Warfighter Shadow War: The Modern Night Combat Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

1. Important Information
- 1.0 An Overview of this Manual
- 1.1 Contents of the Box
2. Preparing a Mission and Gearing Up
- 2.1 Setting Up The Mission
- 2.2 Gearing Up
3. Playing the Mission
4. Miscellaneous Rules
5. Quick Reference Sheets

1. Important Information

This section contains important information you should know before starting your Warfighter: Shadow War game; be sure to read this thoroughly.

1.0 An Overview of this Manual

This Warfighter: Shadow War manual has been made in the interest of introducing new players to the game. While it is a somewhat complex game, it's made leagues more difficult to learn by the Warfighter Universal Rulebook, which is a good reference but bad learning material.

This book is not meant to replace the Universal Rulebook, but supplement it. Hopefully, by the time you have digested this manual, you will be able to use the Universal Rulebook to look up rules questions instead of this manual. If the Universal Rulebook has a rule that this manual gets wrong or does not have, the Universal Rulebook is king.

With that said, the purpose of this manual is to help new players learn how to play the game of Shadow War from start to finish. If you have any questions or suggestions for improving the manual, I'm always available on the DVG Discord under the name BlueMaxima.

Gameplay tip: Every now and again I'll pop in to tell you a nugget of wisdom learned from playing the game, to hopefully make your learning experience much smoother. Feel free to ignore my advice and just dive right in, though!

1.1 Contents of the Box

Your box should come with a fair few things:

The Warfighter Universal Rulebook
The Warfighter Keywords Reference
224 cards of varying types
A handful of punch-out counter sheets
The fold-out game board
Three ten-sided dice, one six-sided die, one twenty-sided die
If you have a first-print copy of Shadow War, you also received a handful of promo cards and a Scenario Book. We won't be going over these in this manual.

We'll explain what the components are in-depth in the next few sections. I'd also recommend sourcing a tray to sort the counters for ease of play, and two small, opaque bags or cups.

Note that this manual does not cover expansion content, we are focusing entirely on the base box, with one or two exceptions.

1.1.1 Cards

The most important part of Warfighter are the cards, that determine your soldiers, what they're fighting with, who they're fighting and where they're fighting. This section will give you a quick overview of each card type and go more in-depth later on, so that you can hopefully get an idea of what's going on as you read through the manual.

Soldier Cards represent your men sent on their dangerous mission.

Player Soldiers are the most flexible, being able to take any weapons, equipment and skills, and are usually the strongest as a result, but this comes at a higher cost than most other Soldiers. They are also the only Soldier that can draw Action Cards, making them vital to winning the mission, as you need to find Locations to progress via drawing them from the Action deck, and Action Cards themselves are useful battle tricks that can turn the tide in bad situations.
Non-Player Soldiers are, to put it in a basic way, pre-equipped Soldiers. They usually come with weaponry and equipment that can't be changed, but cost less overall as a result. So if you need to fill a role relatively cheaply, see if there's a Non-Player Soldier that can help you.
Squad Soldiers are, to also put it in a basic way, the background soldier in a war movie that sometimes gets a lucky shot off. If you have a few points to spare and want to shore up your offensive capabilities, or need a certain skill that a Squad has handy, they aren't bad to bring along.

Gameplay tip: In Shadow War, it's usually a good idea to bring along as few Soldiers as possible, purely due to more men being more visible to the enemy.

Gameplay tip 2: My personal advice is that you probably want to bring along at least 2 Player Soldiers at all times if budget allows for it.

Your Soldiers need to be equipped with Weapons, Equipment and Skills.

Weapons go pew pew and shoot Hostiles, and it really doesn't get much simpler than that. The base box comes with plenty of guns for the job, from all-rounders like the M4 and M16, MP5s for close range combat, an M249 SAW for heavy suppressing fire, the M14 for long-range kills, and even a rocket launcher, tripmines and sidearms.
Equipment is just as important, as it gives you the ability to see enemies and move around easier in the dark, keep more quiet, body armor to save you from those more dangerous shots, and some fancy equipment for your guns.

Note: Warfighter refers to Weapons and Equipment in tandem as "Gear".

Skills are passive buffs that are very handy to have around: the example above just makes you more accurate in general, which is a real plus. But they can give you more tricks to play with, such as extra long range kills, better rolls on lockpicking, and quieter movement.

The cards above may seem redundant, but these are for bringing over Soldiers and Weapons from other Warfighter games into Shadow War. Hold onto them; you may just develop an addiction to buying expansions.

Action Cards

Action Cards are cards that are drawn by Player Soldiers, and they are really, really useful. The most important is the Location Marker, as this lets you find Locations that allow you to travel from your insertion point to the objective you're trying to accomplish.

But all the others are important too, as they can let you pull tricks to get out of really sticky situations. Being able to bike away from a Hostile, Move without spending an Action or throw out three or four shots without making too much of a fuss can come in real handy.

Locations

Locations are drawn when you gain Location Markers from the Action Deck, and they're the trail of places you visit on your way through North Korea. Choosing where to go and when is a big part of keeping under the radar. You'll notice a few things on them that I'll point out now:

The Hostiles table in the bottom-right signifies how heavily patrolled these regions are. The Fields don't have much, but the Checkpoint is well guarded.
The Entrance Costs in the top-right determine how hard it is to get into a Location; you're gonna have a hard time getting through a Mob, but the Checkpoint is lit up and easy to traverse.
The Rein. Roll determines how often reinforcements show up. You're gonna get a lot more Hostiles trying to contain a Mob than wander around in the Fields at night.

The Insertion, Mission, Objective and Extraction cards define the state of the game and change the way you need to think about your mission and loadout. You can pick any combo of the four, or even shuffle and deal out four randomly to give yourself a real challenge.

The Mission determines your resources available to you during setup, how many turns you'll have, how far you need to go to get to your objective, how lightly equipped your soldiers need to be, how much background activity is helping you hide in the shadows, and any special conditions.
The Objective is what you need to do to win the game. In this particular case, you need to get Soldiers onto the objective, and keep it completely clear of enemies for two turns. Most Objectives are heavily fortified with enemies and have other conditions to keep things interesting.
Insertions are extra conditions that make the mission just a little bit harder. Right now it's just making the mission a bit longer, but it could be less resources, a requirement of certain kinds of soldiers, or not being able to make more than a certain amount of noise.
Extractions are the one last challenge you need to do to get out of dodge. Once the Objective is done, everyone can bail to the Extraction and start fulfilling the requirements.

One of the best parts of Shadow War is how picking different cards can create a completely different mission. See if you can figure out the way the below cards will play out differently.

But of course, it would be no fun without enemies to fight, and Hostiles are here to make that fight happen. However, in Shadow War, you start out with enemies being dangerous, as you haven't gotten a good look at them yet. One of the neat things about Shadow War is revealing Hostiles makes them less dangerous, but costs resources; are you willing to spend the effort, or are you willing to have them be more dangerous to get more done on the side? And be careful...you might just be shooting at Shadows...

It's also worth noting that all Hostiles have their own unique behaviors and attacks (center bottom), cover (bottom left), amount of dudes to kill (center, reticles), movement (top left) and capacity to search for you (top right), and every enemy you leave unassailed may well come back to haunt you. To eliminate them, you need to fill all the reticles with EKIA counters.

One of the most dangerous types of Hostiles is the Reaction Force; when the alarm goes off, these boys will sweep the field from left to right, alerting all the previously unaware Hostiles in their path, bringing with them a wave of death. Have your mission complete before they catch up to you, or God save your Soldiers' souls.

