Before I get to the actual rules of this game, I would like to thank Sonereal for both advice on how to make this work and allowing me to use his ruleset for the base of the game; the rules, besides starting out, zombie mechanics, and seasonal mechanics, were created by him and I have asked & received permission to use them.
Starting out:
You start out with a few things that you can place down before the game starts here:
-3 Cities
-5 Fortifications
-10 RGOs
-15 Factories
-20 Roads
-10 Railroads
-6 Infantry, 3 Motorized Infantry, 3 Artillery, 2 Freight Ships, 2 Trucks (4 if you don’t have a coastline)
-You start with 250 Rare Materials, 500 metal, 1000 fuel, 200 supplies, and 500 energy
You can draw political borders however you like; just don’t expect everyone to respect & recognize them.
Expansion
To expand, you need to create a RGO or Factory Modular Building or Fortification and have a supply unit on standby. Aim the supply unit to the hex you want to settle on and order settlement. This will create a settlement.
What resource exists on the settlement is dependent. Desert hexes yield crude oil. Plain hill hexes yield metal. Forested hills yield energy (even after you chop down the forest). Plain mountains yield rare materials.
Resource Economy
Your starting base starts with five factories and two RGOs. Each factory/RGO requires 4 Metals, 2 Energy, and 1 Rare Material per turn to function.
RGOs increase the amount of resources the settlement produces per turn. Each settlement produces one of four goods: Metal, Rare Materials, Crude Oil, Energy.
Depending on the resource, a RGO can produce 10 Metals, 5 Energy, 3 Rare Material, or 50 Crude Oil per turn.
Factories
Each factory in a base is worth 1 IP. 1 IP can produce the following
-RGO/Factory Modular Building (which can deploy to build one factory or RGO)
-Forest Cutting Device of Death (supply route with forest being cut needed temporarily)
-20 Supply
-25 Fuel (from 25 Crude Oil)
-Road Component (for 2 IP)
-Rail Component (for 5 IP)
-Fortification (for 10 IP)
-Unit components
Each unit has an IP cost. If the IP cost is 3 IP, you can produce the unit it its entirety in that one base, or have different settlements produce components of that unit for 1 IP each and have supply units ship the good over to the city where the unit is assembled. See “division building” for more information.
Infrastructure and Terrain
There are roads, rail, and fortifications.
Roads and rails can be built using a component. This will created a two-way link on the hex. If you want the road to face more directions, you have to add 2 IP for each additional spoke. A six-way road would cost 10 IP for example.
Roads, when a unit is moving along one, halves the fuel cost of moving. Rails quarter the fuel cost.
Fortifications are like regular bases/settlements, only they look like forts on the map. A fort on a hill with an artillery battery in it could be extremely useful.
Terrain increases the amount of moves it takes to enter the hex, and therefore increases fuel cost.
Forest: +2 Move.
Hill: +1 Move
Mountain: +4 Move
Desert: Combat consumes 50% more supply.
Terrain also increases the defensive bonus of infantry units. An infantry receives a 50% defensive bonus on a forest or hill. 200% on a mountain. 250% on a mountain with a forest.
Supply Lines
You need to take a supply unit (freight ships/freight trucks) and set up a route between two bases. This creates a route which has a carrying capacity and fuel cost. Carrying capacity is how many resources it can move along one way while fuel cost is how much is needed to get the route to work.
For instance, say that the carrying capacity between two bases is 100. This means 100 units of resources can go one way, and then another 100 go back.
Resources can move along several supply routes to reach their ultimate destination as long as fuel permits. So, if you send 100 Metal from Base A to Base B, that 100 Metal can then go from Base C if carrying capacity allows it.
Importantly, I will automatically form the supply route to take the path of least resistance (unless otherwise specified). If the route goes over open terrain on roads or rail, the fuel cost is lower, which means the carrying capacity is higher.
You can also connect a base to a division/naval squadron to supply it in the field. Supply lines are extremely important in waging war!
Supply Units
Freight Truck (3 IP)
0/1/2/2/1
Carrying capacity of 50 minus fuel cost of route.
Freight Ship (6 IP)
0/1/2/2/1
Carrying capacity of 75 minus fuel cost of route.
Division Building
Instead of individual units on the map, you move around divisions/squadrons/wings of units.
A division/squadron/wing contains four brigades (units). IMPORTANTLY, when you create new units, you don’t do create individual new brigades, but send me build orders for entire new divisions/squadrons/wings.
Divisions all have an Offensive and Defensive strength, movement speed, fuel cost, and supply cost.
Offense is how strong the unit is when attacking. Defensive is how strong the unit is defending. Movement is how many hexes a division moves at a time. Fuel is how much is drained every time those moves are made. Supply is how much is drained when the unit attacks and defend.
When creating a division, offense/defense/fuel/supply costs are added up. Movement is the average.
Combat
Each division/squadron/wing has a 100 hitpoints, and loses hitpoints during combat. When hitpoints hit 0, the unit is destroyed. Restoring hitpoints costs sending extra supply. If a unit uses 15 Supply everytime it engages and combat, it would cost 15 Supply to increase the hitpoints by one.
Divisions/squadrons/wings can engage in combat up to three times per turn. After the third time, the unit stops moving on the map.
Each division has an Offense, Defense, Movement, Fuel, and Supply attribute. Offense is how powerful the division is on attack, defense on defense. Movement is the average of the move speeds of the brigades making up the division and is how many hexes the division can move each “sub-turn”. If supply lines will it, a division can cross an continent in one turn.
