For What Remains: Blood on the Rails Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
• Game Layout
• Factions
• Characters
  • Character Components
• Setup
  • Example Battleground
  • Terrain and Scavenging
  • Scenario: Kill Them All
• Gameplay
  • Actions
  • Ranged Combat
  • Area Attacks
  • Close Combat
  • Movement
  • Abilities
  • Huge Characters
• Campaigns
• Solitaire Play
  • Activation System
  • Common Key Terms Used in Orders
  • Solitaire Campaigns

Introduction

For What Remains is a tactical skirmish wargame set in a post-apocalyptic near future.

There are two ways to play For What Remains: skirmishes and campaigns. Skirmishes are standalone games played for a single victory, with no lasting repercussions. Campaigns are a series of skirmishes linked together to form a larger narrative. For campaign play, reference The Semipalatinsk Legacy: Blood on the Rails campaign guide that came with this game. Special rules for solitaire play are found at the end of this rulebook.

You can combine this game with other For What Remains games, to include Streets of Ruin and Out of the Basement. All components are compatible, so that factions in any of the games can do battle, and the battleground tiles can be combined. You can use factions from other For What Remains games for the Blood on the Rails campaign, though small adjustments may be necessary.

Components

• Campaign Guide
• Faction Guides (2)
• AI Reference Sheet (2)
• Ability Reference Sheets (2)
• Battleground Tiles (12)
• Character Reference Cards (11)
• AI Activation Cards (11)
• Character Counters (69)
• Action Tokens (69)
• Faction Action Tokens (2)
• Ability Tokens (2)
• Scavenge Tokens (6)
• Ability Templates (1)
• Dice (5)
• Action Bag (1)

Game Layout

The play area contains: the battleground, the reference cards, the action token supply, the action bag, the action token exhausted area, and the ability template.

Factions

There are six major factions that vie for control and survival. Each faction is formed from like-minded individuals that band together for a common cause.

• Freemen Coalition: The Freemen Coalition is a loose-knit band of human rebels who specialize in guerrilla warfare.
• Combine: The Combine is the government that rules over much of what is left of the world.
• Echo: Echo is a faction led by a secretive cabal of humans with psychic powers.
• Soldiers of Light: The Soldiers of Light are humans who believe the fall of mankind was brought about due to a dependence on technology.
• Erthen: Erthen are a biologically developed race formed from a mixture of human, mineral, and organic matter.
• Order of the New Dawn: The Order of the New Dawn are creatures from the strange subterranean realm known as the Basement.

Characters

• Character Reference Card: Character cards are used to reference a character's critical information.
• Character Counter: Character counters represent characters on the battleground.
• Action Tokens: Action tokens are used to determine when a character can take an action during the game. [p. 12]
• Character Type: A descriptor for the character.
• Level: Each character has three levels: Recruit, Veteran, and Elite. In campaigns, all characters begin as Recruits and gain levels over time.
• Designator: There are two copies of each character. The designators on the counters are used to differentiate the characters if both are used in the same skirmish.
• Value: The point value of a character reflects their overall power and is used during the setup process to determine character selection.
• Health: When a character is injured in combat, you flip their counter to the injured side. [p. 13]
• Move: Move is the maximum number of spaces a character can move in a turn. [p. 18]
• Weapon Range: Weapon Range is the maximum number of spaces that a character can make a Ranged Combat attack. [p. 14]
• Close Combat: Close Combat is a character's skill in hand-to-hand combat. This is the number of dice rolled when the character makes an attack against an adjacent character. [p. 17]

Character Components

Each character has a reference card, character counters, and action tokens. There are two copies of each character, which can be differentiated with their designator. For example, each copy of the Echo faction's Pyro has three counters (for Recruit, Veteran, and Elite level) and three action tokens. One Pyro reference card is used for both Pyros.

• Character Counters: show the character type, level and designator. Each level has a healthy and an injured side (Recruit counters show both; Veteran and Elite counters show the healthy side). Some characters have an alternate designator.
• Action Tokens: show the designator, character type, level and value. There are different action tokens for each of the different Pyros.
• Character Reference Card: shows character type, Move, Weapon Range, Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Defense, Abilities and Classification.

