Force 0f Virtue - Playing The Game

Playing The Game-The Four Virtues

Most fighters in the Eternal City sign on for the gold and the easy living, not to face danger, and
have no stake in the outcome in the fights into which they are sent. It is those who possess Virtue
who have the strength of will to keep the others on the field and risk their lives in pursuit of the
objective. Without them, the others will melt away and make excuses to cover their cowardice.

In Force of Virtue it’s not just about what orders your leaders give, but how your leaders give them.
Like in real life, your leaders have personalities with strengths and weaknesses, modelled through the
types of Virtue you give them.

Virtue is both your force’s morale and the currency with which its actions are made. It represents the
force of your Capo’s personality, their strengths and weaknesses, and their ability to command troops.
If your models run out of Virtue they will flee and disappear from the battlefield (see page 29).

The outcome of an action may hinge on the Virtue that was used to make it; each Virtue can lead to
heroic deeds, but also hides its own Vice. Choosing the correct Virtue for each action is a key part of
a shrewd commander’s strategy.

Each card shows a number next to each Virtue, indicating how many Virtue dice of that type it
possesses.

Niccolo Machiavelli
Your Soldiers will only get more difficult to command as their morale
is shaken. Be careful how you manage your virtue, or you might end
up with no usable virtue after a crossbow volley and unable to defend
yourself from an imminent charge. Likewise if you see your opponent
is low on Virtue, Burning a few more points of their virtue might force
them to rally instead of pressing the attack. If you lose further virtue to
the degree you have none left your troops will begin to flee and you will
quickly lose the battle.
0021
 Force 0f Virtue - Playing The Game

Making A Virtue Roll

The Virtue roll is one of the most important elements of the game. This is when you spend Virtue
points (see below) in order to roll Virtue dice. These are the special coloured dice with the Virtue
symbols on them from the starter set. Depending on what the roll is for there may or may not be a
critical effect. A Virtue roll has multiple steps to it:

1. Choose Which Virtue To Spend

Choose one or multiple fresh Virtue points from your leader’s Virtue pool. (See below for definition
of fresh Virtue)

2. Roll The Dice

For each point of Virtue chosen, roll a Virtue dice of the corresponding Virtue.

3. Choose The Result

Pick a single dice result to apply. Note: when multiple critical dice results are rolled you still only
select one.

4. Apply Critical Effects

Any dice that scored an unmodified 1 are critical fails, and any dice that scored an unmodified 6
are critical successes. If the action has a Critical Effect Table, these criticals are applied at this step;
otherwise, they have no effect.

Example: Sam chooses to use 4 dice for a Virtue roll, 2 Speed, a Fortitude and a Prudence. In order to get a
critical fail result he would have to roll four 1s so he has no other result to choose. He rolls his dice, he rolls a
critical fail on the Prudence dice, a normal success on a Speed and one Speed critical success and one critical
success with the Fortitude dice. Sam can safely ignore the critical fail, but must choose which critical success to
apply, as he cannot apply both.

Fresh Virtue Burnt Virtue tokens are not returned to you

At the beginning of the game all the Virtue at the beginning of the next Round and can
tokens on your cards are considered “fresh”, only be regained through Rally actions (see
meaning it can be spent. To indicate that page 40). To indicate that a Virtue token is
Virtue points are fresh, place the tokens face Burnt, flip it face down on your card.
up on your card.
Panic (Negative Virtue)
Spending Virtue It is possible for your Capo to enter negative
Choose one or more fresh Virtue to spend. values of Virtue. To represent this negative
You can then use the corresponding Virtue value, place a “Panic” token on the card. For
dice for your action. Spent Virtue tokens every success on a Rally roll remove a Panic
are automatically returned to the card at the token. You cannot regain any Virtue points
beginning of the next Round and considered to use until you have removed all panic
“fresh”. To indicate that Virtue points are tokens.
spent, place them next to the Virtue Card.
Managing your Virtue tokens
Burning Virtue You will need Virtue tokens in order to keep
As your party begins to take damage this will track of which Virtues your capo has spent,
“Burn” your Capo’s Virtue. which are fresh, and which are burnt.
Fresh Virtue tokens are always burnt first.

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 Force 0f Virtue - Cards

Cards
Card Types
Everything you do in Force of Virtue is based around the cards you bring to a game. These cards
represent the wealth, knowledge, experience and strategic advantages that belong to your group of
mercenaries. As you play more games and win great victories your mercenary party will win more
cards. The types of cards are the following.

