VOLT: Robot Battle Arena Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Basic Game Setup
• How to Play
  • Step 1: Place your action dice
    • Movement
    • Firing
  • Step 2: Reveal & resolve actions
    • Resolving movement actions
    • Resolving firing actions
    • Hit table
    • Ties
  • Step 3: Score victory points
  • Step 4: Respawn
• Game End
• Game Board
  • Control Points
  • Pits
  • Repair Center
• Game Modes
  • Advanced Game
  • Main Event
  • Draft Match
  • Team Play
• Modules
  • Important notes

Objective

Be the first player to score five victory points. Players earn victory points by having their robot on the active control point at the end of the round or by destroying opposing robots.

Components

• Double-sided game board x2
• Player board x4
• Player screen (HUD) x4
• Robot miniature x4
• Red action dice x4
• White action dice x4
• Blue action dice x4
• Blue control point die
• Sequence token x4
• Damage token x8
• Victory Point token x19
• Module tile x16
• Mine token x16
• Grenade token x4
• Magnetic field token x4
• Teleporter token x4
• Tractor beam token x4
• Reflector token x4

Basic Game Setup

1. Select one of the four game boards and place it in the center of the table.
2. Each player places a player board in front of him or her. The top edge of the player board should be parallel to one of the edges of the game board.
3. Each player selects a robot figure and takes the player screen (HUD) of the matching color.
4. Each player takes one red, one white, and one blue action dice.
5. Place the victory point and damage tokens near the game board.
6. Place the sequence tokens near the game board.
7. Each player places their robot figure on any space that's along the edge of the game board.
8. Roll the Control Point die to determine the active control point (see Control Point below).

How to Play

Each round consists of the following steps:

1. Place your action dice
2. Reveal and resolve actions
3. Score victory points
4. Respawn

Note: The steps for each round are also printed on the player screen (HUD) for easy reference.

Step 1: Place your action dice

At the start of each round, players will place their player screens in front of their player boards and secretly assign their action dice. Each player is armed with three action dice that allow the player to control the robot's movement and weapons.

The player board is divided into two sections: the MOVEMENT CONTROLS (four direction buttons) and the WEAPON CONTROLS (eight firing direction buttons).

Important: These action dice are not rolled. Instead each player chooses the number on the dice and places them on their player board. Each space on the player board may only hold one die. Action dice may not be stacked.

Movement

To move your robot in a direction, place an action die on one of the four direction buttons. You may place up to two action dice on your movement controls. The placement of your action die determines in which direction your robot moves. The number on the die determines how many spaces your robot moves. For example, if you place a 4 on the right arrow button, your robot will move to the right four spaces when that action die resolves.

Firing

To fire your robot's blaster, place one of your action dice on one of the eight firing direction buttons. For example, if you place one of your action dice on the top left firing button, your robot will fire in that direction. If the action die has a value of 2 or higher, your blaster will also disrupt opponents that are hit, based on the hit table (See Hit table).

Important: All movement and firing is relative to how your player board is oriented in relation to the game board. For this reason, it's important to always have the top edge of your player board parallel to one edge of the game board.

When you are done placing your action dice on your player board, give a "thumbs-up" to show that you are done. When all players have their thumbs up, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Reveal & resolve actions

Once all players have placed their action dice, everyone simultaneously reveals their player board. The dice resolve in the following order: red, then white, then blue.

All players' red action dice resolve first and resolve in order starting with the lowest number going first (i.e. dice with a 1 will go first while the dice with a 6 will go last). Once all of the red action dice from all players have resolved, then everyone will resolve their white action dice in order from lowest to highest number. Then finally the blue action dice will resolve after all white action dice have resolved.

Example: In the example below, the red player has a red 4, white 3, and blue 3. The blue player has a red 3, white 6 and a blue 1.

The blue player's movement of 3 would resolve first, and she would move her robot figure three spaces. Next, the red player would resolve his red die with the value of 4. Both players would then resolve their white dice with the red player moving before the blue player fires her blaster. Finally the blue dice resolve with the blue player moving one space before the red player fires.

Tip: When one of your action dice resolves, put it off to the side to indicate that action has been taken but do not change the number on the die. The numbers on the dice are used to resolve ties (See Ties).

Resolving movement actions

When resolving your movement actions, move your robot in the direction of the button and a number of spaces equal to the number on the dice. You may not choose to move fewer spaces than the value of the die. If there is another robot in your path, simply push that robot as your robot moves. There's no limit to the number of robots you can move. If you encounter a wall, you can't move any further and your move simply ends.

Resolving firing actions

When resolving your firing actions, your robot fires in the direction of the dice. If there is another robot in that direction, you deal one point of damage to that robot and possibly disrupt that robot's actions (See Hit table). If there is more than one robot in that path, you only deal damage to the nearest robot. When damage is dealt, place a damage token in front of that robot's owner. When a robot has taken three points of damage, it is destroyed (See Respawn) and immediately removed from the board. The player that dealt the final point of damage is awarded one victory point.