Setup

Each skirmish begins with the setup process. The information presented here is generally used when playing the introductory scenario (Kill Them All, p. 11) or when players build their own scenarios. Instructions for scenarios found in the campaign book always takes precedence over rules provided here.

1. Factions: Decide which faction each player will control.
2. Scenario: Decide what scenario will be used for the skirmish or create a new scenario.
3. Skirmish Points: Decide how many skirmish points to use. Skirmish points are used during the character selection process for purchasing characters. Players can choose any skirmish point value, but recommendations are provided here.

Skirmish Points	Game
10	First play and low-level characters
15	Low-level characters
20	Mid-level characters
25	High-level characters
30	Epic game

4. Battleground: Battlegrounds are formed by combining nine battleground tiles. To construct a battleground, each player rolls one die. The player with the highest roll chooses a tile and places it on the play area. Players then alternate taking turns placing tiles. Each tile must be placed alongside a tile already in play. This continues until a battleground of 3x3 tiles has been assembled. All touching sides of the tiles must match.
5. Scavenge Tokens: Players often place one or more scavenge tokens on the battleground as instructed in the scenario. Each player rolls one die. The player with the highest roll places a scavenge token first and then players alternate placing scavenge tokens. Scavenge tokens cannot be placed within two spaces of the edge of the battleground.
6. Starting Areas: Each player rolls one die. The player with the highest roll picks their starting side of the battleground. The other player starts on the opposite side of the battleground. Characters can be placed anywhere along the edge of the battleground, within two spaces of the edge.
7. Character Selection: Players use their skirmish points to purchase characters. When a player purchases a character, they spend skirmish points equal to the level of the character they are purchasing. They take the character's matching counters up to the level they purchased and the three matching action tokens. Character selection is secret and has the following limitations:
   • Must choose at least three characters;
   • Cannot choose more than six characters.
8. Character Placement: The player that chose their starting side of the battleground places all of their characters in their starting area first. Then their opponent places their characters. Stack a character's counters so that the highest level counter is on top. For example, an Elite Pyro would have their Elite counter on top, then their Veteran counter, and their Recruit counter on the bottom. Make sure that all the counters begin with their healthy side face up in the stack.

Example Battleground

Players begin on opposite sides of the battleground. Characters can be placed anywhere along the edge of the battleground, within two spaces of the edge.

Terrain and Scavenging

Terrain: Terrain types include: clear, blocking, difficult, elevated, and water. Each space on the battleground consists of only one type of terrain.

• Clear Terrain: each space of Clear Terrain costs 1 Move to enter. Clear Terrain is free of obstructions and serves as the default elevation of the battleground. Clear Terrain spaces do not have borders.
• Blocking Terrain: blocks line of sight for Ranged Combat and prevents movement. Blocking Terrain has gray borders and a "Do Not Enter" symbol.
• Difficult Terrain: each space of Difficult Terrain costs 2 Move to enter. Difficult Terrain grants characters a +1 to Defense when attacked by Ranged Combat. Difficult Terrain has orange borders and a "Curved Path" symbol.
• Water Terrain: each space of Water Terrain costs 2 Move to enter. Water Terrain has blue borders and a "Wave" symbol.
• Elevated Terrain: each space of Elevated Terrain costs 2 Move to enter or exit, except when moving from one Elevated Terrain space to another Elevated Terrain space, which costs 1 Move. The cost of leaving an Elevated Terrain space does not stack with other terrain costs, meaning it is never more than 2 Move to exit Elevated Terrain. If a character is on normal elevation and makes a Close Combat attack against a character on Elevated Terrain, the character on Elevated Terrain receives a +1 to Defense. Ranged Combat attacks can pass through Elevated Terrain only if both the attacker and target are on Elevated Terrain. Elevated Terrain has yellow borders and a "Up Arrow" symbol.

Scavenging: The world is brutal and unforgiving. Weapons, fuel, food, and potable water are the keys to survival. Items that can be scavenged during skirmishes are represented by scavenge tokens.