Logistics
Logistics cards have weapons, armour,
equipment and fighting men on them. If it
bleeds or can get broken then it’s in here. The
amount of logistics cards signifies the wealth
and material holdings of your mercenary
company.

Honour
Honour cards represent special training,
natural heroism, or other such methods
of bending the tides of fortune for your
company. Use them to represent your
mercenary company’s chosen method of
waging war.

Strategic
Strategic cards give strategic advantages
in deployment, command and leadership
of your men. Strategic cards are the more
intangible advantages gained through
superior generalship and positioning.

Intrigue
Intrigue cards contain secrets and
treacherous acts as well as allies and
knowledge gained through spies. There are
many underhanded ways of gaining victory
and intrigue cards allow you to bring them to
the tabletop.

Virtue
Virtue cards represent training, morale,
and general ability to fight. They provide
the points of Virtue that you will need to
command and control your troops, any
commander you wish to use will need at least
one of these to be able to command troops .
0023
 Force 0f Virtue - Cards

How To Read a Card:

Honour, Strategic and Intrigue
What type of card it is

Whether the card begins Brief explanation of when

the game hidden or visible the card should be played

Whether the card is

attached to anoyther card,
affecting all of its models,
or discarded after use The name of the card
How long the effect of the
card lasts, whether it affects
one action, one round or
the whole game The card test explains what
the card does and gives a
more detailed explanation
of when the card can be
played

Hidden The card begins the game hidden in your hand. when you wish to
play it, reveal it and resolve the effects.

Visible The card begins the game visible and open, your opponent can
see it and ask to view it at any time.

Discard This card is one time use only, in order to gain its’ effect discard
it from your hand. The effect lasts as long as specified on the
card. However it remains in your deck and can be used in future
campaign games.

Attach This card is attached to another card, affecting all of that card’s
models.

One Action This card only affects One Action, all the models in that Action
are affected. See page 30 for more details

One Round This card’s effect only lasts one Round, the card text will say
which models it affects. See page 29 for more details

Whole Game This card’s effect lasts the whole game. the card text will say
which models it affects 24
 Force 0f Virtue - Cards

How To Read a Card:Logistics

Faith You can only use as much virtue on
a model per turn as it has faith.
Example:A model with two Actions
and three Faith can be activated up
to two times. The player can choose to
activate once with two Virtue dice
and once with one Virtue dice. They
could also choose to activate the model
once with three Virtue dice, thus
reaching the Faith limit in one Action
and forgoing future Actions that use
Virtue.

Actions A card can only be activated a

number of times equal to their
Action limit.

To Hit What a model needs to roll against

to hit an enemy model: see page 37

Armour What a model needs to roll to

avoid damage: See page 38

Wound What a model needs to roll to

survive when their armour fails: See
page 38

Command The distance within which a Capo

can command troops
Range

Equipment
Some logistics cards either replace or start with certain
weapons or armour. In order to change the equipment on a
model, simply attach a new Equipment card to the Troop or
Capo card.
Eg. If you want a group of crossbowmen, attach a Ranged
Weapons card to a Mercenaries card. Voila, you can bring
your crossbow-armed models to your next game!

Generally speaking, a model can only be armed with one

weapon at a time, no pocket halberds to go with your
crossbowmen!

Not all models on a mercenary card need to have the same

equipment. For example if a mercenary card has the choice
0025 00 between halberds and pikes 2 of the models could be
equipped with pikes and one with a halberd.
 Force 0f Virtue - Cards

Managing Your Cards

Lay out your cards by the side of the board at the beginning of the game with all of their attached
cards laying partly on the edge of the card it is attached to. Lay any cards played that influence other
cards (e.g.Strategic or Intrigue) next to the card they are influencing for the duration of their effect.

