificent, built at a time of relative prosperity, with
materials and labour from the surface world, but most
now lie in ruin.
As the centuries wore on, tunnels were extended
downwards, as the advancing cold drove people deeper
into the earth. Now these tomb-cities are mostly the
domain of hardy ghobs (who, being akin to fungus, are
much more able to withstand cold), Ice Elves and the
rattling undead.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 6 Early Access
Eldvärlden, the Infernal Realms
As one travels deeper still, the air grows hotter and is
thick with noxious odours. The creatures that inhabit
the lower realms are beastly chthonic things, from
the cruel and industrious Infernal Dwarfs, to the fire
demons that leap screeching from the very molten rock.
The air is thick with sulphur and the very ground pulls
harder against you.
Regardless of the depth one travels, the darkness
is filled with dangers. In the soupy blackness of endless
caverns and vaults, kingdoms and cultures intertwine
and entangle. Wars for dominion and conquest are
constant. Raiders, mercenaries and monsters are ever
poised to murder the unwitting. Violence and cruelty
pervade the Rotvärlden. There is nothing to eat but meat
and fungus, and beer brewed from one or the other.
Whether cruel of heart or of noble intent, you must take
up your sword and sceptre and lead an army to conquest,
riches or glory.

Early Access 7 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
II

COR E RUL E S

play area is having enough room to array your armies

WH AT YOU WI L L NE E D
nicely while maintaining that 16” gap between them.
• Two players (or two teams of players).

• A fantasy army (either on square bases or in COR E CONCE P TS

movement trays) for each player to command.

• About a dozen six-sided dice (D6). The Rule of Carnage

Everything in Hobgoblin is constantly barrelling
• Some tokens or dice to track Doom.
towards bloody carnage and grisly death. If a rules
• Some tokens or dice to track Mercury. interaction is ever unclear, choose whichever option

• A tape measure in inches. results in the most carnage for all concerned. This is The
Rule of Carnage.
• A flat play area at least 3-feet by 3-feet.

• Some fantasy terrain and scenery. Rules Conventions

• A set of Fortune Cards for the players to share. • Dice may be re-rolled multiple times.

• Optionally, a set of Scenario quick reference cards. • When rolling attack dice: a roll of a ‘6’ is always a hit,
and a roll of a ‘1’ is always a miss.
• Optionally, a set of Spell quick reference cards.
• You may measure distances and check line of sight
at any time.
PL AY A RE A
Hobgoblin is designed to be played on any flat surface • Units are always in range and line of sight of
that is at least 3-feet long by 3-feet wide, although larger themselves.
is nicer. We play on 6-foot by 4-foot tables, but you don’t • If the text of a more specific rule conflicts with a
have to. The shape of your table doesn’t matter. The larger more general rule, the text relating to the more
your armies, the more elbow room you will want, but specific circumstance takes precedence.

you’ll find Hobgoblin works perfectly on most kitchen

or dining room tables, or on any standard gaming table First Player
or board. The First Player is the player that currently has the

Deployment zones are measured from a centre First Player token. The other player is referred to as the

line dividing the table in two, so you don’t need to have Second Player.
a specific size or shape of table to play the game. You
will set up your forces with 16” between the armies’ D3
deployment zones, so the only real constraint on your When the rules ask you to roll a “D3”, roll a six-sided
dice and halve the result, rounding up.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 8 Early Access
D66 Duplicate Keywords
When the rules ask you to roll a “D66”, roll two six-sided A unit may only be affected by one copy of a given keyword at
dice: the first result is your ‘tens’ value, and the second any time. If some game effect would result in a unit gaining a
roll is your ‘units’ value. For example, a roll of a 3 and a keyword that they already have, the additional copy is simply
6 counts as 36. ignored, unless it is a numerical keyword, as described below.

Tokens and Markers Numerical Keywords

Tokens are used to record in-game resources and statuses, Some keywords may have a number or an increment printed
e.g. Doom Tokens. They don’t have a location on the table, within them, such as Hero [2] or Hero [+1]. These are referred
and don’t have to be of any particular size or shape. Players to as Numerical Keywords. There are two formats of numeric
may move tokens around as they see fit, and even represent keywords, and they should be applied in this order:
multiple tokens using a dice to show how many tokens a 1. Keyword [X]: Set the value of the keyword to X,
given unit or player has. giving the unit this keyword if it doesn’t already
Markers are used to mark the physical location of have it.
some in-game element, e.g. Objective Markers. They have 2. Keyword [+X]: If the unit already has the keyword,
a location on the table, and must not be moved during the increase its value by X. Otherwise, give the unit the
game unless specified by the rules. Markers must be circular, keyword and set it to X.
and between 20mm and 40mm in diameter. Units can move If a unit is affected by multiple copies of a numerical keyword,
freely over markers. apply the Keyword [X] copies first, in an order of the unit
owner’s choosing, and then the Keyword [+X] copies second.
Engaged For example, if a unit without Hero is affected by a
If a unit is in base-contact with an enemy unit, both units
spell that causes it to “gain Hero [+1]”, it now has Hero
are considered to be Engaged with each other. If you are
[1]. If it is affected by a second spell that causes it to
using movement trays for your units, all measurements are
“gain Hero [+2]”, it now has Hero [3].
made to and from the trays so if the units’ trays are touching,
the units are considered to be engaged with each other. See Keywords Traits
Engagement. Each keyword has one or more Traits, which include
Strength, Weakness, Footprint or Character. These traits
KE Y WOR DS are used to classify the keywords. They don’t do anything
Units have Keywords. These capture the unit’s particular inherently, but are referred to by other rules.
advantages or shortcomings. They might represent their
physical nature, their equipment, or their training. Keywords Reserved Keywords
allow you to customise your units and build an army that fits Keywords listed with the Reserved trait, such as Broken
your imagination. You will find a full index of keywords at does, may not be purchased during army building. Those
the back of this book. Reserved keywords may only be granted by other game rules.
Terrain pieces also have keywords; see Terrain.

Note: The design intention of Keywords is to provide Timing of Keywords

If a unit is affected by multiple keywords, apply
a contained list of special rules, so that players can
Weakness keywords last. If there are still timing issues, follow
quickly learn them all and games don’t get bogged
the Rule of Carnage.
down in looking up unfamiliar rules.

Early Access 9 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
UNITS UNIT STATI STICS
Armies in Hobgoblin are composed of Units. A unit Units in Hobgoblin are defined by the following statistics:
might be thirty goblin warriors on a movement tray,
ten dwarf crossbowmen ranked up on square bases, or • Unit Type: The general class of the unit. See Unit
a single dragon on a scenic base. What is important is Types.
that units must have straight edges and be rectangular
• Speed: The number of movement points the unit
or square, and their footprint on the tabletop must lie gains at the start of a Movement Activation. See
within the constraints laid out below. If you are using Movement.
movement trays for your units, all measurements are
• Range: The maximum range, in inches, for shooting
made to and from the tray: the tray is the unit, for game attacks. See Shooting.
purposes.
• Strikes: The number of attack dice the unit rolls
Units must have a clear and obvious Front Edge.
when attacking. See Attacking.

• Courage: The number of Doom Tokens needed for

the unit to become Broken. See Broken.

• Keywords: The additional rules and status effects

that are affecting the unit. See Keywords.

• Footprint: Keyword that controls the physical width

and depth of the unit. See Unit Footprint.

• Keyword Cost Multiplier: The multiplier applied to

the cost of keywords when purchasing them for this
unit during army building. See Building an Army.

• Points: The cost of the unit type (in points) when

building your army. See Building an Army.

UNIT STATI STICS

Keyword
Unit Type Speed Range Strikes Courage Keywords Footprint
Cost x Points

Light Infantry 8 - 10 10 Wide 1 300

Ranged Infantry 8 24" 10 10 Ranged [24], Skirmishers Wide 1 300

Heavy Infantry 6 - 10 10 Tough [1] Wide 1 350

Monstrous Infantry 10 - 10 10 Wild Wide 2 400

Light Cavalry 14 8" 10 10 Nimble, Ranged [8], Skirmishers Wide 2 350

Heavy Cavalry 12 - 10 10 Devastating Charge Wide 2 450

Chariot 10 - 10 10 Fragile, Devastating Charge Narrow 1 350

War Wagon 6 - 10 10 Large Narrow 1 250

Monster 10 - 10 10 Large, Wild Narrow 2 600

Beasts 12 - 10 10 Nimble, Wild, Skirmishers Wide 1 200

Artillery - 48" 10 10 Ranged [48], Immobile, Fragile Narrow 2 350

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 10 Early Access
UNIT FOOTPRI NT
The Footprint of the unit type defines the legal UNIT FO OTPRI NT
Footprint Min-Max Width Min-Max Depth
minimum and maximum width and depth for the unit.
These physical dimensions are designed to provide Wide 100-200mm 40-160mm

freedom to use units based and sized for other games, Narrow 40-100mm 40-160mm
while limiting the exploitation of that freedom. Horde 150-200mm 100-200mm
During army building, units may be changed to
a different footprint. A unit with a Wide Footprint The Horde keyword allows players to represent
may purchase Narrow Footprint (a strength), and be massive units of rank and file troops, and correspondingly
represented on the tabletop with a smaller unit tray or units given that keyword have an increased minimum
base. A unit that starts with a Narrow Footprint may required footprint.
purchase Wide Footprint (a weakness), compensating Note: Units are of a fixed shape once deployed
them for having a physical shape that wheels slower, and cannot change their depth or breadth during
presents a wider frontage to the enemy, and fits into the game.
fewer gaps. This allows you to field miniatures in your
collection that are on different-sized bases, without too
much consideration of the impact of those base sizes.

Early Access 11 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
UNIT T YPE S Ski rm ishers
Every Unit has a single Unit Type. The unit’s type Weakness. Reserved. When suffering hits from a
shooting attack, this unit does not ignore hits that
determines its Movement Points, its Attack Range, its would result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom
Token. It gains one Doom Token for every hit received.
required Footprint, the Target Numbers for its attacks,
Units with the Skirmishers keyword may ignore Rough
and any Keywords it has by default. terrain.
The unit types are deliberately broad and non-
specific, to allow you to use them to represent the near-
endless range of warriors, mounts and war-machines Heavy Infantry
that might be found in a fantasy battle.
Heavy Infantry represent foot troops that are either
better equipped, or stronger and tougher than a
Light Infantry
standard warrior. They might be heavily-armoured foot
The Light Infantry unit type can be used to represent the
knights, hulking barbarians, powerful serpent warriors,
vast majority of fighting creatures on the battlefields of
or indomitable dwarf veterans, to name a few. They
the Rotvärlden. Whether armed with a sword, spear, or
are rightly feared on the battlefield, but equipping and
axe, or just with teeth and claws, this unit type represents
maintaining such elite troops is expensive.
the line infantry of most armies. With keywords, they
Heavy Infantry start with the following keywords:
could represent howling fanatics, stubborn dwarfs, Wide Footprint and Tough [1]
hordes of craven wretches, elite swordsmen, shambling
zombies, a phalanx of pikemen, terrifying demons and Tough [x]

an endless variety of other fantasy warriors. Streng th. When receiving Doom tokens from
a close combat attack, this unit may ignore the
Light Infantry start with the following keyword: first x Doom tokens received.

Wide Footprint.

Monstrous Infantry
Ranged Infantry
Monstrous Infantry represent massive fighting creatures
Ranged Infantry represent troops armed with medium-
that tower many heads above regular soldiers. Whether
ranged and medium-powered missile weapons. These
minotaurs, trolls, stone gholem, ogres, or unholy
might be crossbows, blunderbusses, longbows, rifles,
knights: they are faster, stronger, tougher and braver
arquebuses, poison darts, acid spit or magic missiles.
than most troops on the battlefield, but tend to demand
These fighters are not well-suited to combat with larger,
more from their general; be it coin or provisions.
denser infantry blocks, but their loose formations
Monstrous Infantry start with the following
makes them slightly more able to evade attacks from
keywords: Wide Footprint and Wild.
monsters and artillery. With the purchase of additional
keywords, they could be armed with powerful repeating
Wi ld
crossbows, or represent light-footed but fragile scouts.
Weakness. Reserved. During the Movement
Ranged Infantry start with the following keywords: Phase, this unit may not take any action that
would result in it gaining the Distracted
Wide Footprint, Skirmishers and Ranged [24]. key word unless it also has a Character key word,
or there is a friendly unit with a Character
key word within 4”.
Ranged [x]
Streng th. This unit’s Range stat is equal to x”.
Light Cavalry
Examples: A unit with Ranged [24] has a Range
stat of 24”. A unit with Ranged [24] that gains Light Cavalry represent all manner of lightly-armoured
Ranged [+12] now has Ranged [36]. Ranged [36]
means the unit’s Range stat is now 36”. mounted warriors, such as archers or outriders, riding
all manner of swift beasts. They can make short-ranged

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 12 Early Access
missile attacks, perhaps with short bows, throwing axes, bogged-down in combat. As well as wheeled chariots,
or sorcerous bolts. They can also represent fast-moving this unit type can be used to represent a host of other
troops that are not literally mounted, but which are fast and fragile things, such as a wheeled war-shrine, an
swift and lightly armoured, such as centaurs, gargoyles angelic warrior, a magic carpet rider, a steampunk gyro-
or winged infantry. tank and many more.
Light Cavalry start with the following keywords: Chariots start with the following keywords: Narrow
Skirmishers, Wide Footprint, Nimble and Ranged [8]. Footprint, Devastating Charge and Fragile.

Heavy Cavalry Fragi le

Weakness. This unit becomes Broken when it has
Heavy Cavalry represent hard-hitting, heavily armed
a number of Doom Tokens equal to or greater
and armoured mounted troops, such as mounted knights than half its Courage value, rounding up.

riding horses, lizards, boars or powerful mechanical

contrivances. A little faster than foot troops, and once War Wagon
up to full speed, few can withstand their charge. War Wagons represent all manner of rumbling war
Heavy Cavalry start with the following keywords: machines, heavily-armoured mechanical conveyances
Wide Footprint and Devastating Charge that provide mobility, protection and a commanding
view of the battle. This unit type can be used for
Devastati ng Charge
armoured carts, siege engines, heavy palanquins hefted
Streng th. If this unit advanced 6” or more this
round, it may decrease its target number for along by monstrous infantry, bulky chariots pulled by
close combat attacks by 1, to a minimum of 2,
until the end of the round. sluggish beasts and even gyrocopters or other steam-
powered innovations whose strong defence might be
achieved through elusiveness rather than physical
Monster fortitude.
The darkness of the Rotvärlden is overflowing with War Wagons start with the following keywords:
monsters. Each is a nightmare in its own right, towering Narrow Footprint and Large.
above the battlefield, and with teeth, claws or tails that
can lay waste to ranks of soldiers. This unit type can also Beasts
be used to represent powerful war machines that rumble Unnumbered beasts haunt the darkness of the
into battle, or a mighty hero or cunning sorcerer atop a Rotvärlden. Some corral and drive these beasts before
monstrous mount. them into battle. From swarms of rats to undead hounds
Monsters start with the following keywords: to wild fire spirits, this unit type represents fast moving
Narrow Footprint, Wild and Large. close-combat troops with little to no armour, whose role
is to either frustrate the enemy or slip through their
Large
battlelines.
Streng th. When this unit draws line of sight, or
when other units draw line of sight to this unit, Beasts start with the following keywords:
and when establishing cover, inter vening units
or terrain may be ignored unless they are Large Skirmishers, Nimble and Wild.
or Elevated.

Artillery
Chariot Artillery covers the vast array of guns and war machines
The Chariot unit type represents a fast-moving, hard- that are dragged or summoned onto the battlefield and
hitting unit that relies on its speed and power to tip then bombard the enemy from behind the main lines.
the odds in its favour, and which does not do well once These include cannon, trebuchets, and ballistas as well

Early Access 13 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
as stranger and more sorcerous weapons. They are more
AT TACKI NG
effective against tightly ranked units and are the perfect
When attacking with ranged weapons in the Shooting
tool for cracking open heavily-armoured units and
Phase, or attacking units in base-contact in the Combat
upsetting monsters.
Phase, use these rules.
Artillery start with the following keywords, which
are included in their points cost: Narrow Footprint,
AT TACK DICE
Immobile, Ranged [48] and Fragile.
Attack Dice are six-sided dice (D6).
When making a Shooting Attack, the unit receives
I m mobi le
a number of attack dice equal to half their Strikes stat,
Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not be
activated in the Movement Phase. rounding down. This will commonly be five dice.
When making a Close Combat Attack, the unit
receives a number of attack dice equal to their Strikes
During army building, Artillery may only have
stat. This will commonly be ten dice. These attack dice
the following Weaknesses purchased for them: Self-
must be assigned to the enemy units they are engaged
Destructive and Short-Ranged.
with, following the rules found in the Combat section.

