Free Wars

“Free Wars” is an open table top wargame system designed to be used

with whatever you have at hand. We expect and encourage you to develop
your own content for this. Feel free to use models from other games,
paper depictions of units, or any sort of proxy for this wargame. In
the era where 3D printing model is as simple as downloading a free
model- anything is possible. The following rules are for a simple
skirmish game between two more more players.

In general: Two or more players spends “battle points” to buy

squads (comprised of “units”) to fight on a battlefield. The players
alternate turns giving their squads one of three commands: “Advance!”,
“Destroy!”, or (if injured) “Recover!”. The game ends when a
predetermined objective or round limit has been reached.

We have included a sample setting which provides rule and statistics

for the various armies involved in that.

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 General Terms
Battle Round
A game between two or more players A round is an increment of play during
controlling an army. Battles have an which all players take 1 turn. It
objective, decided at the beginning of starts when the first player takes
the battle and the one who achieves their turn and ends when the last
said objective wins the battle. player in the turn order finishes their
turn.

Player
A person control an army within a Faction
wargame. A faction is a major power within the
setting which your game takes place.
They may be a country, a neighborhood
Unit gang, an empire, a race, etc. Factions
A single model representing a single have specific rules on organizations.
creature involved in the battle.

Mercenaries
Squad A “mercenary” is the term for a squad
A collection of similar, bound from another faction (or a neutral
together, units. faction) that is attached to your
army.

Army
A collection of squads of the same Killed
faction. A unit that is killed is removed from
the battlefield, is dead, and no longer
has an impact on the game.

Turn
Players alternate taking turns. On a
player’s turn they can cause one squad Attacker
to take one action. The player initiating a Destroy!
action.

Defender
The player whose squad is targeted by
a Destroy! action.

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 Taking Actions
On a player’s turn they can select one of following options for a single squad
under their control. Some units have unique options.

Destroy! Advance!
Target another squad within 12 Select one unit in your squad. Move
inches of yours. Roll up 2d6. Your it 12 inches forward and then place
opponent rolls 1d6 and the player it’s squad mates within squad boundary
that rolled lower (the loser) kills distance at the new location.
a number of units from their squad
equal to the difference between the Unit Notes
two rolls (while rare- the attacker • Light units can move 24 inches.
can lose units this way). One unit in
your squad has to be able to draw a
straight line from any point on their
model base to the base of another unit Reinforce!
without intersecting a solid object If your squad is busted, you can roll
(curves in the landscape are fine so 2d6 and recover 1 lost member of a
long as they are not dramatic). The squad for every 1d6 that rolled 4,
defender decides which units of a 5, or 6. Place that unit within the
squad are killed, not the attacker. squad’s boundaries. A squad cannot
gain more units than it started with.
Unit Notes
• Snipers can target things 24 inches Unit Notes
away. • If a medic in the squad, a unit is
• Infantry roll 3d6 on defense. recovered on a roll of 3, 4, 5, or
• Super soldiers roll 4d6 on attack 6.
and defense. • Irregular units recover 3d6 units
• If that squad has a heavy weapons rather than 2d6.
team supporting it, add 1d6 on
attacks.
• Assassins allow the attacker to
select which unit is destroyed.

