Schlock Mercenary: Capital Offensive Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Learning Game
  • Learning Game Components
  • Mission Objective
  • Reading the Character Profile Cards
  • Setup
  • Start of Play and Turns
  • Order of a Round
  • Collective Turn
  • Innate Abilities §
  • Special Locations and Obstacles
• Victory

Contents

• Large floor tiles: 9
• Small floor tiles: 18
• Mission objective tokens: 36
• Figure tokens for the characters: 20
• Tokens for health status and armour: 64
• Equipment tokens: 45
• Action tokens: 60
• Double floor tiles: 9
• Dice: 10
• Rulebook: 1 (24 pages)
• Character profile cards: 10
• Fun: plenty

Learning Game

In the learning game, each of the two players controls one team. One player runs the lawyer drones of the Partnership Collective, while the second player controls three mercenaries from Tagon's Toughs.

Learning Game Components

1. Profile cards: Tagon, Schlock, Elf and Partnership Drone
2. Character tokens: Tagon, Schlock, Elf, and 8 Partnership
3. Tokens for health status and armour
4. Dice: 10 six-sided dice
5. Large tiles: 4A, 5B, 7A, 8B (the designations are printed in a corner of each tile)
6. Small tiles: a. Armoury: 2 (tile 101A) b. Teraport gates: 3 (tile 101B) c. Airlocks: 3 (tiles 107A, 107A2, 108A2)
7. Turn-order markers: 3 (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
8. Teraport blockade markers: 3
9. Tokens for Tagon's epaulette grenades: 2
10. Movement marker
11. Command marker

Mission Objective

The mission objective depends on which team you play.

The Partnership Collective must, using its special action "Serve arrest warrant" (Haftbefehl zustellen), take all three Toughs into pre-trial detention (have them taken).

Tagon's Toughs must block all three teraport gates, in order to cut the Partnership Collective off from its almost inexhaustible reserve of drones (the source reads "Nachschub and Drohnen", an evident typo for "und"), and then eliminate every drone on the board.

The Toughs may have the home advantage, but that does not mean nothing can go wrong.

Reading the Character Profile Cards

Profile cards describe the rule-relevant properties of the characters. Each profile card contains the following:

1. Name
2. Health status
3. Armour
4. Mobility
5. Actions
6. Defence
7. Special actions
8. Innate / character-specific abilities
9. Equipment status (not used in the learning game)

(9) Equipment status: note that this monitor is not used for the learning game.

Mobility symbols. The number of dice in front of the movement arrow shows how many six-sided dice must be rolled. The direction of the arrow determines which die sets the movement for the turn: upward (highest value), downward (lowest value) and leftward (median, middle value). A number in the arrow limits the maximum number of squares a character may move with a normal movement.

Examples:

• This character rolls two dice and gets 3 and 6. She keeps the highest value, 6. Because her movement rate is limited to 4 squares (shown by the 4 in the arrow), she may move only 4 squares.
• This character has three dice showing 3, 4 and 6. She keeps the median and may move 4 squares.

Captions of the mobility illustrations (the pictures themselves are not reproduced):

• Roll 3 dice, keep the highest.
• Roll 3 dice, keep the middle value (median).
• Roll 2 dice, keep the highest, move no more than 4 squares.
• Roll 2 dice, keep the highest.

(1) Name of the figure. (2, 3) Health status and armour. (4) Mobility: shows how many dice are rolled and which of these dice is used to determine the movement rate. The symbols are explained below. (5) Actions: the number of actions the figure can perform per turn. (6) Defence dice: the number of dice rolled when the figure is defending. (7) Special actions: special actions are marked with §. This includes the special actions the figure has from the start of the game. Activating one uses up one of the actions. (8) Innate abilities: descriptions marked with the symbol § refer to innate and other character-specific abilities. These are always active or trigger automatically. They do not use up an action.

Setup

1. Assemble the playing area from the large (4x4) tiles 4A, 5B, 7A and 8B as shown below. Each large tile bears its name in one corner to make assembly easier. Make sure the tiles are aligned cleanly.
2. Place the small tiles for the armoury, teraport gate and airlocks into the gaps as shown in the illustration. The small tiles lie on top of the large tiles.
3. Place one figure token for a Partnership Collective drone (hereafter just "drone") on each of the three teraport gates. The remaining five drones form the drone reserve. They are placed together with the command marker and the profile card of the Partnership Drone in front of the Partnership Collective player.
4. Place the figure tokens for Schlock, Tagon and Elf on the three airlocks on tile 4A (each figure goes on one free square). The Toughs player decides which figure goes where.
5. The profile cards for Tagon, Schlock and Elf are placed in front of the Toughs player. Place tokens for health status and armour on the matching symbols on the profile cards. Place two epaulette-grenade tokens on the matching symbol on Tagon's profile card.
6. The Toughs player now uses the markers to set the turn order (1st, 2nd and 3rd figure) of the Toughs for the first round. Each Tough receives one marker. This order applies only to the first round. Place the markers with the black text on white background face up.

