Trash Tokyo

The Game of Giant Monster Combat

By John Wilson

Rules Version V2.1

CREDITS
Author:John Wilson
Artwork:Sue Wilson & Chris Moseley
Layout:Sue Wilson
Strop: Rachael Anne Marion Wilson, Strop!

Thanks to:Mark Caldwell (for suggesting rules); Tim Parnell (for listening to me); Matthew Hartley (for showing me it could be done); Steve Gill (for letting me hang round his games); Mr Panda (for company at Shinnenkai); Darren Ashmore and Rick Cowling (for the videos); the people at LUWaRP, Shinnenkai, rec.games.mecha and rec.games.miniatures.misc (for playtesting this damn thing) and anybody else I have forgotten ...

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Trash Tokyo and its contents are copyrighted to WilsonClan Games, 1997. Any infringement of this copyright will result in us sending a Giant Radioactive Dinosaur to flatten you, your family, your neighbours and anybody who bears the slightest resemblance to you.
Any infringements of copyrights in this work are accidental and are not meant to imply endorsement by the owners of the copyright for the product or as a challenge to their copyright status. Please don't send the lawyers round. Or the Giant Radioactive Dinosaur.

Introduction

Warning!

This is a game. Please do not attempt to battle real 300ft tall radioactive monsters in your living room!
WilsonClan games will accept no responsibility for any damage or injury resulting from the improper use of this product.

This game was inspired by many late night showings of monster movies of all kinds, but especially the ones involving guys in suits stamping around studios full of cardboard buildings. As a result it is in no way intended to be a realistic portrayal of modern warfare (cos' we'd like the humans to stand some chance!).

It was written as a 'beer and pretzels' type game intended as a demo for people with only a passing interest in wargames. As such the rules are quick and (we hope) simple but not totally exhaustive. Should you find yourself needing some specific rule for a monster feel free to make it up, or if you are really stuck contact us. Remember this is just the basic rules. There is more on the way (in that sort of whether you like it or not sort of way). Should you wish to be a part of the ongoing evolution, e.mail us at john@.nospam.wilsonclan.org.uk

Figures and Models

Terrain features are the none mobile bits that the monsters destroy on their rampages. They may be mounted on any size of base, but the dimensions of the base must be in multiples of 25mm.
Units are the combatants in the game. The types of unit used in the game are summarised below:
Civilians
Civilians are innocent bystanders. Their main purpose is to run, screaming,from the monsters attacking their city and basically get in the way.
Military
Military units range from squads of soldiers to mecha. They defend cities against the attacks of giant monsters.
Monsters
Monsters are the strange creatures that have come to destroy the city. They are not limited to giant lizards, but may include any creature or machine that is bent on destruction. Monsters can also be part of the city defences. However, they have to be careful what they stand on.
Ideally 1/300th scale figures should be used to represent units. Civilian and Military units should be mounted on 25mm square bases. Monsters may use bases of any size, but the base used will show the area the monster occupies.

Sequence Of Play

Each turn consists of the following phases:
  1. Initiative. All players roll 1d6 to determine the number of Actions they may use this turn. The player with the most actions has the initiative.
  2. Active phase. Each player takes one action in order of initiative. This continues until all actions have been taken.
  3. Passive phase. The reactions of units which have not acted in the Active Phase are determined. This is done by rolling on the appropriate reaction table for the unit.
Once all phases in a turn have been completed, the next turn begins.

Actions

Each Action represents an opportunity to attack or move. Units may move and attack several times in one turn, provided enough actions are spent to allow them to do so. Any units of the same side which are in base-to-base contact, and which remain so for the duration of the Action, may be treated as a single unit for the purposes of spending Actions. Actions may not be saved for use in later turns.

Movement

Each unit has a Move Value (MV) and a Move Type. The MV is the distance (in cm) a unit may move per Action. The Move Type is the type of movement a unit uses and is used to determine the effect of terrain on its movement.
Move Types
There are six Move Types used in Trash Tokyo. These are explained below:
AIR
Air movement is flight. Units with this type of movement may have a minimum MV (shown as Max MV/Min MV). Units with a minimum MV must move this distance or they are assumed to have crashed and been destroyed. Units which do not have a minimum MV are able to hover in place.
Press here for terrain effects.
BURROW
Some monsters (and possibly some vehicles) are capable of tunnelling through solid matter. Burrowing units are not placed on the playing area until they surface.
Press here for terrain effects.
G.E.V.
This represents vehicles which use thrusters, ducted fans or anti-gravity systems in order to hover just above the surface they are crossing.
Press here for terrain effects.
GROUND
Ground movement is assumed to be any form of movement which requires direct contact with the ground. This includes legs, wheels and tracks.
Press here for terrain effects.
SUBMARINE
Submarine movement allows units to move underwater. Submerged units are not placed on the playing area until they surface.
Press here for terrain effects.
WATER
This is the ability to cross bodies of water. Ships use this Move Type.
Press here for terrain effects.
Take-offs And Landings
Units with the AIR Move Type may take off or land as part of their movement. In order to do so, they must declare this before they conduct any movement. They must then spend an Action to move in a straight line at their minimum MV. At the end of the move, the unit is either airborne or on the ground. No other Actions may be taken by the unit during this turn.

