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Playing SWPM Online
STAR WARS Pocket Models
Contents
Object of the Game
Win by destroying all of your opponent’s units, or by destroying all of your opponent’s objectives.
Units
A
unit is the collective term for ships, tanks, speeders, etc. Units you control are called
friendly units; units your opponent controls are called
opposing units. Each unit is marked by several numbers, some
Build Stars, and at least one icon.
- Red Number: attack bonus. This is the amount this unit will add to your roll when attacking.
- Blue Number: defense rating. This amount determines what an opposed unit must exceed in order to hit this unit.
- Yellow Number: damage rating. This is the amount of damage unit inflicts on a successful hit.
- Green Number: shields. This amount determines how much damage this unit can sustain.
Ground units are indicated by a tan bar underneath the unit image. Ground units may only initiate combat against space units in your home zone; if ground units are attacked, they can attack back in any zone. Ground units may initiate attacks against other ground units in any zone. Ground units get +1 attack during strikes.
Build Stars are used in building your deck/fleet; they are a general representation of how “tough” a unit is.
Cards
There are two types of cards:
objective cards and
combat cards. All cards have one or more Build Stars printed at the bottom – these Build Stars come into play when an objective is destroyed. All cards also have a defense value printed at the bottom right of the card – this is the number a unit must exceed to destroy this objective during a strike.
Most
objective cards have abilities printed on them, which only apply while the objective is face up. Some abilities only apply when those objectives are revealed; others apply continuously while the objective is in play.
Note: there is a difference between objective (a card in play on the table in an objective slot) and an objective card (a grey card that says objective along the side.)
Combat cards can be played from hand only during a battle. A combat card has up to two types of effects:
combat bonuses and
abilities. Effects from a combat card last only until the battle ends, unless specified otherwise by the card.
- Combat Bonus: When you play a combat card, your unit gets the combat bonus of the card for that battle – the combat bonus is printed at the top left of the card and corresponds to one of the unit’s combat values. Combat bonuses apply to any unit.
- Abilities: Some combat cards also grant your unit a special ability. An ability is printed next to an icon. The type of icon tells you which units can benefit from the ability.
Icons
There are up to three types of icons found on units: an
affiliation icon, match icons, and
power match icons. There are two more types of icons found only on cards:
force icons and luck icons. A unit or card with an icon is a unit or card of that icon type.
- Affiliation: The affiliation icon determines which faction this unit belongs to. Currently, there are no restrictions on mixing factions.
- Match Icons: Match icons are green; there are eight different types of match icon. Most units have one or two match icons, some have three. Match icons grant bonus abilities to units through combat cards with matching icons.
- Power Match Icons: Power match icons are gray. There are three types of power match icon. Only some units have power match icons, and some units have two or three. Power match icons have a constant ability granted to the unit that has the icon. Power match icons also grant bonus abilities to unit through combat cards with matching icons.
- Force Icons and Luck Icons: These icons are only found on cards. The text accompanying these icons will indicate which units and/or players gain bonuses or penalties from these cards.
The Game Board
The game board is divided into three main zones: a home zone for each player, and the contested zone. The bottom of the board is divided into two sections: a reserves area for each player. Your in-play units start in your home zone, your out-of-play units start in your reserves.
Setting up the Game
Each player uses a deck of at least
30 cards and no more than
30 Build Stars worth of units. No deck can contain more than three copies of any single card. You can have one copy of each unit for each 10 Build Stars you play with, i.e. in a fleet of 30 Build Stars, you can have no more than three copies of any single unit. See also,
Advice for Online Deck/Fleets.
To start the game, place up to 20 Build Stars of units into your home zone, place the rest into your reserves. After shuffling your deck, place the top three cards face down into your objective slots then draw three cards into your hand. Players roll for highest to determine who takes the first turn.
On Your Turn
Players alternate turns, starting with the first player. A player can do two things on his/her turn, in this order:
- Swap one objective
- Take an action
Swapping an objective: To swap an objective, take an objective card from your hand and replace it with a card in any objective slot. If the card in the objective slot is face down, take that card into your hand. If the card in the objective slot is face up, discard it.
Take an action: An action can be one of three things: move action, combat action, strike action.
- Move Action
Choose up to 5 Build Stars of your units and move them into an adjacent zone. When a unit moves, it may only move one zone.
- Combat Action
Choose up to 5 Build Stars of your units to attack an opponent’s units. Each of the units you choose can only attack one opposing unit, called a defender. To attack a defender, an attacker must be in the same zone as the defender. Your chosen attackers can attack the same target or different targets. You choose all defenders before resolving any battles.
Resolving battles: During battles, both the attacker and the defender try to hit each other. Battles are resolved using the following steps:
- Attacking player may play a combat card or pass.
- Defending player may play a combat card or pass.
- Attacking player may play a combat card if he/she has not already done so and the defending play has played a combat card.
- Calculate your unit’s attack result:
- Roll 2d6 and add them up; this is your base roll. If your base roll is a 12, it is an automatic hit.
- Add the base roll to your unit’s attack value.
- Modify this result using combat cards played or revealed objective cards in play that affect this result.
- The total result is your attack result.
- Find your unit’s defense result by modifying its defense value using combat cards or revealed objective cards in play that affect defense value. The total result is the defense result.
- If a unit’s attack result beats or ties the opposing unit’s defense result, a hit is scored. Both players check for hit at the same time.
- When a unit is hit, assign a number of damage counters to it equal to the damage value of the unit that hit it (remembering to include any bonuses from combat cards or revealed objectives in play that modify the damage value of the unit that scored the hit). When the number of damage counters on one of your units equals or exceeds its shields value, it is destroyed and moved into your reserves; remove all damage counters from destroyed units.
- If you played any combat cards in the battle, discard them and then draw cards form your deck until you reach your maximum hand size.
- Repeat steps 1-8 for every battle this turn.
If a player has no units in play, he/she is eliminated from the game.
- Strike Action
To perform a strike action, choose up to 5 Build Stars of units that are in your opponent’s home zone; these units attack one of an opponent’s face-up or face-down cards in an objective slot. The attacking player determines in which order the units strike. Combat cards can not be played during a strike.
If you choose to strike a face-down objective, the player reveals the card. If the card is an objective card, immediately apply its ability before continuing. Resolve each strike using the following steps:
- Find the unit’s strike result.
- Roll two six-sided dice and add them up; this is your base roll.
- Add the unit’s attack value.
- Modify the result using revealed objectives in play that affect this result.
- The total result is your strike result.
- Find the objective’s defense result by modifying its defense value (printed in the objective’s lower right corner) using any revealed objectives in play that affect the defense value.
- If the strike result beats or ties the card’s defense value, the objective is destroyed; discard the card. The player who just lost an objective can move units from his reserves into his home zone; these units can have total Build Stars of the destroyed card.
If a player has no cards in his/her objective slots, he/she is eliminated from play.
The complete official rules are available at http://www.wizkidsgames.com/starwars/uploadedFiles/WizKids_Public/Star_Wars_Microsite/Downloads/Files/swga_rulesheet_lowres.pdf
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