Robotech: Force of Arms Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective
• Setup
• How to Play
• Tactical Phase
• Token Phase
• Hero/Command Phase
• Scoring Phase
  • Worked Example (Fig 2)
  • Notes for Ship Cards
• Game Components
  • Ship Cards
  • Fighter Cards
  • Command Cards
  • Hero Cards
  • Attack Tokens
  • Defense Tokens
  • Spy Tokens
  • Ship Lock Tokens
  • Protoculture Tokens

Components

The box contains:

• 24 RDF Cards
• 24 Zentraedi Cards
• 15 Attack Tokens
• 12 Defense Tokens
• 12 Special Tokens (6 RDF / 6 Zentraedi)
• 2 Cheat Sheet Cards
• 1 SDF-1 Alternate Card
• 1 Empty Space Card
• 1 Rule Book

Objective

Players take turns tactically moving ships, then strategically placing their attack and defense fighter cards to defend their own ships and destroy those of their enemy. After all fighters have been deployed, the players place their earned tokens and then use some of their hero and command cards in an effort to win the day. The player with the most combined victory points wins.

Setup

1. Shuffle the Ship Cards and create the space sector by placing the cards face up in a 3x3 grid, leaving the center space empty. Then place the "Empty Space" card in the center.
2. Each player takes one set of fighter cards (includes both defensive and offensive fighter cards), hero cards and command cards. Each player's cards will all be from the same faction, with one player taking on the role of the Robotech Defense Force and one the Zentraedi.
3. Each player takes the tokens for their team and sets them to the side of their play area.
   • Red for RDF
   • Green for Zentraedi
4. Each player starts the game with their two Spy Tokens. All other tokens have to be earned.

After setting up the grid, each player shuffles their 12 fighter cards and randomly picks one. The player who draws the highest number decides if they want to go first (player 1) or go second (player 2). The players return their fighter cards to their decks, so that all 12 fighter cards are in their hands.

The player who goes first gets to choose which two adjacent sides to the grid that they will control and use as their fighter player area. They will also play last during the Hero/Command phase.

Fig 1 (fighter play area): the grid is shown with the edge positions labelled P1 (player 1's fighter play area, along two adjacent sides) and P2 (player 2's fighter play area, along the other two sides). The printed text refers to this figure as "Fig 1. page 3"; the figure itself is printed on page 4.

How to Play

The game is played in four phases, in this order:

1. Tactical
2. Token
3. Hero/Command
4. Scoring

Tactical Phase

The players each have their 12 fighter cards in their hand and player 1 starts play.

On your turn:

1. Pick one of your ships on the 3x3 grid and move it to any other space on the grid.
2. Swap the location of your card with the card in the target space.
3. Place two of your fighter cards facedown outside the grid (in the fighter play area, see Fig 1, page 3) next to a row or column along either of the sides that you control.
4. The two fighter cards do not need to be placed in the same space. Each space can hold a maximum of two fighter cards.
5. If any fighter you are placing has text that allows you to play it face up to earn tokens, you may choose to play it face up at this time to collect the tokens.
6. You may play any of your Spy or Ship Lock Tokens (if you have earned any) during your turn. This is in addition to moving ships and playing fighters.
7. The opponent can choose to use Spy Tokens on your turn to counter Ship Lock Tokens you are trying to play.
8. Play passes to the next player.

Process repeats until all the fighter cards are played, then the game progresses to the Token Phase.

Token Phase

Players have all their collected tokens in front of them and the player who went first in the Tactical Phase continues to play first.

On your turn:

1. Pick one of your tokens and place it (legally) on a ship in the ship play area.
2. The other player can decide to use a Spy Token to counter the token you are playing, as long as it is not a Spy or Protoculture Token.
3. Play passes to the next player.

Process repeats until all the tokens are played (all Spy and Ship Lock Tokens DO NOT have to be played) then the game progresses to the Hero/Command Phase.

Hero/Command Phase

The players each pick up their four Hero and four Command Cards and player 2 starts play.

On your turn:

1. Pick one of your Hero or Command Cards, play it and apply the effects.
2. Play passes to the other player.

Note: Each player will play a maximum of one (1) Hero card and two (2) Command cards during this phase.

Process repeats until each player has played one (1) Hero Card and two (2) Command Cards. The game then progresses to the Scoring Phase.

Scoring Phase

After the players have finished the Hero/Command Phase, flip all the fighter cards face up.

