Hybrid
Hybrid Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Glossary
Hybrid's rules use a number of recurring terms to describe various game situations. Here are some of them:
Deck – a number of cards that, like ordinary playing cards, are drawn face down. Hybrid uses several decks: the Event deck, the Action deck…
Discarded – cards that have left play are set aside face up, separately. In some cases, discarded cards can be returned to the deck or to a player's hand.
Removed (from the game) – a card that has permanently left the game and is not affected by the various effects that normally allow a card to return to play. This is also true of warriors. If a warrior has been "removed from the game" this way, he cannot be brought back into play, even by the most powerful revival spell.
Warrior – any character in the game represented by his own figurine. A warrior need not be a soldier — he can be a Mage, an animal, and so on.
Eliminated – a warrior who has lost his last wound. Whether he has died, been knocked out, or is too badly hurt to keep fighting, the warrior is neutralized, his figurine removed from the table and set aside. Some game effects allow such warriors to be revived and brought back into play.
Warrior's Turn – Hybrid's warriors activate one after another in sequence. When one warrior has finished all of his actions, his turn ends and the next warrior activates.
Game Round – the game period during which all warriors on the table activate and play out their turns. Once every warrior has finished his turn and all their effects have resolved, the Round ends and the next one begins. Some Hybrid missions are played over a set number of rounds.
FAQ:
Base – every warrior is mounted on a base. There are four base sizes in three categories:
- standard bases (25 x 25mm);
- cavalry bases (25 x 50mm);
- large bases (37.5 x 37.5mm and 50 x 50mm).
These bases occupy 1, 2 and 4 squares respectively. With the sole exception of Sasia Samaris, no warrior on a large base can pass through a single door. Regardless of anything else, all fighters on large bases occupy 4 squares.
Base Contact (base-to-base contact) – whenever a warrior's base is adjacent to another warrior's base, or to an item of scenery, that warrior is in base contact. Warriors or scenery elements positioned diagonally to one another are not in base contact.
Zone – unless stated otherwise, the term zone refers to an entire board tile, for the purposes of Events and effects.
Cards
Hybrid includes many cards that are absolutely essential to play.
This rulebook sets out Hybrid's general rules. If the rules printed on a warrior's card contradict this rulebook, the disagreement is always resolved in the card's favor.
Action cards let you influence various game effects, and carry a piece of flavor text with no game significance.
Event cards let you influence the course of the game.
Army cards are intended for the different factions.
Equipment cards describe the various artifacts and magic items belonging to the game's heroes, and include:
Aura cards, which grant a boost to warriors whose profile lists the matching Aptitude;
Mutation cards, which alter the monsters created by Diirz's Alchemists.
Profile cards carry the picture and description of the game's various warriors.
It's worth taking the time to study Hybrid's cards so you learn to find your way around them.
FAQ: The English-language cards frequently use the term "direct contact," whereas the original French cards actually use the far more precise phrase "Base-to-Base Contact."
The Hybrid box also contains other profile cards, which can be used to field these same figurines in two other Rackham games, Confrontation and Rag'Narok, both of which are also set in Aarklash.
Warrior Profiles
The characteristics of all of Hybrid's warriors, including their Equipment and Aptitudes, are shown as numbers on their profile cards. Such a card carries the warrior's complete profile.
Every warrior has a card on which standard pictograms make it easy to find your way around the numeric characteristics.
In general, the higher the number on the card, the stronger the warrior is in the matching skill. You can easily judge a warrior's potential just by looking at that number.
A profile card represents either a Champion with his own unique figurine, or several ordinary warriors of the same type. All warriors of one type represented by a single card share identical characteristics.
FAQ: Profiles and the equipment visible on the figurine. Q. Can a figurine that doesn't have the weapon shown on its card use it anyway? A. Yes — in every case, the profile printed on the card is used, regardless of the figurine's actual physical appearance.
Natural Value
A warrior's most important characteristic is his Natural Value, or simply NV (used untranslated throughout this text). This characteristic determines the warrior's strategic importance, his overall strength, and his survivability. A warrior's NV is printed directly under his picture on his profile card.
Every time he takes a wound, a warrior loses one point of NV. When NV reaches zero, the warrior is removed from the game and his figurine is taken off the table.
A warrior's NV also determines the Success Level (SL) for all of his actions. The higher a warrior's NV, the higher his chance of succeeding at his actions. This means a warrior with a high NV has enormous action potential, while a wounded or less fortunate warrior has far fewer chances of success.
Action Modes
All four existing Modes — Offensive Combat, Defensive Combat, Firing, and Moving — appear on warriors' profile cards.
The number printed next to the pictogram for a given Mode shows the warrior's level of competence in that discipline. The higher the number, the more skilled the warrior is in that area. The average value for all Modes is 4. This means that if a warrior has a higher number next to a Mode's pictogram, that warrior is more gifted in it.
If a dash "-" appears next to a Mode's icon, it means the warrior is not capable of that action, and that Mode is not available to him.
Example: a dash "-" appears next to the Firing Mode icon on the profile card of the warrior Aberration. This means Aberration has no ranged weapon and cannot fire.
Offensive Combat (OC) – this Mode is used in melee. The higher the value of this characteristic, the more dangerous the warrior's attacks.
Defensive Combat (DC) – this Mode covers all dodging and parrying actions. A warrior gifted in this type of action is not easy to hit. A warrior with a high value in this characteristic can even land a counter-blow against an attacker after parrying.
Firing (F) – if a warrior is equipped with a ranged weapon, the numeric value of this Mode shows his accuracy in ranged combat. At high values, the warrior is an outstanding marksman.
Moving (Mv) – it's very important for a warrior to know how to fight well. But in battle there are times when it's just as important to know how to flee faster than the wind, or to creep up on an enemy without a sound. At a high value in this characteristic, the warrior understands that sometimes it's better to run and survive, so that he may return and fight again.
Movement
Under the warrior's portrait, one line above his Equipment, you can find his Movement characteristic (Movement or Mt). This characteristic's value indicates the number of squares the warrior can move on his turn. The average value for this characteristic is 7 — most warriors can move 7 squares.
Movement across some squares can be hindered by pits or debris. Crossing such squares may cost several extra points of Movement.
Equipment
This section of the profile cards lists the items the warrior carries into battle.
Weapons, shields, and pieces of armor give their bearer modifiers to dice rolls. After all, it's much easier to parry a blow with a shield in hand!
Example: the warrior Hybrid has Fused Weapons, which give him a +2 modifier to NV in Offensive Combat Mode. Without modifiers, the warrior Hybrid's Success Level in Offensive Combat Mode equals his NV, i.e. 3. Adding the weapon's +2 modifier, the final SL is calculated as: 3+2=5.
Comment: these modifiers apply ONLY to the calculation of the Success Level, and never change the value of the NV itself or of any Mode's Mastery Level.
Aptitudes
Some warriors possess special powers or unique innate abilities, listed on their profile cards after their equipment. These Aptitudes and their effect on the game are described on page 30.
Some Aptitude descriptions end with a strength rating "/X." In that case, X is replaced by the number shown on the warrior's profile card for that Aptitude.
Example: the Aptitude Mutation/1 for the warrior Hybrid.
Ranking
The place assigned to each warrior in the army's hierarchy is set by this characteristic. A warrior's Rank can be 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4. The higher the Rank, the more valuable the warrior.
Ranks 0 and 1 are reserved for ordinary soldiers. In addition, a Rank 0 warrior cannot carry out Scenario Objectives.
Rank 2 marks membership among elite fighters who carry real weight in society.
Rank 3 is reserved for exceptionally powerful creatures and charismatic figures.
Rank 4 is reserved for legendary characters whose very existence defies common sense.
That said, the wildest rumors sometimes hint at a fifth Rank…
The Game Tiles
Battles are fought on a game board made up of square Tiles. Each Tile covers 64 squares (8 by 8).
All warriors' bases are square, and are the same size as the board's squares, making them easy and convenient to move across the board.
Basic Rules
Dice Rolls
Natural Roll
The outcome of most of a character's actions (attacking, defending, firing…) is determined by an ordinary die roll, the Natural Roll (used untranslated throughout this text).
To make a successful Natural Roll, roll one 10-sided die (D10) and roll a number equal to or lower than the chosen warrior's Natural Value.
Example: the warrior Purifier attempts a Natural Roll. His NV is 3. This means the player needs to roll 1, 2, or 3 on the 10-sided die for the action to succeed.
The faces of the 10-sided dice used in Hybrid are numbered from 0 to 9. In the game, 0 counts as 10 — that is, 0 is not the lowest but the highest possible result!
During the game, many modifiers can affect a Natural Roll. They increase or decrease the number that must be rolled on the die. The sum of the warrior's Natural Value and his modifiers determines the Success Level for the dice roll.
FAQ: The correct formula for the Success Level is: SL = NV – current number of wounds (–1 per wound) +/– all modifiers
Example: the warrior Seneschal, with two wounds, in Firing Mode /1 (Basic Firing), wants to attack the warrior Hybrid. SL = 4 (NV) – 2 (wounds) + 1 (+1 for Firing with a Combined Weapon) = 3, i.e. 3 or less on the D10.
Example 1: the warrior Hybrid tries to strike an enemy with his sword. He has no wounds, so his NV is at its nominal value, i.e. 3. To succeed, he must roll 3 or less on the die. However, the special sword in his hands gives the warrior a +2 modifier in Offensive Combat Mode. So the Success Level in this situation is calculated as 3+2=5 — the warrior must roll 5 or less on the die to succeed.
Example 2: attacking an enemy from behind is much easier, so the Success Level increases by 1. In this case, our warrior Hybrid, with NV 3 and a +2 modifier for his sword, gets an additional +1 bonus for attacking from the rear. The Success Level for him is then calculated as 3+2+1=6 — he needs to roll 6 or less on the die to succeed.
FAQ: Fixed and variable Success Levels (players' clarification): no Natural Roll with a Success Level fixed in advance — such as the test for the Griffin Exorcist's Nullify Aptitude, or the Combined Attack Aptitude — can be modified by either Action Cards or game effects. Unless it is stated that the SL cannot be changed, or a specific number is given for the threshold, apply the named warrior's NV together with all modifiers he is entitled to when calculating the SL.
Perfect Success and Critical Failure
Perfect Success is achieved when a 1 is rolled on the die. In this case the action is automatically counted as successful. This way, even a badly wounded warrior can rally his strength for a desperate last stand.
Note: a bit of luck, or the ability to land a decisive blow at the right moment, is invaluable in battle. That's why a Perfect Success in melee or firing inflicts one additional wound on the target (see below).
Example: a warrior wants to fire, and makes his Natural Roll for it. If a 1 comes up on the die, his target takes not one but two whole wounds! Accordingly, the victim's NV drops not by one point but by two at once.
FAQ: Q. Does the target take an extra wound if a Perfect Success is rolled for a Combined Attack (see page 30)? A. Unless stated otherwise, a Perfect Success always inflicts an additional wound.
Critical Failure occurs when a warrior attempts his Natural Roll and rolls a 10 (i.e. a 0) on the die. This result is the exact opposite of a Perfect Success, and represents a rare stroke of clumsiness. In this case, the action the warrior was attempting fails, regardless of any modifiers.
Example: a warrior whose NV is 5, and who also has a +5 modifier, stays within his Success Level no matter what he rolls. But if he rolls a 10 on the die, that is a total failure.
Rolling Two Dice (2D10)
Some rules call for rolling two dice at once ("roll 2D10"). In this case, the player rolls both dice together, but chooses the result of only one of them!
Facing and Orientation
The rules clearly define 4 sides for every warrior — front, rear, left, and right side.
In most cases it's obvious where a warrior's front is and where the other sides are. However, some warriors may stand on their bases in a way that makes it hard to tell which side is the front. The player must tell his opponent where that model's front is. This information stays fixed for the rest of the game.
