Frequently-Asked Questions

General Questions

Rules-Based Questions

 

In a nutshell, what is Combat Storm?

Combat Storm is a fun, strategic war-game that has players deploying squads of soldiers and vehicles into battle to fight against one another. Six-sided dice are used to calculate outcomes and tape measures/rulers are used to measure distances.

What makes Combat Storm unique?

Combat Storm uses a class-based system for each soldier/vehicle, giving them their own unique "personality" that can be used to overcome objectives you face on the battlefield. This makes the players rely more on strategy and tactics rather than on just pure luck.

While there is a certain amount of luck involved in the game because of rolling dice, it is the overall tactics that are deployed by the players that make the game fun and fair. Combat Storm has been designed from the ground up using this philosophy.

Combat Storm also features a squad token system that helps speed up gameplay by allowing players to move a single squad every turn, not their entire army, which dramatically helps with gameplay pacing.

Also, the Combat Storm rulebook contains many missions which are creative, clearly outlined, and highly detailed, making them both easy and fun to play.

The rulebook also contains numerous gameplay examples to help players understand and learn the rules at a fast pace so they can start playing right away.

What will I need to start playing?

In addition to the Combat Storm Rulebook, you will also need the following items:

* Approximately 50 Plastic Army Men
* Optional: Any vehicles you may wish to use
* At least 2 six-sided dice
* Large playing area (approx 6'x4')
* Measuring tape or ruler
* Terrain (can use shoe boxes, plastic cups, cardboard boxes, or build the Combat Storm papercraft terrain buildings and accessories)

How do I know if the Plastic Army Men that I own are compatible with Combat Storm?

As long as your collection of Plastic Army Men contains soldiers that have about 5 or 6 different poses, you should have enough variety to have a good time. The Combat Storm rulebook contains a section for helping to identify which pose would represent which soldier class in Combat Storm. The more poses you have, the more different types of soldier classes you can use in the game.

What are the recommended ages for Combat Storm?

Combat Storm is recommended for players ages 12 and up.

I heard Combat Storm used to be available as a physical rulebook. Why is it a digital product now?

We found the following advantages to having a digital product over a physical product:

- We can add content to the rulebook at any time: new rules, modifications to existing rules, new content, etc. Subscribers of the Free Combat Storm mailing list will be notified when the rulebook has been updated and gamers can download their updated copy at any time.

- Gamers don't need to wait days or even weeks to receive the physical rulebook in the mail. Being a digital product allows the content to be available immediately.

I only have green plastic army men/vehicles. Can I still play?

Yes, of course! Combat Storm uses squad markers to differentiate squads from one another (a squad marker is placed beside every squad) and each army has different colored squad markers, making it easy to tell one army apart from another.

What size of plastic army men can I use?

Most plastic army men come in a compatible size with our game. Any size of soldier between 1.5" and 2" tall will work.

Does Combat Storm allow you to build your own unique characters so that I could have unique leaders and soldiers for my squads?

Combat Storm allows you to do custom army-building and custom squad building. For example, if you like Snipers, you can make a squad consisting of just Snipers. Or another option could be to mix up a Sniper with a few Riflemen, a Support Infantry and a Medic to heal wounds. It's all up to you. You can also upgrade specific soldiers in your squads to use different class-specific weapons through the upgrade system.

I play other wargames and they are ok. What makes Combat Storm so special?

We have played many different wargames that use miniature soldiers (both free versions and retail versions) but unfortunately none of them have completely satisfied us. In an effort to benefit the military-based wargaming community with a set of polished rules that is free from many of the flaws embedded in other games, the Combat Storm project was started.

The following is a general list of problems with that we found with OTHER wargames:

* Army size scaling restrictions (small-scale battles only).
* Complicated rules that are hard to follow.
* Few (if any) examples in the rulebook on how to play the game.
* Bland soldier units (soldiers that are all basically the same except some are more powerful than others).
* Rules that only work properly when there is a large amount of terrain on the battlefield.
* Vehicles that "don't really do much."
* Poor rulebook layout.
* Missions that don't offer any sort of flavor.
* Balancing issues.
* Rules that simply don't make any sense.
* Poor pacing mechanics that make turns take too long.