Start of Play and Turns

Play is in rounds, in which the players take turns.

Normally the Partnership Collective player has the first turn of a round. After that the players alternate turns. (That is, the Partnership Collective player makes a turn with a figure, then the Toughs player makes a turn with a figure, then the Partnership Collective player again, then the Toughs player again, and so on.)

On its turn, the Partnership Collective player may use any of its drones. The exact number of drones depends on the number of commands it has on its turn. See "Collective turn" on page 5 for details.

On its turn, the Toughs player may only use the figure that is due to move (as determined by the turn-order markers). Details are given under "Toughs turn" on page 5.

When every Tough has either taken one turn in the round or been eliminated, the round ends and a new round begins. At the start of each round, the Toughs player may redistribute the turn-order markers (each figure receives only one marker). Surplus markers are returned to the box.

If a Tough character is taken into detention (and thereby eliminated from the game) during a round before it has had its turn, the turn passes to the next Tough in the order. In the learning game, the Partnership Collective player may under no circumstances take two turns in immediate succession, not even across a round boundary.

Order of a Round

1. The Toughs player sets the turn order of its figures.
2. Collective turn (in the first round, or when the Toughs had the last turn).
3. Toughs turn (according to the "First turn" marker).
4. Collective turn.
5. Toughs turn (according to the "Second turn" marker).
6. Collective turn.
7. Toughs turn (according to the "Third turn" marker).

Collective Turn

Carry out these steps in order:

1. Roll commands
2. Apply commands
3. End the turn

1. Roll commands. The Partnership Collective player begins each turn by rolling three dice. The median (middle value) sets the number of commands for that turn. Place the command marker on the matching space of the equipment monitor on the Partnership Drone's profile card to keep track of the remaining commands.

Example:

• You roll 1, 5, 6. The median is 5, and you have 5 commands this turn.
• You roll 1, 4, 4. The median is 4, so you have 4 commands this turn.
• You roll 3, 3, 3. The median is 3, and you have 3 commands available.
• You roll 2, 2, 6. The median is 2, so you have 2 commands this turn.

2. Apply commands. A command can bring a drone onto the board or activate one of the drones already on the board. The commands may be applied in any order. Each action may be applied several times in a turn, but only once per command.

Options for commands:

a. Bring a drone into play. With one command, the Partnership Collective player may bring a drone from the reserve onto an empty, unblocked teraport gate. This command is not available if there are no drones left in the reserve. This command is not available if all teraport gates are blocked by a blockade marker.

Protect your teraport gates, Partnership Collective player.

b. Activate a drone. When a command is spent to activate a drone, the Partnership Collective player chooses the drone and activates it. This drone takes a turn, which must be carried out completely before further commands can be applied within the Collective turn. A drone turn consists of:

1. The drone rolls its movement.
2. The drone carries out actions.

A drone may be activated only once per Collective turn.

Toughs turn. For the Tough character whose turn it is, the following steps are carried out:

1. The Tough rolls its movement rate.
2. The Tough carries out actions.
3. Turn the turn-order marker over.

Rolling movement. Every character, Toughs and drones alike, follows the same rules for movement (see the mobility entry on the profile card). Roll the number of dice given (the number of dice symbols next to the arrow). In the learning game the drone uses the median (middle value), just as with the number of commands above. Some Toughs use the highest value and others the middle value. This is set by the mobility on each profile card.

The value of the die determines the number of squares that the drone or Tough may enter during the turn. Place the movement marker on the equipment-status monitor on the profile card to record the movement rate for the turn.

A normal movement need not be your first action in the turn. Nevertheless, you roll the movement rate first, so that your options for the turn are clear.

Figures may not enter squares occupied by the enemy team.

Figures may not move through obstacles such as walls, or enter squares filled with infrastructure.

Example: The active drone has rolled a mobility of 5. It carries out the 5 moves shown above (ending on square 5) and has Tagon within reach. Arrest warrant ready! Note that the drone has jumped over a friend on square 4.

Actions. Each character has an "Actions" property, which determines the maximum number of actions it may carry out in its turn. In Schlock Mercenary: Capital Offensive learning game, you may choose from the following actions:

1. Normal movement (limit: once per turn)
2. Sprint (limit: once per turn)
3. Special action (limit: each special action once per turn)

Special actions may be selected several times per turn, provided you use a different special action each time.

Action: Normal movement. The movement began with rolling the movement rate, that is, the number of squares the figure token may move with a normal movement.

Each movement must be at right angles (left, right, up or down), not diagonally. The movement rate need not be used in full, but unused mobility is lost and cannot be carried over to the next turn or round.

