(Gnome Wars) Mustard Gas and its Condimentation in Warfare

During the Great War, the use of chemical agents was a horrific evolution of modern warfare.

In Gnome Wars, it's a bit more of an overpowering flavor experience.

Painted by Mike Lung, circa 2012

Mustard Gas can be fired from large mortars and, if the scenario presents itself, off-board artillery.  It should be represented by a large piece of cotton, preferably colored yellow, which can be stretched and molded, and even divided to represent the cloud moving, filling in depressions, and even splitting off.

Shells from on field mortars create a cloud the size of a 3" blast template.  Off-board artillery is more powerful, creating a 5" blast template.  These shells do not cause physical damage like traditional ordinance.  They are ineffective against tanks and fortifications in the traditional sense.  Gas shells do NOT create craters.

Effects:  Mustard gas requires requires each figure within the cloud to flee d8 inches in a random direction. Terrain modifiers still apply.  All figures with the cloud at the end of a round are incapacitated for the remainder of the game and should be removed.   These cloud do not dissipate quickly, so they should remain on the board for the remainder of the game.

Gas clouds obscure line of sight.

Initiative:  Once on the board, all gas clouds should have their own imitative, whether at the same time as the artillery crew that fired, or all clouds collectively as their own entity.

Movement:  The gas cloud can move deceptively quick across the battlefield, but will settle in the lowest spot possible.    Determine a random direction for ALL clouds to move each turn.  Each cloud moves 1d6+6 inches each turn.  Once a cloud finds a lower elevation (downhill, trench) it will pool there and only move the path of least resistance (Ex1:  a gas cloud with a portion in a trench line will remain over the trench unless the wind moves it in a direction that allows it to follow the trench   Ex2: Clouds that fill in, then hover over craters, remain there.)

As I continue to review old correspondence, I found a discussion that each nation's mustard producers are notorious manufacturers of WMD "Weapons of Mass Deliciousness"    The German artillery crew from Mike Lung pictured above is actually from 2012, but I'm not seeing any rules for it.  

Remember, Gnome Wars should be fun and somewhat silly.  Chemical weapons and flamethrowers are graphic parts of war.  Spicy Mustard Gas and Cheesthrowers are devastating but fun.  

So that's it, feel free to model some artillery wagons sponsored by "Gulden's Spicy Brown"

You can also keep the culturally appropriate brands for your army (Loewensenf for Germans, Grey Poupon for the French, and amusingly French's Brown Mustard for the Americans.)

Yellow Mustard has no effect, but are being considered for training rounds for new recruits.