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 General Rules
Squad Boundaries Impeded Movement
Units in the same squad must have Some terrain might be more difficult
their model’s base within 2 inches to move through (fordable rivers,
of at least 2 members of a squad. If deep mud, shallow water). This cuts a
by force or unhappy circumstance, a unit’s movement with Advance! in half
unit can stay outside this range until if it would, at any point in their
that squad is called on to “Advance!” movement, contact it.
then it must be placed back within the
squad’s boundaries. Hostile Terrain
Some terrain causes damage if touched.
Line of Sight/Effect At the end of a turn, if a squad
In order to target something, one unit touched something dangerous resolve
in your squad has to be able to draw a a 1d6 attack against that squad’s
straight line from any point on their defense.
model base to the base of another
unit without intersecting a solid Surprise Tokens
object (curves in the landscape are These are coin sized markers
fine so long as they are not dramatic). that represents potential traps,
Engineering blocks always blocks line misinformation, landing sites, etc.
of sight/effect if they intersect. As your enemy might have some idea
of this- you mark them on the field.
Busted Squads Certain units can negate them, which
A busted squad is one that has less removes them from play outright. Each
than half of the number is started surprise token must be distinctly
with. Busted squads can “Reinforce!” marked in some way (a color, number,
to recover troops. Busted squads letter, symbol). You are required
reduce the number of dice it rolls to keep written track of what each
on attack and defense by half (round surprise token is. Everyone has at
down) to a minimum of 1d6 on attack least 3 surprise tokens. These are
and defense. “misinformation” tokens that, when
negated, have no benefit or detriment
Annihilated Squads (though it may confuse your opponent).
A squad that has no more members is
“annihilated”! That means it can’t The Area of a Unit
take any actions and goes kaput- aka Units occupy the area of their base.
dead. Not alive. Has gone Bye-bye. They are assumed to be moving within
Can’t function. Doesn’t contribute the confines of their squad, looking
in anyway and can’t be reinforced or about, poised to attack, and generally
anything like that. being protective of their lives.
Units cannot occupy the same space as
Maximums another unit. The base of units can
The maximum number of dice a squad can touch, but cannot be on top of each
roll per action is 5d6. Disregarad other.
anything over this.

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 Setting Up the Battlefield
Decide on a play space. Players put out markers
• A standard gaming table is best. representing “surprises” called
• Decorate it with terrain. surprise tokens.
Players put out their surprise tokens.
Flip a coin to decide who places
Agree upon a number of “battle the first surprise token. Then they
points” to use. alternate placing them until they have
• These are used to buy squads. no more left.
• Each player picks out a number of
squads based on their points.
• Each squad, auxiliary, or asset Place your squads on the play
typically costs 1 point. space.
• A typical game is about 10 points. • Flip a coin to decide who places on
first. Then they alternate placing
squads until they have no more
Decide upon the game rules. This squads left.
is totally up to the creativity • Remember- auxiliaries are part of
of the people playing. the squad they are assigned to and
• What is the scenario? What defines are never distinguished from them.
who wins? • Game types may define how you can
• Are you using any special rules? deploy your squads. Saying all
• Settings will have a list of these. squads must be within a certain
distance of a piece of terrain or a
table edge is typical. If nothing
else defines it, you can place squads
no more than 12 inches from another
squad you have and no squad may be
within 48 inches of an enemy squad.

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 The Flow of Gameplay Your Army (Cont.)
Use a random method (coin, rock/paper/ Auxiliary: Auxiliary units are
scissors, dice, etc) to decide who special units attached to a squad.
goes first. They are assigned when you buy them
and are considered to be part of the
Players alternate spending actions. squad they join. They are typically
Each allows one squad to do one thing 1-5 units in size. Auxiliary units
(as described in the “taking actions” cannot be taken by themselves as a
section). squad.

Continuing playing until the objective

is meet. Assets: An asset is not a squad
but a “thing” (commonly an object
Expected game time for a 10 point or piece of technology) you buy. It
game: 30 minutes or less. might be a teleporter beacon that your
army can deploy to drop troops or a
Games may be played in a series. barrier that helps protect your squad
Each army has 4 “levels” of squads. from enemies.They describe, in their
entries, how they are used. Generally
they cannot take normal actions.

Your Army
Organization: Each faction has rules
Basic: Basic squads are standard about how you need to set things up.
units. They represent the average This is covered in each setting’s
fighting men and women employed by faction entry.
your faction. They are organized into
squads and can have 1 auxiliary unit
attached to them. They are typically Mercenaries: Depending on the
10 units in size. Most basic units are setting and rules it imposes, a squad
infantry. from another faction can be added to
your army at twice its normal point
cost. Common rules on this might limit
Advanced: Advanced squads are elite an army to one (or no) mercenary
soldiers of special renown and often squads, only taking mercenary squads
have a specialty. Advanced units are from neutral or smaller factions, etc.
often much smaller than basic units.
They are typically 1-5 units in size.
Advanced units cannot have auxiliary
squads attached to them, unless
specially noted.