1.1.2 Counters

The box comes with a lot of counters that are used throughout the game. Akin to the previous section I'll just provide a quick outline here; more details will be given when these counters are more appropriate. Once you've sorted out those counters, you'll notice you have a few left over. I won't go over them in this manual because they're for content not included in the base box; I'd recommend keeping them out of the way just to keep the game as easy as possible to learn.

Action counters determine how many Actions your Soldiers can take during a Soldier Turn.
You can use these to keep track of whether you've used your Night Vision Goggles to remove the Night Entrance Cost penalty.
These Soldier Identification counters come in pairs; one to determine what Soldier is what number, and the other to keep track of where he is on the board.
The Timer counter keeps track of how many turns the Mission has left.
The Inactive counter keeps track of the Objective and whether it has been reached and activated yet.
The Noise counter keeps track of how much attention you've bought to yourself over the course of the Mission.
The Enemy Mobilization Status counter keeps track of whether the alarms have been set off yet.
The Mobilization counters come out after the alarm goes off, alerting Hostiles in their Locations as they are placed.
Hostiles come out with an Unaware counter; they don't know where you are. If you miss a shot at them, they'll (flip) Pause..."I think I heard something!"
These Going for Alarm counters come in pairs; one for a Hostile that's been alerted to your presence, and another for tracking progress along the Go for Alarm track.
These Target counters are drawn from a cup and placed on a Hostile when they become Aware of your presence; they'll track down the Soldier with the matching Soldier Identification counter.
These double-sided Suppress and EKIA counters mark having suppressed a Hostile reticle or a Soldier, and having killed a Hostile reticle respectively.
These Wound counters are taken by Soldiers if Hostiles attack them. They are flipped to their bandaged side if not completely treated.
There are 14 of these Unaware Target tokens that signify you getting a good (or bad) sight line on your target.
These XP tokens keep track of a Soldier's total XP count from mission prep or killing Hostiles. They have multiple uses throughout the Mission.
These are special, quiet kinds of ammo. Black Ammo costs resources, while Subsonic Ammo is free, but less likely to kill a target.
Regular ammo. It's really loud, and you should probably avoid using it as much as you can until the alarm rings. All ammo is (relatively) universal, you can use it to track ammo on all guns.
These counters all represent weapons or equipment that are expended – i.e. thrown away after a single use, and are used on their particular cards or as instructed throughout the game.
The Bipod is a double-sided counter meant for the M14 & M249 in the base box. Deploying the Bipod gives bonuses depending on the weapon.
You can use these counters to keep track of how many turns you've managed to keep a Location Clear for the Keep Clear objective.
You use these counters to keep track of Objective Hostiles that need to die for the mission to be accomplished.

1.1.3 Board

Here's the board as it looks unfolded. The important parts have been highlighted.

The black area is where your Insertion, Mission, Locations, Objective and Extraction will end up. You can see numbers in the bottom right corner of each slot; this is the Location number (often referred to by the game as Location # or Loc #).

The white area is where Hostiles will end up. Despite my highlighting, Hostiles can be in the Extraction and Mission cards, and can stretch upwards off the board.

The yellow area is where the card decks – Action, Location and Hostiles – will be placed. (Despite the board, keep the Reaction Forces off to the side in their own separate deck, do not shuffle them into the Hostile deck or otherwise combine them.)

The red area is the Timer. It'll slowly but surely count down to the end of the mission.

The blue area is the Noise tracker. It'll start low but climb up throughout the mission.

The orange area is the Going for Alarm track. One of the two Going for Alarm counters will be here, slowly counting down, when a Hostile is Going for Alarm.

The purple area between the orange and blue is the Mobilization Status. It starts on "On Duty" but if the alarm goes off, it moves to "On Alert", making the game harder.

The rest of the board is helpful reminders to the turns, how attack rolls work and how much sound is generated on certain events. For the purpose of this manual, we will be following these reminders closely, to keep referencing this manual easier.

2. Preparing a Mission and Gearing Up

2.1 Setting Up The Mission

To begin even thinking about a Mission in Shadow War, you need to get it ready first.

Part of this is selecting which region you're going to play – expansion packs to Shadow War add more places which come with their own Missions, Objectives and Hostiles. We'll work off the idea that you're playing just the base box though, so start by shuffling the Action cards, Hostile cards (Unrevealed side up), and Location cards, and placing them in their respective decks. Know that you can't mix Hostiles, Missions and Objectives from different expansions together; you have to play them all in set.

You can look at the top of the card in question to see where it's meant to be, to use an example from the base box's North Korea set:

Take the Noise token and place it at the bottom of the Noise tracker. Take the Mobilization Status counter and place it on the "On Duty" space. Take the Inactive and Timer counters and keep them nearby; you'll need them shortly. Take all the Unaware Target counters and place them in an opaque cup; this is the Unaware Target cup.

Next will be to pick your Mission, Objective, Insertion and Extraction. You may pick any combination of the four, although some of them bar the others from being used. (Note that "Mount Up" and "AMPHIB (F470 CRRC)" can't be used together, as an example.) Feel free to also shuffle the four decks and get a completely random mission, too.

Once you've picked your four cards, place the Insertion, Extraction and Mission cards in their particular slots. Then, take your Objective card, and place it at the Location number noted on the Mission card's Objective field, and place the Inactive counter on top of it. Then, place the Timer counter in the number noted by the Mission card's Time field.

Some Objectives will have an "Embedded Objective" card, and the Objective card will note this via "Eliminate Present X". Take that Embedded Objective card and place it above the Objective, if applicable.

When you're done, your board should look something like this:

2.2 Gearing Up

With your Mission now available to you, you can start thinking about your loadouts.

The amount of Resource Points you have available to spend is equal to the Resources listed on the Mission card (don't forget about modifiers from other cards). You do not need to spend all the Resource Points given to you, but you cannot exceed the total available Points. The amount of Resource Points you spend will determine how many Hostiles you will face during the mission.

The Resource Points cost of every card is shown in the top right corner of each Soldier, Weapon, Equipment and Skill. You may buy any Weapon, Equipment or Skill multiple times, even if you only have one copy – use a proxy or some other way of maintaining who has what. (I use face-down cards aligned vertically with the card that is being 'proxied'.)

2.2.1 Soldiers

When you buy any Soldier, that Soldier receives everything listed on their card as a freebie for buying them. Let's have a look at Howard, right, for example.

The white table at the top of the box outline the amount of Actions available to him at certain levels of Health. Health is determined by the left-most table column for Non-Player and Squad Soldiers, while Player Soldiers have it at the bottom left of their cards. The beige text specifies Weapons or Equipment that he receives for free. The white, underlined line specifies a Skill he receives for free. The final line is his values when he rolls dice; his Shadows value is 7+, meaning rolling 7 or higher succeeds on Shadows rolls, and he gets +1 to Hand-to-Hand attacks.

When you buy a Player Soldier, you may buy any Weapon, Equipment or Skill for them, but Non-Player and Squad Soldiers cannot change their included loadouts, with some minor exceptions that are noted on cards (see the IBA Kevlar equipment for an example).

You can see the Soldier's Cover in the bottom left (surrounded by the semi-circle), which shows his ability to take a shot and not be wounded, and his default Movement Value in the middle on the right below the upwards arrow, which gives him a bonus during the Move action.

Player Soldiers may equip anything belonging to their Nation (top left corner of every card) and any non-Nation card they want from the Weapons, Equipment and Skills available, but they cannot exceed their Loadout value, at the left-bottom of the Soldier card. Loadout cost is determined, by default, by the cost of a Weapon or Equipment, so a cost of 2 also means a Loadout cost of 2. However, some can have seperate Loadout costs, like the M4A1 Carbine to the left. Weapons and Equipment also given as a freebie for buying a Player Soldier counts towards Loadout. Skills do not count towards Loadout and are purely a Resource Point drain.

