4 Advanced Combat

This section covers advanced rules for infantry combat, including crew served weapons, advanced explosives, advanced movement, and morale checks. These rules are optional and may be added or excluded individually.

Crewed Weapons

Troopers may carry a crew served weapon in place of their primary weapon.

Note, all of these crew served weapons have an extremely high rate of fire and can be fired into the same firing arc an unlimited number of times.

The crew value indicates how many additional troopers must be on adjacent dots while the weapon is being set up or broken down. For example, a semi-portable laser requires one extra trooper to be on a dot adjacent to the trooper carrying the weapon during set up or break down. Each trooper involved must use 4 AP to set up or break down a crew served weapon. All troopers may still carry and use other weapons.

If the trooper controlling a crew served weapon is killed or abandons the weapon, then any other trooper, friendly or enemy, may take over the crew served weapon. To take over a crew served weapon, a trooper must move onto the dot with the weapon and spend 6 AP.

Crew served weapons set up firing arcs like other ranged weapons; however crew served weapons may only use 60 degree firing arcs. The firing arc direction is established when the weapon is set up, but the trooper controlling the weapon may use 4 AP to move the firing arc. Fire is resolved the same way as with standard weapons. Crew served weapons are always burst fire weapons, so the firing arc is not removed after any attack is resolved.

Body Armor

Under the standard rules, a trooper ignores bludgeoning damage while wearing armor and any cells of armor are destroyed before applying lethal damage to the trooper. With the advanced body armor rules, the body armor protects a number of contiguous cells in the armor section of the unit card. Only HP cells protected by body armor ignore bludgeoning damage. Lethal damage is marked on the unit card like bludgeoning damage on the cell of body armor. The first hit with lethal damage partially crosses out the armor cell (\) and the second hit fully crosses out the armor cell (X).

To equip body armor on a trooper, mark the cells covered by body armor on the unit card. Then, reduce the trooper’s AP to account for the body armor. For example, with standard body armor, mark 4 contiguous cells as protected by armor and reduce all values in the AP row by 2.

Advanced Explosives

Troopers may use several advanced explosive weapons, including explosive launchers, incendiary weapons, and smoke grenades.

Explosive Ranged Weapons Troopers may use the following advanced explosives:

The ammo column indicates how many rounds of ammunition come with the weapon. The damage is given is descending order for the point of detonation, the adjacent dots, the dots 2 away from the detonation, and so on.

Light anti-tank weapons are secondary weapons. Rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers, auto-grenade launchers, and recoilless rifles are primary weapons.

A trooper may carry a grenade launcher as a primary weapon or mount a grenade launcher under a rifle or SMG. If mounted under the rifle or SMG, the grenade launcher takes the place of a secondary weapon on the unit card. A trooper does not have to pay AP to switch between their primary weapon and a mounted grenade launcher. An auto-grenade launcher is a separate weapon and cannot be mounted under a rifle or SMG in this fashion.

In the other section of the unit card, a trooper may carry extra ammunition for a single weapon, doubling the ammunition available for any explosive weapon.

Ranged explosive weapons are resolved in the same way as hand grenades and satchel charges, but they use a base target number of 6 like other ranged weapons.

Incendiary Weapons Incendiary weapons are resolved like explosives.

The ammo column indicates how many rounds of ammunition come with the weapon. A basic flamethrower has effectively unlimited ammunition for a single scenario. The damage is given is descending order for the point of detonation, the adjacent dots, the dots 2 away from the detonation, and so on.

As with explosives, impassible obstacles, such as a solid high wall or the truck of a tree, block incendiary damage. Low solid obstructions such as furniture and windows also block incendiary damage if the affected trooper is prone.

All effected dots light on fire after resolving the damage as lethal damage. Fire is an obstruction that is as tall as a trooper and provides cover, like light vegetation. Troopers entering a dot on fire take 1 point of lethal damage (X). If a trooper ends their movement on a dot that is on fire, they take 8 points of lethal damage (X).

Incendiary grenades are resolved like hand grenades but they do incendiary damage, as described above. Incendiary ranged weapons are resolved like explosive ranged weapons, but they do not scatter.

Smoke Grenades Troopers may replace any number of their 4 hand grenades with smoke grenades. Smoke grenades are resolved like hand grenades but create smoke instead of explosive damage.