TA RGE T NUM BE R
When a unit targets another unit with an attack, the
attacking unit looks at the following table to find the
Target Number they need to equal or beat on their
attack dice to successfully cause a hit:

TA RG E T NUM BE R CH A RT

Unit Attacking Unit Defending

Attack Light Ranged Heavy Mstr. Light Heavy
Unit Type Speed
Range Infantry Infantry Infantry Infantry Cavalry Cavalry
Chariot War Wagon Monster Beasts Artillery

Light Infantry 8 - 4+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 2+ 4+
Ranged Infantry 8 24” 6+ 5+ 6+ 6+ 5+ 6+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 3+
Heavy Infantry 6 - 4+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 2+ 4+
Monstrous Infantry 10 - 3+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 2+ 3+
Light Cavalry 14 8” 5+ 4+ 6+ 6+ 4+ 6+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
Heavy Cavalry 12 - 3+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 2+ 3+
Chariot 10 - 2+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
War Wagon 6 - 3+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 3+
Monster 10 - 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+
Beasts 12 - 5+ 4+ 6+ 6+ 4+ 6+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
Artillery - 48” 4+ 6+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 5+ 4+

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 14 Early Access
ROL L I NG TO H IT D OOM TOKE N S
When the attacking unit rolls their attack dice, each As units fight in combat, suffer grevious wounds,
attack dice that equals or beats the target number is a struggle desperately with their enemies, and watch their
Hit. Each attack dice that rolls under the target number fellows fall broken and bloody beside them: death and
is a Miss. despair close in like a grim cloak. Regardless of whether
A roll of a natural six is always a hit, and a roll of a it will be their bodies or their spirits that fail them first,
natural one is always a miss. the approach of hopelessness and mortal destruction is
represented by Doom Tokens.
FORCE OF WI L L Units begin the game with no Doom Tokens. Units
After rolling the attack dice for the unit, the attacking may have any number of Doom Tokens.
player may discard any number of Mercury Tokens and/
Doom can be tracked using dice (D10, D12 or
or Fortune cards to re-roll one attack dice for each token
D20 all work well), or by piling tokens (skulls,
or card discarded.
gems, coins) next to them. Personally, I often
use black D12s and D20s for doom. You can also
PL ACE D OOM use wound or money tokens pinched from board
games you might have; any set of small tokens
When resolving a close combat attack:
with numbers work perfectly.
• Place one Doom Token on the target unit for each
hit received.
BROKE N
A unit which has a number of Doom Tokens equal to
When resolving a shooting attack:
or greater than its Courage gains the Broken weakness.
• If the target unit has fewer than five Doom Tokens: A unit that is Broken causes panic and is removed from
place one Doom Token on the target unit for each play during the Doom Phase (see Doom Phase); either
hit received, but stop when the target has five Doom
fled or slaughtered.
Tokens and ignore the remaining hits.
If a unit does not have the Broken weakness, it is
• If the target unit has five or more Doom Tokens: the said to be “unbroken”.
target ignores all hits and receives no Doom Tokens.

Broken
The target unit ignores any shooting hit that would
Weakness. Reserved. If a unit has the Broken
result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom Token key word, it is removed from play during the
Doom Phase, unless acted upon by another
(unless it has the Skirmishers keyword). This can result game effect. If a unit with the Broken key word
in hits from a shooting attack placing no Doom Tokens ever has fewer Doom Tokens than its Courage, it
immediately loses the Broken key word.
(so you should mostly avoid shooting at units that
already have five or more Doom tokens).

Ski rm ishers
Weakness. Reserved. When suffering hits from a
shooting attack, this unit does not ignore hits that
would result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom
Token. It gains one Doom Token for every hit received.
Units with the Skirmishers keyword may ignore Rough
terrain.

Early Access 15 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
L I NE OF SIG HT R A NGE
If a line can be drawn from the centre point of the front Each unit has a Range stat, used for their shooting
edge of a unit to any point on another unit, without attacks. Spells and other game effects may also have
that line passing through any unit (including the acting ranges.
unit), or through Blocking terrain, then the acting unit
has Line of Sight to the target unit. TA RGE TE D AT TACK S
To restate: A ND SPE L L S
Shooting attacks have a specific target unit, as do some
• Line of sight is drawn from the centre of the acting
spells or other game effects.
unit
If the attack, spell or game effect has a specific target
• Line of sight may be drawn to any point on the target unit, you must check range by measuring the distance
unit
between the centre of the front edge of the attacking
• Units block line of sight unit and the closest point on the target unit. If that
distance is within the range of the action, the target unit
• Blocking terrain blocks line of sight
is in range.
A unit always counts as having line of sight to every
unit it is engaged with. WITH I N X”
If a spell or game effect does not have a specific
target, you must check range by measuring the distance
between the closest two points on the units. These effects
will commonly say they affect units within x”.

Note: If you are using movement trays for your

units, all measurements are made to and from the
tray: the tray is the unit, for game purposes.

In this diagram, the Dwarves have line of sight to the

Goblins and the Trolls, but not to the sneaky Hobgoblins,
as the line of sight would have to pass through the unit
itself.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 16 Early Access
Early Access 17 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
III

FIG HTI NG BAT TL E S

BAT TL E ROUND STRUC TURE Movement Phase

A game of Hobgoblin is divided into Battle Rounds. In the Movement Phase, the First Player activates each
Each battle round is split into Phases: of their units once, in an order of their choosing. The
1. Initiative Phase Second Player then does the same. See Movement.
2. Magic Phase
3. Shooting Phase Combat Phase
4. Movement Phase The First Player must resolve close combat attacks with
5. Combat Phase each of their engaged units, in an order of their choosing.
6. Doom Phase The Second Player then does the same. See Combat.

Initiative Phase Doom Phase

At the start of the Initiative Phase, both players draw In the Doom Phase, players carry out the following
one fortune card. steps:
Press the Initiative: The player with the First 1. Panic: Each Broken unit causes Panic: all
Player token must roll a D6. If the result is higher than friendly units within 8” gain 1 Doom Token. If
the current battle round number, they may choose to this causes another unit to become Broken, that
keep the First Player token or pass it to their opponent, unit causes Panic too. Repeat this process until
otherwise they must pass it to their opponent. all Panic has been resolved.
2. Remove Broken Units: Remove all Broken units
Magic Phase from play. These Broken units are considered to
Each player receives Mercury Tokens: you gain one be removed from play simultaneously.
Mercury Token for each full 1000 points in your starting 3. Death’s Harvest: Each player may gain either
army list and one Mercury Token for each in-play unit two Mercury Tokens or one fortune card for
with the Wizard keyword. The First Player may cast each of their Broken units that was removed
spells with any of their units with the Wizard keyword. from play in the last step.
The Second Player then does the same. See Magic. 4. Who’s Next?: Any unit that was engaged at the
start of this Doom Phase and is now unengaged
Shooting Phase may make a free reform manoeuvre.
The First Player activates each of their unengaged Ranged 5. Ready Units: Remove the Distracted keyword
units once, in an order of their choosing. When a unit is from all units.
activated in the Shooting Phase, it may gain Distracted Note: In the Doom Phase, be sure to check the
to make a shooting attack. The Second Player then Command keywords from your General and
activates their unengaged Ranged units. See Shooting. Battle Standard, and note any units that are

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 18 Early Access
currently Outmanoeuvred, as these rules could
CA STI NG SPE L L S
affect which units are Broken and which are safe
In the Magic Phase, players may spend Mercury Tokens
for another round.
to cast spells with any of their units with the Wizard
keyword. To cast a spell with a unit, name a spell and
G A M E E ND
spend the required number of Mercury Tokens. Then, if
​​A game of Hobgoblin ends after 5 battle rounds, or until
required by the spell, name the target. Discard the spent
one player surrenders (if one player surrendered, their
Mercury Tokens and resolve the spell’s effects.
opponent wins). Make sure to keep track of the current
For the avoidance of doubt: a unit may cast the
battle round number.
same spell multiple times, and may cast the same spell
on the same unit multiple times in a single Magic Phase.
M AG IC Multiple different units in a player’s army may cast the
In the Magic Phase, units with the Wizard keyword may same spell as each other. Go nuts.
spend Mercury Tokens to cast spells.
Spell Costs
M E RCURY TOKE N S • Cantrips require the player to
Magical potential is represented by Mercury Tokens. spend 2 Mercury Tokens.
You could use gaming gems or sparkly and mystical-
• Makings require the player to
looking dice to represent Mercury Tokens.
spend 4 Mercury Tokens.
At the start of the Magic Phase, each player gains
one Mercury Token for each full 1000 points in their • Cataclysms require the player to
spend 6 Mercury Tokens.
starting army list and one Mercury Token for each in-
play unit with the Wizard keyword. Players may store
Spells with a target unit
unspent Mercury Tokens from round to round; they do
If a spell states that it affects a “target unit”, its selected
not need to be spent on the turn they gain them.
target must be within range and line of sight.
Note: I mean here the total number of points Line of Sight: If a line can be drawn from the
you could have spent on your army. So if you are centre point of the front edge of a unit to any point on
playing a 4,000 point game, but you only spent another unit, without that line passing through any unit
3985 points on your army, you still get 4 Mercury (including the acting unit), or through Blocking terrain,
Tokens. then the acting unit has Line of Sight to the target unit.
Range: Check range by measuring the distance
In addition, whenever a Broken unit is removed
between the centre of the front edge of the attacking unit
from play during the Doom Phase, its controller may
and the closest point on the target unit. If that distance
immediately either gain two Mercury Tokens, or draw
is within the spell’s range, the target unit is in range.
a new fortune card.

Spells without a target unit

Force Of Will If a spell does not specifically state that it has a “target”,
As well as being used to cast spells, Mercury Tokens can
then it affects all units in range, regardless of line of
be used to reroll attack dice.
sight, and you must check range by measuring the
After rolling attack dice, the attacking player may
distance between the closest two points on the units.
discard any number of Mercury Tokens and/or Fortune
These effects will commonly say they affect units within
cards to re-roll one attack dice for each token or card
x”.
discarded.
For example, most Cataclysms do not target units, and

Early Access 19 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
instead affect every unit within range of any part of the
SE L EC T TA RGE T
casting unit, regardless of line of sight.
The attacking unit must select a single unengaged enemy
unit to be its target. The target unit must be within range
SHOOTI NG of the attacking unit’s Range stat, and within line of
When a unit with the Ranged keyword is activated in sight of the attacking unit.
the Shooting Phase, it may gain Distracted to make a Line of Sight: If a line can be drawn from the
shooting attack. centre point of the front edge of a unit to any point on
another unit, without that line passing through any unit
E NG AG E D UNITS & SHOOTI NG (including the acting unit), or through Blocking terrain,
A unit that is engaged may not make shooting attacks, then the acting unit has Line of Sight to the target unit.
nor may it be targeted with shooting attacks. Range: Check range by measuring the distance
between the centre of the front edge of the attacking unit
Distracted
and the closest point on the target unit. If that distance
Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not move
into contact with an enemy unit it didn’t start is within the unit’s Range, the target unit is in range.
that manoeuvre engaged with.

A SSIG N AT TACK DICE

When making a shooting attack, the unit receives
Note: The Shoot into Combat keyword allows
a number of attack dice equal to half their Strikes
units to target engaged enemy units with shooting
stat, rounding down. This is commonly five dice. The
attacks.
attacking unit must assign all its attack dice to the target
unit.

RE VOLVE SHOOTI NG
AT TACK S ROL L AT TACK DICE
Check the attacking unit’s target number against the
target unit. See Attacking, or check the quick reference
Shoot i nto Combat
chart at the back of this book.
Streng th. This unit may target engaged enemy
units with shooting attacks. If it does, the The attacking unit rolls their attack dice. Each
attacking player must distribute the hits as
equally as possible among the target unit and attack dice that equals or beats the target number is a
each other friendly or enemy unit engaged with
the target.
hit. Each attack dice that rolls under the target number
is a miss. A roll of a ‘6’ is always a hit, and a roll of a ‘1’
is always a miss.

When a unit attacks an enemy unit, enact the following

FORCE OF WI L L
steps:
After rolling the attack dice, the attacking player may
1. Select Target
discard any number of Mercury Tokens and/or Fortune
2. Gain Distracted
cards to re-roll one attack dice for each token or card
3. Assign Attack Dice
discarded.
4. Roll Attack Dice
5. Place Doom

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 20 Early Access
PL ACE D OOM
When resolving a shooting attack:

• If the target unit has fewer than five Doom Tokens:

place one Doom Token on the target unit for each
hit received, but stop when the target has five Doom
Tokens and ignore the remaining hits.

• If the target unit has five or more Doom Tokens: the

target ignores all hits and receives no Doom Tokens.

The target unit ignores any shooting hit that would

result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom Token
(unless it has the Skirmishers keyword). This can result
in hits from a shooting attack placing no Doom Tokens
(so you should mostly avoid shooting at units that
already have five or more Doom tokens).

Ski rm ishers
Weakness. Reserved. When suffering hits from a
shooting attack, this unit does not ignore hits that
would result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom
Token. It gains one Doom Token for every hit received.
Units with the Skirmishers keyword may ignore Rough
terrain.

Early Access 21 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
MOVE M E NT M A NOEUVRE S
When a unit activates in the Movement Phase it gains Movement points can be spent to perform any of the
a number of Movement Points equal to its Speed. It manoeuvres listed below, any number of times, in any
may spend those Movement Points to perform the order they like.
Manoeuvres listed below. Unspent points are wasted.
Friendly and enemy units are considered to be
impassable, as are all the table edges (due to them likely
being solid cave walls). See Terrain.

DI STR AC TE D
Some actions cause units to gain the Distracted keyword
as part of the action. All units remove the Distracted
keyword at the end of the Doom Phase.

Distracted
Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not move
into contact with an enemy unit it didn’t start
that manoeuvre engaged with.

Note: The Distracted rule prevents units from

sidling into combat backwards, and taking other
similarly uncinematic actions.

A DVA NCE (1+)

A unit may spend 1 or more movement points to
Advance: move the unit up to 1” directly forwards for
each movement point spent.

WH E E L (1+)

A unit may spend 1 or more movement points to Wheel:

keep one front corner of the unit in a fixed position, and

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 22 Early Access
move the other front corner forward, hinging the unit
E NG AGE M E NT
like a door, such that the moving corner ends no more
If a unit is in base-contact with an enemy unit, both units
than 1” from where it started, measured as the crow
are considered to be Engaged with each other. If you are
flies, for each movement point spent.
using movement trays for your units, all measurements
The unit may wheel backwards. If it does, the unit
are made to and from the trays: if the units’ trays are
gains Distracted and then performs a wheel as above,
touching, the units are considered to be engaged with
but must move the other corner backwards rather than
each other.
forwards.

Note: If you want a convenient way to measure a

wheel: place a spare dice next to the back corner
that will be moving (or front corner if wheeling
backwards), complete the wheel, then measure
the distance between the dice and the final
position of the corner, this is the distance you
have wheeled. This will allow you to change your
mind.

SHUFFL E (1+) All these units are engaged. The Dwarves are engaged
The unit may spend 1 or more movement points to with the Hobgoblins, Trolls and Goblins (and vice versa).
Shuffle: slide the unit up to 0.5” to its left or right for The War Wagon is engaged with the Goblins, and the
each movement point spent. Goblins are engaged with the War Wagon.

RE TRE AT (1+) Shooting & Engagement

A unit that is engaged may not make shooting attacks,
Ni mble nor may it be targeted with shooting attacks.
Streng th. This unit may reform for 2 movement
points.
Disengaging
Units that start their movement activation engaged with
The unit may spend 1 or more movement points to an enemy unit must end that activation engaged with
Retreat: the unit gains Distracted and then moves up to it, or they count as disengaging from that enemy unit.
0.5” directly backwards for each movement point spent. They can temporarily leave contact with the unit as part
of their manoeuvres, but must end the activation back in
RE FORM (5) contact with it, or count as disengaging.
The unit may spend 5 movement points to Reform: If a unit disengages from an unbroken enemy unit,
the unit gains Distracted and then rotates around its that enemy unit may Punish the disengaging unit.
centre point to face any new direction. During this Broken units cannot punish a disengaging unit.
rotation, you may ignore other units, friendly or enemy, When a unit punishes a disengaging unit, it
but you must not end the reform such that this unit is immediately resolves a free combat attack against the
overlapping another unit. disengaging unit. This combat attack is made as if the
disengaging unit were still engaged in the position it was
at the start of the activation, and the attacking unit may
assign no more dice than it could have done prior to the

Early Access 23 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
unit’s disengagement. For example, if a unit was engaged
OUTM A NOEUVR I NG
on an enemy’s flank prior to disengaging, the enemy unit
A UNIT
may only assign five attack dice when it punishes the
If your unit is in base-contact with a side edge, rear edge
disengaging unit.
or rear corner of an enemy unit, it has outmanoeuvred it,
and the enemy unit gains the Outmanoeuvred weakness.
L E AVI NG TH E PL AY A RE A
If a unit ends a manoeuvre overlapping the edge of
Outmaneuvered
the play area, or fully outside the play area, they are Weakness. Reserved. This unit reduces its
Courage by 1 for each enemy unit in base-contact
immediately removed from play. with this unit’s side edges, rear edge or rear
corners. This unit may not assign more than 5
attack dice to an enemy unit that is touching one
of its side edges or rear corners. This unit may not
assign more than 3 attack dice to an enemy unit
that is touching its rear edge.

Assigning Attacks to the Flank & Rear

• A unit may not assign more than 5 attack dice to an
enemy unit that is touching one of its side edges or
rear corners.

• A unit may not assign more than 3 attack dice to an

enemy unit that is touching its rear edge.

The Trolls and the Hobgoblins have

outmanoeuvred the Dwarves. The Goblins have
not. When they come to assign attack dice, the
Dwarves may not assign more than 3 dice to
the Hobgoblins, or 5 to either unit of Trolls.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 24 Early Access
or Fortune cards to re-roll one attack dice for each token
COM BAT
or card discarded.
In the Combat Phase, the First Player must resolve close
combat attacks with each of their engaged units, in an
Place Doom
order of their choosing. The Second Player then does the
When resolving a close combat attack, place one Doom
same.
Token on the target unit for each hit received.

Resolve Close Combat Attacks

To resolve close combat attacks with a unit, the player DOOM PH A SE
must:
1. Assign Attack Dice Panic
2. Roll Attack Dice In the Panic Step of the Doom Phase, each Broken unit
3. Place Doom causes Panic. When a unit causes panic, all friendly
units within 8” gain 1 Doom Token. If this causes
Assign Attack Dice another unit to become Broken, that unit causes panic
The unit receives a number of Attack Dice equal to their too. Repeat this process until all panic has been resolved.
Strikes stat for their close combat attacks (commonly The First Player must resolve panic first. The Second
ten dice). Player then does the same.
These attack dice must be assigned to enemy units
they are engaged with, following these rules: Removing Broken Units
After resolving Panic, all Broken units are removed from
• They must assign at least 3 attack dice to each unit
they are engaged with (or as evenly as possible if they play. These Broken units are considered to be removed
cannot assign 3 to all); from play simultaneously.

