Robotech: Ace Pilot Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Winning
• Game Statistics
• Game Contents
• Key Terms
• Content Schematics
• Game Setup
• Game Play
• Upgrades
• Destroying Ships
• Things to Consider
• Auxiliary Rules
  • First Player & Token
  • Khyron
• Hero Attack Patterns
  • Roy Fokker
  • Claudia Grant
  • Rick Hunter
  • Lisa Hayes
  • Ben Dixon
  • Max Sterling
  • Henry Gloval
  • Miriya Parina
• Endgame

Objective

Hurl yourself into the continuous waves of attacking Zentraedi & come out on top as the best RDF pilot. This involves taking chances & cutting off your rivals. With an insightful battle plan & some luck, you will forever be known as Robotech's Ace Pilot.

Winning

As you rack up the enemy kills, your Victory Point total will increase. At the end of the game, the player with the highest VP total wins the game.

Game Statistics

• Players: 2 to 4
• Ages: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes

Game Contents

• 1 Box
• 1 Token Tray
• 5 Robotech Action Dice
• 8 Robotech Hero Cards
• 8 Upgrade Cards
• 8 Upgrade Tokens
• 10 Red Cube Damage Markers
• 1 Cloth Bag
• 1 RDF First Player Token
• 91 Zentraedi Ship Tokens:
  • 35 Zentraedi Fighterpod Tokens
  • 25 Zentraedi Battlepod Tokens
  • 15 Zentraedi Scout Ship Tokens
  • 10 Zentraedi Cruiser Tokens
  • 5 Zentraedi Flagship Tokens
  • 1 Khyron Token

Key Terms

• Ben Dixon: A wingman & friend to Rick Hunter.
• Claudia Grant: A bridge officer & friend of Lisa Hayes.
• Destroid: An armored fighting robot, part of the RDF.
• Henry Gloval: Captain of the SDF-1 & leader of the heroes.
• Kill Pile: The kills that have been scored by a player & piled up in front of her.
• Lisa Hayes: The first officer of the SDF-1 & love interest of Rick Hunter.
• Max Sterling: The SDF-1's ace pilot & friend of Rick Hunter.
• Miriya Parina: Former Zentraedi pilot who defected & married Max Sterling.
• RDF: Robotech Defense Force.
• Rick Hunter: A brash young pilot & the main hero of Robotech.
• Round: The time it takes for all players to take a turn.
• Roy Fokker: The SDF-1's wing leader & Claudia's boyfriend.
• SDF-1: The 1210m long space fortress operated by the Robotech heroes.

Content Schematics

The component art shows the Robotech Action Dice (with the faces Target, Move, Instinct & UN Spacy), the Zentraedi Ship Tokens (Fighterpod, Battlepod, Scout, Cruiser, Flagship, Khyron), the Upgrade Tokens and Upgrade Cards, the Hero Cards, and the RDF First Player Token.

Game Setup

1. Mix the 91 Zentraedi Ship Tokens & the 8 Upgrade Tokens in the Cloth Bag.

2. Place a number of Tokens from the bag into each of the 9 cells of the Token Tray, face down. Then place the Tray in the middle of the play area. The number of Tokens to place in each cell is determined by the number of players:

   • 2 Players: 7 face down in each Tray cell
   • 3 Players: 8 face down in each Tray cell
   • 4 Players: 8 face down in each Tray cell

   Note: You may adjust the game length by placing more (or fewer) Tokens in each Tray cell, to make the game longer or shorter.

3. Place all of the Hero Cards face up near the Token Tray in full view of all players.

4. Shuffle & place all 8 of the Upgrade Cards face down in a pile near the play area.

5. Determine the first player by rolling all 5 Robotech Dice - the player with the most UN Spacy symbols gets the First Player Token - players may reroll in the case of ties.

6. Get ready to score some kills!

The manual's "Typical Game Setup" diagram shows the Hero Cards, the Upgrade Deck, the Token Tray, the Action Dice, and each player's Kill Pile arranged around the table (Player 1, Player 2 and Player 3 are labelled).

Game Play

Players take turns going clockwise. When each player is finished, the player to their left takes their turn. A full round is complete once all players have taken 1 turn. Your turn follows these steps:

1. If the top Token in any cells are face down, flip them face up.

2. Take the Robotech Action Dice & roll all 5 of them.

3. You can choose to use any of the dice to purchase a Robotech Hero Card.

   • More than 1 card can be purchased with the dice, but each die can only be used once. In the example in the manual, only 1 of the Heroes can be purchased, since you only have 5 dice & they each require 3 dice to purchase (for a total of 6).

4. You can keep any dice you like, & reroll the dice you don't like up to 2 more times (as it is unlikely that the most desired result will happen on your first roll).

5. You can purchase Hero Cards any time you like during or at the end of your rerolls. You can purchase a maximum of 2 Heroes on your turn. To track which Action Dice you have used, place them onto the Hero Card. Note: There is a strong chance that you will not use all of the dice.

6. Use the purchased Hero Cards to attack the Zentraedi Ship Tokens.

   Example (from the manual): Max inflicts damage in a pattern: 2 in the center & 1 in each corner. Rick inflicts 3 damage total, placed anywhere. Max kills 2 Fighterpods, 1 Battlepod, & damages the Flagship & Scout. Rick kills 1 Fighterpod, 1 BattlePod, & helps Max kill the Scout.

7. Collect any destroyed Ships. A Ship is destroyed if it has a number of damage markers equal to or greater than its hit points. Extra damage does not carry over to the Token below it.

