Many large and powerful creatures are unfortunately rather stupid. Even some otherwise quite intelligent creatures act stupidly now and again because they are readily confused or distracted, or perhaps because they are drugged or have been knocked insensible. The Stupidity rules represent the sort of slow wittedness or dumb behaviour which some especially stolid or stubborn beasts are prone to. Creatures that are stupid are indicated in the Army books and include such monstrous creatures as Trolls.

Stupid creatures must make a test at the start of their turn to see whether they overcome their stupidity. Make a test for each unit of stupid troops. If they pass the test by rolling their Leadership value or less on 2D6 then all is well and good – the creatures behave reasonably intelligently and can move and fight as normal. Nothing untoward has occurred beyond a bit of drooling and the odd spontaneous cackle.

If the test is failed then all is not well. The following rules apply until the creatures' following turn when they must test once more to see whether they are overcome by stupidity. In addition, a Wizard subject to being stupid cannot cast spells if he fails the test.

1. If already in close combat, half of the stupid creatures in base contact with the enemy suddenly stop fighting. They stare around blankly and wonder where they are. If the unit has an odd number of models or if a stupid creature is fighting on its own then roll a D6. If the result is 4 or more, the odd model fights; if not, it stands around vacantly. Note that only stupid creatures are affected. If a unit contains stupid creatures and other creatures (a unit of Trolls led by a Goblin Chieftain, for example) then the other creatures are not affected. The controlling player decides which individual creatures in combat cannot fight.

2. If not in close combat, the unit momentarily forgets what it is doing. Move the unit directly forwards at half normal speed (for example, Trolls with Movement 6 would move 3" forward). Any enemy troops encountered are automatically charged. If there are friends in the way, both units blunder into each other and their ranks become confused, in which case both units are pinned in place for the rest of the turn and neither may move further. This counts as compulsory movement and so occurs before other movement, but after charges have been declared (see the Movement section). Creatures within the unit that do not suffer from being stupid must also move as described – they are carried along by the movement of the rest of the unit and risk being trampled if they attempt to do otherwise.

Creatures affected by stupidity are quite unaware of anything happening around them, such is their state of confusion. Until they are no longer stupid they ignore all further Psychology tests. This means that stupid creatures cannot be affected by panic, fear, etc, but they can still be broken in close combat by failing a Break test exactly as normal. Stupid troops that flee are not affected by stupidity until they have rallied, after which they must take Stupidity tests at the start of each of their subsequent turns.

It sometimes happens that a cavalry rider or a monster rider will be riding a stupid creature, for example a Dark Elf riding a Cold One. If a rider's mount is stupid then he will have to test for stupidity at the start of his turn, but the rider's Leadership characteristic is used rather than that of the mount. If the test is failed, the rider is obliged to hang on while the creature behaves in whatever bizarre manner the rules dictate, but the rider can fight normally if he gets the opportunity.