• They cannot assign more than 5 dice to an enemy Note: For rules purposes, the Broken units are
touching one of its side edges or rear corners; removed ‘simultaneously’, but obviously you

• They cannot assign more than 3 dice to an enemy don’t need to physically find a way to lift all the
touching its rear edge. miniatures up off the table at exactly the same
Once the unit has assigned all its attack dice, it rolls time. If you do succeed in doing that, please send
the assigned dice against each target separately, in an us video evidence.
order of its choosing.
Death’s Harvest
Roll Attack Dice After removing Broken units, each player may gain
Check the attacking unit’s Target Number against the either two Mercury Tokens or one fortune card for each
target unit (see Attacking, or check the quick reference of their Broken units that were removed from play in the
chart at the back of this book). last step.
The attacking unit rolls their attack dice. Each
attack dice that equals or beats the target number is a Who’s Next?
Hit. Each attack dice that rolls under the target number After removing Broken units, any unit that was engaged
is a Miss. A roll of a ‘6’ is always a Hit, and a roll of a ‘1’ at the start of this Doom Phase and is now unengaged
is always a miss. may make a free Reform manoeuvre.

Force of Will Ready Units

After rolling the attack dice for the unit, the attacking Remove the Distracted keyword from all units.
player may discard any number of Mercury Tokens and/

Early Access 25 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
TE R R A I N I M PA SSA BL E TE RR A I N
The following terrain keywords provide rules for Terrain agreed to have the Impassable keyword might
different sorts of battlefield scenery. Agree with your include rocks, cliff-faces or buildings. Units may never
opponent which terrain pieces on your board possess move into, or be placed on, Impassable terrain.
which terrain keywords before the game begins.
PE RI LOUS TE RR A I N
Arcane Terrain Terrain agreed to have the Perilous keyword might
At the start of the Magic Phase, each unit with the include sharp loose scree, lava pools, poisonous fungus
Wizard keyword that is within 4” of Arcane terrain groves and other treacherous battlefield areas.
gains an additional Mercury Token. For each movement point a unit spends moving
into or through Perilous terrain, they suffer a single dice
Blocking Terrain attack as if they were being attacked by a War Wagon
Terrain agreed to have the Blocking keyword might unit.
include buildings, hills, stone columns and other similar
tall and solid battlefield objects. Line of sight cannot be ROUG H TE RR A I N
drawn through Blocking terrain. Terrain agreed to have the Rough keyword might
Blocking terrain may provide units with the Cover include thickets of fungus, shallow rivers, walls and
keyword. See Cover. rubble; anything that would slow a unit’s movement.
Buildings, ruins or hills likely won’t count as Rough,
E L E VATE D TE RR A I N unless they have loose ground or scree.
Terrain agreed to have the Elevated keyword might A unit that moves into or through Rough terrain
include hills, battlements or cliff-tops. A unit with more must gain either 1 Doom or Distracted.
than 50% of its footprint touching Elevated terrain gains Units with the Skirmishers keyword may ignore
Large. Rough terrain.

Large OBSCURI NG TE RR A I N
Streng th. When this unit draws line of sight, or Terrain agreed to have the Obscuring keyword might
when other units draw line of sight to this unit,
and when establishing cover, inter vening units include forests, walls, fences, buildings, battlements, and
or terrain may be ignored unless they are Large
or Elevated. large rocks; anything that might obscure a target from a
distance and provides some measure of protection from

G RI M TE RR A I N missile fire.

Terrain agreed to have the Grim keyword might include Obscuring terrain may provide units with the Cover

corpse piles, cadavers on stakes and other gruesome and keyword. See Cover.

nauseating sights, fit to turn the stomachs and test the

nerve of even the staunchest warriors.
When a unit within 8” of a piece of Grim terrain
gains Doom Tokens from panic, they gain 1 additional
Doom Token. Each unit may only suffer the effects of
Grim terrain once per Doom Phase.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 26 Early Access
COVE R TE RR A I N E X A M PL E S
If a line drawn from the centre point of the attacking Here are some examples of the terrain keywords in
unit’s front edge to the centre of the target unit’s closest action. If you didn’t agree on specific terrain keywords
edge crosses Obscuring or Blocking terrain, then the with your opponent at the start of a game, you can fall
attacker considers the target to be in cover. When a unit back on these as a default during the game.
makes a shooting attack against a target it considers to
be in cover, the target unit gains the Cover keyword for TE RR A I N E X A M PL E S
this attack only. Terrain Example Keywords
Ignore any piece of terrain that the attacking unit is
Mushroom Forest Rough, Obscuring, Perilous
touching for the purposes of determining cover.
Watch Tower Impassable, Blocking

Cover Ruined Building Rough, Obscuring

Streng th. Reserved. When this unit is targeted
with a shooting attack, the attacking unit Elevated Plateau Large
increases its target number by 1, to a maximum
of 6. City wall Impassable, Blocking, Large

Low wall Rough, Obscuring

Units do not provide cover, only terrain does. Abyssal Temple Arcane, Large

Bloody Ritual Stone Arcane, Grim

Underground River Rough

Big Stalagmite Impassable, Blocking, Large

Small Stalagmite Impassable, Obscuring

Corpse Pile Rough, Grim

Deep Crevasse Impassable

Rubble Rough

Noxious Pools Perilous

Poisonous Perilous, Obscuring
Mushrooms

The Dwarves consider the Trolls to

be in cover, but not the Goblins.

Early Access 27 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
FOR TUNE CA R DS FORTUNE CA RDS TE XT
In battle, some information is known, and some is The Fortune Card deck contains two copies of each of
hidden. Some situations may appear to be clear, but then the cards listed below, forming a deck of 48 cards.
twist unexpectedly. Fortune Cards are one-shot cards 1. Against All Odds – Play at any time on a
that allow you to surprise your enemy with unexpected friendly Broken unit. It ignores the Broken
shifts in the odds. They are dealt secretly at the start of keyword until the beginning of the next round.
the game, and held hidden in your hand for the right 2. Barge Through – Play on a friendly unit at
moment to arise. the start of their Movement Activation. This
The purpose of the Fortune Cards in Hobgoblin is unit may ignore friendly units during this
to change impossible situations into winnable ones, to activation, but may not end their movement
dramatically and unexpectedly shift odds, and replace activation overlapping a friendly unit.
moments of certainty with ones of excitement and 3. Better Part of Valour – Play on a friendly unit
uncertainty. at the start of their Movement Activation. This
Before the game, shuffle a single set of fortune cards unit may disengage without being punished
to form a shared deck, and then each player draws four during this activation.
fortune cards. At the start of each battle round, each 4. Bold Challenge – Play on a friendly unit at the
player draws one fortune card. In addition, whenever start of the combat phase. Each enemy unit
a Broken unit is removed from play during the Doom with a Character keyword engaged with this
Phase, its controller may immediately either gain two unit must either assign as many attack dice as
Mercury Tokens, or draw a new fortune card. they legally can to this unit or gain Cowardly
Fortune cards in players’ hands are kept secret from until the end of the game.
the other players. Players may play fortune cards from 5. Carpe Diem – Play immediately after the Seize
their hand at various times, as indicated on the cards. the Initiative roll: you may take the First Player
Fortune cards may be played on either friendly or enemy Token or give it to your opponent.
units unless noted on the card. 6. Crushing Charge – Play on a friendly unit
After playing a fortune card, discard it to a shared at the end of the Movement Phase, if the unit
discard pile. If the deck of Fortune Cards is ever empty, Advanced 6” or more and is now engaged. This
shuffle the discarded fortune cards to form a new deck. unit gains the Critical Hits keyword until the
In the unlikely event that both the Fortune Card end of the round.
deck and discard pile are empty, (perhaps because all 7. Decisive Move – Play on a friendly unbroken
the cards are hoarded in players hands, or have been unit at the start of the Movement Phase. This
sucked into the Void of Nebularis), when a player needs unit may take their movement activation now,
to draw a Fortune Card they may take one Mercury even if their controller doesn’t have the First
token instead. Player Token.
8. Eager for Battle – Play on a friendly unit at
FORCE OF WI L L the end of the Movement Phase, if the unit
As well as being used for their printed effect, Fortune Advanced 6” or more and is now engaged. That
Cards can be used to reroll attack dice. unit immediately discards D3 Doom Tokens.
After rolling attack dice, the attacking player may 9. Eldritch Redirection – Play on a friendly unit
discard any number of Mercury Tokens and/or Fortune when it is targeted by a spell and after Mercury
cards to re-roll one attack dice for each token or card tokens have been spent. Choose a unit (friendly
discarded. or enemy) within 8” to be the target of the spell
instead.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 28 Early Access
10. Enchanted Shield – Play when a friendly unit gains an additional D3 Doom Tokens.
would suffer hits. Cancel one hit before Doom 18. Moment of Glory – Play on a friendly unit at
Tokens are placed. the start of the Combat Phase: it gains Elite
11. Familiar – Play on a friendly unit with the until the end of this round.
Wizard keyword before it casts a spell. It may 19. Redeploy – Play at any time on a friendly unit:
measure range and line of sight from any in- it gains the Swift [+4] keyword until the end of
play friendly unit for its next spell only. this round.
12. Famous Blade – Play at any time on a friendly 20. Relentless – Play on a friendly unit after they
unit. This unit gains the Hero [+2] keyword gain one or more Doom tokens from a shooting
until the end of this round. attack. This unit may immediately advance 4”.
13. Go Down Fighting – Play at any time on a 21. Scroll Of Occult Knowledge – Play on a
friendly Broken unit. Every enemy unit in base- friendly unit with the Wizard keyword before
contact with this unit gains a Doom Token. it casts a spell. Its next casting may be of a
14. Healing Potion – Play at any time on a friendly single spell from any School of Magic.
unbroken unit. This unit immediately discards 22. Take Heart – Play on a friendly unbroken unit
D3 Doom Tokens. that is engaged with a Broken enemy unit. The
15. Heroic Last Stand – Play at any time on a friendly unit may discard D6 Doom Tokens.
friendly Broken unit. This unit gains the Brutal 23. Tattered Banner – Play when a friendly unit
keyword until the end of this round. would suffer hits. Halve the number of hits
16. Hold! – Play at any time on a friendly unbroken suffered, rounding up.
unit. This unit gains the Courage [+2] keyword 24. Vial of Mercury – Play at any time. Gain 2
until the end of this round. Mercury Tokens.
17. Hopelessness – Play on an enemy unit after it
gains one or more Doom Tokens from panic: it

Early Access 29 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
IV

BUI L DI NG A N A R MY
BUI L DI NG A N A RMY CRE ATI NG A UNIT
To play Hobgoblin, you must build an army. To build
an army, you must agree to a points limit with your Choose a Unit Type
opponent, and then use those points to purchase units, To create a new unit: first choose the Unit Type of that
optionally using keywords to increase or decrease the unit. This determines its starting points cost and its
cost of those units. You also receive a General and a initial keywords. The initial keywords that are built into
Battle Standard. the unit type don’t count as ‘purchased’ for the next step.
There are no obligations to include specific unit
types, or restriction on the number of any particular unit Add Keywords
type you can purchase, other than your overall points You may purchase additional Keywords for a unit, on
limit. The game assumes ‘standard-sized’ armies to be top of the initial keywords provided by the unit type. You
anything between 3,000 and 5,000 points. Hobgoblin is may purchase any number of Strength keywords for the
designed so that even battles between very large armies unit. You may purchase up to two Weakness keywords
play out quickly. You can find an army builder tool for a unit in addition to any weakness provided by their
at hobgoblin-battles.com/army-builder and an army unit type.
roster sheet at the back of this rulebook. Each keyword purchased changes the cost of the
unit by the listed number of points. Weakness keywords
have a negative cost, so each Weakness keyword
purchased decreases the cost of the unit by the listed
number of points.

Keyword Cost Multiplier

If the unit type has a Keyword Cost Multiplier of ‘x2’,
then you double the listed cost of the keyword when
purchasing it.

For example: the Bloodthirsty keyword has a

listed cost of 50pts. This keyword increases the
cost of a unit of Light Infantry by 50pts, but
increases the cost of a unit of Heavy Cavalry by
100pts, as Heavy Cavalry have a x2 Keyword Cost
Multiplier. The Cowardly weakness has a listed
cost of -25pts. This weakness decreases the cost
of a unit of Light Infantry by 25pts, but decreases
the cost of a unit of Heavy Cavalry by 50pts.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 26 Early Access
Purchasing Keywords Clarifying Examples

• You may purchase any number of Strength keywords • You may purchase Tough [+1] for a unit of Heavy
for a unit. Infantry to give it Tough [2].

• You may purchase up to two Weakness keywords • You may purchase Ranged [+12] for a unit of Ranged
for a unit, in addition to any Weakness keywords Infantry to give it Ranged [36].
built into their unit type. You may not purchase a
Weakness keyword that duplicates a keyword the • You may not purchase Wild for a unit of Beasts, as it
unit already has built into its unit type. already has it.

• You may only purchase each listed keyword once. • You may purchase Self-Destructive for a unit of
The different versions of numerical keywords such Artillery, even though it already has two weaknesses
as Hero, count as different listed keywords, so a unit built into its unit type.
may purchase (for example) both Ranged [+6] and You don’t have to give your units keywords; the
Ranged [+12] if they wish.
basic unit types do a lot of the heavy lifting in
• You may only purchase one Footprint keyword for a modelling the battlefield abilities of the units.
unit, and it must be different to the listed Footprint As you experiment with the unit construction
keyword of the unit’s unit type. It replaces the listed
system, you may find multiple routes to achieving
Footprint keyword.
similar ends. A unit of winged infantry, for
• You may not purchase Reserved keywords for a unit. example, might be represented by Light Infantry
• Artillery may only have the following Weaknesses with the Flying keyword, or by Light Cavalry
purchased for them: Self-Destructive and Short- with Devastating Charge. Each route will have
Ranged.
different pros and cons. The choice is yours.

UNIT STATI STICS

Keyword
Unit Type Speed Range Strikes Courage Keywords Footprint
Cost x Points

Light Infantry 8 - 10 10 Wide 1 300

Ranged Infantry 8 24" 10 10 Ranged [24], Skirmishers Wide 1 300

Heavy Infantry 6 - 10 10 Tough [1] Wide 1 350

Monstrous Infantry 10 - 10 10 Wild Wide 2 400

Light Cavalry 14 8" 10 10 Nimble, Ranged [8], Skirmishers Wide 2 350

Heavy Cavalry 12 - 10 10 Devastating Charge Wide 2 450

Chariot 10 - 10 10 Fragile, Devastating Charge Narrow 1 350

War Wagon 6 - 10 10 Large Narrow 1 250

Monster 10 - 10 10 Large, Wild Narrow 2 600

Beasts 12 - 10 10 Nimble, Wild, Skirmishers Wide 1 200

Artillery - 48" 10 10 Ranged [48], Immobile, Fragile Narrow 2 350

Early Access 27 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
The points costs of the different keywords are as follows:
KEY WORD COSTS

K E Y WO R D COSTS
Keyword Keyword Keyword
Strength Strength Weakness
Cost Cost Cost
Battle Standard* 0 Large 25 Berserk -25

Bloodthirsty 50 Merciless 75 Cowardly -25

Brutal 125 Narrow Footprint 25 Cursed -50

Critical Hits 50 Nimble 75 Fragile -50

Deadly Shots 100 Quick Shot 25 Hollow -25

Despised 50 Ranged [+6] 50 Ravenous -25

Devastating Charge 50 Ranged [+12] 75 Self-Destructive -25

Elite 100 Shoot Into Combat 50 Short-Ranged -25

Fearless 50 Sneaky 50 Slow [+2] -25

Flying 100 Stubborn 50 Unruly -25

General* 0 Swift [+2] 50 Weak [+2] -25

Hero [+1] 50 Terrifying 50 Wide Footprint -50

Hero [+2] 100 Tough [+1] 75

Horde 100 Wizard 200

* The General and Battle Standard strengths may only be purchased for once each per army, and cost no points.

TH E G E NE R A L
Hero [x]
When building your army, you must give exactly one Streng th. Character. This unit increases its
unit the General keyword. This is the unit that the Strikes stat by x.

army’s general is marching to battle with, or perhaps

the monstrous beast he is riding into the fray upon. You TH E BAT TL E STA NDA RD
should place a token, or an impressive hero model, into When building your army, you must give exactly
the unit with the General keyword to make it clear to one unit the Battle Standard keyword, and represent
your opponent. it on the table with a token or model. You may give
The unit with the General keyword gains Command the same unit both the General and Battle Standard
[+1] and Hero [+2]. keywords if you wish.
The unit with the General keyword can also be The unit with the Battle Standard keyword gains
gifted with a powerful item. See Cursed Artefacts. the Command [+1] and Hero [+1] keywords.

Com mand [x]

Streng th. Reserved. All friendly units increase
their Courage by x while within 8” of this unit.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 28 Early Access
A BYSSA L SORCE R Y Ljudlös
The endless blackness of the World Roots cannot help • False Names: Tysthy, Hyphidius, The Silent One,
but spawn nightmares. Whether imagined or real, the Sound-Eater, The Librarian.

pantheon of abyssal gods that haunt the nocturnal • Sacred Aspects: Silence, extreme sensitivity to noise,
depths are strange and repulsive. They spring from the music, chanting, meditation, knowledge, books,
very matter of the Rotvärlden, and are manifestations illusions, echoes, hallucinations.

of the intrinsic aspects of its nature. Throughout the • Orthodox Temple: A mind-bending knot of carven
Rotvärlden, they are revered and reviled by many names. staircases, tumbling impossibly in all directions.
The priests of this temple know the spells required
Their power can be invoked, channelled and directed to
to traverse them, reaching hidden alcoves filled with
create terrible sorceries. Those that have achieved such whispered-of rituals.
arcane mastery are potent foes indeed.
Spells of the Sound-Eater
WI Z A RDS
Book of Tysthy
In order to use magic, you must have purchased at least
one copy of the Wizard keyword on a unit in your army. Called Hyphidius by the elvish sages of the Shining Tower,
You may wish to represent the Wizard keyword on the Ljudlös is the god of silence and of knowledge. The mage
meditates on the meaning of knowing, and beseeches
tabletop by use of a token or perhaps a nicely painted Ljudlös to whisper arcane secrets to them.
model.
The unit with the Wizard keyword is the unit that Cantrip (2). Select any Abyssal Allegiance.
The casting unit counts as knowing all spells
the wizard is lurking in, or perhaps the monstrous beast within that Abyssal Allegiance until the end
he is riding into the battle upon. This unit is used for the of the round.

purposes of drawing line of sight and range for the spells

Summon Lloigor
available to that wizard.
See Casting Spells. The Lloigor is a manifestation of Ljudlös, a contradictory
singularity of silence and vibration, consuming sound
and shattering flesh in an extruded vortex that has left
A BYSSA L A L L EG I A NCE many with the impression of an immense segmented
Each unit with the Wizard keyword must select a single worm. Bursting from the stone floor, or plunging from a
cave roof, the enemy is unexpectedly beset by this terrible
Abyssal Allegiance during army list construction. This
force.
is the abyssal god they draw their arcane knowledge
from. This selection must be recorded as part of your Making (4). Until the end of the round, the
casting unit counts its unit type as “Monster”
army list. The wizard knows and may cast all three spells
for the purposes of looking up target numbers.
from the selected allegiance. Multiple units in your
army may take the same allegiance, or different ones. Orb of Silence

Closing her eyes, and letting the reflected sound from the
rocks that surround the battlefield become like a chant,
the sorcerer pulls the sounds towards her, and into her,
feeding herself… becoming the Sound-Eater.

