Your First Game
Two squads fight through the dead levels of a collapsing arcology, where a wired connection is sacred and going wireless is heresy. This page teaches you one full game from nothing. It covers only what you need and links to the full rules for the rest. Grab a friend and some dice.
What You Need
- 10 squad miniatures or proxies (5 each, one squad per player)
- 3 Coworker models
- 4 Feral Crews models (3 Gunners and 1 Boss)
- 1 objective marker (the
data-slate) for the center - 4
Loot Markers, in a line across the center (tokens or coins) - Two each of d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12, and one d20 (for searching loot)
- A tape measure or ruler (inches)
- A bag or opaque cup, plus one token per model or group to draw from it
- A 2 foot by 2 foot table with plenty of terrain
The Game in 60 Seconds
+1 DT bumps you up one size, a -1 DT drops you down one. In a contest, both sides roll and add: highest total wins. On a tie, the smaller dice win (a 2d6 beats a 2d8); on the same size, reroll. (Full breakdown: Core Mechanics.)
Players alternate pulling activation tokens from a bag. The side you draw activates one model: it takes a Move and an Action, in either order, moving up to its Move in inches. To attack, roll your Combat against the target's Defense: win, and you roll the weapon's damage (full rules in Attack Resolution; a maxed damage die opens a Critical Hit).
The only Actions you need today: Attack, Move Again, Interact (use a marker within 1"), Search (a Loot Marker within 1"), Interrogate (a Coworker within 1"), and Disengage (leave melee safely). See the Rulebook for the rest.
Pick Your Squad
Hand one squad to each player. Both cost 60 subs (12 per model) and are ready to field. Want to build your own next time? Use the Squad Builder. Every weapon and piece of armor lives in Weapons & Armor.
d4 Toxic, Ranged, +1 vs wounded), Shiv (d4 Toxic, Melee, +1 vs wounded), Flak Wrap (armor 1)d6+1 Bladed, Melee), Mesh Wrap (armor 1). Can wear Heavy armord6 Toxic, Melee), Knife (d4 Bladed, Melee). +1 DT vs 2+ enemies, melee onlyd4 Projectile, Ranged), Shiv (d4 Toxic, Melee, +1 vs wounded), Lining (armor 1). Tougher when hurtd6 Energy, Ranged, +1 DT if it did not move), Knife (d4 Bladed, Melee), Medium armord4 Toxic, Ranged, +1 vs wounded), Shiv (d4 Toxic, Melee, +1 vs wounded), Flak Wrap (armor 1)d4 Static, Ranged, no fumbles), Light Vest (armor 1). Free Disengaged6 Energy, Ranged, +1 DT if it did not move), Knife (d4 Bladed, Melee), Medium armord4 Projectile, Ranged), Sword (d6 Bladed, Melee). Re-roll failed Wits testsd4 Projectile, Ranged), Shiv (d4 Toxic, Melee, +1 vs wounded), Lining (armor 1). Tougher when hurtThe Mission: Extraction
The data-slate sits at the center of the board. A model within 1" spends an Interact to pick it up. While carrying it, that model moves at half Move (round down) and cannot Disengage; an Engaged model cannot pick it up. If the carrier goes Out of Action or Flee, the data-slate drops where it stood (or at the board edge if it fled off the table), and any model can grab it again with Interact. The Feral Crews ignore the data-slate. (Engaged, Flee and Out of Action are defined in the Rulebook.)
Victory: carry the data-slate off your own deployment edge. If neither side extracts it by game end, the side holding it wins; if no one holds it, the side with the most surviving models wins (tie: the Defender). The winner gains +1 Lead, and whoever holds the data-slate at the win gains +1 Merit.
Set Up the Board
A full game sets up using the Campaign tables (deployment, loot, coworkers, hostile timing). For your first game, use this fixed, simple version. The randomized setup lives in the Campaign rules and the Scenario generator.
- Lay terrain across the 2 foot by 2 foot table (see the note below the map).
- Decide sides. With no campaign record yet, flip a coin: one player is the Aggressor, the other the Defender.
- Boss roll-off. Both players roll their Boss's
Wits. The winner is First Player for the rest of setup. - Place the markers. The Defender puts the objective (the
data-slate) at the center, lays 4Loot Markers in an even line across the board through the center, and places three Coworkers (Data Clerk) within 3" of the center. - Deploy. First Player picks a table edge; the other takes the opposite edge. Starting with the Second Player, alternate placing one model at a time within your own edge.
- First draw. First Player draws the first activation token. Set the Feral Crews aside: their first wave arrives at the start of Round 2.