A warrior's orientation before and after moving matters a great deal. After all, if you turn your back to your enemies, that choice can prove fatal!
A warrior is more vulnerable to attacks from the rear. This will be described in detail in the chapter on Offensive Combat Mode.
A warrior may only attack the enemy standing in front of him, though he may defend from either side, but not from the rear.
A warrior cannot interact with objects behind him — opening doors, throwing switches, and so on.
Comment: the original page-15 text on line of sight and field of vision was replaced entirely by the article "Keep an eye open… the good one" from Cry Havok magazine issue #3 (pages 48-49), written specifically to clarify these rules. They may seem strange, but there's no point picking at them — the board is made of squares, and geometry is powerless here!
Angles of Vision and Dead Angles
A warrior's field of vision is a triangle within which he can, in principle, see his opponents. This can matter in certain situations, such as opening a door. The field of vision's range is defined the same way as an Aura's (see the figure at right).
To work out the direction a warrior is looking, it helps to mark the model's front side somehow — with a dot on the base, for example.
Within the field of vision, two cases are possible:
- a "direct" line of sight
- a dead angle
Key: Warriors — Obstacle — Dead angle — Dead angle cast by an obstacle straight ahead — Dead angle cast by an obstacle to the side — Invisible squares — Lantern — Lit area — Field of vision 1 — Field of vision 2 — Field of vision 3
Within the field of vision, various obstacles (enemy or friendly figurines, columns, and so on) can block a warrior's "direct" line of sight. These elements cast "shadow" zones behind them that hide part of the board from the warrior's view. These hidden spots are dead angles.
Determining the true boundaries of dead angles can sometimes be quite difficult. But there are precise rules for it. Artwork printed on the board tiles (other than lines representing walls) is never treated as an obstacle under any circumstances. Accounting for the board's other elements when working out the "direct" line of sight falls into one of four specific cases (see the figure at right).
Case 1 The obstacle lies in the field of vision directly in front of the warrior. To work out the dead angle: a) count the number of squares between the warrior and the obstacle, as if he were aiming at it; b) count off the same number of squares as in a) beyond the obstacle — these become dead-angle squares; c) starting from the next square, project a new, inverted triangle, which also counts as part of the dead angle (see the figure above).
Case 2 The obstacle lies slightly off to one side of the middle of the warrior's field of vision. To work out the dead angle: a) count the number of squares the warrior would need to move to be directly to the right or left of the obstacle (depending on the situation); b) count off the same number of dead-angle squares beyond the obstacle, along a line parallel to the imaginary direction from a); c) starting from the last square, project a staircase running from the middle of the dead angle out to its edge (this defines one boundary of the dead angle); d) starting from the obstacle itself, project a staircase running from the middle of the dead angle out to its edge (this defines the other boundary of the dead angle). The area between the boundaries defined in c) and d) is the dead angle.
Note: in the figure above, one of the dead angle's boundaries is not shown, because it lies outside the field of vision!
Case 3 The obstacle lies well off to the side of the middle of the warrior's field of vision. To work out the dead angle, do the same as in Case 2. However, in step b), subtract from the resulting number of dead-angle squares beyond the obstacle the number of squares between the obstacle and the middle of the dead angle (see the figure at right).
Special case (an obstacle occupying several squares) To work out the dead angle cast by an obstacle occupying several squares (for example, a Darkness grenade in Nemesis), treat each such square as an independent obstacle. Use one of the cases listed above to work out the dead angle for each square. These individual dead angles are then combined together to form the overall dead angle cast by the obstacle. Squares covered by several dead angles are treated as part of the overall dead angle (see the figure at right).
Note: two obstacles positioned diagonally to one another completely block the line of sight between them.
Sight Range
By default, the game's sight range is 8 squares. The range of ranged weapons is treated the same way. So regardless of circumstance, if a warrior in Firing Mode has a "direct" line of sight to a target, he can always fire on it.
Eye of the Lynx/X This Aptitude lets a warrior see further, and therefore fire further as well. Moreover, the value X is always added to the sight range, even when that range is 0.
Example: Venerable Ambrosius, who has the Eye of the Lynx/2 Aptitude, is fighting in a laboratory where the Event card "Lights Out" is in effect. His field-of-vision range is reduced to 5 squares, but thanks to his Aptitude he can actually see 7 squares!
Comment: the Event card "Lights Out" mentioned here, like the closing item about lanterns, belongs not to Hybrid itself but to Nemesis, its expansion. For the sake of keeping the text whole, these passages were left unchanged.
This makes Eye of the Lynx/X especially useful for snipers who aren't fond of melee (such as Venerable Ambrosius). This Aptitude also lets a warrior who has chosen Skilled Firing (see page 21) fire on an opponent without risking coming under fire himself. Thanks to his extended sight range, a warrior with Eye of the Lynx/X can see out to 8+X squares while remaining unseen himself (an opponent without this Aptitude sees only the default 8 squares). This Aptitude stays active at all times, even when it isn't needed: for example, to choose Skilled Firing as a Mastery Level, a warrior must not see any opponent — and because Eye of the Lynx/X stays active regardless, it's possible for a warrior to find himself unable to use that Mastery Level at a critical moment.
The Nemesis Lanterns The following figure explains the not-always-clear workings of lanterns (see Nemesis). They light up an area within 10 squares of themselves, similar to an Aura's effect.
Thanks to this zone, warrior A can see and fire on warrior B, even though the latter is 12 squares away (more than the "standard" range of 8 squares). Unfortunately, warrior B can't do anything to warrior A, since A is outside his field of vision. However, warrior B can fire on warrior C, because even though C stands beyond the lit area, he still remains within warrior B's ordinary field of vision. On the other hand, warrior D cannot target warrior C, because both of these warriors stand outside the lit area and warrior C is outside warrior D's field of vision. Even so, warrior D can fire on warrior B and even on warrior A, since both are lit by the lantern and can be seen by anyone nearby, regardless of distance. Finally, warrior B cannot target warrior D, because D stands beyond the lit area and outside warrior B's ordinary field of vision.
And finally, a couple of important notes:
- if, in this same situation, the lantern were carried by a warrior with the Eye of the Lynx/X Aptitude, he still would not be able to see further than 10 squares, because the rule for the "Lantern" card does not change the field-of-vision range — it creates an exception to it.
- Interaction between the "Lantern" and "Lights Out" cards. "Lantern" does not change the field-of-vision range, so "Lights Out" has no effect on it. When "Lights Out" is in play, "Lantern" still creates a lit area with a 10-square radius around itself.
Movement of Your Warriors
The game is ready to begin. You've deployed your warriors' figurines and set their Activation order. Time to move your warriors…
Whatever course of action you have chosen (see page 19, Action Modes), if you want to move your warrior, you will need to make a Movement. The maximum number of squares a warrior can cross in a turn is shown on his profile card, under his portrait, on the "Movement: …" line. At the start of each Round, a warrior fully recovers his movement capacity.
Activation
Hybrid's warriors can only move one at a time, in an order the players decide in advance. This order is called the Activation Sequence.
First, the players each roll a die. Whoever rolls the lower value decides who will activate his warriors first — himself or his opponent. If the players roll the same value, the dice are rolled again. This roll is called the Activation Roll.
After this, the players decide the order in which they will move their warriors. To do this, each player has several numbered Activation counters (see page 27), which they place next to their warriors according to the chosen Activation Sequence. Before the game begins, every warrior must be given such a counter.
Comment: the Activation Roll is made before every Round. Likewise, each Round the players work out a fresh Activation Sequence for their warriors. It can, naturally, be different each time.
To keep the Activation Sequence secret, players place their counters number-side down. The purpose of this secrecy, of course, is to devise a strategy that can throw the opponent off.
Example: a player begins dealing out his Activation counters with #4, placing it face down next to the warrior he plans to activate fourth. His opponent is left to guess whether this warrior will be activated first, or whether the player is trying to fool him.
Comment: most players don't place any counters on the board itself; instead they use their "reference sheet" (the large card on which wounds are tracked) or, if there isn't room there, the cards of the corresponding miniatures.
So, the players have set an Activation Sequence for all of their warriors and dealt out the matching counters. Now it's time to flip counter #1 and activate the matching warrior. Which of the two players activates their #1 first was already decided by the winner of the Activation Roll.
As soon as the first activated warrior has finished his turn, it becomes the opponent's turn to activate his first warrior. This continues, with players flipping counters and activating warriors, until the end of the Round.
Example: two players begin the game. The player who won the Activation Roll decides to activate his warrior first. He takes the figurine with counter #1 and plays out its turn. Now it's the opponent's turn to activate the first warrior in his Activation Sequence. Once that's done, it's the first player's turn to activate his warrior #2… This continues until every warrior has been activated.
FAQ: Q. If one of my warriors is killed BEFORE his activation, is his place in the Activation Sequence "lost," or is he replaced by the next warrior in my unit? A. When a warrior is destroyed before he has been activated, the next warrior in that same player's sequence takes his place in the Activation Sequence.
Q. If I have 4 warriors, must I use counters numbered 1 through 4, or can I choose freely among counters 1 through 10? For example: if I really want to go last, could I take counters 7, 8, 9 and 10, to be absolutely sure my opponent activates his warriors first? A. The choice of who begins the activation is settled at the start of each Round (the Activation Roll). From that point on, each side activates its warriors in turn until all of them have acted. You cannot simply skip your turn to activate, and counters with higher numbers carry no special weight, because each player works out his own activation independently every Round, starting from the number 1 and running up to the total number of warriors he has at the start of the Round.
Movement and Base-to-Base Contact
Hybrid has no fray (as in Confrontation), so Movement is not restricted the way it is in that game. Once activated, a warrior may move freely, even if he is in base contact with an opponent or has taken a wound. However, to make such a maneuver, he must have the room and enough Movement points.
In Hybrid, a warrior may not break contact with an opponent purely in order to re-enter base contact with him during the same turn by approaching from a different side. This makes "cheap tricks," such as stepping back and immediately attacking that same opponent from behind, impossible.
FAQ: Q. What does the highlighted rule on page 16 mean — "…a warrior may not break contact with an opponent purely in order to re-enter base contact with him during the same turn by approaching from a different side"? A. It exists to prevent situations where a warrior breaks base contact only to re-enter that same contact, possibly triggering a game effect tied to it (such as achieving an Event or an Objective), or gaining an advantage from an overly clever positioning of the figurine that would reduce the interest of play (i.e., from cheaters).
Movement and Wounds
Just as with the Natural Value characteristic, every wound a warrior takes immediately reduces his Movement value by 1, down to a minimum of 0. If a warrior is healed, his Movement is restored proportionally to the restoration of his NV. He can never exceed the Movement value printed on his profile card, however.
Example: a warrior has a Movement value of 7. If he takes two wounds, his Movement drops to 5. But if he somehow recovers one point of NV, his Movement recovers by 1 along with it.
Comment: don't forget that every wound taken reduces ALL of a warrior's characteristics printed on his card by 1 — that is, his NV, the value of every Action Mode (Mastery Levels), and his Movement. This effect takes hold immediately and lasts until the warrior is healed or dies.
Special Movements
Diagonal movement: a warrior can move diagonally at the normal rate — 1 square per 1 point of Movement. But if, while moving diagonally, he passes through a door, past a corner, or past another model's base, he must pay 2 points of Movement for that step. If it is the base of a friendly model that is not in base contact with an opponent, it is not treated as an obstacle, and so there is no penalty (see Moving over friendly figurines, below).
If a warrior tries to squeeze between two enemies who are touching his front and one of his sides (or his rear and one side), the penalties are not cumulative. Even if the warrior tries to move diagonally between them, the penalty is still only one point.
