# Forgotten Ruin: the Adventure Wargame *Created:* 2025-01-05, *Modified:* 2026-10-18 ![[Forgotten Ruin (cover).jpg]] The battlefield has never looked like this — and neither has your ammo expenditure. **Forgotten Ruin: the Adventure Wargame** (published by **Modiphius**, based on the *Forgotten Ruin* novel series) is a solo or cooperative tabletop miniatures game about a platoon of modern Rangers stranded in a world of orcs, sorcerers, and dragons, pitting state-of-the-art firepower against fantastical monsters. Powered by the **"Five X"** game system from **[[Five Leagues From the Borderlands]]** and **[[Five Parsecs From Home]]**, it's a 160-page full-colour hardback that does exactly what the tagline promises: command your squad while the rules run the enemy, and hope the orc horde runs out before the ammunition does. ## Setting A modern US Army Ranger unit — the kind that solves problems with a M4, a radio, and a very specific attitude — is somehow no longer on Earth. The Rangers find themselves marching through a dark-fantasy hinterland of monsters, sorcerers, and ancient ruins: the forgotten world that gives the series its name. There's no cavalry coming, no air support on the radio, and the enemy doesn't care about rules of engagement. Your squad of nine soldiers is the line between the wilderness and whatever frail settlement lies beyond it, surviving on what the ruins yield, whatever ammunition you managed to carry through the gate, and discipline. It's military fiction wearing a fantasy mask with the seams showing. The game leans on the soldiers' training — fire and movement, suppression, holding ground — set against a world where magic is real and wants you dead. The tone is grim, procedural, and quietly wry about the mismatch between a fire team's habits and a dragon's. ## Mechanics The **"Five X"** engine (shared with Five Leagues From the Borderlands and Five Parsecs From Home) resolves everything through rolls in a procedural loop, with the rules running the enemy rather than a Game Master. ### The Battle Round & Reaction Roll Each battle round opens with a **Reaction Roll** to decide who acts when. Roll a D6 for every soldier on the table, plus an extra die for each soldier with **Leadership**, then assign one die to each soldier: - A die **equal to or under** the soldier's **Reactions** score → they act in the **Quick Actions Phase**. - A die **higher** → they're consigned to the **Slow Actions Phase**. The enemy, blessedly predictable, always acts in the **Enemy Actions Phase**, sandwiched between your Quick and Slow phases. ### Combat - **Shooting**: roll the weapon's attack dice, add the soldier's **Combat Skill**, and meet or beat a target number set by range and cover — an open target at close range is easy; a target in cover is a much harder proposition. - **Hand-to-hand**: a simultaneous affair — both sides roll a die plus **Combat Skill**, and the lower total takes a **Hit** (and is pushed back), with a draw hurting both. - **Hit Resolution**: roll a die plus the weapon's **damage rating** against the target's **Toughness** — meet or beat it and they're a **casualty**; fall short and soldiers are **stunned** while enemies shrug it off. Some creatures get a **saving throw** that can void the Hit entirely. Beyond the basics the book layers in **Snap Fire and Delays**, the **Aggression Phase**, **Great Hits**, **Luck**, **Explosions**, **off-map Fire Support**, **Leadership Tactics**, spells, and an **Enemy Action Phase** with morale, **Villain Plans**, and **Big Monsters**. It's miniature- and scale-agnostic — any minis in your collection will do. ### Campaigns The real meat is the **procedurally generated campaign** (straight out of the Five-X lineage): you **create your squad of nine soldiers**, build a map, and choose between **High and Low Magic**; then you loop a **campaign sequence** — take a rest, request help from allies, commit soldiers to side tasks — chasing **Victory Points** across an episodic, story-rich arc. Play it solo, or split your squad into two fire teams / hand one player the enemy like a Game Master. ## Editions - **Forgotten Ruin: the Adventure Wargame** (2025) — the Modiphius solo/co-op miniatures adventure wargame, by **Ivan Sorensen**, part of the wider **Five-X** family. *In the library.* (Held as two builds of the same edition — a 2024 draft and the current 2025 printing.) - **Beyond the Landing Zone** — an **unofficial fan-made** campaign extension by **Matt "Syllogy" Mason** that *requires* the official rules (adds starter material and modules rather than replacing core procedures). Not a standalone product, so it's folded in here rather than given its own note. *In the library.* ## References - [Forgotten Ruin - The Adventure Wargame - Modiphius](https://modiphius.us/products/forgotten-ruin-the-adventure-wargame) - [Game Review: Forgotten Ruin by Modiphius - Woehammer](https://woehammer.com/2025/03/28/game-review-forgotten-ruin-by-modiphius/) - [Forgotten Ruin Series by Jason Anspach - Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/series/312615-forgotten-ruin)