Warfighter: The Tactical Special Forces Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

1. Important Information
2. Preparing a Mission and Gearing Up
- 2.1 Setting Up The Mission
  - 2.1.1 Mission Types
  - 2.1.2 Objective Types
- 2.2 Gearing Up
3. Playing the Mission
4. Quick Reference Sheets

1. Important Information

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

1.0 An Overview of this Manual

This Warfighter Modern 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 Warfighter Modern 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 Warfighter Modern Versions

Warfighter Modern has been through many different versions in the past, and rules for the game have changed significantly over time, alongside the contents of the box. This manual assumes that you will be using the 4th Edition; note that some cards may look different, counters may be missing, or other changes may be present, especially if you are using the current Tabletop Simulator DLC, which is the 1st Edition. You can buy the Warfighter Modern Upgrade Kit to upgrade your cards to the 4th Edition.

1.2 Contents of the Box

Your box should come with a fair few things:

The Warfighter Universal Rulebook and Keywords Reference
242 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

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 an opaque bag or cup.

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

1.2.1 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.

Player Soldiers, Non-Player Soldiers, and Squad Soldiers

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: My personal advice is that you want to bring along at least 2 Player Soldiers in every mission, if your budget allows for it.

Weapons, Equipment, and Skills

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 & M16s, MP5s and M4 Shotguns for close range combat, an M14 for long range combat, and even Claymores, grenades and pistols.
Equipment is just as important, as it gives you the ability to heal yourself, equip sights for more accurate shots, Move further and carry more stuff.

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 your shots deadlier in general, which is a real plus. But they can give you more tricks to play with, such as more Actions per turn, faster movement, more accurate shots and close range shots. Keep all your Skills in mind while you build for a Mission.

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.

The others are important too, as they can let you pull tricks to get out of a really sticky situation. Being able to shake off attacks, throw out free attacks, or move most of your Soldiers for free can completely change the state of the mission.

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 the jungle or Middle East. Choosing where to go and when is a big part of your operations. You'll notice a few things on them worth pointing out:

The Hostiles table in the bottom-right signifies how heavily patrolled those regions are. The Clearing is less patrolled than the Marketplace, for example.
The Entrance Costs in the top right determine how hard it is to get into a Location: the Marketplace is much easier to enter then the Deep Jungle.
The Reinforce field determines what reinforcement types will show up. The Citadel is more reinforced than the Marketplace, while both the Deep Jungle and Clearing are too remote to reinforce.

Missions and Objectives

The Mission and Objective cards define the game and change how you need to loadout your Soldiers. The Mission determines how much resources you have to spend, how long the Mission is in both Locations to play and the number of turns you have to pull it off, and how much of a penalty your Soldiers have to what they can carry, while the Objective is what you actually need to accomplish to win. If you finish the Objective, you instantly win, no fuss.

One of the best parts of Warfighter is how combining a Mission and an Objective can change the game. Try putting together two Missions and Objectives in different combinations and try to figure out how the game changes.

Hostiles and Events

Hostiles are the bad guys you'll be facing, which can be either the Cartel or two different Middle Eastern forces. They range in hostility from a simple Rifleman to dangerous Radio Teams right up to a Flanking Force. Their behavior is in the middle-bottom text box, while their value (both while being deployed and when they are killed) is in the top right, and their Cover is in the bottom left. Their reticles – which all need to be killed to eliminate the Hostile – are in the center of each card.

The game comes with three Hostile decks, one for the Jungle set of Missions, and two for the Middle East set, Insurgent and Military, of which the latter is the harder to deal with.

There are also Events mixed into these decks, which can change the game, in and out of your favor.

1.2.2 Counters

The box comes with a lot of counters that are used throughout the game. Akin to the previous section, here's a quick outline; 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. These are not covered in this manual because they're for content not included in the base box; keep them out of the way just to keep the game as easy as possible to learn.

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.
Action counters determine how many Actions your Soldiers can take during a Soldier Turn.
The Inactive counter keeps track of the Objective and whether it has been reached and activated yet.
The Timer counter keeps track of how many turns the Mission has left.
Ammo counters show how much ammo you have left for your firearms, and whether or not it needs to be reloaded.
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.
These Wound counters are taken by Soldiers if Hostiles attack them. They are flipped to their other side if they are treated, but not completely, and removed if they are treated completely.
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 Target counters are drawn from a cup and placed on Hostiles when they're drawn from the Hostile deck; they'll hunt the Soldier with the matching Soldier Identification counter.
You use these counters to keep track of Objective Hostiles that need to die for the mission to be accomplished.
These are double-sided Suppress and EKIA counters for having suppressed a Hostile reticle or a Soldier, and having killed a Hostile reticle respectively.
These counters are used for tracking hand-to-hand attacks.
The Bipod is included for the M14 Sniper Rifle, which allows for longer range shots when deployed.