Key: — Movement points spent — figurine's facing — open door — scenery element (column)
FAQ: Q. Can I move diagonally through a single door or passage if an opponent is standing right behind it? For example:
_A_
X
Can my warrior X move through the door past opponent A? A. No — with a single exception, a warrior cannot pass an opponent and a solid obstacle such as a wall or doorway at the same time. However, if the active warrior has declared Moving Mode/2 (Novice Move), he may ignore the presence of any opponent, unless that opponent is a Titan on a large base or is in Defensive Combat Mode. Even so, the usual -1 penalty for moving diagonally past an obstacle still applies.
Turning (left or right by 90 degrees): the first such turn made while moving costs the warrior nothing — it's free. Every subsequent turn made during that turn costs him 1 point of Movement. Two turns made on the same square naturally count as an about-face.
About-face (turning 180 degrees): a warrior who turns to look behind himself loses 1 point of Movement.
Example: a warrior with a Movement value of 5 can make an about-face and then move 4 squares.
Sideways movement (side-step, or strafe): costs one extra point of Movement for every square crossed.
Example: a warrior with a Movement value of 7 can side-step 3 squares and then still step forward 1 more square.
Retreating: sometimes you need to fall back without showing your back to the enemy. Every square crossed while retreating backward costs the warrior 1 extra point of Movement.
Opening and closing doors: warriors standing directly in front of a closed Door, or next to one, can open it. When a closed Door is opened, it must be removed from the board and replaced with an open Passage counter (of standard or double size, matching the size of the door that was opened). A warrior can also close a door, provided it isn't blocked or has not been destroyed: in that case the open Passage counter is replaced with a closed Door of the matching size. Under normal circumstances, such actions cost the warrior 1 point of Movement.
Comment: only warriors with the Puny Aptitude cannot open doors. Don't confuse them with Rank 0 warriors, who can open doors normally but cannot carry out Scenario Objectives (see page 18).
Moving over friendly figurines: a warrior may move across one or more friendly figurines, provided those figurines are not in base contact with an opponent. Base sizes don't matter here. Friendly figurines may themselves be in base contact with other allies. Movement across squares occupied by allies follows the normal rules. However, a warrior cannot end his movement on a square already occupied by another warrior, friend or foe. In addition, a warrior cannot move across an ally in order to attack an enemy — that is, to enter base contact with that enemy.
Comment: by the time this translation was finished, the latest news arrived that moving through one's own warrior is impossible if there was any contact whatsoever with the opponent during the move. In other words, you can't run through your own troops if you were already in base contact with an opponent at the start of the activation, or if you brush against him with an edge while moving, or, of course, if you intend to enter base contact with him (whether to attack or simply to block, it makes no difference).
Jumping over a Trapdoor: a warrior can leap over a Trapdoor, trying to dodge it. But in doing so he might fall and hurt himself. Such a jump costs 1 extra point of Movement. In addition, the warrior must make a Natural Roll. If the roll fails, the warrior fails his jump and takes a wound. Naturally, the warrior loses 1 point of NV. When determining line of sight, a Trapdoor is not treated as an obstacle — you can freely fire through it. The Trapdoor's mechanism triggers suddenly, and it snaps open instantly… A warrior standing on the Trapdoor at that moment takes an unavoidable wound. This also applies to a warrior who was pushed onto an open Trapdoor by his opponent, or who is forced to end his movement on an open Trapdoor. A warrior who survives the tender embrace of these deadly mechanisms is allowed to stand back up without losing any additional Movement points. But this has no effect whatsoever on the wound taken from the Trapdoor, or its consequences.
Example: the warrior Aberration lands a solid hit on an opponent using his Brutish Strength/2 Aptitude. As a result, his enemy is knocked back 2 squares (this is described in detail in the Aptitudes section on page 31). Unfortunately for the opponent, there was an open Trapdoor right behind him. The enemy takes a first wound for hitting the obstacle that stopped his forced movement, and immediately takes a second wound from the Trapdoor. A dire situation…
Comment: this murky paragraph usually raises a lot of questions, so I decided to spell it out fully right away. A Trapdoor is a pit lined with spikes, hidden beneath a hatch (this is literally what "Trapdoor" means). These hatches can be in one of two states (open or closed), shown by the matching counter (see page 29). A figurine crossing over the hatch has no effect on its state. The order in which hatches open/close is given in the description of the relevant mission. For example, in Scarlet Hive (page 37), at the start of every Round a die is rolled for each such hatch, and it opens/closes on an odd/even result; while in Deadly Maze (from the Nemesis supplement, page 19) there's a lever (a special counter) controlling them, and any figurine in contact with it may flip it back and forth during its activation. If the mission gives no such instructions (which does happen), you can use the rule from this book (i.e., from page 37), or simply replace them with rockfalls (see below). In its closed state, a hatch is harmless — it's simply ignored. You can even choose to stop on it, if you're not afraid of it possibly opening. When crossing an open Trapdoor, simply subtract 1 extra point of Movement for jumping over the hatch and make a Natural Roll (you can improve your odds using Action Cards, see page 23). If the roll succeeds, everything's fine, and you can keep moving, including attacking an opponent. If the roll fails, the warrior is considered to have fallen into the pit and automatically takes a wound. He can continue his movement, climbing out of the pit, if he still has Movement points left after the jump — but remember that a wound immediately reduces not only NV but also the warrior's Movement value by 1. Finally, if a warrior ends up in the Trapdoor at the end of his turn, it CANNOT close over him. The interaction between hatches and miniatures on large bases (including cavalry bases) isn't described anywhere at all. The Glossary (page 11) says that all miniatures count as warriors for game purposes (regardless of anything else), so it's clear that Trapdoors affect them too. But exactly how — that is, exactly how many Movement points such a model spends to jump, and how many wounds it can take if it fails — is entirely left up to the players. Since missions with Trapdoors aren't very common anyway, this isn't critical — just remember to agree on it before the game starts.
Rockfall: crossing squares blocked by large stones is naturally difficult, and costs 1 extra point of Movement for each such square. Only warriors with the Velocity Aptitude are exempt from this penalty. A warrior cannot end his movement on a square blocked by fallen stones. A warrior pushed onto a stone-blocked square takes a wound.
Finally, if a warrior has the Titan Aptitude, he suffers no inconvenience from rockfalls: he can walk across blocked squares or end his movement on them, and takes no wound if pushed onto a square blocked by rocky debris.
Entering and leaving the Laboratory: in some missions, the game's characters begin their adventure outside the Laboratory, and can only enter it through a square marked with an Entry/Exit counter (see page 27). Place a warrior who wants to enter the Laboratory on such a counter. This counts as Movement and costs the warrior one point of Movement. A warrior can likewise only leave the Laboratory from a square marked with an Entry/Exit counter. To leave the Laboratory, the warrior must have at least 1 point of Movement remaining after stepping onto the Entry/Exit counter.
Important: only warriors with the Puny Aptitude may leave the Laboratory diagonally.
Whatever type of Special Movement a warrior uses, don't forget to turn him to face the right direction!
Forbidden Movements
Here follow the situations where nobody can do anything about it.
A warrior cannot move across a square occupied by an enemy, unless he is using Basic Move (see the Action Modes section). In addition, a warrior cannot end his Movement on a square occupied by another warrior. Naturally, warriors cannot pass through walls or closed doors. Nor can they pass through impassable obstacles (such as columns). Such spaces are marked with the matching counters; warriors must go around them. Finally, a warrior may only pass through a door, go down a corridor, or be inside a room if his base's width allows it.
Example: the warrior Aberration's base is two squares wide. This creature is too bulky to squeeze through a corridor only one square wide. His smaller opponents should keep this in mind! (See the description of the Titan Aptitude on page 33 for details.)
A warrior unable to enter a space too narrow for him can nonetheless fight in base contact with an opponent standing in that space.
Scenario Objectives
Some Hybrid scenarios revolve around carrying out special tasks, such as pressing a button, seizing an artifact, or freeing a hostage. In most cases, such key Objectives are marked with Objective counters (see page 28), placed on the board.
To carry out an Objective, a warrior must end his turn on the Objective counter. He may step onto the Objective counter at the end of his Movement, or simply stop on the counter without using his remaining Movement points. While standing on the Objective counter, the warrior is allowed to turn to face any direction he wishes, if he is able to.
A warrior who steps onto an Objective counter is not obliged to carry out the key Objective itself (i.e., he isn't obliged to press the button, etc.). All that's required is for the player to state clearly that he does not intend to carry out the Objective. A Clone, for example, may stand on the button, guarding access to it, without pressing it himself.
Once a key Objective has been carried out, its counter is removed from the game. Check the mission description to see what consequences carrying out that Objective will have.
Warriors of Rank 0 cannot carry out Objectives.
Action Modes
The game has four Action Modes: Offensive Combat, Defensive Combat, Firing, and Moving. The values for these Modes are printed on warriors' profile cards, where the level of competence in that discipline is shown next to the matching pictogram.
Each Action Mode has six Mastery Levels: Basic, Novice, Skilled, Expert, Master, and Heroic. Rumor has it some great fighters have mastered a mythical seventh Level, but that's only a rumor…
Just like NV, the Levels of all four Action Modes drop by 1 every time a warrior takes a wound, but can never fall below 1.
The numbers printed on a warrior's profile card show the highest Mastery Level available to that warrior in each Action Mode. The number on the card can exceed 6. This represents the warrior's valor, who keeps performing heroics even after taking a wound. It's a kind of "reserve" that lets the warrior's characteristic stay at its highest level despite the wounds taken. A warrior is able to use the Mastery Level printed on his profile card, as well as ALL lower Levels.
A warrior wishing to use a particular Mastery Level must be in the matching Mode and hold the appropriate Level.
Example: a warrior who has Mastery Level 4 in Offensive Combat Mode may choose Level 1, 2, 3, or 4 when he chooses Offensive Combat Mode.
Choosing the right Mastery Level at the right moment can produce a stunning result, especially at the 5th and 6th Levels. However, it's wisest not to overuse the higher Levels, and in most situations to prefer the basic ones — they may not be as spectacular as the higher Levels, but they can still prove more fitting and effective.
Choosing an Action Mode
A warrior chooses his Action Mode at the moment of Activation, and announces his decision immediately. If Moving Mode is chosen, the Mastery Level must be announced BEFORE the warrior takes his first step. If another Action Mode is chosen, the warrior makes his usual Movement, and only announces which Mastery Level he will use once it is finished.
A warrior may choose only one Action Mode per turn.
Comment: a warrior can use only one Action Mode per turn, and he has a choice. Either he moves, using Moving Mode with a chosen Mastery Level and its matching effect, but does nothing else that turn. Or he moves using his ordinary Movement, and then continues acting in one of the three remaining Action Modes — that is, attacking, firing, or defending. In this case, the warrior isn't obliged to move at all, if he doesn't want to.
Action Modes and Their Mastery Levels
Offensive Combat
Attacking an enemy in base contact is easiest for a warrior who chooses Offensive Combat Mode. The enemy must be in contact with the front edge of his base. The front edge of a large warrior's base (base size 2x2 squares) can be in contact with two ordinary enemies (i.e., only those with a 1x1 base size). When attacking in this situation, the large warrior can only attack one of his opponents.
A warrior cannot attack an enemy standing on a diagonally adjacent square — that is, in contact only at the corners of their bases. Combat between figurines can only take place when their bases touch edge to edge (front, rear, left, or right), and is impossible if their bases only touch at the corners.
In addition, at the moment of Activation, a warrior may choose Offensive Combat Mode and attack any of the opponents in base contact with him. To do so, the warrior must turn to face the chosen target.
And if the chosen target is standing with its back to the attacker, the attacker gets a +1 bonus to the Success Level of his Natural Roll.
1 / Basic Strike: Basic Strike lets a warrior attack an enemy in base contact standing in front of him.
2 / Novice Strike: this Mastery Level lets a warrior ignore one of his wounds when calculating the Success Level before striking an enemy. If the warrior is unwounded, he gains nothing.