After resolving the final location for a smoke grenade explosion, mark the dot where the smoke grenade explodes. This dot and all adjacent dots are filled with smoke. Smoke is an obstruction like light vegetation, but it provides a +3 modifier for each dot obscured by smoke. At the end of the next movement phase for your side, expand the smoke to cover all dots within 2 dots of the location where the smoke grenade landed. Smoke stops if it encounters an impassible obstacle, such as a solid high wall. Remove the smoke after 12 turns.

Advanced Movement

Advanced movement includes both additional terrain features, such as water and barbed wire, and the option to shoot while moving.

Advanced Terrain Some maps may offer advanced terrain features that troopers can attempt to navigate.

The map may be marked with terrain height, such as with contour lines indicating elevation. It costs 3 AP to change elevation by crossing a contour line.

Rough terrain and swamps slow trooper movement but otherwise function the same way as standard movement. It costs 3 AP to move into a dot in rough terrain and 4 AP to move into a dot in a swamp. Also, swamp counts as an obstruction for the purposes of resolving attacks.

Barbed wire slows trooper movement and can injure or entangle the trooper. It costs 6 AP to move onto a dot with barbed wire. When a trooper moves onto a dot that has barbed wire, apply 1D6 of bludgeoning damage to the trooper as if they received a melee attack. Then roll 1D6; on a result of 4-6, the trooper is entangled and cannot move further this turn. On the entangled trooper’s next turn, apply 1D6 of additional bludgeoning damage and then roll 1D6 again to determine if the trooper remains entangled.

It costs 2 AP to enter or exit a tunnel and 3 AP to enter or exit a trench. Moving through a trench costs standard movement AP; however, a trooper in a tunnel must crawl and movement costs double the standard AP. A trooper in a trench counts as prone when being targeted, but a trooper in a tunnel cannot be seen or targeted by units outside of the tunnel.

Wading through shallow water costs 4 AP but is otherwise like standard movement. Troopers must swim trough deep water. A trooper may swim through water if they are only carrying one weapon. For example, a trooper can only attempt to swim if they are carrying a primary or secondary weapon, but not both. Note that a grenade launcher attached to a rifle or SMG counts as part of the primary weapon and a trooper may swim with a grenade launcher attached to a rifle or SMG.

Swimming troopers may not fire weapons or use explosives. It costs 4 AP to move into a water dot. Explosives do an extra 2 lethal damage (X) at each range to targets in water.

Movement Fire Troopers may use their current active weapon or explosive while moving. Movement fire attacks are resolved after any incoming attacks as the trooper moves through firing arcs. It costs 2 AP to fire a weapon using movement fire rules. Compute the target number as normal, but add a +2 modifier to the target number for movement fire.

After resolving the movement fire attack, the trooper may continue to expend AP for movement. The targeted trooper may chose to drop prone after the attack is resolved, for 0 AP.

Troopers may use explosives with movement fire. The explosive must be the current active weapon for the trooper. The trooper pays the standard AP cost for using the explosive, and the attack is still resolved at the end of the attacking side’s turn. Compute the target number as normal, but add a +2 modifier to the target number for movement fire.

Other

There are several optional rules for combat.

Sneak Suits Troopers may be equipped with advanced camouflage, such as sneak suits. Add a +1 modifier to the target number for any attack at long range targeting a trooper wearing a sneak suit.

Large Targets Troopers may target large objects, such as buildings, walls, or vehicles, with explosives. Use a -2 modifier when attacking a large object.

If the cumulative damage applied to a wall or building exceeds the toughness of the structure, then the structure is breached. Damaged is tracked per dot. The location of the breach becomes rough terrain and costs 3 AP to move into. When using breach rules, the toughness of each building and wall must be identified before the game starts. The default toughness of a building is medium.

Explosives may also be used to target trees. As with buildings, after the tree is destroyed, the terrain becomes rough on that dot and costs 3 AP to move into.

Trooper Experience The basic rules assume regular troopers; however, troopers may have different experience levels. More experienced troopers receive extra AP during their turn, but troopers may still only spend a maximum of 8 AP on movement.

Morale Checks Once 4 or more troopers in a squad have died, the remaining troopers must make morale checks. Each remaining trooper must roll 2D6 and meet the target number given in the chart below. Apply a +1 modifier for each additional dead trooper above 4. For example, add a +2 modifier if 6 troopers in the squad are dead. Apply a -N modifier based upon the leadership skill of the squad leader, if the squad leader is alive. The standard leadership skill of a squad leader is 2.