Plastic Hell

A game by Mike Ricotta

Who hasn’t been to the toy store or the dollar store and seen the plastic army men and said “There has
to be a game there”? Well I asked myself that often and finally took the plunge and wrote one.
Originally the game was only army men (and tanks) but I couldn’t resist the idea of using cowboys,
Indians, and for some odd reason, firemen. After all we are already playing with plastic dudes, we can
include them all!

If there was an interesting fluff story to go with the game it would go here. Lets pretend there was and
it was amazing!

A quick note: Though you may not be able to tell from reading this English is indeed my first language.
As an American it is also my only language. Well I did go to public school, but I also hold a masters
degree (in engineering) so I doubt I can use that excuse. What I’m trying to say is I hope my writing
makes sense.

Equipment Required

Each player needs around 15-20 D6s. The only dice type used is the D6. Each player also needs a
standard deck of playing cards with Jokers. A tape measure is also going to be needed.

There also needs to be a bag full of plastic men. At a minimum for two players 30 men should be in the
bag. The more the merrier though. Below is a brief discussion on the contents of the bag.

There are two issues with the bag of guys. First, what mix to use and secondly, what if I don’t have a
cowboy? Well I think that as long as the players agree some variation is acceptable. I also think that
players should agree on most of the rules, it saves arguing. Basically before the game starts each player
should agree that this guy is a fireman and this guy is a cowboy even if they are police officers and
pirates. The terms are basically flexible, but based on what I owned when I wrote the game. If you
don’t have units of a certain type (say spiders) that’s fine as well, you are just losing out on variety.

Also, it isn’t required that each specialist listed in the unit pages is available. They aren’t required for
play. Also as long as everyone agrees then a different figure than what is listed can be used. Don’t have
a fireman with a trumpet but have a police officer with a radio? That should work!
Unit TYPE Could also be
Army Man If you don’t have army men you should re-
evaluate your life. Also should probably be
WW2 type guys, but modern or musket age
would also work. Probably avoid guys
without guns.
Fireman Police, construction workers, medics, other
units that could fill a support role.
Cowboy Pirates, guys with semi-modern weapons
Indian Ninjas, guys with primitive weapons
Dino Monsters, giant animals, giant insects,
giant anything (but about the same size as
an army guy)
Spiders Any other kind of smaller animal or insect.
Mix ratio
There should probably be more army
men in the bag than other kinds. Not a
majority but more than other kinds.
They should be the base of game.
Not the majority, but a decent amount.
A game overloaded with firemen
would not be great.
You can have a good number of
cowboys, but less than army men.
Too many Indians will make for an odd
game that loses a lot.
Limit the number as Dinos are fairly
powerful
Enough that you could fairly easily get
a swarm together.

Of course you will need terrain. I like a table that is fairly full of stuff so make sure there are some good
options available. Terrain comes in several categories, soft, hard, and rough. Overall I would use more
soft than hard and more open ground than rough.

Terrain Type Examples

Rough Brown or green felt works well, also raised hills,

rubble filled ground, or high grass

Soft Hedgerows, trees, fences, barrels, sandbags or dirt

mounds

Hard Stone walls, buildings, metal barriers, bunkers, or

buildings
Setup

Players alternate placing terrain. Use a lot of terrain that provides cover such as walls, hedges and trees.
Determine what provides soft cover, hard cover, and rough terrain.

Determine the size of the game you want to play. This is done by determining how many draws you are
going to take from the bag, this should be in sets of 10 draws. The minimum sized game should be 10
draws.

Players must determine what type each figure is and what pose relates to what specialty (see unit
charts). Place all the figures you want to use into a bag. Determine who draws first.

The first player draws a unit out of the bag (digging around to find something specific is not allowed!)
and then may keep it or reject it. If they keep it refer to the chart below to determine any additional
bonus. If they reject it place the unit on the table in the reject pile and draw a new unit. They may
reject a maximum of five units. If the bag is empty then all picks must be made from the reject pile. You
may not take a unit from the reject pile once you start drawing from the bag (with the exception of any
bonuses)

The second player then picks either from the bag OR the reject pile. If they pick from the reject pile they
may pick any unit in the pile and gain any bonus as if that unit was drawn from the bag. In addition they
may draw an additional unit from the reject pile but DO NOT receive the bonus (if the reject pile is
empty they do not get an additional unit).