Open this exact mission in the Scenario generator
The Coworker
Three terrified Department workers (Coworkers: Data Clerks) huddle within 3" of the objective. They mostly wait it out: their group takes its own token draw and usually does nothing. They give you two things to do. A model within 1" of the data-slate spends an Interact to grab it. A model within 1" of a Coworker spends an Interrogate. A model takes one Action per activation, but your squad can do both across the game: these are not either/or.
d4 Energy, Ranged). A nervous civilian: mostly hides, fights only if cornered.How they act. The Coworkers are one group with their own token. When you draw it, roll once and the whole group does the same thing.
| d6 | No line of sight | Has line of sight | Engaged |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | Wait | Wait | Wait |
| 5 | Cooperate | Cooperate | Cooperate |
| 6 | Patrol | Patrol | Flee |
Wait: do nothing.Cooperate: next round, youInterrogatethem at+1 DT.Patrol: drift toward the nearestLoot Marker.Flee: move toward the nearest board edge.
Grab the data-slate
Spend anInteract on the objective and run it home: the fastest path to the win.Interrogate
Spend anInterrogate on a Coworker: roll your Wits (+1 DT if the Coworker is wounded) against their Wits 2d8. Succeed and the Coworker is removed from the board, secrets pulled loose. The Recovery Crew's high Wits makes it good at this; the Compliance Team would rather just grab and go.You do not need the Coworker to win. But interrogating them is how a campaign begins: secrets become Evidence, and Evidence opens the arcology's worst doors. None of that is tracked in a one-off game. The Campaign rules start from there.
Loot
Four Loot Markers run across the middle of the board, the data-slate among them. A model within 1" of one (and not Engaged) can spend a Search: roll Wits vs 2d6. Succeed, remove the marker, and roll a d20 on the Search table for what you find: subs, a random weapon, a grenade or consumable, or campaign Evidence and Leads. In a one-off game the subs and campaign rewards are just bragging rights, but a grenade or consumable you can use on the spot. (Full table: Search.)
The Enemy: Feral Crews
Once-human workers gone feral: their skin stained green over generations of drinking the coolant that leaks from the cooling systems above (water is subscription-only). They are an uncontrolled third side, ignoring your objectives and attacking whoever is closest. They hit in two waves: three Gunners in Round 2, then their Boss in Round 4. (Full faction: Feral Crews.)
d6 Projectile, Ranged)d10 Blunt, Melee)How they act. Each wave arrives at the start of its round on a random board edge that neither player deployed on, as close to the center as that edge allows. A wave is one group with its own token in the bag: when you draw it, roll once on the table below and every model in the group does the same thing, acting on the closest target first. Remove a Crew model when it goes Out of Action.
| d6 | No line of sight | Has line of sight | Engaged |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | Patrol | Attack | Attack |
| 5 | Patrol | Mob Up | Mob Up |
| 6 | Regroup | Attack | Frenzy |
Patrol: move toward the nearestLoot Marker(or randomly if none in sight).Regroup: move toward the nearest friendly model.Mob Up: make aCombatattack at+1 DT.Frenzy: attack twice.
The full hostile rules and the other five factions are in the Rulebook.
Play Your First Turn
Each round, in order:
- Corporate Blessings. Roll a d8 three times and apply the results (Rulebook).
- Reinforcements. If a Feral Crews wave is due (Round 2, then Round 4), place each one on a random unused edge and add its tokens.
- Fill the bag. One token per model or group still in play.
- Draw and activate. Pull tokens one at a time; the side you draw activates one model (a Move and an Action, in either order). Hostile and Coworker groups act on their AI table (Spawning Hostiles).
- End of round. When the bag is empty, the round ends. From Round 5, roll a d6 to see if the game stops (Round 5: 3+, Round 6: 2+; Round 7 ends automatically).
The example below jumps to Round 2, after the Feral Crews arrive (Round 1 is mostly maneuvering toward the center).
- Move. The Brute moves its full 3" toward the center, ending next to a Feral Crews Gunner.
- Attack. Brute
Combat2d8 against the Gunner'sDefense2d6. You roll 11 (5 and 6); the Gunner rolls 8 (4 and 4). 11 beats 8: hit. - Damage. The Sword deals
d6+1. You roll a 4, for 5. The Gunner has no armor and 10Health: it drops to 5, wounded.
Attack. A second Gunner, a few inches back, fires its Slug Gun at the Brute. Gunner Combat 2d6 (8, from 4 and 4) against Brute Defense 2d6 (7, from 3 and 4). 8 beats 7: hit. The Slug Gun deals d6; you roll 3, and the Brute's armor 1 leaves 2 damage. The Brute drops to 12 Health and fights on.
Who wins? Play on until the game ends (somewhere in Rounds 5 to 7). The winner is whoever carries the data-slate off their own deployment edge, or holds it when time runs out (see The Mission above). String games together and each result feeds a campaign, which builds toward its own Campaign Victory.
Where Next
You played your first game. Tell us how it went (two minutes, no account). It genuinely shapes the game. Ready for more?