Rules

Introduction
Papercraft is a turn-based tabletop game much like Mageknight, Heroclicks, Warhammer, and Wahammer 40,000. All of these games are fun to play and can be very competitive. The only downfall of these games is their cost. Introduction costs into these games can range from $30 to $120 and then there's expanding your armies and buying booster packs. But no more! Papercraft is different. It's free. All of the stats and rules you need to play are right on this site. All you need is dice, some free time, and some skills with scissors.


Supplies

Here is a list of materials you will need to play. Of course if you can find a way around using some of these items go ahead.

tape measure
6 or more six-sided-die (internet dice rollers work great too)
scissors
paper (card stock is more durable)
minimal creative ability (measuring and cutting squares)
around 3' x 4' of space
2 or more players
about 30 minutes to an hour and a half of gaming time


Before the Game

Game Length
Before you start playing you and the other player(s) have to decide how long you want the game to be. This can be determined by choosing how many points of units each player can have in his or her army. If its your first time playing 400 total points is a good place to start. That gives each player, on average, 8 to 10 units.

Tip: Not every player has to have the same amount of points. If you have three players you can play 2v1. Just make sure the teams' points are even.

Building Your Army
Now that you have a Army Total chosen you have to pick units to fill the ranks of your Papercraft army! By clicking on the Units page you will find varying lists that display all of the units you can use in your army. Add up the points as you go along and make sure not to go over the Army Total you've pick for the game.

Tip: By going to the Nations page you can view the unit lists for the warring factions of Papercraft. While you don't have to conform to these lists when making you're army they are a great place to start.

Building Your Army (literally)
With your list of units in hand it is now time to construct your army. Now, we here at Papercraft do not want children who are not old enough to use scissors running around and cutting themselves on out behalf, so, if you can read the word antidisestablishmentarianism then you can do this step.

You are to make your army out of paper. Simply cut out the corresponding template for the units in your unit list. The template a unit uses is determined by the secondary type in the unit's stat page. Here is a list of template dimensions for each secondary unit type.

Character = 1" x 1"
Infantry = 4" x 3"
Large Unit = 2" x 2"
Small Building = 5" x 5"
Titan = 6" x 6"

Make sure you have one paper square or rectangle for each unit in your army.

Tip: Papercraft doesn't have to be played with regular paper. If you have it use cardstock or a heavier weight of paper. It makes your unit squares a little more durable and they wont be moved as easily a regular notepad or computer paper.
Tip: We here at Papercraft love trees! So please, for the love of nature, reuse your paper squares as much as possible. Do it for the trees!

Finishing Touches
So you have all of your Units cut out and your ready to battle. But which unit is which? Before you start playing its a good idea to put some kind of differentiating markings on your unit squares so you know your Mummy King from your Relic Blade Paladin and your Atlas Bear from your Warmachine Otoro.

Tip: Its fun to go all out on your unit squares. By all means have at it! Draw a little tiger on your Armored Tiger and a scary spirit on your Will'o'Wights but make sure not to keep track of stats on the unit squares themselves. When you start writing on the little paper squares you're bound to move and bump stuff, so for gameplay's sake keep track of your Units's HP on a separate sheet of paper.


Game Setup

Battlefield Prep
Papercraft is best played on a completely flat surface. Floors can work (hardwood or low carpet) but a table works best. Even a piece of plywood set on sawhorses will do the trick. Now you're going to need about 3 square feet of battlefield to play on. The size needed increases when you increase the size of your armies. It will get kind of hard fitting two 1000 point armies in a 3 foot by 3 foot square.

Notice: We are currently working on fair and balanced terrain rules. When we finish them we'll post them here so you can fill your empty battlefields with neutral buildings and tall mountains for your armies to fight around.

Unit Placement
FINALLY, its time to start playing! Time to gather your troops. Everyone who is playing needs to roll a D6. The player with the highest number gets to go first by placing one of their paper units within their start zone. A player's start zone is the 10" of space from their edge of the battlefield. Then the player with the second highest roll lays down a unit. This goes on until everyone playing has placed a unit. Then its starts over again. And this goes on until everyone has laid all of their units down.

Tip: The chances of one person's army having the same number of units in another's is pretty slim. Incase someone runs out of units to place simply skip their turn in the placement rotation.


Gameplay

Game Flow
Papercraft's battles are played taking turns. The order the players take the turns in is the same order you used to place the units on the board. The player who placed first takes their turn first, then the second, and so on… Each players turn is split into two phases: Movement and Attack. The phases always go in the same order (Movement then Attack).