Players alternate pulling units until both players have had the number of draws agreed upon. Pulling
bonus units or gaining additional units from the reject pile does not count as a draw so it is possible
(probable) that each player will have more figures then the agreed draw number.

Note that any additional units gained from the reject pile or draw bag that come from a bonus DO NOT
grant additional bonuses. For example if draw a cowboy and then with your bonus draw get another
cowboy you DO NOT get another bonus draw.

Unit TYPE Bonus

Army Man None
Fireman May return one unit from your chosen units to the bag and take any unit
from the reject pile OR draw from the bag (bag draw may not be rejected)
Cowboy Draw one unit from the bag, may not be rejected
Indian Draw one unit from the bag or reject pile (bag draw may not be rejected)
Dino None
Spiders You may also take all of the spiders in the reject pile

Players determine which type they have the most figures of (if there is a tie the player may pick either)
to determine their special power. Please refer to the figure sheets. The special power is usable by every
figure on the side, not just the majority type.
Player two now picks which side of the table they want. Players may deploy their figures within 8” of
the table edge.

Players nominate one figure to be the leader. If you drew more than 10 times then nominate two
figures (this is the draw number decided at the beginning, not the number of figures you actually have)

Turns

Each player has a limited number of commands he can give out each turn, called command points.
These points are given to figures at the start of each turn. This is represented by placing one or more six
sided die by each figure you want to use each turn. The more dice you place the more that soldier can
do. Players draw cards from a deck to determine how many command points they receive each turn.
When a face card is drawn it is set aside. These cards are used to activate leadership skills or use special
abilities!

Turns consist of four phases

1) Determine command points

2) Allocate command
3) Move and fight!
4) Cleanup/victory check

1) Determine command points

Each player flips cards from the top of their deck until the numbers total MORE THAN ten. Aces count as
one. Face cards do not count and are set aside in a separate pool as they are pulled. If a joker is drawn
a special event has occurred! Roll for the event at the end of this phase (see below).

If you need to draw more cards and the deck has run out shuffle all discarded cards and all face cards
that were not drawn this turn to form the new deck. At this time your opponent has the option to
shuffle as well but he can keep all his face cards no matter when they were drawn.

Take a number of dice equal to your total and set them aside, this is your command pool for the turn.

Finally, determine the player order (who goes first in the next two steps) per the following progression.

The player with the most dice goes first, if tied the player with the most face cards goes first, if tied the
player with the most living men goes first, if tied the player roll a die.
Random Events! (only effect the rolling player)

Roll 1d6 if you pulled a joker

1 – Festering wounds! Roll 1d6 for each wounded man, on a 6 they die
2- Communication break down. Roll 1d6, discard that many face cards from your pool
3- Bogged down. Men treat all terrain as rough for movement.
4- Command Decision! Gain 1d6 command points
5- Request for support granted! Take 1d6 face cards from the discards and add them to your pool (if
there aren’t enough take dice instead)
6- Reinforcements arrive! – Randomly drawn one additional man place him in your set up area.

2) Allocate command

Players place command dice obtained in the last step. This is done in turn order (set in last phase).

Each man can receive no more then the amount allowed by their type in the figure sheet.

If a man receives bonus dice for an ability or any other reason these are not placed at this time.

If a group is going to form a fire team (see combat section) dice are still placed individually at this point.

3) Move and fight!

Players alternate activating one figure. This is done in turn order. When a man is activated they have to
use at least one die but do not have to use all of them (they can reserve some for later!) Used dice are
set aside, a die may only be used once per turn!