Comment: the English text mistakenly says "wounds" (plural) — in fact only ONE wound is ignored, not all wounds taken, i.e. a warrior with NV 4 and two wounds will strike at 3.
3 / Skilled Strike: if a warrior manages to hit his target with his first strike, he may attempt a second strike; this does not use up the Action points that may have been spent on the first strike, and no other Action Cards may be used for it. In effect, this second strike is a bonus tacked onto the first one, but it cannot be artificially boosted by any Action Cards. However, all other modifiers (for innate Aptitudes, attacking from the rear, and so on) apply as usual in this case too.
4 / Expert Strike: the warrior reaches the skill of the finest duelists. He gets a +2 bonus to the Success Level of his Natural Roll.
5 / Master Strike: Master Strike lets the warrior roll 2 dice at once for his Natural Roll. The player is free to choose which die's result he wants to use. The second die is disregarded.
6 / Heroic Strike: the warrior unleashes the secret power of his weapon. If his Natural Roll succeeds, his victim takes two wounds at once instead of one. And if the die roll is a Perfect Success, the unfortunate victim takes 3 wounds at once.
Defensive Combat
Only in Defensive Combat Mode can a warrior attempt to avoid being wounded. This kind of action includes parrying, dodging, and counterattacking. Defensive Combat Mode can be very useful for holding up an enemy, defending a passage, and so on.
When a warrior is activated and Defensive Combat Mode is chosen for him, the Mastery Level does not need to be announced right away. That happens later, at the moment the warrior is attacked — that is, when an opponent attacks with a fighter in Offensive Combat Mode or Firing Mode. In response to the attacker announcing his Mastery Level, the warrior in Defensive Combat Mode does the same, choosing the most suitable Level available to him at that moment. What's more, a different Mastery Level can be chosen to defend against each subsequent attack.
If a warrior is attacked, Defensive Combat Mode lets him fight back from the front and from both sides. In other words, this Mode does not help against an attack from the rear. Any Mastery Level lets a warrior defend himself in base contact with an opponent — that is, in melee — and some Levels even work against firing.
Once the opponent has succeeded at his attack roll, the defender must make his own Natural Roll to defend, and if it succeeds, the enemy attack is parried.
A warrior remains in Defensive Combat Mode until an enemy wounds him, or until another Mode is chosen. This means a warrior can stay in Defensive Combat Mode until the next Round, starting from his activation in the current Round through to his activation in the next one. Place a Defensive Combat Mode counter next to the warrior.
But if a warrior takes a wound while in Defensive Combat Mode (regardless of the cause), this Mode is immediately switched off, except for Heroic Defense.
1 / Basic Parry: a successful Natural Roll lets the warrior avoid being wounded. Basic Parry also applies when dodging a ranged attack, such as being shot at.
2 / Novice Parry: the attacking opponent himself takes a wound if he rolled a Critical Failure on his attack, or if the defender rolled a Perfect Success on his own roll. Novice Parry applies only in base contact.
3 / Skilled Parry: a warrior who succeeds at a Skilled Parry roll has the right to immediately land a Basic Strike, as though he were in Offensive Combat Mode. In effect, the warrior launches a swift counterattack. No Action Cards may be used for this counter-blow. Skilled Parry applies only in base contact.
4 / Expert Parry: few can break through Expert Parry. A warrior who chooses this Mastery Level gets a +2 bonus to the Success Level of his defensive Natural Roll. Expert Parry applies only in base contact.
5 / Master Parry: not even rain can get through the solid wall of this defense. The warrior rolls 2 dice for his Natural Roll instead of one, and chooses whichever result suits him better. Master Parry applies only in base contact.
6 / Heroic Parry: a warrior choosing this Mastery Level can attempt to parry every attack against him for the rest of the Round, even if he was wounded during one of them. This also applies to ranged attacks, i.e. firing. The warrior stays in Heroic Parry Mode until he chooses another course of action at his next activation.
Comment: this is a genuinely very powerful Mastery Level. The warrior can keep staying in it and defending against any attacks until his next activation, no matter what, even if the wounds he's taken have reduced his Defensive Combat value below 6, which would normally not allow choosing this Mastery Level.
The workings of Defensive Combat Mode, and the finer points of using its different Mastery Levels, are described in detail in the article "You'll never get me!" in issue 3 of Cry Havok magazine (possibly to be translated later).
Firing
The ability to kill from a distance is a valuable skill in Hybrid, since it lets a single character control a large area. Only a warrior armed with a ranged weapon, and who has a positive Firing Mode value on his profile card, can fire. To start firing, a warrior must choose Firing Mode and state the Mastery Level he intends to use.
The number of potential targets depends on the warrior's field of vision. You can fire at a warrior, an object on the board, or at a location. You can fire at an opponent engaged in combat — that is, in base contact with a friendly model. If one of your own models is blocking the target, you can only fire with the appropriate Mastery Level (Expert Firing). The only requirement is that the target must be on the line of sight. A warrior cannot fire at a target he cannot see. Unless he has the Eye of the Lynx Aptitude, a warrior's field of vision inside the Heresiarch's laboratories has a range of 8 squares and a 90-degree angle.
So, to fire at a target, it must be in the warrior's direct line of sight and within range.
A creature that takes up a lot of space is significantly easier to hit. The warrior gets a +1 modifier to the Success Level of his Natural Roll if he wants to fire at a creature on a large base (2 by 2 squares). However, if the target is behind a rockfall, the warrior takes a -1 penalty to the Success Level of his Natural Roll for every square on the line of sight occupied by debris.
FAQ: Q. When firing at figurines on a cavalry base or a monster base, how much of that base must be within my warrior's field of vision to get the +1 to Success Level? A. Clarification: fighters flagged as Titans in their profiles, and figurines on large bases, always give the shooter +1 to Success Level. Figurines on cavalry bases that are not Titans do not give +1 to Success Level, but as long as the shooter can see one square of the target on the cavalry or large base, he does not take -1 to Success Level for obstacles.
Example: the warrior Purifier fires at an enemy. Three squares of rockfall debris lie between the warrior and his target. So the Success Level is reduced by 3 points. The warrior takes a -3 penalty to his Success Level.
Comment: the +1 Success Level modifier for attacking from the rear applies only in melee, and is not used when firing at an opponent from behind.
1 / Basic Firing: Basic Firing lets a warrior fire at an opponent from a distance. The target must be within sight range and on the line of sight. It's impossible to fire at an enemy in base contact. To use Basic Firing, there must be at least one free square between the shooter and his target.
2 / Novice Firing: Novice Firing lets a warrior fire in any direction. He can fire at an enemy positioned behind him or to either side, if he wants to. Even so, the target must be on the line of sight — that is, not blocked by obstacles. Novice Firing lets a warrior fire even while in base contact with the target.
3 / Skilled Firing: a warrior can use Skilled Firing when he has no opponents on his line of sight or in base contact. In this case there's no need to roll dice — a warrior who chooses Skilled Firing automatically goes into ambush. Place a Skilled Firing counter next to the warrior to mark this state. A warrior in Skilled Firing cannot move; otherwise he immediately leaves this state and loses his counter. In addition, a warrior leaves this Mastery Level and loses his counter if he chooses another Mastery Level, takes a wound, or if an enemy ends his movement by entering base contact with him. While in Skilled Firing, a warrior opens fire on any enemy who comes into his field of vision. When this happens, make a Natural Roll for the first warrior in Skilled Firing:
- if the warrior kills his target with the shot, he stays in this Mastery Level. He may fire again if such an opportunity presents itself again. The other warriors in Skilled Firing have saved their ammunition, held their fire, and were not activated.
- if the warrior fails to kill the target, he immediately leaves Skilled Firing, loses the matching counter, and cannot fire again this Round; after that, the second warrior in Skilled Firing fires. This warrior fires at the same target. The firing order among warriors with this Mastery Level is set by the order in which they activated Skilled Firing. Every Skilled Firing counter has its own number, letting you determine which warrior has priority over the rest. So if an enemy comes into the line of sight of several warriors in Skilled Firing at once, the warrior with counter #1 fires first. Note: the activation order for Skilled Firing is not the same as the warriors' Activation Sequence for the turn. If no enemy comes within sight, or has already been killed as a result of Skilled Firing, a warrior may keep his Skilled Firing counter between Rounds. In this case, the warrior is excluded from the Activation Sequence (this is very important!), while keeping his counter. The warrior is considered to have been in Skilled Firing since the very start of the Round, and can, for example, fire twice in a Round if the conditions above are met.
Comment: if a warrior drops out of Skilled Firing in the following Round due to a miss or for some other reason, he can no longer fire, defend, or do anything else that Round, since he was removed from the Activation Sequence for that turn. If this shooter was included by the player in the Activation Sequence for the next Round, he is considered, from that very moment — that is, from the very start of the Round — to have left Skilled Firing, and can no longer fire until the moment of his activation.
Only the warrior who becomes the victim of Skilled Firing has the right to use several Action Cards. The shooter himself, in this case, can only use one Action Card.
FAQ: Q. I understand that I can only declare Skilled Firing if the active warrior has no opponents in his field of vision… But if the active warrior has enemies in his field of vision at the start of activation, and then moves away so that by the end of his movement he sees no one, can I declare Skilled Firing in that case? A. Yes — except in Moving Mode, the desired Mastery Level for each fighter is only announced after he has finished moving.
4 / Expert Firing: this Mastery Level lets the shooter take aim at an enemy standing behind another warrior — friend or foe, it doesn't matter. To do this, the shooter must be free, i.e. not in base contact with an opponent. Finally, the target must be on a "potential" line of sight (naturally, disregarding the warrior blocking it). It's impossible to aim at a warrior hidden behind two or more warriors. In addition, it's impossible to aim at a warrior hidden behind another fighter if the target has the Puny Aptitude. Nor can you target a normal-sized enemy hidden behind a Titan or a figure on a large base (i.e., those that give +1 to firing).
FAQ: Q. Can a warrior fire through his own fighter with any Mastery Level other than Expert Firing? A. No — only Expert Firing lets a warrior aim at an opponent with any other fighter on the line of sight.
5 / Master Firing: shooters capable of Master Firing inspire well-deserved fear in their enemies. Unsurprising — this Mastery Level lets the player roll two dice at once (2D10) for his Natural Roll. The die with the better result is used.
6 / Heroic Firing: this is the exceptional skill of the finest marksmen, who consider ranged combat the highest form of warfare. A warrior who has mastered Heroic Firing can fire twice in the course of each Round. These two shots are declared and made at the same time, but may be aimed at different targets. If any Action Cards are played for them, they must be clearly tied to one shot or the other. The opponent, in response, has the right to use only one Action Card.
Moving
To move around the board, a warrior does not need to be in Moving Mode. He can simply use his Movement characteristic.
Moving Mode exists to let warriors use special techniques and types of movement: running, strafing, a furious charging leap, or a stealthy creep, which makes Moving Mode especially valuable and important. Sensible use of this Mode can completely change the situation in the game.
Choosing Moving Mode must be declared at the moment the figurine is activated, along with the Mastery Level. In this it differs from all the other Modes. A warrior in Moving Mode does not lose Movement points when opening or closing a door.
1 / Basic Move: this Mastery Level lets a warrior move across the board faster than usual. A warrior in Basic Move Mode gets a +2 bonus to his Movement characteristic.
2 / Novice Move: this Mastery Level lets a warrior charge straight over the heads of his enemies; the warrior is considered to have especially deftly shoved the enemy aside. This way, the warrior can move through a square occupied by an enemy. However, an enemy on a large 2x2 base with the Titan Aptitude cannot be shoved aside so easily… unless, of course, the charging warrior has that Aptitude himself. Novice Move cannot be used to move "through" an enemy who is in Defensive Combat Mode.
