FAQ
32 answered questions0 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by Dan Verssen Games (DVG) or the designers. No official rulings are included in this FAQ.
Common mistakes
- Refilling Action hands automatically each turn instead of paying an Action or using a draw effect. Ruling · Rule
- Spending an Ammo counter after every ordinary firearm attack. Ruling · Rule
- Resolving every automatic-fire die separately instead of taking one ordinary attack result. Ruling · Rule
- Making paid attacks or Moves while the Soldier still has a Suppress counter. Ruling · Rule
- Treating a partly suppressed Hostile as unable to attack. Ruling · Rule
- Redrawing initial Hostiles when returning to an already played Location. Ruling · Rule
- Keeping a destroyed Hostile targeting counter outside the cup. Ruling · Rule
- Removing attachment Resource costs because a Weapon has Rails. Ruling · Rule
Showing 32 of 32
Must one Soldier finish all its Actions before another acts?
No. Interleave Soldiers' Actions in any order during the Soldier turn. Actions remain attached to their own Soldier; interleaving does not allow transferring Action counters.
Source: BGG discussion
Do Action hands refill automatically at the start or end of a turn?
No. Use the paid Discard and Draw Action or a specific card/ability that grants draws. Ordinary turn refresh restores Action counters, not a full hand. An ability such as Combat Experience has its own additional procedure.
Source: BGG discussion
Does a bracketed any Soldier benefit require Upgunning?
Yes. If widening the recipient to any Soldier is bracketed, pay the Upgun cost to gain it. The ordinary effect belongs to the playing Soldier. One Upgun payment applies the bracketed benefits together, not one payment per bracket.
Source: BGG discussion
Can another Soldier contribute XP to playing or Upgunning an Action card?
Yes. The Universal rules expressly allow any Soldier to contribute XP for Action-card costs and Upgunning. Support-card Retain costs likewise allow contributions. The thread debates whether older wording establishes this for every conceivable Skill/Weapon cost; do not treat that debate as proof that explicit card restrictions can be ignored.
Source: BGG discussion
Can a suppressed Soldier spend an Action to attack or move?
Not while any Suppress remains. Its paid Actions must first clear Suppress counters, one per Action. Action cards requiring no Action remain usable at their permitted timing.
Source: BGG discussion
Can Squad Soldiers use their own Actions to remove Suppress?
Yes. Printed Actions specify the Soldier's allowance, not an exclusive list preventing suppression removal. The Squad Soldier spends one of its own Actions to clear one Suppress; another Soldier's Action cannot be substituted.
Source: BGG discussion
Must the whole team clear Suppress before any Soldier acts?
No. The restriction is individual. Unsuppressed Soldiers may act normally while another Soldier is suppressed.
Source: BGG discussion
Does another Suppress result stack on an already suppressed Soldier?
Yes. Place another counter. Each paid suppression-removal Action clears one, so multiple counters can delay that Soldier for several Actions.
Source: BGG discussion
Can a partly suppressed Hostile card still attack?
Yes, if at least one reticle remains neither suppressed nor EKIA and the target is in range. Use the attack column for the remaining active reticles. Any Suppress normally prevents the card's movement; full suppression normally disables its active effects, subject to keyword exceptions.
Source: BGG discussion
Does suppression remove a Hostile's entrance-cost penalty?
Full suppression normally disables that active text. Partial suppression may only reduce a split penalty; use the printed active-reticle columns. Check keyword exceptions instead of assuming every word disappears whenever one Suppress is placed.
Source: BGG discussion
Is an Ammo counter spent every time a firearm attacks?
No. For an ordinary firearm, keep firing with its loaded Ammo until a raw die triggers Reload. Then flip the loaded counter to Empty and spend the required reload Action to expose the next one. Expended and Single Shot Weapons have their own procedures.
Source: BGG discussion
Can an ordinary automatic attack inflict a Kill and Suppress together?
Normally no: several dice still resolve into one ordinary EKIA or Suppress. Explosion/Spray, Suppressed Weapons and specific extra-result effects are exceptions. A failed hit die does not independently suppress during an ordinary attack that already inflicted its one EKIA.
Source: BGG discussion
Is a natural 1 always an automatic failure?
No universal automatic-failure rule applies. Compare the modified roll with the required threshold; Cover 1 can be defeated by a 1 when no negative modifier prevents it. Separate rules checking raw results, such as Reload, still apply.
Source: BGG discussion
Does Penetration modify the attack die or the cover die?
It modifies Defeat Cover, not the attack-hit roll. Apply the printed Penetration modifier to the appropriate cover check.
Source: BGG discussion
What attack type do Squad Soldiers use when their card omits the label?