Cataclysm (6). All enemy units within 18”

gain Unruly until the end of the round.

Early Access 29 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
Gomb Polyceus
False Names: The Blind Monarch, The Piper, Eater of the Light, False Names: The Oracle, The Crystal Prince, Fate-Eater, The
Molash. Dragon.

Sacred Aspects: Darkness, blindness, absence, loss, death in Sacred Aspects: Crystals, discovery, opulence, luck, fortune,
darkness, being lost, confined spaces, lost people. hoarding, fate, scrying, prediction and prescience.

Orthodox Temple: A patchwork of black pools punctuate a Orthodox Temple: A domed temple with a great golden statue
rough cave floor. The gloom is oppressive, and the unceasing, made from the melted down treasure hoard of a slain dragon.
trickling water masks the lapping of chilly pools disturbed by Rows of cast iron hands line the plain stone walls, each wearing
the limbs of nameless, shapeless horrors. One wrong step and opulent jewel rings and holding its fingers in a subtle variation
you are lost forever. of a mystic sigil. Priestesses perambulate solemnly, adorned
with jewelled circlets, and holding divination crystals before
Incantations of the Blind Monarch their closed eyes.

Sightless Eyes Boons of The Oracle

Entoning resonant syllables, the spellcaster touches

Prescience
the forehead of the warrior before him. Writhing and
stumbling, the warrior’s eyes swell to bulbous, milky orbs, Casting oddly shaped stones into a bowl-like depression,
like those of cave fish. Regaining his balance, wide eyes hammered into the dirt, the lithomancer divines the
turn towards the distant unseen enemy, and the warrior’s threads of fate, resolving the many paths into one.
face hardens.
Cantrip (2). Range 18”. Look at one of the target unit’s
Cantrip (2). Range 18”. Until the end of the battle controller’s Fortune Cards at random. You may swap it
round, the target unit counts as being able to draw with a Fortune Card from your hand.
line of sight to every unit on the battlefield.
Reflective Soulgem
The Tenebrous Piper
The wizard holds a large polyhedral crystal to her eye,
Lifting a curious bone-flute to his lips, the wizard begins examining the dancing refractions within the prism.
an eerie melody that carries strangely over the sounds of Turning the crystal gently, she sorts through the subtly
combat, and echoes from the stone walls in irregular and differing images, selecting the fate that suits her best.
distracting ways. Those that hear this refrain find their
eyes drawn to the darkness, their minds burning with an
Cantrip (2). Range 18”. Select one Strength-type keyword
almost irresistible urge to lose themselves in battle. possessed by the target enemy unit (excluding Reserved
keywords). The casting unit counts as also having the
Making (4). Range 18”. Target unit gains Berserk and selected keyword until the end of the round.
Swift [+4] until the end of the round.
Polyceus’ Blessing
The Esurient Dark
Removing a priceless gemstone from a rich velvet pouch,
Grasping tendrils of blackness encroach from the hungering the sorcerer whispers praises to the Lord of Fortune,
darkness that surrounds the armies. Groping fingers search promising great tithes of gold and silver if he will guide
for prey, their chilling passage reminding men why they them to victory. As if in answer, the gemstone shatters,
fear the ancient dark. showering the sorcerer with razor-sharp shards, causing
blood to ooze languidly from a thousand pin-pricks.

Cataclysm (6). All enemy units within 18” gain Self-

Destructive until the end of the round. Cataclysm (6). Until the end of this round, after this player
plays a Fortune card on any friendly unit, they draw a
Fortune card.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 30 Early Access
Atare Nebularis
False Names: Atra, Throat of the World, The Great Worm, False Names: Casvipes, Oblivion, Stone-Eater, The Blank
Time-Eater, Bathy. Man.

Sacred Aspects: Voids, negative space, incredibly long drops,

Sacred Aspects: Eternity, loss of time, timelessness, waiting,
caves, columns, vaults, pits, architecture, sink holes.
ancientness, dust, sand, mirages.
Orthodox Temple: Followers of Nebularis endlessly revise an
Orthodox Temple: Great waterfalls of sand tumble into incomplete dome, straddling a spacious basilica at the seat of a
monstrous circular tunnels, their walls ribbed with organic great cavernous void. Once the capstone is laid at the end of a
distress as if some titanic worm has recently burrowed through generation of toil, the perceived imperfections of the final form
the soft rock. compel them to tear it all down again and start anew.

Lamentations of the Time-Eater Excrescences of the Void

Hasten Black Gate

Speaking a blasphemous name, the wizard collapses The wizard barks a refrain of angular syllables, fluttering his
into sand, blooming out to choke the eyes and throats of fingers in a dense pattern before his chest. A pitch hole opens
his unit. Coughing, through streaming eyes, they lurch at his feet, and he drops into it, robes fluttering. Nearby, a rock
forward, thrashing wildly as partially glimpsed hordes of falls from the cavern ceiling, strikes the ground, and cracks open
figures, wicked blades snickering viciously. to reveal the wizard’s hunched form.

Making (4). Range 18”. Target unit gains Making (4). Range 18”. Target a friendly unit. Select
Brutal, Swift [+2] and Fragile until the end of another unit within 18” of the target, (ignoring line of
the round. sight), that the target considers friendly. Transfer a single
Character-type keyword from the target unit to the
selected unit for the rest of the game.
Flicker

Tracing a sigil in the air, the wizard appears to cut a hole Marble Forest
in the skin of this world and open a portal into another.
Emptying his mind, the wizard reaches out to Casvipes,
He steps through, along with the troops with him, and the
architect of a thousand cathedrals, and raises a forest of marble
rift snaps shut behind them. A heartbeat later another
pillars from the cavern floor–a labyrinth of stone.
portal opens and the wizard springs hastily out, glancing
over his shoulder. His face looks older, his clothes faded
and worn. Haggard soldiers emerge behind him. Cataclysm (6). Range 18”. Target unengaged unit is
removed from play and set aside. At the end of this round,
before scoring victory points, this unit must be returned
Cataclysm (6). Range 12”. The owner of the to play, placing it anywhere on the board that is more than
target unit removes the target unit from play, 8” from a unit it considers to be an enemy.
then immediately deploys it according to the
agreed-upon setup rules of the game. The unit
retains all Doom tokens and other effects on Void of Nebularis
it.
Speaking the true name of oblivion, the wizard’s mouth
stretches open into a gaping maw, widening to form an
Stalking Death impossible gulf. Soldiers tumble into the void, screams lost to the
emptiness.
The wizard’s eyes bulge in madness, foam frothing at
his lips as he gibbers incoherent ravings and jabs an
accusatory digit at his victims. Muttered whispers reach Cataclysm (6). Place a small Void marker (no larger than
the enemy warriors’ ears, and grasping claws burst from 20mm in diameter) anywhere within 18” of the casting
unit. The area within 6” of that Void marker counts as
the dirt below their feet, scratching and tripping. Perilous terrain. When a fortune card is played on a unit
within 6” of a Void marker, that card is removed from the
Cataclysm (6). Every enemy unit within 18” game rather than discarded.
gains Cowardly until the end of the round.

Early Access 31 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
Mycena Iskalla
False Names: Ianna, The Mother, Opharia, Life-Maker. False Names: Sun-eater, Eater of the Dead, the Torchbearer, Istare.

Sacred Aspects: growth, mutation, fertility, fecundity, fungus, Sacred Aspects: Ice, cold, stillness, death, silver, glass, the dead,
connection, home, shelter, cooking, healing, medicine. necromancy, ghosts, spirits, smoke.

Orthodox Temple: The sisters of Mycena, healers and Orthodox Temple: In the illuminated nave of a frozen church,
apothecaries, tend to their fecund gardens, harvesting the great a single, improbable flower grows in a square of hard earth,
stems to build future temples and spread the good rot. Their ringed by polished skulls. In the shadows, endless rows of
missions, twisting knots of fleshy walled passages, contract and sarcophagi lie in silent contemplation, awaiting rebirth.
expand, as if the very temple is aspirating.
Irresistible Commands
Blessings of The Mother of the Sun-eater

Monstrous Growth By My Will

With a cracking and snapping of sinews, the warriors The necromancer presses withered fingers into the embers of a
smouldering torch, skin crackling and popping with the heat.
surrounding the wizard shudder and swell, limbs
He draws out a single brand and its gentle glow illuminates the
lengthening and muscles straining.
failings of those around them. With a grunt they pinch out its
light, flaws hidden by the darkness.
Making (4). Range 12”. Target unit gains
Brutal and Large until the end of the round.
Making (4). Range 12”. Target unit may ignore all
Weakness-type key words it possesses until the end
Mother’s Blessing of the round.

The priestess retrieves a plump grey mushroom from a

Serve Unto Death
pouch and holds it to her lips. She blows across its gills,
releasing a great cloud of spores into the cool air which fill The necromancer’s cackling laughter carries across the grim
her compatriots’ lungs with a burning warmth. battlefield, echoing strangely from the cavern walls. Death is not
the end of duty. Weeping and begging for peace, her fallen troops
rise up on shattered limbs to fight on.
Making (4). Range 18”. Target unbroken unit
discards D6 Doom Tokens.
Making (4). Range 18”. The target unit’s controller
Light of Guldvarlden may choose for the target unit to gain up to 5 Doom
Tokens and the Blessing of Iskalla key word until the
Holding a torch above her head, the priestess closes end of the round.
her eyes in silent prayer. The flame swells into a broad Blessing of Iskalla: Strength. When this unit assigns
spherical orb, illuminating the cavern with its bright attack dice in the Combat Phase, it receives 1 additional
golden light. Within the burning globe dance madly attack dice for each 2 Doom Tokens it possesses.
twisting figures.
Raise The Dead

Cataclysm (6). Every friendly unit within 12” Gripping the spine of a worm-eaten book, the necromancer
discards D3 Doom Tokens. offers up a bargain to those laid still before her. Life after death
in return for spilt blood. She reaches out for their fleeting souls,
her mind filled with flashes of unfamiliar memories of campfires
and homesteads. Holding them firmly in her spectral grasp, the
necromancer shouts into the void, drawing the eye of Istare.

Cataclysm (6). Place a new unit of Light Infantry

with the Hollow weakness any where that is wholly
within 12” of the casting unit. This unit may be
placed out of line of sight of the casting unit. After
being placed, it receives 2D6 Doom Tokens.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 32 Early Access
Marabis Cylosi
False Names: Merabalus, Marach, The Weaver, The Root-Eater, False Names: Pelahg, The Stone Maker, The Great Smith, The
The Sister. Basilisk, The Red King.

Sacred Aspects: networks, tunnelling, memory, map-making, Sacred Aspects: Rock, pressure, transformation of materials,
veins, digging, delving, messages, travel. earthquakes, smithing, smelting, heat, lava, magma, anger,
smithing, metal, ore, torchlight.
Orthodox Temple: A solitary tower, suspended by hair-thin
chains over a black void. Clacking insect-like servitors work Orthodox Temple: A formidable and imposing castle is
unseen, maintaining the chain-web, and will sometimes ferry surrounded by a moat of lava, the air redolent of sulphur and
supplicants to the sanctum at the centre of the web. bright with the metallic rhythms of hammered anvils.

Makings of The Weaver Workings of the Great Smith

Trapdoor Crystal Blades

The spellcaster draws back her cloak to reveal a teeming The wizard issues a sharp trilling whistle that pierces the
mass of spiders. The skittering arachnids burrow into the darkness and vibrates steel and stone. The weapons of
ground, emerging before the surprised enemy, heralding those around her seem to turn to crystal, each a dreamlike
the spellcaster’s guard who follow swiftly after. prism of refracted torchlight, leaping unswervingly to
deadly purpose.
Cantrip (2). Range 12”. Target friendly unit
gains Devastating Charge and Swift [+4] until Cantrip (2). Range 12”. Target friendly unit
the end of the round. gains Hero [+2] until the end of the round.

Scuttle Armour of Pelahg

The wizard retrieves a black insect from within the The wizard grips a hunk of pig iron, hand glowing
folds of her cloth and places it on her tongue. With a white hot. Tendrils of molten metal seep between their
crunch, she consumes it, and then collapses onto her fingers, flow into the air and slither to encircle the nearby
hands and knees. The troops around her wince as eight soldiers. Screams of agony rend the air, as metal binds to
black spindles erupt from her back, tearing fabric. Lifted flesh and grants strength. Muscle tense and faces contort,
up on arachnoid limbs, the wizard screeches a word of first in agony, then in rage.
command. The rest of the unit falls to their knees to suffer
a similar forced metamorphosis.
Making (4). Range 12”. Target friendly unit
gains Tough [+1] until the end of the round.
Cantrip (2). Range 12”. Target friendly unit
ignores Distracted until the end of the round.
Stone Heart

Spectral Webs Beating out a rhythm to the Red King on her iron staff, the
sorceress begins to howl a forlorn melody. Those who hear
A murmur spreads through the throng and soldiers point the hymn know its meaning: their destiny is the valorous
up into the darkness above them. Something is moving death of a warrior. Blood shall quench the thirsty stone.
there, leaving a tapestry of faint ethereal blue threads.
Eyes twinkle down at them from the gloom, before all hell
Cataclysm (6). All friendly units within 18”
descends on them. gain Courage [+1] until the end of the round.

Making (4). Range 18”. Target friendly unit

gains Flying and Swift [+6] until the end of
the round.

Early Access 33 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
CUR SE D A R TE FAC TS TH E STA FF OF RUI N
A haunted is a mortal hero or wizard that has The Staff of Ruin conveys the following keywords onto
stumbled across one of the many ancient and cursed the General’s unit: Wizard, Tome of Magic, Mystic
artefacts scattered throughout the Rotvärlden. Each Roots, and Ruinous Price.
conveys great power, but at terrible cost: they slowly Tome of Magic: Strength. Reserved. This
drive the bearer to madness and tyranny. unit may select two schools of magic.
When creating your army, you may choose to Mystic Roots: Strength. Reserved. While
equip your General with a powerful Cursed Artefact, this unit is in play, you gain one additional
which provides additional special rules for the unit that Mercury Token at the start of each Magic
contains your General. These Cursed Artefacts do not Phase.
cost any points, but you may only select one for your Ruinous Price: Weakness. Reserved. At
army. You must note which you are using as part of your the start of the magic phase, this unit must
army list. place 1 Doom Token on a friendly unit within
12” (which may be itself).

Your Help Needed!

TH E CUR SE D M A NTL E
The Cursed Artefacts still need more playtesting.
The Cursed Mantle conveys the following keywords
Please let us know which you find to be
onto the General’s unit: Cunning Ruse, Prepared Mind,
unattractive and which appear too strong to
and Overconfident Schemes.
you. Let us know your thoughts via either the
Cunning Ruse: Strength. Reserved. Once
“Hobgoblin - Brutal Fantasy Battles” Facebook
per game, immediately after the deployment
group or the Electi Studio Discord server.
phase, but before the start of the first battle
round, you may pick up and redeploy any three
friendly units. These units must be deployed
TH E HORN OF TH E entirely within your deployment zone. If both
M A NTICORE
players have a unit with this keyword, the
The Horn of the Manticore conveys the following
player who deployed the first unit redeploys
keywords onto the General’s unit: Brutal, War Horn
the first unit, and then players alternate the
and Thirst for Battle.
remaining redeployments.
War Horn: Strength. Reserved. Once per
Prepared Mind: Strength. Reserved.
game, in your combat phase, immediately
While this unit is in play, you may draw one
before or after activating this unit, you may
additional Fortune Card at the start of each
select another friendly unit within 8” of this
round.
unit (ignoring line of sight). The selected unit
Overconfident Schemes: Weakness.
may immediately make an attack, even if it has
Reserved. While this unit is in play, you may
already attacked this phase. This attack does
never have the First Player Token.
not prevent the selected unit from attacking
during its activation, if it has yet to activate.
TH E OBSI DI A N PUZ Z L E BOX
Thirst for Battle: Weakness. Reserved. At
The Obsidian Puzzlebox conveys the following keywords
the start of the Combat Phase, if this unit is not
onto the General’s unit: Swift [+4], Manipulate Time
engaged, it gains a Doom Token.
and Unreliable Master.
Manipulate Time: Strength. Reserved.
Once per game, after this player has completed

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 34 Early Access
its movement phase, all friendly unengaged game, at the end of any Movement Phase, if
units within 12” of this unit may perform an this unit is in play, its controller may choose for
additional movement phase. a second Movement Phase to occur, in which
Unreliable Master: Weakness. Reserved. both players may select and move up to three
This unit cannot gain the Command keyword. units.