1.2.3 Board

The board is where the game is played. The important parts are as follows:

The green area to the left is where all the shuffled decks will be placed. There is no space for the Location deck; keep it close by.

Gameplay tip: There's enough room on the board to cover the Setup reminder with the Location deck once you're done.

The red area is the Time Track, which will slowly tick down to the end of the Mission.

The white row is where the game will be played; the Mission, Objective, and Locations between them will all end up here, along with your Soldier Identification counters. There are numbers in the bottom right corner of each slot; this is the Location number (often referred to by the game as Location # or Loc #). Hostile cards will be played above this row, above the Locations they occupy. Hostiles may extend off the top of the board.

The rest of the board contains room for Hostile cards to be played, and references for gameplay. This manual stays as close to these references as possible so that you can easily reference them.

2. Preparing a Mission and Gearing Up

2.1 Setting Up The Mission

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

Part of this is selecting which region you're going to play – the first expansion packs to Warfighter add extra cards that add to your base box, while later ones add more places which come with their own Missions, Objectives and Hostiles. Know that you can't mix Hostiles, Missions and Objectives from different places together; you have to play them all in set. We'll work off the idea that you're playing just the base box, so choose whether you want to play the Jungle or Middle East environment, and if you're playing the latter, the Insurgent or the Military Hostile Deck. They can be told apart by their card backs.

Shuffle the Action and chosen Hostile decks, placing them in their respective deck spaces. Shuffle the environment's Location deck and keep it close by.

Next will be to pick your Mission and Objective. You may pick any combination of the provided for your current environment, although note that some of them bar the others. Feel free to also shuffle the two decks and get a completely random mission, too. Once you've picked your Mission and Objective, place the Mission in the Mission Card slot on the board, and the Objective in the specified Location on the Mission card. Place the Timer counter on the listed space on the Time Track. Place the Inactive counter on the Objective.

At this point, you're ready to start loading out your Soldiers (2.2).

2.1.1 Mission Types

In the base box of Warfighter Modern, there are two different Mission types. The first type is a normal, bog-standard mission: start on the Mission card, move to the Objective card, perform the objective.

There is one Objective card that changes this up: the "VIP Kidnapping" Mission in the Middle East is an Escape Mission. In this Mission type, your Soldiers start on the Objective card and move backwards to the Mission card, with the Mission being a success when all Soldiers reach the Mission card.

2.1.2 Objective Types

To help you learn the game, here's a quick rundown of the other types of Objectives you'll find in the base box. Note that these are all Keywords – reference the Keyword Reference Guide.

Eliminate Hostiles: When you Activate the Objective and draw Hostiles for the Objective, place an Objective Hostiles counter on each Hostile drawn this way. The Objective must have no Hostiles, and all Objective Hostiles must be discarded at the end of the Soldier Turn to succeed in the Mission.
Destroy the XXX / Kill the XXX: These Objective cards can be attacked, following the rules on the card. If you deal EKIAs equal to the listed Kills, the Mission is successful.

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.

2.2.1 Soldiers

When you buy any Soldier, that Soldier receives everything listed on their card as a freebie for buying them.

The white table at the top of the box outlines the amount of Actions available 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 received for free. The white, underlined line specifies a Skill received for free.

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.

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 separate Loadout costs, like the M4 Carbine. 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, where a Soldier may have three Actions when they have less than two Wounds. Give each Soldier an amount of Action counters as required; place them on their non-Used side.

2.2.2 Weapons

The first table on a Weapon card refers to the Weapon's ability to shoot. Lower numbers are better – for example, the M16A3 will Kill on a roll of 7 and up at Range 0, while at Range 1 it takes an 8 and up. It Reloads on 2 and lower on each Attack Die rolled.

The second table refers to the Fire Modes, which is how many Attack Dice can be rolled at a time with this gun. Some guns can roll 1, 2 or 3 dice during an Attack, but a M14 Sniper Rifle may only roll 1. The M67 Grenade rolls Explosion dice specifically; this is an Explosion attack.