3 / Skilled Move: this Mastery Level lets a warrior hinder an enemy's movement. A warrior in Skilled Move Mode who has moved at least one square before entering base contact with an opponent stops that enemy and prevents him from using his Movement characteristic for the rest of the Round. The victim of this underhanded treatment cannot move, but can still defend and attack as before. A Skilled Move counter must be placed next to the victim of this effect. This Mastery Level has no effect on an opponent on a large 2x2 base with the Titan Aptitude.
4 / Expert Move: Expert Move is a swift pounce, like a lion leaping on its prey! Like Skilled Move, this Mastery Level lets a warrior hinder the movement of the opponent he intercepts. Expert Move works the same way as Skilled Move, denying the victim the use of his Movement characteristic or Moving Mode. In addition, the victim of Expert Move takes a -2 penalty to all Natural Rolls. An Expert Move counter must be placed next to the victim of this effect. The target of Expert Move must be on the warrior's line of sight at the moment he declares this Mastery Level. This Mastery Level has no effect on an opponent on a large 2x2 base with the Titan Aptitude.
5 / Master Move: stealth can let a warrior avoid no small number of unnecessary skirmishes. A warrior using this Mastery Level moves remarkably fast and silently. This Mastery Level imposes a -2 penalty to the Success Level of any enemies who try to stop him, whether by firing at him or attacking him in Offensive Combat Mode.
6 / Heroic Move: this Mode lets a warrior race faster than the wind, as though hell itself were chasing him. If he has not been blocked (for example, by enemies using Skilled or Expert Move), at the end of the Round the warrior may make an additional movement of a number of squares equal to his current Natural Value (i.e., accounting for wounds taken).
Cards
Action Cards
Each of the Action Cards (25 cards with a two-tone grey-green, unmarked back) shows a number from 0 to 4 (Action points) and a short text describing an Action effect. Each Action Card can be played in two ways, and if a player decides to use such a Card, he must decide whether he will use its Action points or its Effect. Once an Action Card has been played, it is set aside with the discarded cards, and any of its unused Effects are lost for the rest of the game.
Dealing Before the game begins, the Action Cards must be thoroughly shuffled. Each player then draws four Cards. Having looked at the Cards he was dealt, a player may decide he is not satisfied with his hand. In this case, he has the right to discard his Cards. All of his Cards are placed at the very bottom of the Action Card deck, and the player draws again. However, this second time he may only draw THREE Cards, and he can no longer reject that hand.
Cards drawn during the game New Cards can be drawn during the game. A player draws a new Card every time one of his warriors is destroyed by the opponent. Once the deck runs out, no more new Cards can be drawn.
Note: if a warrior is killed by his own side, the player is not allowed to draw an Action Card!
Example: the Scorpion player sacrifices one of his Pests of Flesh, using the Sacrifice Aptitude. Since death comes for the player's own clone as a result, the player is not allowed to draw a new Action Card.
Natural Roll modifiers When a warrior finds himself in a difficult and unpredictable situation, the player controlling him may decide to try his luck, using one or several Action Cards at once. The player must tell his opponent which Cards he intends to use. This announcement must be made before the dice are rolled. Until a player has announced whether he will use Action Cards in this Round or not, his opponent cannot use his own Action Cards (for example, for a surprise counterattack). When an Action Card is played in support of a Natural Roll, it is placed on the table face up. The player must decide whether he wants to use the Card's Action Effect or its Action points.
Action Cards are only used after a player has settled on an Action Mode for one of his warriors. If the chosen Mastery Level lets that warrior carry out several actions, the player must tie each Card he uses to a specific action. Several Cards can be applied to a single action, and their effects added together. Bonuses granted by an Action Card can never, under any circumstances, be used during a Natural Roll triggered by an Event card, an Equipment card, or an Aptitude. A player who decides not to use Action Cards for the current warrior must clearly state so. This decision cannot be revisited. This aspect of using Action Cards matters a great deal when it comes to using a Hindrance. A Hindrance lets the opponent play one, and only one, Action Card, to interfere with the maneuvers of the currently active warrior. When this happens, the player controlling that warrior may, in turn, play one or several Action Cards of his own, in order to weaken the effect of the Hindrance.
If the player controlling the currently active warrior decides not to use Action Cards, his opponent can still play a Hindrance. In this case, only one Action Card is played — the opponent's! Just as with positive Action Card effects, a Hindrance is played to apply either its Effect or its Action points. Once both players have played their Action Cards, the positive and negative modifiers are totaled up and the final sum is applied. After this, the Action Cards, regardless of the outcome, are placed on the discard pile.
Translator's note: nowhere else in the text did I find any mention of a Hindrance. At first I got the impression that a Hindrance was a special Card meant for messing with one's favorite opponent. But no such Card turned up in Hybrid. Then I noticed that the different Card types are covered separately, and Hindrance is mentioned in the Action Cards section. Here's the deal: a Hindrance isn't a card — it's simply a game term, a concept. Any Action Card — one bearing a number from 0 to 4 — can serve as a Hindrance. Among them, for example, is one (worth 3 points) that cancels an opponent's Card Effect. If you choose that Card as your Hindrance, you can apply its Effect and rob the enemy of one of his Card's Effects. And if the opponent didn't play any Action Cards, you can instead use that Card's 3 Action points as a Hindrance, applying them as a negative modifier. The same is true for other Cards, even those without a "dirty" Effect, because their Action points can always be applied.
Action Points If a player decides to use his Card's Action points, they have a positive effect both on his Success Level for the Natural Roll, and on the value of the chosen Action Mode. In this case, the warrior can choose a higher Mastery Level in the chosen Action Mode, while at the same time improving his chance of a successful die roll.
Example: the Scorpion player decides to use an Action Card in Offensive Combat Mode for his warrior Hybrid, who has no wounds. The value of the chosen Card (its Action points) is 2. So the value of our Hybrid's Offensive Combat Mode equals the sum of 4 (his "native" OC value, printed on his profile card) and 2 (the Card's Action points), i.e. 4+2=6. Now Hybrid, if he wishes, can use Mastery Level six (Heroic Strike) in Offensive Combat Mode. In addition, this clone gets a +2 modifier to the Success Level of his attacks, thanks to that same Card.
If Action points are used for a Hindrance, they become negative modifiers both to the value of the opponent's Action Mode, and to the Success Level of his Natural Roll. The value of an Action Mode can never drop below 1.
Action Effects A player who has chosen to use a Card's text instead of its Action points reads the text aloud. The Effect applies immediately. If a Card's Effect allows stealing an opponent's Card, or returning one's own discarded Card to hand, the newly obtained Card may only be played during the Activation of the next warrior, whether friend or foe. If the Effect was chosen as a Hindrance, it is naturally applied against the enemy warrior.
Using Action Cards on the Activation Roll At the start of the game, the players make an Activation Roll to determine who moves first. Each player chooses the order in which his various warriors will move, and places numbered counters face down on their bases. The player who wins the Activation Roll chooses who begins the Activation Sequence. The opposing sides deploy their warriors onto the board according to the chosen order. From the second Round onward, players can use one or several Action Cards to support their Activation Roll. Before the Activation Roll, each player announces whether he wants to use an Action Card to support his roll. The player who won the previous Activation Roll announces his decision first. If he decides to use a Card, that Card is placed on the table face down. After that, the second player may do the same, if he wishes. This "auction" continues in the same way until the players decide to stop. After this, the Action Cards are turned face up. Players may use the Action points from their Card to reduce the result of their own Activation Roll (as noted before, the player with the LOWER result wins). If the values obtained by the players are equal, the die is rolled again. The only exception is a situation where one player rolled a natural 1 (a Perfect Success) on his die, and the second player got the same result only after applying an Action Card. In that case, the first player wins. A player who rolls a "10" — a Critical Failure — automatically fails the test, even if he has enough Action points to change his result. If both players roll a Perfect Success or a Critical Failure at the same time, the roll is made again, without taking Action points into account. Once the Activation Roll is settled, the Action Cards are considered played.
Comment: given the HUGE number of questions about Action Cards, it was decided to make this summary of them. First and foremost, Action Cards serve two main purposes: they make the game a little less predictable, and they give the losing player a bit of easy support. Since both players have access to them, the end result is generally even. That said, some players don't like Action Cards and feel the game works perfectly well without them. So, each player draws 4 Cards before the game, and if he doesn't like them, swaps them for 3 new ones. Every time the opponent kills his warrior, he draws an extra Card (i.e., nothing for his own sacrificed Pests of Flesh). In general, the sequence of actions during a turn is as follows: At the start of a warrior's activation, the chosen Mode is announced. In the case of Moving Mode, its Mastery Level is announced immediately as well. Since no roll is required in this Mode, Action Cards are not used, and the opponent cannot play a Hindrance either. The figurine moves. In the case of Defensive Combat Mode, the warrior's turn ends here. When attacking or firing, the Mastery Level is announced, and at that point the active player may, if he wishes, play his first Action Card (or several). It can be played in one of two ways — using its text (Effect) or its number (Action points). If the Card is played for its text, whatever is written on it is simply carried out, after which it is discarded (all Cards are one-use). If Action points are played instead, they are added both to the Mastery Level and to the Success Level (this way a higher Mastery Level can be chosen, even higher than what's printed on the warrior's profile card). If the active player does not wish to play an Action Card, he must clearly announce so. The opponent may now, if he wishes, play a Hindrance (only one Card). The active player may play additional Cards to neutralize the Hindrance or to reinforce his original Card, BUT ONLY IF he played it at the start (before the Hindrance). This is perhaps where the answer lies as to what the "zero" Cards are for. If, as a result of playing Cards, the warrior no longer has the required Mastery Level, he must announce a new one. The roll is made, the combined modifier from all Cards is applied, and the success of the action is determined. And finally, Action Cards are always played face up, except for the Activation Roll.
Event Cards
Comment: from the text of the English rules, it is completely unclear what these cards are, where they come from, why, and exactly how they are used. So this section was rewritten in full and expanded, and now amounts to one continuous comment.
All the Event Cards (27 cards with a two-tone grey-green back marked "Event") are shuffled together into a single deck shared by both players. A player draws one Card from this deck every time he activates an Event counter that does not turn out to be a Trap (see page 27).
Once a warrior has been activated, any player may use as many Event Cards as he sees fit. A necessary clarification: the warrior in question need not belong to that player. So a player may use Event Cards when his opponent activates one of his own warriors. In fact, some Event Cards only make sense used that way.
Comment: one example that comes to mind is the Event Card "The Wandering Spirit," which is used on the opponent. Or, an example from the forums: the Griffin player activates his warrior Purifier and kills the Scorpion player's Hybrid. The Scorpion player can now use the Card "The Clones' Fury." Strictly speaking, "The Clones' Fury" isn't an Event Card but an Army Card, but the general principle should be clear.
In addition, Event Cards differ from Action Cards in their timing. Where Action Cards can only be played from the moment a warrior is activated up until dice are rolled (or during the Activation Roll), Event Cards can be played at any point during a warrior's activation, i.e., until he finishes his turn, unless the Card's own text says otherwise.
The Event Cards used in the game are divided into three categories, with 9 Cards in each:
- Random event
- Strategic event
- Field event
These categories simply describe what exactly the event affects. A Field event affects the board itself — for example, doors get locked, or a Trapdoor's hatch opens. A Random event usually affects, or triggers, dice rolls — for example, canceling a Perfect Success. A Strategic event covers everything else not included in the first two categories — for example, changing the Activation Sequence, and so on.
In addition, every Card is also marked with a rarity:
- Common
- Rare
- Very Rare These categories and rarities can safely be ignored, since they are only used in tournaments, where a player brings his own pre-built Event deck.