26
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Terminology and Basics

Basics: Rolling Dice:

Measuring Criticals
You will need to measure distances for many Critical hits are an important element in
different things in Force of Virtue, mostly Force of Virtue. Critical successes are only
between models for things like weapon on unmodified rolls of 6 and critical failures
ranges or movement. Unless otherwise are only on unmodified rolls of 1.
specified this is “measuring base-to-base”, These will often have special effects, read
meaning measuring from the edge of one the section on Virtue (pg. 21) for more
model’s base to the other. information. But regardless of modifiers a
Non Standard Bases 6 always counts as a success and a 1 always
If a player has bases that are larger or smaller counts as a failure.
than 25mm then we suggest measuring from
one model’s head to the other. and adding 1” Re-rolls
to the standard measurements.
Often you will have the opportunity to
Base-to-Base re-roll some or all of your dice. Simply pick
them up and roll them again! However, you
The rules will sometimes reference models must abide by the new result, even if it is
being in Base-to-Base contact. This means worse than the initial roll.
that the bases of the models are touching. If
you have non standard bases then this means D6 vs D3
that the models are 1” away measuring from
head to head. Sometimes the rules will use the abbreviation
D6. This means a standard, 6-sided die. They
are exactly the same.

Sometimes the rules will call for a D3. This

is when you roll a 6 sided die and divide the
result by 2. This means a result of 1 or 2 is a
1, a result of 3 or 4 is a 2 and a result of 5-6
is three.

Checks
Often you will be required to roll a check,
the check is against a characteristic defined
on a card or a given value.
In a check you are trying to roll equal or
more than the value of the characteristic or
value. This is often abbreviated with a + sign,
for example 4+ is a roll of 4 or more for a
success. If you have a bonus or penalty, this is
added to your roll too and the final result is
0027 compared to your target.
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Game Structure

Choosing a Scenario
A scenario in Force of Virtue will provide you with some elements to weave your own story into the
game such as objectives and characters, however if you want to jump right in to check out the rules
then see pages 46, or our Website for some premade scenarios for your first few games. Afterwards,
try out the scenario generation system on page 49.

Objectives
Force of Virtue will always have an objective that one or both parties are trying to achieve. This
could be anything from moving a cannon into a place to stealing an occult grimoire depending on
the player’s tastes. Objectives can either be a single known objective, multiple objectives or a single
hidden objective. For specific rules on building objectives and scenarios see page 49.

Victory and Defeat

It is through victory that your fame and fortune will grow. In Force of Virtue you are always fighting
over an objective or objectives. While beating the enemy into a bloody pulp is a noble and chivalrous
endeavour for a commander it is not the only way to victory, a wise captain will always keep his eye
on the thing that brought him to the fight in the first place. The game ends under the following
circumstances:

One player accomplishes the Objective of the scenario

One player begins their turn with no model with unburnt Virtue on the table or playable
via a card.

One player decides to “Sound the Retreat” and withdraw

Once the objective is complete the mission immediately ends as the mercenary captains retreat their
forces to conserve their strength. After all there is no extra pay for sticking around, and the loser
needs to start figuring out their excuses and consulting their contract.

28
Models painted by: Axia Painting Studio
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Playing a Round
Games of Force of Virtue are split into “Rounds”, during a round players alternate taking turns until
both players Pass and the round is over and a new round begins.

The First Round of the Game

Deploy your troops as per the scenario rules. Apply any cards with the “Deployment” or “Pre-
Deployment” tag on them. Unless otherwise affected by a card every model begins with full Actions
and Faith and all their Virtue points are Fresh.
The player with the first turn is defined by the scenario rules.

Player Turns
During a player’s turn they have three things they can choose to do.

Take one Action with a Capo

Pass
Sound the Retreat
Afterwards it is then the opponent’s turn.

Actions
The possible Actions you can take with your Capos are:

Move- Order models to move around the table

Shoot- Order models with loaded weapons to shoot
Reload- Order models with unloaded weapons to reload them
Fight- Order models to fight in melee
Rally- Try to regain Burnt Virtue on a Capo
Interact - Interact with an objective or character

Passing
You may choose to pass, once you pass you cannot take any more Actions this round, you may
however still play cards. If you are the first to pass, you may take first Action next round.

Sound the Retreat

If the battle is not going well you may choose to “Sound the Retreat”. Treat this action like passing,
however at the end of the round all your models are removed and count as having Fled.
Any unachieved objectives on the board count as having been achieved by the opponent.

Ending the Round

The round is over when both players have passed

Check for Fleeing Models

If after the end of the round a model is not within command range of a model with unburnt virtue,
the model is removed from the table, but does not count as dead.

Starting the new Round

The player that passed first in the previous round gets first turn in the new round. All models are
0029 restored to full actions and Faith and all spent Virtue points are returned to Fresh.
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Actions
Taking an Activation
To make an Action go through the following sequence:

1. Choose a Capo with Actions left

2. Choose an Action to take
3. Choose which models you want to be part of that Action. (Remember, a model must be
within the Command Range of the Capo to be eligible to participate in the action.)
4. Decide which and how many Virtue you want to use
5. Resolve the Action
Once you finish your Action, it’s your opponent’s turn and they go through the same process.