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 Depicting Your Unit Squad Types
Unlike other wargames- we encourage Each squad 2 types listed (Example:
you to design your own units. The “Light / Infantry”). These imply
rules assume that most models you are special rules. Benefits from types do
using are on a 25mm round or 20mm not stack. A squad either has a type
square base and are about 28-35mm in of it does not.
height (about an inch to an inch and
an half). This works out to about Example: A sniper, which lets a squad
1/72nd scale. attack at a 24 inch range rather than
12, is attached to a squad of soldiers
Super soldiers are expected to have (Infantry / Infantry). The entire
a 40mm round or 35mm square base and squad now can attack at a 24 inch
should be at a little less than twice range. If the squad takes 3 losses and
the height of a standard unit (about the player removes all the snipers
45-50mm, or about 1.75-2 inches). from their squad, the squad’s range
This is so it is visually indicated goes back down to 12 inches.
that they cannot hide behind engineer
blocks.
A squad can inherit more than 2 types
via auxiliaries. Use all special rules
that apply. If a squad loses the
member granting that squad type, the
squad no longer benefit from it.

Example: A squad of soldiers

(Infantry / Infantry) takes a weapon’s
team as their auxiliary (2 heavy
weapons guys). The squad gains the
“heavy weapons” type as well because
of this. If they also have a medic
in their squad, their squad is now
(Infantry / Heavy Weapons / Medical).

The squad types are:

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 Squad Types (Cont.)
Infantry Super Soldier
Infantry are the standard unit Typically solo units that are as
type. Infantry are distinguished, powerful as a single squad in their
specifically, by their discipline and own right. This can be represented by
professionalism. The standard unit superheroes, tanks, giant mecha, etc.
size for a infantry squad is 10 (plus • Super soldiers roll 4d6 on attack
any auxiliary). and defense.
• Infantry roll 3d6 on defense. • Super soldiers often cannot gain
• Dedicated infantry: Basic squads cover behind engineer blocks as
that are “Infantry / Infantry” (aka they are far too big. As engineers
“Dedicated infantry” squads) get 1 cannot stack their blocks on top of
free auxiliary unit. each other, the only time this would
occur would be if a sizable piece of
terrain (at least 6 inches) has an

Light
engineering block on top of it.

Light units are scouts, mounted units,

Marines
or those that have some special way to
move.
• Light units “Advance!” 24 inches These units are able to drop from
rather than 12. the sky, teleport in, infiltrate, or
otherwise arrive in an unsuspecting
fashion.

Irregular
• When you take a marine squad you
gain 2 surprise tokens. Each one
Less well trained/organized units. Not is a potential landing site for
professional soldiers. The standard this squad. If negated, you can’t
unit size for a infantry squad is 20 land them there. When you start the
(plus any auxiliary). game- don’t place them on the field.
• Double unit size. It takes a “Advance!” action to
• Due to having more units, irregular get them onto the field. If both the
units recover 3d6 units rather than squad landing sites are destroyed
2d6. the squad is considered destroyed.

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 Squad Types (Cont.)
Guard Command
Assigned to protect people of Officers, strategists, logistics
interest, guards maintain order and personnel, communications experts, and
discipline in an army. leaders are in the command unit type.
• You can sacrifice a member of a Guard • A squad with a command unit in it
squad to negate the loss of another ignores the penalties associated
unit (even from another squad) with the “busted” condition.
within 12 inches.
• Guard squads add 1d6 to defensive

Engineering
rolls.

Some units can create or fabricate

Sniper
things on the fly.
An engineer has a unique option:
Masters of attacking with pinpoint • “Build!”: An engineer can build
accuracy at range, snipers are a structure. You gain 6 blocks
effecting at hitting vital targets that are 1 inch square. You may
before they can be hit by them. place them on the field within 6
• Snipers “Destroy!” enemies at range inches of a member of your squad.
of 24 inches rather than 12. The structure must be contiguous
(touching) and no blocks may be
stacked on top of each other.