1. Look at each ship.
2. Determine if the ship is an RDF or Zentraedi ship.
3. Add up the defensive value shown on the ship (if any) and the value(s) of all of the defensive fighter cards for that player that are aligned to that ship's column and row. (See Fig 2 on page 8.)
4. Then add any Defense Token values to determine the total defensive value of that ship.
5. Then add up all the attack power of the other player's fighter cards that are aligned to that ship's column and row, and any Attack Tokens.
   • If the defensive value is higher, the defending player protects and collects their ship and sets it next to their play area.
   • If the attack value is higher, the attacking player collects the enemy ship and sets it next to their play area.
   • If the attacking and defending values are equal, the ship stays in its space and no one collects the ship (or its victory points).

Both players tally the victory point values of the ships they have collected and keep track of them. Then play one more round with each player switching to play the other faction. The players add the victory points from both rounds together and the player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, play a third round.

Note: For a short game, play a single round. For a longer game, play three to five rounds with each player playing the same faction for all rounds or swapping back and forth as in the regular game. The highest combined victory point total will be the winner.

Worked Example (Fig 2)

Fig 2 is a worked example printed on pages 8 and 9, with the RDF ship as the defender and the Zentraedi as the attacker. The figure shows the Defense Value total of 12 and the Enemy Attack Value total of 17 for the ship in question.

1. Look at a ship and its logo to determine the ship's owner. RDF in this example.
2. Calculate the ship's Defense Value (blue indicators):
   • Ship's Inherent Defense Value (bottom left corner of card) = 2 Defense.
   • Defense Tokens (blue shield tokens) = 1 Defense.
   • Friendly Fighters horizontally or vertically aligned with the Ship = 9 Defense combined.
   • Total Defense of Ship = 2 + 1 + 4 + 5 = 12.
3. Calculate the Enemy Attack Value (Zentraedi for this example):
   • Attack Tokens on Ship (blue target token) = 1 Attack.
   • Enemy Fighters horizontally or vertically aligned with the Ship = 16 Attack combined.
   • Total Attack on Ship = 1 + 5 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 17 Total Attack.
4. The team with the higher combat total will collect the ship and VP.

Notes for Ship Cards

• Some ships require you to exceed their defensive power to capture them.
• The number in the bottom left is the ship's defensive power.
• The number in the bottom right is the victory point value.

Game Components

Ship Cards

The Ship Cards contain the ship's name/type, team logo, defensive value, and victory point value.

Fighter Cards

The Fighter Cards contain the fighter's name/type, team logo, attack OR defense value and special ability (if any).

Command Cards

The Command Cards are labeled COMMAND, the name of the card and the effect of the card.

Hero Cards

The Hero Cards are labeled HERO, have the name of the card and the effect of the card.

Attack Tokens

The Attack Tokens add a +1 to the attack value being applied to the ship.

Attack Tokens are earned by playing the Attack 3 Fighter face up during the Tactical Phase of the game and are played during the Token Phase of the game. They can be earned by playing certain Hero/Command cards during the Hero/Command Phase. Tokens generated during the Hero/Command phase are played immediately during that phase.

Defense Tokens

The Defense Tokens add a +1 to the defense value being applied to the ship.

Defense Tokens are earned by playing the Defense 3 Fighter face up during the Tactical Phase of the game and are played during the Token Phase of the game. They can be earned by playing certain Hero/Command cards during the Hero/Command Phase. Tokens generated during the Hero/Command phase are played immediately during that phase.

Spy Tokens

The Spy Tokens can be played during the Tactical, Token and Hero/Command phases of the game. Playing a Spy Token will allow a player to cause a face down fighter to be turned face up (this does not activate any fighter text effects) OR to prevent a token from being played (except other Spy Tokens and Protoculture Tokens).

Spy Tokens do not prevent Command and Hero Cards from being played, but if the Hero or Command Card causes tokens to be played, the Spy Token can prevent one (1) of the tokens from being played.

Players start the game with two Spy Tokens.

Ship Lock Tokens

The Ship Lock Tokens can be played during the Tactical, Token and Hero/Command phases of the game. Playing a Ship Lock Token prevents the ship it was played on from being moved by game effects, unless the card effect specifically allows the movement or removal of the Ship Lock Token.

Ship Lock Tokens are earned by playing the Attack 4 Fighter face up during the Tactical Phase of the game.

Protoculture Tokens

Your Protoculture Tokens add a +2 to the attack value being applied to a ship if played on an enemy ship, OR +2 to the defense value of the ship if played on your own ship.

The Protoculture Tokens can only be played during the Token phase of the game. Spy Tokens cannot prevent Protoculture Tokens from being played. Protoculture Tokens cannot be moved or removed from ships unless a card or effect specifically allows that to happen. No more than one (1) Protoculture Token can be played or exist on any one ship, unless the Secret Mission Command Card is used.

Protoculture Tokens are earned by playing the Defense 4 Fighter face up during the Tactical Phase of the game.