   The manual's token diagram lists each Ship's hit points (HP) above its Victory Point value (VP):

   • Zentraedi Fighterpod: 1 HP, 1 VP
   • Zentraedi Battlepod: 1 HP, 2 VP
   • Zentraedi Scout Ship: 2 HP, 3 VP

Purchased Hero cards do not go back into the center until all players have taken a turn. After the last player finishes her turn (which ends the round), return all Hero Cards to the center & pass the UN Spacy First Player Token clockwise. Then begin a new round with the new first player.

• Note: In a 2-player game, each player goes twice, in turn order, before returning the Hero Cards to the center. This makes it possible to use all 8 Heroes each round.

Upgrades

There are 8 Upgrade Tokens in Ace Pilot. With the random Tray setup, fewer are likely to be present in any game. An Upgrade Token has 2 hit points but is not worth Victory Points at the end of the game. When you destroy an Upgrade Token, immediately place it next to your kill pile & draw the top Upgrade Card from the Deck. Place the Upgrade Card face up for all to see.

Each Upgrade Card has a special ability. You can use an Upgrade Card's ability anytime during your turn - even on the same turn you received it. To show that you have used the Upgrade, flip the card face down. At the start of your next turn, flip up any used Upgrade Cards & you may use them again.

Note: The Pop Star Upgrade Card counts as 5 Victory Points at the end of the game. It never activates during play.

Destroying Ships

Each Hero Card causes damage in a specific manner or pattern. If enough damage is applied to a target Ship, it is destroyed & you may collect it & add it to your kill pile. Ships take 1 to 4 damage (Khyron takes 5) based on their size, & each Ship's damage capacity is located in the top right side of the token, indicated by an explosion symbol.

Track damage via the Damage Markers. Damage to a Ship which does not exceed the ship's damage capacity is carried over across turns until the ship receives enough damage to be destroyed. When the Ship is destroyed, remove the damage markers as well.

After a ship has been destroyed, do not flip the next Vessel Token face up in the middle of your turn. Tokens are only flipped up at the beginning of a player's turn.

Things to Consider

1. Understand the Potential: Study the Tray & look at where the highest value targets are located. Don't just focus on the high value targets; Battlepods have the best value for the effort. It is better to kill 4 Battlepods than to kill 2 Scouts & a Fighterpod.

2. Know the Heroes: Unless you are the first player to take a turn in a round, it is likely that the best Heroes will already be snagged before your turn. Knowing how each Hero attacks will help you get the best value each round.

3. Pass the Torch: In a game with more than 2 people, you may want to set up the losing player with high value targets in an effort to keep them out of the hands of the winning player.

4. Walk the Line: Be careful pushing your luck. Taking 2 lower power Heroes is better than risking it all on a high power hero & failing to get the proper results. A turn where you gain no Heroes may knock you out of contention for victory.

Auxiliary Rules

First Player & Token

After all players have selected Heroes - or not in the case of bad luck or planning - the turn ends & the First Player Token passes left. The Heroes are placed back in the middle of play & a new round starts with a new player starting. This always happens in a 2 player game. In 3 or 4 player games, Henry Gloval grants the First Player Token, breaking the typical cycle.

If you take the Captain, you will always gain the First Player Token from the current owner. When the next round begins you are the first player. If you are already the first player, you retain the Token, but you do not go first 2 rounds in a row. In this case, pass the Token left as you normally would when the round ends. If you are the first player you may still take Henry Gloval, but after the turn, pass the First Player Token left.

Khyron

Khyron can only be killed by Rick Hunter. Rick must inflict the last point of damage to Khyron before he can be destroyed. This means that Lisa is unable to destroy Khyron. Miriya may inflict a total of 4 damage to Khyron by combining both of her attacks.

The manual's Khyron diagram is captioned: "Rick must inflict the final damage to Khyron to kill him."

Hero Attack Patterns

Roy Fokker

Roy causes 2 damage to any corner quadrant. The center cell is always hit, & any corner may be chosen.

Claudia Grant

Claudia inflicts 1 damage to each cell of any row or column. The entire row or column must be targeted. Claudia cannot damage Ships in a diagonal direction.

Rick Hunter

Rick inflicts a total of 3 damage, which can be combined or spread across up to 3 separate targets, & is added to any damage already applied to those targets.

Lisa Hayes

Lisa will destroy up to 3 damaged Ships in any cells. The Ships may be damaged in the same turn that Lisa is selected. She cannot affect undamaged Ships.

Ben Dixon

Ben automatically destroys up to 3 Battlepods or Fighterpods in any combination. He can attack any cell except the center.

Max Sterling

Max attacks in an immovable fixed pattern. He deals 1 damage to all Ships in both diagonal lines (so the center cell takes 2 damage).

The manual's Max Sterling diagram shows the fixed pattern: 1 damage in each corner and 2 damage in the center.

Henry Gloval

Henry will inflict 4 damage to one ship located anywhere except corner cells. Selecting Henry also grants you the First Player Token - see page 11. If he attacks Khyron, Henry will only inflict 3 damage.

Miriya Parina

Miriya can cause a total of 6 damage, spread across a maximum of 2 cells - 3 each. She cannot cause less than 3 damage to any single cell, but the damage can be combined to 6 in a single cell. Miriya can only inflict 4 damage total to Khyron.

Endgame

Endgame & Scoring: The game ends when a predetermined number of cells are depleted of Ship Tokens. This depends on the number of Players. As soon as the determined number of cells are depleted, the round continues & the game ends as soon as the last player finishes her turn.

• 2 or 3 Players: 1 Cell Depleted
• 4 Players: 2 Cells Depleted
• Long Game: 4 Cells Depleted

When the game ends, everyone counts the total value of ships they have destroyed & adds up their victory points. The player with the most points is the winner.