When activated a figure can do the following

Action Number of dice

Move 1-3
Fire 1-3
Use Special Power (also requires a face card) All remaining
Assault 2
Close combat 1-3
Opportunity Fire 1-3
Covering fire 1-3
NOTE: Special powers may only be used ONCE PER TURN
Leaders are special units who have additional abilities. A leader can do the following actions in addition
to what a normal man can do. Leaders can perform these actions using face cards. Leaders who wish to
move, fight or perform other normal actions must still have dice assigned to them in phase 2.

Actions Number of face

cards
Heal 1
Boost Morale 1
Directed Combat 1-3
Form a fire team Free
Coordinated movement Free

Leaders have an additional ability, when an enemy would have wounded or killed them (through a Z, W,
or K result) they may transfer that result to any friendly unit within 6"s. (They took a bullet for the
boss!)

Each (non-combat) action is described below, other actions are described in the combat section.

Move

Each man can walk up to 3” per each die used for movement, no rolling is necessary, just remove the
die. Alternatively, roll each d6 spent on movement. This determines the number of inches the man
moves. The man must move the total rolled (in inches) unless they can take cover. You can not double
back or walk in circles in order to use up additional movement. If the man is crossing rough terrain they
must spend 2 points for every inch moved. Rough terrain is always considered soft cover.

Non-Combat leader actions

Coordinate movement – all men within 6” of the leader may move as a group. Each man must spend
the same number of dice. Each man rolls their dice individually but the player then chooses which result
he likes the best. All men are now considered to have rolled this. This includes the leader (who must
also spend movement dice). Men must start and end movement within 6” of the leader. If this is not
possible they may not move.

Heal –Remove one wound from any man within 6”.

All other actions are considered part of combat, which is described below.

COMBAT!

Each man is considered to be armed as specified on their figure sheet. When a man is activated to fire
he picks one or more targets, rolls his dice, and consults the appropriate table for his results. This is
detailed below.
 1) Chose how many dice will be used (use some or all assigned dice). Check the man’s abilities to
see if he gets any bonus dice. Bonus dice are added to the dice used and come from the supply,
not any pool.

2) Assign dice to each target you want to fire at. Each target must have at least one die assigned to
it. The man must be able to see the target (no blocking terrain). Check for abilities that ignore
or lower terrain.

3) Determine the cover level of the target (moving, open, soft cover, or hard cover). If there is
intervening terrain increase the terrain one level. For example if the target is in soft cover but
there is an additional hedge between the man and the target the target is now considered to
have hard cover. This can never be increased beyond hard cover.

4) Roll the dice for each target and check the combat results table. Resolve each attack fully
before rolling the next target.

Line Of Sight

There is no line of sight rules per say. If the target is in range of the firing unit he may be shot at. Draw
a direct line from the firer to the target to determine intervening terrain and cover. A unit is considered
to be in cover if it is adjacent (1/4” or so) to the terrain piece. Otherwise it is intervening terrain. Rough
terrain never counts as intervening. There are no facing rules.

Fire teams

A leader may form a fire team out of all available men OF THE SAME TYPE (unless the man’s ability says
he cannot join a fire team) within 6” of him, even if the leader is a different type. Each man can only be
part of one fire team at a time. This can be done at any point and is free. The fire team lasts for the rest
of the turn or until any of the men in the team move (excluding the close combat bonus movement and
Assault movement). Fire teams all fire together. Pool all dice used to fire and then perform the above
fire procedure as if only one may was firing. Line of sight can be drawn from any man in the fire team.
The line of sight can change when firing at different targets. Anything any member of the team could
fire at can be fired at by the fire team. Any man who has a special ability (such as ignoring cover) that
doesn’t add bonus dice can not use that ability. All bonus firing dice are still added.