Characters can pick up a scavenge token if they are standing on the space with the token. Characters must spend 1 point of movement during a Move action to pick up or drop the token. If two characters are adjacent, they can transfer the scavenge token between them by one of the characters spending 1 point of movement. If a character is defeated, the scavenge token is placed on the battleground in the space where the character died. A character can only carry one scavenge token at a time.

Players typically earn victory points for each scavenge token in their possession during a skirmish.

Scenario: Kill Them All

This scenario, "Kill Them All," serves as an introduction to For What Remains. After you become familiar with the rules of the game, you can use the scenarios found in the campaign guide.

Overview: This is a straight-forward, fight-to-the-death skirmish. The goal is to defeat as many opponent characters as possible, while also scavenging for limited gear.

Battleground: Use the default battleground creation rules.

Scavenge Tokens: Each player places one scavenge token on the battleground. Use the default scavenge token placement rules.

Starting Areas: Use the default starting area rules.

Select and Place Characters: Use the default character selection and placement rules.

Victory: Either player wins by scoring 5 victory points or defeating all of their opponent's characters.

Victory Points

• Characters: Award 1 victory point for each defeated character.
• Scavenge Tokens: Award 1 victory point for each scavenge token in a character's possession. If a character loses possession of the scavenge token, the victory point is lost until a character claims the scavenge token again.

Gameplay

Once you have completed the scenario setup, you are ready to begin play. A skirmish is divided into rounds of play. Each round, players:

1. select the action tokens they want to use for the round and place them in the action bag,
2. draw the action tokens from the bag and discard them to activate their characters,
3. recover action tokens in the exhausted action token area (skip this step for the first round of a skirmish),
4. place the discarded action tokens in the exhausted area.

Select Action Tokens: At the beginning of the skirmish, players will have three action tokens for each of their characters in their action token supply. Players use these action tokens to determine which characters will take actions during the current round. Each player secretly selects a number of action tokens equal to the number of characters they have on the battleground and places them in the action bag.

Players keep their remaining action tokens in their supply secret by placing them face down.

Draw Action Tokens and Activate Characters: Once the action tokens have been placed in the action bag, characters start taking actions. One player draws an action token from the action bag. The character matching the action token may take an action. Once that character's action is complete, one of the players draws another action token from the bag and the character matching the action token can take an action. This continues until all action tokens have been drawn from the bag. When action tokens are drawn from the bag, they are discarded face up near the bag.

Recover Action Tokens (skip this step for the first round of a skirmish): Action tokens in the exhausted action token area are moved to each player's action token supply.

Exhaust Action Tokens: Action tokens that were used during the round are now moved to the exhausted action token area. They will not be available during the next round.

Round Example Peyton and Jack are controlling the Echo and Soldiers of Light factions, respectively, in a 10 skirmish point match. Peyton has selected four characters while Jack has selected five characters.

In the first round, Peyton can select four action tokens to place in the action bag because she has four characters on the battleground. She has all twelve actions tokens associated with her characters in her action token supply to choose from. She selects three Pyro action tokens and one Psion action token. She places all four action tokens in the action bag. Jack places five action tokens in the action bag because he has five characters on the battleground.

Jack draws from the action bag and pulls a Pyro action token. Peyton performs a Move action with the Pyro. Jack then draws an action token that matches one of his characters and takes an action with the character. Jack then draws another Pyro token, and Peyton takes another action with her Pyro.

This continues until all action tokens have been drawn. There are no action tokens in the exhausted action token area because it's the first round. Had there been, the players would have moved the action tokens to their supplies. The action tokens that were drawn from the action bag during the round are moved to the exhausted action token area.

The next round begins.

Actions

When a character is activated with an action token, they can take one action. Actions include:

• Close Combat
• Ranged Combat
• Move
• Ability
• Forfeit an Action

Attack: Characters make a Close or Ranged Combat attack roll against a target character's Defense. The attacking character rolls a number of dice equal to their Close or Ranged Combat attribute. If at least one die rolled is higher than the target's Defense, the target is injured. A target is only injured once, no matter how many successes are rolled.