The box in the bottom right refers to how much Ammo the gun starts with. One of the ammo counters starts "loaded" – placed face up on the ammo box. Keep the rest nearby.

You may buy an extra set of ammo for a Weapon by paying an extra 1 Resource Point and Loadout Point. Weapons that are "Expended" are bought one by one for the listed Resource and Loadout cost.

The exception to the above rule is the Grenade Launcher on the M203 Carbine, which works as a completely separate Attack with its own loaded Ammo counter, starts with 3 Grenades, and can have another set of ammo bought for it as above.

Cards also have an attack type, which determines what Action Cards can be used on it. As an example, the M16A3 Rifle is a Ranged attack, but the M67 Grenade is a Thrown attack.

The M14 also has a Bipod, which uses the Bipod counter. As an Action, a Soldier may deploy it, gaining the benefit listed on the card. If the Soldier Moves, the Bipod is undeployed and it must be deployed again for the benefit.

The final set of words on the right is the Weapons' attributes, which are generally Keywords. For the sake of easy learning, here are the most common Weapon keywords (but please, be sure to reference the Keywords Reference):

Penetration: Improves your Defeat Cover roll, making it easier to get Kills.
Single Shot: Can only be fired once per Soldier Turn, but Reloads for free at the end of the Soldier Turn. (M203 Grenade Launcher)
Expended: Remove the loaded counter from play after using the Weapon. (Grenades)
Self-Defense: If you're Attacked by a Range 0 Hostile, you can cancel the Attack by flipping a loaded Ammo counter to empty. (M1911)
Suppressed: An EKIA also delivers a Suppress. (MP5)
Triggered: Can only Attack Vehicles and Structures normally, but can Attack a Hostile moving into your Location as a free Action.

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.

In the case of cards that have a box akin to the Ammo box on a Weapon, place the matching counters on that Equipment with the listed number; in the case of the First Aid Kit, you get 4 Bandages. If you expend all your counters, discard the card; you may no longer use the Equipment. All Equipment states when it can be used and what effect it has.

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 Hand-to-Hand attacks are relatively useless, the bayonets and knives cards included in the base box are 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 it's said that you don't have to spend the entirety of the Resource Points afforded to you, that means it. High RP missions are nightmares if you spend that much, as 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 - one on the Soldier card itself, the other one on the Mission card (unless you're playing an Escape Mission Objective card, in which case they start on the Objective instead). 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.

Missions 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.
When the Objective is completed, the game immediately ends in victory.

And you lose if all your Soldiers are Downed, the Objective is failed, or you run out of Time.

3.1 The Important Things

This section explains some concepts in Warfighter that don't fit in any other section, but are otherwise very important.

3.1.1 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 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.

3.1.2 Hostile Effectiveness

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

An attack's effectiveness is determined by a table on 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. Suppressing or EKIAing enough reticles is enough to stop a Hostile's worst attack, while Suppressing fewer reduces the effect instead.

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.

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

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 said Location.

Example: Soldier #1 is Range 2 from the Lone Soldier, Soldier #2 is Range 1, and Soldier #3 is Range 0. Soldier #2 and #3 are in Range of Attacks from the Lone Soldier, #1 is not.

3.1.4 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 Modern base box, this step may become relevant in expansions, and this step is mentioned on the game board so it's worth mentioning here for easy reference.

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, carry on.

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. These are marked 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. Actions are listed here in the order you should consider taking them (for the most part – it's important to remain flexible!)

3.2.2.1 Remove 1 Suppress (Action)

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)

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 a good idea to discard your hand in order to dig through the deck. You aren't progressing without a Location or two.

3.2.2.3 Play an Action Card (Free*)

Most Action Cards are free to use and are discarded after using them, but some cost an Action to use, in which case simply flip the Action counter 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 at a time.

Some cards require an extra cost to use. The number in the top right is the amount of other Action cards you discard from the Player Soldier's 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 XP pool, at which point you perform 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 effect, but if their cost is not paid during the Soldier Turn (see 3.2.2.10) they are discarded at the end of the Soldier Turn.

3.2.2.4 Move (Action)

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. 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 numbers.

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 and Squad Soldiers may discard Action cards from the hands of any Player Soldier. Every card discarded this way adds 1 to the Soldier's Movement Value for the 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.