All Player Soldiers have two Actions available to them; Non-Player and Squad Soldiers are the same unless specified in a table like Howard, who has 3 Actions when he has taken no Wounds. Give each Soldier an amount of Action counters as required; place them on their non-Used side.

2.2.2 Weapons

This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

The first table refers to the Weapon's ability to shoot. Lower numbers are better, so in this case, the M4 Carbine will Kill on a roll of 6 (50%) and up at Range 0, while at Range 1 it takes a 9 (20%) and up. It Reloads on 2 and lower on each Attack Die roll.

The second table refers to the Fire Modes, which is how many Attack Dice can be rolled at a time with this gun. This gun can roll either 1 or 2 dice at a time in Semi or Burst mode respectively.

The box in the bottom right refers to how much Ammo the gun starts with. In this example, you get 6 ammo, which you can take from the three following categories:

Black Ammo is the best ammo, as it's the quietest and doesn't penalize Defeat Cover rolls, but it costs 1 Resource Point per counter you buy.
Subsonic Ammo is free to take, and it's as quiet as Black Ammo, but it has a -2 to Defeat Cover rolls - meaning it will have a harder time getting Kills.
Regular Ammo is also free to take, and it doesn't get the -2 to Defeat Cover like Subsonic Ammo, but it's much louder. Don't expect the alarm to stay silent for long.

You may take any combination of the three ammo types for your gun. One of the ammo counters starts "loaded" – placed face up on the ammo box, of your choice.

You may buy an extra set of ammo for a Weapon. By paying an extra 1 Resource Point and Loadout Point, you may take another set of ammo counters as designated on the card.

Weapons with the "Expended" keyword, such as the M2, LAW and grenades, buy individual counters at the listed cost for Resource and Loadout Points. Counters are not Loaded, they are simply used and discarded.

The final set of words on the right is the Weapons' attributes, which are generally Keywords. Here's a quick list of the really important ones you'll see a lot (but please read their keywords properly):

Suppressed: An EKIA also delivers a Suppress. (Every Shadow War weapon)
Expended: Remove a counter from the card after using the Weapon. (Grenades, M2)
Penetration: Improves your Defeat Cover roll, making it easier to get Kills. (M14, M249)
Self-Defense: If you're Attacked by a Range 0 Hostile, you can cancel the Attack by flipping a loaded Ammo counter to Empty. (Pistols)

Cards also have an attack type, which determines what Action Cards can be used on it. As an example, the M4 Carbine above is a Ranged attack, but the M2 Munition is a Mine attack.

Two guns also have a Bipod, which uses the Bipod counter. As an Action, a Soldier may deploy the Bipod to gain any listed benefits. Moving undeploys the Bipod.

2.2.3 Equipment

Equipment works pretty much the same way as Weapons when it comes to purchasing them; the Resource Points and Loadout Points work the same way. However, equipment gives a passive bonus or active ability to the Soldiers that have them in some form or another.

It's worth noting that each Soldier receives a pair of Night Goggles, which allows players to spend some kind of resource to reveal Hostiles or cancel Night Entrance Costs for the turn. As with all freebies, these do count towards Loadout limits.

2.2.4 Skills

Skills are the easiest to understand by far; they simply cost the points listed on the card, have no Loadout cost, and give you a passive buff that's constant or provides a benefit at a set point. If you have a few left-over Resource Points, you should always buy a Skill or two.

Gameplay tip: While I do mention later that Hand-to-Hand attacks are relatively useless, the KA-BAR Knife card included in the base box is almost always worth taking if you have a single point spare, as the equipped Soldier starts with 2 XP, a relatively rare resource.

Gameplay tip 2: When I say you don't have to spend the entirety of the Resource Points afforded to you, I mean it. The 120 RP mission given in the base box is a nightmare if you spend that much, as the alarm goes off almost immediately and you have to fight off massive waves of dudes. Be careful with your point spending and see if you can realistically sneak under a tier.

Gameplay tip 3: Always take two Player Soldiers if you can afford them. Having two separate hands of Action Cards is always a benefit you'll never want to go without.

Gameplay tip 4: Need to blow something up? Always take 100% more explosives than you need. Dice are unkind when you need them all to hit.

3. Playing the Mission

Once your Mission is set up and your Soldiers are equipped, you may begin playing the mission.

Give all Soldiers one of the 8 pairs of Soldier Identification counters. Place one on the Soldier card itself, and then place the other one on the Mission card. Then take the Target counters matching each Soldier Identification pair being used and put them in an opaque cup. This is the Target cup.

Draw a hand of Action cards for each Player Soldier equal to their Health, and start from the beginning of the Soldier Turn.

Shadow War plays out like this:

Your Soldiers start out on the Mission card.
Player Soldier(s) will draw Location cards to play in the empty slots between the Mission and Objective.
Soldiers will move between these Locations to get to the Objective.
Once they reach the Objective, they must Activate the Objective to Move onto it and complete it by fulfilling the requirements on the Objective card.
Once the Objectives are fulfilled, all Soldiers may Move from any Location to the Extraction card.
Once all remaining Soldiers are on the Extraction card, fulfilling the requirements of the Extraction card ends the game in victory.

And you lose if all your Soldiers are Downed (see 3.3.2.1), the Objective is failed, or you run out of time.

3.1 The Important Things

I want to take some time to explain some concepts in Shadow War that will hopefully help you understand the game better, before we get to how we handle turns mechanically.

3.1.1 Hostiles

Hostiles can be in one of four states of alertness:

Unaware: Hostiles usually start out Unaware. An Unaware Hostile moves around via their Random Movement during the Hostile Turn. You draw Unaware Target counters when Attacking an Unaware Hostile.
Pauses: A Paused Hostile does not move during the Hostile Turn. Pauses will reset to Unaware at the end of the Hostile turn. You draw Unaware Target counters when Attacking a Pauses Hostile. If a Hostile would Pause again, it immediately enters Going for Alarm.
Going for Alarm: A Going for Alarm Hostile does not move during the Hostile Turn. Place one Going for Alarm counter on this Hostile, and another on the Going for Alarm track equal to the Alarm value listed on the Hostile card. If the Hostile has no Suppresses, every time a Soldier does an Action that would spend an Action (even if it's a free one from an Action card), move the Going for Alarm counter on the GfA track up one space. (A table is available at the end of this manual.) If the counter reaches the top of the track, move the Enemy Mobilization counter to On Alert; the Hostile becomes Aware. If this Hostile is killed and discarded, discard the Going for Alarm counters on both ends.
Aware: Aware Hostiles are on the hunt for Soldiers. Whenever a Hostile becomes Aware, draw a Target counter from the Target cup and place it on the Hostile. This Hostile is now targeting the Soldier with the matching Soldier Identification counter.

Note that this is how it works while the Mobilization Status is On Duty. When the Mobilization Status is On Alert, if a Hostile were to Pause or Go for Alarm, they become Aware instead.

Hostiles are also in one of two different states of revealed: Unrevealed and Revealed. Hostiles start Unrevealed but can be Revealed by an Action card or using certain Equipment. If a Hostile is Revealed, flip it to its Revealed side.

Unrevealed Hostiles are more dangerous than Revealed ones; you'll notice that a lot of the numbers on the Revealed side are lower. The enemy will be less likely to move around, add to the Noise track, hit you with attacks, they'll be easier to Evade and go for the Alarm slower. In this case, the Entrance Cost penalty is less severe when they're Revealed, too.