Figures may pass freely through squares held by their own team. If a movement ends on a square that is already occupied, the moving figure is eliminated.

(Note: a piece of thread, a ruler or another straight object is helpful here.)

Action: Sprint. When a sprint is carried out, the figure may move up to two squares. Sprints may be carried out in addition to or instead of a normal movement.

The rules for sprints are the same as for normal movement.

Action: Special actions. Some characters in Schlock Mercenary (all 3 Toughs and the drones in the learning game) may carry out special actions.

Special actions § are noted on the profile card of each figure; many are attacks.

Each special action § may be used only once per turn, but as many different special actions may be used in one turn as the number of available actions allows.

In the learning game, all characters have attack-oriented special actions §. Later scenarios will introduce other special actions § and also equipment special actions.

Attack. An attack is carried out in these steps, in order:

A. Choose equipment or special action. B. Check that there is a direct line of sight. C. Roll your attack with the stated number of attack dice. D. Remove the dice showing AutoMiss values. E. Check the range and remove the dice that do not show the necessary range. F. The defender rolls the stated number of defence dice. G. Set off defence dice against attack dice. H. Count the hits that get through.

Attack step A: choose equipment or special action. You may attack with any special action, any piece of equipment and any innate ability that has an attack value. The attack value is marked with the symbol §.

Attack step B: check line of sight. You may attack any enemy that the figure has a clear view of.

Every square on the board has a dot in its centre. To check line of sight to the target, draw a straight line from the centre of your square to the centre of the square with the defender.

Walls and infrastructure block lines of sight. Figures, friend or foe, block sight if the straight line runs exactly through the centre of their square.

Example: Drone 1 has line of sight only to Elf. Schlock is behind a wall, and Tagon stands just behind Elf.

Drone 2 has line of sight to Schlock and Tagon, but not to Elf, because the straight line from the centre of Drone 2's square to the centre of Elf's square passes through the corner of the square with the wall.

Attack step C: roll the attack. Roll the number of dice set by the attack value.

Example: Schlock's plasma cannon has the attack value 5 §. In an attack, Schlock would use five dice.

Attack step D: remove AutoMiss dice. Many attack types are somewhat imprecise. This is represented by the AutoMiss values. Every die whose face value is an AutoMiss value is removed from the attack roll immediately.

AutoMiss values are shown on the horizontal number line (1-6) as black numbers on a white background. This row is called the AutoMiss bar.

Example: Elf attacks a drone with her laser pistol, which has the attack value 3 and AutoMiss values 1 and 3. Elf rolls three dice: 2, 3 and 6. The die showing 3 is an AutoMiss value and is removed. The remaining dice show 2 and 6.

Attack step E: check range. For each attack die that remains, the range must be checked. A die with insufficient range is removed from the attack immediately.

Determine the distance to the target and remove all dice with lower face values. Keep all dice whose face values are at least as large as the distance. Some attacks have a maximum range. If the distance to the target is greater than the maximum range, the attack cannot hit.

Range for horizontal and vertical lines. If the attacker and defender have a horizontal or vertical line of sight, the distance is simply the number of squares from the attacker to the defender. See Example Attack-I below.

Example Attack-I, straight line of sight: Schlock attacks the unlucky drone. Schlock's distance is 3 squares, as shown above.

Range for diagonals. In other cases, an "L"-shaped connection of one horizontal and one vertical line may be made between attacker and defender. The distance is the sum of the number of squares along the long leg of the "L" and the rounded-down half of the number of squares along the short leg of the "L". See examples Attack-II and Attack-III below.

Example Attack-II, distance on an oblique line of sight: Schlock attacks the unlucky drone. The long leg of the "L" is three squares, the short leg 2 squares, halved 1. So the total distance is 3+1=4 squares.

Example Attack-III, distance on an oblique line of sight: Schlock attacks the unfortunate drone. The long leg of the "L" is 3 squares, the short part likewise 3, halved 1.5, rounded down 1. The total distance is 3+1=4 squares.

Attack step F: defence roll. The defender rolls the number of dice given for Defence on its profile card.

Attack step G: set off defence against attack. A defence die cancels one attack die with the same or a lower face value. Both dice are removed from the attack immediately.

Example I: Schlock fires at a drone and rolls 5 dice at distance 2. Schlock rolls 1, 1, 2, 3, 3. The threes are AutoMiss values and are removed in step D. The ones have too short a range and are removed in step E. So Schlock keeps a single attack die with value 2.

The drone's defence has two dice. It rolls 1 and 4. The drone player uses the 4 to ward off Schlock's attack die with 2. Schlock has no attack dice left.

Example II: Had Schlock been at distance 1, he would have hit with 1, 1 and 2. The defence die with 4 would have eliminated the 2, and the drone's 1 would have cancelled one of Schlock's 1s. This would have left Schlock a single attack die with value 1.