Fuel is how much fuel is needed for the division to move one hex. Supply is how much supply the division drains at the beginning of a combat round. If supply demand isn’t met in full, the division receives a combat penalty.
Division Land Units
Offense/Defense/Movement/Fuel/Supply
Infantry (3 IP)
1/2/1/0/1
Receives terrain defensive bonuses
Motorized Infantry (4 IP)
1/2/2/1/1
Receives terrain defensive bonuses
Artillery (4 IP)
2/2/1/2/2
Zone of Control. Automatically bombards any hostile division or squadron that moves into an adjacent hex. Range extended by one if on hill.
Tank (6 IP)
3/3/2/3/2
Anti-Aircraft Gun (6 IP)
0/1/1/2/2
Automatically fires on any air wing that flies into an adjacent hex. +1 Range if on a hill.
Squadron Naval Units
Submarine (6 IP)
2/1/2/3/3
If entire squadron is submarines, squadron is invisible on map.
A submarine squadron can carry 100 Supply/Fuel for itself.
Negates the offense/attack of one opposing naval unit.
Immune to bombards
Destroyer (8 IP)
2/2/2/4/4
Negates the negation effect of one opposing submarine.
Negates the offense/attack power of one opposing submarine.
Can bombard adjacent hexes.
Cruiser (12 IP)
3/3/2/5/5
Can bombard up to two hexes away.
Aircraft Carrier (16 IP)
0/2/2/5/5
Can carry two wings.
Counts double in reducing damage done to squadron in combat.
Battleship (20 IP)
4/4/2/6/6
Can bombard up to three hexes away.
Air Wing Units
Air Wings do not move on the map. They must be based in settlements, forts, or aircraft carriers. “Movement” is range. Air wings, when performing missions, subtract the fuel/supply cost from the base/settlement/etc at takeoff.
Fighter (10 IP)
3/4/4/2/4
Negates the negation effect of one enemy fighter
Negates the attack/defense power of one opposing tactical bomber or bomber.
Tactical Bomber (11 IP)
3/4/4/3/5
Can provide tactical assist in battles.
Can bomb infrastructure and settlements.
Bomber (12 IP)
4/1/6/5/5
Can provide tactical assist in battles.
Can bomb infrastructure/settlements.
Cargo Plane (12 IP)
0/0/6/5/5
Can transport supplies and one division 6 hexes from its Fortification/City it’s based at. Carrying capacity of half of truck.
Unique Units
To create a unique unit, you have to take an existing unit you have access to and tweak its stats/specials the way you want them and send the idea to me. Ideally, the format looks like this
Name of Unit [Base unit] (IP Cost)
Attack/Defense/Movement/Fuel/Supply
Special Notes
If you put an “X” in any of those, it means the value is variable and can change to keep the cost of developing the unit low.
To finalize the unit, after I approve it, you must build Prototype Components and assemble them. The prototype has to be included in a division as usual. The prototype is also expensive compared to future mass production units.
You can allow other players, such as alliance members, to produce you unit after you produce the prototype. You can rescind this offer at any time. However, they can create designs based on the unit so keep that in mind. Once they build a prototype for a unit based on the design, they’re in the clear.
Command Structure
By now, you have read a lot about logistics. Do note that supply is automated to a great degree. You have to assign supply units to create routes, but you don’t have to specify exactly what moves on the route. It will be automated to try to get resources to where they need to be.
WITH THAT SAID, you might find it prudent to assign four divisions to a corps, four corps to an army, and four armies to an army group as the size of your forces grow larger. Trust me, isn’t it easier to order a corp to take a city than micromanage four divisions to do the same thing, possibly less effectively?
And now, after you’ve read the SonIOT IV Rules (thank you again, Sone!), we get to the special parts of this IOT.
Zombies
Zombies are the universal enemy in this game. While you can fight other humans over land and resources, zombies will always be hostile to all human players. Zombies only receive one unit. and cannot build more from RGOs/Factories that the zombies capture.
Zombie
1/1/1/0/0
Zombies regain hitpoints (and create new units) by attacking other units & taking cities. Every hitpoint of damage a zombie does to an enemy unit, they will regenerate that hitpoint: if the zombie is at 90 HP, and does 15 damage, it will heal to 100 HP and create a new Zombie with 5 HP.
If a zombie unit captures your city, every RGO and every factory will create 1 zombie. If your city has 10 RGOs and 5 factories, 15 new zombie units will arise from the dust.
Once a zombie captures one of your cities, all RGOs/Factories will be destroyed. Roads used by the zombies will still increase their movement, but they cannot use railroads, and they do not require supplies. They cannot use fortifications, but they will not destroy them if captured.
Zombies can survive in almost any enviroment; even underwater. For unknown reasons, their bodies are extremely resilient to pressure and the corrosive effects of salt water, and can travel underwater. Zombies can raid your coastlines, so be vigiliant. Zombie move costs underwater are 5.
Seasons
Each turn is a week (such as in SonIOT IV), but what month it is will seriously effect things.
Winter (3rd week of December-2nd week of March) - All supply costs increased by 25%. All movement costs are increased by +1 for land units
Spring (3rd week of March-2nd week of June) - Base line
Summer (3rd week of June-2nd week of September) - -1 movement cost for land units. Beware overextending yourself.
Fall (3rd week of September-2nd week of December) - +25% output of RGOs