Gameplay tip: Sometimes you can use the more dangerous side to your advantage. Take the example above: Waiting a turn to Reveal him leaves him more likely to move out of the way of the Location you want to get into during a Hostile turn.

Hostiles become less effective as EKIA or Suppressed reticles are added to them. While just one Suppressed reticle is enough to keep a Hostile from moving, they will still attack you if they aren't fully Suppressed.

An attack's effectiveness is determined by the table in the middle of the Hostile card – the numbers at the top of the table say how many uncovered reticles are needed to use this column of the table. In this case, Suppressing or EKIAing just one of these reticles is enough to stop the Hostile performing "2 Wounds, Again" when Revealed.

This can also apply to other text on the card; see how the "Entrance Cost" Keyword has two numbers, separated by a slash? These follow the same rules as the columns; if you have uncovered reticles equal to the numbers in the left column, use the left number, and so on. In this case, suppressing just one reticle when the Hostile is revealed is enough to drop the Entrance Cost penalty dramatically, while it'll take 2 when it comes to the Unrevealed side.

Hostiles also have Keywords; most Keywords are active at all times; unless all reticles are Suppressed or EKIA'd. Refer to the Warfighter Keywords Reference for what Keywords do not work this way.

Reticles that are suppressed and EKIA'd carry over when the Hostile is revealed.

In the example to the left here, if you placed 2 EKIA reticles on this Hostile, and then Revealed the Hostile, it would result in all available reticles being filled, and the Hostile would be discarded, awarding XP to the Soldier who landed the most recent EKIA.

3.1.2 Generating Noise

Whenever Noise is generated, you move the Noise tracker up one space per Noise generated.

If there are any Hostiles in the Location where the Noise was generated, or in the case of a Soldier attacking a Hostile, any Hostiles in the same Location as that attacked Hostile, you make a roll on the Noise Track.

To roll on the Noise Track, roll a ten-sided die. If the roll does not land in any of the ranges in the current level that the Noise counter occupies, nothing happens.

If the roll lands in either of the ranges, perform the listed penalty as described in 3.1.1 to a random Hostile in the Location that generated Noise, or one Hostile in either that Location or the attacked Location.

If the Noise Track reaches the top as a result of this step, move the Enemy Mobilization Status counter up to the On Alert space. If the Noise Track reaches the top when the Enemy Mobilization Status counter is already On Alert, nothing happens as the enemy is already On Alert.

If you ever generate less than 0 Noise, you generate 0 Noise.

Example: My Noise tracker is currently on the 10th space of the Noise Track, and I fail a Shadows roll, moving the Noise tracker to the 11th space and requiring me to make a roll on the Track.

The result is a 7, which is a "Pauses" on this Tier of the track, so I decide randomly what Hostile has their counter flipped from Unaware to Pauses. If I pick a Hostile that's already on "Pauses", they would become Going for Alarm instead.

If I were on the lower tier of the track, the roll of 7 would result in nothing happening. If I were on the higher tier of the track, the roll would result in a random Hostile Going for Alarm, as that tier is 7 or lower.

If I had Attacked a Hostile instead, I would need to decide randomly from all the Hostiles in Location the Soldier Attacked from, and the Location that the Soldier Attacked into.

Gameplay tip: You've got a 10-sided die, it's easiest to use them to randomly determine what Hostile ends up doing something.

3.1.3 Range

Most cards in the game refer to a "Range".

In Warfighter, Range 0 is considered to be "this Location", i.e. where your Soldier or the Hostile is at that moment.

Range 1, Range 2 and so on are that many locations away horizontally from the Location in question.

Example: In the image below, Soldier #1 is Range 2 from the Passing Soldier Hostile, Soldier #2 is Range 1, and Soldier #3 is Range 0, and will drive the Noise Track up during the Hostile Turn.

3.1.4 Keywords

Many cards have Keywords, which determine some or all the behaviors of a card. When you see a word by itself that doesn't seem to have any definition, refer to the Keywords Reference that's included in the Shadow War box. You will need to reference this practically all the time, so keep it close by.

Note that keywords are updated constantly, so if you're relatively new to the series or your copy is somewhat old, check BGG or the DVG website for an updated set of keywords.

3.1.5 Dicey Matters

"0"s on a ten-sided die are counted as a result of 10.

3.2 Soldier Turn

The Soldier Turn is where you perform actions with your Soldiers in an attempt to complete the mission. You may perform as many actions as you have the resources to perform, and you may end the Soldier Turn at any time, proceeding to the Hostile Turn.

At the beginning of the Soldier Turn, refresh all Soldier Actions by flipping them off the "Used" side, if they aren't off that side already.

3.2.1 Environment

While not relevant to the base box, this step may become relevant in expansions. For each Soldier that is on a Location with an Environ: keyword, roll a ten-sided die. If your Soldier does not meet or exceed the number listed, you choose whether they gain a Suppress or a Wound. Otherwise, nothing happens.

Some Equipment / Skills give you Hardy: XXX counters, where XXX is the name of a keyword. If you fail your Environ roll and the Hardy counter matches the keyword, you may discard one Hardy in order to ignore the results of the roll.

Gameplay tip: Sometimes, you want to take the Wound so that a Soldier has a spare action available to them. This could mean the difference between failing and succeeding.

3.2.2 Actions

In this step, you may perform Actions in any order with any Soldier available to you. In most cases, these Actions will cost one of your Soldier's Action counters. We'll mention this by having an (Action) in the Action title. If you use one of these Actions, flip the counter over to its Used side; it cannot be used for another action until the next Soldier Turn. In this manual, we'll list actions in the order you should consider taking them (for the most part – it's important to remain flexible!)

As a reminder, every time an Action is spent, whether as part of an Action, a free Action that would otherwise cost an Action via Action Card (Move Out, Snap Shot, etc.) or something costs an Action like playing a Location, if any Going for Alarm Hostiles are Unsuppressed, their counter on the Going for Alarm track moves up one space.

3.2.2.1 Remove 1 Suppress (Action - Advance GFA)

While a Soldier is suppressed, they are incapable of performing any other actions until they are unsuppressed. Spending 1 Action will remove a suppress from the Soldier and allow them to perform Actions if they are unsuppressed as a result.

Gameplay tip: You may want to consider Discarding and Drawing before removing Suppresses, as there is an Action card that can remove a Suppress without spending an Action.

3.2.2.2 Discard and Draw (Action - Advance GFA)

A Player Soldier may discard as many Action cards from their hand as they wish, then draw Action cards to their hand up to their current Health. Discard any Location Markers that are drawn, and draw a card from the Location deck to replace them.

Gameplay tip: If you don't have any Locations in your opening hand, it's usually a good idea to discard your entire hand in order to dig through the deck for them. You aren't going anywhere without a Location or two.

Smoothness tip: Once you've filled all your Locations, you don't need to worry about drawing more Locations, so just hold onto Location Markers and use them as cost for movement or other Action cards.

3.2.2.3 Using Action Cards (Action/Free - May Advance GFA)

Most Action Cards are free to use and are discarded after using them, but some cost an Action to use, in which case simply use the Action as normal. Most Action Cards can be used during the Soldier Turn, but not in the middle of another Action (you can't have a free Move in the middle of an Attack, for example). You may use multiple Action cards for one Action though (such as using two Action cards to add two different bonuses to an Attack).

Some cards, such as the card to the right, require an extra cost to use. The number in the top right is the amount of other Action cards the Player Soldier discards from their hand to use this card.

Some text in Action Cards is surrounded (by brackets). This means the card can be upgunned by spending 1 XP from any Soldier's earned XP, at which point you perform the all of the bracketed text instead of the regular card text.

