0.1 A Brief Introduction

	Happy Face An Optional Rule marked with a Happy Face is highly recommended.  This rule is fun for almost all game types and playing styles and you should look for excuses to use it.
	Indifferent Face Optional Rules marked with an Indifferent Face do not tend to make the game more or less fun.  Playing the game using these rules may be equivalent to playing the game without using these rules, or the extra work involved to use these rules decrease the added value of the options, benefits, or details that these rules provide.
	Surly Face Optional Rules marked with a Surly Face usually take more work than they are worth.  These rules are included only to cater to unique playing styles or game types, or to solve arguments in unusual situations.  You should probably try to avoid situations which would require you to use these rules.

If you have an argument over something we haven't made a rule for, make up a new rule yourself and roll some dice.  If you come up with some new rules you're especially proud of, be sure and tell us about them and we'll be glad to steal your ideas.

BrikWars is designed to accommodate many levels of depth.  The rules are divided into a series of 'books,' each book adding a new layer of depth and complexity.  While BrikWars, in its characteristic freewheeling style, encourages you to change, ignore, and make up rules however you like, it can be a lot of work to wade through pages and pages of information, deciding exactly which rules to keep and which to toss.  The book divisions make it very easy: each book represents an incremental jump in complexity, so by choosing a book to stop at, you can find your comfort zone very quickly.

The first book, Skirmish (Chapters One and Two), introduces you to basic combat and the basic selection of infantry weapons and equipment.  This gives you enough room to set up a landscape and toss a few squads of Troops at each other.  Once you've read this book, you've learned 80% of the game; everything else is just details.

The second book, Battle (Chapters Three through Seven), gives rules to let the Troops interact more fully with their environment.  It also includes guidelines for vehicles and buildings, and the siege weapons you can use to arm them.

The third book, War (Chapters Eight and Nine), gives guidelines for including many types of specialized combatants besides the generic Troop.

Unfortunately, you will need more than just this rulebook to play BrikWars. Fortunately, everything else you do need is something you ought to have anyway.  If you don't have some of these things, go out and get them.

For some reason
a lot of people don't listen to our wise advice and try to use all the rules in the book.  We regretfully apologize to those misguided souls, to whom this book will only serve as an instrument of torture.

When Rules Aren't Enough
Often, during the course of a battle, your minifigs will want to do something not even remotely covered by the rules.  In fact, if they don't, then it's a good sign that you're failing to get into the spirit of the game.  Use your own judgment to decide whether the fig succeeds and what the effect will be - real-life experience will be your best guide.

Pay close attention to the real-life experiences other players describe when deciding how to handle a new situation.  If a player starts his argument with, "The last time I put a rifle round into an unarmored man's kneecap..." it might be a good idea to let that player have his way.  On the other hand, if a player starts a sentence with, "Well, I'm in the SCA and..." do not let him finish talking - immediately give him a whack with the Hammer of Discipline.  Anything less would be a gross breach of your civic duty.

	Dice - You will need some dice.  Specifically, d6's, d10's, and d20's.  If you are any kind of a wargamer, you will have no problem coming up with these. If you are a normal human being, you only have d6's.  We should have made everything d6-compatible, but we didn't, and now you're just going to have to find some way to deal with it. (If you really don't want to have to go out and buy new dice, see 0.3.3: Some Notes about Points and Pips for info on how to convert different kinds of dice into points and back again.)
	Paper and Pencils - We've done everything we could to make BrikWars a 'paperless' wargame, but these are still handy to have around if you need to do some quick math, pass secret notes, or draw mean pictures of the opposing general.  You will especially need paper if you have designed any heavily-customized vehicles or weapons.  If you write down your custom constructions' stats and abilities when you first calculate them, you won't have to keep re-calculating them throughout the game.
	A Table - or some other playing surface, like a floor.  If you play on a table, don't use more soldiers than you're willing to stand back up every time somebody bumps the table.  If you play on the floor, remember that shag carpeting is not the best surface on which to play BrikWars - you may want to put your soldiers on stands (4x4 plates or larger) so they don't fall over all the time (a battlefield illness known as 'shag drunkenness').  If you don't have a table or a floor, you can build one out of plastic bricks.
	Terrain - Terrain provides cover and scenery for the battle.  Sometimes you'll want to build this out of plastic bricks, because it makes it a lot easier for your minifigs to stand up.  But seriously, you're always going to want more room than you can conveniently build with plastic bricks.  Fortunately, you can use almost anything for terrain.  A pile of books makes a good mountain, a blue sheet makes a good ocean, a bookshelf makes a great bombed-out skyscraper, and your dog makes a good 30-story Dogzilla monster.  Set up pockets of PBB forests and PBB buildings and you're good to go. (If you don't build any terrain, and just play on a flat field, then infantry units will have no cover and be at a severe disadvantage versus vehicle units.  This is why, in real life, infantry on a flat field will start digging trenches and laying down barbed wire and minefields.  Cut your minifigs a break - either give them some jungles and buildings to hide in, or make sure every minifig has a vehicle to ride in.)
	Charts - Depending on how complex a battle you're staging, and how long you've been playing BrikWars, you may have memorized all the statistics you'll need.  Even then, to settle arguments, you'll want the charts printed out in hardcopy somewhere handy. (All the charts you will need are conveniently located in Appendix A: The Tables.)
	A Measuring Device - You can measure distance by counting dots on the plastic bricks.  In general, three dots is about one inch.  When you're checking to see if an enemy soldier is within range of your ICBM or measuring the turning radius of an AircraftCarrier, it can get tedious counting all those dots - see if you can't get a tape measure out of your toolbox or sewing kit, or a string marked off in inches.  It's much better to have a flexible measuring device that you can bend around obstacles than, for instance, a wooden ruler. (If you're not big on measurement, there are alternatives to using strict inches - see "Inches" under 0.3.2: Game Terms.) You may also want a specially prepared 30-60 triangle, if you decide to use some of the more advanced optional rules in Chapter Three.
	Another Player - You will need at least one opponent, unless you are really bored and want to play by yourself.  If you do not have another player, you can construct one out of plastic bricks.
	Some Free Time - You should not play this game at work because you are supposed to be working.  (This is more important in some jobs than in others.  If you are in tech support or are a network admin, it is probably okay to play this game while working, as long as you are careful not to get caught by your boss.  If you are an airline pilot or a neurosurgeon, please wait until your shift is over.)
	Plastic Bricks - Somehow we forgot to mention this in previous editions of the rulebook, and it seems that some of the less imaginative readers may have gotten confused.  The truth is, it's just not much fun to play BrikWars without some kind of plastic bricks.  If your supply of plastic bricks is limited, you can supplement them with soldiers, vehicles, and bases built out of paper, cardboard, clay, or any number of other materials.  You can even use non-constructible units like green army men.  However, none of these work quite as well as a really good set of plastic bricks.