Example: Sam uses a banner to activate three mercenaries to make a move action. Sam chooses not to
activate two other mercenaries and a knight within command range as he wants to move them in a different
direction. He uses one Speed and a Fortitude.

Designers Note - Some things to remember

If a Model has a Command Range of 0, they can only activate themselves.
All Models activated must do the same Action in an identical manner.
The Actions Move, Fight and Shoot have Critical Results Based on the Virtues,
Reload, Rally, Interact do not.

A Model’s Actions
Actions represent a model’s physical endurance and speed.
A model’s Actions value on a card tells you how many Actions that model can be included in during
a Round. A Capo ordering other models to do an Action does not count as having spent an Action
unless they have also done the Action themselves. ie. moved, shot, reloaded.

A Model’s Faith
Faith represents a model’s mental focus and concentration.
Faith tells you how many Virtue that model can use over the course of a Round.

Example A:
Giulia has a group of 3 Mercenaries with crossbows, and a knight. The mercenaries have 2 actions and 3
Faith and the knight has 3 Actions and 4 Faith.
Round 1
On her turn she makes a move action with her knight and her 3 mercenaries using 2 Virtue Dice. On her
next Turn she can only move the mercenaries with 1 Virtue dice as they only have a Faith value of 3. Her
Knight however still has 1 action and 1 Faith left.
Round 2
Giulia orders a Shoot Action with her three Crossbows with 3 Virtue dice using her knight. They cannot
reload this round as they have used up all their Faith, even if they still have an unused action. Her Knight
still has all it’s actions and Faith remaining as it did not actually take part in the Shoot Action.
Round 3
Giulia’s opponent has first turn and kills Giulia’s knight with a lucky shot. The crossbowmen have no Virtue
of their own so they are not able to take any actions and will Flee at the end of the round. 30
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Movement Actions

Declare you are doing a Move Action. Select Movement and Fighting
the Capo you wish to make the Action with
and any models you wish to include in the Movement is, of course, very important for
Action. Then how many of which Virtue getting to grips with the enemy. Even if you
Points you are using for the Action. All do not reach them, you will still be able to
models in the movement must end fight if the enemy counter-charge you. After
within the command range of the Capo you reach the enemy, you will need to declare
initiating the move. a Fight Action on your next Turn in order to
strike.
Rolling for Movement
If you declare a Fight Action or a Fight
To see how far each of the models can move Action is declared against you, if those
during this action, make a Virtue Roll. Treat models’ previous action was a movement
the highest scoring die as a D3, then add action, you may use the same Virtue, Faith,
3 to the result to see how far each of the and Action from the previous Movement
models can move. This is summarised in the for the Fight Action at no further Faith or
Movement Table below action cost , even if the movement action
was in a previous round. You may however
choose to add more Virtue to the action at
normal cost.

Example: Jean’s Banner orders a group of 6

halberdiers forward with 3 Audacity, rolling
a 2, 3 and a 4. Jean’s halberdiers move 5”
into base-to-base contact with Sam’s line of
swordsmen, ending the Movement Action. On
their Action, Sam declares a Fight Action with
his Capo with 2 Prudence. In the ensuing Fight,
Jean can use their 3 Audacity dice and Sam with
his 2 Prudence dice. With a shout the halberdiers
charge home against the line of steely eyed
mercenaries, blood will surely be spilled!
Control Zone
Difficult Terrain
Every Model is considered to have a 1” and Obstacles
Control Zone, meaning an enemy model
cannot move within 1” of that enemy model See the Terrain Rules on Page 41 for rules
without making a fight action or moving in on difficult terrain and falling. See Optional
Base-to-Base combat. A model is no longer rules on Page 57 for alternative movement
considered to have a Control Zone if an rates, dangerous terrain, Swimming and
enemy is in Base-to-Base contact. Climbing.