With the way Combat Storm has been designed, players no longer need to worry about encountering any of the gameplay flaws/problems that plague other soldier-based miniature wargames.

I placed an order but I can't figure out how to download? Help!

After you place an order, there should be an order confirmation page that loads up which contains a link to your downloads. As well, you should receive an email containing the download link (check your spam if you don't see it in your inbox). You can also create an account on the CombatStorm.com site using the email that you placed the order with and once you login, you will have access on the site you view your order/downloads. If all else fails, feel free to contact us.

I've downloaded the game files and I want to print them out. What are my options?

You can either print out the game files using your local printer or send them to your local print shop to have them print it out for you. But please be aware that the local print shop may be quite a bit more expensive than doing it yourself (i.e. $40+ USD).

Rules-Based Questions

After a C4 explosive is placed, can it be remotely detonated by a Demolitions Expert only during the Shooting Phase or anytime during the game?

A C4 explosive can only be detonated during the Shooting Phase.

Does Body Armor protect against a headshot attack?

No, there is no Body Armor roll done if a successful headshot is made.

Do turns alternate between players after each squad finishes its Shooting Phase or after the entire army finishes its Shooting Phase?

One squad will move per player turn. To keep track of when a squad (Combat Group) finishes it's turn, players will flip over that Combat Group's squad token so that it shows the "Activated" side face up. A Combat Group that has been Activated already, cannot be Activated again until a Combat Group Activation reset occurs. This reset will happen after all of that player's Combat Groups have been Activated, then that player will reset all of their Combat Group tokens and they can be Activated again.

This mechanic exists because we wanted to make sure that each player doesn't have to wait a long time in between turns (moving a whole army can be very time-consuming and isn't very interesting for the other player to have to sit through), so we came up with a system where players only move one Squad/Combat Group per turn which dramatically improves gameplay pacing and leads to better tactical decision-making.

What is the difference between Light Reloads and Heavy Reloads?

Light and Heavy Reloads are used to help eliminate confusion when there is a squad that has a Grenadier reloading at the same time that an Anti-Tank soldier is reloading. As far as gameplay is concerned, the time it takes to do a reload is the same for both types.

Is the body armor rule also used when being attacked by Blast Weapons?

No, body armor is not used for Blast Weapons. However, the "Hit The Deck!" rule is used when being attacked by Blast Weapons.

How do I keep track of Med Packs for the Medic Soldier?

Med Packs are kept track of on your Army's Command Sheet.

Regarding cover rules, the rulebook states: "Any weapons targeting a partially-covered enemy Combat Group must subtract 1 from an ACY die rolled during the Shooting Phase". Can you help me interpret this?

Sure. Let’s say an enemy soldier is standing behind a half wall (partial cover) and is being shot at by a a rifleman with a M16A4 assault rifle within a range of 0"-21”. Since the enemy soldier is behind a half wall, that means he will be more difficult to hit.

As we know, the accuracy of the M16A4 is 4+/4+/5+ at that range. The soldier shooting the M16A4 picks up 3 dice (1 for each shot) and rolls a 4, 4 and 6. Since he is behind partial cover, you then subtract 1 from each of these rolls which gets you a 3, 3 and 5. This result means that the first two shots miss (they needed to be 4+ for a hit), but the last shot hits (it needed to be 5+ and it was!).

Let's say that 3 soldiers from enemy squad are behind partial cover and 3 soldiers are not. When shooting at this squad, will the enemy squad get a partial cover bonus or not?

If half the enemy squad or more are behind partial cover, shooting at this squad will activate the partial cover bonus for the enemy squad (i.e. they will be more difficult to hit).

If there is an enemy squad made up of 5 soldiers and 4 of them are not in line of sight (LOS) and 1 of them is, when shooting at this squad, what happens?

When targeting this squad, roll all of your attack dice as normal for the soldiers in your squad that are attacking and who also have LOS to that 1 soldier out in the open. When dealing wounds, do not remove any soldiers that are not in LOS of the attacking squad, even if you have scored enough wounds to do so.

 

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