TH E WRE TCH E D WH I STL E TH E STONE OF SOUL S

The Wretched Whistle conveys the following keywords This conveys the following keywords onto the
onto the General’s unit: Haunted Melody, Abyssal General’s unit: Vengeful Shades, Anguished Spirits and
Piping, and Dissonant Echoes. Skirmishers.
Haunted Melody: Strength. Reserved. Vengeful Shades: Strength. Reserved.
Once per game, during the Doom Phase, Once per game, before rolling for initiative this
friendly units within 4” of the General’s unit unit may have all units on the tabletop gain
may ignore the Broken keyword. Ranged [+12] until the end of the battle round.
Abyssal Piping: Strength. Reserved. Anguished Spirits: Weakness. Reserved.
Enemy units gain Cowardly while within 4” of No other unit within 12” of this one may be
this unit. targeted by shooting attacks.
Dissonant Echoes: Weakness. Reserved.
If the General’s unit becomes Broken, your TH E FE RRIC BL A DE
opponent may draw five Fortune Cards. The Ferric Blade conveys the following keywords onto
the General’s unit: Magic-Eater, Syphon Power, Futility,
TH E WE AVE R ’S CH A RT Nullify, and Hollow.
The Weaver’s Chart conveys the following keywords Magic-Eater: Strength. Reserved. When
onto the General’s unit: Sneaky, Hidden Passages, and this unit is affected by a spell cast by an enemy
Byzantine Strategies. unit, its owner gains D3 Mercury Tokens, and
Hidden Passages: Strength. Reserved. this unit ignores the effects of the spell.
Once per game, up to three friendly units Syphon Power: Strength. Reserved. When
within 24” of the General’s unit may gain this unit attacks an enemy unit with the Wizard
Flying until the end of the current round. keyword in close combat, you may take one
Byzantine Strategies: Weakness. Reserved. Mercury Token from its owner for each Doom
The General’s unit may not be deployed at the Token placed on the enemy unit as a result of
beginning of the game, and must use Sneaky this attack.
to enter play. Futility: Strength. Reserved. Enemy units
gain the Hollow weakness while in base-
TH E H E L M OF DUST contact with this unit.
The Helm of Dust conveys the following keywords onto Nullify: Weakness. Reserved. This unit
the General’s unit: Suspended Agony and Unspool. cannot gain the Wizard keyword. This unit
Suspended Agony: Strength. Reserved. ignores the effects of spells cast by friendly
Once per game, at the start of any Doom Phase, units. You may not play fortune cards on this
if this unit is in play, its controller may choose unit.
for the Doom Phase to be skipped completely
for both players. TH E HOROLOG I ST ’S H E A RT
Unspool: Weakness. Reserved. Once per The Horologist’s Heart conveys the following keywords

Early Access 35 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
onto the General’s unit: Quicksilver, Like Clockwork, Like Clockwork: Strength. Reserved.
and Stolen Time. While this unit is in play, At the end of the
Quicksilver: Strength. Reserved. While Initiative Phase, you may discard any number
this unit is in play, each time its owner gains a of fortune cards to draw an equal number of
Mercury Token, it instead gains a Quicksilver cards from the fortune deck.
Dice, which must be immediately rolled and set Stolen Time: Weakness. Reserved. While
aside. A Quicksilver Dice counts as a Mercury this unit is in play, you must keep your fortune
Token. When you spend a Quicksilver Dice to cards “open”, with their text visible to your
re-roll an attack using the Force Of Will rule, opponent.
you may change the facing of one attack dice to
match the spent Destiny Dice’s face instead of
re-rolling the attack dice.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 36 Early Access
V

SE T TI NG UP A BAT TL E

1 . ROL L FOR CH AOS OF WA R

If both players agree, roll on the Deployment, Battlefield

Any depth, I don’t mind.

and Twists tables to generate a unique battle. You can
also randomly generate a set of custom battle rules by
going to http://hobgoblin-battles.com/battle. See Chaos
of War.

2 . SE T UP BAT TL E FI E L D
Players should place terrain to their mutual agreement,
Any width, I dont’t mind.
and then agree on which keywords (such as Rough,
Blocking or Impassable) each piece of terrain will possess 6 . DE PLOYM E NT
(see Terrain). Alternatively, you may roll D3 times (more Divide the table in half, parallel with the long edges, to
if you wish) on the Battlefield table (see Chaos of War). create a centreline. The First Player chooses which table
half they wish to deploy on. Each player’s Deployment
3 . RE VE A L A RMY L I STS Zone is the area that begins 8” away from the centreline
Reveal your army list to your opponent. You should have and extends back to their table edge.
a written or digital copy of your army list available for Beginning with the First Player, players alternate
your opponent to peruse during the game (see Building deploying one unit at a time. Units must be deployed
An Army). This must include which Abyssal Allegiance fully within their controllers’ deployment zone.
each wizard is using (see Abyssal Sorcery). Alternatively, you may roll once on the Deployment
table (see Chaos of War).
4 . DE TE RM I NE SCE N A RIO
Choose or randomly determine the scenario for the 7. DR AW FORTUNE CA RDS
game, which provides the victory conditions. See Shuffle the Fortune Cards. Each player draws four
Scenarios. fortune cards (see Fortune Cards). You are now ready
to begin the first battle round.
5 . DE TE RM I NE FI R ST PL AYE R
The player with the most recently painted miniature in
their army calls “even” or “odd”. The other player rolls
a D6. If the result matches what was called, the calling
player wins the initiative; if not, the other player wins it.
The winner of the initiative chooses whether to take the
First Player token or give it to their opponent.

Early Access 37 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
SCE N A R IOS 2-3: TH E PE NDULUM ’S SWI NG
Conflict can arise from a hundred sources. Cities and Their line is ragged, tear it open.
nations clash over resources, territory, honour, revenge
and more. During setup, choose or randomly determine Setup
the scenario for the game using 2D6 (or by drawing one After determining table sides, but before beginning
of the Hobgoblin scenario cards if you possess some). The deployment, place three Objective Markers on the
scenario provides the victory conditions for the game. centreline: one at the midpoint, and the others 18” (or
3D6+6” if you prefer) either side of the first. Taking
Objective Markers each Objective Marker in turn: both players roll 2D6.
If the scenario calls for an Objective Marker, use The player that scores highest moves the marker directly
something circular between 20mm and 40mm in towards their deployment zone a number of inches equal
diameter. Units can move freely over markers. to their roll. If the roll is tied, it stays on the centreline.
If one player ends up with all three markers in their
table half, the other player’s units all start the game with
Your Help Needed!
+2 Courage.
These scenarios still need more playtesting.
Please let us know if you run into any issues or Victory Conditions
have a game in which you felt the scenarios were At the end of the last two rounds, each unbroken unit
too one-sided, too difficult to achieve, or simply within 8” of at least one Objective Marker scores 1VP.
could have been more enjoyable. Let us know If the unbroken unit’s cost was more than 500 points, it
your thoughts via either the “Hobgoblin–Brutal scores 2VP instead. A maximum of 10VP may be scored
Fantasy Battles” Facebook group or the Electi by each player in this game. At the end of the game, the
Studio Discord server. player with the most victory points (VP) is the winner.

Tie-breaker
At the end of the game, if the players are tied on VP, each
player should total up the points values of their in-play
units. The player with the higher total gains 1VP. If the
players are tied on remaining points, the game is a draw.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 38 Early Access
4: TH E WAGE S OF SI N 5: TI DE S OF WA R
The spoils of war are won with blood. Drive them into the darkness.

Setup Setup
Before deployment begins, each player places three After determining table sides, but before beginning
Objective Markers anywhere in the opposing player’s deployment, place two Objective Markers on the
table half, each more than 16” from any other Objective centreline, 16” either side of the midpoint.
Marker. These Objective Markers represent piles of
valuable stores, treasure or prisoners of war. Victory Conditions
At the end of each round, if there is a single unengaged
Victory Conditions unit in base contact with a marker, that unit’s controller
At the end of any round, if an unbroken unit is within scores 1VP and then moves that marker D6+2” directly
4” of a friendly Objective Marker, and there are no towards the enemy board edge. At the end of the game,
unbroken enemy units within 8” of the marker, they may the player with the most victory points (VP) is the
remove the marker. If the removed marker was wholly winner.
within the opponent’s deployment zone they score 2VP,
if not, they score 1VP. At the end of the game, the player Tie-breaker
with the most victory points (VP) is the winner. At the end of the game, if the players are tied on VP, each
player should total up the points values of their in-play
Tie-breaker units. The player with the higher total gains 1VP. If the
At the end of the game, if the players are tied on VP, each players are tied on remaining points, the game is a draw.
player should total up the points values of their in-play
units. The player with the higher total gains 1VP. If the
players are tied on remaining points, the game is a draw.

Early Access 39 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
6-7: BLOODBATH 9. A LTA R S OF G RI E F
Leave none alive. Fill these caverns with the stench of death.
At the end of the game, each player should total up the
points values of their in-play units. The player with the Setup
highest total is the winner. If the players are tied on After determining table sides, but before beginning
remaining points, the game is a draw. deployment, place three Objective Markers on the
centreline: one at the midpoint, and the others 15” either
side of the first. Each objective marker counts as Grim
terrain, as they represent ghastly altars to bloodshed
and slaughter.

Victory Conditions
8: BATH E D I N GLORY At the end of each round, check each objective marker:
A hero’s hands are red. the player with the most units within 12” of that
objective marker scores 1VP. Units that cost more than
Victory Conditions 500 points count as two units for this calculation. At the
At the end of the game, if your opponent has no units end of the game, the player with the most victory points
with one or more Character keywords in play, you score (VP) is the winner.
5VP. Otherwise, you score 1VP for each enemy unit
with one or more Character keywords that is no longer Tie-breaker
in play, up to a maximum of 5VP. At the end of the At the end of the game, if the players are tied on VP, the
game, the player with the most victory points (VP) is player with the most Doom on units within 12” of an
the winner. altar gains 1VP. If this is a tie, the game is a draw.

Tie-breaker
At the end of the game, if the players are tied on VP, each
player should total up the points values of their in-play
units. The player with the higher total gains 1VP. If the
players are tied on remaining points, the game is a draw.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 40 Early Access
10 : BURN TH E M OUT 11-1 2: DE SPE R ATE SE A RCH
Raze this place to the ground. What they have taken from us must be returned.

Setup Setup
Choose or randomly determine one player to be Choose or randomly determine one player to be the
the Attacker and the other to be the Defender. The Attacker and the other to be the Defender. The Attacker
Defender places three small buildings or similar terrain places three Objective Markers anywhere in the
pieces, which are treated as War Wagon units with Defender’s deployment zone, each more than 16” from
the Immobile and Objective keywords. These must be any other Objective Marker. These Objective Markers
deployed within 12” of the centreline and more than 16” represent treasure or prisoners valuable to the attacker.
from any other objective.
These buildings represent watchtowers, barracks, Victory Conditions
homesteads, arcane sites or something similarly valuable At the end of a round, if the Attacker has a unit with
and must be defended. These immobile units can fight a General or Battle Standard keyword within 4” of an
in combat, and receive Doom as normal. objective marker, and there are no enemy units with
4” of it, they may remove the marker to score 1VP. At
Victory Conditions the end of the game, the Defender gains 1VP for each
At the end of the game, if two of the three War Wagon objective marker still in play. The player with the most
units with the Objective keyword are still in play, the victory points (VP) is the winner.
Defender wins; otherwise, the Attacker wins.
Tie-breaker
At the end of the game, if the players are tied on VP, each
player should total up the points values of their in-play
units. The player with the higher total gains 1VP. If the
players are tied on remaining points, the game is a draw.

Early Access 41 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
CH AOS OF WA R 46: The Marble Forest
When setting up a game of Hobgoblin, you can use the Deploy six columns of rock in two rows of three. A
Chaos of War tables to generate a unique scenario for column of rock is a piece of Impassable, Elevated and
your battle. Blocking terrain between 2” and 6” in diameter (although
To play a Chaos Of War game, choose or randomly the size is not critically important). Each column of rock
select one option from the Deployment table and one should be 18” from each of its neighbours.
(or more) from each of the Battlefield and Twists tables.
If you don’t like the combination of results you get, feel 51-53: The City
free to re-roll to your heart’s content. If you want more Deploy at least six, and ideally ten, large pieces of
chaos, you may choose to roll more than once on the Impassable, Elevated and Blocking terrain to represent
Battlefield and/or Twist tables. You can also randomly the crowded city. Ensure each piece of terrain has 8” of
generate a set of custom battle rules by going to http:// empty space on at least two of its four sides.
hobgoblin-battles.com/battle.
54-56: Lodestone
BAT TL E FI E L D TA BL E (D66) Place an appropriate terrain piece in the centre of the

Choose or roll for D3 (or more if you wish) of the board to represent a magical lodestone. While a unit

following Battlefield results to apply during the setup of with the Wizard keyword is within 4” of a magical

the game. lodestone terrain piece, they may draw on the latent
magical enemy to reduce the cost to cast Makings and
11-16: Rubble and Ruins Cataclysms by one Mercury token.
Place three areas of ruins-type terrain, each with the
Perilous and Obscuring keywords. 61-63: Founts of Magma
Before deployment, each player must place an area of
21-26: Mushroom Groves Perilous and Obscuring terrain anywhere in their half
Place two areas of forest-type terrain, each with the of the board, more than 8” from a table edge or the
Grim and Obscuring keywords. centreline.

31-36: High Ground 64-66: Tunnels

Each player may place one hill, rocky escarpment, or Split the table into two roughly equal sections, divided
other elevated terrain anywhere on the table. They have by tape or scenery (or by using two different tables). Each
the Elevated keywords. player must deploy a pair of linked Tunnel Entrance
terrain pieces, one on each table half. Mark them as
41-43: Watch Tower connected (perhaps with a scrap of paper on each saying
The winner of a roll-off places a tower with the ‘A’ or ‘B’, or a coin set to heads or tails).
Impassible, Elevated and Blocking keywords anywhere A unit that ends a manoeuvre within 4” of a tunnel
they like on the centreline. entrance may enter the tunnel: the unit is immediately
removed from play and set aside, marking which tunnel
44-45: The Columns it entered. During the next Movement Phase, they lose 6
Deploy two mighty columns on the centreline, placed movement points and gain 1 Doom to deploy anywhere

roughly 24” apart. A mighty column is a piece of terrain at least partially within 4” of either entrance of the

between 4” and 8” in diameter with the Impassable, tunnel they entered.

Elevated and Blocking keywords.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 42 Early Access
DE PLOYM E NT TA BL E (D66)
Rei nforcements
Choose or roll for one of the following Deployment Streng th. Reserved. t the start of a movement
options to apply during the setup of the game. phase, this unit may lose Reinforcements to be
deployed any where fully within its deployment
zone. If it does, it gains Distracted.

11-13: Scouts
Divide the table in half, parallel with the long edges, to
44-46: Vanguard Skirmish
create a centerline. The First Player chooses which table
Each player must deploy exactly two units during setup.
half they wish to deploy on. Each player’s deployment
The remainder are set aside and gain the Reinforcements
zone is their entire table half. Alternate the deployment
keyword. From the start of round one, the area within
of units, starting with the First Player, but units must be
4” of either side table edge (e.g. not your opponent’s table
deployed at least 16” away from all enemy units.
edge) also counts as your deployment zone.

14-16: Forced March

51-52: Tunnel Entrances
Half of each player’s units (rounding up) must be
Place six numbered Tunnel Entrance Markers equally
deployed at least 12” back from the centreline, instead
spaced around the edge of the table.
of 8”.
The First Player rolls three dice, re-rolling any
duplicate results. They gain control of the three Tunnel
21-23: Rushing Arrival Entrance Markers corresponding to the numbers rolled,
Units with a Speed of 8 or lower must be deployed at
and their opponent gains control of the other three.
least 12” back from the centreline, instead of 8”. Each player has three deployment zones, each
the area within 8” of a Tunnel Entrance Marker they
24-26: Early Sighting control. Players may deploy their units into all of their
Each player’s units without the Skirmishers keyword deployment zones.
must be deployed at least 12” back from the centreline, If a unit will not fit in any deployment zone, it gains
instead of 8”. the Reinforcements keyword and is set aside.

31-33: Tunnel Fighting 53-54: Huddled Together

If your table is rectangular, divide it perpendicular to Each player must place a small marker anywhere in their
the way you would normally divide it, so it is longer, half of the board, more than 8” from a table edge or the
rather than wider. If your table is square, no units may centreline. During deployment, players must deploy all
be deployed within 8” of the side table edges. units with the Infantry keyword at least partially within
12” of their marker and within their deployment zone.
34-36: Surprise! If a unit will not fit in the deployment zone, it gains the
Each player may select 3 of their units to gain the Sneaky Reinforcements keyword and is set aside.
keyword.
55-56: Pets
41-43: Surprise Engagement During deployment, Monster and Beast units must be
Split each player’s table half into three equal sections deployed after the unit containing the General and at
(left, right and centre). Each unit must be deployed in a least partially within 12” of that unit.
randomly determined section (roll a D3 for each unit).
If a unit will not fit in any deployment zone, it gains the
Reinforcements keyword and is set aside.

Early Access 43 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
61-63: No Man’s Land T WI STS TA BL E (D66)
Each player must place a small marker anywhere in their Choose or roll for one of the following Twists to apply
opponent’s half of the board, more than 8” from a table during this game.
edge or the centreline. During deployment, players may
not deploy units within 8” of these markers. 11-12: Smoke and Darkness
Line of sight is limited to 12” for all units during this
63-66: Last Stand battle.
Choose or randomly determine one player to be
the Attacker and the other to be the Defender. The 13-14: Easy Underfoot
Defender’s deployment zone is the area within 10” of the All units gain Swift [+2] for this battle.
centrepoint of the table. The Attacker’s deployment zone
is the area starting at 16” from the centrepoint of the 15-16: Underground Mercury Lake
table and extending all the way back to each table edge. Each player receives 3 additional Mercury tokens per
All the Defender’s units start the game with +2 Courage. round.

21-22: Quicksilver Spring

Both players start the game with 6 Mercury tokens.

23-24: Frozen Lake

After a unit moves, it must roll equal to or over its Speed
value on 3D6 or immediately advance an additional 3”
as they slip and skid. This additional movement ignores
the Distracted keyword.

25-26: Desperate Fighting

During the Doom Phase, skip the Panic step for this
game.