Hit table

Whenever you deal damage to another robot with your blaster, you can disrupt movement and/or firing, or push the opposing robot one space. When the value of the die used for firing is 2 or higher, consult the hit table to determine the effect of the shot.

Die value	Effect
2	Rotate dice on weapon controls by 45° clockwise.
3	Rotate dice on weapon controls by 45° counter clockwise.
4	Rotate all dice by 90° clockwise.
5	Rotate all dice by 90° counter clockwise.
6	Push one space away.

For example, the blue player successfully hits the red player's robot with a 4. The red player must rotate any remaining action dice 90 degrees clockwise.

Damage is applied before the hit table effects. If the damage would destroy the robot, the hit table effects don't apply.

Note: The Hit table is also on your player screen (HUD) for convenience.

Important: The hit table only applies to your robot's standard blaster.

Ties

When two or more players have the same number on the same color action dice (e.g. two players have the number 3 on their white action dice), then dice on the movement controls resolve before dice on the firing controls. If the tied dice are on same section of the player board (movement or weapons) then each player totals up the value of all of their dice. The player that has the lower total resolves their action die first. If the total value of the dice is also tied, then each player randomly draws a sequence token and reveals their number. The player that has the lower value resolves first.

Once all players have resolved all of their actions, move on to the scoring step.

Step 3: Score victory points

During the scoring step, if any player has their robot on the active control point (the numbered space on the game board that matches the number on the control point die), that player is awarded one victory point. When victory points are awarded this way reroll the control point die. Players now have a new active control point to battle over.

Step 4: Respawn

When a robot is destroyed either by damage or by falling into a pit (See Pits below) it is removed from the board immediately. During the respawn step, any destroyed robots return to the board on any of the unoccupied spaces along the edge of the board. A robot that respawns has all of their damage tokens removed. If there were multiple robots destroyed, players place their robots onto the game board in the order in which the robots were destroyed.

Game End

The game ends immediately whenever any player scores 5 victory points.

Game Board

The game board represents the arena or battlefield where the robots battle it out for glory. Each game board has the following features:

Control Points

These are the numbered spaces that the players will battle over to earn victory points. Players earn one victory point for having their robot on the space with the same number as the control point die. Beware, there are usually pits nearby!

Pits

Each game board has a number of pits. Any robot that falls into a pit is immediately destroyed. There are two ways to fall into a pit. The first is to move over a pit with normal movement. The other way to fall into a pit is to be pushed into one. Whenever you push a robot directly into a pit, that robot is destroyed and you earn 1 victory point. Pushing another robot into a pit can be accomplished by moving and pushing it or shooting it using a value of 6 on the action die. The player that directly pushes an opponent's robot into a pit is awarded one victory point. There are no points for 'assists' in this game; players do not receive any victory points for positioning an opponent's robot which gets pushed into a pit from another player's action.

Repair Center

On each game board there is one repair center space. Anytime your robot lands on this space, you may repair all damage and discard your damage tokens.

Game Modes

Advanced Game

It is recommended to play the basic game at least once to get familiar with the rules before moving on to the advanced game. To set up the advanced game, first follow the steps for setting up the basic game. Then shuffle the module tiles and randomly draw one to place face up next to the game board. That module is the active module and applies to all players (See the Modules section).

Expert Game Option: Draw two (or more) module tiles instead of one.

Main Event

For a longer game, players will compete in several advanced games. Each time a player wins a game using the advanced rules, that player will claim the module tile and place it in front of them face down. The first player to claim two module tiles is the ultimate winner of the main event.

Draft Match

Shuffle the module tiles and randomly deal each player 3 module tiles. Each player then takes one and places it behind their player screen (HUD). Then each player passes the rest to the player to the left. From the remaining 2 module tiles, each player takes another one to place behind their screen. Then each player passes the remaining tile to the player on the left. Players now compete in up to four games. At the start of each game, players select one of the modules they have drafted. When all players have selected a module, they are revealed. Each module now only applies to the owner of the module. For instance, if a player has the grenade module, only their robot is equipped with the grenade launcher. Each player will have a different module equipped. At the end of each game, the winner will place his active module tile face down in front of him. That module can no longer be used for the rest of the draft match. When a player has won two games, the match ends with that player claiming victory. If the match ends with all players winning one game each, the winner of the last game is the ultimate victor.

Expert Draft Match Option: Play with all three modules active instead of just one. When a player wins, that player selects which module to turn face down.

Team Play

Players pair up into two teams of two players. Each team works together to reach 10 victory points. Players still keep their action dice hidden from everyone including their teammates. Players that destroy their teammate will award 1 victory point to the opposing team. The Advanced Game, Main Event, and Draft Match modes can be used with the Team Play rules.

Modules

Twin Blaster: Firing your robot's standard blaster with a 3, 4, 5, or 6 will deal +1 damage on a hit in addition to its other effects on the hit table.