Finally, every Card shows its type, i.e., when that Card may be played: A Card of type "Interruption" must be played immediately upon being drawn. After that, the Card is immediately set aside with the discards. A Card of type "Reserve" can be held in reserve. The player may play this Card at a suitable moment during any Activation Sequence. When the player wants to use this Card, he must choose either his own or an enemy warrior as its target. Once used, the Card is discarded. A Card of type "Constant" works the same way as "Reserve," but its effect can last for several Rounds. Once brought into play, a Card of this type is placed face up next to the player and stays there for as long as its effect lasts. After that, the Card is considered played and is discarded.
Army Cards
Like Event Cards, Army Cards (9 cards for each player, with a solid grey or green back marked "Event") differ by category, rarity, and type. Unlike Event Cards, however, they are intended solely for one's own army.
At the start of the game, each player shuffles his own Army Cards. From these Cards, each player draws two Cards and places them face down in front of himself. A player must not look at which Cards he was dealt until the moment comes to use them.
First Contact First Contact occurs the moment both players have established visual contact between their armies, or when the first attack (by fire or in melee) has taken place. When "First Contact" with the enemy occurs, each player draws one of his Army Cards and, if required, applies its instructions.
FAQ: Q. If my warrior has spotted the opponent, but none of the opponent's warriors can see any of my fighters, can I draw a Card for First Contact? A. No, both sides must wait until at least one fighter on each side spots at least one enemy warrior. Only then is First Contact considered established, and both players draw one Army Card simultaneously.
First Blood Both players also simultaneously draw their second Army Card immediately after any warrior (it doesn't matter whose) leaves the game for the first time.
Comment: the English text mistakenly says "your own warrior."
FAQ: Q. Can I sacrifice a Pest of Flesh even before First Contact, to draw an Army Card for First Blood? A. No, in both cases. First Contact always happens before First Blood, even if they occur during the activation of a single figurine, and the Sacrifice Aptitude cannot trigger First Blood.
Equipment Cards
The Equipment Cards that come with the game are split between the two warring sides and consist of two categories — Aura Cards (9 cards with a solid grey back marked AURA) and Mutation Cards (9 cards with a solid green back marked MUTATION). Aura Cards belong solely to the Griffins, while Mutation Cards belong solely to the Scorpions.
Aura Cards Venerable Ambrosius holds great power, and this sets him apart from ordinary mortals. Unsurprisingly, he has mastered the art of calling forth an Aura, which can alter the surrounding space or the behavior of his warriors. At the start of the game, the Griffin player shuffles his Aura Cards and then draws three of them. Having looked them over, the player discards one and keeps the other two. This is how the Auras Ambrosius will be able to use in the game are chosen. Auras never affect Ambrosius himself, so he draws no direct benefit from them, but Auras have a powerful effect on other warriors within their zone of effect. Ambrosius can activate an Aura, swap it for another, or switch it off at the moment he is Activated. The name of the chosen Aura Card, and, if necessary, a description of its effect, must be shown to the opponent. Ambrosius's Aura stays active until his next Activation. The Aura's effect applies before an Action Mode and its matching Mastery Level are chosen.
Comment: even though both here and on the Cards themselves the text refers only to Ambrosius, none of the Aura Cards is actually tied to him personally. Any Griffin warrior with the Aura Aptitude may use them freely. Besides Ambrosius himself, one other such warrior has since been released — the Knight of the Lodge of Hod. Because of this, the designers later slightly amended the rule: now, at the start, a player draws 3 Aura Cards (keeping 2 of them) for EACH warrior with that Aptitude. Accordingly, a warrior standing within the zone of effect of two Auras can be under the influence of both at once, provided their effects don't contradict each other.
Mutation Cards Mutation Cards let the Scorpion player awaken the various genetic mutations that Diirz's sinister scientists built into his warriors. At the start of the game, the Scorpion player shuffles his Mutation Cards and then draws three of them. Having looked them over, the player discards one and keeps the other two. These Cards represent the mutations his battle-clones will undergo over the course of the game. Only a warrior with the Mutation/X Aptitude, where X is a number of one or higher, can use Mutation Cards. The number of Cards he can be given is limited by the number printed next to that Aptitude. The Scorpion player can hand out Mutation Cards to his warriors in two ways:
- at the start of the first Round, on the warrior's first Activation, he can give him a Mutation Card;
- later in the game, on a subsequent Activation of that warrior, the player may give him a Mutation Card. This way, an element of surprise can be created. Mutation Cards are not retroactive, and any rolls made before the Card was applied cannot be modified by it.
Once a Mutation Card has been given to a warrior, it can no longer be transferred to another fighter. If a warrior carrying a Mutation Card is destroyed, his Card is set aside with the discards. However, some effects may continue even after the death of the Mutation Card's owner. In that case, the text on the Mutation Card describes the effect in detail.
Comment: the word "clone" appears in the text of various Cards. This isn't a game term, just a synonym. Since virtually the entire Alchemist army is made up of one clone or another, these Cards affect all Scorpion warriors without exception, not only those whose name happens to include the word "clone."
Counters
Hybrid uses a large number of tokens and markers that have a real influence on how events unfold.
Some counters are purely informational, meant to make play easier without directly affecting it. Others carry crucial strategic weight and have a major impact on the course of the game.
The game box contains more counters than are needed to play. This surplus lets you add newly purchased warriors to your army's ranks, as well as replace lost or damaged counters.
To avoid cluttering the board, all counters that no longer have any effect should be removed from the table immediately.
Entry/Exit counters Single entry / Double entry
Entry counters represent entrances into the laboratory and exits from it, and they are not treated as squares that can normally be walked across (except for the entry/exit itself).
Activation counters (Griffin Alchemist) Activation counters are used to set each warrior's place in the Activation Sequence. Some missions allow you to recruit warriors according to their Rank, which lets you field either a large unit of weaker warriors, or a few elite fighters. Activation counters are numbered from 1 to 10, and each army has its own set. This gives great flexibility when building your force, whatever mission is chosen.
Wound counters When a warrior takes a wound, his Natural Value immediately drops by 1 point. Wound counters are used to track how many wounds a warrior has taken at any given moment in the game. Each player has a laminated army sheet with a table listing all of his warriors. Each warrior has a row of numbered boxes next to his name. The minimum value, "1," represents the last remaining wound. The maximum value equals the Natural Value of an unwounded warrior. At the start of the game, the player places a wound counter on the box with the maximum value for each of his warriors. Over the course of the game, whenever a warrior is wounded or healed, his counter is moved along the table, making it easy to determine every warrior's current NV at any point in the game. If a warrior's wound counter is on "1" and he takes another wound, the warrior is considered dead and removed from the game along with his counter.
Column and Rockfall counters (Column / Rockfall / Rockfall) Column and Rockfall counters represent landscape features that fully or partially block access to an area of the board. A Column counter blocks access and line of sight exactly like a wall. A Rockfall counter is merely a barrier that restricts movement and firing. See pages 17 and 20.
Event counters (Event, top / Event, bottom / Explosion, page 28) No adventure in the laboratory is complete without Event counters, placed according to the mission map. An Event counter represents an unexpected occurrence that takes place during the mission. To activate an Event counter, a warrior must end his turn on it and announce that he is activating it. Immediately after this announcement, the counter must be flipped, since some of them are Traps. If the surprise found doesn't explode in the finder's face, the counter is removed and the player draws an Event Card. Event counters can only be activated one at a time — a player cannot activate two Event counters in a row.
Example: the Scorpion player activates the first Event counter. He cannot activate a second one until his opponent, the Griffin player, has in turn activated his own first counter.
That said, a warrior may stand on an Event counter and NOT activate it. Activating an Event counter should not be done thoughtlessly, so as not to hand your opponent the chance to activate the next one — which can prove decisive in a critical moment.
Templates
Templates measure 2x2 squares and are used to represent special effects. When placed on the board, templates must cover exactly the 4 squares affected by their effect.
Crypt / Gas Cloud
Mode counters Defensive Combat Mode / Skilled Firing / Skilled Move / Expert Move
In the chaos of battle, your warriors' formation can get scrambled. Mode counters let players tell at a glance whether a given warrior is using an ability that lasts several Rounds. The matching counters are placed next to the warrior as a reminder of their capabilities. There are four types of Mode counters: for Defensive Combat Mode, Skilled Move, Expert Move, and Skilled Firing. Skilled Firing counters are numbered, carrying numbers from 1 to 10. This lets players know which warrior begins Skilled Firing first, and sets the firing order among the rest, if several warriors with this Mastery Level can fire at the same target.
Objective counters
Wiping out the enemy isn't the only way to win the game. Beating an opponent who is strong in open combat takes ingenuity and strategic thinking. Hybrid's missions often give players such an opportunity to win: triggering the laboratory's self-destruct mechanism; finding an artifact; sabotaging the life-support system for the Clone vats. Such Objectives (see page 18) are represented by Objective counters. Objective counters are numbered from 1 to 6, since some missions require these Objectives to be carried out in a specific order.
Passage counters Single passage / Double passage Passage counters represent open passages in walls between rooms, between a corridor and a room, or between adjoining board tiles. Passages do not block line of sight, and a warrior may stand in a passage. Like Door counters, Passage counters come in two sizes: double and single.
Trap counters Victims of the paranoia brought on by their own confinement, the Technomancers of Project Hybrid often set Traps in their laboratories to hinder intruders. The mission description states how many Trap counters may be added to the Event counters. Trap counters and Event counters are mixed together and distributed at random among the squares given in the mission description. A Trap triggers when a warrior activates it, i.e. stops on it and flips it over. The warrior must make a Natural Roll with a +3 modifier to the Success Level. If the roll succeeds, the warrior manages to avoid the Trap; if not, he takes an unavoidable wound. No Action Cards may be used for this roll.
Door counters Double Door / Single Door Doors, hatches, and other fixed barriers make excellent ambush spots and an ideal way to break the opponent's line of sight. Doors are placed vertically on the board. Hybrid has two types of doors:
- a Single Door, one square in size. Such doors cannot be used by large warriors, on a 2x2 square base.
- a Double Door, two squares in size.
Comment: when a door is opened, its counter is replaced with a Passage counter (and vice versa). Naturally, an actual passage (in a wall opening) cannot be closed. To tell apart passage counters that represent genuine wall openings from ones that are merely open doors, players can use various tricks. Some don't glue the door itself to its base, and lift it off the stand when the door opens; others use different-colored markings on door bases; still others simply rotate the door counters perpendicular when opened, and so on. But if you have a good memory, you may not need any of these tricks at all.
Trapdoor counters Closed Trapdoor / Open Trapdoor The Trapdoor is a real danger for a warrior wandering the corridors of the Heresiarch's laboratories. A Trapdoor is a pit with spikes sticking out of it, though this has no bearing whatsoever on the rules describing it. A closed Trapdoor does not hinder warriors' movement and is entirely harmless until it opens. As soon as a Trapdoor opens, the closed Trapdoor counter must be replaced with an open Trapdoor counter. The rules for Trapdoors are given on page 17. The way they open and close is usually stated in the mission description.
Aptitudes
Aptitudes represent the various special traits of Hybrid's warriors. An Aptitude can be an innate trait or a learned skill. Either way, identical Aptitudes work the same regardless of how the warrior acquired them. An Aptitude cannot be gained through an Action Mode. Some Aptitudes are permanent and apply throughout the whole game. Others have a limited effect and must be activated before they can be used. These are "optional" Aptitudes. In their case, the warrior must specifically declare which Aptitude he wants to activate right now. Once declared, an optional Aptitude cannot be cancelled. Some Aptitude descriptions end with the symbol "/X." In that case, X is replaced by the number shown on the warrior's profile card for that Aptitude.
Comment: unfortunately, the designers forgot to specify which Aptitudes are permanent and which aren't. This can lead to various disputes over "turning on" and "turning off" an Aptitude. For example, a player might want to NOT use Brutish Strength/X, so that the victim doesn't fly out of reach of his other figurines. Since this question remains open, players can only be advised to agree on how Aptitudes will be used before the game begins.