0031
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Movement Crit Table

Critical Fail Critical Success

GAIN 1 FREE DEFENCE

MOVE AWAY FROM DICE until these Models are
the nearest Enemy Unit Activated again

The most prudent advance is a brisk retreat Good use of cover and timing masks your troops

Prudence

YOU MUST BURN A VIRTUE MOVE ADDITIONAL 3”

Exhaustion and disorganisation are the fruits Swift manoeuvring has won many a battle
of overhaste

Speed
At the end of this Capo’s Move,
MOVE DIRECTLY TOWARDS any enemy Capo within 6” must
the nearest Enemy Unit roll a D6 for all Unburt Virtue and
Burn a Virtue for every result of 1

Over aggression leads to ill advised charges A wild charge has been known to shatter an
enemy before blows even fall
Audacity

The fortitudo Virtue is not spent,

MOVE ONLY 1” and does not take up a Faith slot

Sometimes a stoic stand is more foolish than Ordered ranks march forword relentlessly
impressive

Fortitude
32
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Shoot Actions
Select models that you wish to activate then Models that are obstructed by cover receive a
select which Virtues you want to shoot defence die.
with. Remember to account for Faith, if you When rolling for defence against incoming
moved previously you will not be able to fire you roll a single die against the To
shoot as effectively! Hit Value on the shooting models card. A
success cancels a Hit on the shooting model.
Targeting A critical success on a To Hit dice by the
All models activated must target the nearest opponent can only be cancelled by a critical
unobscured enemy model, which is in line success on a defence die.
of sight. You cannot shoot at an enemy
in base-to-base contact with a friendly Rolling to Hit
model, including the model shooting. You Once you have your shooters, targets and
also cannot shoot at an enemy obscured Virtue selected, you can start rolling to hit.
by a friendly model or if the line of the Roll model by model with one die for each
shot passes over the friendly model’s base, Virtue you spent and pick the best result
unless you are in base-to-base contact with from each roll. Consult the model’s card
that friendly model. (Base-to-base contact or the card which equips it with a ranged
represents shooting over a friendly model’s weapon to check the weapon’s accuracy
shoulder.) rating. In most cases this will be a 4+ roll.
Roll the amount of Virtue dice specified for
If there is less than 1” difference between
2 models the targeted player may choose
which model is targeted.

Determining Line Of Sight

To determine line of sight try and get down
to see from the models viewpoint if the
model could see the other miniature from
where they are placed, you can also use your
phone’s camera to take a photo from the
models perspective. If a model’s torso or
head is visible from this perspective then it
can be targeted. A pike shaft or raised sword
does not count as line of sight for a shoot
action. Alternatively you can use a piece of
string and pull it from the head of the model
shooting to the model being targeted, if the
string makes an unbroken line the model has
line of sight to the target.

Cover and obstacles

If line of sight to a model’s head or torso
are obstructed by terrain or another model
by 50% then the model counts as being
obstructed.
Signorelli - Martyrdom of St Sebastian, città di castello
0033
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Shoot Actions (continued)

each model shooting and select the result Wound Rolls
you wish to use. The strike has hit, the armour pierced or
bypassed, now it is time to see the strength
Example - Jean is shooting at a group of Sam’s of the blow and the will of the fighter.
models with three gunners. The nearest model For most models, a die result of 5+ the
in the group is a pikeman so Jean must target defending model shrugs off the wound and
the pikeman first. Jean decides to roll with may continue, however the Virtue lost from
one Prudence dice and two Fortitude. A truly failing the armour save remains Burnt. The
considered and well-aimed shot that takes up player rolling the wound save may choose to
all his gunner’s Faith. He rolls crit fails on the Burn an additional Virtue to reroll the dice
two Fortitude and a crit success with Prudence. result, the model making a heroic effort to
As Prudence allows the shooter to pick his target fight through the injury.
Jean decides that he wants his shot to be directed
at the knight behind the pikeman instead. As Example: In the prior example Sam’s knight
the knight is obscured, he gets a free defence die. was hit by Jean’s gunner. Sam’s knight has an
Sam rolls 5 on his defence dice, a good roll but armour value of 2+, JJean’s arquebus increases
not enough to defend against a crit success on the the difficulty of the knight’s armour save by +2,
to hit roll. meaning Sam needs to roll a 4 or above to save
his knight. Sam rolls a 2, failing his armour save
Armour Saves and Burning a Virtue from the knight. Sam
For every hit caused, the targeted fighter rolls a 3 for his wound save meaning he fails.
must roll an armour save with a singular die, Sam decides to burn a Virtue from a banner
if the result is equal to or higher than the within 6 inches (the banner’s command range)
armour value the fighter is safe. If the result in order to reroll the wound roll and not lose
is lower, then you must roll the model’s his valuable knight. He rerolls and gets a 5, the
Wound save AND immediately Burn a sight of the banner swaying in the wind exerts
Virtue from a Capo within command range. him to fresh vigour. Blood streaming from his
On a critical success the model survives armour he vows to kill those jumped up peasants
regardless of modifiers or armour value, on a with their guns. However the well aimed shot
critical fail the armour is pierced regardless has forced Sam to Burn two Virtue. The sight of
of modifiers. Sam’s knight doggedly pushing forward while
leaving a trail of blood may be heroic, but does
not inspire confidence from his more lightly
armoured comrades.