31-32: To The Last

All units start the game with +3 Courage.

33-34: Bitter Cold

At the start of each round, all units reduce their Courage
by 1, cumulatively, for the rest of the game.

35-36: Exhausted Forces

The General and Battle Standard’s Command keyword
cannot be used during this game.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 44 Early Access
41-42: Arcane Conclave 54: Songs in the Dark
Each player receives one additional Wizard keyword, During this game, the effect of the Command keyword
which must be given to any unit that doesn’t already has a range of 12”.
have the Wizard keyword.
55: Echoes in the Dark
43-44: Champions During this game, the effect of the Command keyword
Each player may select two of their units to gain Hero has a range of 4”.
[+1].
56: Haunting Voices
45-46: Assassins During this game, when a unit receives Doom from
Each player may secretly note one of their units to gain Panic, they receive 1 additional Doom.
Hero [+4]. This unit does not need to be revealed until
the start of the first combat phase in which you intend 61: Fateful Deeds
to benefit from it. During this game, whenever a player plays a Fortune
Card, their opponent draws one.
51: Soldiers of Renown
Each player may select a single friendly unit to gain the 62: No Quarter
Elite keyword. During the first and second rounds of the battle, skip
the “Remove Broken Units” step of the Doom Phase.
52: Hand of Fate
At the start of each round, each player draws one 63: Torches Burning Low
additional Fortune Card. The battle ends after four rounds, not five as normal.

53: Places of Power 64: ‘Til The Bitter End

The first player must place three small markers on the The battle ends after six rounds, not five as normal.
centreline, with at least 16” between each one. At the
start of each Magic Phase, check each marker: if one 65: Cauldron of Magic Potion
player has more friendly units within 4” of it than their Each player may select one of their units to gain Brutal.
opponent does, they may gain either two Mercury
Tokens or one Fortune Card. 66: Blood & Sludge
When a unit is removed from play, place a small Gore
Marker where the centre of the unit was. Gore Markers
count as Grim terrain.

Early Access 45 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
VI

O T H E R WA Y S T O P L A Y
N A R R ATIVE SCE N A R IOS
Narrative Scenario:

TH E CH A SM
Defend the bridges!
A deep chasm provides a near-impregnable natural
fortification for the defenders. This has not deterred
the attackers, who must storm the bridges and cross the
crevasse.
This scenario uses the standard setup rules, with
the following exceptions and additions:

Setup Attacker Advantage

If your table is rectangular, play this game lengthwise, All the Attacker’s units start the game with +5 Courage.
with the centreline crossing the narrower table width.
Create an impassable chasm, approximately 3” Special Rules
wide, across the full width of the centreline. You might If a unit is wider than the bridges, they can move across
use specially made terrain, black paper cut to size, or them with parts hanging over the edge of the bridge, as
just pull two halves of your board apart if it is made of long as the majority of the unit’s width is touching the
several sections. bridge. (Basically, too-wide units can cross the bridges,
Place two bridges across the chasm, each between but no taking advantage of that by clinging onto the
100-200mm wide, 12” or more apart.
bridge by one toenail…)
The attacker places three objective markers at least
The Attacker’s Sneaky units must deploy within 4” of
16” away from the chasm, and 8” away from another
the chasm. Units with Flying can ignore the impassable
other objective marker.
nature of the chasm, but must move at half-speed when
flying over it, due to abyssal updrafts.
Deployment
The Defender’s deployment zone is the full area on Victory Conditions
their side of the chasm. The Attacker’s deployment zone At the end of any round, if the Attacker has units within
begins 12” back from the chasm. 2” of two or more of the objective markers, the Attacker
wins. If the game ends without the Attacker winning,
the Defender wins.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 46 Early Access
Narrative Scenario: ignore it for the purposes of drawing line of sight
(imagine they are up on the battlements or peeking
through embrasures).
TH E FORTRE SS
• If the Attacker’s units are in base-contact with a
Breach the wall!
Weak Point Marker, and not engaged with any of
Having crossed the chasm and invaded their the Defender’s units, they may attack the marker
subterranean kingdom, the attacker now menaces one with combat attacks as if it were a War Wagon. Each
of the great cavern-fortresses that protects this realm. marker has a Courage of 7.
This scenario uses the standard setup rules, with • The Attacker’s units may ignore any part of the wall
the following exceptions and additions: that is within 4” of a Broken Weak Point Marker
when moving (as the wall has been breached
somehow).
Setup
Mark out a fortress wall 8” back from the centreline and
Victory Conditions
parallel with it. Use tape or terrain pieces, such that the
If three Weak Point Markers are Broken at any point in
table is completely divided in half by the wall.
the game, the Attacker wins; otherwise, the Defender
Deploy five Weak Point Markers equally spaced
wins.
along the wall, at least 12” from the table edges. (For
example, if you are playing on a 6’-wide table, place one
marker every 12” along the wall, starting 12” in).
Narrative Scenario:

First Player TH E BRE ACH

Choose or randomly determine one player to be the
They shall not pass.
Attacker and the other to be the Defender. Determine
Defending a breach in a city’s fortifications, or tunnel
First Player Token as normal.
entrances in a wide cavern wall, the defender is greatly
restricted in their deployment to the battlefield. The
Defender Advantage
attacker wants to clear entry to the breach, to press the
All the Defender’s units start the game with +2 Courage.
next phase of their attack.
This scenario uses the standard setup rules, with
Deployment
the following exceptions and additions:
The Defender’s deployment zone is everywhere on their
side of the wall. The Attacker’s deployment zone begins
First Player
12” back from the wall on their side of the table.
Choose or randomly determine one player to be the
Attacker and the other to be the Defender. Determine
Special Rules
First Player Token as normal.
• The full length of the wall is Impassible, Elevated
and Blocking.
Attacker Advantage
• The Defender’s units may ignore any part of the All the Attacker’s units start the game with +2 Courage.
wall that is within 4” of a Weak Point Marker when
moving (imagine there is a portcullis in the wall or
Deployment
a hidden tunnel) and can thus move freely between
the Attacker’s side and the Defender’s side of the Choose one of the long table edges to be the Defender’s
wall. table edge. The Defender’s table edge may be imagined
to be a mighty wall. The Defender places a small Breach
• When touching the wall, the Defender’s units may
Marker at the centrepoint of the Defender’s table edge.

Early Access 47 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
The Defenders deployment zone is the area that is more than 18” away from the Breach Marker.
within 6” of the Breach Marker. They must deploy their
units fully within that area. If a unit will not fit, it gains Victory Conditions
the Reinforcements keyword and is set aside. At the end of each turn, the player with the most
unbroken units within 8” of the centrepoint of the
Rei nforcements
Breach Marker is the winner.
Streng th. Reserved. At the start of a movement
phase, this unit may lose Reinforcements to be
deployed any where fully within its deployment
zone. If it does, it gains Distracted.

The Attacker’s deployment zone is the area that is

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 48 Early Access
2. Brothers-in-Arms
TE A M PL AY
In the Doom Phase, if the Command effect from one
Mass battle games are really fun to play with more than
of your units saves an allied unit from being Broken,
two players at the table. It must be something about the
your team gains a tick on this objective.
sweeping line, but it just feels very right to have multiple
At the end of the game, if the team has three or
players on each side, each in command of a portion of
four ticks on this objective, it gains 1VP. If it has five
the carnage.
or more ticks, it gains 2VP instead.
3. Hands Around Their Throats
UNL I KE LY A L L I E S
The first time a given unit enters engagement in the
When playing Hobgoblin with 3 or more players, use
flank or rear of an enemy unit that is engaged with
the Unlikely Allies rules.
a given allied unit, the team gains a tick on this
objective.
Teams & Allies
At the end of the game, if the team has one or two
The players must form up into two Teams. All the
ticks on this objective, it gains 1VP. If it has three or
players on one team count as Allies to each other and
more ticks, it gains 2VP instead.
enemies to all the players on the other team (and vice
4. United in Death
versa). Units count allied units as friendly.
At the end of the game, each player should count
Each team must select a ‘Warlord’. During the game
up the total points value of the units they still have
setup, the warlords act as the ‘players’ in a standard two-
in play: their “remaining total”. Within each team,
player game, rolling for the First Player marker and so
take the highest remaining and subtract the lowest
on.
remaining total to get their “difference”. The team

Allied Fortune Cards with the smallest difference gains 2VP.

Players individually draw and hold Fortune cards as 5. Shared Slaughter

usual, but they must not communicate to their allies At the end of the game, each team should count up

which Fortune cards they hold in their hand; they must the total points value of the units they still have in

be kept secret. Players may not play their Fortune cards play. The team with the highest total remaining points

on themselves or their own units — only on their allies, gains 1VP. If the other team has nothing in play, this

allied units or enemy units. team gains 2VP instead.

6. Shared Ruination

Unlikely Allies Objectives Before deployment begins, place three 25mm

At the start of the game, instead of using the standard Ruination Markers (use miniatures or gaming gems)

victory conditions, randomly select (roll a D6) or choose anywhere in the enemy’s deployment zone, each more

two Unlikely Allies Objectives. These objectives are than 16” from any other Ruination Marker.

available to both teams to score. If you would prefer, roll At the end of any turn, if two allied units are

or choose more or fewer objectives. within 4” of the same Ruination Marker, they may

1. Combined Arms remove it from play.

If both you and your ally control a unit in contact with At the end of the game, if only one of the team’s

the same enemy unit when it is broken, the team gains Ruination Markers are in play, the team gains 1VP. If

a tick on this objective. none are in play, you gain 2VP instead.

At the end of the game, if the team has one or two

ticks on this objective, it gains 1VP. If it has three or
more ticks, it gains 2VP instead.

Early Access 49 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
SOLO PL AY SE TUP
Like many wargames, Hobgoblin can be played solo,
with a few minor adaptations. Here are some rules for Army Lists
playing Hobgoblin by yourself. You should prepare an army list for yourself, and one
I developed the rules in this section during my for Him. The size of His army should depend on the
endless playtesting at home, and have come to enjoy difficulty of the game you desire:
them thoroughly. Of course, one can always simply play
• Easy Mode: armies of equal points values
both sides (as many of my playtesting games have been),
but I enjoy both the unexpectedness of these solo rules, • Normal: give Him 50% extra points (e.g. 4,500pts to
your 3,000pts)
and the fact that I don’t have to context-switch to the
mindset of the other player and can concentrate wholly • Hardcore: give Him 100% extra points (i.e., an army
on my own game plan. twice the size of yours)
Of course, if you wish, nothing stops you from He may not take the Wizard strength.
using these rules to determine the actions of both sides,
and just enjoying pushing some figures around the table Table Setup
and watching them murder each other! I’ve certainly Lay out terrain as you see fit.
done so…
Deploying His Army
PL AYI NG AG A I N ST “H I M ” Divide the table in half to create a centerline. Each player
These rules refer to the other player as ‘Him’, in honour has a deployment zone which is the width of the table,
of my dad. He grew up the youngest of three and was and starts 8” away from the centreline.
obsessed with board games. Like many young tabletop You must deploy your whole army first, anywhere
games enthusiasts, his appetite for gaming was greater within your deployment zone.
than that of his siblings, and so he spent many happy Divide his deployment zone into three sections from
hours alone in his room playing against “Him”. My dad left to right (i.e., left flank, right flank, centre). Deploy
recalls that “He” would put up strong competition, and each of His units, starting with the most expensive unit
tended to win about half the games. You may, of course, and deploying the rest in descending order of points
refer to your opponent as anything you please (I often cost. For each, roll a D6 to see where He deploys it:
call him Guruk, though there are some who know him
as Jacque Rivaleaux).

H I S DE PLOYM E NT
UNDI STR AC TA BL E D6 Table Section Bias
His units are immune to Distracted, and cannot gain it.
1 Left Flank Left

2 Left Flank Right

3 Centre Left

4 Centre Right

5 Right Flank Left

6 Right Flank Right

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 50 Early Access
When deploying His units: of sight to at least one of your units.

• They must be placed exactly 8” from the centreline, • Artillery must be placed as far back as your table
facing your table edge. allows, up to a maximum of 24” from the centreline.

• They must be placed in the rolled table section.

G A M E L E NGTH A ND VIC TORY
• They must be placed as far as possible to the left or The game lasts five rounds as normal, and the player
right side of the indicated table section as indicated
with the most remaining points on the table at the end
by the rolled bias.
of the game is the winner.
• He doesn’t deploy units closer than 1” to another of
His units, or within 1” of any table edge.
PL AYI NG TH E G A M E
• If there is no space for the unit to deploy in the rolled The game is played mostly as normal. You draw and play
location, they must be placed as close as possible Fortune cards, He does not.
to the rolled location, while remaining 8” from
the centreline and without leaving the rolled table
section. Initiative Phase
He begins the game with the First Player token. You may
• If there is STILL no space for the unit to deploy, they
roll to seize the initiative as normal. If He successfully
must instead be placed 1” behind the unit that is in
the rolled location. seizes the initiative, he always chooses to take the First
Player token. He does not draw Fortune cards.

Example:
Magic Phase
• He rolls a ‘2’ for his first unit, a Monster. You You may enjoy the magic phase, during which He will
must deploy his first unit as far to the right- be silent.
hand side of the left flank as possible, 8” from
the centreline, facing your army. Shooting Phase
• He rolls another ‘2’ for his second unit, a When it is His turn to act in the Shooting Phase, first
unit of Heavy Cavalry. You must deploy his each of his Ranged Infantry will move and then shoot,
first unit as far to the right-hand side of the following the Cautious Behaviour rules below. Then
left flank as possible, 8” from the centreline, each of his remaining Ranged units will select a visible
facing your army. As a Monster is already unit within D+3” and shoot it (see Target Selection).
standing there, the Heavy Cavalry deploys Please note:
just to the left of the Monster, leaving a 1”
His Ranged Infantry move in the Shooting Phase,
gap.
not in the Movement Phase.

Deploying His Artillery and Ranged

Infantry Movement Phase
When it is His turn to act in the Movement Phase,
When deploying Artillery and Ranged Infantry units,
activate each of his units that did not move in the
roll on the table above, but they must be deployed on a
Shooting Phase, starting with the most expensive unit
hill or other elevated terrain, if there is any in the rolled
and activating the rest in descending order of points
table section. If they cannot deploy on elevated terrain,
cost. For each unit, follow the Aggressive Behaviour
due to lack of space, or lack of suitable terrain, then:
rules below (see Target Selection).
• Ranged Infantry must be placed exactly 15” from the
centreline, ideally in a position that commands line

Early Access 51 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
Combat Phase you would with a shooting attack.
3. Ignore any enemy units that are engaged with
Resolve the combats in an order of your choosing.
two or more friendly units.
When assigning attack dice in combat, His units
4. Randomly select one of the shortlisted enemy
always assign their attack dice as evenly as possible
units.
among the units they are engaged with.

Doom Phase Select any Unit within D+3”

As above, but ignoring line of sight.
You will need to resolve panic for His units. In the
1. Measure the distance (D) from the active
“Who’s Next” step, He will always choose to reform to
unit to the nearest enemy unit (regardless of
face the closest of your units.
whether or not the unit is currently visible).
2. Shortlist the enemy units that are within D+3”
TA RGE T SE L EC TION
of this unit (regardless of line of sight).
Designer’s Note: 3. Ignore any enemy units that are engaged with
These Target Selection rules might seem a little two or more friendly units.
dense at first glance, but just work through them 4. Randomly select one of the shortlisted enemy
methodically and I hope you will find that they units.
are actually quite intuitive and fast in play. The
intention of them is to get His units to behave Select an Engageable Unit
somewhat, but not totally, predictably, and avoid When asked to “Select an engageable unit”:
exploits such as ‘standing behind the unit’ breaking 1. Shortlist the enemy units that can be engaged
the AI. by this unit using their available movement
(regardless of whether or not the units are
Select a Visible Unit within D+3” currently visible).
When asked to “select a unit within D+3”: 2. Ignore any enemy units that are engaged with
1. Measure the distance (D) from the active unit two or more friendly units.
to the nearest enemy unit that is visible to it. 3. Randomly select one of the the shortlisted
2. Shortlist the enemy units that are within D+3” enemy units.
of the active unit and visible to it, measuring
this from the centre of the unit’s front edge as

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 52 Early Access
UNIT BE H AVIOUR
Golden Rule:
When moving His units, move them smartly on his
behalf. Threaten yourself.

Aggressive Behaviour
All unit types, excluding Ranged Infantry and
Artillery, use these Aggressive Behaviour rules in the
Movement Phase.
1. Check:
Is this unit engaged?
a. Yes → Do nothing.
b. No → Go to 2.
2. Check:
Can this unit select an engageable unit?
a. Yes → Move to engage the selected
unit.
b. No → Go to 3.
3. Check:
Can this unit see any enemy unit?
a. Yes → Select a visible unit within
D+3”, and move towards it, ending as
close as possible.
b. No → Select any unit within D+3”, and
move towards it, ending as close as
possible.