Combined Attack/X: this optional Aptitude lets a warrior make several extra attacks over the course of the game. This Aptitude can only trigger once per Round! The total number of Combined Attacks allowed for each warrior over the course of the game is shown on his profile card in place of X. To gain the chance to make a Combined Attack, a warrior must be in base contact with the target, and in Offensive Combat Mode. The wish to make a Combined Attack must be declared before the Natural Roll is made for the first, "regular" attack. If the first attack kills the opponent, the Combined Attack is still considered used and is lost. If the enemy survives the first attack, regardless of whether it succeeded, the warrior carries out the Combined Attack. In this case the Natural Roll is based on the warrior's "native" NV value — i.e., the one printed on his profile card. In other words, a Combined Attack ignores any wounds the warrior has taken and the corresponding reduction to his NV. If the Combined Attack succeeds, the target automatically takes a wound, and on a Perfect Success, two, as usual.
Important! Defensive Combat Mode does NOT let the target avoid the second blow from a Combined Attack.
Example: a warrior with Combined Attack/3 can make up to three Combined Attacks over the course of the game, but no more than one per Round.
FAQ: Q. My wounded Seneschal, in Offensive Combat Mode, lands a Master Strike, i.e. rolls 2D10 for the attack. I want to use a Combined Attack here. Should this Combined Attack use the same conditions for Success Level as the first attack (current NV and 2D10 for Master Strike)? A. When a Combined Attack is carried out, only one die is rolled for it, and its result is compared to the starting NV printed on the profile card, with no modifiers whatsoever. In this case, after the Master Strike is resolved, the Success Level of the Seneschal's Combined Attack (Combined Attack/3) will always be 4 (i.e. his NV) or less on a single D10.
Aura/X: a warrior with the Aura Aptitude possesses supernatural powers. Such a warrior can summon unseen forces and strike terror into the uninitiated. The Aura's zone of effect is a square, with the Aptitude's owner standing at its center. The distance from that warrior to the edge of the zone of effect equals X. All warriors within the zone of effect experience its effect, and the zone is not limited by obstacles such as walls or doors. The effect does not affect the Aura's own bearer, though he may be under the influence of another warrior's Aura. A warrior with the Aura Aptitude cannot use more than one Aura at a time. Activating an Aura, switching it off, or changing it is declared at the moment the warrior is activated during the Activation Sequence. The effect of an activated Aura applies immediately.
Example: a warrior has the Aura/3 Aptitude. A square zone of effect forms around him, extending 3 squares in every direction. The square the warrior himself occupies doesn't count. All warriors within the Aura's area may be affected by it.
Puny: some creatures are quite frail and small. They have the Puny Aptitude. Puny warriors cannot open doors, but make up for this with greater mobility — they take no penalties when moving diagonally. This lets them squeeze diagonally between warriors, through corners, and through open doors without losing Movement points. A Puny warrior can leave the laboratory diagonally.
Key: Movement points spent — figurine's facing — open door
Example: in this case a Puny warrior spends only 5 points of Movement, whereas everyone else would have to spend 7 due to the penalties.
Finally, when it comes to line of sight, a Puny warrior can only shield another Puny warrior behind himself. If a normal-sized warrior, or a warrior on a large base (2x2 squares), stands behind a Puny warrior, he is considered fully exposed to his enemies' sight.
Conviction/X: a warrior whose profile card lists the Conviction Aptitude holds unshakeable faith in his leader, and is capable of heroic feats under his influence. The leader is one of the unit's warriors who has the Aura Aptitude. If several warriors have this Aptitude, the honor of commanding the unit goes to the fighter with the highest value in that Aptitude. If the Aura value is the same, command passes to whichever of them has the highest Rank; if that too is equal, then to whoever has the highest NV. To benefit from his Conviction Aptitude, a warrior must be within 8 squares or less of the leader. As long as he remains in that zone, the warrior gets a positive bonus to the Success Level of his rolls in Offensive Combat and Defensive Combat Modes. The size of the bonus equals X, i.e. the value shown on the warrior's profile card. If the unit's leader is killed, the Conviction Aptitude immediately loses effect.
Example: a warrior has the Conviction/1 Aptitude and is within 8 squares of his leader. His Success Level in Offensive and Defensive combat is increased by 1.
FAQ: Q. Does the Conviction Aptitude require a line of sight? A. No, it simply has a zone of effect by radius, just like an Aura.
Duellist/X: a warrior with this Aptitude is able to find the smallest weakness in an enemy's defense. For a Duellist in Offensive Combat Mode or Firing Mode, a Perfect Success occurs on any Natural Roll result equal to or lower than the value X of this Aptitude.
Example: a warrior has the Duellist/2 Aptitude. He gets a Perfect Success on Natural Rolls for Attack or Firing not only when he rolls a 1, but also when he rolls a 2.
Felon/X: a dangerous opponent with the Felon Aptitude uses the element of surprise to inflict serious bodily harm on his enemies. If he manages to attack his opponent from behind in Offensive Combat Mode, his Success Level increases by X. This bonus is cumulative and can be added to other bonuses for attacking from the rear.
Example: a warrior has the Felon/2 Aptitude. If he manages to attack his victim from the rear, this can give him a total bonus of +3: +1 for the ordinary rear attack, plus +2 more for his criminal Aptitude.
Frenzy/X: a warrior with this Aptitude is granted a positive modifier every time he manages to destroy an opponent in melee. The size of the bonus equals X. This is a cumulative bonus that lasts until the end of the game, but only affects the Success Level for Offensive Combat and Defensive Combat Modes.
Example: a warrior with the Frenzy/1 Aptitude has killed two enemies in melee. He is granted a +2 modifier to his Success Level in Offensive and Defensive Combat Modes for the rest of the game.
FAQ: Q. Aberration inflicted three wounds on Seneschal. Later that same Round, a Pest of Flesh was sacrificed to inflict the fourth wound and finish off Seneschal. Can Aberration claim the Frenzy bonus? A. No, the bonus is only earned if the warrior with the Frenzy Aptitude himself dealt the fatal melee wound to the opponent.
Brutish Strength/X: a warrior owes the benefits of this Aptitude to his exceptional physical strength. If, during Offensive Combat Mode, the warrior's attack succeeds, his enemy is knocked back X squares. Move the enemy figurine in a straight line, without turning it, a distance equal to X squares from the fighter with this Aptitude. If the warrior manages to land several successful attacks, the Aptitude still only applies once. However, it applies even if the enemy manages to avoid taking a wound. If the enemy cannot be knocked back the full distance because of an impassable obstacle (a wall, another warrior…), the victim takes one additional wound for every square he failed to fly through.
Example: the warrior Aberration has the Brutish Strength/2 Aptitude and strikes the warrior Seneschal with his claws. After Aberration has made all of his attacks, Seneschal is forced to fly back 2 squares. But if Seneschal was standing with his back against a wall, he takes 2 additional wounds from the hard impact with the wall.
FAQ: Q. In the example above, Aberration hits Seneschal. Seneschal is supposed to fly back 2 squares, but there is another Griffin warrior standing right behind him. Does Seneschal fly backward through that next fighter, because he's a friend, or does he stay in place and take two wounds? A. The named warrior cannot move backward and takes two wounds, as though he had been pinned against a wall.
Mutation/X: the unholy experiments of the Technomancers, combined with nature's own mistakes, sometimes give birth to incredible creatures. Warriors with this Aptitude can use Mutation Cards. A warrior may use no more than X such Cards over the course of the game. In other words, this Aptitude does not by itself give the warrior a mutation — it merely gives him the potential to mutate.
Eye of the Lynx/X: warriors with this Aptitude can see farther and more clearly than their brothers-in-arms. Such a warrior's field of vision and firing range are increased by X squares.
Example: a warrior with the Eye of the Lynx/2 Aptitude can see and fire 2 squares farther than other warriors. Inside the laboratories he can see 10 squares, instead of the usual 8.
Infiltration/X: at the end of every Round, a warrior with this Aptitude may move an additional X squares. In doing so, the warrior is considered to be in the same state he was in at the start of his activation.
Example: a warrior who chose Offensive Combat Mode at activation can use his Infiltration Aptitude to enter base contact with an opponent and attack him.
If the warrior was in Moving Mode, he can use his Infiltration to open doors without taking a penalty for it.
Comment: this additional movement follows all the rules of ordinary movement, i.e. the first 90° turn is free, and so on.
If several warriors in the game have this Aptitude, the order of their additional movement is set by that Round's Activation Sequence. A warrior loses this Aptitude for the rest of the game as soon as he comes within an opponent's line of sight — the scout is considered to have blown his cover!
FAQ: Q. My warrior Skorize uses his Infiltration/4 Aptitude in Offensive Combat Mode to attack an enemy fighter from behind. He uses Skilled Strike and scores a Perfect Success on the first attack (inflicting 2 wounds), and simply hits with the second attack (one more wound). If his opponent is killed as a result, does the warrior Skorize then lose his Infiltration Aptitude? A. Yes — as soon as the warrior Skorize enters base contact with an opponent during an attack, that opponent automatically gets a "line of sight" on him. Therefore the warrior Skorize loses his Infiltration Aptitude, even if he destroys his opponent during that very activation.
Prestige/X: a warrior with this Aptitude commands respect from other warriors, including his opponents. He gets a +X bonus to the Success Level of all actions in all Action Modes. Unfortunately, this privileged status is lost as soon as the warrior shows any sign of weakness. The warrior loses this Aptitude as soon as he takes a wound.
Dorsal Protection/X: warriors with this Aptitude have protective armor plating or special combat techniques that make it hard to land blows on them. This Aptitude cancels the +1 bonus normally applied for attacking from the rear. X is treated as a negative modifier that a warrior must apply to his Success Level when attacking this opponent from behind.
Comment: this Aptitude only works against melee attacks from the rear, i.e. when the opponent is in Offensive Combat Mode. It cannot be applied against ranged attacks, i.e. when the enemy simply fires at his back.
Sacrifice/X: a creature with this Aptitude can sacrifice itself, exploding during its activation. To use this Aptitude, the warrior must be in Moving Mode and choose Basic Move as his Mastery Level. In addition, the warrior must be in base contact with an enemy. The sacrificed creature dies and is removed from the game, but in doing so inflicts X wounds on the target. Defensive Combat Mode cannot protect the target from these wounds. Only the one chosen target takes the wound — not every warrior in base contact with the sacrificing creature at the moment the Aptitude triggers. A player cannot draw Action Cards as a result of using the Sacrifice Aptitude. In addition, this sacrifice cannot count as the first kill of the game and does not trigger the First Blood effect for drawing Army Cards.
Example: Pests of Flesh, highly aggressive and mobile creatures, are gifted with the Sacrifice/1 Aptitude. At the end of a Basic Move, they can sacrifice themselves to automatically inflict a wound on just one enemy in base contact.
Comment: the English text mistakenly says "on every warrior in base contact." In addition, according to the FAQ and the card errata given separately later, the card "Momentary Madness" lets you take control of a Pest of Flesh and blow it up among its former clone allies.
Armour-Piercing Shot/X: some marksmen are equipped with special armor-piercing bullets, or with powerful weapons capable of punching straight through the toughest obstacle. When such a bullet passes through the target, it can go on to hit another warrior standing behind the first one. The second victim must be on the shooter's line of sight and no more than X squares behind the first victim. In this case, the first victim is not treated as an obstacle for determining line of sight. Naturally, the second victim cannot be closer to the shooter than the first. Make a second Firing roll to determine whether the bullet hits the second target. Any Action Cards used for the first shot are considered spent and cannot be applied to the second target. An Armour-Piercing Shot cannot punch through a warrior with the Titan Aptitude. When firing at Titans, armor-piercing bullets are treated as ordinary ones. They're likewise treated as ordinary in the case where the first target is in Defensive Combat Mode, unless he is turned with his back to the shooter at the moment of the shot. A warrior can only use Armour-Piercing Shot once per Round.