34
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Shooting Crit Table

Critical Fail Critical Success

An Enemy Capo within Command You may change target to any

Range of the target may Rally 1 Model within line of sight and max
Virtue range of shooting Model

A shot made so poorly it elicits laughter is a A prudent eye can look beyond the threats to
better morale boost than a still loaded gun men of Virtue, targets that can change the

Prudence
course of the battle

Resolve Shooting Attack on a MOVE shooting Model 3”

Friendly Model within 3”

Excessive haste causes fumbled triggers, matches, A quick shot allows sustained movement,
and sometimes dead comrades potentially out of the enemy’s line of fire

Speed

In addition to your hit, you may

YOU MUST BURN A VIRTUE roll another dice, on a 4+ your
opponent must Burn a Virtue

When the enemy pays no heed to insults and Audacious troops lay down effective fire and
incoming fire, it sparks fear like wildfire effective insults in equal measure

Audacity

Immediatly gain an additional +1 to difficulty of opponents

Reload Token for the card this Armour Save
Model belongs to

“ You won’t be shooting three rounds a minute A calm, unfazed mind best finds the gaps
in weather like that!” between armour

Fortitude
0035
Reloading Actions

Reloading
Some weapons like crossbows and handguns Example: Sam has his card of heavy crossbows
need to be reloaded after shooting, how long shoot with 1 Speed. His opponent moves some
it takes will be specified on the card. After pikes closer to them. Sam activates his heavy
firing, place a die or a number of tokens next crossbows again. Heavy Crossbows have a reload
to them equal to the reload value on the card, of 2. Sam activates his heavy crossbowmen to
they may not fire until the reload value has reload for their second action. Heavy crossbows
reached 0. require 2 Reload points. He chooses two Prudence.
He rolls a 2 and a critical success and therefore
removes both reload tokens. The crossbows are now
To reload make a Virtue roll on the reloaded, however they have used both of their
following table: actions and all three of their Faith.

Der Weisskunig 30 Detail Landsknecht 36

 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Fight Actions
Fight Actions are made in 5 steps. must have the same distribution of dice.
Attack dice are later used to roll to hit
1. Declare a Fight Action whereas Defense dice are rolled to cancel
2. Opponent may Declare a your opponent’s hits.
Fight Reaction
3. Divide Virtue between attack and Targeting
defence dice. A model must target the closest untargeted
4. Decide targets of attacks and model and attacks must be divided as equally
sequence of attacks then roll dice. as possible over the models in the combat.
5. Resolve hits and wounds
Who Hits First and Reach
Declaring a Fight Action Some weapons, such as pikes, have extra
• Select which Capo you are activating for reach. These longer weapons can target the
the Action opponent before the opponent can come to
• which models are included in the Action grips, and soldiers wielding them can also
• Select the Virtue dice you are planning strike from behind their comrades. Ranges
to use come in 2”, 1” and 0. You must target the
• Determine which enemy models are closest enemy model, but you may choose
being targeted by which of your models. from among several if they are the same
distance away. The model with the longer
Fight Reactions weapon may roll to hit first. Immediately
Whenever a model is targeted by a Fight resolve the hit, if the model being attacked
Action, the controlling player has the option is activated and still alive, they may then
of declaring a Fight Reaction. A fight resolve their attack.
Reaction is handled just like a normal fight
Action and has all the same requirements. Combats with Multiple Reaches
The player chooses a Capo to use for the A model using a weapon with a long reach
Fight Action and decides how many models can attack over their friends’ backs, meaning
he wishes to include in the action etc. the back rows can fight too. For every point
of reach a model can Reach over a friend.
Example: Sam has moved 6 halberdiers into But they lose 1 degree of reach for deciding
contact with Claire’s 3 Sword and Shield troops. order of strikes.
It is now Claire’s action. Claire is declaring a
fight Action with her banner, she is including all Example - Pikes, having a reach of 2, can fight
three of her sword and Shield troops. Sam now from the third rank but will strike at the same
has an option of declaring a Fight Reaction. He time as a weapon with 0 reach like a sword, but
does so using the Virtue Dice he used to move would still strike before the sword if they were
into contact to make a fight action with 3 of his fighting from the second rank.
halberdiers.
Rolling to hit
Choosing Defence Attack Dice
and Attack Dice Using the Virtue dice you set aside for
Different circumstances call for your troops Attack Dice, make one Virtue Roll for each
to prioritise attack over defence. Models in model you are including in the Fight Action
a Fight Action may choose to divide the against the To Hit value on the models card.
Virtue used to activate them into attack dice A success causes a Hit. Even if multiple
0037 and defence dice. All models in the action results were successful it still causes only one
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Fight Actions (continued)