When a Soldier has met or exceeded the total Entrance Cost, they may move their Soldier Identification counter to the Location.

3.2.2.5 Attack (Action)

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 a weapon with the Expended keyword that has counters remaining. 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.

Declare Fire Mode

Pick a Fire Mode as listed on your chosen Weapon for the attack. This determines how many dice you roll. (This does not happen for Squad Soldiers.)

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

Roll Dice

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

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. (This does not happen for Squad Soldiers.)

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 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 to 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 final 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 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 shot 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 an EKIA counter on one of the Hostile's reticles. If this results in EKIA counters being equal to the reticle number on the Hostile, discard the Hostile, and gain its value as XP on the Soldier that performed this Attack.

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 an EKIA 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 or the Fire Mode of the Weapon is Explosion (M67 Grenade). In either case, you add EKIA counters to the Hostile equal to the amount of Attack Dice that equal or exceed the Kill number.

3.2.2.6 Reload (Action)

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, Empty-side face down.

3.2.2.7 Play a Location Card (Free*)

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", "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 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.

Give each placed Hostile a random counter from the Target cup; this is now their Targeted Soldier.

If you need to draw Hostiles but the deck is empty, shuffle the discards and place them as a new Hostile draw deck, and continue drawing Hostiles as needed.

When you place Hostiles, be sure to check for Keywords that may affect how the Hostile enters play. As a result of that, if a Hostile is to be placed behind the Mission, place them on the Mission. If a Hostile would be placed beyond the Objective, place them on the Objective.

Event Cards work the same way as Hostiles, but have an effect on the Location. Some may activate immediately, some may leave a persistent effect on the Location.

Special Instruction for Escape Missions: If a Hostile has the keyword "front-most" or "rear-most", reverse their usual Location positioning, so that "front-most" Hostiles are closer to the Mission card, and "rear-most" Hostiles are closer to the Objective 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.

3.2.2.8 Activate the Objective (Free)

The Objective starts out Inactive in a game of Warfighter, 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 on the Objective itself, 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.

3.2.2.9 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.

3.2.2.10 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 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.

3.2.2.11 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's calibre from a Soldier with the same calibre weapon, 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.

3.2.2.12 Engage in Hand to Hand

Gameplay tip: Hand-to-Hand attacks are really, really not that useful in Warfighter 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, this manual does not cover how they work; 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.

3.2.2.13 Deploy Bipod (Action)

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 Mid-Mission Healing (Action)

If a Soldier has a First-Aid Kit Equipment, they may perform an Action to roll a ten-sided die to heal any Soldier in their Location, provided they have a Bandages counter.

Declare the Wound to be healed, then roll the die. If you heal equal to, or more, points compared to the Wound counter, discard the Wound counter.

If you roll less, calculate how many points are left on the Wound by subtracting the Wound total from the roll's total, and replace the current Wound counter with a new Wound counter, equal to the total, then flip the new counter to the bandaged side; you cannot attempt to heal this Wound for the remainder of the Mission.

Example: A Soldier tries to heal another Soldier in their Location of a 2 Wound counter. They roll the die and get a 6. This heals the 2 Wound counter by 1; they discard the 2 Wound counter, take a 1 Wound counter, flip it to the bandaged side and give it to the Soldier. If the roll was 7 or higher, the Wound counter would be discarded entirely.

3.3 Hostile Turn

The Hostile Turn is an entirely AI and dice-driven turn in which Hostiles will spawn, move, attack, 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 in what order to do this in). 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 Draw

For each Location that has a Soldier on it, and each Location that has "Always draw for Rein." written on it, follow these steps. If the Location has "Reinforce: None", do not follow these steps.

Draw the top card of the Hostile deck and compare it to the Reinforce: value in the top left corner of the Location. If the Hostile Value matches any of the range, the Hostile is added to the Location and given a random Target from the Target cup, otherwise it is discarded.

3.3.2 Attack

Hostiles that have at least one Unsuppressed reticle attack whatever Soldier they are Targeting if they are in Range. 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 to the column of the Hostile attack chart equal to the uncovered reticles. Compare the Cover value of the targeted Soldier and the Defeat Cover die.

If the ten-sided roll is a Miss on the Hostile attack chart and the Cover roll did not defeat the target Soldier's Cover, nothing happens and the Attack ends. If the Attack roll is not a Miss but Cover was not defeated or vice-versa, 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.

