This entry is to be added to the War Machines section of the Skaven army list.

Clan Skyre Poison Globe Catapult.....125 points
If your army includes at least five Poison Wind Globadiers then it may include any number of Poison Globe Catapults. Each machine has a crew of 3 Skaven to operate and protect it.

Profile	M	Ws	Bs	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
Crew	5	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	5

	Range	Strength	Save	Wounds per hit
Poison Globe Catapult	60"	Special	Auto	D6

Equipment: The Crew are armed with hand weapons and wear light armour.

Save: 6+

Options: The Crew may be equipped with heavy armour at the cost of +1 point per model.

Special Rules: See Below

Poison Globe Catapult

The Poison Globe Catapult looks exactly like an ordinary catapult, but adorned with skaven runes. The Catapult consists of a large wooden frame and a wooden throwing arm held down with ropes, with a spoon-shaped part at one end. When the catapult is fired, a large globe(about the size of a football) of the poison wind is placed upon the spoon shaped end of the throwing arm. Then the ropes are released, and a piece of stretchy sinew causes the throwing arm to rocket forward, propelling the globe into the heart of the enemy, where it will hopefully shatter in the midst of an enemy formation and gas them all.

A poison wind globe is a fragile glass or crystal sphere filled with a lethal warpstone gas. When the globe is shattered a noxious clous of greenish-yellow gas billows out to fill the area around it with deadly, choking gas. The globes used by the poison globe catapult are considerably larger then normal, and, as they are moving at speed, can also cause severe damage to an unfortunate directly hit by the globe, as the glass and crystal shards embed themselves in the victim's flesh.

The crew of the poison globe catapult are drawn from the ranks of the poison wind globadiers, who are already skilled in the handling of the lethal globes. They all wear distinctive masks, which are meant to filter out the gas in case a globe is accidentally dropped and shatters, but even these masks are not always effective.

Poison Globe Catapult Rules

The catapult works very much like a stone thrower as described in the Warhmmer rulebook except that the projectile is not a stone, but a glass sphere full of poison gas. As the Skaven have not fully got to grips with the concepts of ballistics, the catpults tend to be very inaccurate. The crew may move the catapult up to 5" in the movement phase, but it may not shoot in the same turn as it moves. Pivoting the catapult as it is fired is not counted as movement.

The catapult may be fired in the shooting phase as long as it was not moved in the movement phase. You will need the large 3" diameter template supplied with Warhammer.

First, pivot the catapult on the spot so it is facing in the direction you wish to shoot. Now declare how far you wish to fire the globe, up to a maximum of 60". As with stone throwers you must do this without measuring the distance to your target, so you must guess the range as accurately as possible. Once you have made your guess place a suitable marker over the spot where you have guessed. To determine inaccuracy, roll the artillery dice. The globe moves the amount of inches on the artillery dice directly further away from the catapult, in the same way as a cannonball. If a misfire is rolled, consult the misfire table below. Now determine scatter by rolling the scatter and artillery dice together. The globe now moves the number of inches rolled on the artillery dice in the direction shown on the scatter dice. If the scatter dice shows a hit the globe does not scatter. If the artillery dice shows a misfire, the globe does not shatter when it lands, and does no damage.

Damage

Once you have worked out where the globe lands you can work out damage. Place the 3" diameter temple centred on where the globe lands. Any model in the centre of the template is automatically hit and suffers a strength 7 hit. Note that this direct hit can only affect one model. If your roll to wound is successful, then the individual recieves not one, but D6 wounds from the shattering globe. If the creature has only one wound, then this further roll is not neccessary, as it will be slain whatever the result. However, it does mean that you can take out big monsters with a direct hit from a globe. No saving throw is ever allowed for armour, as the glass or crystal shards are extremely small and razor sharp, and can easily find their way through eyeholes or chinks in armour. Even if the model survives, it must still roll to see if it is hit by the gas.

Models which lie fully under the rest of the template are affected by the gas. Any models half under the template are affected on a D6 roll of 4+. All models affected by the gas are hit on a 4+(Globadiers of Poison Globe Catapult crews are only affected on a roll of 6 because of their special masks)

Hits from the gas automatically cause 1 wound with no armour saving throw allowed. A model that is hit with a roll of 6 automatically takes 2 wounds with no armour saving throw possible. This does not apply to models wearing gas masks, as they are protected, and only suffer 1 wound when hit.

Misfire

If the dice indicate that the catapult has misfired, roll a D6 on the following table.

	Catapult Misfire Table
1-2	Crash! The Catapult spectacularly malfunctions and disintegrates in a cloud of gas, and pieces of wood. The Catapult is destroyed and all the crew are killed.
3-4	Oops! Smash! One of the crew accidentally drops a globe and it shatters, releasing poison wind all over the area of the catapult. Roll to hit all the crew as if they were affected by the poison gas. The crew must also spend all of this turn and next turn making sure the catapult is safe for use and cleaning up the glass shards, and cannot fire this turn or next turn.
5-6	A minor fault prevents the catapult firing this turn. Perhaps one of the globes has a crack and must be disposed of, or the rope breaks before the globe is loaded. The catapult may fire as normal next turn.

Profile

The catapult is a sturdy construction of stout wooden beams, and has a several wounds and high toughness like a large creature. The move rate is the speed the catapult can be moved by a full crew. If any crew are slain the catapult's speed is reduced proportionally.

Loss of Crew

A Poison Globe Catapult requires a crew of 3 to work it properly - to carry the globes, wind back the throwing arm, and orient the catapult to fire. If one crewrat is slain the other two can can just about get by without reducing the rate of fire. However, if two crew are slain, the catapult will be unable to maintain the normal rate of fire. If the catapult has only one crerat left, it can only fire every other turn. If the catapult has no crew at all it is unable to fire.

Poison Globe Catapult Summary

1. Declare target and guess range.

2. Roll the artillery dice and add the score to the distance aimed. Place the globe at this distance.

3. If you roll a MISFIRE refer to the misfire chart.

4. Roll scatter and artillery dice. If the artillery dice is a MISFIRE, the globe does not shatter, otherwise...

5. If the scatter dice is a HIT, the globe does not scatter. If the scatter dice is an arrow the globe has landed in the direction shown 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10" away from the first landing point as shown by the artilery dice.

6. The single model in the exact centre is hit by the shattering globe and takes a hit as shown above.

7. All models under the template are hit on 4-5, and poisoned on a 6. Hits cause 1 wound with no armour save allowed. Poisoned models take 2 wounds with no armour save allowed.