Early Access 53 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
Cautious Behaviour
Ranged Infantry use these Cautious Behaviour
rules in the Shooting Phase.
1. Check:
Is this unit engaged?
a. Yes → Do nothing.
b. No → Go to 2.
2. Check:
Is this unit in range and line of sight of an enemy
unit?
a. Yes → Select a visible unit within D+3”,
retreat as far as possible from the
selected unit without leaving either
range or line of sight, then shoot it.
b. No → Select any unit within D+3”,
and move as close as possible to it,
stopping if they enter range and line
of sight.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 54 Early Access
Early Access 55 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
VII

DE SIGNE R ’ S NOTE S

Hobgoblin is a tabletop wargame of old school fantasy get a wargame published. I pitched it to Osprey. They
battles for two players. I wrote it to be exactly the fast politely declined it (as Dragon Rampant was about to
and brutal game that I want to play with my fantasy be released), but after I showed them some of my other
armies. I want to put all my miniatures out on the table prototypes they agreed to publish Gaslands, so that
in a sweeping battleline and see them crush yours, worked out.
without needing to set aside a whole day to play. I hadn’t worked on Hobgoblin in ernest since late-
I had two objectives in writing Hobgoblin. Firstly, 2015, but mid-2021, no doubt inspired by Sean Sutter’s
I wanted a game that could stay fast and exciting, even Sludge, I found a sudden compulsion to smash huge
when played with massive armies of ranked units, fantasy armies into each other. I still had a very clear
monsters and war machines. This led to the level of vision for Hobgoblin as a lightning-fast fantasy battle
detail of the movement and combat systems. Secondly, I game with a generic army list system, and still felt that
wanted a game in which every model I own is as equally other systems hadn’t quite delivered the particular game
‘viable’ a choice as any other model, so nothing I choose experiences that I was looking for. It felt like it was the
to paint is wasted. I don’t want to see awesome models right moment to revisit Hobgoblin, apply everything I
shelved because their rules stink; I want to see cool had learnt in the last six years of designing wargames,
models on the table. This led to the generic army lists and finish the game. That renewed journey led to this
and the rock/paper/scissors nature of the unit profiles. rulebook before you now. I’m particularly indebted to
Also, models are only removed at the end of the turn, Greg Horton’s enthusiasm for making someteeehing
so nothing gets killed without a chance to show its stuff. awesome out of this game, and for finding CROM,
Hobgoblin was the first wargame I wrote ‘seriously’, whose art inspired me from the moment I first saw it to
with the initial draft completed in late 2014, and it was make Hobgoblin darker, weirder and more brutal.
the first game that gave me the confidence to try and

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 56 Early Access
DE SIG N PRI NCI PL E S M I NI ATURE S
The initial impulse for Hobgoblin was to create a fast- This game was written to be played with heroic 28mm
playing fantasy battle game that was easy to learn, simply fantasy figures, of which I have many, and has also been
to operate at the table, and ensured that any model you playtested with 6mm and 10mm figures, of which I
choose to paint is equally viable in play. have some. Hobgoblin works perfectly well with 28mm,
This led to the following design principles that 15mm, 10mm, and 6mm miniatures, although when
guided the design of Hobgoblin: it comes to movement and ranges you may wish to
1. Brutally fast. Battles between huge armies swap inches for centimetres when using smaller scales
should take 45-90 minutes. (although nothing forces you to).
2. Old school rank and flank vibe. Gameplay In Hobgoblin, we concern ourselves with units,
should feel like flipping through the maps in rather than models. That an individual goblin is no
an old school battle report. match for an individual dwarf is of no matter to us: a
3. Any model you choose to paint is okay with goblin unit will contain many more goblins than a dwarf
me. Don’t ask players to rebase their armies. unit, and so the two units are comparable in fighting
Provide list-building options that let you play strength. For this reason, the number of models in a unit
with the models you have in cool new ways. does not control its attack dice pool, as you will see.
Every model you own is as equally as viable a The number of models in your unit, and whether to
choice as any other model. base them individually or as a unit, is left to you. Units
4. Replace moments of nothingness with simply need a rectangular footprint to function in the
moments of somethingness. The overwhelming game, and models are not required to be removed from
majority of player actions should change the units during play.
game state. Outcomes should never be totally There are no hard and fast rules about how many
known. Give players opportunities to twist models you should put in your units. Personally, I’m
their fortunes unexpectedly. quite old-fashioned, and tend to have units that are five
5. Freedom in simplicity. As few rules, and as models wide, or three models if they are chunky guys
few rules exceptions, as possible. The rules like trolls. For a standard unit, I’ll likely have 10-15
that do exist provide a massive canvas for the models, going up to 20-30 models for races like goblins,
imagination. as that fits my imagination. For hordes, I’ll likely use 30+
6. Let me play with my toys. Ensure that players models in a unit, and rank them up with 7-10 models
get a chance to use their models before they wide.
take them off as casualties. Deal smartly with If you have models on round bases (as about half
gunlines and first-turn alpha strikes. of my collection is), consider buying some laser-cut
MDF or plastic ‘conversion trays’ from your vendor
of choice. These are unit trays that have circular slots
ready cut to hold your round-based miniatures together
in a unit. That way your miniatures can remain usable
in multiple game systems without alteration. I buy my
conversion tray from Sarissa Precision and War-Bases
in the UK, and you can get them from vendors such as
Litko in the US. In a pinch, you can also just cut out bits
of cardboard as rough-and-ready movement trays and
array your models on them.

Early Access 57 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
confuse your opponent, leading to a less enjoyable game
I NVE NTI NG YOUR
OWN A RM I E S together. Courteous army construction in Hobgoblin
follows three broad principles:
Hobgoblin’s army list system is a universal toolkit for
building your own army to fit your imagination; there 1. Don’t use the same models to represent two different
are no pre-set factions to choose from. This is intended unit types within the same army list.
as an invitation to blow the dust off those miniatures 2. Don’t use models so mismatched to the unit type
that you love, but aren’t very good in other games. This that your opponent could not reasonably guess
can also be seen as an opportunity to mix up your which unit type they are supposed to represent.
games with your regular opponents without a big hobby 3. Always have a written or digital copy of your army
(or financial) investment. You can reinvent your army list available for your opponent to peruse before and
between games, changing your list and your tactics during the game.
without changing your miniatures, and exploring new
play-styles without painting a new army. If you don’t PL AYI NG A SYM M E TRICA L
SCE N A RIOS
like the way a unit performed in your last game, you
It is convenient for both players to create armies in
can just tweak its keywords, no need to buy and paint a
advance to a known points value, particularly and
whole replacement unit to access different rules.
indeed may only have a certain size of army painted
My hope is that you also see this as an excuse to
and ready for the table. However, it is also enjoyable to
buy and paint some models that you have always wanted
indulge in asymmetrical scenarios, in which the attacker
to field in an army, but which maybe didn’t suit your
or defender has an overall advantage or disadvantage. If
playstyle or weren’t the ‘optimal choice’ in their source
game. Hobgoblin allows you to build and paint whatever you wish to invent an asymmetrical narrative scenario,

you want, and then wring the maximum amount of do what I do in the narrative scenarios in this book:

gaming flexibility out of them! give one of the players an army-wide modifier to their

Keywords Courage stat.

For the purposes of printing them in this rulebook,
keywords have to be named something, but the names TH E H I DDE N LOG IC
unavoidably guide and limit the imagination. Feel free
OF HOBGOBL I N
The heart of Hobgoblin’s combat system is the ‘target
to imagine alternative thematic reasons for any keyword
numbers table’. When I initially drafted the table, it
special rule.
For example, Bloodthirsty has the mechanical effect was completely instinctual, without an underlying,

that a unit with that keyword is bolstered by success in consistent governing logic. It just felt right. Towards the

combat. Perhaps they feast on death, drinking blood or end of the open playtesting of the game, the underlying
consuming souls, or perhaps they are just murderous logic that had been driving my instincts finally revealed
rogues whose spirits are lifted by destroying their itself to me, and I finally understood my own game.
foes in bloody combat. It could be used to represent I was able to unpack the hidden system into concrete
the battlefield effect of all manner of fantastical units: rules, and rebuild the target number table (with only
hungry werewolves or trolls; corpse-eating ghouls; minor changes from the original) based on this system.
blood-drinking vampires; soul-draining demons; or During playtesting, I released a version of the game
battle-drunk berserkers which made that system explicit: placing it centrally on
Courteous Army Construction the unit stats and within the rules of the combat system.
The army construction rules in Hobgoblin are While it made things more explicit, it actually made
very free and flexible. It is possible to take an army of the game look more complex. Rather than providing
fantasy miniatures and do things that will potentially the philosopher’s stone that allowed players to better

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 58 Early Access
understand the system, it just got in the way, adding a
bunch of new words that weren’t providing anything H I DDE N UNIT STATS
Attack Defence
the target numbers table wasn’t already doing more Unit Type Order
Modifier Modifier
efficiently. Light Infantry Close 0 0
However, there will be some players that look at the
Ranged Infantry Loose -1 0
target number table and wonder if there is a logic that
Heavy Infantry Close 0 +1
underpins it, just as I did. For those curious players,
I here present that underlying system, for scientific Monstrous Infantry Close +1 +1

interest only. If you are a ‘logic and first principles’ kind Light Cavalry Loose 0 0
of person, you may find knowledge of this underlying Heavy Cavalry Close +1 +1
system makes remembering the target number table
Chariot Free +1 0
easier. If not, I hope you will just find interest in peeking
behind the curtain. War Wagon Free 0 0

Monster Free +2 +1
Hidden Unit Stats Beasts Loose 0 -1
Each unit type has a set of hidden stats that I used to
Artillery Free -1 -1
create the target number table in the Core Rules. See
Target Number. Loose Order
• Order: Stat that describes how this unit moves and Loose Order units comprise warriors arrayed in a more
fights on wthe battlefield: Close Order, Loose Order open formation, or skirmishing, moving in a mob or
or Free Order. This determines the base chances of
loose line. They are easy to disperse and near useless
hitting or being hit by other units in a rock-paper-
scissors relationship. in direct combat against close ordered troops, but
their open and agile formation allows them to navigate
• Attack Modifier: Stat that describes the offensive
difficult terrain without disruption, and fighting in a
power with which the unit fights. This modifies the
chances that this unit will hit the enemy. looser formation allows them to better get around and
behind large or slower enemies, dancing in and out of
• Defence Modifier: Stat that describes the fortitude
combat, picking their strikes with care, and making
with which the unit resists incoming attacks. This
modifies the chances that the enemy will hit this a frustrating target for lumbering creatures or war
unit. machines to eliminate.

Order Free Order

Each unit type has a hidden Order stat, which describes Free Order units represent single war machines,

how the unit moves and fights on the battlefield: it is heroes or monsters that move as a single combatant

a loose group of skirmishers, a tight block of ranked on the battlefield. These large targets move with an

warriors or an independent element. inertia similar to ranked units: lumbering, rumbling

or thundering forward. Their attacks are slow but
Close Order crushing; they are particularly effective against close-
Close Order units are regiments of tightly-ranked order units, where the impact of their battering ram-
soldiers, moving as a dense block. They are very strong like fists, or thundering cannonballs, can carve through
against loose ordered troops, sweeping them away the target and cause devastating carnage. Their sluggish
without effort, but less effective against powerful single attacks are much less effective against loose ordered
targets, such as monsters, where their ranked formation units, where the fighters can more easily dance out of
provides little benefit. the way of their clumsy blows, dodging around them
and striking them in their Poor spots.
Early Access 59 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
How I Calculate the Target Numbers
Attacker Against Close Against Loose Against Free

Base Target Number Close Order 4+ 3+ 5+

When a unit targets another unit with an attack, we Loose Order 5+ 4+ 3+

compare their Order stats to find the Base Target Free Order 3+ 5+ 4+
Number for their attack dice. If the target unit has the
same Order as the attacker, the target number is 4. Each
Order has another it is strong against, and another that
it is Poor against.

Apply Attack and Defence Modifiers

After the Order stats of the attacking and target units
are compared to find the base target number, we then
apply the Attack Modifier stat of the attacking unit, Final Target Numbers
and the Defence Modifier stat of the target unit. These Once the Attack and Defence modifiers are applied to
Attack and Defence Modifiers change the attacking the base target number, they produce the final target
unit’s target number for their attacks. numbers you see in the main ‘Target Number’ chart in
Important: do not apply these modifiers to the the Core Rules.
‘Target Number’ table in the Core Rules, I have You don’t need to know about those three stats,
already factored all these modifiers into that or do any of these calculations, as all of that is already
table. factored into the Target Number table in the core rules.
You just check the table and roll your dice. But now you
know why the table is the way it is!

TA RG E T NUM BE R CH A RT

Unit Attacking Unit Defending

Attack Light Ranged Heavy Mstr. Light Heavy
Unit Type Speed
Range Infantry Infantry Infantry Infantry Cavalry Cavalry
Chariot War Wagon Monster Beasts Artillery

Light Infantry 8 - 4+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 2+ 4+
Ranged Infantry 8 24” 6+ 5+ 6+ 6+ 5+ 6+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 3+
Heavy Infantry 6 - 4+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 2+ 4+
Monstrous Infantry 10 - 3+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 2+ 3+
Light Cavalry 14 8” 5+ 4+ 6+ 6+ 4+ 6+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
Heavy Cavalry 12 - 3+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 2+ 3+
Chariot 10 - 2+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
War Wagon 6 - 3+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 3+
Monster 10 - 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+
Beasts 12 - 5+ 4+ 6+ 6+ 4+ 6+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
Artillery - 48” 4+ 6+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 5+ 4+

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 60 Early Access
OTH E R COM M E NTS Movement & Engagement
ON TH E DE SIG N Hobgoblin allows units to shuffle around while they are
engaged. If you are used to rank and flank games in which
Deployment units are pinned in place once they engage, this might
Armies start quite close together in Hobgoblin: this is a surprise you. In my imagination, melees are dynamic
world of cramped tunnels and dimly-lit caverns after all, affairs, with men crushing forward and swirling around
but the truth is that this rule existed before the setting each other while their officers bark orders to outflank
did. As with many of the design decisions in this game, or hold ground. For this reason, units can shuffle about
my objective is to speed the game up–in this case by and pivot while engaged. You may find it results in some
removing a turn of pushing two armies towards each surprising situations, but I believe you will find that it
other. Some might notice this is a theme in games I ultimately results in more dynamic combats and more
design: I don’t care for the first turn in most games, so my interesting emergent tactical situations. It increases the
games cut right to the action. One impact of this is that it chance of interest in the movement phase even after the
reduces the window of opportunity for missile troops and main forces have engaged in the centre of the field.
artillery to do their thing and their relative points costs in
this game somewhat reflect that. Combat & Doom
A unit always rolls all their Attack Dice, even if it is
Initiative stacked with Doom Tokens. In Hobgoblin, units fight as
In a system in which you essentially activate your whole heroically (or viciously) at the start of the game as they do
army, “double turns” (situaions in which I move second just before they die or flee. This ensures the game stays
on turn n and then first on turn n+1) can be very powerful swift and exciting, and wounded units don’t become
in the early game, potentially leading to game-ending ineffective dead-weights on the tabletop.
alpha strikes or feelings of frustration due an extended
period of passiveness. However, I feel that having the Wait! Why don’t I get a saving throw?
opportunity for initiative to pass from player to player is You’ll notice everything in Hobgoblin is hustling the
more interesting than rolling once at the start of the game game forward with maximum speed and brutality. The
and then maintaining that player order for the whole effect of a saving throw is already calculated into the
game. target number for the attack rolls, and saving throws
The initiative system in Hobgoblin is an attempt to would introduce a bunch more dice rolling that would
navigate between those two extremes. My intent is for slow the game down. I’m particularly thoughtful about
the flow of the game to more predictably alternate in the any rule that forces play to pass between players, as every
early game, but get less predictable as the game goes on, hand-over moment adds precious time to the overall
representing the entropy of control as the battle descends game, increasing its length. In Hobgoblin you just gotta
into chaos. take your Doom: the game moves fast and everything will
be dead soon anyway.

Early Access 61 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
Shooting & Implacable missile fire at the start of a battle are a cinematic trope, so
this game contains an attempt to balance all that.
The caverns of the Rotvärlden are dim, and their ceilings
low. In Hobgoblin, missile weapons and artillery are
Magic
rarely the cause of units being removed. Their role is to
The casting of spells in Hobgoblin is a certainty. They
soften the enemy up before their brethren charge in to
always work, and there are no ways to nullify their effects
finish them off: to make combats more decisive, not to
completely; they may only be redirected. In gameplay
eliminate the need for them.
terms, this serves the design principle of ensuring that
Ultimately, shooting is kwind of boring in most
things (rather than nothings) happen at all points. The
games. Getting your big monster shot off early in the
game sucks. Castling armies don’t make for dynamic, question for the player becomes not ‘Will this spell

cinematic fantasy battles in my opinion. However, fantasy work?’, but ‘Which spell shall I cast?” I find the latter the

artillery is cool, ranged units are ubiquitous, and hails of more interesting question.

TH A NK S
Thanks to my friends Glenn Ford, John Brindley and Rufus Howard, for keeping me focused on these
design principles, and challenging me to make this game the best it can be. Thanks to Greg Horton and
Sean Sutter for their enthusiasm and encouragement (and their instant urge to paint massive fantasy
armies). Thanks to Greg and Stuart Warren for pushing me to tell stories (and teaching me how). Thanks
to David Hoobyar for helping me communicate the game more clearly, and for corralling the playtesters.
Thanks to CROM for his incredible and inspirational art. Thanks to everyone that has followed along
with the design process on our Rule Of Carnage channel on YouTube. Thanks to everyone that has helped
playtest the game from 2014 to now, and to everyone that backed this game on Kickstarter.
Finally, and most importantly: I thank YOU in advance for introducing Hobgoblin to a friend. I love
playing this game with my friends, that’s what I wrote it for, and I hope you and your friends have a blast
too. Let carnage rule!

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 62 Early Access
!

I NDE X OF K E Y WOR DS
KEY WORD RUL E S SUM M A RY PURCH A SI NG KE Y WORDS
• A unit may only have one copy of a given • You may purchase any number of Strength
keyword at any time. If some game effect keywords for a unit.
would result in a unit gaining a keyword that
• You may purchase up to two Weakness
they already have, the additional copy is simply
keywords for a unit, in addition to any
ignored, unless it is a numerical keyword.
Weakness keywords built into their unit type.
• Keyword [X]: Set the value of the keyword to You may not purchase a Weakness keyword
X, giving the unit this keyword if it doesn’t that duplicates a keyword the unit already has
already have it. built into its unit type.

• Keyword [+X]: If the unit already has the • You may only purchase each listed keyword
keyword, increase its value by X. Otherwise, once. The different versions of numerical
give the unit the keyword and set it to X. keywords such as Hero, count as different
listed keywords, so a unit may purchase (for
• If a unit is affected by multiple copies of a
example) both Ranged [+6] and Ranged [+12]
numerical keyword, apply the Keyword [X]
if they wish.
copies first, in an order of the unit owner’s
choosing, and then the Keyword [+X] copies • You may only purchase one Footprint keyword
second. for a unit, and it must be different to the listed
Footprint keyword of the unit’s unit type. It
• Keyword traits (e.g. Weakness or Character)
replaces the listed Footprint keyword.
don’t do anything inherently, but are referred
to by other rules. • You may not purchase Reserved keywords for
a unit.
• Keywords listed with the Reserved keyword
trait, such as Broken, may not be purchased • Artillery may only have the following
during army building. Reserved keywords may Weaknesses purchased for them: Self-
only be granted by other game rules. Destructive and Short-Ranged.