0.3 A BrikWars Glossary

Dot - A dot (some people call them 'pegs' or 'studs') is one of those little circular studs on top of most bricks.  A minifig has one dot on the top of his head.  Dots are often used to measure horizontal distance in BrikWars.  Three dots are approximately equal to one inch.

Cylinder - A cylinder is like a one-dot Brik except that it's round.

0.3.2 Game Terms

Many of these terms will be explained again (in greater length and specificity) in the chapters in which they appear, so don't worry too much about memorizing any of them right off the bat.

	Turn - A period of time in which a single player moves all the units he wishes to move and resolves all the attacks he wishes to make.  (1.2: Game Cycle)
	Round - A period of time in which all players in the game have each completed one turn.  Try not to confuse rounds with turns.  (1.2: Game Cycle)
	Inch - Although most of the distances in this rulebook are written in inches, any other standard unit of measurement will do.  You may choose to convert the numbers in inches to some number of centimeters (three being the usual number, although any number will be fine).  You might decide that the distance between the tips of your thumb and forefinger is six inches, and make estimates based on that measuring tool (thus giving the advantage to players with bigger hands).  You can even change the length of your inches depending on the gravity of whatever planet you're from - things go farther in low gravity.
	Unit - Any person, machine, or installation that has the power to perform actions in the game. A soldier, a robotic tank, a computer-controlled machine gun emplacement, and a monkey are all units. A tree, a coffee mug, an assault rifle, and a dismembered corpse are not units (unless magikally animated).
	Skill - The number of dice in a unit's Skill rating determine the chances of success in any endeavor the unit is able to attempt.  Non-trivial actions are given a Difficulty number or a Usage Rating (UR), and a unit must roll this number or higher on his Skill dice, or suffer ignominious failure.  This roll is called a Skill Roll.  Different situations or considerations might add bonuses or subtract penalties from the unit's Skill in a given attempt; these bonuses or penalties are called Skill Modifiers.  The Skill Roll that you make when attacking an opponent is also called an Attack Roll.  (1.3: The Trooper)
	Armor (or AV for Armor Value) - This number, often a number of dice, tells how much damage a unit can take before being injured or destroyed.  Every attack causes a certain number of dice of Damage.  When struck by an attack, if the defending unit's Armor Roll is as much or higher than the attacking unit's Damage Roll, then the defending unit suffers no harm.  (1.3: The Trooper)
	Move - This number describes the maximum number of inches a unit can travel in a single turn.  Certain kinds of actions decrease the number of inches a unit can travel in the turn they are performed, and a unit's Move might be impaired by encumbrance from carrying heavy or clumsy objects.  Any effect that decreases a unit's Move is called a Movement Penalty or -MP".  A Movement Penalty incurred by an item carried by or mounted on a unit is called a Cargo MP, or -CMP".  (1.3: The Trooper)
	Cost (or CP for Construction Points) - Every unit, object, ability, or advantage in BrikWars is assigned a point cost, measured in Construction Points or CPs.  By comparing CP values, you can see the relative value of different types and groups of units.  (1.3: The Trooper)
	Critical Roll - Any time a player makes a Skill Roll or an Armor Roll, if all the dice end up on a one then the roll is an Automatic Failure.  If all dice end up on their highest-numbered face (all sixes when rolling d6s, all tens when rolling d10s), then the roll is an Automatic Success.  These are called Critical Rolls.  (1.4: Basic Combat)
