Weather In Combat Zone

June 12, 2019

Weather In Combat Zone

By René Raap

The weather dice sold by EM4 is quite a unique item.

I've never seen it at another shop. I couldn't resist it and so I ordered three, of which I gave one away and kept two for myself.

But what to do with it? You call roll it now and then, but without it determining something, this is quite pointless.

And unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have any effect on the weather outdoors...

Time to get the thinking cap on and come up with a weather table for Combat Zone. Depending on the weather activity you want, use only of the following rules:

Roll one weather die at the start of each turn and the weather will change accordingly. Warning: this will play havoc on the game and wouldn't be my cup of tea, but you may like it...
Roll two weather dice and if they come up with the same result the weather will change accordingly. This greatly reduces the chance of any changes in the weather.
Roll a weather dice and a d6/d8/any other kind of die and and simply agree with your opponent on the scores needed for the weather to change. If you want a 20% chance of the weather changing, just use a d10 and on a score of 1 or 2 the weather will change according to the weather die.

Now onto the results for the weather die:

combat zone desert combat

Sunshine - It's hot! The sun is terrorising everyone that's outside.

Miniatures move -1cm per movement action.
They may not use all of their actions to move, it is simply too exhausting.

Cloudy with some sun - As the birds whistle the clouds pass overhead blocking the sun now and then. A gentle breeze picks up and... well you get the drift, nothing out of the ordinary weatherwise.

Rain - A slight drizzle turns into a fierce downpour.

Line of sight is reduced to 30 centimeters.

Rain Battle Combat Zone Miniature Game

Snow - Suddenly it starts to snow and quickly everything is covered with a thick layer of crisp snow. It looks quite peacefull and makes people long for christmas.

But it's not all fun: because your miniatures have to be careful while moving over the now slippery surroundings.

All movement actions are at -2cm per movement action.

Fog - A thick fog envelopes everything and line of sight is reduced heavily.

Miniatures not using specialized equipment such as thermal scopes have their line of sight reduced to 15 centimetres.
Squad coherency is reduced by half.

Storm - Thunder and lightning! A storm passes over the area. As the sky brightens, the lightning strikes and hits the highest structure on the table.

If there is a miniature on the structure, it is struck by a single 3d6 blow.
Furthermore roll a d6: on a score of '6' the lightning has set the building on fire. Miniatures inside have to leave the building as fast as possible. No miniatures may enter it for the rest of the game.

If you and your opponent agree you can start the game with any of these weather types already in effect. You can also decide to play a game with any of these effects to be continuous. In this case, the following equipment might be worthwhile:

Equipment

Camelback - Rehydration is key to keep performing in a hot environment. Troopers equipped with a camelback can keep up the pace better than those without it and they may still spend all their actions on movement. (3 points)

Snow boots - Not sliding and slipping on the snow has it's benefits, but it has it's price as well. Models equipped with snow boots don't suffer the penalty from snow. (5 points)

Thermal scope - fitted with sophisticated heat sensors a thermal scope enables models to detect enemies that the naked eye can't see. Models equipped with a thermal scope don't suffer any penalties to their line of sight due to the weather. (8 points)

Combat Zone Miniature Game