hit as only one result may be selected as per themselves on Jean’s troops and their confidence
rules on Virtue Rolls. in their leadership begins to wane.
Defence Dice
Any time a model is targeted by attack dice Wound Saves
it may roll the full number of defence dice Check the Wound characteristic on the
allocated to it. Make a Virtue Roll with the targeted model’s card. Roll your dice, if the
allocated Virtue dice against the To Hit roll is equal or above the wound value on
value on the model’s card. A success cancels the card the model has survived. If the roll
out the attackers Hit. To parry a Critical is under the value on the card the model is
Success on an opponent’s Attack Dice removed from play. On a critical success, the
requires a Critical Success on a Defence model survives regardless of modifiers or
Dice however. wound value, on a critical failure the model is
removed regardless of modifiers.
Armour Saves
If an enemy’s attack has caused a hit, you Burning Virtue to Reroll
will need to roll an armour check. Look at Wound Saves
the armour value on the model’s card. Roll a If a player fails a wound save with a model
die, if the result is equal to or more than the within command range of a capo they may
armour value on the model’s card then the choose to burn a fresh Virtue point off the
attack was harmless. On a critical success, capo to reroll the wound save. You cannot
the model survives regardless of modifiers or burn a second Virtue to re-roll your re-roll.
armour value, on a Critical Fail the armour is
pierced regardless of modifiers. Example: In the prior example Jean’s pikeman
If the model fails the save, immediately failed his armour save. Burning a Virtue from a
Burn a Virtue from a Capo within command nearby Capo. Sam’s halberdier has -1 to wound
range and then roll a wound check as below. saves which reduces the wound save to a 6+
instead of a 5+. Jean rolls a 4, a fail. Hoping
Example: Sam’s halberdier hits Jean’s pikeman that their luck will finally turn, Jean burns a
with a critical success on Prudence. This means Virtue from their nearby banner and rolls again.
Sam’s attack gains +1 penetration from the crit, Remembering their duty the pikeman strives
Jean’s pikeman has an armour of 5+ reduced to a to stay standing. They roll a 5, thus perishing to
6+ by the penetration. Jean rolls a 5 for his save the rending blow of the halberd. This desperate
which does not save his model. Jean has a banner stand has cost Jean a courageous fighter and two
and a capo within 3 inches. Jean chooses to burn valuable points of Virtue. The sight of the brave
Virtue from the banner as it will rally it back pikeman struggling to rise, yet perishing in a
more easily. The deadly risks of combat impress pool of blood chills their erstwhile comrades.

Niccolo Machiavelli
Great prince may I offer some humble advice? There is much to learn and plan
for in the noble clash of arms. While it might be tempting to attack with as many
dice as your faith and virtue allows it is sometimes prudent to lay some in store
for future activations. Should you slay your foe in one mighty strike you will have
no more energy to strike at others, or to defend yourself against their attacks.
Similarly consider if it is wise to all attack at once with the same distribution
of dice. Some commanders order their first rank to defend while the pikemen
and halberdiers strike over the front rank in the next activation. Consider also if
slaying your foe is priority or holding him back to allow the objective to be taken. 38
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Melee Crit Table

Critical Fail Critical Success

You must move this Model 2” away from

your oppononts closest Model, moving
other Models out of the way if necessary. +1 Penetration
Your opponont may choose to follow with to weapon for this attack
any of their Models in base-to-base contact
A Prudent fighter knows when to break ground, An accurate strike to an unprotected area can do
a good soldier knows that it will break formation more damage than the mightiest blow

