Cluedo

CLUEDO CRUSADE

(or "Bloodbath at Tudor Court")

2) The third time a six is rolled, the situation changes somewhat: The forces of Chaos break through the fabric of space to destroy the Earth. Split-seconds later, time-shifted Starships lock on docking claws and elite Imperial Space Marines storm in.

Cluedo Crusade combines all the excitement of Waddington's Cluedo game with the intellectual challenge of MB's modern classic, Space Crusade. Both games are required for play.

i) FORCES Each player uses the figures from the Space Crusade game which correspond to the colour of his/her Detective (Cluedo piece); i.e.

ii) DEPLOYMENT Starting with the player who has just rolled 6, each player in turn deploys their force in the closest room to his/her Detective. (Space Marines' docking claws lock on through the windows/walls; Chaos creatures enter directly from Warp Space.) Not all of a players force need be deployed at this stage. Some may be retained and brought on (into the same room) during a later move. Forces may not be brought on into a room which is already occupied by another players forces. They arrive in the closest available room. To calculate proximity, count in a direct line to any wall of the room. The positions of doors are not significant for reasons which may become apparent. If two or more rooms are equally close, the player chooses between. The newly arrived forces can not attack or move during deployment, due to disorientation. Detectives can move and/or make Suggestions as usual, but they may want to run for cover instead.

iii) MOVEMENT Detectives move as in Basic Cluedo. Marines and Chaos creatures move as in Space Crusade, with the following exceptions: Rooms count as one square for movement, but any piece must stop when it enters a room. Only Detectives and Gretchin may use the secret passages. Others are too large and/or stupid.

iv) SUGGESTIONS To make a Suggestion the Detective must, as usual, be in (or on the site of) the appropriate room. However, the servants having wisely fled, the Detective has to fetch the Weapon personally. The Suspects no longer have the decency, or even politeness, to turn up to answer any Suggestion but their presence is not needed.

v) WEAPONS Detectives may carry one of the Basic Cluedo Weapons at a time (but only after Chaos and the Marines have arrived - before that only servants carry them). Detectives may not carry or use any Heavy Weapons, Bolters, etc. Detectives may snatch away a Weapon from another Detective if they are in the same room, or in an adjacent square in a corridor (i.e., at the start or end of a move in rooms, or any time in corridors). Marines and Chaos creatures cannot carry or use any of the Basic Cluedo Weapons, as they do not recognise them as weapons. All of the Weapons are worth 1 White Die in hand-to-hand combat. (Exception: the Rope is worth 2 Red Dice in hand-to-hand combat with the Dreadnought.) Only the Revolver is effective at a distance: It is worth 1 White Die at any one target in line of fire.

vi) DETECTIVES Detectives have no armour and only 1 Life Point. They roll 1 White Die in hand-to-hand combat, but can inflict no damage unless armed with a Weapon.

vii) DOORWAYS Heavy Weapons can be used to create new doorways. (This is especially important to The Dreadnought). If a Heavy Weapon inflicts damage on an interior wall (1 or more damage), then a doorway-sized hole is created. The firing player must place a door marker appropriately. (These doorways are, of course, open - doors merely denote position). The wall absorbs any remaining force of the blast, however, so targets behind the wall are not damaged. Note that Missile Launchers will often blow holes in walls as a side effect of their normal use; Plasma Guns will almost always do so; Assault Cannons won't unless used expressly for that purpose.

Pieces in the middle of a room can only be attacked by pieces in the same room, or fired upon by pieces directly outside a doorway. Pieces in the middle of a room cannot attack targets outside it.

In a doorway, pieces may block entrance/exit of other pieces, they may block line of fire, and they may attack/fire at targets outside the room as usual. However, they may be attacked/fired at by enemies outside the room.

ix) COMBAT Combat is conducted as in normal Space Crusade rules, but with the additions noted above and the following exceptions.

To attack a piece in the middle of a room hand-to-hand, the attacker must also be in the middle of that room. If the defender has more than one piece there, he may choose which one engages the attacker. To fire on a piece in the middle of a room, the attacker must be either in the middle of the room, in a doorway, or just outside a doorway and have line of sight. Again, the defender may choose which of his pieces is hit (before results are determined).

Missile Launchers inflict their major damage on pieces in the middle of rooms they hit, and their minor damage on pieces in the doorways. Plasma Guns hit only one target in the middle of rooms, but they may hit pieces in the doorways in addition. Assault Cannons can hit multiple targets in rooms. The attacker shares the damage between each defending player in the room, and they distribute it amongst their pieces in the room.

x) COLLAPSE If all the interior walls of a certain room are destroyed, the ceiling of that room collapses. All pieces in the room separately take 1 Red Die of damage (armour protects against this). The door markers are laid on their sides into the room to indicate that it is reduced to rubble (see below). If so many walls are blasted that there are not enough door markers left to mark the latest hole, then the whole of the building falls. All pieces inside take 2 Red Dice of damage (armour protects). All door markers are laid on their sides to indicate the rubble.

xi) RUBBLE Movement over/into collapsed areas is hampered by rubble. Each such square or room costs 2 movement points to enter. Note that, when Tudor Court is reduced to rubble, the remains of the central staircase still block line of fire.

xii) INFORMATION In addition to the normal Suggestions, information may be gathered in other ways. If a Detective kills another, the killer may gain the Clue Cards of the victim. However, if any other Detectives are in the same room (or in an adjacent square if the victim is killed in the corridor) the victim chooses which of them gets the Cards. If a Detective is killed in any other manner, then their Clue Cards are discarded - and seen by no-one. Note that a Detective shot with the Revolver gives up his Clue Cards in the usual way, but the killer will not get them unless the shot was from point-blank range. When a Detective is killed, that player may no longer make any Suggestions or Accusation.

xiii) OBJECTIVE As for Basic Cluedo, the object of the game is to make the correct Accusation concerning the circumstances of Dr. Black's murder. Remember that the Detective must be in the relevant room for the Accusation to be made. If no-one survives to make the correct Accusation, then the player whose Detective was the murderer is the winner.

STRATEGY TIPS Remember that killing other Detectives may waste their knowledge. Do not kill other Detectives unless you will get their Clue Cards, or the player looks so smug that you are sure he/she is about to make the Accusation. Do not even kill a Detective just because you have seen all his/her cards, as the player won't be your friend anymore. If you discover that you are the murderer, try to kill the other Detectives - but make it look like an accident. In rooms, place guards in the doorways to block other Detectives from entering and keep a minder by you at all times. In corridors, get into a room as soon as possible. Get a weapon as soon as possible - preferably the Revolver. If you are Mrs. White, get the Rope. If you are Rev. Green, don't deploy all your Orks in one lump - a single blast from a Missile Launcher could fry the lot. If you are Prof. Plum, try to prevent the others from realizing your advantage (Marines AND Genestealers?) and ganging up on you. If you are Miss Scarlett, leave those hunky Marines alone till later. If you are Mrs Peacock, leave those hunky Marines alone. If you are Col. Mustard, persuade the others to play Advanced Cluedo Crusade instead, so that you can use your Suspensors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This writer would like to thank Waddingtons and MB for producing two totally excellent games, without which this one could not exist. Credits also go to the inventors of "Murder", a Cluedo variant, and "Awful Green Cluedo", the first Cluedo hybrid. He would also like to thank Faradin, Gondy and Drahena for the time he spent locked in a broom cupboard with them, but he should probably keep quiet about that.

[The above was first published in the fanzine "Imagination", and is reproduced here without permission (ok Brooksie, sue me...)]