Some Action Cards have a Retain cost, listed in the effect text as "Retain:" followed by a cost. These cards stay in play for an entire Soldier Turn and have an ongoing passive effect, but if their cost is not paid during the Soldier Turn (see 3.2.2.12) they are discarded at the end of the turn.

3.2.2.4 Move (Action - Advance GFA)

Soldiers take this Action to move between adjacent Locations. If there are no adjacent Locations to move to, a Soldier cannot Move. Soldiers may only ever Move once per Soldier Turn.

To Move, a Soldier must meet the Entrance Cost of a Location. The Entrance cost of a Location is stated in the top right corner of the Location in two numbers, the regular Entrance Cost, and the Night Entrance Cost, in a black box below the Entrance Cost. There may also be an extra penalty to the Entrance Cost, whether that be on the Location itself or on a Hostile occupying that Location. You must meet or exceed the total of ALL of these.

To meet this cost, a Soldier has a basic Movement Value. Soldiers may also discard Action cards to add to their movement. Player Soldiers must discard Action cards from their own hand and nowhere else. Non-Player Soldiers and Squad Soldiers may discard Action cards from the hands of any Player Soldier. Discarded cards add 1 to the Soldier's Movement Value for this Move.

Gameplay tip: There's a common Action card called Advance that adds 3 to your Movement Value for a single Move. Consider holding one or two for those hard to reach places.

Note that Night Entrance Cost can only be paid for via discards, not Action Card effects or Movement value. Soldiers may also use their Night Vision Goggles to ignore the Night Entrance Cost for that Soldier Turn.

Gameplay tip: As useful as it may be to Reveal enemies, you pretty much always want to be cancelling the Night Entrance Cost with your NVGs when you need to Move.

When a Soldier has met or exceeded the total Entrance Cost, they may move their Soldier Identification counter to the Location. Once they have done this, roll a ten sided die. If the result is less than the Soldier's listed Shadows stat, generate 1 Noise. If the Noise Track reaches the top space as a result of this step, move the Enemy Mobilization Status counter up to the On Alert space. If the Noise Track reaches the top space when the Enemy Mobilization Status counter is already On Alert, nothing happens as the enemy is already On Alert.

Once the Objective is completed, all Soldiers may Move from any Location directly into the Extraction card.

3.2.2.5 Attack (Action - Advance GFA)

You Attack with a Soldier in order to remove Hostiles from your path to the Objective.

Attacking takes place in multiple steps that should be followed in order. The board has a reminder as to the order, if you need a reminder.

Declare Attack

To Declare an Attack, pick a Hostile that is within range of one of your Weapon cards that has an Ammo counter that isn't Empty, or has a counter available in the case of a weapon with the Expended keyword. This is your Targeted Hostile and chosen Weapon for the Attack. You cannot attack a Hostile that is not within range of any of your Weapons. This is the time that you play Action Cards that modify your Attack in some way.

For Squad Soldiers, this is slightly different; refer to the table on their card, check how much Health they have left, check the Range of the Hostile, and that will tell you your Kill number.

Draw Unaware Target Counter

Important note: You only perform this step if the Targeted Hostile is currently Unaware or Pauses, and isn't a Vehicle, Structure, Door, Aircraft, or Inanimate, all keywords, unless it's Vulnerable, another keyword.

Draw an Unaware Target counter from the Unaware Target cup at random. Most Unaware Target counters will give you bonuses to your upcoming Attack Rolls, but some give you an instant kill, and others will cause you to have no shot on the enemy. Refer to the table below for what happens with each Counter. If you do not like the result of the Unaware Target counter, you may stop the Attack action here, but the Action is still used.

These counters give you a bonus to your Attack Rolls (top) and Defeat Cover Roll (bottom).

These counters allow you to get free EKIAs on one Hostile. "No Reload" means you don't roll dice, simply add the Noise. "Pay 1 XP" should be obvious. In the case of the GFA counter, you randomly decide a Hostile in the Location to go for the Alarm if you continue with the attack. The EKIAs you get equal the amount of dice you roll in Declare Fire Mode.

The Attack action immediately ends; no actual Attack happens and the Action itself is lost.

Declare Fire Mode

Skip this step if you are attacking with a Squad Soldier. Pick a Fire Mode as listed on your chosen Weapon for the attack. This determines how many dice you roll.

Note: Yes, the board specifically asks you to decide your Fire Mode after drawing the Unaware Token, relevant to the EKIA tokens, but the game lets you decide earlier for the token specifically. It's an edge case.

Gameplay tip: More dice means more chances to land that killing blow, but you make more noise and stand a higher chance of needing to reload.

Roll Dice

Skip this step if you have a No Reload Unaware Target Counter. Roll as many ten-sided dice as your Fire Mode states, and one six-sided die. The ten-sided dice are your Attack Rolls, and the six-sided dice is the Defeat Cover roll. You only ever roll one Attack Roll in a Squad Soldier Attack.

Check for Reload

Skip this step if you have a No Reload Unaware Target Counter or are attacking with a Squad Soldier. If any of the ten-sided dice are equal to or lower than the Reload number on your Weapon, flip the currently loaded Ammo to the Empty side of the counter. This weapon cannot be used again until you perform a Reload action. Perform the rest of the Attack.

Optional rule: If you feel like punishing yourself a bit more, you may play with the optional Jam rule, which requires two Actions to Reload a Weapon instead of one. See the back of the Universal Rulebook for more info.

Apply Modifiers

Any modifiers from the Unaware Target Counter drawn (if applicable), Ammo loaded into your gun (- 2 to your Defeat Cover roll for Subsonic ammo), Equipment applied to Weapons, Skills, and played Action Cards are now added to the rolls.

Note: This does mean that modifiers do not count for checking Reloads.

Check for Defeat Cover

Note the number on the bottom left of the Targeted Hostile card; if your Defeat Cover roll equals or exceeds this number, you have defeated the Hostile's cover.

Resolve Attack

Look at your Attack Rolls. If all of your Attack Rolls have lower than the listed Kill number on the Weapon used for this Attack, and you did not defeat the Hostile's Cover, you have missed the shot. If the Hostile is Unaware, flip their counter to the Pauses side. If they're at Pauses, they Go for Alarm.

If one or more of your Attack Rolls have higher than the listed Kill number, but you did not defeat the Hostile's Cover, or if you did defeat the Hostile's cover but none of your Attack Rolls were higher than the Kill number, the Attack leaves a Suppress on the Hostile. Place a Suppress on one of the Hostile's reticles.

If both an Attack Roll was higher than the Kill number and the Hostile's cover was defeated, you have scored an EKIA. Place a EKIA counter on one of the Hostile's reticles. If this results in every reticle on the Hostile being EKIA, discard the Hostile, and gain its Hostile Value as XP on the Soldier that performed this Attack. If the Hostile has a Going for Alarm counter on it, discard both it and the matching counter on the Going for Alarm track. If the Hostile was a Reaction Force, discard them back to the Reaction Force deck.

If a Hostile was Suppressed or EKIAd as a result of this attack and are still on the board, they immediately Go for Alarm (3.1.1).

You then generate Noise, following the formula below for Player / Team / Non-Player Soldiers:

Each die rolled generates a certain amount of noise on a base level. (There's a reference for this on the board.)
- Normal ammo being shot causes 10 Noise as a baseline.
- Black or Subsonic ammo causes 5 Noise as a baseline.
- Explosions cause 5 Noise as a baseline.
Subtract the amount of Noise listed on the weapon.
- The MP5 SMG is using Black Ammo (5 baseline Noise) and has "Noise -4" listed on the card, therefore you have a total of 1 Noise.
Multiply the noise by the amount of Attack Dice rolled in the Attack.
- The Soldier fired 3 MP5 Dice with Black Ammo. 5 Base Noise, Noise -4 for the MP5, multiplied by 3 for the amount of Dice rolled, equals 3 Noise generated.