Opportunity fire

Men that have dice available may perform opportunity fire. This is done when an enemy man is
performing a move action within 12” of the man and the man has line of sight. Fire teams may perform
opportunity fire, it is acceptable to create a fire team in order to perform opportunity fire. If firing on a
group using coordinated movement you must assign targets before rolling. You may only perform
opportunity fire once per move action. Opportunity fire uses the moving combat results table. If the
target is moving along cover it is degraded one level (hard cover becomes soft, soft becomes open).
Men that are fired upon and do not receive a wound may continue movement after fire is resolved.
Covering Fire

Covering fire is used to protect units that are moving. When a moving unit is fired on with opportunity
fire a unit within 12” of those firing, who has line of sight and dice available may provide covering fire.
Fire teams may be used and created for this purpose. You may only use covering fire once per
opportunity fire. Units that take wounds from covering fire may not participate in opportunity fire (and
their dice are wasted).

Since this may be confusing, please refer to the following sequence of play

1) Unit declares movement and rolls for movement, begins to move

2) Somewhere along the path of movement the enemy calls for opportunity fire, the moving unit
notes how much movement remains, the firing units allocate dice to opportunity fire

3) Once opportunity fire is called a unit can call for covering fire, dice are allocated.

4) Covering fire is performed

5) Units not wounded during covering fire perform opportunity fire

6) Units not wounded during opportunity fire may finish moving

Directed Combat

A leader may set the result of any one die to a six before rolling by using one face card.

Boost Morale

Any unit within 6”s of the leader can ignore the results of an attack for one face card.

Assault

An assault is a way to charge the enemy and then fight them in close combat. It has two stages. The
unit performing the assault spends two dice. A fire team MAY assault it costs two dice per man. Units
roll both dice, this is the maximum assault distance. Fire teams roll for each man and may use the best
roll available (for the movement not the combat). The units move the assault distance (they may
receive opportunity fire, covering fire may support them). If they are within one inch of enemy units
they perform close combat USING THE SAME TWO DICE. (no additional dice are spent, dice ARE re-
rolled for combat). Units that perform an assault and cannot fight close combat are demoralized (see
combat results)
Close Combat

Close combat is dangerous close fighting. When a unit is within one inch of an enemy unit it may only
take two actions, close combat or move. (moving provokes opportunity fire) Some specialists may not
perform close combat. These units may defend as normal though.

An activated unit that performs close combat spends one to three dice. The defending unit receives one
die for free and may spend additional dice from their assigned dice. (defenders may roll up to 4 dice!)

Fire teams may perform close combat with an additional benefit, all members of the fire team not
within one inch of an enemy may move, for free until they are. They do not provoke opportunity fire.
This does not apply when performing an assault move first. Fire teams in close combat do not combine
dice, they must still roll individually.

Each unit rolls against an enemy unit within one inch. The closest unit must be chosen. If there is a tie
the player can pick which unit is targeted. Defenders use the combat results column of the table they
are in, attackers always use the moving table (unless a special ability says otherwise). Dice are rolled
simultaneously.

Leaders may not use directed combat bonuses in close combat.

Clarification: In close combat the defender only gets one defense attack even if there are multiple
attackers. The defender chooses who is attacked. If more than one unit is attacking a single defender
the rolls are made independently and the results are applied independently. Attacker picks order. The
dice are NOT combined (even with a fire team)

4) Clean up / Victory check

After all dice attached to units are used the turn is over.

Any unit that has 2 or more wounds is removed from play.

If you now have 5 or fewer units left roll a die if you rolled over the number of men left morale has
broken! Your force flees! You have lost the battle….

If both forces flee on the same turn then everyone wins or loses…
COMBAT CHART

Total Moving Open Soft Hard

2 D

3 D D

4 R D D D

5 Z R D D

6 Z Z D D

7 Z Z R D

8 W Z Z Z

9 W W Z Z

10 W W W Z

11 ZZ ZZ ZZ Z

12 ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZ

13+ K K K K

D -Suppressed: Target loses a die if there is one assigned to him

Z -Demoralized: Target loses a die if there is no die assigned they take a wound

W- Target takes a wound, if this is the second wound it becomes a K

K-Target is killed, they may use any leftover assigned dice for a final attack at one target (Ranged or
Close Combat)!

