Army morale

Army morale represents the will of an army to fight and how many casualties and setbacks a commander's forces will take and still believe that victory is possible. In many scenarios the winner is the first player to reduce the opposing side's army morale to 0 or less, or have the highest army morale level at the end of the game.

When playing a scenario that uses army morale each player's army is given a number of Morale points at the start of the game. Over the course of the game this number will change as units are destroyed and objectives are lost or captured.

If a player's army morale is reduced to 0 or a minus number, his army's will to fight has been eroded to such an extent that it can no longer undertake offensive actions. In most scenarios the battle ends at this point, it being assumed that the army disengages from the enemy. In exceptional circumstances the battle may continue.

Detachment morale value

Each detachment has a morale value worked out using the following formula:

So, for example, a detachment worth 200 points has a morale value of 4, a detachment worth 120 points has a morale value of 3 and so on.

Add up the morale values of all the detachments in your army. The total is your initial army morale value. Because detachment morale values are rounded up one army may have a slightly higher starting morale than another.

Army morale modifiers

Army morale is changed at the end of each Rally phase, after Blast markers have been removed and war engines have made repairs but before you check victory conditions to see who's won. The following things change your army's morale value:

1. If any of your own detachments have been reduced to half their starting Strength or less in the turn, or if a war engine detachment has been reduced to half its starting Damage Capacity or less you must subtract the detachment's morale value from your army morale.

   Morale (1): A detachment which started the game with 20 units is reduced to 10 units or less. In the Rally phase its detachment morale value is deducted from the army morale value.

   Morale (2): A war engine detachment of three Baneblades has a total Damage Capacity of 12 (4 DC each). The Baneblade detachment has its morale value deducted from the army morale value when it is reduced to a total Damage Capacity of 6 or less.

2. If an enemy war engine suffers a catastrophic damage result which destroys it (instead of just wrecking it) you add half the war engine's morale value to your own army morale value. This represents the morale-boosting effect the spectacular destruction of an enemy war engine has on the army! Note that this applies even to war engines which fight in detachments of two or more models, but you only add half the value of the individual war engine, not half the value of the detachment as a whole.
3. Each Blast marker which is still on your detachments reduces your army morale value by 1 point. If a detachment is wiped out during the turn all of the Blast markers on it at the time of its demise are deducted from the army's morale immediately!
4. Objectives modify your army morale value (see Objectives [morale effects of]). Note that the points for reducing a detachment to half strength may only be taken once each per detachment, on the turn that the detachment is reduced to half strength or below.

Players should note that this list of modifiers is not exhaustive and can be manipulated in many ways to show the differences between leaders or armies, particularly in a campaign environment. For example, an army which has lost against a foe time and again might have its starting morale reduced by a certain amount either at the start of the game or each turn, or conversely an army fighting for its life or being led by a legendary individual might have its effective morale increased. Particular units or objectives (see Objectives [morale effects of]) could have their morale values increased to represent their special importance and so on.

Objectives [morale effects of]

Objectives affect army morale levels as follows:

• Take & Hold: Each Take & Hold objective that you hold at the end of the turn adds D3 points to your army morale level. Note that you get D3 points per Take & Hold objective per turn.
• Rescue: If one of your units has the objective at the end of the turn then your army morale level goes up by 1 point, and the opposing army's morale level goes down by 1 point.
• Bunker: If you destroy the bunker then the enemy's army morale level immediately goes down by D6 points.
• Capture: If you destroy the bunker then the enemy's army morale level immediately goes down by D6 points.
• Cleanse: As long as you hold this objective you may add 1 point to your army morale value at the end of the turn.