Squad Soldiers generate noise equal to the "Suppressed Noise X" on their Soldier cards, with the X being the amount of Noise generated.

There are some things to note about Attacks, see below:

Each reticle on a Hostile can only have one Suppress or EKIA on it at a time. If all reticles on a Hostile are already suppressed and you gain another Suppress, nothing happens. However, if you get a Kill and all reticles are Suppressed, you flip one of those Suppress counters to EKIA.
You only ever add 1 Kill to a Hostile during an Attack Roll, unless the Weapon used for the Attack has the Spray keyword (the M249 in the base box), or the Fire Mode of the Weapon is Explosion (the LAW in the base box), in which case you add EKIAs to reticles equal to the amount of Attack Dice that equal or exceed the Kill number.
If your weapon has the Suppressed keyword, you always add an extra Suppress when you deal an EKIA. Since the absolute majority of weapons in Shadow War are suppressed, you'll pretty much always get that extra Suppress.

Gameplay tip: Don't be frustrated by Suppresses! They're still useful to have, as they prevent enemies from moving or attacking you as fiercely. Suppressing a line of enemies and moving past them is as good a strategy as any.

3.2.2.6 Reload (Action - Advance GFA)

If an Attack resulted in a Reload result, causing an Ammo counter to be flipped to the Empty side, you can Reload as an Action to discard said Empty counter to the box, replacing it with any of the other Ammo counters available to the Weapon as placed there before the mission. You may Reload non-empty Ammo counters in order to switch Ammo types.

Gameplay tip: Never let your weapons be Empty for too long.

3.2.2.7 Lighten the Load (Free)

You may freely discard Gear from Player Soldiers (not NPS or Squad) in order to recalculate your total Resource Points. Use the new total Resource Points generated this way for the rest of the Mission when playing Location cards and activating the Objective. You must discard at least one point worth of Gear to do this unless a Soldier is Downed (3.3.2.1).

Gameplay tip: If things go really badly and you lose a couple of Soldiers, you should always Lighten the Load so that you can drop a tier of Hostile value and make the rest of the mission easier on yourself.

3.2.2.8 Play a Location Card (Free / Action – May Advance GFA)

If you have a Location card in a Player Soldier's hand, you may play it to the next empty Location slot. If you have a Location adjacent to the Objective, you may not play a Location. You may only play one Location per Soldier Turn. You may play a Location from any Soldier's hand of Action cards, but at least one Soldier needs to be in the right-most placed Location.

Location cards have a cost, which is written on the card itself. "Free to play" costs nothing, it can simply be played. "1 Action" (paid from the Soldier playing the Location), "3 Actions from Any Soldier" and "1XP to play" are all self-explanatory.

When a Location is played, refer to your total Resource Points generated before the mission, and look at the Hostiles table in the bottom-right of the Location card. For your level of Resource Points, draw Hostiles from the Hostile deck, Unrevealed side up, and place them in the same column as this Location. Every time you draw a Hostile, refer to the Hostile Value in the top right, and add it to an ongoing total. When the total Hostile Value of Hostiles drawn this way equals or exceeds the number on the Location, stop drawing Hostiles. Place an Unaware counter on each Hostile drawn.

If you need to draw Hostiles but the deck is empty, shuffle discarded Hostiles and place them, Unrevealed side up, as a new Hostile draw deck, and continue drawing Hostiles as normal.

Gameplay tip: You can always see the top card of the Hostile deck. There's a way you can use this to your advantage. Hint: 3.3.1.

When you place Hostiles, be sure to check for Keywords that may affect how the Hostile enters play.

If a Hostile is to be placed behind the Mission, place them on the Mission. If a Hostile would be placed beyond the Extraction card, place them on the Extraction card.

Locations may have Keywords on them; reference them now, just to be sure you do not need to place any more Hostiles or other side effects.

3.2.2.9 Activate the Objective (Free)

The Objective starts out Inactive in a game of Shadow War, and it cannot be moved into or interacted with by Soldiers. When a Soldier is Adjacent to the Objective, they may Activate the Objective by removing the Inactive counter from it, and drawing Hostiles in the same way you would for a Location. The Objective may now be interacted with. Be sure to check for Keywords, as they go off now.

Gameplay tip: If you have time left in the mission, take the time to get all your Soldiers onto the previous Location, and attack it in one big swing...unless that's not your tactic. Be flexible.

3.2.2.10 Trade Between Soldiers (Free)

Player Soldiers may freely hand Weapons, Equipment and Ammo back and forth between each other, assuming they do not exceed their Loadout value. Non-Player Soldiers may receive Ammo equivalent to their Weapon from a Soldier, but they must never exceed the amount of Ammo the Weapon has listed. Player Soldiers may also drop Weapons and Equipment on a space for another Player Soldier to acquire later.

Note that if a Weapon or Equipment has been used this Soldier Turn, it cannot be traded or dropped this Soldier Turn.

3.2.2.11 Engage in Hand-to-Hand (Action - Advance GFA)

Gameplay tip: Hand-to-Hand attacks are really, really not that useful in Shadow War due to the amount of actions required and general inefficiency compared to using guns. There is also a ton of changes coming to hand-to-hand at the time of writing this manual. As a result, we won't be covering how they work in this manual; you're better off sticking with shooting. They are currently covered in page 42 of the Warfighter Universal Rulebook as of March 2021's edition, but this may change with updated revisions.

3.2.2.12 Pay Retain Costs (Free*)

For Action Cards you have played that have a Retain cost, you need to pay the cost to retain them. This can be done at any time during the Soldier Turn. If the cost is paid, you keep the card past the end of the Soldier Turn, into the next Soldier Turn.

Gameplay tip: You get exactly one of these in Shadow War (Squad Entry), and the retain cost is...pretty oppressive outside of specific builds for missions. You might be better off just using it once and not retaining it.

3.2.2.13 Deploy Bipod (Action - Advance GFA)

As mentioned above in the Weapons section, you can spend an Action to deploy a Bipod, gaining any listed benefits on the Weapon card. If you Move, the Bipod is undeployed, and must be deployed again.

3.2.2.14 Evade Hostile (XP)

All Hostiles in Shadow War have an "Evade" value on the bottom of their card. You can spend XP from the pools of any Soldiers during the Soldier turn equivalent to their Evade value to discard that Hostile; no Soldiers gain XP from doing this, you need to get EKIAs for that.

Note that if the Hostile has a Going for Alarm counter, discarding them this way does not remove the counter on the Going for Alarm track; it continues up the track every action taken as normal.

3.2.2.15 Use Night Goggles (XP/Card/Action - Advance GFA)

You can discard 1 Action card, 1 XP or use 1 Action to reveal any one Hostile or remove all Night Entrance Cost penalties to Movement for this Soldier for this Soldier Turn. You can use the Penalty / No Penalty counters to remind you.

Gameplay tip: Or just turn the card 90 degrees sideways.

3.3 Hostile Turn

The Hostile Turn is an entirely AI and dice-driven turn in which Hostiles will spawn, move, attack, search for you and the rest of the game's systems are handled. You'll follow this turn to the letter as you play (and the board has a good reminder for you). Once this set of procedures is over, you'll go to your Soldier Turn, until the time on the mission runs out.

3.3.1 Reinforcement Roll

For each Location that has a Soldier on it, follow this procedure.

Draw the top card of the Hostile Deck and check its value.

