Discworld Warfare

This army list was started last century. I found, updated and made it available on the Web over 5 years ago. (With original authors approval). It has now been updated using additional information found on the Web, most of which was snippets on forums and the like. I don't have permission to use these snippets so if the authors wish me to give them a credit or update their ideas please contact me using the email on the home page - likewise if you wish your contribution to be removed. The colours of the text indicate where the original idea came from.

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War Machines

The following are large scale weapons that have been mentioned in Discworld. These rules have been based on Warhammer ones that I know of. Unfortunately I only have a few Army books I don't have full details or costs but if you have access to the relevant Armies book or a local Games Workshop they will have all the information you need. If you arm the troops as in an Army list you will only need to adjust the points cost by any difference to the cost of a basic trooper. I.E. if you give a two man crewed weapon to the dwarfs it will cost an extra 6 points as a basic man is 5 points and a dwarf 8 points.

The Great Leveller - Repeater Bolt Thrower

This is a cart mounted Ten-bank 500lb crossbow which suggests that it can fire more than one arrow at a time and is therefore a repeater. The old High Elf one on wheels would save you having to mount on a cart.
Use rules for an Elf Repeating Bolt Throwers

Siege Crossbow - Bolt Thrower

This is a triple stringed 200lb carriage mounted crossbow with double-action windlass, six foot iron arrows and safety catch as used by Detritus. I used the old Dwarf Bolt Thrower for the model of Detritus and so that is recommended for use as this weapon, mounted on a cart if you wish.
Use rules for a Dwarf Bolt Throwers.

War Machine - Screaming Skull Catapult

This has a throwing arm for sending balls of molten sulphur for a range of half a mile if one detaches the endless belt from the driving wheels and uses the oxen to wind the windlass. It rains unquenchable fire down on enemies. Has huge power arms of seasoned ash and yew, laminated and held together by special steel bolts so they wont break in use. Has an operating lever (part 3(b) on the building plans).
Use the rules for a Screaming Skull Catapult with flaming ammunition which causes Panic. (Can use the UU's influence and have magical attacks as well).

Klatchian Fire Engine

This is a sort of bin on small squeaky wheels, various handles and fat leathery bags and a nozzle the front. Looked like a very large kettle. Leather kept greased, oil in reservoir, handle to be pumped. Tube at front lit by a match and operated by pulling a lever by which the jet of flame could be adjusted. There are no pictures of this so we suggest something like the Skaven Warpfire Thrower with a two man/dwarf crew but rather than the second person carrying the barrel or bin around on his back it stands in front of him on wheels. He pushes with a pram type handle and also operated the pump.
Use the Skaven Warpfire Thrower rules for this weapon. They can be assigned to infantry units or create their own unit if you have a few of them.

Other Weapons of War not mentioned above

Klatchian reinforced crossbow with goatleg cocking mechanism and undershaft bayonet. - one regiment of crossbows to be fitted with bayonet or spike at front. No bonus just something different to model.

Meteor Automated Throwing Star Hurler decapitates at 20 paces. Money back if not completely decapitated. - range is a little short.

Spinning-up-in-the-air-machine - Helicopter type device. Human in Dwarf Gyrocopter Being Discworld does the army have to be all Human

B & S 'Viper' Mk3 Crossbow - kills people but leaves buildings standing.

Remember - there are no black powder weapons on Discworld so disregard the following entry, which comes from Interesting Times, influenced by China.

Barking Dogs - type of gun on four disc wheels for the rare occasions when it needed to be moved. Very heavy as it required six people to move it. The barrel is a large round cylinder made from a large amount of brass and shaped like a very large lap dog with an open mouth. The barrel was wide enough for Ridcully to poke his head into it. Round ball shot and string fuse.

Leonard of Quirm/Engineers

Leonard of Quirm can play a great part in influencing weapons of mass destruction. While his inventions are meant to be peaceful they could be used for violent purposes - ie the flyers; the roundworld Leo made many items specifically for military use and these could therefore be worked into this army. A war wagon with the horses pushing, or enclosed underneath; mechanical horses. Dwarf cubes used to power steam type tanks. Mr. Pony or other members of the Engineer's guild could be Master Engineers. Serious men with clipboards, dressed in overalls. Some steampunk figures, probably. Leonard of Quirm's amazing benign automated landplower might have been stolen and turned into something as devious as a steamtank!

'Device for Moving Mountains Aside' - a large metal sphere, that a man could carry, which makes use of the strange properties of some otherwise quite useless metals. They don't like being squeezed, they go bang with extrem alacrity. No use as a weapon but for mining when they need to move a mountain out of the way!

Device with spiked wheels and spinning blades. - Goblins/Orcs/Kaos? used to have a chariot type device that was pushed with many blades out in front. Hit as chariot D6 +2 for wheel scythes +1 for each additional blade?? Do you know what the rules were?? - Something similar pushed by armoured war horses being ridden by the crew.

Sto Lat non-steam tank - named after the first tank 'Hilda of Cambria' with brown, red and green flags "through mud and blood to the cabbage fields beyond"

Infernal Combustion Engine - turning chemical energy into rotary motion. Little pellets of black powder put into the combustion chamber at exactly the right speed and one at a time. If two ignite together it becomes an external combustion engine. Soft white fur dice linked by string hung on it. Prototype had become an exploded version and was a small heap of bent and twisted metal with a piston enbedded in the roof. It was expected to replace the horse.

Leonard would not however go into battle.

Alchemist's Guild

While Leonard has made a small rocket launcher capable of being carried in a bag, currently with Nobby, on the Guild front the Alchemists building was either full of holes or just a hole in the ground so there is a possibility of some sort of explosive firearm. I’m thinking of Rockets possibly with a change of rules. Don’t have access to the rules but if they’re like cannons something on the lines of double the chance of misfire and half the chance of a direct hit due to the more volatile nature of this Guild might be in order.

Perhaps note should be taken of the animosity between the Alchemists and the Wizards, no alchemistic war machine within 12" of wizzards without some form of penalty.

Affir Al-chema's Principia Explosia has been the seminal work for the past 100 years on Klatch alchemy - while Leonard has a copy not known how common it is outside Klatch.