Mission Types & Scenarios

Special mission procedures, their timing, and verified Modern scenario examples.

Apply only the selected mission

The ordinary route is not a template to impose on every Mission. Read its type, Objective, region and scenario instructions before purchases. The procedures below apply when the selected cards actually call for them. Universal examples span several Warfighter settings; an example’s existence does not put its cards in every Modern box.

Escape

See Escape missions for the full starting position, activation, initial Hostile timing and reversed directions. Initial Location draws and ordinary reinforcement checks still occur. Reverse travel does not allow free Moves or waive entrance costs.

Raid

First complete the Mission as specified; the initial Objective cannot be an Escape Mission Objective. Then perform an Escape from Objective back to Mission. Follow the selected cards’ additional restrictions and the Escape procedure.

Already played Locations stay in place. Re-entering them does not repeat their initial placement Hostile draw. Occupied Locations still check normal reinforcements. The completed outward Objective therefore does not automatically mean the whole Raid is complete.

Holding Action

Use the specified Front Mission in Location 1 and Fallback Position Objective in its Mission-specified slot. Randomly fill other path spaces with Locations. Put all Soldiers at the Objective.

After Environment in each Soldier turn, draw a Hostile for each intermediate Location. Ignore Hostile Place text. During Close Range, roll separately for eligible unsuppressed Hostile cards: move one Location toward the Objective when the roll is at least the destination’s Entrance Cost plus 2. A card with any Suppress does not roll to move. Normal reinforcement checks still apply.

Ignore Hostile abilities/keywords adjusting Timer, Place or Maintain. An effect that adds Mission Time can be used to reduce it instead. Skip the Hostile turn on the Mission’s final turn.

Fail if any Hostile remains on the Objective at the end of a Soldier turn. Success requires keeping it clear at every such checkpoint until the mission’s duration is complete; merely clearing it once is insufficient.

Hold the Line

Place Left Flank Mission at Location 1 and Right Flank at the designated end. Randomly fill the intermediate spaces, redrawing any Location with Reinforce None. Do not draw initial Hostiles when laying them out. Deploy Soldiers in any Location, including the end cards.

Treat Locations as Always Reinforce, using their normal value checks; include Mission/Objective as the instructions prescribe and only if a reinforcement value exists. Ignore Hostile Place text. Effects adding Mission Time may reduce it instead.

Unlike Holding Action, every Hostile in play must be gone at each Soldier-turn end. One surviving enemy anywhere causes failure. Keep the entire path clear at every checkpoint until the duration ends.

Airborne

Only eligible Airborne Soldiers can participate. Buy and equip each Soldier for arrival through the chosen parachute or glider procedure; consult those Equipment cards rather than assuming a free ordinary start. Prepare the applicable Landing Zone and Enemy Lines decks.

At the start of turn 1, draw and resolve the Landing Zone effect. From turn 2 onward, draw and resolve an Enemy Lines card at the start of each turn. Card/scenario text can prescribe particular arrival cards or additional draws.

The publisher’s Modern Rendezvous with Destiny scenario is a concrete override: it specifies both Hard Landing and They’re Here! Landing Zone cards, allows a free Supply Drop purchase, requires at least three Non-Player or Squad Soldiers, and lets printed Smart Landing Skills ignore the stated arrival cards. These are scenario rules, not general bonuses for every Airborne Mission.

Multiple Objectives and special route conditions

For Multiple Objectives, choose the required number and place each at the Mission’s listed positions. The listed Resources and Time cover the complete mission. Complete all required Objectives; defeating the first is not success.

If an Objective says a particular Location must occupy the previous space, the Keyword Reference says to Recon that required Location into a Player Soldier’s hand before the mission. Follow its placement requirement rather than hoping to draw it randomly later.

K9 missions

[M37] When a K9 joins the team, shuffle the K9 Encounter deck beside the Hostile deck and choose one of the K9 Objectives. A K9 can only come with its own Handler (same photo); the Handler may go without it. Draw no Targeting counters for K9s. The pair always share a Location and move together, the Handler paying both entrance costs; a K9 has no Actions and never attacks.

Before placing a new Location’s Hostiles, draw a K9 Encounter; its top-right number counts toward that Location’s Hostile value but gives no XP. If the Handler and K9 are first into the Location they roll as the card says, using the K9’s Bomb, Friendly, Rescue or Threat modifier and the Handler’s Handler ability, and gain the Reward or suffer the Failure. Anyone else entering first fails automatically. Discipline counters, placed at the start of turn 1, buy the bonuses some Encounters offer. (Universal pp. 16–17.)

JTAC missions

An Objective marked “JTAC Attacks only” can be destroyed only by an air strike. Buy a JTAC Target Designator (Gear for a Soldier) and a JTAC Attack Platform during setup, and activate the Objective first. With the Designator within the Range printed on it, its Soldier pays Actions to roll for Guidance Points, over one or more turns. Declaring the strike costs no Action: roll the Platform’s attacks with the Guidance modifier; each point of damage also eliminates a random Hostile in the Objective, and Soldiers too close roll on the Designator’s chart to see if they are Downed. One strike per mission. (Universal pp. 13–14.) Sabotage, Meltdown, Shore Invasion and Fortification missions in the same chapter come from other settings’ packs.

Defend, clearing and small-team scenarios

An informal label such as “defend,” “clear a building,” or “low-resource mission” does not establish a new universal setup. Use the actual Mission/Objective text. Eliminate Hostiles is covered in Objective results; Holding Action and Hold the Line above have different checkpoints. A small-team scenario’s Soldier cap is separate from its Resource budget.

These examples illustrate why normal costs cannot be guessed from a title. A free Resource purchase can still consume Loadout, and a two-Soldier cap can accompany a substantial budget.

Sources

Universal Rulebook, pp. 10–17; Keywords Reference, 15th edition, Multiple Objectives and Must have X in previous Location entries; publisher Scenario Book, PDF pp. 2–4, 6, 9, 11. Scenario-book printed page numbers are one below PDF numbers.