Defense: Defense represents a character's ability to defend itself against Close and Ranged Combat attacks. Characters can receive Defense bonuses from abilities and a variety of battleground modifiers. [Terrain, p. 10]

Health: Each counter associated with a character's level has two states: healthy or injured. At the beginning of a skirmish, all characters begin with full health. For example, a Veteran Pyro would have a Veteran counter stacked on top of their Recruit counter, and both would have their healthy side face up. When the Pyro is injured, their Veteran counter is flipped over to their injured side. If the Pyro is injured again, the Veteran counter would be removed. If they were injured again, the Recruit counter would be flipped to their injured side. And if the Pyro was injured a fourth time, the Recruit counter would be removed and the Pyro would be defeated.

Characters use their attributes and abilities based on their top counter on the battleground. For example, at the beginning of a skirmish, a Veteran Pyro would use their Veteran-level attributes and abilities. However, if the Pyro is injured twice and the Veteran counter is removed, the Pyro would use their Recruit attributes and abilities.

Defeat and Action Tokens: When the recruit counter of a character is removed, the character has been defeated. Take action tokens matching the character from the exhausted action token area and the action token supply and remove them from the game. Any action tokens matching the character in the action bag have no effect when they are drawn, and are removed from the game. When a character is defeated, it means the player has one fewer character on the battleground and therefore will use one less action token per round.

Faction Action Tokens: When a character is defeated, immediately take the Faction Action Token (the action token with the faction symbol on both sides) and place it in the action token supply for the player whose character was defeated. The player can use the action token as if it was one of their other action tokens, placing it in the action bag. When the Faction Action Token is drawn, the player can take an action with any of their characters. However, the Faction Action Token is not discarded as normal. Instead, it is removed from the game until another character is defeated. If another character is defeated, the Faction Action Token goes back into the supply. A player can only ever have one Faction Action Token, even if multiple characters are defeated in a round.

Ranged Combat

Ranged Combat is a character's skill with ranged weapons and area attacks.

Adjacent: Characters are adjacent if they are orthogonal (side by side) or diagonal (corner to corner) to each other.

Weapon Range: Characters can make Ranged Combat attacks at a distance equal to or less than their Weapon Range, but not against adjacent characters, unless the adjacent characters are on different elevations. Shooting up to Elevated Terrain and down from Elevated Terrain does not modify the Weapon Range.

Line of Sight: Line of sight is determined by drawing an imaginary line from the center of the attacking character's space to the center of the target character's space.

Terrain Modifiers: Ranged Combat attacks are subject to terrain modifiers. Any Ranged Combat attack that passes through any part of a space with Difficult Terrain adds a +1 to the target's Defense. This includes spaces the target is in, but not the attacker. These effects are not cumulative. However, terrain modifiers are added to character modifiers, if applicable. [Terrain, p. 10]

Character Modifiers: Ranged Combat attacks are subject to character modifiers. Any Ranged Combat attack that passes through any part of a space with an enemy or ally character adds a +1 to the target's Defense. These effects are not cumulative. However, character modifiers are added to terrain modifiers, if applicable.

Blocking and Elevated Terrain: Ranged Combat attacks may not pass through Blocking Terrain. Ranged Combat attacks can pass through Elevated Terrain only if both the attacker and target are on Elevated Terrain. Elevated Terrain allows characters to use Ranged Combat against enemy characters on normal elevations and ignore the modifier for Ranged Combat through characters and Difficult Terrain (the only exception is the terrain modifier still applies if the target is standing in a Difficult Terrain space). Characters on normal elevation receive the same benefits when attacking characters on Elevated Terrain. [Terrain, p. 10]

Ranged Combat Examples (diagrams)

Example 1 (Pyro, on normal elevation):

• If the Pyro makes a Ranged Combat attack against the Beastmaster, the Beastmaster gets a terrain modifier bonus to Defense because the attack passes through Difficult Terrain.
• If the Pyro makes a Ranged Combat attack against the Faith Bringer, the Faith Bringer gets terrain and character modifier bonuses to Defense because the attack passes through Difficult Terrain and a character.
• The Pyro cannot make Ranged Combat attacks against the Waste Dragon or Sentinel because the attacks pass through Elevated Terrain.