Their attacks are Ranged unless their card says otherwise. A printed Explosion or alternative attack type is an exception. This matches the Universal Squad attack rule.
Source: BGG discussion
If Prepared Fire treats the cover roll as 6, do modifiers still apply?
The community answer treats the replacement as the die result, then applies relevant cover modifiers. It is not a blanket instruction to ignore Penetration or other printed modifiers. Follow the wording of your version of the card.
Source: BGG discussion
Can I leave a Location before eliminating its Hostiles?
Yes, unless a specific Location/Hostile rule prevents leaving. Their presence alone does not forbid a legal Move. They may follow during Close Range or still attack from their own range.
Source: BGG discussion
Can a Hostile in an empty path slot be attacked?
Yes. Hostiles can occupy empty numbered slots through placement or movement. Count range normally; the missing Location card does not make the Hostile immune. This does not let a Soldier move into that empty slot.
Source: BGG discussion
Do I redraw initial Hostiles when re-entering a cleared Location?
No. Pay the entrance requirement again for the Move, but entering an already played Location is not placing a new Location and does not repeat its initial Hostile draw. Occupation can still trigger the ordinary reinforcement step.
Source: BGG discussion
Can I call a same-Location attack Range 1 to bypass a Range 0 restriction?
No. Range comes from the positions and applicable explicit range modifiers, not a player's choice. A restriction on Range-0 attacks also restricts a Range-0 explosive attack; being an Explosion is not permission to relabel distance.
Source: BGG discussion
Is there a fixed card-count limit when drawing initial Hostiles?
No separate generic count limit stops the draw. Continue until the required XP total is reached or exceeded. Zero-value Hostiles can make the number of cards larger without raising that running total; resolve them normally.
Source: BGG discussion
Are purchases limited by the number of physical Equipment or Weapon cards?
No. You may purchase multiple copies and use one card as a shared reference while tracking each Soldier's Gear and Ammo separately. This permission does not create duplicate copies of the same named Soldier.
Source: BGG discussion
Do Rails remove an attachment's Resource cost?
No. Rails provides the printed allowance of attachment Loadout without charging that Loadout to the Soldier. The attachment's Resource cost remains, and a separately printed Loadout value controls rather than assuming it equals Resource cost.
Source: BGG discussion
What does XP printed among a Soldier's starting benefits mean?
The Soldier begins with that many XP. It is a benefit included in the Soldier purchase, not an extra attack stat or XP award for defeating that friendly Soldier.
Source: BGG discussion
How do I find the effect of a Skill named on a Soldier card?
Consult the matching Skill card. The Soldier's benefit grants that Skill; the short name is not a complete rules description. Use its applicable edition and costs.
Source: BGG discussion
How much Ammo does one Resource Point buy during a mission?
The current Keyword Reference distinguishes mid-mission Resources of Ammo from pre-mission purchases: during a mission, one Resource Point of Ammo gives six counters to distribute legally. Before the mission it buys the Weapon's printed starting allotment. The thread corrects an answer that had applied the pre-mission rule to both cases.
Source: BGG discussion
Where does a destroyed Hostile's targeting counter go?
Return it to the targeting cup. When a Soldier is Downed, remove that Soldier's targeting counters from the cup and affected Hostile cards, then redraw targets for those Hostiles.
Source: BGG discussion
Does a Hostile switch target when another Soldier enters its Location?
Normally no. It keeps the assigned targeted Soldier, even if another Soldier is closer. Apply a specific retargeting keyword if present, and redraw when its target is Downed.
Source: BGG discussion
Can Hostiles enter the Mission Location despite the board's deck spaces?
Yes in a normal mission: placement keywords and Close Range can put them there. The board's deck layout is not a prohibition. Special missions, notably Escape, can impose different restrictions.
Source: BGG discussion
If no Hostile matches a Location's Reinforce value, should I keep drawing?
No. Draw the one reinforcement candidate; if its value does not match, discard it and finish that Location's check. A deck with no matching value therefore cannot supply a normal matching reinforcement there.
Source: BGG discussion
Do Escape missions still draw initial Location Hostiles and reinforcements?
Yes. Drawing Hostiles when placing Locations and checking occupied Locations for reinforcements still applies. Escape changes start, destination, directional keywords and initial Objective timing; it does not switch those draw systems off.
Source: BGG discussion
Does a Raid's return trip repeat initial Hostile draws for existing Locations?
No. The return trip reuses already played Locations, so it does not repeat their placement draw. Reinforcements still resolve normally. Apply Escape procedures for the return stage and the Raid card's own instructions.
Source: BGG discussion