Force Blaster: Firing your robot's standard blaster with a 3, 4, 5, or 6 will push the target one space away on a hit in addition to its other effects on the hit table.

Mobility Module: You may use all three dice for movement.

Saw Blades: Your robot is equipped with front mounted saw blades. Each time you push another robot using your movement action, you deal 1 damage to that robot. If you push that robot 3 or more spaces, deal 2 damage instead.

Gravity Treads: Each time your robot is pushed, it can't be pushed further than one space.

Grenades: Your robot is able to launch grenades. Take one of the grenade tokens. To fire a grenade, place the grenade token under the action die you wish to use to launch the grenade. The grenade will land based on the number and direction of the action die on the weapon controls. For instance, if the action die is on the top right with the value of three, the grenade will land three diagonal spaces away in that direction.

The grenade detonates immediately and deals one damage to the object (*Note: objects refer to both robots and mines) on the space it lands on. If it hits a robot, that robot is pushed one space in the firing direction. The grenade also deals one damage to all objects adjacent to the point of explosion. Robots dealt damage this way are also pushed one space away from the grenade. Grenades that fall into pits have no effect.

Mines: Each time you resolve your movement action, a mine of your color is placed on the space your robot just moved from. When a robot (including your own) moves onto or over your mine, it detonates and destroys that robot. If a mine is moved onto a space that's occupied by a robot, the mine detonates and that robot is destroyed. Mines can also be detonated with damage. A detonated mine deals 1 damage to all adjacent objects including other mines, which in turn also detonate. Each robot destroyed by a mine will award a victory point to the owner of the mine (unless it was the owner's robot that was destroyed). Any detonated mines are immediately returned to their owner. At the start of each round, players may reclaim any of their mines to reuse for the round. When a robot is destroyed, all mines that belong to that robot are returned to the owner. Mines that fall into pits have no effect.

Magnetic Field: Your robot is equipped with a magnetic field generator. Take one of the magnetic field tokens. To activate the magnetic field, place the token under one of your action dice on the movement controls. When you resolve that movement action all objects adjacent to your robot will move along with it. There is no limit to the number of objects that can be moved. If an object is moved over a pit, it will fall into the pit. If it happens to be an opposing robot, you earn the victory point for destroying it.

Teleporter: Your robot is equipped with the teleporter gun. Take one of the teleporter tokens. Place the teleporter token under the action die you wish to use to fire the teleporter. Instead of dealing damage on a hit, your robot swaps places with the nearest object along the firing path.

Repulsion Field: At the end of each of your robot's move action, push all objects adjacent to your robot one space away.

Shock Pulse: Each time your robot ends a move action, it discharges the shock pulse which deals 1 damage to all objects adjacent to it (Beware, you can detonate mines this way). If a robot has both the repulsion field and shock pulse equipped the shock pulse will resolve first.

Explosive Core: When your robot is destroyed by damage, it explodes and deals 2 damage to all objects that are adjacent to your robot. If another robot is destroyed from your explosion, you'll receive the victory point.

Repair Module: At the end of each round, if your robot didn't sustain any damage during the round, you may repair 1 damage.

Cross-Fire Blasters: Your robot's standard blaster is augmented to fire in four directions. Each time your robot fires in an orthogonal direction (horizontal and vertical) it fires in all four orthogonal directions. Each time your robot fires in a diagonal direction, it fires in all four diagonal directions. If a player manages to hit two opponents with one action die, that player is awarded a bonus victory point.

Tractor Beam: Your robot is equipped with a tractor beam. Take a tractor beam token and place it under the action die you wish to use to fire the tractor beam. Instead of dealing damage on a hit, your robot moves the nearest object along the firing path a number of spaces closer to it equal to the value of the die. If the value of the die is greater than the number of spaces between your robot and the target, you may only move the target object up to the space adjacent to your robot. If you pull an object over a pit, it will fall into the pit. If you destroy an opposing robot this way, you earn a victory point.

Reflector Shield: Your robot is outfitted with a reflector shield that will reflect incoming attacks. At the start of each round, place the reflector shield token on one of the unused directional buttons on your weapon controls. You may not place an action die on this token. If your robot is attacked from that direction, the attack is reflected back. Treat this reflected attack as if it was your robot that made the attack. For instance, if an opponent's robot was destroyed by having an attack reflected back by your shield, you will be awarded the victory point. There is an exception: if you reflect the teleporter gun back at an opponent, nothing happens since the opposing robot is teleporting to itself.

Important notes

• A button may not have more than one token.
• Always apply damage before other effects. For instance, if a robot is destroyed by the damage from a grenade, it's immediately taken off the board and no other effects apply such as being pushed.
• Resolve effects in the order they were triggered. For instance, if the shock pulse detonated a mine, resolve the effect of the shock pulse completely before resolving the mine detonation.
• If multiple effects are triggered simultaneously, use the sequence tokens to determine the order those effects resolve.