Example 2 (Nether-tech, on Elevated Terrain):

• The Nether-tech cannot make Ranged Combat attacks against the Beastmaster or Sentinel because the attacks pass through Elevated Terrain.
• The Nether-tech cannot make a Ranged Combat attack against the Waste Dragon because they are adjacent.
• The Nether-tech can make a Ranged Combat attack against the Faith Bringer even though they are adjacent because they are on different elevations.

Area Attacks

Area Attacks are a subset of Ranged Combat. When a character makes an Area Attack, the attack affects multiple spaces, as outlined by the ability description. After determining the affected area, the attacking player makes a separate Ranged Combat attack against each target in the area. Area Attacks ignore character and terrain penalties except when a character is in Difficult Terrain. Unlike normal Ranged Combat attacks, Area Attacks can affect targets adjacent to the attacker.

Area Attack Example (diagram): The Pyro's Fire Blast ability template has been placed. The Echo player has chosen to target the elevation level the Sentinel and Faith Bringer are on; therefore, characters on Elevated Terrain are unaffected.

• The Beastmaster is unaffected by the Fire Blast ability because the Elevated Terrain blocks the Pyro's line of sight.
• The Waste Dragon is unaffected by the Fire Blast ability because it is on Elevated Terrain and the Echo player chose not to target Elevated Terrain.
• The Faith Bringer gets a terrain modifier bonus to Defense because he is standing in Difficult Terrain.
• The Sentinel is affected by the Fire Blast ability because Area Attacks can target adjacent characters.

Close Combat

Close Combat is a character's skill in hand-to-hand combat. Characters are in Close Combat when they are adjacent to an enemy character. Close Combat attacks are not affected by Difficult Terrain. If a character is on normal elevation and makes a Close Combat attack against a character on Elevated Terrain, the character on Elevated Terrain receives a +1 to Defense.

Close Combat Examples (diagrams)

• The Pyro can make a Close Combat attack against the Beastmaster.
• The Beastmaster can make a Close Combat attack against the Pyro. The Pyro does not receive a terrain bonus for being in Difficult Terrain. The Beastmaster can make a Close Combat attack against the Nether-tech, but the Nether-tech receives a +1 Defense bonus for being on Elevated Terrain.
• The Nether-tech can make a Close Combat attack against the Beastmaster or the Waste Dragon.
• The Waste Dragon can make a Close Combat attack against the Nether-tech. The Nether-tech does not receive a +1 Defense for being on Elevated Terrain because the Waste Dragon is Huge [p. 20]

Movement

A character can move a number of spaces equal to or less than their Move attribute. Moving diagonally counts as one space.

Movement and Allied Characters: A character can move through a space with an ally character, but cannot end their movement on the same space as an ally.

Movement and Enemy Characters: A character's move ends if they enter a space adjacent to an enemy character. If a character begins their turn adjacent to an enemy character, the character can move freely around the enemy. A character cannot move through an enemy character.

Withdrawing from Close Combat: When a character moves away from and is no longer adjacent to an enemy character, the enemy character can make a free, immediate Close Combat attack against the withdrawing character. If more than one enemy character would be granted a free attack from the withdrawing character, each character makes their own Close Combat attack. The Close Combat attack cannot include any abilities. If the Close Combat attack is successful, the result of the attack takes place after the withdrawing character completes their action.

Movement and Terrain: Movement is modified based on terrain type as follows [Terrain, p. 10]:

• 2 Move to enter a Difficult Terrain space;
• 2 Move to enter a Water Terrain space;
• 2 Move to enter or exit Elevated Terrain;
• Cannot occupy Blocking Terrain.