R-Retreat! Unit looses all remaining dice and must move back d6 inches. They must move the full
amount towards the controlling players side, they may not stop at cover.
Examples of Play:

Fire team using multiple targets:

A group of 4 cowboys (all rifle type) want to fire at 2 army men in hard cover. Each cowboy has 2 dice
and the army men have 1 die each. The leader (an Indian) on the cowboy side is within 6”s of the
cowboys. The leader forms a fireteam of the four cowboys (he can’t join since he isn’t a cowboy). The
cowboys then decide to use all their dice (a total of 8) to fire. They choose both army men as targets,
assigning 4 dice to each. The first shot gets a result of 13 which kills the army man, the second shot gets
a result of 10, the army man loses his die on the Z result. The army man that was killed gets his revenge
shot on any target in range using his remaining die.

Performing an assault (and close combat) with a fire team:

Bob has 4 army men within 6”s of each other and the leader. 10”s away there are 3 cowboys on the
enemy team. Three of Bob’s army men have 3 dice and one has two. The cowboys have 1 die each and
are in soft cover. First bob forms a fire team. Since everyone is within 6” of the leader they form up.
The leader doesn’t join the team this time, but he could have. Next Bob declares an assault with the
newly formed fire team. He rolls two dice for each man, the best result he gets is a 10! All the men in
the fire team can now move 10”s towards the cowboys. Sadly, the army man that started with 2 dice
was 12”s away! He can’t get into close combat with anyone and thus is demoralized! Since he is out of
dice he takes a wound! The rest of the men arrive within 1” of the cowboys. Two army men end up
within one inch of one cowboy, one army man is within 1” of another cowboy and the third cowboy
remains un-attacked. Bob decides to do the one-on-one combat first. The cowboy chooses to spend his
die in defense so he gets two dice (one for free, being on defense). He re-rolls the two dice he used on
movement and gets an eight. The cowboys rolls two dice and gets a four. The Cowboy takes a Z result
and must lose a die or take a wound. Since he has no dice left he takes a wound. The army man takes a
R result, he loses his remaining dice and must move d6 inches back towards his side. The second
cowboy is now up to defend. His owner also chooses to spend his die in defense and picks one of the
army men to fight. Both army men roll their two dice and get a 6 and a 10. The cowboy rolls a 9. The
army man receives a wound. The cowboy Z and since he is out of dice, a wound, he then takes another
wound and is killed.

Moving, Opportunity Fire, Covering Fire:

Jimmy wants to move his fireman against a stonewall and into hard cover. He has two dice left and the
wall is 4 inches away. He decides to risk it and rolls one die for movement. He rolls a 5 and is able to
make it to the wall! After 3 inches of movement his opponent Ed calls for opportunity fire from an army
man that was 10”s away. The army man has 3 dice and is in soft cover. Jimmy calls for covering fire
from a cowboy that is within range of the army man and has one die. So, Jimmy’s cowboy will shoot
Ed’s Army man who is shooting Jimmy’s fire man. The cowboy goes first and rolls hid one die, getting a
4, the army man loses a die (he now has 2) but since he didn’t take a wound he can still shoot the
fireman. Now the army man has to shoot over the stone wall to hit his target (he isn’t next to the wall).
Normally he would use the moving column for his result but since the wall is in the way the target is
considered to be up one level, thus he uses the open column. The army man rolls both of his remaining
dice and gets a 11! The fireman must take a ZZ. Since he only has one die left he loses it and takes a
wound. Since he took a wound he must stop moving, just short of the cover.

You might wonder why you would choose to perform covering fire with one die. You can’t get a wound
with just one die to stop the opportunity fire, but you can get a D and then they have one less die to
shoot you with!
FIGURE LISTS

ARMY MEN

Army men may place a maximum of 3 dice per man

Army men are armed with rifles that have a 12” range

Name Special Rules

Bazooka Range 24” Bazooka man may not join a fire team

Machinegun While not part of a fire team and firing against moving targets add 2
bonus dice

Assault Engineer If a fire team includes an assault engineer then the following applies
for assaults and close combat: Defenders are always considered to be
in open terrain. When rolling for assault distance the result is always
12”.