Titan: a Titan has no need to open doors to pass through them — he simply smashes straight through, tearing them off their hinges. Doors that a Titan has "opened" this way cannot be closed again. Titans take no penalty for rockfalls, and can freely move across them, stop on them, or fire through the debris. For Titans, squares covered in rockfall are treated as ordinary squares. However, such an imposing build has its downsides. All shots fired at Titans get a +1 bonus to Success Level. Note that this bonus is not added on top of the identical modifier for a warrior on a large 2x2 base! Titans cannot move diagonally, but can turn (left or right by 90 degrees) without penalty, as long as they make only ONE such turn on a given square. Titans on large bases (2x2 squares) can only use corridors and doors wide enough for them — at least 2 squares wide. Accordingly, they cannot smash through a single door that they could not otherwise pass through. That said, this doesn't stop them from attacking an enemy in contact through such a door, if it has already been opened.
Comment: there has been some confusion between base size and the Titan Aptitude when it comes to movement — this concerns, for example, diagonal movement and Novice Move. The most recent FAQ did not fully clear this up. The trouble is that, at the time the game was released, Titans only existed on large (2x2) bases, and later other figures with their own base sizes started arriving from Confrontation. Some had an intermediate 40x40 base and were not Titans, while others with the same base size did have this Aptitude. The designers eventually clarified that, by default, the various restrictions apply only to "original" Titans — i.e. those on large (2x2) bases. This translation reflects that as fully as possible.
Velocity/X: creatures with the Velocity Aptitude move so nimbly and swiftly that it's genuinely hard to take proper aim at them. Any warrior who tries to fire at such a target takes a negative modifier of X to his Success Level. Creatures with this Aptitude can cross an open Trapdoor without taking a wound. In this case the Trapdoor is treated as a normal square, though the bearer of the Velocity Aptitude still cannot freely end his turn on a square with an open Trapdoor. If such a warrior chooses to end his turn on the Trapdoor, or is pushed onto it, he suffers its full consequences. In addition, as already mentioned, a bearer of the Velocity Aptitude can move across rockfalls without penalty. But even such a warrior cannot end his movement on a square blocked by fallen rocks.
Sequence of Play
The time has come to sum things up and, in closing, briefly go back over the sequence of play. Here, one by one, all the stages of the game described in the preceding pages will be listed again. The meaning of game terms will not be explained again — you can always turn back to the relevant page of this rulebook for clarification.
Setup
First of all, the players must choose the mission they want to play, their armies, and work out those armies' composition. If the mission allows the army to be split, a list is drawn up of the warriors who enter play immediately, and a list of reserves who will arrive later during the game. The mission descriptions show which board tiles are used and how to assemble them, where the various counters needed for play should be placed on them, and what each side's objectives are. The Event Card deck is shuffled and placed next to the board, face down. Players shuffle their own Army Card decks, place them next to themselves, and draw two Cards without looking at what they drew. The first of these Cards is revealed at First Contact, and the second at First Blood. The Griffin player shuffles his Aura Cards and draws three for each warrior with that Aptitude. Having looked them over, he discards one and keeps the other two for play. The Scorpion player does the same with his Mutation Cards. The Action Cards are gathered into a deck. Each player draws four Cards. Having looked them over, a player has the right to reject them and replace them with three other Cards. The new hand is final. All the board tiles are assembled, and the counters placed on them. Warriors are set up on the board in the deployment zones set by the mission. Figurines that enter the laboratory are placed outside, next to the Entry counters.
FAQ: if the mission description doesn't give a deployment zone for some warrior, then, as a general rule, use the zone for the next higher Rank. If that zone is full, place the warrior on an adjacent square. Example: in the mission "Return to Glasinhar," any Rank 2 Scorpion figures are placed in the Rank 3 deployment zone.
First Round
Each player makes an Activation Roll, rolling a D10. The player who rolls the lower result decides who goes first (page 16). Now the players work out the Activation Sequence for their warriors, placing numbered Activation counters next to them. Counter #1 is placed in front of the warrior who will move first, counter #2 in front of the second warrior, and so on. This way, every warrior gets his number in the Activation Sequence. Once this is done, the player who won the roll to go first flips counter #1 and activates the matching warrior. The player controlling that warrior decides which Action Mode he will choose for his charge. If he chooses Moving Mode, he must immediately determine the Mastery Level as well. If the player chooses another Action Mode (Offensive Combat, Defensive Combat, or Firing), he must announce the Mastery Level after the warrior's Movement. While the warrior carries out an action, the player may play an Action Card to boost his chance of success or raise the available Mastery Level. The Card must be shown to the opponent. If the player decides not to use Action Cards, he must say so to the opponent before carrying out the action. Whether or not the player used an Action Card, his opponent has the right to interfere with his action, playing one and only one of his own Action Cards as a Hindrance. The modifiers from this Card apply negatively to the first player's action. If the first player didn't decline the use of Action Cards, he may use his own additional Action Cards to lessen the effect of the Hindrance (page 23). In most cases, for the action to succeed the player must make a successful Natural Roll, rolling a D10. The Success Level for this roll is set by the warrior's NV, and can depend on his equipment, the chosen Mastery Level, any Action Cards played, and so on. If, after all modifiers are applied, the final die result is equal to or less than the Success Level, the action succeeds. Rolling a 1 on the die means a Perfect Success, and rolling a 10 (a 0 on the die) means a Critical Failure. If a warrior uses a Mastery Level with a delayed effect (such as Skilled Firing, which sets up an ambush), the controlling player must place the matching counter next to the warrior. The counter is removed as soon as the warrior changes Mastery Level or Action Mode. These counters are numbered and can be used to determine the order of action for several warriors in that Mode (for example, if a target walks into an ambush set by several shooters at once). As soon as the first figurine finishes its turn, it becomes the second player's turn to activate his first figurine. Once he finishes, the first player activates his second figurine, and so on. This continues until every figurine has taken its turn. After that, all effects lasting one Round end, and the second Round begins.
Following Rounds
The following Rounds are played the same way. There is only one exception. Now Action Cards can be played during the Activation Roll, to give a player an extra chance of winning it.
End of Game
The winner is whichever player has carried out all of his objectives in the mission. If neither player manages this, the game is considered a draw. So, having read all of this, do you feel you have the strength to stand against a deadly enemy and try to unravel the dark secrets of the Heresiarch's grim laboratories?
Missions
This booklet describes 10 missions awaiting players in the Heresiarch's loathsome world. In most missions, players are free to choose the makeup of their combat groups as they see fit. Their choice, however, must always respect two parameters:
- The Rank Total: the sum of the Ranks of all warriors cannot exceed this parameter. When calculating the Rank Total, two Rank 0 warriors count as 1.
- Total Number of Warriors: to keep the board from being overrun by hordes of scrappy little troublemakers, the number of warriors in play is limited by this parameter.
Example: the Scorpion player picks his warriors. His choice is constrained by: Rank Total 8, Total Number of Warriors 8. He chooses the creature Aberration (Rank 3), three Hybrid warriors (Rank 1 each), and four Pests of Flesh (Rank 0 each). The Pests of Flesh together contribute 2 points. So the final Rank total works out as: 3+(31)+2=8, and the number of warriors is 8 as well. Both conditions are satisfied!*
Corrections
The Nemesis rulebook (Hybrid's follow-up) corrects the following typos for missions from Hybrid:
Page 36, Return to Glasinhar – The Scorpion deployment zone for Rank 3 is 4 squares, not 3. The Griffin Rank 3 deployment zone is not used, since they all enter the laboratory through the entrance.
Page 37, The Scarlet Hive – A door is missing on the upper left tile, in the room with the Scorpion entrance (see figure). The center bottom tile shows a door in the middle of the room that should not be there.
Page 38, The Heresiarch's Prison – As soon as Ambrosius manages to open the door of his cell, all the other doors unlock. The upper center tile should have a passage in its lower right corner (see figure). In this mission, rockfalls occur at random. The tiles are numbered clockwise from 1 to 7, starting from the upper left. On a 1D10 roll of "1" through "7," rocks fall on the matching tile. On an "8" or a "9," the die is rolled again. On a "10," nothing happens that turn.
Page 41, Prowlers! – In the last paragraph: in the fifth round, the 1D10 should be rolled by the player who activated Objective counter 1 (not 4). The center tile should have a double door leading right to the adjoining tile (see figure).
Page 45, The Scorpion's Venom – A double door connecting the two right-hand tiles in the middle row is missing (see figure).
Page 47, The Heroes' Twilight – Two single doors are missing on the upper right tile (see figure).
Card Text Corrections and Clarifications
Event Cards
Deceit (players' clarification): the text at the start of this card should read: "This card is played when you activate one of your figurines. It immediately trades (or swaps) places with another friendly figurine if the following conditions can be met:…"
Luck (players' clarification): this card's text should read: "Announce the use of this card before rolling the dice for a test. Luck is on your side and increases your chance of success. Add one additional die to the roll. After reviewing the rolled dice remove any one die and apply the result, however, you may not remove a Critical Failure result."
Momentary Madness (players' correction): this card's text should read: "Play this card when your adversary activates a figurine of Rank 1 or less. The figurine in question is temporarily under your control for the entire round. You must immediately choose its Action mode and carry out its Activation as if it were one of your own fighters. It can be ordered to attack, fire or use its Aptitudes upon its original allies. It cannot however be forced to attack itself."
Note: this corrected wording lets a player take control of a Pest of Flesh and sacrifice it, wounding another warrior.
Superior Strategy (correction): the text at the end of this card should read: "This card is played at the start of the round just before the Activation Roll, which you automatically win. It cannot be countered in any way and is then discarded."
Army Cards
Corporeal Instability (players' correction): the text at the end of this card should read: "Should it succeed, its force will be multiplied tenfold and it will benefit from a +2 modifier in Offensive and Defensive Combat. These modifiers automatically replace the Equipment noted on the figurine's reference card."
The Clones' Fury (players' correction): the second paragraph of this card should read: "Furthermore, every affected clone in Offensive Combat mode is given the chance to re-roll their dice rolls until the end of the round. This is only applicable if the first roll did not result in a Critical Failure."
Aura Cards
Players' clarification: none of the cards mentioning Venerable Ambrosius are personally tied to him; any warrior with the Aura Aptitude may use any Aura Card.
Aura of Vengeance (correction): replace the third sentence with: "Any friendly figure, wishing to attack an enemy warrior that is located within the Aura, benefits from a +1 modifier in the Offensive Combat mode."
Aura of Renunciation (correction): replace the third sentence with: "Should they fail, they will be immediately moved outside the affected zone, to an adjacent square of your choice."
Mutation Cards
Purulent Excrescence (players' clarification): this card's text should read: "This Mutation can be played at any time, even before the Activation of an enemy figurine, and remains active until the end of the game. The affected fighter's skin is covered with purulent excrescences filled with a revolting liquid that immediately causes a Wound to the chosen fighter when this Mutation is applied. If an opponent in Offensive Combat wounds this fighter, the purulent excrescences burst spraying the attacker with the liquid. The attacker must make an unmodified Natural Roll or he suffers a wound. Furthermore, if this fighter loses his last NV point after any attack in base-to-base combat, his opponent automatically suffers a Wound. Regardless, each fighter sprayed with the Purulent Excrescence Mutation cannot lose more than one NV point due to this Mutation's effect in a single game."
Steel Tendons (correction): replace the first sentence with: "Only a figure with a Natural Value of 3 or more can posses this mutation."
Muscular Hypertrophy (correction): replace the second sentence with: "He benefits from a +1 modifier to his Offensive Combat value and a +1 modifier on all Natural Rolls related to the OC mode."
Biomechanical Shell (correction): replace the second sentence with: "Once per game and until the end of the round, at the moment of his activation, a figure equipped with a biomechanical shell can use it for his complete protection."