Terrain

There are three types of terrain in Trash Tokyo: Good, Bad and Impassable. A unit on Good Terrain suffers no penalty to its movement. A unit on Bad Terrain has its movement halved. Units on Impassable Terrain may not move at all. If a unit's move crosses more than one type of terrain, it counts the whole move as being on the worst terrain.

The following table gives examples of terrain for each Move Type. Move Types

  1. Air
  2. Burrow
  3. G.E.V.
  4. Ground
  5. Submarine
  6. Water

Buildings

 Buildings are items of terrain which can be damaged. A building can be anything from a skyscraper to a pylon, or a bridge to a gas tank. . A building is assigned a Defence Value (DV). This determines how fragile the building is. Once a building is destroyed, the area where it stood is considered to be rubble. Some buildings may have special effects associated with them. For example, electricity pylons may electrocute any monster in contact with them, or gas tanks may explode if damaged. The special effects associated with buildings, if any, should be decided upon before play commences.

COMBAT

Units which are capable of carrying out an attack have an Attack Value (AV), a Range and an Attack Type. The AV represents how much damage the attack is capable of doing. Range is the maximum distance (in cm) the attack may be used to. The Attack Type describes the attack and helps determine its effects. Attack Types The following Attack Types are used in Trash Tokyo. Each attack should have at least one Attack Type from this list.
Chemical
This represents attacks which are based upon noxious gases, corrosive liquids or other, similar substances.
Cold
Cold attacks work by lowering the temperature of the target until it suffers damage.
Electrical
The attack uses an electrical charge in order to do damage.
Heat
These are the opposite of Cold attacks. Heat attacks include flamethrowers and Martian heat-rays.
Impact
Impact attacks use kinetic energy to do damage. Most conventional attacks (ie, guns, claws, etc.) are Impact-based.
Light
The attack uses a burst of high intensity light to disable its target. This is usually a laser beam of some description.
Mental
These are attacks which do not manifest themselves physically. Instead, these attacks are more subtle in their operation. A successful mental attack generally allows one player to control another player's units. The exact effects of a given mental attack should be agreed upon by the players.
Radiation
Radiation attacks cover those weapons which use radioactive energy, strange charged particles or other phenomena beloved by physicists.
Sonic
Any attack which uses powerful sound waves is a sonic attack.
An attack may use more than one Attack Type. However, this only increases the chance that it will get past a monster's defences. An attack with more than one Attack Type only rolls for damage once per attack, not once per Attack Type.

Attacking

In order to use an attack, a unit must pick a visible target that is within the range of its attack.
For a unit to use a weapon with a range of 0cm, it must be in base-to-base contact with its target.
Range (and line of sight) is measured between the centres of units. If the path is not obstructed by intervening scenery then the unit may open fire.
For each point of AV in an attack, the player rolls lD6. Damage is scored as follows:
D6	Damage
1-3  	No damage
4,5  	1 point of damage
6    	2 points of damage
The amount of damage done is totalled up and then applied.
Applying Damage
Destroyed units are immediately removed from the table.

If a Monster suffers damage, as well as losing Damage Points, the Monster also loses its next Action.

Reaction Tables

In Trash Tokyo, reaction tables are used to control units (or groups of units) which are not under the direct control of a player. This includes units which have not used any Actions in a turn. Each unit (or group of units) is rolled for once per turn. The reaction table conditions are read from left to right and the first applicable column is used. A D6 is rolled, the modifiers added and the result applied. You are encouraged to experiment with these tables, particularly the Monster Reaction Table. After all, not every monster reacts in the same way, or even to the same things. In fact, some of them may even be intelligent...
Civilian Reaction Table
D6 	Monster  	Defenders  	Monster
   	<10cm  	       <10cm     	>10cm
1  	W		W		W
2  	R		W		W
3  	R		R 		W
4  	R		R		R
5  	S		R		R
6  	S		S		R
Modifiers to the die roll for this reaction table are as follows:
Military Reaction Table
D6	Monster		Monster
	<10cm	        >10cm
1	A	 	FA
2	A	 	FA
3	MA	  	A
4	MA	  	A
5	R	  	W
6	S	  	W
Modifiers to the die roll for this reaction table are as follows:
Monster Reaction Table
D6 	Unit		Unit
   	< 10cm  	> 10cm
1  	FA		FA
2  	FA		FA
3  	W		FA
4  	W		FA
5  	MA		W
6  	MA		W
Modifiers to the die roll for this reaction table are as follows:
Results
The entries in the reaction tables have the following results:
A Attack
The unit attacks with all he weapons it can use.
F Advance
The unit moves forward.
FA Charge!
Unit moves forward, firing as it goes.
M Retreat!
The unit moves away using up to half its MV.
MA Fighting retreat
The unit moves away losing half its MV, while attacking.
R Run Away!
The unit moves away as fast as possible.
S Scatter!
Infantry and Civilians are removed from the playing area. Vehicles are considered to be abandoned.
W Wait.
The unit stays where it is and does nothing.

Scenarios

Three scenarios are included - These scenarios are intended to give an idea of what Trash Tokyo is capable of. To make life easy the units needed for each scenario are included on these pages (save your phone bill for those of us who have to worry about down load time! However statistics for other monsters and units are given on separate pages. Feel free to make up your own scenarios using these as inspiration. All we ask is that you send us a copy of the good ones so we can have a go as well. If people are happy with the idea we can even add them to these pages.
We leave you with this.
HAVE FUN
because basically that is the whole point!