Prudence

YOU MUST BURN A VIRTUE Roll another Speed Attack Die, if

it Hits treat it as a separate attack

Ferocity is like obsidian, sharp and brutally As thunder follows lightning, so do the strikes of
effective, but brittle as glass the most ferocious warriors

Speed

In addition to your hit, you may

Recieve a Hit from the Model you roll another dice, on a 4+ your
are attacking opponent must Burn a Virtue

Fighting Audaciously is always a bluff, one your Sticks and stones break bones, words rub salt
opponent will sometimes call into the wound

Audacity

Your opponent rallies a Virtue on Move this Model 1”, moving other
their nearest Capo models out of the way as necessary

Relying on strength and Fortitude is Fortitude is the Virtue for pushing lesser men
straightforward, but allows the opponents mind aside and seizing their banners.
to regain its footing
Fortitude
0039
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Rally Actions
If a Capo has Burnt Virtue you can use a Rallying for other Capos
rally roll to regain your lost Virtue points. Any Capo can rally for another capo if the
You cannot rally if your character is in base other Capo is within their Command Range.
to base contact with an enemy model. Roll a Rally as normal and any successful
Rally results can be used on the Burnt Virtue
How to Rally of the chosen model, the rallied Virtue is
Choose the Capo you want to Rally with, placed back in the chosen model’s Virtue pool
roll dice equal to Virtue on that Capo, Fresh,
Spent, and Burnt. Every 6 rolled Rallies a Rallying with Veterans
Virtue, you must Rally Panic tokens first. Veterans can Rally like any other Capo.
Rallied Virtue comes back Spent.

Niccolo Machiavelli
Knowing whether it is better to pause and rally or press your attack is of vital
importance on the field. If you find yourself without virtue your soldiers will
flee. You must also must be careful in how you place your Capos. Should
they become engaged by the enemy, they will be too busy to rally. It is often
advisable to plan ahead for this eventuality and have enough officers to keep
your soldier’s morale high without affecting your main leader’s ability to direct
troops. Similarly a key advantage of outflanking an opponent’s formation is
having a better chance of reaching your opponents capo and making sure any
virtue you burn from your foe stays burnt.

Interact Actions
Interact actions are usually taken in relation to Interaction Rolls
the scenario objective or items or characters For an Interaction action roll 6 dice, place
decided at the beginning of the game. These together any dice that build a sequence such as
are things like unlocking a strongbox, loading 3, 4, 5, 6.
a cart, convincing an informant to change sides These sequences can also “wrap around” such as
or disabling a cannon. This section will tell you 5, 6, 1, 2. Set aside any sequence you have rolled.
how to make interaction actions. In subsequent interaction rolls, roll the remaining
dice that did not achieve a sequence.
Who can Interact Add any results that increase the sequence to the
Any Capo can make an “Interact” action if original sequence and lay aside the rest of the dice
it is in base to base contact with the item or for any subsequent interactions.
character and not in base-to-base contact with
an enemy model. Easy Interactions
Simple tasks require a sequence of any three
An individual veteran model may roll an dice to be successful such as 1, 2, 3, or 5, 6, 1.
interaction as a normal Capo, but a card of
veterans may not make more than 2 interaction Hard Interactions
rolls per round. Trickier tasks will require a sequence of six dice
00 to complete. 40
 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Terrain
Difficult Terrain Cover and Obstacles
Certain forms of terrain will slow down A model receives a defence die against
your fighters such as heavy brush, rocky or shooting attacks if it is more than 50%
steep slopes, shallow streams or moving obstructed by a terrain feature.
over barriers such as hedges or walls. Some Models defending a barricade or obstacle in
might count as dangerous terrain presenting melee also receive a defence die. This defence
a risk to models moving through it. Both die does not count towards their Faith limit.
players must agree what counts as difficult or Roll a single die for defence against incom-
dangerous terrain before the game. ing fire. If the die is a 4+ or higher it cancels
all enemy hits except critical successes. A
Moving Through critical success to hit can only be cancelled
by a critical success on the defence die.
Difficult Terrain
Moving through difficult terrain halves
a model’s movement rate rounding up.
Examples of difficult terrain include woods,
slopes and hills, stairs and ladders, ruins,
tilled fields etc. Obstacles such as hedges and
walls lower than 1” are difficult terrain and
count 2” worth of movement in addition to
the obstacles normal width.

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 Force 0f Virtue - Core Rules

Models painted by: Ville Viitasalo 42