6 Power Armor

Infantry troopers can use power armor in Skirmishers. This section relies upon rules from the Advanced Combat and Advanced Mobility sections.

Unit Card

The unit card shows the current capabilities of a trooper in power armor and tracks damage. A unit card can be formatted in any way so long as it contains all the essential information. Below is a sample unit card for a power armor trooper.

There are a few key differences between the standard trooper unit card and a power armor trooper unit card.

Standard power armor has 6 cells of armor. Basic power armor has only 4 cells of armor and heavy power armor has 8 cells of armor. All other cells of armor should be marked off before the game.

Power armor troopers ignore bludgeoning damage (\). However, 9 or more points of bludgeoning damage in a single turn will knock a power armor trooper prone. Lethal damage (X) destroys armor before damaging HP cells. If a single attack does more damage than the remaining armor, first cross out all remaining armor and then roll 2D6 to determine where to apply the remaining damage.

Power armor protects the trooper and gives them more HP than a basic trooper, shown by the 8 additional HP cells on the unit card. HP cells are fully crossed out when the trooper takes lethal damage (X). The current HP of the trooper is given by the first cell to the right of the highest fully crossed out HP cell. For example, if the trooper has HP 10, 9, and 6 fully crossed out, then their current HP is 5. When marking damage, you still roll 2D6 and apply damage starting with the first unmarked HP cell at or to the right of the rolled value.

The HP cells marked with * indicate significant damage to the power armor. When any of these cells is fully crossed out, the opponent may choose one of the weapon systems to disable on the power armor suit. When two of these cells have been fully crossed out, the jet pack on the suit no longer functions.

Total action points (AP) for the trooper are given in the AP section. Power armor greatly extends the capabilities of troopers, giving them more AP. Use the value in the column corresponding to the trooper’s current HP. For example, if the trooper has 5 HP, then they have 10 AP.

As with standard troopers, green troopers in power armor reduce all of their AP values by 1, while veteran troopers increase all AP values by 1, and elite troopers increase all AP values by 2.

Similarly, the modifier section tracks the current modifier for the trooper’s target numbers based upon current HP. For example, if the trooper has 5 HP, then add +1 to all target numbers.

Basic and standard power armor comes equipped with a jet pack. Heavy power armor is too bulky to have a jet pack.

The weapons section lists the primary and secondary weapons the trooper is equipped with, along with their damage values and range brackets. Power armor troopers cannot use grenades but may use satchel changes.

Weapons and Equipment

Standard and heavy power armor troopers have two primary weapons and one secondary weapon. Basic power armor troopers have one primary weapon and one secondary weapon.

Primary Weapons Power armor troopers may use the following primary weapons:

Note, the machine gun has an extremely high rate of fire and can be fired into the same firing arc an unlimited number of times. The heavy laser can only fire a limited number of shots into a firing arc. The flamethrower anti-tank missile can fired during the power armor trooper’s activation and is resolved at the end of your turn, as with standard incendiary and explosive weapons.

Any standard infantry weapons may be used as a secondary weapon for power armor troopers.

Movement

As with basic troopers, power armor troopers may spend a maximum of 8 AP on movement.

Power armor troopers can activate their jet pack at a cost of 0 AP but can only activate their jet pack once per turn. The trooper must fly at least 6 dots but may fly no more than 16 dots.

Barbed wire does not effect power armor troopers. Power armor troopers cannot be entangled by barbed wire and only pay 1 AP to enter a dot with barbed wire.

Combat

Power armor troopers largely use the same rules as standard troopers.

Firing Arcs Power armor troopers may place firing arcs for all of their weapons. If a weapon does not have a firing arc, then that weapon cannot fire. If one of a power armor trooper’s weapons is an explosive, this trooper may use the explosive and establish firing arcs with their other weapons.

Melee Combat It costs 5 AP to make a melee attack. The amount of bludgeoning damage for a melee attack with fists is given by half the attacking trooper’s current maximum AP.

Explosives Power armor troopers may use explosive weapons, but may not use hand grenades or smoke grenades. Power armor troopers may use satchel charges.