Grenade Guy If part of a fire team they may not use the special ability and range
returns to 12”. Range 6”, defender is considered to be in open terrain.

Special power

Artillery strike - Drop a face card from at least 24"s above the table. Any unit the card hits must take a 4
die attack. Leave the card for the rest of the turn, any unit entering the area with the card takes a 3 die
attack.
FIREMAN

Fireman may place a maximum of 2 dice per man

Firemen have a range of 12"

Firemen may join ANY fire team without regard to type

Name Special Rules

Axe guy Gain a bonus die in close combat

Trumpet guy If he is the leader you can set two dice to a 6 in directed combat for
one card and heal two wounds per card

Special power

Smoke screen - Place as many face cards edge to edge as you want, no unit may see through the smoke.
This lasts until the end of the turn

COWBOY

Cowboys may place a maximum of 2 dice

Cowboys come in two varieties, Rifle and Pistol. If you can not determine if your cowboy has a rifle or a
pistol the default choice is pistol.

Name Special Rules

Rifle Guy Range is 14”s

Pistol Guy Range 10”s may re-roll one combat die (since he has two pistols!) If
using a fire team it is still one die per attack.

Special Power

High noon - Pick any figure within 10" of the figure spending the die. The cowboy rolls three dice (they
do not come from any pool) and the target rolls 2 (again, from no pool). The figure with the low roll
receives a K result!
INDIAN

Indians may place a maximum of 2 dice

Indians have a range of 6"

There are no specialist Indians

Indians DO NOT provoke opportunity fire

Indians may use the special power even if they are not the majority type!

Special Power

Tribal meeting - All Indians may move, for free to within 3" of the unit using the dice they form a fire
team for free.

DINOS

Dinos may place a maximum of 3 dice

Dinos have NO RANGED FIRE

There are no specialist dinos

Dinos may use the special power even if they are not the majority type!

Special power

Rampage! - From the dino spending the dice lay a trail of face cards that must be touching. Any unit
under these cards take a 2 die attack, move the dino to the end of the trail.
SPIDERS

Spiders place a maximum of 1 die

Spiders have NO RANGED FIRE

There are no specialist spiders

Spiders may assault for one die (they get another die as a bonus)

Spiders get a bonus die in close combat (in addition to the bonus assault die)

Special power

Swarm - All spiders within 12" of the spider spending the die may perform an assault with a range of 12"
they do not need to spend a dice to do this!
Non-Game Play optional rules:

The hall of victory and the pit of shame

Additional set up. Off to the side have a raised area to use as the hall of victory and the area at its base
is the pit of shame.

When a unit is killed all players are to reminisce about him. If they find his accomplishments great then
he may be placed on the hall of victory for all to remember. If he is found lacking then he is cast into the
pit of shame. If the hall of victory gets to crowded feel free to demote some guys to the pit.

“Credits”

Designer – Mike Ricotta

Questions and comments can be mailed to plastichellgame@gmail.com. Also feel free to send money

Playtesters – Mike Martin, Matt Mcann, Ken Whitehurst, John Di Battista

Quick Reference Sheet

When activated a unit can:

Action Number of dice

Move 1-3
Fire 1-3
Use Special Power (also requires a face card) All remaining
Assault 2
Close combat 1-3
Opportunity Fire 1-3
Covering fire 1-3
NOTE: Special powers may only be used ONCE PER TURN

Leaders can perform these additional actions (that cost face cards)

Actions Number of face

cards
Heal 1
Boost Morale 1
Directed Combat 1-3
Form a fire team Free
Coordinated movement Free

Units:

Name # Dice Range Notes:

Army Man 3 12"

Fireman 2 12" Can join any fire team

Cowboy 2 14"/10” Rifle or pistol, pistols may re-roll one combat die.

Indian 2 6" Does not trigger Opportunity Fire. Can always use special power

Dinos 3 N/A Can always use special power

Spiders 1 N/A Bonus melee die. Can assault for one die (gain a bonus die)