Movement Phase
The Movement Phase is the part of a players turn where exactly that takes place; movement. Each unit has a distance, in inches, within it's stats. This number is the maximum distance that type of unit can move per turn. On his or her movement phase a player may move any number of their units up to their maximum movement. When moving measure from front of the unit out to the distance you want to move, then move that unit up so that it's front does not go past the measured distance. This is know as Front to front.

Attack Phase
After you finish moving all of the units you want, it is time to attack. A unit may use a melee attack if it has moved, but a ranged unit may not attack if it moved in the same turn. A non-infantry unit can only attack once per turn. Infantry can attack twice per turn but each attack must be on a separate target. Each attack goes through these steps, in this order.

Testing Range
First you need to check if the unit you want to attack is within the range of the attack of the unit attacking. Measure from any edge of the attacking unit to any edge of the unit being attacked without crossing over another unit. If it is within range and not blocked by other units then you can continue the attacking process. If not you can try to hit another unit by testing range again.

Example:
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Rolling to Hit
If the unit is in range then you get to roll to hit. When rolling to hit, you roll 1d6 and add the attacking unit's Hit Bonus stat to the result. The player whose unit you are attacking then rolls 1d6 + the defending unit's Dodge Bonus. If the attacker's result is equal to or higher than the defender's, you hit! Procede to the next step, dealing damage. Otherwise, if the defender's total roll was higher than the attacker's, the attack misses and no damage is dealt.

Example: Now that the Longbowmen are in range, let's go about making an attack on the enemy unit. Here we have the Longbowmen's attack stats:

Longbows
Type = Piercing
Range = 18"
Hit Bonus = +2 <—This is where we start.
Dodge Bonus = +2
Damage = 2D6

Hit Bonus = +2, that means when we are attacking with Longbowmen, we roll a d6 and add 2, and that is our attack total. If this is equal to or higher then the defending unit's total roll then we land a hit and move onto the next step, (damage!).

Let's say that our Longbowmen roll a 4, giving us a total of 6. The unlucky defender happens to only get 3 for his total (roll + dodge bonus). Our attack was successful! Continue on to find out how this injures the target.

Calculating Damage
If the unit hits it's target then its time to roll for damage. Roll the damage the attack deals then subtract or add the armor modifier number from the total. To do that you'll need the armor Chart. Compare the attack type of the attacker to the armor type of the defender. Where they line up is the armor modifier. After combining the rolled damage and armor modifier, subtract the sum from the defending unit's HP.

Heavy Light Magic None Fortified
Pierce -3 +3 00 +3 -8
Slashing -5 -3 00 +5 -8
Bludgeon +3 00 00 -3 -4
Magic +5 0 -5 -3 -8
Energy 00 00 00 00 00
Siege -4 -8 -4 -8 +8

Example: Your Longbowmen hit! Now to find out if you nicked that enemy or plunged an arrow deep into a squishy spot. Let's take another look at the Longbowmen's attack stats.

Longbows
Type = Piercing <— Type will determine the bonus or penalty based on the enemy's armor
Range = 18"
Hit Bonus = +2
Dodge Bonus = +2
Damage = 2D6 <—And damage is the part you get to roll!

First you roll your damage, in this case 2d6. For the sake of example let's say we rolled 8 damage. Now compare your attack type to the armor type of the enemy on the armor chart. Our imaginary target has Heavy armor.

Heavy Light Magic None Fortified
Pierce -3 +3 00 +3 -8
Slashing -5 -3 00 +5 -8
Bludgeon +3 00 00 -3 -4
Magic +5 0 -5 -3 -8
Energy 00 00 00 00 00
Siege -4 -8 -4 -8 +8

Where the attack type and armor type line up, we see -3. We apply that to our damage we rolled, gives us 8-3= 5 damage
This is how much the target unit takes! The owner subtracts 5 points from the unit's health points (HP). Each player must keep track of their own units' HP.

Now that your attack was sucessful, you can attack with your other eligible units.
Hint 1: A unit is eligible to attack if:
a. If did not move in the same turn(Unless it is making a melee attack, see next)
b. If a unit has moved, it may still make a melee attack.(Attacks are labeled melee in the Range stat of the attack.

Hint 2: Some abilities say "in place of attacking". That it may only be used in the attack phase and only if that unit did not move or attack already. Since it is in place of making an attack, that unit may not use it again or make an attack that turn

After Damage
If the damage you dealt to the unit reduces its HP to 0 or less then it is dead. When a unit dies, what happens to it is dependent on what it's Secondary Unit Type is. Magic and Undead units get removed from the battlefield. If its Living or mechanical then flip the Unit Square over and leave it on the battlefield. Units can move over and end movement on top of corpses except large unit corpses.

Example:
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