ROUNDS & INITIATIVE
Combat is played out in rounds, each roughly 5–10 seconds
long. When a combat begins, the first step is to
determine who has the initiative. Do this before anyone
rolls dice for an action.

DRAWING INITIATIVE
Each player taking part in the conflict, either voluntarily
or involuntarily, draws a card (from 1-10) and the Referee draws
one card for each NPC (or group). This is called drawing
the initiative. The number on the card determines the
order in which you act in the conflict.
Participants act in order from lowest to highest number,
beginning with card #1, until everyone has taken
their turn. Place your initiative card by your character
sheet, so everyone can see in which order you all act. The
Referee places their initiative card(s) in front of them.
When all the participants in the combat have acted
once, the round is over, and a new round begins. The
round order remains the same throughout the whole
conflict – drawing initiative is only done once, at the
start of the first round.

SURPRISE
If you initiate combat with an attack that the Referee
deems fully surprising, you automatically get the #1 initiative
card in the first round. All other combatants – including
others on your side – draw initiative normally.
Also see Ambushes (page 60).

SLOW & FAST ACTIONS
On your turn, you can perform one slow action and one fast action, or
two fast actions. See the lists of typical slow and fast actions on the next
page. All of these actions are explained in detail later in this chapter.

FREE ACTIONS: Dropping to the ground or shouting a few words are called
free actions – they don’t count toward your two actions for the round,
but you can only do them on your own turn (except when forced to go
prone by a failed CUF roll).

DESCRIBE YOUR ACTIONS
When it’s your turn to act, simply state which actions you wish to perform
and roll dice if needed to see if you are successful. Some actions, like
blocking and overwatch fire, will give your opponent the opportunity
to perform a reactive action, which breaks the turn order.

HELPING OTHERS
If you wish to help another player character or NPC perform an action, it
costs you one action of the same kind (slow or fast). You must state you
are trying to help someone before any dice are rolled. Helping others
also occurs out of turn, i.e. it breaks the initiative order in the round.
You can read more about helping in chapter 3.

SLOW ACTIONS

ACTION/PREREQUISITE/SKILL
Get item from backpack/Backpack/Mobility
Persuade/The opponent can hear you/Persuasion
Unarmed attack/Unarmed/Close Combat
Melee attack/Melee weapon/Close Combat
Grapple/Unarmed/Close Combat
Break free/You are grappled/Close Combat
Shoot firearm/Firearm/Ranged Combat
Clear jam/Jammed firearm/Ranged Combat
Sniper aim Telescopic sight/–/
Shoot bow/Bow or crossbow/Ranged Combat
Throw weapon/Thrown weapon or hand grenade/Mobility
Aim mortar or howitzer/Mortar or howitzer/–
Fire heavy weapon/Heavy weapon/Heavy Weapons
Direct indirect fire/Target in sight/Recon
First aid/Victim incapacitated by damage/Medical Aid
Rally/Victim incapacitated by stress/Command
Enter/exit vehicle/Vehicle/–

FAST ACTIONS

ACTION/PREREQUISITE/SKILL
Drop backpack/Backpack/–
Seek cover (full or partial)/Terrain type providing cover/–
Go from full to partial cover/Full cover/–
Run/No enemy in same hex/Mobility
Cross barrier/–/Mobility
Move through door/–/–
Crawl/You are prone/Mobility
Get up/You are prone/–
Draw item from combat gear/–/–
Shove/–/Close Combat
Disarm/Target holds an item/Close Combat
Grapple attack/Opponent grappled/Close Combat
Retreat/Enemy in same hex/Mobility
Aim/Ranged weapon/–
Prepare bow/Bow/–
Assume overwatch position/Ranged weapon/–
Reload (slow action if failed)/Firearm or crossbow/Ranged Combat
Pull grenade pin/Hand grenade/–
Get on a bike/Motorcycle or bicycle/–
Grab the wheel/Vehicle/–
Start engine/Vehicle/–
Drive/Vehicle/Driving
Use item/Varies/Varies

FREE ACTIONS
ACTION/PREREQUISITE/SKILL
Drop to the ground/You’re standing up/–
Drop held item/Item in hand/–
Go from partial to full cover/Partial cover/–
Shout a few words/-/

FOOT MOVEMENT
In a single (fast) action, you can run two hexes without
rolling dice. To move further, you need to make a MOBILITY
roll, modified by the terrain of the hex you’re in. For each
you roll, you can move an additional hex. If you fail
the roll, you move no further.

STANCE: In order to run, you must be standing up. Going
from a prone position to standing up is a fast action.
Dropping to the ground is a free action, but it can only
be done on your own turn. Use your character token to
indicate your stance – one side shows you standing, the
other prone.

CRAWLING: If you are prone, you can’t run. Instead, you must crawl.
Crawling works exactly like running, but you move one hex per (fast)
action instead of two, and the MOBILITY roll can only increase the
movement by one hex, no matter how many you roll. Terrain and
carrying a backpack affect crawling just like running.

