AEGIS Combining Robots: Second Ignition

AEGIS Combining Robots: Second Ignition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction

Premise

A.E.G.I.S.: Second Ignition is a tactical combat game where you assemble a team of five fighting robots and do combat against other players' teams. There are five Classes of robot in the game (the Class names are shown on the page as a graphic that spells A.E.G.I.S.; each is described under The Five Classes below).

They spell A.E.G.I.S.! Each Class specializes in different things, and within each Class are dozens of unique, individual robots.

Your five robots produce and share Energy with each other. Each turn, you spend that Energy to move their pieces around a hex grid arena and roll six-sided dice to perform various attacks and maneuvers.

Maneuvers such as combining them together! Robots of certain Classes can combine to create more powerful, versatile robots, quickly altering your strategy or even turning the tide of battle!

Outwit your foe and destroy or incapacitate their team to win! Find the right combination to victory — fight and unite!

A.E.G.I.S. Second Ignition brings an entirely unique roster of robots and heroes to the game, along with new battlefields and game modes. All previous and future A.E.G.I.S. Combining Robots content can be mixed and matched with this box for infinite possibilities!

Explore A.E.G.I.S. further and become part of the community! Play online via Tabletop Simulator! www.linktr.ee/aegisrobots · www.ZephyrWorkshop.com

Combined Classes & Robot Levels

Robots of different Classes can combine into greater forms that share aspects of their components, gaining new powers and versatility. There are five robot Levels in the game:

Level 1: Basic Robots. Robots that are A, E, G, I, or S-Class. In battle they rely on teamwork to be effective. Players pick five of these to form their teams at the start of the game.
Level 2: Duo-Class Robots. These and all subsequent levels are formed mid-battle by combining two of your robots together, such as an A and an I-Class robot.
Level 3: Trio-Class Robots. Powerful robots made by combining a Basic robot with a Level 2 robot. They are versatile and can often attack multiple times, while also having the aid of allies.
Level 4: Quadra-Class Robots. Robots made by combining all but one Basic robot on your team. They are very powerful and self-sufficient, and play with unique strategies that are best when their ally is around.
Level 5: AEGIS-Class Robots. When five different Classes come together, they can combine into a single, omni-functional form. These robots are devastating, yet difficult to command.

War is Over

The Five Nations War is over and Sigaea has settled into an age of peace, comparatively. One year ago, the Allied Provinces secured their independence, the heroes Ainer and Diane toppling Etwal, the Empyreal Realm's most brutal Commander. Elsewhere, the Sector Authority Officer Stell awakened the machine god Arozell Sol during her battle with the rampaging sentient robot Ellgelion. Its eminence was acknowledged across the world, ending the bitter five-way feud.

The Sector Authority now maintains peace through threat of annihilation, and even though the war is over, the mysterious Relic Robots are still being put to use. The Sector Authority Chief Salazar has organized the Second Ignition Global Engagement Arena, a worldwide, on-going tournament where Nations, armed groups and individuals settle disputes via sanctioned battles.

And so, all the world's greatest heroes, villains and everyone in between have gathered! The Commander with the most feats of courage and skill will receive any favor, any wish that the Sector Authority is willing to grant!!

Is it really wise to use these enigmatic machines like this?

The Five Nations

Allied Provinces: A newly independent mining nation in the northern mountainous regions of the continent. They rebelled against the Empyreal Realm and won, aggressively maintaining the border they fought for.
Empyreal Realm: The oldest and largest nation. It was the world superpower for many generations, but is now in steady decline. Wounded after the war, they are now more desperate than ever to return to their previous glory.
Great States: Vast and proud, but corruption and beauracracy kept this nation stagnant. Now that the global world war has ended, it's experiencing an unprecedented boom in wealth and culture.
Iris Dominion: An ancient, secretive, isolated nation. It utilized espionage and stealth forces to manipulate the world. Recently, however, it's been sending charismatic figureheads to bolster its popularity.
Sector Authority: The smallest, yet most advanced nation in terms of both culture and technology. They control Sigaea's space elevator, the planet's stratosphere, its only active AEGIS-Class robot, and thus, the world.

Commanders

Hailing from each nation are Commanders—those capable of forming a link with a team of AEGIS Robots and commanding them in battle. Each has a pre-built team in the box that focuses on a different strategy.

Ashla (Robots #101-109): Enthusiastic hero of the Allied Provinces. Her prebuilt team hits fast and hard, and combines with ease.
Ethrael (#137-145): Graceful princess of the Empyreal Realm. Her prebuilt team has very accurate hit-and-run tactics.
Ganith (#110-118): Vulgar arms dealer from the Great States. Her prebuilt team doesn't care if you miss, she attacks on enemy turns and gains rerolls for whiffing die rolls.
Indrix (#119-127): The Iris Dominion's newest and most popular celebrity. His prebuilt team is all about inflicting the enemy with status effects and manipulating their position.
Salazar (#146-154): Magnanimous chief officer of the Sector Authority, leader of all day-to-day operations. His prebuilt team combines into the powerful level 5 Ender Ganshah.
Ysis (#128-136): Robot referee who oversees the individual battles of the SIGEA Tournament. Her prebuilt team penalizes enemies for moving into range by draining their resources.
Challengers (#154-170): The seventh prebuilt team is focused on using Drones and triggering effects when their robots are destroyed. Use any one of seven Commanders!
Ainer (#171-180): He's back! Tired and injured from the war, he's reluctant to return to battle. His swift and powerful team can inflict more damage by overextending themselves.
Stell (#181-190): She's back! Now a founder of her own organization for justice, the Neo Star Sheriffs. Her team can drop in anywhere on the battlefield!
Kaiju (#191-200): They rise!! Ashla finds herself on the run at the story's climax, now the steward of powerful rogue robots. Their myriad combining powers are numerous and unwieldy!