Movement Examples (diagrams)

• The Sentinel spends 3 Move: 1 to move from one Elevated Terrain space to another Elevated Terrain space; 2 to climb down an Elevated Terrain space. The Sentinel must stop when she moves adjacent to an enemy character.
• The Beats Master [sic] spends 5 Move: 2 to enter a Difficult Terrain space; 1 to enter a Clear Terrain space; 2 to enter a Water Terrain space. The Beastmaster must stop when he moves adjacent to an enemy character.
• The Faith Bringer spends 5 Move: 1 to enter a Clear Terrain space; 2 to enter a Difficult Terrain space; 2 to climb up an Elevated Terrain space. When the Fatih Bringer [sic] moves away from the Pyro and Nether-tech, the Pyro and Nether-tech each get to make a free, immediate Close Combat attack.

Abilities

Each character has unique abilities. Rules for abilities are described in detail in Faction Guides. For What Remains is an exception based game. That means that special rules for abilities always overrule the general rules presented in this rulebook. If the effects of two abilities are ever in conflict, the ability that benefits the defender trumps the ability that benefits the attacker.

Each ability consists of three components: the ability name, type, and description. The ability type provides a guide as to the key attribute used for the ability. For example, the Levitation ability is a Move ability. This means that to use the ability, the character must take a Move action.

Some abilities combine two types of actions. For example, the Ambush ability is a Move - Ranged Combat action. Characters can use these types of abilities with a single action. Some abilities, such as Precognition, are classified as Special abilities. These abilities still require an action to be used, but they are not associated with attributes. Characters can only use one ability at a time.

Passive Abilities: Some ability types include the Passive classification, such as Shadowmeld. Passive abilities are always in effect. Characters do not have to take actions to benefit from these abilities.

Sample Abilities from the Echo Faction

Ability Name	Ability Type	Description
Ambush	Move - Ranged Combat	The Nether-tech can Move and then make a Ranged Combat attack or make a Ranged Combat attack and then Move. The Nether-tech cannot Move, make a Ranged Combat attack, and then Move again.
Levitation	Move	The Psion can Move through Difficult, Elevated, and Water Terrain with no increase to Move cost.
Precognition	Close Combat	When the Psion uses the Precognition ability, draw three Action Tokens, choose one to discard and then place the other two back into the Action Bag. You cannot choose to place all three tokens back into the bag.
Shadowmeld	Defense (Passive)	The Nether-tech receives a +2 Defense against Ranged Combat attacks when in Difficult Terrain instead of the typical +1. The Nether-tech also receives a +1 Defense against Close Combat attacks when in Difficult Terrain.

Huge Characters

"Huge" is an ability shared by multiple characters. The Huge ability is associated with the size of a character. Huge characters occupy 4 spaces and have special rules as outlined below.

Movement: When moving a huge character, choose one space as the point of origin for the movement and use it to count how many spaces the character moves. A huge character must end their move with all four of their spaces on the same elevation level. Huge characters can move through Difficult and Water Terrain and climb up and down Elevated Terrain with no movement penalties, unlike normal characters.

Enemy Characters on Elevated Terrain: If a Huge character is on normal elevation and makes a Close Combat attack against an enemy character on Elevated Terrain, the target of the attack does not receive the typical +1 Defense bonus unless the target is also a Huge character.

Ranged Combat Attacks: Any space of a huge character's token can be the point of origin for a Ranged Combat attack. Any space of the huge character's token can be the target of an attack. Ranged Combat attacks against huge characters are not subject to terrain modifiers. Ranged Combat attacks from a huge character are subject to terrain modifiers only if a target is normal size and standing in a Difficult Terrain space. Ranged Combat attacks from and against huge characters are subject to character modifiers only if the attack passes through another huge character.

Scavenge Tokens: If a Huge character is carrying a scavenge token and is defeated, the player controlling the Huge character decides which of the character's spaces the scavenge token should be placed in.

Starting Areas: If Huge characters are unable to start within two spaces of the edge of the battleground, place them as close to the edge as possible.