Roll a ten-sided die. If the value of the die, plus the value of the Hostile, is inside the Rein. Roll range listed on the Location, the Hostile is placed on the Location with an Unaware counter. If it is not, discard the Hostile instead.

If you place the Hostile in the Location, be sure to check it for Keywords that may affect how it enters play.

Example: Soldier #1 is in the Field during the Reinforcement Roll step, so the top card of the Hostile deck is drawn and the die rolled.

The result of the roll is 2, and the Value of the Hostile is 1, making a total of 3, which falls outside the Rein. Roll value of the Location, which is 1-2. Therefore, the Hostile would be discarded.

If the player got an extremely unlucky roll of 1, the total would be 2, which falls inside the Rein. Roll value of the Location, and therefore the Hostile would be played in the Location.

3.3.2 Attack

Hostiles that are Aware and have at least one Unsuppressed reticle attack whatever Soldier they are Targeting if they are in Range. Treat any Soldier on the Extraction card as Range 1 from Hostiles on the Objective card.

Hostile Attacks work in a relatively similar way to your Attack action, however, they reference a table on the card itself to determine what Attack they perform.

Roll a ten-sided (Attack) die and six-sided (Defeat Cover) die. Check how many uncovered reticles the Hostile has, and reference the roll on the Attack die. Compare the Cover value of the targeted Soldier and the Defeat Cover die.

If the targeted Soldier is wearing body armor, roll the twenty-sided die. If the twenty-sided die lands within the range listed on the card, use the body armor's Cover value instead of the Soldier's cover value.

If the Attack roll is a Miss and the Defeat Cover roll did not defeat the target Soldier's Cover, nothing happens. If the Attack roll is not a Miss but Cover was not defeated, the Soldier is Suppressed – place a Suppress counter on the Soldier. If the Attack roll is not a Miss and Cover was defeated, reference the table for the effect to be applied – it may be a Keyword.

If a Soldier is Wounded as a result, give them a new Wound counter equal to the Wounds dealt. Every Hostile Attack that causes a Wound causes a new Wound counter.

Note: You do not need to discard Action Cards as a Player Soldier if you are wounded; you simply draw up to your Health during a Discard and Draw.

Example: This Hostile, with two covered reticles, attacks a 3 Cover Soldier, and rolls a 9 on the Attack Dice and a 2 on the Defeat Cover Dice, which is upped to 3 by the Penetration 1 keyword. The Soldier gains one 2 Wound counter from the second line, right column effect.

If the Hostile had no uncovered counters, it would use the left column and the "Again" keyword, which would allow it to attack once more.

If the Defeat Cover roll was a 1, the Defeat Cover value would not be enough to beat the Soldier's Cover value, instead causing the Soldier to be Suppressed.

3.3.2.1 Soldier Down

If a Soldier has 0 Health or less remaining after a Hostile Attack, they are Downed – removed from the game, basically. Remove their counter from the board, discard any Action Cards they were holding (if any), all of their Weapons, Equipment and Ammo are dropped in the Location they were downed (and can be picked up by any Player Soldier), return all of their Skills to the box, and you immediately perform a Lighten the Load calculation (3.1.2.7). Remove the downed Soldier's target counters from the Target cup and board; all Hostiles targeting this Soldier receive new Targets from the Target cup.

3.3.3 Close / Adjust Range

Every Hostile in play executes this step.

If the Hostile is Pauses, Going for Alarm, has at least one Suppressed reticle, or lists "Stationary" in the top-left corner of the card, do not perform this step. If the Hostile is an Objective Hostile, do not perform this step if the Hostile is Unaware.

If the Hostile is Unaware, roll a ten-sided die and refer to the range in the top left of the Hostile card. If the number rolled is equal to or between the numbers shown, the Hostile does not move. If the number is below the lowest-shown number, the Hostile moves one Location left. If the number is higher than the highest-shown number, the Hostile moves one Location right.

If the Hostile is Aware, the Hostile instead moves one space closer to its Target, unless the Target is already within Range of their Attack, in which case they do not move.

Gameplay tip: Keep Hostiles that are a real threat Suppressed! One Suppress is enough to leave most Hostiles in the dust, and bigger threats are less threatening the more Suppressed they are.

Here's some notes about Hostile movement:

If a Hostile moves to a Location slot between a currently placed Location and the Objective with no actual Location, they move as if there were a Location there.
If a Hostile moves left from Location #2, it moves to the Mission card. If the Hostile were to move left again, it is removed from the board.
If a Hostile moves right from the Objective, it moves to the Extraction card. If the Hostile were to move right again, it is removed from the board.

3.3.4 Night Activities

3.3.4.1 Pauses to Unaware

Flip all "Pauses" counters on Hostiles to the "Unaware" side.

3.3.4.2 Advance Going for Alarms

All Hostiles that are Going for Alarm have their counter on the Going for Alarm track moved up one space.

Tip: Yes, this includes Suppressed Hostiles. You can't keep them away from the Alarm forever; kill them, or scramble.

3.3.4.3 Adjust Noise Counter

Note the Search Ratings printed on each Hostile card. These three values (Red, Yellow and Grey) represent Range 0, 1 and 2.

For each Hostile that has a Soldier within these Ranges, note the amount of spaces the tracker would move up by. If a Hostile has multiple Soldiers within different Ranges, use the highest value only.

Example: The Hostile above has a Soldier at both Range 1 and 2, but Range 1 is higher on the Hostile card, so the Noise counter would be moved up 7 spaces.

After calculating how far up the Noise Tracker moves due to all Hostiles, subtract the appropriate Activity value. The Activity value you choose is the furthest placed Location.

Example: The furthest placed Location is Location #4, so the Activity value this Hostile turn would be 3.

Move the Noise Track up or down, as appropriate, with the total of these numbers.

Example 2: Using the two above images, the Hostile only has a Soldier at Range 2 for 5, and the mission is currently on Location #2, for -3. So the Noise Tracker would be moved up 2 spaces this Hostile Turn.

3.3.4.4 Remove Suppresses

All Hostiles lose all their Suppress counters.

3.3.5 Alarm Sounded

If the Enemy Mobilization Status counter is on the On Alert spot, the alarm has sounded; they know you're here and they're coming for you.

This is handled in two different ways, depending on whether this is the first turn you've been On Alert or not. If this is the first turn the enemy is On Alert (an easy way to check is to see if there are any Mobilized counters on the Mission and Location #2), perform the steps listed under First Turn. For each subsequent turn, perform the steps listed under Second Turn and Onwards.

Gameplay tip: This isn't Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell, where you can complete the mission without ever being seen with ease. Your chances of tripping the alarm are very, very high in Shadow War. What makes the difference is knowing when to stay silent, or to go loud, and you'll learn when it's best to do both on repeat missions.

3.3.5.1 First Turn

Retreat the Noise Track counter by the Confusion value on the Mission card.

Gameplay tip: This is a one-time benefit to you, and the drop in noise can be very high depending on the Mission. Use it to stay in the shadows just a little while longer.

Place a Mobilized counter on the Mission card and Location #2.

Reminder: Every Hostile placed on a Location with a Mobilized counter is immediately Aware of your presence; remove their Unaware/Pauses counters and assign them a Target by drawing one from the Target cup.

Place a Reaction Force on Location #2 and assign them a Target.

Gameplay tip: Reaction Forces are some of the most dangerous hunters in the game, start out Aware of you, and the main reason not to trigger the alarm early.

If any other Hostiles are currently Going for Alarm, they become Aware; assign them a Target by drawing a counter for each from the Target cup.

3.3.5.2 Second Turn and Onwards

Place a Mobilized counter in the left-most non-Mobilized Location or Objective. If all Locations and the Objective have a Mobilized counter, do not perform this step.

