Battle
- Battle: A skirmish between a large number troops may be resolved as a Mission over a few days. A Bad result results in an Injury to you. Pairs reduce the casualties you suffer. Fighting a Battle uses the Tactics Cascade. Being Outnumbered or facing a more powerful foe incurs Penalties. Being captured by the enemy or losing a friendly Unit are common alternative consequences for a Bad result.
See Also
Line
When attacking a target within reach you check against your combat skill score. Most ranged weapons still use combat, but firearms use machinery. Weapons without a range keyword are reach, and let you attack adjacent areas in front of your flank. Range keywords describe how many areas away your target may be before you suffer a penalty or are unable to attack at all. When you make an attack you check the line between you and the target. The line is drawn from the front of your base to three points on the target's base: the closest point, and then the two sides. The closest point is used to determine if you flank, and the spread between all three points is used to check for cover. You may not attack a target completely behind your own flank.
Defense
If your check succeeds and the target doesn't contest you, then you roll your attack effects and apply them. When you are attacked you may contest the check with a guard, a defense, or both of you have them. A physical attack may be contested with a dodge (agility) or a parry (combat). A parry is only an option if you are not flanked and within reach of your attacker. If you are flanked you can still dodge, but you suffer a penalty. After an attack hits you may choose to screen. You don't receive your next action, but gain one defense per attack until the next time you get an action. On the turn where you have no action you still reset your guard and may use a snap. You may try to use both your guard and a defense to contest the same attack. Both checks cooperate, but must be different types (dodge or parry).
- Pro tip: When you screen, put two markers on your card. Remove one when you lose your action and the other when you take your action after that. So long as you have a marker you have defenses.
Victory
A battle ends when one side is out or leaves the zone. A surrendered opponent counts as out, and the condition change at the end of an exchange may require a rank check to prevent a losing side from surrendering or fleeing. A battle may lead directly to another encounter (such as a chase or an infiltration to escape) depending on the circumstances.
- Pro tips: If firearms are in play, use the crouch snap to take cover and improve your chances. If you have a decent combat overlap opponents as quickly as you can, once you're within reach you can parry any ranged attacks they try to use. Maneuver to take advantage of an opponent's flank while protecting your own. Becoming hidden during battle can be difficult, but allows powerful surprise attacks if you pull it off. Try to exploit environment or situation stunts so even a defensive triumph can generate a dangerous advantage. If you are out of grit withdraw before you get knocked out. If you are out of hits then any moment could be your last.
Special Battles
- Duel. A duel is a special battle between two agreeing opponents. Each opponent may only makes makes attack checks that add to a total, similar to a complication. These checks are called maneuvering, and on any turn you may declare that you're done maneuvering and roll your check as an attack. If it hits, you add all margin from your maneuvering as extra dE damage. However you only get that one attack, once you use it, your opponent (if they survive) may keep maneuvering until the exchange ends or they use their attack. If both survive the first exchange it becomes a regular battle.
- Engagement. An engagement will have a number of linked battles, called hotspots. The side that holds the most hotspots wins the engagement as a whole. Some hotspots may be contested simultaneously, forcing the band to only participate in only one, or to split their forces across multiple hotspots. Fortitude can also be a significant factor if the band becomes exhausted after participating in an earlier hotspot.
- Massacre. A massacre is an ambush that is a heavily weighted against one side. The outcome is certain, but the encounter is played to determine who (if anyone) survives the initial attack and how hurt the survivors are. Often in a massacre there will only be one valid escape edge, and it will be on the other side of opposing forces. The idea is that overwhelming forces exist on all the other sides, and you have to push through the weakest pocket of resistance to escape. Any individual who hasn't managed to exit after one (possibly two) exchanges is automatically captured or killed.
See Also
Version 3.0.0
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