Huge Movement Example (diagram): The Waste Dragon spends 4 Move: 1 to climb up an Elevated Terrain space; 1 to climb down an Elevated Terrain space; 1 to climb up an Elevated Terrain space; 1 to move from one Elevated Terrain space to another Elevated Terrain space. The Waste Dragon can move freely over Elevated Terrain spaces; do not add extra Move. The Waste Dragon cannot move to the marked position and end its turn on two different elevations. The Hellfire could, however, move over this area as long as it ends its turn on one elevation level.

Campaigns

Campaigns are a series of scenarios connected by a common theme. Included with this game is the Blood on the Rails campaign. It is the second part in the larger Semipalatinsk Legacy storyline that takes place across all of the For What Remains games.

Force Roster: A Force Roster is a list of characters available to a player for the campaign. Players name their characters and track their progress through the campaign on the Force Roster. At the beginning of the campaign, all characters begin at Recruit level. Only two characters of the same type may be on a Force Roster at any time. For example, a player controlling Echo could have one Elite Pyro and one Veteran Pyro in their Force. You can download blank Force Rosters at www.skirmishtactics.com.

Advancing Characters: After completing a scenario, players earn experience points equal to the number of skirmish points used in the scenario. A player can advance any character on their Force Roster by spending an amount of experience points equal to the character's next level. For example, a player could advance a Recruit Pyro to their Veteran level by spending five experience points. A character can only advance one level after a scenario (they cannot advance from Recruit to Elite).

Character Advancement Example: The players have completed a 10 skirmish point scenario. Each player is given 10 experience points at the end of the scenario to advance their characters. The player controlling Echo decides to spend 5 of the experience points to advance the Pyro to Veteran level. The player updates their Force Roster to reflect the advancement. The player still has 5 more experience points to spend on advancing other characters on their Force Roster.

Injured Characters: Characters are healed between scenarios. They always begin scenarios at full health for their level.

Defeated Characters: A character that is defeated during a scenario (removed from the battleground) remains on the Force Roster, and can be advanced as normal.

Victory Points: Players typically score Victory Points during each scenario to determine the winner of the scenario. Some scenarios have special win conditions. Winning a scenario usually has implications on subsequent scenarios.

Campaigns with Experienced Characters: Campaigns are designed so that players start with Recruit characters and advance them by completing scenarios. However, you can play through campaigns using experienced characters if both players agree to this change.

Modifying Skirmish Points: If you do play with characters that have already advanced in level, you will also want to increase the Skirmish Point values for the scenarios. You can use any value that both players agree to, but if you're using a Force Roster from a completed campaign, it is recommended that you use 30 Skirmish Points for the scenarios.

Scenarios as Skirmishes: You can use the scenarios presented in campaigns as stand-alone skirmishes. When you play the scenarios is this manner, you are not limited to selecting characters from a Force Roster, and you can choose any Skirmish Point value the players agree to.

Solitaire Play

To play For What Remains solitaire, use the instructions provided in this rulebook with the additions below.

When playing solitaire, there are two changes to the game:

• Action tokens for the solitaire AI, and
• The AI activation system.

Action Tokens: The player manages their action tokens as described on page 12 without any changes. However, the AI uses a modified system for choosing action tokens.

Select Action Tokens: The number of action tokens used by the AI per round is determined by difficulty level:

• Easy: Number of characters on the battleground +1
• Moderate: Number of characters on the battleground +2
• Difficult: Number of characters on the battleground +3

Shuffle all of the AI's actions tokens together and place a number of tokens equal to the difficulty level in the action bag.

Exhaust Action Tokens: The AI's action tokens are not exhausted. Instead, as they are drawn from the action bag they are immediately shuffled back into the AI's action token supply.

Defeated Characters: When an AI character is defeated, their action tokens are removed from the game.

Faction Action Token: Do not use the Faction Action Token for the AI. When one of the AI's characters is defeated, there are no special rules.

Round Example David is playing against the AI on Moderate difficulty. David is controlling Echo in a 10 skirmish point scenario in The Semipalatinsk Legacy: Blood on the Rails campaign. The campaign guide instructs David on the AI's character selection and battleground configuration. David spends his 10 skirmish points to select four characters.