And there are many more characters in the world of Sigaea!

The Five Classes

The five Classes in A.E.G.I.S. are Assault, Evasive, Guard, Intel and Support.

A-Class: Aggressive Attackers. Powerful, durable, and swift, Assault Class robots use melee attacks and guns to damage foes, and can increase the strength of nearby allies. Common Abilities: Gambit, Overload, Critical.
E-Class: Swift Scouts. With versatile movement and powerful bomb, missile, and machine gun attacks, Evasive Class robots can aid allies and quickly disrupt enemy tactics. Common Abilities: Flight, Evade, Splash Damage.
G-Class: Sturdy Tanks. Guard Class robots are hard to destroy, and utilize ramming and heavy firepower to grapple with foes, defending the rest of the team. Common Abilities: Arcing, Push, Rust.
I-Class: Tricky Technicians. With multi-faceted attack styles, Intel Class robots use a variety of lightning and energy abilities to snare, relocate, and weaken enemies. Common Abilities: Jamming, Blaze, Drain.
S-Class: Helpful Backliners. With high energy output and super-long-range laser and rocket attacks, Support Class robots can keep foes at bay while aiding and repairing other robots. Common Abilities: Reroll, Quell, Blaze.

Getting Started

Included Components

Robot Cards, Standees, and Stands

There are 100 unique robots in A.E.G.I.S. Second Ignition. Each one has a card and a corresponding standee piece. Standees are arranged on the punchboard in the same order as the cards' initial decks.
30 plastic stands, 5 each in six different player colors.

Game Board and Dice

A triple-sided board, with a 2-player side, another 2-player/solo side, and a 4-player side. (Pg. 13)
10 dice, 2 each in five colors. (Just for aesthetics.)

Energy Trackers and Energy Tokens

10 double-sided Energy/Valor trackers. These visually correspond to the 20 characters, but are all the same gameplay-wise.
8 pairs of Energy and Max Energy Cap tokens. The reverse side of the Cap tokens are Valor Tokens, which are used in alternate modes.

Solo Mode Components

4 Unique Boss cards
12 Solo Rondo AI Cards (2x A, E, G, I & S, and 2x Special Attack.)

Status, Damage, and Drone Tokens

Use to track other abilities, status effects, and Drones. (Pg. 27)

Robot Card Overview

Robot cards (left) display all info about a robot and are kept off the board, viewable by all players. Boss cards (right) read similarly to robot cards, and are used in Solo Mode.

Reading Robot Cards

Class: The robot's Class and Level. (Pg. 4, 5)
Movement: How far a robot can move during its activation. (Pg. 18)
Energy Output: How many Energy Points the robot gives to the rest of the team during your Recharge Phase. (Pg. 16)
Robot Name: Made up of a Make (the word) and a Model Number. The Model Number sets a robot apart from others of the same Make.
Integrity: The amount of damage the robot can take before being destroyed. Remove a destroyed robot's standee from the board and flip its card over. Keep its plastic stand in play in Standard games. (Pg. 27)
Team: Which prebuilt team this robot belongs to, for easy sorting.
Abilities: Special skills that can change how a robot plays. (Pg. 25, 36)
Actions: Attacks and maneuvers robots use on other robots. (Pg. 19)
Faction Emblem: Which Faction the robot belongs to, if any. (Pg. 7)
(Solo Only) Rondo Icons: Determine which Actions the Boss takes each turn, based on the revealed Rondo cards. (Pg. 32)
(Solo Only) Special Abilities: Abilities that activate when "Special Attack" Rondo cards are revealed. (Pg. 32)

Robot Teams

Each robot has a robot card and a corresponding standee that are needed to play. A team always uses 5 Basic (single-letter) robots, and up to 8 combined robots, which are created during the game.

Quick Start Guide / Pre-built Teams

A.E.G.I.S. features pre-built teams based around Commander characters and unique strategies, organized when you first open the box. These team lists are on the inside of the box lid, as well as in the bottom-left corner of the robot cards.

To use a semi-randomized team, see 2-Player Draft rules. (Pg. 34)

Custom Team Building Rules

Teams can only have one basic Commander Robot. These cards have a gold card border along the top and "Commander Robot" subtitle.
Only one Commander character may be represented on a team. (Ex. You can't use a Basic "Ashla" robot and a Combined "Ethrael" robot.)
Only one Faction may be used on a team, in addition to any number of factionless robots. Faction is indicated by its Faction Emblem. Most robots are factionless and have no emblem.
No exact duplicate robots allowed, including variants of the same robot. (Ex. SSM-2000 and SSM-2000 Sunset Mode.)
Robots in a sideboard (Pg. 14) follow the same rules as above.

Initial Setup

All A.E.G.I.S. games are played with the below components. Other modes and player counts may require additional setup, which is pointed out on their specific rules pages.

Standard A.E.G.I.S. Game Materials & Setup

Game Board: Choose a battlefield to play on. (Pg. 13)
A robot team for each player (five basic robot cards, up to 8 combined robot cards, their game pieces, and five stands). Put your five basic robots in the stands. Combined cards and pieces are kept nearby. For your first game, use one of the box's premade teams or Draft. (Pg. 34)
An Energy Tracker for each player, along with Energy Tokens. (Pg. 16)
Several 6-sided dice (kept nearby.)
Damage counters and other tokens for tracking things (kept nearby.)

Choosing a Game Board

A.E.G.I.S.: Second Ignition's board has three different boards to play on, each with different layouts, strategies, and rules.

