Chaos Marauders
Encyclopedia
Chaos Marauders is a card-based
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
for 2-4 players designed by Stephen Hand, illustrated by John Blanche
John Blanche
John Blanche is a British fantasy and science fiction illustrator and modeler known for his work for Games Workshop's White Dwarf magazine, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Warhammer 40,000 games and his role as art director for the company, including his work in the field...
and was published by Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
in 1987.
The object of the game is to create "battle lines" of orc
Orc
An orc is one of a race of mythical human-like creatures, generally described as fierce and combative, with grotesque features and often black, grey or greenish skin. This mythology has its origins in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien....
s and a motley assortment of creatures from the Warhammer
Warhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
universe, including skaven
Skaven
Skaven are a race of man-sized anthropomorphic rat-creatures in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. They were officially introduced as a new Chaos race in 1986 by Jes Goodwin....
(with their formidable Horned Rat Standard, and "Clan Skyrre Blowback" flamethrower), goblins, dwarf
Dwarf (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Dwarfs are a race of short, stout humanoids very similar to the dwarves of Middle-Earth and the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. Dwarfs in the Warhammer setting are proud warriors highly driven by honor.-Homeland:Dwarfs reside mainly...
captives, hobgoblins, "crummy snotling slaves
Snotling
A Snotling is a fantasy creature from the universe of the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 books and games.Snotlings are greenskins, and are cousins of Goblins and Orcs , smaller than the former and dumber than the latter, often used by them as cannon fodder, food or even cannon missiles...
", an Orc War Wyvern
Wyvern
A wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail...
and the eponymous Chaos Marauders
Chaos (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy...
.
The game is notable for its similarity to the 1977 boardgame Ogallala :de:Ogallala (Spiel).
Gameplay
The various creatures are represented by colour cards, and being awarded different Attack Point and Victory Point statistics, and players must use these to build up to 3 'battle lines' on their battle sheet. The beginning of a battle line starts with a standard bearer and ends with a musicianMusician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. Additional cards are placed in between these as each player draws and places them on their playsheet in turn. There are restrictions on placement based on troop-types and clan-allegiance which are indicated by the symbols on the cards. Some of the cards have special abilities, or act as random events - such as Odlugg Spleenripper, an ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
who might eat all your troop cards, or the aforementioned Skyrre's Blowback which might destroy an entire battle line of another player, or explode and destroy the attacker.
Once a line of cards is complete, the total of its Attack Points are calculated, then it may 'attack' an incomplete battle-line of the opponent - the success of which is determined by rolling the "Cube of Devastation" - a six sided dice with 5 sides emblazoned with an orcish eye, and one, with the Mark of Chaos. If the dreaded Mark of Chaos is rolled, the attacker's line routs, and the defender wins all their booty (cards with Victory Points but no Attack Points) and they loose all their troop cards. If an orcish eye is rolled, the opposite occurs.
The winner is determined the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points when all three battle lines have been completed on one sheet.