In the first round, David selects four action tokens to place in the action bag, because he has four characters on the battleground. He has all twelve actions tokens associated with his characters in his action token supply to choose from. He selects three Pyro action tokens and one Psion action token. He places all four action tokens in the action bag. The scenario instructs David to play with five Soldiers of Light characters. Because David is playing on Moderate difficulty, he randomly selects seven action tokens from the Soldiers of Light action token supply and places them in the action bag (five for the characters on the battleground + 2 for Moderate difficulty).

David draws pulls a Pyro action token from the action bag. He performs a Move action with the Pyro. David then draws an action token that matches one of the Soldiers of Light characters. David uses the AI activation system to determine the Soldiers of Light character's actions, and then David immediately shuffles the Soldiers of Light action token back into the AI's action token supply.

This continues until all action tokens have been drawn. David has no action tokens in the exhausted action token area because it's the first round. Had there been, David would have moved the action tokens already in the exhausted action token area to his action token supply. David's action tokens that were drawn from the action bag during the round are moved to the exhausted action token area.

The next round begins.

Activation System

Each character in For What Remains has a unique AI activation card, which provides instructions for how to play the character when their action token is drawn. Each activation card is broken into three sections: Engaged, Injured, and Orders.

To determine what action a character will take, you start from the top of the activation card and work your way down, until the character takes an action. A detailed description of each action is provided on the AI reference sheet.

Engaged: First, check to see if the character is engaged. A character is engaged if they are adjacent to an enemy character. If they are engaged, roll one die and check the result.

Injured: If the character is not engaged, check to see if they are injured. A character is injured if their top counter is flipped to their injured side. If they are injured, roll one die and check the result. If the result is higher than the number range listed or if the character cannot perform the action, move on to orders.

Orders: If a character does not perform an engaged or injured action, they will perform an order. Roll one die and check the result. Orders last until the character completes the order, the character becomes engaged or injured, or when the character can no longer complete their orders. For example, if a character's order is "Scavenge: Move to the closest unclaimed token and pick up, get orders" the character will begin the order and will continue to follow this order over multiple activations until they have picked up a scavenge token. At that point, a roll is made to determine the character's new orders. When a die roll results in an order that is not applicable, skip the order and go to the next highest order. For example, if you were using a Faith Bringer with the activation card below and rolled a 4 for their order, they would be directed to complete a scenario-specific objective. However, if the scenario didn't have a unique objective, or if the character could not complete the objective, they would shift to the next higher result. In this case, they would try to scavenge. If all scavenge tokens had been claimed, they would engage.

The Solitaire Golden Rule: Although the AI system accounts for most situations, there will inevitably be times when you must make decisions for AI characters. When in doubt, make the decision that is most advantageous for the AI character based on your judgement.

Characters will always take advantage of Difficult Terrain whenever it does not slow down their orders. Characters without Ranged Combat attacks will move to deny line of sight to their enemies when it does not slow down their orders.

Common Key Terms Used in Orders

Many orders refer to closest characters, highest value characters, and weakest characters. Those concepts are defined below.

Closest Character: Characters often target the closest character. If two or more characters are equal distance away, target the highest value character if the targets are allies. Target the weakest character is the targets are enemies.

Highest Value Character: The highest value character is the character whose current level has the highest skirmish point value. If two or more characters have an equal skirmish point value, determine the character randomly.

Weakest Character: Characters often target the weakest enemy. Weakest character is defined by the following criteria, in this order: injured, lowest current level, lowest Defense.

Solitaire Campaigns

You can play through campaigns in solitaire mode, using either faction in the campaign guide. Each scenario is followed by information for solitaire play, including the battleground configuration, the AI characters that are used, the starting areas for the player and AI characters, and the special objective orders for AI activation cards. When playing solitaire, you still use the skirmish point value and win conditions for the scenario as normal.

Progressing Through the Campaign: When playing solitaire, you only progress through the campaign if you win the scenario. If you lose the scenario, play again until you win. Alternatively, you can skip ahead to the next scenario, but must treat the result as if you had won. Remember that you can adjust the difficulty in solitaire play.