Arena (2-Player): A map with no special hexes in Standard games. Also used for Starpoint Arena and Solo Mode. (Pg. 28, 30)
Canyon (2-Player): A confined map with obstacles and special hexes that stop movement and grant cover. (Pg. 18)
Robots can't be Pushed off of the Canyon and Arena boards. Their edges are treated as walls.
Battlefield (2 or 4-Player): A larger, spacious map for both 1-on-1 duels and 4-Player brawls. Used for multiplayer Starpoint Arena.
6-Player Mat (sold separately): A very large, hex-shaped combat zone. Great for 3-Player games, as well as 5 and 6-Player chaos matches.

2-Player Rules

Starting a Standard 2-Player Game:

Roll dice. The player who rolled higher puts their robots in their Start Zone first, followed by player 2, and then player 1 goes first.
Your robots can't be targeted or affected by enemies until after your second Recharge Phase.

Winning the Game

You win during your opponent's Recharge Phase if:

They can't produce 5 or more total Energy.
Their active robots can no longer deal damage, Energy Drain, Push, or Pull.

Best-of-3 Rules / Sideboards

Players may have extra Basic robots, and use five in a game. The extras are a player's sideboard. Generally, use seven total Basic robots. Start the game by showing all seven robots to each other, followed by secretly picking five, and simultaneously revealing your teams.

Alternate Ways to Play

For a more objective-based game mode where robots revive each turn and turns alternate after each robot activates, check out Starpoint Arena and Solo Battle Mode! (Pg. 28)

Multiplayer Rules

3+ player games of A.E.G.I.S. are played on the Battlefield board with four Start Zones, or on the 6-Player Mat (sold separately).

Choose if you would like to play Free-For-All, where everyone is an enemy, or Team Play, where teams of equal player counts face off.

Your robots can't be targeted or affected by enemies until after your first turn.

Free-for-All Rules

Roll dice. High roll goes first. That player puts their standees in their Start Zone, with placement continuing clockwise around the board. Then player 1 takes the first turn, continuing clockwise.
You may continue playing even after being eliminated (below), as long as you control a robot.

Team Play Rules (2 vs 2, 2 vs 2 vs 2, and 3 vs 3)

Roll dice. The team who rolls higher choose their Start Zones. Teammates may place their robots in each others' Start Zones.
Turn order alternates between teams, Team A's player 1 going first, then Team B's player 1, then team A's player 2, and so on.
Teammates can combine their robots together. The team decides which player controls the combined robot (and thus who gains Energy from it later).

Winning a Standard Multiplayer Game

A player/team wins if all opponents are eliminated. Each Recharge Phase, check if that player has been eliminated.

A player is eliminated if they can't produce 5 Energy, or if their robots can no longer deal damage, Energy Drain, Push, or Pull.

Game Rules

Round Overview

Each turn of a Standard game has two phases:

Recharge Phase: Your robots on the board generate Energy Points equal to their Energy Output and add them to your Energy Pool.
Activation Phase: You use those Energy Points to move and attack with each of your robots, one at a time, until all have activated, you're out of Energy, or choose to pass.
Destroyed robots do not produce Energy, and can't be activated.
A "round" is the time between your Recharge Phases. Many effects in the game last "this round", eg. until your next Recharge Phase.
In Starpoint Arena mode (Pg. 28), players instead alternate activating robots, and then all players Recharge at the same time.

1. Recharge Phase

Reset your Energy to 0 and add up the Energy Output icons in the top-right corner of each of your active robots' cards. Put your Energy and Max Energy Cap Tokens on that number on your Energy Tracker.

This is your Energy Pool. Your Max Energy Cap Token reminds you how much Energy you begin with at your Recharge Phase, while your Energy Token is used to track the current Energy in your Pool.

Recount your Max Energy if a robot combined or was destroyed!
Unused Energy doesn't disappear until your next Recharge Phase.
Your Energy Pool can be pushed above your Max via certain effects.

2. Activation Phase

Activate each of your robots, meaning move them and use their Actions by spending Energy Points. (Slide your Energy Token down your Tracker as you spend Energy.) Robots activate one-by-one in any order, and can't activate again until after your next Recharge Phase.

Each robot's activation works like this:

Choose a Bot: Choose one robot to activate that hasn't done so yet this turn.
Move It: You may move that robot's standee piece, spending 1 Energy per hex, up to its movement value. (Pg. 18)
Take Action: You may pay Energy to either:
- A. Use an Action (Pg. 19)
- B. Combine (Pg. 26)
Robots may use ONE Action OR Combine. Robots can't move after using an Action.
Repeat: Repeat steps 1-3 until either:
- A. Your Energy Pool is empty
- B. All your robots have activated
- C. You choose to end your turn
The next player then takes their turn.

For rules where players alternate activating robots, see page 28.

Moving Robots!

Each robot has a movement value on the top-center of its card and standee. It can move up to that many hexes during its activation.

For each hex moved, spend 1 Energy Point from your Energy Pool. Robots can't move after they use Actions. (next page)

The movement values are shown with icons for three movement types: Normal Movement (for example, a movement value of 5), Flight (for example, a movement value of 7), and Jet (for example, a movement value of 4 with Jet 2).

Robots can't move through terrain or other robots, unless they have the Flight or Jet abilities (Pg. 36), indicated by the above icons.

Terrain Hexes

Battlefields in A.E.G.I.S. contain terrain. Robots can't move through terrain (except Flight or Jet robots), or end their movement on a terrain hex. Robots also can't target enemies if these are obstructing Line of Sight.

Other Special Hexes

Some hexes affect robots that stand on or move through them.

START Zones: Robots start the game on these hexes.
STOP Hexes: Robots without Flight/Jet must stop their movement on these hexes, unless being Pushed/Pulled.
JAM Hexes: Robots on these hexes gain Jamming 1 (When an enemy targets this robot, you may pay 1 Energy to reroll one of their dice.)
Starpoints: Used in Starpoint Arena and Solo game modes only. (Pg. 28, 30) The numbers on Star Points are only used in Solo Mode.