Heavy Weapons
• An enemy who targets one of these
blocks automatically destroys it,
Anyone with a massive weapon is though it consumes the action. If a
considered to be a heavy weapons squad has heavy weapons, it destroys
squad. 2 blocks that are touching each
• Heavy weapons squads add 1d6 to other- rather than just 1.
rolls to attack.
• If targeting an engineer’s block- it

Psychic
destroys 2 touching blocks, rather
than just 1.
A unit that can tap into some sort
of unknown power source. They almost
always have weird abilities that are
unique. Their abilities vary from
unit to unit. They are not appropriate
for all settings, as they represent
the general “specially powered”
individuals.

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 Squad Types (Cont.) What Can I Do With This
System?
Intelligence
Investigative and intellectual officers We here at Little Red Goblin Games
in an army are invaluable to their LLC want you to share this system so
commanders. we published it under the Open Game
An intelligence squad have a unique License. Use it for whatever you want,
option: design things for it, and even sell
• “Investigate!”: An intelligence works based on it. You can reproduce
squad within 12 inches of a surprise these core rules, in part or in their
token can take an action to negate entirety, wherever you want and in
it. whatever format you want. You can put
them on a website, print them out,
or even just share this PDF. You can

Medical not re-sell these rules however. If

it’s for free, distribute them all you
Doctors, nurses, holy men, and others want.
who can heal the wounded are covered
under this unit type. Any works you design based on this
• If a medic in the squad, a unit is system can be sold however. So if
recovered on a roll of 3, 4, 5, or you publish an expansion, setting,
6. etc- sell away. You owe us nothing
except an attribution (“Free Wars Core
Rulebook by Little Red Goblin Games

Assassin LLC”). The only limitation is that, if

you publish something for this system,
An assassin is a specialist killer who it needs to be published under this
has a singular focus. This might be a same license (See “Open Game License
secret agent, a saboteur, or a serial Version 1.0a”).
killer.
• If a unit with an assassin in it You cannot, however, do this will all
attacks an enemy squad, they select products related to this book. Certain
who is removed from the enemy squad aspects of books published under
if they win. However, a squad with the Open Game License have “Product
an assassin can never kill more than Identity”. These are copyrightable
one unit per action. aspects of the book that are not
released to be public. Nothing in this
book is, so share and reference all
you’d like.

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Free Wars Core Rules Credits Open Game License v1.0a
Designer The following text is the property
Scott Gladstein of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is
Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast,
Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

Editors 1. Definitions: (a)”Contributors”

Ian Sisson and Christos Gurd
means the copyright and/or trademark
owners who have contributed Open
Game Content; (b)”Derivative
Layout Material” means copyrighted material
Scott Gladstein including derivative works and
translations (including into other
computer languages), potation,
modification, correction, addition,
extension, upgrade, improvement,
compilation, abridgment or other
form in which an existing work may
be recast, transformed or adapted;
(c) “Distribute” means to reproduce,
license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast,
publicly display, transmit or
otherwise distribute; (d)”Open Game
Content” means the game mechanic and
includes the methods, procedures,
processes and routines to the extent
such content does not embody the
Product Identity and is an enhancement
over the prior art and any additional
content clearly identified as Open
Game Content by the Contributor,
and means any work covered by this
License, including translations and
derivative works under copyright law,
but specifically excludes Product
Identity. (e) “Product Identity”
means product and product line names,
logos and identifying marks including
trade dress; artifacts; creatures
characters; stories, storylines,
plots, thematic elements, dialogue,
incidents, language, artwork, symbols,
designs, depictions, likenesses,
formats, poses, concepts, themes

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 License (Cont.)
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spells, enchantments, personalities, License.
teams, personas, likenesses and
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designs; and any other trademark perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free,
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5.Representation of Authority to
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12
 License (Cont.)
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8. Identification: If you distribute 13 Termination: This License will

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15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright
2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

13
 License (Cont.)
Section 15 OGL Copyright Declaration
• Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
• Free Wars Core Rulebook. 2017, Little Red Goblin Games LLC, Authors: Scott
Gladstein

Product Identity:
Little Red Goblin Games LLC, logos, and trade dress are reserved as product
identity of that company. No other part of this product is reserved as product
identity.

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