BACKPACK: Carrying a backpack gives you a –2 modifier to all MOBILITY rolls.
It might be a good idea to drop your backpack before going into combat.
ELEVATION: Moving into a hex of higher terrain counts as moving two
hexes instead of one. You cannot move half a hex, so any unused movement
is forfeited. This means you must roll MOBILITY to crawl up a hill.

SWAMPS AND SHALLOWS: Running into a hex of swamp or shallows
counts as crawling. Actual crawling is not possible. Vehicle movement is
impossible, except for amphibious vehicles (these move as into a field hex).

CLOSE COMBAT: If you have an active and aware enemy in the same hex, you
can’t simply move away from them. Instead, you must retreat.

VEHICLE MOVEMENT

The combat speed rating of your vehicle indicates how many 10-meter hexes
you can safely drive with a single (fast) action in combat, on-road and offroad
respectively. Only pavement hexes count as on-road. You can drive in
any direction you want, ending the movement facing any direction you like.

If you make a DRIVING roll directly after having moved the safe distance,
you can move a further number of hexes equal to the combat speed
plus one for each rolled beyond the first. The roll is modified by the
terrain of the hex you’re in after having moved the safe driving distance.
If such a DRIVING roll fails, you get stuck after having moved the safe
distance. Place a STUCK marker on your vehicle token on the battle map.
GETTING UNSTUCK: When stuck, you need to make another DRIVING roll (slow
action) to get loose, modified by the type of terrain the vehicle is currently
in. If this roll also fails, the vehicle becomes bogged down – now, you need
to get out of the vehicle and make a STAMINA roll (taking one stretch) to
get the vehicle moving again. Others can help you, and if you use another
vehicle (at least as large as the bogged down vehicle), you get a +2 modifier.

Note: the LAV uparmoured LAV Coyote, unarmoured Humvee and technical all have a road/offroad combat speed of 5/3.

FACING

On the battle map, you must indicate the direction in which your vehicle
is facing at the end of movement, and rotate the token accordingly. At
the end of movement, the token must always face one side of the hex.
As a driver, you can choose to rotate your vehicle in any direction any
number of times during your movement action (it’s not an action in
itself). You cannot change your facing at any other time.

Although skill and ability checks are more than just combat, this is as good a place as any to reiterate these rules.

ROLL THE DICE
There are a total of twelve core skills in the game, and they are all described
later in this chapter. Each skill is connected to one of the four attributes:
Strength (STR), Agility (AGL), Intelligence (INT), and Empathy (EMP).
When you perform an action, you first describe what your character
does or says. Then you grab two dice – one for your skill level and another
for the base attribute that is connected to the skill. These two dice are
called your base dice.

The type of base dice to roll depends on your levels in the skill and
attribute, see the table below. Then roll your two base dice together. If you
don’t have a level in the skill you’re using, just roll one for the attribute.

SUCCESS

To succeed with your action, you must roll 6 or higher on
at least one base die used in the roll. A roll of 6 or higher
is called a success, and is marked in the rules with a crosshairs
symbol.

MULTIPLE SUCCESSES: A roll of 10 or higher on a single die
(only possible with a D10 or D12 of course) counts as
two successes. This means you can potentially roll up to
four successes with a single skill roll (two successes on
each die), if you are both skilled and lucky. With bonus
beyond the first one you can achieve additional effects,
if explicitly stated in the rules.

THE ART OF FAILURE

If you roll no , something goes wrong. For some reason,
you failed to achieve your goal. Feel free to elaborate on
why with the help of the Referee. They might even let a
failed roll have further consequences to move the story
forward in a dramatic way.

You have one last chance if you really need to succeed
– you can push the roll.

PUSHING YOUR ROLL

Your initial skill roll reflects a safe and controlled action.
If you fail your initial roll, or if you want additional ,
you can lean into the action, giving it everything you’ve
got, pushing yourself or your gear to the limit.

This is called pushing the roll, and lets you re-roll all dice
except those with the result of 1 (i.e. showing the explosion
symbol). You must re-roll all dice not showing a success (6+) or failure (1),
and you cannot change back to the previous result.

There is also a risk – each time you push a roll, you immediately
suffer 1 point of damage (if you rolled for STR
or AGL) or 1 point of stress (if you rolled for INT or EMP)
for each you rolled on your base dice. If this damage
incapacitates you, this happens after the action is resolved.
Read more about damage and stress in chapter 4.

USING GEAR: If you used a tool, such as a weapon or a
vehicle, for a skill roll based on STR or AGL, any damage
from pushing will affect the item instead of yourself and
decrease its reliability rating (page 91).

AMMO DICE: If you push your roll, you must also re-roll
any ammo dice that don’t show any hits or failures.
on ammo dice will damage your firearm and decrease
its reliability rating, just like rolled on your base dice.

PASSIVE ROLLS: You can only push skill rolls when you actively
perform an action. When passive or unaware, for
example when rolling RECON to see if you spot a sneaking
enemy or when someone uses PERSUASION on you, you
cannot push the roll.
ONLY ONCE: You can only push your roll once. If you don’t
succeed on your second try, you are stuck dealing with
the consequences.

WHAT PUSHING MEANS: How a pushed roll plays out in story terms depends
on what skill you are using. It can take the form of a great physical
exertion, total mental focus or emotional strain.