Robot Actions: Attacking with Robots!

Get in range, Roll dice, Deal damage!

Each robot has between one and three Actions on their card, which allow them to deal damage, repair, and many other effects.

Each robot may use only one Action per turn, after they've moved. To perform an Action, spend Energy and roll an equal number of dice. You always spend 1 Energy Point from your Energy Pool per die rolled. All Actions cost Energy to use, unless an ability says otherwise.

Actions are read left to right:

Cost: How much Energy you pay and how many Action dice you roll. (Actions with "X" costs can be paid by spending any amount of Energy. Roll that many dice.)
Accuracy: You are trying to roll this number or higher on the dice.
- The "multi-hit" icon (a green figure) signifies that each die rolled at this number or higher is a success. These are "multi-hit attacks."
- The "single-hit" icon (a blue figure) means all dice must roll this number or above to succeed just once. These are "single-hit attacks."
Power and Type: How strong the action is and what it does. There are several Action types (Pg. 20 - 21).
Range: How many hexes away the Action reaches. (Pg. 22)
Attributes: These keywords modify Actions in various ways. It's important to know these, as they may affect how the Action functions. For a full index, see page 35.

You must choose a target in range before rolling, if applicable.

Action Types

An Action's Type determines what it does. For each success you roll, the Action will do the following, equal to the Action Power.

Offensive Actions

Damage: Reduces the affected robots' Integrity. When a robot has 0 or fewer integrity, it is destroyed. (Track lost integrity with damage counters.)
Energy Drain: Reduces affected robots' Energy Output permanently. If they have 0 Output, deal damage instead. (Track lost Energy Output with drain counters.)

Assist Actions

Repair: Removes any combination of damage and drain from affected robots.
Energy Boost: Increases affected robots' Energy Output. There is no limit on how much Energy a robot can produce. (Track increased Energy with boost counters.)

Control Actions

Push and Pull: Moves affected robots a number of hexes in a straight line away from or towards the user, up to the Action Power. (The attacker chooses the path.)
- If a robot is pushed or pulled into another robot or terrain, the robots involved take 1 collision damage for each 2 hexes they can't move, rounded down. (3 hexes pushed into a terrain wall is 1 damage.) (3 hexes pushed into a robot is 1 damage to both robots.)
- Robots pushed off the board are destroyed. Does not work on the small boards, Canyon and Arena, where edges are treated as walls for collision purposes.
Move: Moves affected robots a number of hexes equal to the Action's Power, in any direction.
- Doesn't deal collision damage or push bots off the board.
- Can't move robots through other bots or terrain.
If multiple robots are Pushed, Pulled or Moved, the attacking player chooses the order in which they're moved.

Buffs & Debuffs: Actions that increase or decrease a certain aspect of the affected robots by X, where X is equal to the Action Power. These wear off on the user's next Recharge Phase and are tracked with tokens.

Damage Buff/Debuff (DMG): Makes the affected robots' Offensive Actions more/less powerful. Adds/subtracts X from the total effect of the Action.
Defense Buff/Debuff (DEF): Makes the affected robots take X less/more total damage or drain from incoming Offensive Actions and other effects, such as Blaze and collision.
Accuracy Buff/Debuff (ACC): The affected robots' Actions are more/less accurate. Those robots have all their Accuracy values reduced/increased by X. (See example below.)
Evasion Buff/Debuff (EVA): The affected robots are harder/easier to hit. Robots targeting the buffed/debuffed robot have all of their Accuracy values increased/reduced by X.

Example of Accuracy buffs and debuffs (from the printed diagrams): Buffing another robot's Accuracy — with a 2 ACC buff, an Action with Accuracy 5 becomes Accuracy 3. Debuffing another robot's Accuracy — with a 2 ACC debuff, an Action with Accuracy 3 becomes Accuracy 5.

Accuracy values can't go above 6 or below 1.
A robot with an Evasion buff is basically the same as having 'Evade X'. (Pg. 36) Evasion buffs and Evasion passive abilities stack.
Allies ignore Evasion buffs when targeting each other.

Unique Actions: These feature a written effect, replacing the Accuracy, Power, Type, and/or Range. These still succeed based on die successes, and damage dealt is still affected by buffs/debuffs and other effects.

Action Ranges

There are three types of range that determine which other robots, ally and enemy, are affected by an Action.

Range (Targeted Actions): Target a robot up to this many hexes away.
Radius: This Action affects all other robots within this many hexes, unless there's terrain in the way (Line of Sight rules Pg. 23). Doesn't target robots, and thus ignores Evasion, Jamming, Retaliate, etc.
Range + Radius: Affects a target and all other robots around it simultaneously. The other affected robots aren't targeted, and thus can't Evade, Jam, Retaliate, etc. You can't target empty hexes.

Friendly Fire

Actions you use in the game affect robots indiscriminately, so pay attention to your targets! Robots with Range+Radius attacks like grenades can also hit themselves. Take a step back!

Line of Sight and Hex Axis

Line of Sight Rules

Most Actions are restricted by Line of Sight, which determines if an attacking robot can "see" its target. Draw a line from center-to-center of the attacker's hex to the defender's hex. You have a clear line of sight if there are no terrain walls or robots between the two.

If a line is an exact 50/50, (see 'A'), then you have line of sight. That line between hexes is a useful tool: you can trace it further and check if a robot is left/right of it and any obstructions (see 'B'). If a robot is far away and LoS is very ambiguous, then it can't be targeted.

Straight Lines, Hex Axis and Piercing

Some Actions have PIERCING and other effects that affect robots along an axis. An axis can be along the flat or pointed edges of the hex grid.

