Across the wastes of the battlefield lay the twisted wreckage and mangled bodies of warriors long dead. The battle they fought is now long over but the war remains. Out of the heaps of trash rises a form easily mistakenable for more scrap. It's pocked and scarred frame slowly balances itself on warped and bowed joints of steel. Pistons wheeze and articulated joints whir and lock into place. The scratched lenses of optical sensors twist into focus and targeting computers tirelessly scan for any signs of opposition: motion, heat, energy. This is the battlefield of Earth:2041. These are the warriors: silicon knights clad in hydraulic armor. This is Robwar:2041.
Robwar:2041 is a tactical wargame playable by two or more players each designing and/or controlling a single robot in a pre-programmed battle that can only end in the total annihilation of the enemy.
Necessary to play the game are one ten-sided die, a sheet of graph paper, some pencils and some regular paper.
By the year 2030, the nations of Earth had managed to ban the use of NBC weapons of mass destruction and seemed to have found global peace at last. As most times of peace go, however, that was not last. Soon, the entire planet found itself on the brink of ecological disaster. Global warming and the depletion of Earth's renewable resources led the nations of the world once more into conflict. New weapons had since been developed. Laser cannons, hover tanks, particle beams, personal combat armor, and orbital delivery platforms not only made combat more precise and deadly, it made it truly global. Conventional warfare resumed faster, more powerful, and deadlier than ever. Nearly every nation was plunged into the depths of war within 5 years. Within 10 years, the nations had been reduced to near anarchy, there were no more armies to fight.
Only the atomic powered battle-robots continue fighting, fulfilling their original programming to kill until killed. Though there is no longer any petroleum to fuel tanks or jets or rockets, the nuclear powered robots could fight indefinitely. Scrap metal is in ready supply and keeps the automated factories well fed and operating, constanty churning out new battle-robots to fight on.
Robots are characterized by a set of 6 statistics.
Hit Points: Number of damage points a robot can take before it is considered destroyed. Armor: Number subtracted from damage taken. Level: Level of skill for performing action. Spaces: Number of items a robot can mount. Speed: Number of spaces a robot can move in a turn. Strength: Measure of how much a manipulator can carry.
Each player either rolls 10d10 to determine construction points or decides on a playable number, usually 75. These points are then spent on primary statistics: hit points, armor, level, spaces. Primary statistics cost 2 construction points each. Any left over are spent on options: movement, manipulators, weapons, and equipment.
| Movement | Spaces | Speed | Cost | Terrain |
| 2 Legs | 2 | +2 per pair | 1 | smooth, difficult |
| 2 Treads | 2 | +4 per pair | 2 | smooth, difficult |
| 4 Wheels | 2 | +5 per set of 4 | 4 | smooth |
| A-Gravs | 1 | +10 each | 8 | smooth, difficult, impassable |
| Manipulators | Strength | Cost | Spaces | Damage |
| 1 Arm | +1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 Tentacle | +5 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 Industrial Arm | +10 | 8 | 3 | 6 |
| Weapons | Cost | Spaces | Range | Damage |
| Club or Mace | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sword or Axe | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Pistol (or equivalent) | 5 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
| Rifle (or equivalent) | 8 | 2 | 15 | 7 |
| Machine Gun | 10 | 3 | 15 | 8 |
| Rocket Launcher | 15 | 3 | 20 | 10 |
| Laser | 20 | 4 | 30 | 12 |
| Railgun | 30 | 4 | 40 | 15 |
| Heavy Laser | 40 | 5 | 40 | 18 |
| Pi-Tac Cannon | 50 | 5 | 50 | 20 |
| Equipment | Cost | Function |
| Radio Link | 1 | Allows 2 or more robots to communicate over long distances. |
| Computer Link | 2 | Allows communications with computer terminals. |
| High-Intensity Light | 3 | Negates darkness penalty in combat. |
| Shield | 4 | Provides 6 points armor against melee weapons. |
| Explosive Ammo | 5 | Doubles damage for a single projectile weapon. |
| Comm-Jammer | 6 | Disables Radio Links. |
| Repair Kit | 7 | Repairs 1 Hit Point per turn on another robot. |
| Chaff and Smoke | 8 | Provides a -1 modifier to be hit, even against Lights. |
| Targeting Computer | 9 | +2 modifier to all attack rolls. |
| Threat Sensors | 10 | Negates Chaff and Smoke penalties. |
| ECM | 11 | Disables Threat Sensors. |
| Self-Repair Kit | 12 | Repairs 1 Hit Point per turn on self. |
| Jump Jets | 13 | Allows 5 jumps of 10 spaces. |
| EMP Shielding | 14 | Negates EMP effects. |
| EMP Generator | 15 | Stuns all robots within 10 spaces for 1-10 turns. |
| Kinetic Field | 16 | Provides 10 points fo Armor against all projectile attacks. |
| Target Computer Mk2 | 17 | +6 moidifier to all attack rolls or negates Holo-Generators. |
| Holo-Generator | 18 | Provides a -3 modifier to be hit. |
| Teleporter | 19 | Teleports robot 20 spaces. |
| Cloaking system | 20 | Provides a -6 modifier to be hit versus all sensors. |
A robot with a modified Spaces statistic of less than 5 is considered a small target. A robot with a modified Spaces statistic of more than 10 is considered a large target.
