The time is here once again for another look inside the new First Blood! Today on the chopping block…the Enemy! More specifically, how Clash Actions function in the new edition. But first, what is a Hit? And how can I avoid it?

Hits: The Catchall term for potential damage directed towards the Enemy. (Or Friendly if the effect is hazardous enough!) For each Hit that is not Blocked, the Warrior will suffer a Wound. Pretty standard stuff; However in First Blood, Hits are not a pass or fail ordeal…

Comparative Dice Rolls: All Hits and Blocks in First Blood are Comparative, meaning that every individual result Matters! A good roll can always be beaten by a great one!

The Clash Action

1. Roll Attacks: Roll Dice equal to the Attack characteristic of the Clashing Warrior. Keep the results to the side.
2. Assign Hits: The Clashing Warrior then selects their best (lowest!) results up to their Clash Value and assigns them as Hits to the Enemy.
3. Roll Blocks: The defender will then Roll Dice equal to their Defense or Evasion Characteristic, whichever is better! There are often times that the Defender will Roll more Blocks than Hits suffered. Keep their results to the side.
4. Negating Hits: The Defender will then compare their Block Rolls to the Hits suffered, the Defender will then Negate Hits with their Block rolls by pairing Block Rolls to Hits. Blocks can Negate Hits equal to or lower than their Result.
5. Suffering Wounds: For each Hit not defended, the Warrior suffers a Wound. If a Warrior would be Slain, they must immediately test their Resolve. (A story for another time…)

EXAMPLE

There are several ways to sway the fight in your favor:

1. Charge! Bring the fight to the Enemy in the least discrete way possible! In addition to becoming Inspired, gain any Charge bonuses granted by Special Rules-such as Impact, Brutal, or Flank.

2. Inspire! TLAOK and current FB players will be familiar with this tried and true Action. However, its effect is different but accomplishes the same goal.

Inspired: This Warrior gains +1 Attack.

3. Outnumbered! Friendly Warriors nearby do not sit idly by and will join their comrades in a fight! When a Warrior performs a Clash Action, any Friendly Warrior that is Engaged with the Targeted Enemy (that are themselves not Engaged with other Enemies) assist in Outnumbering the Enemy. The total number of assisting Warriors needed to Outnumber the Enemy depends on whether the Target is Infantry, Brute, Cavalry, or a Monster. After all, it takes quite a lot of man-power to overwhelm a monster!

When Clashing against an Outnumbered Enemy, Roll an additional Attack die to better the odds of landing a decisive blow!

Lastly, there are numerous Special Rules that take effect when Clashing and Defending. There are returning classics such as Flawless Strikes, Relentless Blows, Parry, etc. And some new Special Rules added to the mix such as Overwhelm. All Special Rules have changed in how they function as First Blood has been totally revamped, but the intent of the rules stayed largely the same. Let’s take a look at the Cleave Special Rule:

– Cleave X: During this Warrior’s Clash Actions, each assigned Hit Roll of ‘X’ or lower reduces the target’s Defense by 1 for the duration of the Action. Example: A Warrior has Cleave 2 and assigns 3 Hits of a 1, 2, and 5. The Blocking Warrior suffers -2 Defense, as the Hit results of ‘1’ and ‘2’ benefit from Cleave.

That’s all from the First Blood frontlines this time around. We will be back with more articles as we approach the big release day. We hope to see you all at the upcoming Happy Hour, where we will be going through the new First Blood in detail. See you then!

You can find the previous First Blood preview articles here:

• Intro
• Mustering a Warband
• Monsters
• Command Phase
• Magic