Action Examples

AWE Rocket Punch Combo (Attributes: GAMBIT, ANTI-AIR): Pay 2 Energy, roll 2 dice. Each one that's a 3 or above deals 1 damage to the single target up to 4 hexes away. If any dice succeeded, you may use GAMBIT to roll up to 2 more dice, paying Energy to match. If any of those new dice fail or are a 1, the whole Action fails. If the Action hit, ANTI-AIR deals 1 additional damage if the target has Flight/Jet.
Overclock Signal: Battery (Type: Drain): Pay 2 Energy, roll 2 dice. Both need to land on 2 or above to Drain all robots (ally and enemy) adjacent to the user, reducing their Energy Output by 2. This attack doesn't target, so it ignores abilities like Evade and Jamming.
Graviton Buster (Type: Move; Attributes: ARCING, RUST): This can target anything within 6 hexes, ignoring Line of Sight due to ARCING, and also hits anything within 3 hexes of the target, including itself! Pay 4 Energy, roll 4 dice. Each that landed on 3 or above will move all affected robots 1 hex, in any order and any direction you choose. All affected robots become Rusted. (Until your next Recharge Phase, they will take 1 damage after using an Action.)
Resonating Overclock Signal (Type: Accuracy buff; Attributes: QUELL, RUST): Since this Action has 1 Accuracy, it succeeds by default. Rolling the dice may still matter, however, due to effects like RECHARGE or enemy Evade abilities. This Action gives a +1 Accuracy buff (their Actions' accuracies are improved by 1 until your next Recharge Phase) to all robots within 2 hexes, but also inflicts them with Quell and Rust. It could be useful on allies or enemies!

Robot Abilities

Abilities are found at the bottom of most robot cards, and often have a summarized reminder of what they do. For detailed explanations and rulings on specific abilities, see the Ability Index. (Pg. 36)

Combine Abilities (marked with a star icon)

A one-time effect that triggers immediately after the robot is combined into and enters play.

Component Combine Abilities (marked with a combine icon)

These one-time abilities trigger when you combine with this robot. When multiple combine abilities trigger, you may choose the order in which they resolve.

Commander Abilities (marked with a flag icon)

Found only on specific robots represented by Commander characters, these often affect your entire team in some way.
Only one Commander can be active on your team at a time.
Commander abilities are no longer active if the robot is no longer active. (Such as if they're destroyed or inside a combined robot.)
Machineless Commanders have no specific robot, and instead equip their Commander cards onto a Basic, non-Commander robot before the start of the game. This turns that robot into a Commander robot, and all associated rules apply to them.

Abilities that say "Ally" and "Enemy"

"Ally" refers to any robot used by you or a teammate, including itself.
"Enemy" refers to any robot used by an opponent.

Combining Robots!

A combined robot always enters play completely refreshed. Remove all damage, buffs, blaze, etc tokens on its components.
COMBINE Actions and Combine Abilities trigger immediately and succeed. COMBINE Actions cost no Energy and roll no dice.
Combined bots return to your Combine Pool after they're destroyed, and can be created again if you have the means to do so.

Combine Requirements

To know whether you can combine, check if the two adjacent robots have Classes and Makes matching the bot you want to combine into.

Example 1: An AG-Class named ARK-2500 requires an A-Class named ARK and any G-Class. Stack the two lower level robot cards underneath ARK-2500's card, they are now its components.
Example 2: Another way to create the AG-Class ARK-2500 would be to use an AE-Class bot named ARK, or a combined bot with an ARK component underneath it, and a G-Class. Stack all cards under ARK-2500's, including the other combined bot's components.

Furthermore, a combined robot counts as all Classes and Makes of its components. (Ex: An EG-Class named "GAN-2000" made from "GAN-100" and "EXCEL-100" counts as both a GAN and an EXCEL.)

Two robots also don't always have to make up the sum of their parts. For example, an AEG robot and an AS robot can combine to make an AES, EGS, or an AEGS. You can't combine into something smaller than the largest component however, such as an ES.

Scrap Combining (Combining with Destroyed Robots)

In Standard games, when one of your robots is destroyed, leave its plastic stand in play on its hex. Allies may combine with it for free as if it were any of your destroyed Basic robots. If they do, remove the stand.

Stands don't block movement or line of sight. If a robot would occupy the same hex, that bot's controller moves the stand to an adjacent hex.
Remove all your stands from play if you can no longer create any of your combined robots.
This rule is not used in Starpoint or Solo modes.

Drones

Drones are robots created during play by the effects of other robots. Each type of Drone has a reference card and tokens that represent them on the board. Each token can be activated, targeted and destroyed like any other robot.

However, Drones can't be combined with and a player may only control up to 4 total at a time. They also can't activate the round they appear. The Drone types are:

GAN Drones: Have 2 movement, 0 Energy, 1 Integrity, and Beacon.
SAUR Drones: Have 0 movement, 1 Energy, 1 Integrity, and an Action with Aimed that rolls 2 die, if both are 2 or better, it deals 1 damage at a 10-hex range.

Alternate Modes

A.E.G.I.S. can be played in tons of different ways. Try some alternate modes and fight robots in the best way for you!

Starpoint Arena

Reduce your opponent's Valor Points to 0 by destroying endlessly reviving robots, capturing hexes, and using powerful terrain abilities! Playable by 2, 3, or 4 players.

Setup

Same initial setup rules as a standard AEGIS game.
Play on the 2-Player Arena, or the 4-Player Battlefield board. (Pg. 13)
Each player puts a Valor Token under 11 on their Energy Trackers.

Turn Order (Alternating Activations)

In this mode, each player activates one robot on their turn, followed by the next player clockwise around the table doing the same. Once you're out of Energy or robots to activate, other player(s) continue activating robots until they're also done.