Attack step H: count hits. Every remaining attack die counts as a hit on the defender. If no attack dice remain, no hits are counted.

For each hit, one armour marker is removed from the defender. Once all armour tokens are removed, each attack costs one health-status token.

When the last health-status marker is removed, the figure or character is eliminated.

In the learning game, drones are killed and Toughs are taken into pre-trial detention.

Eliminated figures are removed from the board.

Example, complete attack sequence: Schlock decides to treat himself to a drone spiced with extra plasma and fires at the nearest drone.

A. Schlock takes the plasma cannon. Attack value: 5, AutoMiss: 3, 4.

B. Schlock checks the line of sight by drawing an (imaginary) line from the centre of his square to the centre of the drone's square. It does not pass through walls, infrastructure or the centre of an occupied square; see the red line in the picture above.

C. Schlock rolls his attack dice (5 dice) and gets 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.

D. Schlock's four is removed as an AutoMiss value of the plasma cannon. He keeps 1, 2, 5 and 6.

E. The range is checked. Schlock's distance is 2 squares. The long leg of the "L" is 2 squares, the short leg 1 (thick black line in the picture), halved 0.5, rounded down 0. The distance is therefore 2. Schlock's 1 is removed for insufficient range.

F. The drone player rolls 2 defence dice, because drones have a defence value of 2. It rolls 1 and 5.

G. The drone player uses the 5 to cancel Schlock's 5. Schlock keeps two dice, 2 and 6. The drone's 1 cannot be used.

H. Schlock's attack lands 2 hits (two dice remain). This reduces the drone's health status by 2 markers. Since drones have only one marker, it is eliminated and its figure is removed from the board, accompanied by Schlock's happy grin.

Innate Abilities §

Some figures have innate abilities §. These differ from special actions in that they do not count as an action and do not use up commands for activation.

As with special actions, the innate abilities of each figure are listed on its profile card. The profile card states how an innate ability § works.

Some scenarios contain scenario-specific innate abilities.

Learning-game-specific innate ability § Teraport blockade. In the learning game, all Toughs have the innate ability to block teraports. Each Tough that stands on a teraport gate at the start of a Tough turn places a blockade marker on its teraport gate. Drones can no longer be brought into play through this square.

Example: Tagon stands on an open teraport gate. The Partnership Collective player ends its turn. Now the Toughs are to move and Elf is the next in the order of turn (after the turn-order markers). Since Tagon stands on an open teraport gate and the Toughs are now to move, a blockade marker is placed on the gate, even though it is not Tagon's turn.

Special Locations and Obstacles

Special location: armoury. In the armoury, figures may supplement their weaponry. In the learning game, Toughs and drones may receive markers for armour, while Tagon may also reload his epaulette grenades thanks to his innate ability.

When a figure enters an armoury, or begins its turn in an armoury, it receives one (1) armour marker. This is placed on the profile card. Figures may acquire additional armour markers during the game; there is no upper limit. Figures receive this armour by passing through the armoury. A figure may visit an armoury only once per turn.

Drones may also receive armour in an armoury. In that case the armour marker is placed on the drone concerned. This armour protects a drone just as it would protect a Tough. Hits on the drone remove armour markers before the drone's health status suffers.

Instead of improving his armour, Tagon may place 1 epaulette-grenade marker on his profile card if one of the symbols in the combat-readiness box is free.

Special locations: walls and infrastructure. Walls and infrastructure are obstacles that must be lived with. They hinder movement and block the free view of opponents. Use them to your advantage when you deploy your troops.

Wall infrastructure. Walls and infrastructure cannot be entered or crossed. They block lines of sight. (Each side of an infrastructure square is treated as a wall.)

Epaulette grenades. Tagon's epaulette grenades are single-use weapons that may be used as a special action. Instead of attacking an enemy, the grenade is thrown onto a free square. The target square and all adjacent squares that have line of sight are affected by the attack. According to pages 14 and 15, Tagon's epaulette grenades count as explosive weapons. No range check is made for their attack dice.

Victory

Partnership Collective player: this player wins the game when all Toughs have been eliminated (taken into pre-trial detention).

Tagon's Toughs player: this player wins when all three teraport gates are blocked AND all drones have been eliminated from the board.

This ends the rules for the learning game.

Play this variant a few times to become familiar with the characters, rounds and turns.

Once you feel at home in the scenario, you can play the learning game with other floor tiles and arrangements and see how small changes to the board make for a completely different game.

When you are ready, read further in the rulebook to learn the whole game. (We recommend first the Frag Fest scenario, in which Toughs fight Toughs in a training simulation.)

[Transcriber note: the source file ends here. The remaining sections of the rulebook (full game, scenarios, glossary) are not in the source file and are not transcribed.]