Robwar:2041 is played in turns. Each participant recieves a turn in order of highest to lowest die roll or whatever. During their turn each player may control their robot(s), commanding them to either attack then move, move then attack, or they may perf orm some other action such as activating an item of equipment in lieu of attacking.
To attack another robot, find the attackerŐs level on the combat table, roll a 10-sided die, and add or subtract any modifiers from the roll to determine if a hit is made. A Hit inflicts an amount of damage depending on the weapon, see the weapon list, to the defending robot. The defending robot may then subtract their current Armor statistic from the incoming damage. Any difference is then applied the the defending robotŐs Hit Points. A Critical Hit doubles any damge done before applying armor.
| Level | Miss | Hit | Critical | Modifiers |
| 1 | 1-8 | 9 | 0 | Range more than 5= -1 |
| 2 | 1-7 | 8-9 | 0 | Range more then 10= -2 |
| 3 | 1-6 | 7-9 | 0 | Range more than 20= -3 |
| 4 | 1-6 | 7-8 | 9-0 | Darkness= -1 |
| 5 | 1-5 | 6-8 | 9-0 | Aim for 1 turn= +1 |
| 6 | 1-4 | 5-7 | 8-0 | Large Target= +1 |
| 7 | 1-3 | 4-7 | 8-0 | Small Target= -1 |
| 8 | 1-2 | 3-6 | 7-0 | Attacker Moving= -1 |
| 9 | 1 | 2-6 | 7-0 | Defender Moving= -1 |
| 0 | 1 | 2-5 | 6-0 | Adverse Conditions= -1 |
| Attacker behind cover= -1 | ||||
| Defender behind cover= -3 |
Objects such as walls, trees, rocks, and vehicles provide cover from incoming attacks. Objects provide cover until they are destroyed. Robots taking cover may fire around cover with a -1 modifier to hit. Return fire is at a -3 penalty to hit with any misses striking the cover.
Wall= 2 Hit Points
Door= 1 Hit Point
Concrete= 3 Hit Points
Metal= 4 Hit Points
Tree= 4 Hit Points
Rock= 5 Hit Points
Vehicle= 10 Hit Points
Robots may carry objects or weapons in their manipulators. 1 Strength point may carry 1 Space of weapon or object.
USARobo Hit Points: 5 (10) Armor: 7 (14) Level: 4 (8) Spaces: 9 (18) Speed: 2 Strength: 2 Machine Gun (10, 3 spaces) Sword (2, 1 space) 2 Legs (1, 2 spaces) 1 Arm (1, 1 space) Radio Link (1, 0 spaces) Pistol (5, 1 space) Pistol (5, 1 space) Total: 75 Construction Points
CanadaRobo Hit Points: 8 (16) Armor: 8 (16) Level: 10 (20) Spaces: 9 (18) Speed: 5 Strength: 1 Machine Gun (10, 3 spaces) Machine Gun (10, 3 spaces) 4 Wheels (4, 2 spaces) 1 Arm (1, 1 space) Explosive Ammo (5) Explosive Ammo (5) Comm Jammer (6) Computer Link (2) Radio Link (1) Total: 75 Construction Points.
UKRobo Hit Points: 2 (4) Armor: 2 (4) Level: 3 (6) Spaces: 12 (24) Speed: 2 Strength: 1 Rifle (8, 2 spaces) Rifle (8, 2 spaces) Rifle (8, 2 spaces) Rifle (8, 2 spaces) 1 Arm (1, 1 space) Sword (2, 2 spaces) 2 Legs (1, 2 spaces) Radio Link (1) Total: 75 Construction Points.
BRDRobo Hit Points: 6 (12) Armor: 4 (8) Level: 5 (10) Spaces: 12 (24) Speed: 6 Strength: 2 Rifle (8, 2 spaces) Rifle (8, 2 spaces) 2 Arms (2, 2 spaces) Sword (2, 2 spaces) 6 Legs (3, 6 spaces) Total: 75 Construction Points.
JapanRobo Hit Points: 2 (4) Armor: 3 (6) Level: 3 (6) Spaces: 8 (16) Speed: 2 Strength: 1 Heavy Laser (40, 5 spaces) 1 Arm (1, 1 space) 2 Legs (1, 2 spaces) Radio Link (1) Total: 75 Construction Points.
NZRobo Hit Points: 3 (6) Armor: 5 (10) Level: 5 (10) Spaces: 9 (18) Speed: 2 Strength: 1 Rocket Launcher (15, 3 spaces) Sword (2, 2 spaces) Sword (2, 2 spaces) 2 Arms (2, 2 spaces) 2 Legs (1, 2 spaces) Robot Repair Kit (7) Radio Link (1) Total: 75 Construction Points.
ChinaRobo Hit Points: 3 (6) Armor: 4 (8) Level: 5 (10) Spaces: 10 (20) Speed: 2 Strength: 1 Heavy Laser (40, 5 spaces) Pistol (5, 1 space) Pistol (5, 1 space) High Intensity Light (3) 1 Arms (1, 1 spaces) 2 Legs (1, 2 spaces) Sword (hand held) (1, no spaces) Total: 100 Construction Points.