All players' Recharge Phases happen simultaneously, ending all buffs, debuffs, and "until end of round" effects.

The player who activated the final robot in the previous round plays last in the new round. The player clockwise from them goes first.

During the first round, your robots can't be targeted or affected by enemies until after they've activated.

Robot Rebuilding

Each Recharge Phase, players may return their destroyed Basic robots to their Start Zones, with no damage or modifiers. They produce Energy and activate as normal. (Destroyed combines return as their Basic components.)

If using sideboards, you may put those robots into play instead.

Scoring

You win by reducing the opponents' Valor Points to 0. You lose VP when your robots are destroyed, 1 per level. (An AGS robot would lose you 3 VP.) You also lose VP if enemies are standing on Starpoints. (The numbers only matter in Solo Mode.)

At the end of each round:

Lose 1 point for each level of enemy robot on a white Starpoint.
Lose 2 points per level of enemy robot on the colored Starpoint(s) near your Start Zone. (Being on your own Starpoints does nothing.)
(4-Player) Lose 2 points per level of enemy on the center Starpoint.

Winning

2-Player: You win the moment the opponent has 0 or fewer Valor Points.
3/4-Player: Once a player has 0 VP, the round after the next Recharge Phase is the final round. The player with the most VP at the end wins.
If all players have 0 or fewer VP, the one with VP closest to 0 wins. If tied, continue play and end immediately when a player takes the lead.

Special Abilities

Recalling: When you would activate one of your robots, you may instead destroy it. Lose only 1 VP by doing so.
Rolling The Star Die: If your robot is standing on ANY Starpoint, you may pay 1 Energy, roll a die, and may use the corresponding effect below. Each bot may do this once during their activation, before/after it moves or use an Action. (Similar to a SWIFT Action.)

Star Die results:

Combine for free, with any ally. The new bot comes in on the other bot's hex.*
Swap this bot's hex with an ally.
Deal 3 damage to a robot on a Starpoint. Doesn't affect VP if destroyed.
Move any robot on a Starpoint up to 4 hexes.
Add 5 Energy to your Energy Pool.
Choose any one of these effects.

* (If you Emerge for free, instead put the robot into a Start Zone.)

Solo Boss Battle Mode

Fight against an AI-controlled enemy boss and its minions! Reduce the boss's integrity to 0 before it reduces your Valor Points to 0!

Setup

Play with any standard A.E.G.I.S. team.
Use the 2-Player Arena Board. (Pg. 13)
Set your Valor Points to 18 on your Energy Tracker with a Valor Counter.
Select a boss card to fight against and grab its standee.
Grab a set Minion Robots to fight against. (see below)
Follow the boss's unique setup instructions on the back of its card.
Place your robots anywhere across either of the two Start Zones.

Creating a Minion Deck

The Boss's Minion deck is made from any 9-10 standard robots. Bosses also have suggested teams on the backs of their cards, either match the 10 Classes or use a listed prebuilt team.

Winning and Losing

You win the game when you reduce the boss to 0 Integrity. During play, you can target and deal damage to the boss like a normal robot. It also takes damage when a minion is destroyed or fully drained, 1 per level. (An AEG minion being destroyed is 3 damage to the boss).

You lose the game if at the start of the round, there are no more Solo Rondo cards or you have 4 or fewer Valor Points, or if you ever hit 0 VP.

During play, you lose 1 VP whenever one of your robots is destroyed or fully drained, regardless of robot level.

TROPHIES: For added difficulty, each boss also has three optional challenges on the backs of their cards.

Turn Order (Alternating Activations)

Solo Mode uses alternating activations. (Pg 28) You activate a robot, then the Boss takes its turn via a Solo Rondo card, and repeat. Rounds end when the player chooses, after all Rondo cards have resolved. During the first round, your robots can be targeted by the boss and enemies, so be careful!

At round start:

Discard any current Solo Rondo cards, then reveal 3 from the top of the deck. (Reveal 2 for Easy difficulty, 4 for Hard.) If there are no more to reveal, you lose.
If you have 4 or fewer Valor Points, you lose.
You may return your destroyed Basic robots to play in either Start Zone (destroyed combined robots return as their Basic components). If you have sideboard robots, you may bring those into play instead. You can only have 5 total levels-worth of robots in play at a time.
Recharge Phase (all standard enemy buffs/debuffs end here too.)
You always activate first.

Your Turn

Activate one of your robots as normal. If you have 0 Energy, your turn is passed. In Solo games, you also have new, additional options:

Recalling: When you would activate one of your robots, you may instead destroy it. Lose 1 VP by doing so.
Valor Skills: You have access to the below suite of special powers by spending your limited Valor Points. Each one may be used just once between boss activations.

Valor Skills:

1 VP — Change any die result to a 6. (Any time.)
2 VP — Activate another robot. (On your turn, includes new combined bots.)
1 VP — Repair 3. Can be divided among your bots. (On your turn.)
1 VP — Change any die result to a 1. (Any time.)
2 VP — Add 5 Energy to your Energy Pool. (Any time.)

Boss Turn

The Boss uses a set of AI cards called Solo Rondo cards.

Each Boss Turn, resolve its entire Solo Rondo card: (Bosses may have abilities that you need to pay attention to prior to activating!)

Activate Boss: The Boss uses each Action on its card with this letter next to it. (Roll dice as normal. Bosses/Minions don't use Energy.)
Activate Minions: All minion robots of this letter activate. (G would activate G bots, EG, EGIS, etc.) Unlike a normal game, they will attempt to attack before moving. Minions use Actions from top-to-bottom until one succeeds. Enemies can't hurt each other. They will Repair and buff each other, however. If nothing is in range, they instead move towards the closest robot, up to their movement value, and end their activation.
Summon: If no minions activated this turn, Summon one.
Special Attacks (Φ Ω): There are also two Special Attack cards. Instead of doing the above, activate all Boss Abilities and Actions with the Φ or Ω symbols on their card, top to bottom. These cards then activate all minions in play, in a similar way to other Rondo cards.