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 Flanking Force, with one EKIA counter, attacks a Soldier that has Cover 2, and rolls a 6 on the Attack Die and 3 on the Defeat Cover Die. The Attack Die references the middle column, as there are 2 uncovered reticles. The Attack would result in 1 Wound, given to the targeted Soldier.

If the Flanking Force had one more Suppressed / EKIAd reticle, it would instead refer to the 1 column, and this attack would only cause a Suppress, as the Defeat Cover die was still successful.

If the Flanking Force had no EKIA, the Attack would result in 1 Wound, but the Attack Roll could be 1 lower and the result would be the same.

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, equal to the value listed.

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 (3.2.2.10). Remove the downed Soldier's target counters from the cup and board; all Hostiles targeting this Soldier receive new Targets from the Target cup.

3.3.3 Close Range

For each Hostile with no Suppress counters that is not within Range of its Target, move that Hostile one Location closer, or further away, from the Target so that it can either get within Range or get closer to being in Range.

If a Hostile is within Range of a Soldier, but it cannot Attack its Target due to the game state (i.e. a keyword), move the Hostile closer to the Target.

Hostiles can move into "empty Locations" (i.e. Location slots without an actual played Location card), unlike Soldiers.

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.

3.3.4 Remove Suppress Counters

Remove one Suppress counter from each Hostile card.

Gameplay tip: Have a huge Hostile that you're extremely worried about? Suppress the hell out of it. Dakka dakka dakka. It'll take multiple turns to get back to full strength.

3.3.5 Advance Mission Timer

Move the Time counter on the Time Track one space downwards. If the Time counter would move lower than the 1 space at this point, the mission ends in failure.

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. Quick Reference Sheets

The next few sections are quick references to help you play through the game faster.

4.1 Quick Setup Checklist

Choose a matching set of Missions, Objectives, Locations and Hostiles.
Shuffle Action cards, Hostile cards and Location cards, placing them in their respective deck spaces, and keep Locations nearby.
Select a Mission and Objective, put them on the board.
Outfit your Soldiers as you see fit. Give them Action counters and Soldier Identification counter pairs – one on the Soldier, one on the Mission card.
Take all matching Target counters and put them in the Target cup.
Put Timer and Inactive counters on the Time Track and Objective.
Draw a hand of Action cards for each Player Soldier.
You're good to go!

4.2 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.

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

Remove 1 Suppress – Must be done if Soldier is Suppressed before any other Action. Remove 1 Suppress token from this Soldier.
Discard and Draw – Soldier discards as many Action cards they want, then draw up to their Health.
Play an Action Card – Use an Action card from your hand for the listed cost. Discard 1 XP to use bracketed text. Usually free, may cost other resources.
Move – Use Soldier's Movement value + discard Action cards to move to adjacent Location. Once per Soldier per Soldier Turn.
Attack – Use a Weapon to attack a Hostile within range.
Reload – Discard Ammo counter from Weapon and replace with another.
Play a 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.
Activate the Objective – When Soldier is adjacent to Objective, remove Inactive token and draw Hostiles. Objective may now be entered/completed. Free to perform.
Lighten the Load – Discard Equipment and recalculate Resource cost. Free to perform.
Trade Between Soldiers – Player Soldiers may trade unused Weapons/Equipment to other Player Soldiers and ammo to Non-Player Soldiers. Free to perform.
Deploy Bipod – Flip the bipod counter to allow Bipod bonus for Weapons.
Engage in Hand to Hand – See Warfighter Universal Rulebook.
Pay Retain Costs – Pay retain costs on any deployed Action Cards.
Mid-Mission Healing – Expend Bandage, roll dice, heal Wound.

4.3 Hostile Turn Quick Reference

Reinforcement Draw: For each Location with a Soldier or Always draw for Rein, draw a Hostile. If Hostile doesn't match Rein Range, discard Hostile, otherwise add to Location.
Attack: All Hostiles Attack Targets. Roll ten-sided and six-sided die, compare ten-sided die to Hostile chart and uncovered Reticles, six-sided die to Soldier Cover.
Close Range: All Unsuppressed Hostiles move closer or further from their Targets in order to be in Range and able to Attack their Target.
Remove Suppress Counters: All Hostiles lose 1 Suppress.
Advance Mission Timer: Move timer 1 space down.