	TekLevel (TL) - A TekLevel is a number that refers to an army's teknological sophistication.  A unit can effectively use equipment and weapons from its own TekLevel or earlier at no penalty.  One TekLevel later and they can use the equipment at a -2 Skill Penalty.  Anything more high-tek than that is useless to them. TekLevels in BrikWars are as follows: TekLevel Chart TekLevel Zero (TL0): StoneAge CaveMen       Clubs, Big Rox TekLevel One (TL1): ToolAge TribalMen:       ShortBows, Horses, Ziggurats, TikiMasks Timmies and JarJars:       Irritating Demeanors, Explosive Breeding TekLevel Two (TL2): MetalAge (BronzeAge) AncientMen:       Chariots, Pyramids (IronAge) ClassicalMen:       Phalanxes, Columns (SteelAge) CastleMen:       Halberds, Catapults, Castles TekLevel Three (TL3): RennaisanceAge PirateMen:       Galleons, Cannons, Muskets NapoleonMen:       Cavalry, Artillery, Musketeers TekLevel Four (TL4): ModernAge WWIIMen:       Rifles, Tanx, Bombers S.W.A.T.Men:       Rifles, Armored Trux, Radios ModernMen:       StealthBombers, CruiseMissiles TekLevel Five (TL5): SpaceAge SpaceMen:       Phasers, SpaceFleets TekLevel Six (TL6): StarAge StarMen:       DeathGuns, EnergyBlades, CityStars TekLevel Seven (TL7): HyperAge InterDimensionalMen:       Time Machines, Sentient Planets
	NearMiss - An attack that misses its target tends to strike in the neighborhood of the missed target.  NearMiss calculations are used to determine where a missed attack hits.  (3.1.1: NearMiss Rules)
	Explosion Damage - Any Damage Roll measured in d10s or d20s causes Explosion Damage.  Explosions damage everything within their blast radius, and tend to set things on fire.  (3.3.2: Explosions)
	Burn Level - When an object is on fire, the Burn Level tells exactly how hot the fire is burning.  You can tell that an object is on fire because fire-colored Brix will be piled all around it.  Normal objects can have a Burn Level of 1d6 (yellow flames), 2d6 (yellow and red), or 3d6 (yellow, white, and red).  Different types of fuel can burn even hotter for short periods of time, at 4d6 (white), 5d6 (white and blue), and 6d6 (blue).  (3.3.5: Fire!)
	Story - A Story is a measure of height equal to six Brix (or 2 and 2/8 inches), and is used to measure larger vertical distances like the altitude of planes, the height of buildings, and the length of a drop when your minifig falls off of a cliff.
	Blok-Inch (or b") - The unit of torque in BrikWars.  One Blok-Inch is the amount of force required to accelerate an object weighing one Blok by one inch per turn, per round.  (3.6.2: Moving Objects Around)
	Power - The measure of a unit's strength. One point of Power is equal to five Blok-Inches (5b") of torque.  All minifigs, except where otherwise noted, have 1 point of Power.
	Siege Weapons - Weapons that are too big to be troop-portable.  Siege Weapons are designed to be mounted on vehicles or buildings, in order to blow up other vehicles and buildings.  (Chapter Six: Siege Weapons)
	Civilization - Most armies in BrikWars are fielded by Civilizations that are fairly generic.  Some Civilizations have a lot more flavor, with specific attitudes, strategies, and technological advantages and disadvantages.
	Character - Most units in BrikWars are of a certain generic type.  A Character is a unit with personality, with unique stats and abilities, who would be able to advance and improve over the course of several battles if it weren't for the fact that the mortality rate in BrikWars is extremely unforgiving.

0.3.3 Some Notes About Points and Pips In later chapters, you will sometimes be given the option to buy 'points' of certain unit properties, such as Armor Value, Damage, or Skill.  Sometimes these properties will not be measured by a simple integer, but will also include a number of dice.  If you want to know how many 'points' a die is worth, in order to purchase more dice, or to convert between different types of dice, divide the number of faces on the die by two and add ½.  This will give you the average roll on that die.  For instance, 1d6 is worth 3½ points, 1d10 is worth 5½ points, 1d20 is worth 10½ points, and 1d3 is worth 2 points.  After all the dice's point costs have been added together, any fractions must be rounded up. Example: Suppose you are buying Armor for a MedievalTrooper at a rate of 1 CP (Construction Point) per 2 points of Armor.  If you want to add 2d6 of Armor, it would cost you 4 CP (7 points of Armor costs 3½ CP, rounded up). If you bought another 2d6 of Armor later in the game, it would cost you another 4 CP.  However, if you buy both at the same time, 4d6 of Armor costs you only 7 CP (3½ + 3½ = 7, no need to round up). In general, when buying multiple points, buy dice whenever possible (e.g., buy 2d6 rather than 7 or 1d6+4).  Remember that d10's and d20's are usually only used for weapons causing Explosion damage, or the Armor ratings of Vehicles and Bases.  For everything else, use 1d6's.