Example Round: You activate a robot. The boss's A card activates. You activate another bot. The G card activates. You activate a third bot. The Φ card activates. You activate any remaining bots you have. The round ends. The boss is dealt new Solo Rondo cards. If there are none left, you lose. Your destroyed Basic robots return to play, followed by your Recharge Phase.

Minion Summoning Rules

If you reveal a Basic minion card, (or an enemy creates a Drone) roll a die and put its piece on that number Starpoint (or next-highest if occupied.) Only five minions can be active at a time and new minions can't enter play if all Starpoints are occupied.

If you reveal a Combined robot, check if any active and/or discarded minions match its Class (Makes don't matter.) If so, put it into play, replacing one of its lowest-level, active components (your choice, then discard all its components.) If there are no active, lower-level components, roll a die for placement. Don't use Combine Actions/Abilities. Unplayable combines go to the bottom of the deck and you keep revealing cards.

Example Combined Summon: An AEG robot is revealed, and there's an A-Class minion in play and a EGS in the discard pile, the AEG enters play replacing the A-Class bot. Discard the A-robot's card.

AI Decision Rules: (Printed as "Al Decision Rules" in the source; the heading is "AI" and is cross-referenced as "AI Decision Rules" on the Ability Index page.) If an enemy can target multiple robots, or if multiple minions are activating, choose in this order:

Highest level robot, alphabetically if tied.
If all options are the same Class, look at their Makes alphabetically.
If all are the same Make, choose highest model number.

Ex: AEG > ES > GS > ABB-600 > ABB-100 > the closest > your choice.

Other Boss/Minion Rules

Bosses lose all statuses (Rust, Flicker, debuffs, etc) after their next activation.
Minions with Retaliate, Return Fire, etc attack back every time.
Minions with Overload and SWIFT Actions will attack multiple times.
Minions with Reroll roll an extra die and discard the lowest. For minions with Jamming, you roll an extra die and discard the highest.
Minion Move Actions move enemies towards you / you away from the boss.
Energy Drain on bosses deals damage instead. If you completely drain a Minion, it's destroyed. Energy Boosts used on enemies are Repairs.
Enemy X-cost Actions roll dice equal to your current Energy Pool.
All Enemy Drones come into play on Starpoints via rolling a die, and count as damage to boss integrity (and Valor, if yours) if destroyed.
Ignore minion activated abilities like GAMBIT, Accelerator, etc.
Minion Commander Ability activations are up to player discretion.

Draft Mode

2 to 6 experienced players can draft semi-randomized robot teams and battle! You can draft in conjunction with any 2+ player game mode.

How to Draft

Separate all robot cards into three individual decks and shuffle them:
- a. Commander Robots/Machineless Commanders
- b. Combined Robots
- c. Basic Robots
Deal 2 Commander cards and 5 Combined Robot cards to each player. Players keep these secret. They will help inform your draft choices.
Shuffle the Basic Robot Deck and deal 8 robots to each player.
Draft! Players pick 1 Basic robot, keep it in front of them concealed from other players, and pass the rest clockwise until each player has 8 Basic Robot cards. (In 2-Player, players discard a card from their hand before passing, and draw a new Basic robot from the deck when they receive a hand.)
Build! Players build a team of 5 Basic Robots as normal, the remaining ones form a sideboard (Pg. 14). Also ignore Faction emblems. (Pg.11)

Draft Combining

In a Draft game, combining robots is easier. You may pay 10 Energy to combine three or more adjacent robots. Robots may also combine as long as Classes match, disregarding Makes, Commander names and Factions. (You may still only control one Commander robot at a time.)

Index

Action Attribute Index

ANTI-AIR: Adds +1 to the Actions' total effect (damage, push, etc) against robots with Flight or Jet. ANTI-AIR 2 adds 2.
AIMED: This Action's values are unaffected by outside effects, such as buffs. (The Action always does exactly what it says it does.)
ARCING: This Action does not require line of sight.
BLAZE: Affected bots take 1 damage after the next time they move or are moved. This status ends after it triggers, or at the user's next Recharge Phase. Can stack. (1 damage total, not per hex. Doesn't trigger from effects that "Swap"/"Place".)
CRITICAL: Each 6 rolled adds +1 to the Action's total effect. (damage, push, etc)
DISARM: Affected robots can't use Actions until the user's next Recharge Phase. Level 3 and higher robots can't be Disarmed.
FORCE: Treat this Action as if it were also a Push Action. (Pg. 20) Damage and collision damage are dealt simultaneously.
GAMBIT: If this Action succeeds, you may pay up to the Action's cost again and roll that many extra dice. If any fail or land on 1, the whole Action fails.
HEAVY: This Action can't be used if the user moved during its activation. Being moved by Actions and other effects is OK.
PIERCING: This Action also hits robots in range behind the target, if all are on the same hex axis. (Pg. 23)
PRECISE: If the target is at the maximum range away, roll 1 extra die for free, then discard the lowest result before calculations and other effects.