Tip: Think of it as a wave of Mobilization slowly sweeping over the Locations you've previously been.

Reminder: Everything on the newly Mobilized Location is instantly Aware.

Place a Reaction Force in the Location that just received a Mobilized counter. Assign them a Target.

Tip: The amount of Reaction Forces that can be in play is limited by the amount of Reaction Forces in the deck.

3.3.6 Advance Mission Timer

Move the Time counter one space down the Time Track. If the Time counter would move below 1, your time's up and the mission's a bust.

Gameplay tip: Don't let this happen.

Actual gameplay tip: You have a little bit of time to fool around in most cases, but more than two or three Soldier Turns spent fiddling in the same spot will leave you really strapped for time when it comes to finishing the objective.

4. Miscellaneous Rules

There are some side rules that weren't covered in the rest of the manual, but can become relevant in the base box.

4.1 Hack and Pick Rolls

Some cards will allow or ask you to make a Pick or Hack roll. To make these rolls, you need to have a Soldier with that particular Skill in the same Location. In this case, Conway would need to be on the Abandoned Warehouse. As an Action, the Soldier may roll a 10-sided die. In this example, Conway adds 4 to his Pick roll, meaning he needs a 3 to succeed; some cards may reduce your ability to make these rolls. The cards will tell you what happens if you succeed the roll (equal to or above) or fail.

4.2 Doors

One card in Shadow War has a "Door" on it. Doors play by slightly different rules in Shadow War. You can attack this Hostile normally by attacking its reticles and using its regular cover, but you may also Attack or Pick the Door as a separate target. Attacking and Picking works as already covered in this manual. If you successfully Attack or Pick the Door, you may use the lower Cover value while Attacking the Hostile instead of the regular Cover value. The game does not come with a specific counter for tracking this, but you can use an Unresolved/Resolved counter and it will do the job nicely.

4.3 Distractions

Some Locations have the Distraction Keyword on them. If you are carrying a Weapon with the Triggered Keyword (the only one in the base box is the M2), you may place that Weapon in the Location to set up the Distraction for the future at any time during the Soldier Turn, if the Soldier carrying that Weapon is on this Location. The Weapon must be able to roll the amount of Attack Dice in the brackets to be used as a Distraction at that Location.

At any time after this, you may trigger any single previously placed Distraction. You discard randomly chosen Hostile cards equal to the number in the brackets from this Location, gaining their XP as if you had filled all their Reticles with EKIAs. This also generates Noise as if the Weapon was used in a regular Attack.

Example: I drop my M2 Munition on the Overseer Hut as a Distraction, which has one Hostile. Two Hostiles move into this Location during the Hostile Turn. I trigger the Distraction after the second Hostile moves; I randomly choose and discard two of the Hostiles on the Location, and the Soldier who planted the Distraction gains the XP from the two chosen Hostiles. 10 Noise is generated as that is what the M2 Munition would generate normally in an Attack. Explosions are not quiet.

5. Quick Reference Sheets

The next three pages are quick references to help you play through the game faster.

5.1 Quick Setup Checklist

Choose a matching set of Missions, Objectives and Hostiles.
Shuffle the Hostiles, Unrevealed face up, and place them on the Hostile deck spot.
Place the Reaction Force deck next to the Hostile deck.
Shuffle the Action Deck. Place it on the Action deck spot.
Place all of the Unaware Target counters in an opaque cup.
Place the Noise counter at the bottom of the Noise track.
Place the Enemy Mobilization Status counter on the On Duty space.
Choose an Insertion, Mission, Objective and Extraction.
Place these cards in their appropriate spots.
Place any appropriate Embedded Objective card above the Objective.
Place the Timer token in the space specified in the Mission card.
Outfit your team of Soldiers appropriately.
Give each a pair of Soldier Identification counters.
Place all Target counters matching the used pairs of Soldier Identification counters in an opaque cup.
Deal each Player Soldier a hand of Action cards.
You're good to go!

5.2 Player Turn Quick Reference

At beginning of Player Turn: Environment Step – for each Soldier on a Location with Environ: text, roll ten-sided die, for every failure, discard a Hardy counter of that type, take a Suppress, or take a Wound.

If any Hostiles are Going for Alarm and Unsuppresed: When a Soldier performs an Action, move that Hostile Going for Alarm counter up the Going for Alarm track.

Available actions (unless stated, costs 1 Action from Soldier performing Action):

Action	Effect	GFA
Remove 1 Suppress	Must be done if Soldier is Suppressed before any other Action. Remove 1 Suppress token from this Soldier.	Advances GFA
Discard and Draw	Soldier discards as many Action cards they want, then draw up to their Health.	Advances GFA
Use Action Cards	Use an Action card from your hand for the listed cost. Discard 1 XP to use bracketed text. Usually free, may cost other resources.	May Advance GFA
Move	Use Soldier's Movement value + discard Action cards to move to adjacent Location. Once per Soldier per Soldier Turn.	Advances GFA
Attack	Use a Weapon to attack a Hostile within range.	Advances GFA
Reload	Discard Ammo counter from Weapon and replace with another.	Advances GFA
Lighten the Load	Discard Equipment and recalculate Resource cost. Free to perform.	—
Play Location Card	Play a Location card from hand and draw Hostiles. Costs whatever is listed on the card. Soldier must be in right-most Location to perform.	May Advance GFA
Activate Objective	When Soldier is adjacent to Objective, remove Inactive token and draw Hostiles. Objective may now be entered and completed. Free to perform.	—
Trade	Player Soldiers may trade unused Weapons/Equipment to other Player Soldiers and ammo to Non-Player Soldiers. Free to perform.	—
Pay Retain Costs	Pay retain costs on any deployed Action Cards. Free to perform.	—
Deploy Bipod	Flip the bipod counter to allow Bipod bonus for Weapons.	Advances GFA
Evade Hostile	Spend XP equal to Evade number listed on a Hostile to Discard that Hostile. No cost other than XP.	—
Use Night Goggles	Spend 1 Action, discard 1 Action Card or spend 1 XP to Reveal a Hostile or cancel Night Entrance Costs for the Soldier Turn for this Soldier.	—
Engage in Hand-to-Hand	See Warfighter Universal Rulebook.	Advances GFA

5.3 Hostile Turn Quick Reference

Reinforcement Roll: For each Location with a Soldier: Roll ten-sided die. Draw top card of Hostile deck. If Hostile Value + Roll is in Rein. Roll range, deploy Hostile on Location, otherwise discard Hostile.
Attack: All Aware Hostiles attack their Targets in Range. Roll ten-sided and six-sided die, compare ten-sided die to Hostile chart and uncovered Reticles, six-sided die to Soldier Cover.
Close / Adjust Range: Unaware Hostiles roll ten-sided die, move according to what is rolled. Unsuppressed Aware Hostiles move one Location towards target.
Pauses to Unaware: Flip all Pauses counters to Unaware side.
Advance Going for Alarms: All Hostiles that have a Going for Alarm counter on the Going for Alarm track move up one space.
Adjust Noise Counter: Move Noise counter up spaces equal to Search values of Hostiles, then down by current Activity level.
Remove Suppresses: All Hostiles lose all Suppresses they have.
Alarm Sounded:
- If this is the first turn after On Alert:
  - Move the Noise Counter down by Mission's listed Confusion.
  - Place Mobilized tokens on Mission and Location #2.
  - Place Reaction Force on Location #2.
- Else:
  - Place Mobilized token on right-most un-Mobilized Location.
  - Place Reaction Force on said Location.
Advance Mission Timer: Move Timer counter one space down.