• If a unit is affected by multiple keywords, apply

Weakness keywords last. If there are still timing
issues, follow the Rule of Carnage.





Early Access 63 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
UNIT STATI STICS
Keyword
Unit Type Speed Range Strikes Courage Keywords Footprint
Cost x Points

Light Infantry 8 - 10 10 Wide 1 300

Ranged Infantry 8 24" 10 10 Ranged [24], Skirmishers Wide 1 300

Heavy Infantry 6 - 10 10 Tough [1] Wide 1 350

Monstrous Infantry 10 - 10 10 Wild Wide 2 400

Light Cavalry 14 8" 10 10 Nimble, Ranged [8], Skirmishers Wide 2 350

Heavy Cavalry 12 - 10 10 Devastating Charge Wide 2 450

Chariot 10 - 10 10 Fragile, Devastating Charge Narrow 1 350

War Wagon 6 - 10 10 Large Narrow 1 250

Monster 10 - 10 10 Large, Wild Narrow 2 600

Beasts 12 - 10 10 Nimble, Wild, Skirmishers Wide 1 200

Artillery - 48" 10 10 Ranged [48], Immobile, Fragile Narrow 2 350

K E Y WO R D COSTS
Keyword Keyword Keyword
Strength Strength Weakness
Cost Cost Cost
Battle Standard* 0 Large 25 Berserk -25

Bloodthirsty 50 Merciless 75 Cowardly -25

Brutal 125 Narrow Footprint 25 Cursed -50

Critical Hits 50 Nimble 75 Fragile -50

Deadly Shots 100 Quick Shot 25 Hollow -25

Despised 50 Ranged [+6] 50 Ravenous -25

Devastating Charge 50 Ranged [+12] 75 Self-Destructive -25

Elite 100 Shoot Into Combat 50 Short-Ranged -25

Fearless 50 Sneaky 50 Slow [+2] -25

Flying 100 Stubborn 50 Unruly -25

General* 0 Swift [+2] 50 Weak [+2] -25

Hero [+1] 50 Terrifying 50 Wide Footprint -50

Hero [+2] 100 Tough [+1] 75

Horde 100 Wizard 200

* The General and Battle Standard strengths may only be purchased for once each per army, and cost no points.
See below.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 64 Early Access
KE Y WORDS

Berserk Cowardly

Weakness. At the end of the Movement Phase, if Weakness. At the start of this unit’s movement
this unit is unengaged it gains D3 Doom Tokens activation, it must gain either Distracted or D3
unless it advanced at least 6” towards an enemy Doom Tokens.
unit it could see.

Critical H its
Broken
Streng th. When attacking in close combat, each
Weakness. Reserved. If a unit has the Broken of this unit’s attack dice that roll a 6 causes an
key word, it is removed from play during the additional hit.
Doom Phase, unless acted upon by another
game effect. If a unit with the Broken key word
ever has fewer Doom Tokens than its Courage, it
immediately loses the Broken key word. Cursed
Weakness. When attacking in close combat, this
unit must re-roll all its hits once.

Battle Standard
Streng th. Character. Reserved. This unit
contains the army’s Battle Standard. The unit Deadly Shots
with the Battle Standard key word gains the Streng th. When this unit makes a shooting
Command [+1] and Hero [+1] key words. attack, it may decrease its target number by 1,
to a minimum of 2.

Bloodth i rst y
Streng th. Whenever an enemy unit in base- Despised
contact becomes Broken, this unit discards D3 Streng th. This unit does not cause Panic.
Doom Tokens.

Brutal Devastati ng Charge

Streng th. When attacking in close combat, this Streng th. If this unit advanced 6” or more this
unit may re-roll any misses once. round, it may decrease its target number for
close combat attacks by 1, to a minimum of 2,
until the end of the round.

Com mand [x]

Streng th. Reserved. All friendly units increase
their Courage by x while within 8” of this unit. Distracted
Note: Units with the Command key word also Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not move
increase their Courage, as units are always in into contact with an enemy unit it didn’t start
range of themselves. that manoeuvre engaged with.

El ite
Cover
Streng th. When attacking in close combat,
Streng th. Reserved. When this unit is targeted this unit decreases its target number by 1, to a
with a shooting attack, the attacking unit minimum of 2.
increases its target number by 1, to a maximum
of 6.

If the line drawn from the centre point of the attacking Fearless
unit’s front edge to the centre of the target unit’s closest
Streng th. This unit ignores panic.
edge crosses Obscuring or Blocking terrain, then the
attacker considers the target to be in cover. When a unit
makes a shooting attack against a target it considers
to be in cover, the target unit gains the Cover keyword
for this attack only. Ignore any piece of terrain that
the attacking unit is touching for the purposes of
determining cover. Units do not provide cover.

Early Access 65 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
Flyi ng Merci less
Streng th. If this unit is unengaged and not Streng th. When an enemy unit attacks this
Distracted, it may use the Fly manoeuvre once unit in close combat, the attacking unit gains
during its movement activation. 1 Doom Token for each of their attack dice that
roll a 1.
Fly (6+): This unit may spend 6 or more
movement points to move directly forwards
2” for each movement point spent. During
this manoeuvre: the unit must move at least Narrow Footpri nt
12”; the unit may ignore other units and
Streng th. Footprint. Only unit ty pes listed
terrain; but may not end the manoeuvre
with the Wide Footprint key word may purchase
overlapping impassable terrain or other
this key word. This unit loses Wide Footprint
units. During this manoeuvre, and for
and must conform to the Narrow Footprint
the rest of this activation, the f lying
dimensions instead (see Unit Footprints).
unit must not end in contact with any
of the enemy units it ignored (i.e. they
can’t engage a unit they just f lew over).

Ni mble
Streng th. This unit may reform for 2 movement
Fragi le points.
Weakness. This unit becomes Broken when it has
a number of Doom Tokens equal to or greater
than half its Courage value, rounding up.
Outmaneuvered
Weakness. Reserved. This unit reduces its
Courage by 1 for each enemy unit in base-contact
General with this unit’s side edges, rear edge or rear
Strength. Character. Reserved. This unit contains corners. This unit may not assign more than 5
the army’s General. The unit with the General attack dice to an enemy unit that is touching one
keyword gains Command [+1] and Hero [+2]. of its side edges or rear corners. This unit may not
assign more than 3 attack dice to an enemy unit
that is touching its rear edge.

Hero [x]
Streng th. Character. This unit increases its Quick Fi re
Strikes stat by x.
Streng th. In the Shooting Phase, this unit
may make a shooting attack without gaining
Distracted. It may shoot in the Shooting Phase
Hol low and then engage the enemy in the Movement
Phase.
Weakness. When this unit is removed from play,
it does not provide Mercury Tokens or Fortune
cards.
Ranged [x]
Streng th. This unit’s Range stat is equal to x”.
Horde
Examples: A unit with Ranged [24] has a Range
Streng th. Footprint. Only unit ty pes with stat of 24”. A unit with Ranged [24] that gains
“Infantry” in their name may purchase this Ranged [+12] now has Ranged [36]. Ranged [36]
key word. This unit increases its Courage by 10. means the unit’s Range stat is now 36”.
The unit loses any Narrow Footprint and Wide
Footprint key words and must instead conform
to the Horde Footprint dimensions (see Unit
Footprints).
Ravenous
Weakness. Reserved. If this unit is engaged
with a Broken enemy unit, it gains Devour. In
I m mobi le the next Movement Phase, if there are one or
more enemy units within 8” of this unit, it loses
Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not be
Devour and may activate as normal. If there
activated in the Movement Phase.
are no enemy units within 8”, the unit may not
move, as it feasts on the dead, and then loses
Devour.

Large
Streng th. When this unit draws line of sight, or
when other units draw line of sight to this unit, Rei nforcements
and when establishing cover, inter vening units Streng th. Reserved. At the start of a movement
or terrain may be ignored unless they are Large phase, this unit may lose Reinforcements to be
or Elevated. deployed any where fully within its deployment
zone. If it does, it gains Distracted.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 66 Early Access
Self-Destructive Terrifyi ng

Weakness. When attacking, this unit gains 1 Streng th. When an enemy unit within 8” of this
Doom Token for each of its attack dice that rolls unit gains Doom Tokens from panic, they gain
a 1. 2 additional Doom Tokens. Each unit may only
suffer the effects of Terrifying once per Doom
Phase.

Shoot i nto Combat

Streng th. This unit may target engaged enemy
Tough [x]
units with shooting attacks. If it does, the
attacking player must distribute the hits as Streng th. When receiving Doom tokens from
equally as possible among the target unit and a close combat attack, this unit may ignore the
each other friendly or enemy unit engaged with first x Doom tokens received.
the target.

Un ruly

Short-Ranged Weakness. This unit may not benefit from the

Command key word.
Weakness. Only units with the Ranged key word
may purchase this key word. Halve the range of
this unit’s shooting attacks.

Weak [x]
Weakness. When attacking in close combat, this
Ski rm ishers unit reduces its Strikes stat by x.
Weakness. Reserved. When suffering hits from a
shooting attack, this unit does not ignore hits that
would result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom
Wide Footpri nt
Token. It gains one Doom Token for every hit received.
Weakness. Footprint. Only unit types listed with
Units with the Skirmishers keyword may ignore Rough
the Narrow Footprint keyword may purchase this
terrain.
keyword. This unit loses Narrow Footprint and
must conform to the Wide Footprint dimensions
instead (see Unit Footprints).

Slow [x]
Weakness. This unit reduces its Speed by x. Wi ld
Weakness. Reserved. During the Movement
Phase, this unit may not take any action that
would result in it gaining the Distracted
key word unless it also has a Character key word,
Sneaky or there is a friendly unit with a Character
key word within 4”.
Streng th. This unit may be set aside, rather than
deployed at the start of the game. At the end of
any of your movement phases, you may attempt
to deploy this set-aside unit: roll a D6. If the Wizard
result is higher than the current round number,
you may place this unit any where on the board Streng th. Character. This unit contains a
that is more than 8” from an enemy unit. The wizard and thus may cast spells (see Abyssal
placed unit gains Distracted until the end of the Sorcery).
round. If the unit with Sneaky is still out of play
at the end of the game, it counts as destroyed.

Stubborn
Streng th. This unit increases its Courage by 1
for each enemy unit it is engaged with.

Swift [x]
Streng th. This unit increases its Speed by x.

Early Access 67 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
TE RR A I N
KE Y WORDS

A rcane I mpassable
Terrain. At the start of the Magic Phase, each Terrain. Units may never move into, or be
unit with the Wizard key word that is touching placed on, Impassable terrain.
Arcane terrain gains an additional Mercury
Token.

Obscuri ng
Blocki ng Terrain. Obscuring terrain may provide units
with the Cover key word. See Cover.
Terrain. Line of sight cannot be drawn through
Blocking terrain.

Peri lous
Elevated Terrain. For each movement point a unit spends
moving into or through Perilous terrain, they
Terrain. A unit with more than 50% of its
suffer a single dice attack as if they were being
footprint touching Elevated terrain gains
attacked by a War Wagon unit.
Large.

Rough
Gri m
Terrain. A unit that moves into or through
Terrain. When a unit within 8” of a piece of Rough terrain must gain either 1 Doom
Grim terrain gains Doom Tokens from panic, or Distracted. Units with the Skirmishers
they gain 1 additional Doom Token. Each unit key word may ignore Rough terrain.
may only suffer the effects of Grim terrain once
per Doom Phase. Note: If a unit already has the Distracted
key word when they move through Rough
terrain, they can choose to gain Distracted
again, and they aren’t forced to gain the Doom.
The second copy of Distracted is simply ignored.

M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n 68 Early Access
Early Access 69 M i k e H u t c h i n s o n ’s H o b g o b l i n
QUICK
R E FE R E NCE
TM

BAT TL E ROUNDS
In each phase, the First Player activates each of their units once, in an order of their
choosing, then the Second Player does the same.

1 . I N ITI ATIVE PH A SE 6 . D O O M PH A SE :
Draw 1 Fortune Card. Seize the Initiative a. Panic: Units gain 1 Doom for each
by rolling higher than the current round friendly Broken unit within 8”.
number.
b. Death’s Harvest: Each player may
gain either 2 Mercury Tokens or
2 . M AG I C PH A SE
one Fortune Card for each of their
One Mercury token for each 1,000 points
Broken units.
and one for each wizard.
c. Remove Broken Units: Remove all
3 . SHO OTI NG PH A SE Broken units from play.
Ranged units may gain Distracted to
make a shooting attack. d. Who’s Next?: Any unit that was
engaged at the start of this Doom
4 . MOVE M E NT PH A SE Phase and is now unengaged may
Gain movement points equal to Speed make a free reform manoeuvre
and make manoeuvres.
e. Ready Units: Remove the Distracted
keyword from all units.
5 .CO M BAT PH A SE
Make combat attacks with each of their
engaged units, in any order.

UNIT STATI STICS

Keyword
Unit Type Speed Range Strikes Courage Keywords Footprint
Cost x Points

Light Infantry 8 - 10 10 Wide 1 300

Ranged Infantry 8 24" 10 10 Ranged [24], Skirmishers Wide 1 300

Heavy Infantry 6 - 10 10 Tough [1] Wide 1 350

Monstrous Infantry 10 - 10 10 Wild Wide 2 400

Light Cavalry 14 8" 10 10 Nimble, Ranged [8], Skirmishers Wide 2 350

Heavy Cavalry 12 - 10 10 Devastating Charge Wide 2 450

Chariot 10 - 10 10 Fragile, Devastating Charge Narrow 1 350

War Wagon 6 - 10 10 Large Narrow 1 250

Monster 10 - 10 10 Large, Wild Narrow 2 600

Beasts 12 - 10 10 Nimble, Wild, Skirmishers Wide 1 200

Artillery - 48" 10 10 Ranged [48], Immobile, Fragile Narrow 2 350

TA RG E T NUM BE R CH A RT

Unit Attacking Unit Defending

Attack Light Ranged Heavy Mstr. Light Heavy
Unit Type Speed
Range Infantry Infantry Infantry Infantry Cavalry Cavalry
Chariot War Wagon Monster Beasts Artillery

Light Infantry 8 - 4+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 2+ 4+
Ranged Infantry 8 24” 6+ 5+ 6+ 6+ 5+ 6+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 3+
Heavy Infantry 6 - 4+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 3+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 2+ 4+
Monstrous Infantry 10 - 3+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 2+ 3+
Light Cavalry 14 8” 5+ 4+ 6+ 6+ 4+ 6+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
Heavy Cavalry 12 - 3+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 2+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 2+ 3+
Chariot 10 - 2+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
War Wagon 6 - 3+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 3+
Monster 10 - 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+
Beasts 12 - 5+ 4+ 6+ 6+ 4+ 6+ 3+ 3+ 4+ 3+ 2+
Artillery - 48” 4+ 6+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 5+ 5+ 5+ 6+ 5+ 4+

Broken Devastati ng Charge Ranged [x]

Weakness. Reserved. If a unit has the Broken Streng th. If this unit advanced 6” or more this Streng th. This unit’s Range stat is equal to x”.
key word, it is removed from play during the round, it may decrease its target number for
Doom Phase, unless acted upon by another close combat attacks by 1, to a minimum of 2, Examples: A unit with Ranged [24] has a Range
game effect. If a unit with the Broken key word until the end of the round. stat of 24”. A unit with Ranged [24] that gains
ever has fewer Doom Tokens than its Courage, Ranged [+12] now has Ranged [36]. Ranged [36]
it immediately loses the Broken key word. means the unit’s Range stat is now 36”.

Fragi le
Weakness. This unit becomes Broken when it has
Com mand [x] a number of Doom Tokens equal to or greater Ski rm ishers
Streng th. Reserved. All friendly units increase than half its Courage value, rounding up.
Weakness. Reserved. When suffering hits from a
their Courage by x while within 8” of this unit. shooting attack, this unit does not ignore hits that
Note: Units with the Command key word also would result in it receiving a sixth or subsequent Doom
increase their Courage, as units are always in Token. It gains one Doom Token for every hit received.
range of themselves. I m mobi le
Units with the Skirmishers keyword may ignore Rough
Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not be
terrain.
activated in the Movement Phase.

Cover
Streng th. Reserved. When this unit is targeted
with a shooting attack, the attacking unit Large Tough [x]
increases its target number by 1, to a ma ximum
of 6. Streng th. When this unit draws line of sight, or Streng th. When receiving Doom tokens from a
when other units draw line of sight to this unit, close combat attack, this unit may ignore the
If the line drawn from the centre point of the attacking and when establishing cover, inter vening units f irst x Doom tokens received.
unit’s front edge to the centre of the target unit’s closest or terrain may be ignored unless they are Large
edge crosses Obscuring or Blocking terrain, then the or Elevated.
attacker considers the target to be in cover. When a unit
makes a shooting attack against a target it considers Wi ld
to be in cover, the target unit gains the Cover keyword Weakness. Reserved. During the Movement
Ni mble
for this attack only. Ignore any piece of terrain that Phase, this unit may not take any action that
the attacking unit is touching for the purposes of Streng th. This unit may reform for 2 movement would result in it gaining the Distracted
determining cover. Units do not provide cover. points. key word unless it also has a Character key word,
or there is a friendly unit with a Character
key word within 4”.

Distracted Outmaneuvered
Weakness. Reserved. This unit may not move Weakness. Reserved. This unit reduces its
into contact with an enemy unit it didn’t start Courage by 1 for each enemy unit in base-contact
that manoeuvre engaged with. with this unit’s side edges, rear edge or rear
corners. This unit may not assign more than 5
attack dice to an enemy unit that is touching one
of its side edges or rear corners. This unit may not
assign more than 3 attack dice to an enemy unit
that is touching its rear edge.