Ability Index

Accelerator X: Instead of activating this robot, you may pay X Energy to move it up to X spaces. It may then combine for free immediately after doing so. (Including with Scrap Tokens.)
Arc Buster: This robot may Activate up to three times this round. It can only activate additional times at times where you could normally activate a robot.
Beacon: An enemy Action or ability that would be able to target this robot must choose this bot as a target. If there are 2+ valid Beacon targets, the attacker chooses which to target.
Combat Drop: You may start the game with this robot's piece off the battlefield. While not in play, it doesn't produce Energy. During an ally activation, you may put this robot's piece into play adjacent to that ally, in place of their Action that turn. This bot may activate this round, as if it were always in-play. (If you ever control 0 robots and have no way to bring a Combat Drop robot into play, you lose. You may Drop this bot)
Deploy (Drone): When this robot takes 1 or more damage, create a Drone of the specified type in any empty adjacent hex. (No placing on top of terrain or other occupied hexes.)
Emerge: You may pay 10 Energy to combine into this robot, using any number of components, ignoring where they are located. If you do, this robot comes into play on any unoccupied Start Zone hex. (This is still combining, so it must be done instead of using an Action with a robot. It's also affected by other abilities that modify combine requirements. This is not free via Scrap Combining.)
Evade X: All enemy Actions targeting this robot have their Accuracy values increased by X, (making this robot harder to hit.) Accuracy values can't go above 6. Melee Evade affects only Actions from adjacent enemies. Range Evade affects only those from 2+ hexes away.
Flight: This robot can move over terrain and other robots unimpeded. It can't end its turn on terrain or other robots. (This ability doesn't allow a robot to shoot over terrain.)

Commander Abilities (each of these abilities is specific to a single Commander and their robot(s))

Aether Wind: After any one of your robots uses an Action, you may pay 3 Energy. If you do, it gets an additional, free movement activation. Enemies with reactionary abilities like Retaliate, Return Fire, etc, will be able to attack you before your second movement, however.
Aether Waltz: You may move your robots for free during their movement activations. If you do so, they take 1 damage. (Total, not per hex.)
Authority: Your combined robots have Reroll 1. This ability persists if this robot combines. Authority+ adds another instance of Reroll 1, which also persists.
Excavate: Each time one of your robots is standing adjacent to a terrain wall and uses an Action, you may first pay 1 Energy and roll a separate die. Its result gives the bot a bonus. 1-3 gives its Actions RECHARGE. 4-5 grants a +1 Defense Buff. 6 gives it both, and a +1 Energy Boost. You can't use this if you're unable to use an Action. If you're Quelled, don't gain Recharge.)
False Army: After you totally fail an Action roll on your turn, you may activate this robot or any Drone, including another player's. (After an enemy Retaliates, Returns Fire, etc.)
Jetjump: If one of your robots would move or be moved, it may instead take 1 damage or drain. Then place that robot in a legal hex exactly 3 away. (This doesn't trigger Blaze, and robots with Overload don't count as having moved that turn. Robots with 0 Movement may use this.)
Long Arm of the Law: When one of your robots uses an Action, you may pay 2 extra Energy to increase its maximum range by 2. (This works with PRECISE.)
Override: Instead of activating one of your other robots normally, they may move up to 5 hexes and use one of ARK-X's Actions. They then take 1 damage. (This still costs Energy. That robot can't trigger combines this turn. They lose Flight/Jet. This ability effectively turns your other robots into copies of ARK-X instead of doing things they would normally be able to do.)

Combine Abilities

Blitz: After you combine into this robot, it may move for free along a straight hex axis. It may move as far as a normal movement activation. Superblitz lets any other ally move with no axis restriction. Ultrablitz lets all your other robots move, also with no axis restriction.
Hardshield: After you combine into this robot, immediately give this robot and allies adjacent to it a +1 Defense Buff.
Ignition: After you combine into this robot, it may Activate.
Refuel: After you combine into this robot, add its Energy Output to your Energy Pool.
Resonate: After you combine into this robot, any target robot loses all Attributes and Abilities until your next Recharge Phase.
Salvo: After you combine into this robot, it may use up to all of its Actions for free. You still roll dice as normal. Supersalvo does this for any other ally. Ultrasalvo does this for all your other robots. Free X-cost Actions can only roll dice up to your current Energy Pool.
Tidemaker: After you combine into this robot, Rust all active enemies.
Ultracombine: After you combine into this robot, trigger all Combine Actions of all its components an additional time, for free, in any order. Roll dice for each Action.
Worldfire: After you combine into this robot, Blaze all active enemies.

Component Combine Abilities

Combine Assault / Shield: After you combine with this robot, give another ally a +1 Damage/Defense buff, respectively. (You can't give the buff to the combine you just made.)
Combine : After you combine with this robot, give another robot the specified status. (Rust, etc)
Combine Drop: After you combine with this robot, you may remove the new, combined robot from the board. Starting from your next Recharge Phase it has Combat Drop - Instead of an ally using an Action, you may put it into play on a hex adjacent to that ally. It may activate.
Combine Fuel: After you combine with this robot, add this robot's Energy Output to your Energy Pool. (The robot with this ability, not the new combined robot.)
Combine : After you combine with this robot, create a specific Drone(s) a specified distance away from the new, combined robot.
Combine Shift: After you combine with this robot, move any ally up to 2 hexes.

Unique Robot Actions

Reveal True Form: Replace this robot's card with another of your level 3 robots. It can't activate this turn and damage persists. It keeps this robot's components underneath it. Does nothing in Solo Mode.
Miracle/Emergent Horizon Lanzer: Deal 3 damage to all robots along a straight hex axis, originating from this robot, in both directions. This doesn't target, and goes through terrain. In Solo Mode, is used on an axis with player robots. If there are multiple choices, follow AI Decision Rules.
Burst Star Overload: Rolls a single die and activates one of the six Star Die abilities (Pg. 29), even outside of Starpoint Arena mode. 3 & 4 target an adjacent hex instead of a Starpoint, similar to an Action with Range 1. This Action can't be affected by accuracy modifications. Does nothing in Solo Mode unless result is 3 or 4.
Self-Pushing Actions: These Push the user in any direction along a straight hex path. It stops if it collides with something. Collision damage still applies to the user if the user collides with another robot.